[borrego]

Remember to buy focus-A's

 
I ordered the HE-560 pads from the Hifiman China taobao store, which they only offer one type of HE-560 pads, which I believe is non-A Focuspad.
 
Actually I am quite satisfied with the soundstage given by the stock velour pads, but I find it a bit too stiff to give a complete seal at the position behind my ears.

 

[hifimanrookie]

It would be nice if la Figaro would make a balanced dual mono amp, that would definitely be something I would consider, seems like it wouldn't be difficult. I guess I could likely mod it myself but that seems like more effort than it's worth.

I recently picked up a grado 325is to complement the he-500 and am pretty pleased with it, it doesn't seem to have the characteristic grado ringing too bad, it's slightly easier to use for games just because it weighs half as much, though I still need to change the cable to plug into the MJ.

They did actually..twice if i am not mistaken, but on special request..made into of two seperated equal enclosures..like the super woo audio mono amp.. I understand that if u want something special..they can do it for u..and for prices u wont ever find on USA brands...

 

[daerron]

   
I ordered the HE-560 pads from the Hifiman China taobao store, which they only offer one type of HE-560 pads, which I believe is non-A Focuspad.
 
Actually I am quite satisfied with the soundstage given by the stock velour pads, but I find it a bit too stiff to give a complete seal at the position behind my ears.

 
The Focus A pads will give you a better seal as they are wider than the stock pads so you get a bit more clamp. If you were impressed with the sound stage on the stock pads, the Focus A pads really does what the name implies so the sound stage though not much wider has more definition. If you play the Chesky sampler album and the binaural test tracks you will hear the difference quite clearly.

 

[DaemonSire]

   
The Focus A pads will give you a better seal as they are wider than the stock pads so you get a bit more clamp. If you were impressed with the sound stage on the stock pads, the Focus A pads really does what the name implies so the sound stage though not much wider has more definition. If you play the Chesky sampler album and the binaural test tracks you will hear the difference quite clearly.

did you compare the Focus-A to the Focus pads on the HE500?  I'm on the fence as to which is better suited for the HE500

 

[daerron]

  did you compare the Focus-A to the Focus pads on the HE500?  I'm on the fence as to which is better suited for the HE500

 
Apologies I have the Focus pads not the Focus A pads. The Focus A pads would not really suit me as my ears are quite large, the Focus pads are already a tighter fit compared to the stock velours.

 

[hifimanrookie]

This is the lafigaro amp i was telling u about guys..i found the post about it..the guy posting is actally the guy behind the lafigaro amp...and as far i understand this amp goes for ' just' 2800usd..enjoy the pics

http://www.head-fi.org/t/611348/help-needed-to-upgrade-the-capacitor-in-otl-tube-amp/90#post_9193890

 

[Ultramus]

Any links to the balanced ones they've made? I think it'd be nice to have a tube complement to the MJ.

 

[StanD]

This is the lafigaro amp i was telling u about guys..i found the post about it..the guy posting is actally the guy behind the lafigaro amp...and as far i understand this amp goes for ' just' 2800usd..enjoy the pics

http://www.head-fi.org/t/611348/help-needed-to-upgrade-the-capacitor-in-otl-tube-amp/90#post_9193890

But in the end you went SS. 

 Your new amp is probably dead quiet.

 

[hifimanrookie]

But in the end you went SS.   Your new amp is probably dead quiet.

Yep no tubes for me..for now....but i am thinking of a very special new amp....with tubes AND SS...BC just introduced a preamp of that principle..the bc307.. U will be shocked that that is even possible! And they can make me an amp based on that principle gilbert told me..even got an initial quote... Lookie lookie:

http://www.bluecircle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1614&sid=56271219947aaf5b8022239a27bf9ee8
http://www.bluecircle.com/page150.html

Well according to the ones who listened to or reviewed the father of my amp (the NSL speakeramp) its not SS, one reviewer states..and i quote.

With his NSL amplifier, Gilbert has not only introduced a product that will keep his "independent" cred topped off, it may be his best-sounding product ever. Only Gilbert has heard all of the Blue Circle products, but I've heard enough of them to say this with real conviction. The NSL, whose name stands for "Not So Little," is a stereo amp with a topology that lies somewhere outside the solid-state/tube continuum. Instead of using transistors or vacuum tubes to generate power, the NSL has signal op-amps wired in parallel to do the job. "I started to parallel small-signal op-amps about six or seven years ago, when I first began thinking about making a high-quality headphone amp," Gilbert recounted for me. "I paralleled two and then three and then four, etc. Then I started thinking that if I can parallel four, I should able to parallel one thousand, at least in theory." He stopped at 288, which produce the NSL's 28Wpc. Internal pictures of the amp show blocks of those paralleled op-amps -- they are almost all you can see.

And yeah..its deadsilent..but it doesnt sound like any ss amp i heard before..all digitally (dont know how to explain that otherwise) is gone..its very organic..sounds real.

And i just found out a fellow headfi'er is getting a little brother of my PaG (its based on my amp i understand) for his he6 as he couldnt find any amp capable enough to drive his he6 quality soundwise in his pricerange....i believe his amp is in the same pricerange in which some of u guys shop...around 2500usd if i am not mistaken...so its affordable for some of u.

And my new cables are on its way..GREAT!! yeah i know..snakeoil blabla according to some...but it happens to be that i like snakeoil! Well.. some of them.. Some oils work better then others

Damn..already have a feeling next year will be an expenive one
Better not talk about it a lot or else i will get into trouble with the missus.

 

[squareznboxez]

A friend of mine picked these up recently, I've read through parts of this thread and searched but haven't been able to find any definitive answers
 
Both of us agree that on the majority of songs, the vocals pitch noticeably to the right (usually 1 o'clock) - we've tested each side on a multimeter and both sides are within 0.3 ohms of each other - just wondering if anyone else can relate?
 
Also the detachable cables out of the box don't seem to fit flush on the mounts on one side, for not wanting to thread the screws, it has been tightened as much as can be
 
He's also ordered a Furutech cable out of China, has anyone gone down this route and can comment on the quality of these?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121232616055?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=420209700470&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[Ultramus]

Lol, $2500 is around what my whole setup costs. Sure you aren't thinking of the he-6 thread?

 

[hifimanrookie]

Lol, $2500 is around what my whole setup costs. Sure you aren't thinking of the he-6 thread?

Nope..some here have bakoon amps, higher models woo audio amps, totl audio gd amps and cavalli amps and other brands/models that come in that area pricewise..
A bit oftopic..and maybe a little warning for some: I just made a total calculation of what i spend in total on my new rig this year...well.lets say it this way....i had to drink a stiff very old whiskey to not to faint..OMG...this hobby is dangerous!!! Before u know it u have spent much more then u ever could imagine!! And even for me this is outrageous..next year i have to use my head more and me thinking only my other hobby, tuning cars was expensive.. How wrong that turned out to be

 

[StanD]

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Yep no tubes for me..for now....but i am thinking of a very special new amp....with tubes AND SS...BC just introduced a preamp of that principle..the bc307.. U will be shocked that that is even possible! And they can make me an amp based on that principle gilbert told me..even got an initial quote... Lookie lookie:

http://www.bluecircle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1614&sid=56271219947aaf5b8022239a27bf9ee8
http://www.bluecircle.com/page150.html

Well according to the ones who listened to or reviewed the father of my amp (the NSL speakeramp) its not SS, one reviewer states..and i quote.

With his NSL amplifier, Gilbert has not only introduced a product that will keep his "independent" cred topped off, it may be his best-sounding product ever. Only Gilbert has heard all of the Blue Circle products, but I've heard enough of them to say this with real conviction. The NSL, whose name stands for "Not So Little," is a stereo amp with a topology that lies somewhere outside the solid-state/tube continuum. Instead of using transistors or vacuum tubes to generate power, the NSL has signal op-amps wired in parallel to do the job. "I started to parallel small-signal op-amps about six or seven years ago, when I first began thinking about making a high-quality headphone amp," Gilbert recounted for me. "I paralleled two and then three and then four, etc. Then I started thinking that if I can parallel four, I should able to parallel one thousand, at least in theory." He stopped at 288, which produce the NSL's 28Wpc. Internal pictures of the amp show blocks of those paralleled op-amps -- they are almost all you can see.

And yeah..its deadsilent..but it doesnt sound like any ss amp i heard before..all digitally (dont know how to explain that otherwise) is gone..its very organic..sounds real.

And i just found out a fellow headfi'er is getting a little brother of my PaG (its based on my amp i understand) for his he6 as he couldnt find any amp capable enough to drive his he6 quality soundwise in his pricerange....i believe his amp is in the same pricerange in which some of u guys shop...around 2500usd if i am not mistaken...so its affordable for some of u.

And my new cables are on its way..GREAT!! yeah i know..snakeoil blabla according to some...but it happens to be that i like snakeoil! Well.. some of them.. Some oils work better then others

Damn..already have a feeling next year will be an expenive one

Better not talk about it a lot or else i will get into trouble with the missus.

Enjoy your snakeoil as it's going to get you a haircut when the missus gets wind of your plans. She just might demand a pair of SR-009's and the proper amp that goes along with it. Does she know what a DAC is?

 

[Jobbing]

..... She just might demand a pair of SR-009's and the proper amp that goes along with it......

She can do a local pickup herehttp://m.marktplaats.nl/a/audio-tv-en-foto/koptelefoons-en-headsets/m831246452-nieuw-stax-sr-009-met-blue-hawaii-special-edition-amp.html?c=a2384ef0ece270f44503df9f8598c624&previousPage=lr

....... she know what a DAC is? She'll hear about it when she picks up the BHSE+009 and they will tell her that a good source is important as well and while she is at it, even wants some nice blingbling IC to go with it

 

[Ultramus]

I really don't think that many people running those amps with the 500. Maybe once I can pick up an he-6 I'll look in that price range