[mulveling]

Awesome report! It IS spectacular. The HD800/Rag stood no chance. What you really need to do now is get a nice quad of vintage British or Holland-made EL34

 

[wrathofkhan]

Scott,

I, like you have the same setup and can absolutely agree with your experiences.

About two years ago I also purchased new a SR-009 but with a Stax valve amp (cant remember the model but it was the top of the stax range). I thought at the time it sounded ok but not the "this is fantastic, must keep listening".
Then just over a year ago the BHSE came on my radar. Because of the cost I made it my mission to read all the blogs on this forum & others and because of my location getting a demo was out of the question so i finally decided to take the chance and get it.
Well as soon as the BHSE arrived my experiences were the same as yours.

Did yours come with the standard Mullard valves.?

I have often thought about tube rolling but it seems that NOS is the way to go but they are so very expensive that I worry they are used so how long will they last and, more importantly, how much better would the sound be. Basically a very expensive exercise. Oh I wish it could be a "try before buy".

I have also noticed that Sennheiser have brought out a very expensive earphone system US$55,000 HE 1 and naturally I wonder how the BHSE/SR-009 compare to it.

Happy listening one and all.

John

 

[Ali-Pacha]

10 weeks wait. You've forgotten a zero somewhere, me think

Ali

 

[joseph69]

New BHSE/SR-009 owner here. This email I sent to Justin says it all:

Justin,

Un-frickin-believable!!!!

I can't even begin to express how much your BSHE and SR-009 totally blow me away. This rig has sounded spectacular from the second I fired it up, and it just keeps getting better the more hours its got under its belt. Its been on 24/7 for the last 4 days playing pink noise at 80dB when I'm not sitting here with my jaw on the floor in pure heaven.

My home office setup has featured a Schiit Yggdrasil/Ragnarock balanced combo being fed AIFF from a Mac Mini/Synology NAS via Audirvana via AOIP via Atterotech unDAES-O AES rig. The Rag outputs to HD800s and LCD-X phones or to KEF LS50/JL Audio e110 sub combos. My reading room system has a Schiit Gumby/Jotenheim balanced feed for the cans when I'm in there.

Both of theses cans sound superb, but I give the edge to the Senns as to which I would have on the desert island with me. Well, both of them now take a MAJOR backseat to the BHSE/Stax. THIS is my new reference system. I keep firing up one album after another, floor struck as to how I'm hearing stuff I never heard before, even on albums I've played hundreds of times over the years. I don't want to go to work anymore, I just want to sit hear drooling all over my keyboard!

Your work is pristine. The build quality as good as anything I've seen, even compared to fine furniture. I'm absolutely proud to display your artistry on my desktop!!!

I can't see spending a single penny on tube rolling since I can't see any "flaws" to try to remedy. The system hits paydirt in every characteristic that is important to me: wide, crystal clear sound staging; deep, clean bass; crisp highs; and absolutely articulate voices. There is just NOTHING to improve upon. This bad boy is every bit as good as everyone says it is. It was TOTALLY worth the 10 week wait.

So kudos to you for such a terrific product, and kudos to KG for the original design upon which you have worked magic. Well done, sirs, well done!!!!!!

Scott

You mention your upstream gear used with your home office & reading room.
What upstream gear are you using with the BHSE/009?

 

[DSNORD]

The BHSE uses the exact same upstream gear.

Yggy outputs via balanced to BHSE, BHSE Loop Out balanced goes back to the Rag. So I can play either system or both at the same time using the exact same upstream components.

I A/B the other cans versus the Stax easily by standardizing volume output using a sound meter buried in each left ear cup to level match as close as possible then quickly switch off head sets over about 3 seconds all the while looping the same track on Audirvana. Obviously this assumes the BHSE isn’t messing with the signal back to Rag via the Loop output, but there’s no way I can imagine that Justin would have allowed that given how impeccable his build is!

Scott

 

[DSNORD]

And don’t diss my original Bose system that I use for computer audio out when I don’t feel like firing up the whole system. It really isn’t that bad all things considered!

 

[DSNORD]

Ordered my BHSE and Stax 11/6/17. Original new order ship date estimate on HeadAmp’s website was 4-6 weeks. 2 weeks later, website estimate had changed to 6-8 weeks.

On 12/6, I received notice for final payment and my unit was burning in and would ship in 1 week. Things appeared to be dead in the middle of the original estimate. Hooray!!!

Delays developed though. I survived, and touched bases with Justin every 2 weeks to monitor the status, figuring Christmas and New Years would delay things somewhat.

Unit was delivered 1/29/18. 84 days. So I lied. It was 12 weeks!!!!

TOTALLY worth the wait- I’m just glad I wasn’t one of the original 2 Year Club Members!!!!

Scott

 

[Ali-Pacha]

I doubt those quick baked BHSE would have the same intrinsic qualities those which did sit 2 years in Justin's oven have

Ali

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

I doubt those quick baked BHSE would have the same intrinsic qualities those which did sit 2 years in Justin's oven have

Ali

lol you're the next level of evil hahahaha

 

[Phil95]

I doubt those quick baked BHSE would have the same intrinsic qualities those which did sit 2 years in Justin's oven have

Ali

30 years --sorry, months-- of waiting for my first BHSE.

 

[Ali-Pacha]

There are indeed only 2 BHSE in France, and we both had the hard (and long) path

Ali

 

[arnaud]

Somehow I felt these pics were taken in a french home, not sure exactly why

 

[bmichels]

New BHSE/SR-009 owner here. ....

I can't see spending a single penny on tube rolling since I can't see any "flaws" to try to remedy....

I came to the same conclusion: I tried twice tube rolling with my BHSE, hoping to hear the BIG sound upgrade that was mentioned in this forum, but... each time I returned to the Stock Tubes that were provided with my BHSE.

I could not hear any substantial improvement where other claim that their exotic NOS raised the bar a lot !? May be my ear are too old, or... I am immuned to the never ending race ?

 

[joseph69]

The BHSE uses the exact same upstream gear.

Yggy outputs via balanced to BHSE, BHSE Loop Out balanced goes back to the Rag. So I can play either system or both at the same time using the exact same upstream components.

I A/B the other cans versus the Stax easily by standardizing volume output using a sound meter buried in each left ear cup to level match as close as possible then quickly switch off head sets over about 3 seconds all the while looping the same track on Audirvana. Obviously this assumes the BHSE isn’t messing with the signal back to Rag via the Loop output, but there’s no way I can imagine that Justin would have allowed that given how impeccable his build is!

Scott

Looks familiar. Very nice, enjoy!

 

[Phil95]

There are indeed only 2 BHSE in France, and we both had the hard (and long) path

Ali

I own two BHSEs: #193 and #248. I got my first BHSE four years ago (#150) but it didn't work very well (maybe through my fault); Justin changed it for another new one --again I had to wait some time. I think that apart from its sound performance, the BHSE is so exquisitely built That it's worth having the whole collection.