[parbaked]

No offense taken. Belllari is a sweet, versatile amp. I should have said "some OTL amps"! I'm surprised the Bellari is not recommended more.

 

[desertblues]

Yes, me too. It has to be one of the best deals out there for a tube headphone amp, and the Bellari tube phono stage gets lots of recommendations in audiophile circles.

 

[Lirpa]

I have an SR60i and I'm new to the audiophile world. What should I upgrade next? Pads, cable, amp, source? What will make the biggest difference? I have a Macbook pro and a 6th generation Ipod Nano.
 
I don't know if I want to bother with upgrading my portable music, because according to reviews I have read, you seem to get less quality for the money with portable stuff, compared to the value you get out of home equipment. I don't go out much either. Still I'm wondering if I should sell the Nano and get the Sansa clip which seems to have a big following.
 
One more question, do wooden cups actually make a discernible difference in sound? I'm very skeptical about this and I suspect that people only get them because they look cool. The sound comes from the drivers not the cups.
 
I play harmonica and a lot of harmonica players are obsessed with wooden harmonica combs. Wood has serious drawbacks such as making your lips bleed, yet people still want it. Some solve the bleeding problem by buying expensive wood composite combs. Some even buy harmonicas with ABS plastic combs and replace them with fancier, much more expensive plastic. However the truth is comb material actually makes no difference in sound. The sound comes from the reeds, the body of the instrument doesn't resonate like a guitar. A lot of harmonica players seem to suffer from an irrational aversion to plastic because it seems cheap, and they imagine sonic differences that don't really exist. I can't help but wonder if the same thing is going on in headphones.

 

[Biscuitz]

Quote:

I have an SR60i and I'm new to the audiophile world. What should I upgrade next? Pads, cable, amp, source? What will make the biggest difference? I have a Macbook pro and a 6th generation Ipod Nano.
 
I don't know if I want to bother with upgrading my portable music, because according to reviews I have read, you seem to get less quality for the money with portable stuff, compared to the value you get out of home equipment. I don't go out much either. Still I'm wondering if I should sell the Nano and get the Sansa clip which seems to have a big following.
 
One more question, do wooden cups actually make a discernible difference in sound? I'm very skeptical about this and I suspect that people only get them because they look cool. The sound comes from the drivers not the cups.
 
I play harmonica and a lot of harmonica players are obsessed with wooden harmonica combs. Wood has serious drawbacks such as making your lips bleed, yet people still want it. Some solve the bleeding problem by buying expensive wood composite combs. Some even buy harmonicas with ABS plastic combs and replace them with fancier, much more expensive plastic. However the truth is comb material actually makes no difference in sound. The sound comes from the reeds, the body of the instrument doesn't resonate like a guitar. A lot of harmonica players seem to suffer from an irrational aversion to plastic because it seems cheap, and they imagine sonic differences that don't really exist. I can't help but wonder if the same thing is going on in headphones.

Upgrade pads first. L-Cush pads will make SR60i a tad bit brighter, but they sound significantly better in my opinion. Noticeable improvements in clarity, soundstage, and bass definition.
 
Cable, amp, and source will make the least drastic changes. And with Grado headphones, they won't change the sound much at all unless you get an amp or source that is not neutral. Rather than these, upgrade to a higher model Grado.

You'll get different answers on the wooden cups issue. Most would probably say yes, but I think if it does change the sound, it is rather minor and might not come just from the material of the housing but also from other factors like driver fitting and housing shape and size. There's no guarantee changing out the driver housing in an SR60i will improve things (it might even make things worse), but wood does look classier!

 

[stacker45]

Quote:

It was an unbound question and got an unbound answer - "high current" relative to what? The current my electric dryer needs? The current my car's starter needs? The current the overhead lines carry? etc
Ohm's Law dictates that low Z means high I and low V, and high Z means low I and high V. So proportionally speaking, Grados want "more" current than a similar, but higher Z, can. But as Ohm's Law also tells us, we can't just arbitrarily have "a lot" (or as Master Shake specifically told the organ bank - a "buttload") of current. And when you factor sensitivity into this, which tells us that Grados have a generally low power requirement (I think the GS-1000 is the least sensitive and needs something like 1.0mW/ch for 90 dB SPL; most of the other Grados are well below that line, and want some fraction of a mW (I forget if the SR-325 or PS-500 is the most sensitive, but the most sensitive one only demands something like .05 mW for the same output)), so the overall power is low (V*I), Z is fixed (32R), and voltage is decided by the output amplifier. I is generally a low value as a result, especially compared to less sensitive low Z cans (take the HE-6 as an example).
I always find the "you need lots of current" or "they're super current hungry" claims to be extremely arbitrary and cryptic, but most people don't seem to be interested in the "why" so I figured I'd give an equally cryptic and arbitrary answer.

I've always been curious about RTR, having seen them as a kid. Certainly don't find this boring at all.

 
To be completly honest, i'm not sure i'm getting all of this,oh well, the important thing is that i'm satisfied with the sound i'm getting from my Grados, altough i admit that i'm very curious about planar magnetics headphones, more specifically Audeze LCD2/3, so i'm looking forward to this year's Hi-Fi show to hear them,
 
About the RTRs, you just hook it up to the tape input and output and you can record whatever you want, you can even record FM brodcasts if you want to, when i bought mine, it was mainly because i tought those ten inches reels looked so cool when they were turning, but when i heard the sound quality that RTRs were capable of, my jaw just dropped, so i use mine for casual. as well as critical listening.

 

[bbophead]

Quote:

Quote:

It was an unbound question and got an unbound answer - "high current" relative to what? The current my electric dryer needs? The current my car's starter needs? The current the overhead lines carry? etc
Ohm's Law dictates that low Z means high I and low V, and high Z means low I and high V. So proportionally speaking, Grados want "more" current than a similar, but higher Z, can. But as Ohm's Law also tells us, we can't just arbitrarily have "a lot" (or as Master Shake specifically told the organ bank - a "buttload") of current. And when you factor sensitivity into this, which tells us that Grados have a generally low power requirement (I think the GS-1000 is the least sensitive and needs something like 1.0mW/ch for 90 dB SPL; most of the other Grados are well below that line, and want some fraction of a mW (I forget if the SR-325 or PS-500 is the most sensitive, but the most sensitive one only demands something like .05 mW for the same output)), so the overall power is low (V*I), Z is fixed (32R), and voltage is decided by the output amplifier. I is generally a low value as a result, especially compared to less sensitive low Z cans (take the HE-6 as an example).
I always find the "you need lots of current" or "they're super current hungry" claims to be extremely arbitrary and cryptic, but most people don't seem to be interested in the "why" so I figured I'd give an equally cryptic and arbitrary answer.

I've always been curious about RTR, having seen them as a kid. Certainly don't find this boring at all.

 
To be completly honest, i'm not sure i'm getting all of this,oh well, the important thing is that i'm satisfied with the sound i'm getting from my Grados, altough i admit that i'm very curious about planar magnetics headphones, more specifically Audeze LCD2/3, so i'm looking forward to this year's Hi-Fi show to hear them,
 
About the RTRs, you just hook it up to the tape input and output and you can record whatever you want, you can even record FM brodcasts if you want to, when i bought mine, it was mainly because i tought those ten inches reels looked so cool when they were turning, but when i heard the sound quality that RTRs were capable of, my jaw just dropped, so i use mine for casual. as well as critical listening.

Boy, the LCD sound is such a long way from Grado.  I'd like to read about your comparison.

 

[Focker]

Quote:

 
To be completly honest, i'm not sure i'm getting all of this,oh well, the important thing is that i'm satisfied with the sound i'm getting from my Grados, altough i admit that i'm very curious about planar magnetics headphones, more specifically Audeze LCD2/3, so i'm looking forward to this year's Hi-Fi show to hear them,
 
About the RTRs, you just hook it up to the tape input and output and you can record whatever you want, you can even record FM brodcasts if you want to, when i bought mine, it was mainly because i tought those ten inches reels looked so cool when they were turning, but when i heard the sound quality that RTRs were capable of, my jaw just dropped, so i use mine for casual. as well as critical listening.

 
That's sort of where my interest lies, too. Since I'm such a huge fan of Magnepan, I've always been curious about planar magnetic headphones. I'm really quite content with the headphone collection I've put together, but at some point I'd like to hear the LCD2/3, as well. I probably won't pull the trigger until at least the end of spring, early summer...so if you audition them before then I'd love to hear your feedback. 

 

[punks15]

Quote:

I have an SR60i and I'm new to the audiophile world. What should I upgrade next? Pads, cable, amp, source? What will make the biggest difference? I have a Macbook pro and a 6th generation Ipod Nano.
 
I don't know if I want to bother with upgrading my portable music, because according to reviews I have read, you seem to get less quality for the money with portable stuff, compared to the value you get out of home equipment. I don't go out much either. Still I'm wondering if I should sell the Nano and get the Sansa clip which seems to have a big following.
 
One more question, do wooden cups actually make a discernible difference in sound? I'm very skeptical about this and I suspect that people only get them because they look cool. The sound comes from the drivers not the cups.
 
I play harmonica and a lot of harmonica players are obsessed with wooden harmonica combs. Wood has serious drawbacks such as making your lips bleed, yet people still want it. Some solve the bleeding problem by buying expensive wood composite combs. Some even buy harmonicas with ABS plastic combs and replace them with fancier, much more expensive plastic. However the truth is comb material actually makes no difference in sound. The sound comes from the reeds, the body of the instrument doesn't resonate like a guitar. A lot of harmonica players seem to suffer from an irrational aversion to plastic because it seems cheap, and they imagine sonic differences that don't really exist. I can't help but wonder if the same thing is going on in headphones.

Some people have tried the wooden cups and reported there's a difference in sound. Personally i haven't tried the wooden cups

 

[joseph69]

Quote:

I have an SR60i and I'm new to the audiophile world. What should I upgrade next? Pads, cable, amp, source? What will make the biggest difference? I have a Macbook pro and a 6th generation Ipod Nano.
 
I don't know if I want to bother with upgrading my portable music, because according to reviews I have read, you seem to get less quality for the money with portable stuff, compared to the value you get out of home equipment. I don't go out much either. Still I'm wondering if I should sell the Nano and get the Sansa clip which seems to have a big following.
 
One more question, do wooden cups actually make a discernible difference in sound? I'm very skeptical about this and I suspect that people only get them because they look cool. The sound comes from the drivers not the cups.
 
I play harmonica and a lot of harmonica players are obsessed with wooden harmonica combs. Wood has serious drawbacks such as making your lips bleed, yet people still want it. Some solve the bleeding problem by buying expensive wood composite combs. Some even buy harmonicas with ABS plastic combs and replace them with fancier, much more expensive plastic. However the truth is comb material actually makes no difference in sound. The sound comes from the reeds, the body of the instrument doesn't resonate like a guitar. A lot of harmonica players seem to suffer from an irrational aversion to plastic because it seems cheap, and they imagine sonic differences that don't really exist. I can't help but wonder if the same thing is going on in headphones.

I would just purchase the (L) cushion's and hear wich you like better, and leave them alone. Otherwise You can spend way more than the headphone's cost if you start recableing, or purchasing vibro lounge wood cup's for about 90$U.S., and in that case you could have purchased a different model, so just try the other cushion's and leave them alone, they are awesome the way they come (IMO).

 

[stacker45]

Quote:

 
That's sort of where my interest lies, too. Since I'm such a huge fan of Magnepan, I've always been curious about planar magnetic headphones. I'm really quite content with the headphone collection I've put together, but at some point I'd like to hear the LCD2/3, as well. I probably won't pull the trigger until at least the end of spring, early summer...so if you audition them before then I'd love to hear your feedback. 

 
The Montréal Hi-Fi show starts on March 22nd, but if i find a dealer that carrys them, i might be able to have a listen in a not so distant future.

 

[ellis ip]

going to bought grado gr 10

 

[agoston.berko]

gr10 is great. i sold it unfortunately because it was bass week (for me!!) on street wear.
but for home use is was out of this world compared to other iems.
what means RTR ?

 

[joseph69]

Reel to reel

 

[Lirpa]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll try the bowl pads.
 
I've been thinking of trying to build some c-pads, like this. Do you think this would negatively influence the sound?
 
I wonder if anyone has done a test on the wood cups. It wouldn't be too difficult, you would just need to have people listen to the plastic cups and identical shaped wood cups while blindfolded, and see if they report any difference.

 

[joseph69]

Quote:

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll try the bowl pads.
 
I've been thinking of trying to build some c-pads, like this. Do you think this would negatively influence the sound?
 
I wonder if anyone has done a test on the wood cups. It wouldn't be too difficult, you would just need to have people listen to the plastic cups and identical shaped wood cups while blindfolded, and see if they report any difference.

The (S) cushion's that came with your sr60i's can be quarter modded, by cutting a hole in ( I used a half dollar, not a quarter) in the cushion where your ear's rest against, then reversing them onto the driver's, so now you will have a perfect hole around your driver's with the driver's exposed for some more clarity... You may loose a little warmth if you do this, but the clarity is nice IMO.