Originally Posted by stewtheking
The only problem with the RS-1 could be comfort. Some find the stock bowls scratchy etc.
I was thinking about pulling a kramer mod and making my own bowl pads with maybe a different foam or a softer material.The only question would be how they might sound after.
Originally Posted by GoRedwings19 I use to have a flintstone model. I should of never sold it but it clipped at lowish volumes with headphones like Grado's.
So then I got a used EMP. One of the main problems of this amp was it was slow pacewise compared to other headphone amps in its price range and lower. But I used this combo for mainly live acoustic material and I found the midrange very warm.
this may/may not to be your liking.
Also the amp doesn;t have the treble extension that other amps have, so if you like your highs then this maybe worth passing on it.
But for me it was one of the reasons I liked it. I don't like Grado's with SS amps besides the hp-series and ps-1's. I find them to edgy. But with the EMP rolling off the highs a bit it was far more listenable.
for you?
I second your comments on the EMP.
For extending this, swaping tubes could solve mostly the disadvantages of EMP. This is what funs are secondly coming out from this little amp. The combo, Siemens 3-mica ECC801s plus two 50's or 60's Siemens CCa, brings the most high extension, lively and also the fastest speed out of EMP. Mullard tubes are muddy , fuzzy and warm. The best of the best Mullard are from 1950's, still not very outstanding. 50's Philips and AMPEREX has rich midrange, magical upper midrange, very good bass (full), more transparent and open sounding than mullard. 1950's Philips is kind of sweet and musical. On the other side, 1950's AMPEREX are more real and detailed, very good high and low extension. However, so far, what I consider the best tubes for EMP are telefunkens. They are transparent, very good resolution-detail, open sounding, with proper speed, high extension, and accurate bass and more..
EdisonWu>Please don;t get me wrong. I prefer the EMP with the Rs-1's and the Emp a.e with the Ps-1's.
The problem with the Rs-1 and EMP pairing as well as the relatively slow pace is the Rs-1's bass control is not the most strongest attribute of the headphone. it's no hp-series phone. The Emp is no bass control freak either so it often sounds woolly when combined with the Rs-1.
The Emp a.e has the bass control advantage over the EMP but i find it sometimes lack that midrange warmth of the old EMP.
I tried the Hp-series phone with the EMp a.e and I don't like that sound in any shape or form. That's just a personal preference.
Although with the Emp a.e I did like the Qualia 010 even if it did sacrifice the technical attributes of the Qualia a bit. Instead of the Qualia being the fastest phone it was just fast. Instead of being the most detailed it was just detailed.
Now personally i found this more appealing as it gave it a more all round listenability.
I would never partner the Qualia with a SS or SS sounding tube amp as there would be way too much detail and pace for me. But yet again this is just a preference more than anything else.
I do think though that the EMP a.e even though it is a fine amp will not partner some headphones well and it's cost is a little extravagant given that I got my EM and EMP's for a realtively small amount of cost.
I got the EM for about £150 and the EMP for £295 (but that included a pair of sr225's which I sold). So really i got the EMP for £200 ish
The pictures show the original earmax. The boxes in the pic are what they originally packaged the amp and the power supply in. A far cry from the packaging you get with them today! These pics were only taken yesterday and reflect how little use it's had.
Originally Posted by Rob N I just wanted to get the last of the ltd editions.I know an SE would have been more cost effective.I don't think the He90 is particularly fuzzy.
So,Mike,was the Flinstone model ultra fuzzy?
At the time I was using Grado's. I don;t think it was any fuzzier or less fuzzier than the standard EMP. It was just that the EMP could drive the low z phones at higher volumes without it clipping.
Of course you could use a high Z phone like the senns but I never liked the senn 6xx+EM/EMP/EMP a.e combo.
No you are right the he90's are not fuzzy. But if Earmax (brocksieper) ever decided to produce a electrostatic amp then I would be all over it.
I wonder how difficult it would be to use 2 EMP a.e's and converting it to run in a balanced design.
It would be more cost effective than a SDS-xlr or a Dynamight. Although the implementation might be somewhat difficult.
Also the amp doesn;t have the treble extension that other amps have, so if you like your highs then this maybe worth passing on it.
But for me it was one of the reasons I liked it. I don't like Grado's with SS amps besides the hp-series and ps-1's. I find them to edgy. But with the EMP rolling off the highs a bit it was far more listenable.
QUOTE]
I agree, this is why I listen to the Earmax RS-1 combo..as it helps sustain and control the highs when usind the bowls..
I recently got an EarMax that was modded internally to best suit Grado cans, PS-1 and RS-1 models, along with any John G Cans too.
Must say this little amp rocks and makes delic'sh the sound, and although maybe not suitable for all types of music, it certainly adds the super liquid and live coherence effect that is difficult to emulate with a hp or hp amp in any setup/price range IMO
Very nice tube sound on this little guy, currently using in my main set transport sys.
The Emp A.e is expensive for the improvements it offers over the EMP. But they are improvements.
But having said that you could spend the money on something else which was tube based. You might find you get more worthwhile improvements.
But I don't like big bulk headphone amps as I prefer dinky amps.
Now the old EMP while being slower and have not as good bass control. I cannot deny that listening to accoustic genre's really was something I really liked. We are talking FUBAR (Fuzzed up beyond all recognition). That was really warm. Not for everyone.
Kramer>It clips. At moderate volumes it listenable at anything higher it clips.
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