[zenpunk]

They nicely match your sofa. 

The min-XLR connectors on the modded pair look cool but those connector are a bit too long and protrude too much for my taste. 

 
 

 

 

[wuwhere]

The Lawtons (left) and the Denons insides are not round like the HiFimans.
Also, the Lawtons at their narrowest is only 2 inches wide.
The Denons are even narrower.
The HiFimans inside diameter is 2 and 3/8 inches.
 
 

 

[wuwhere]

I also noticed that there is a difference in the inside diameter between the HiFiman's pleather and the velours. The pleather is only 2 and 1/4 inches wide inside but the velours are 2 and 3/8 inches wide. If one calculates the area, the pleather is covering more areas than the velour. Could this be the difference in sound some have noticed between the two?
 
To me, the pleather sounds slightly muffled compared to the velour. When you cover part of a speaker the sound gets muffled.

 

[kidchunks]

Quote:

 
 
Nice looking cables you got there

 

 
Thanks!
 
Quote:

kidchunks,
Are those Helix cables?

 
 

Looks Toxic!
 

 
Helix 

 

[Senn-Fi]

Just an update for all of the speaker amp lovers:
 
I finally got around to hooking my HE-6 up to my Hypex NC400 monoblocks that I built last month and it sounds unbelievable.  I have tried previously Bryston BHA-1, Peachtree iDecco speaker out, W4S STI-500 speaker out, and NAD M25 speaker out.  This blows all of that stuff away.  
 
This is the chain:
 
WHS Music Server-->PS Audio PWD II(through Bridge)-->BAT VK-52SE Pre-Amp-->NC400's-->HE-6 (Moon Audio Black Dragon balanced cable).  Everything is balanced the whole way.
 
Now I think I want one of those Bryston Speaker switches with the headphone output on it so I can try the NC400 on my HD-800's also and use one speaker out for my speakers and the other for the HE-6.  Anyone have one they want to sell or experience with it?

 

[ohhgourami]

Question for all you guys using very powerful speaker amps: How is the volume adjustment?
 
Just got my NFB-7.32 and when hooked up to my Icon2 (30Wpc @ 8ohms), the lowest volume (I could use since volume pot isn't that nice) was uncomfortably loud for me. I'm normally a pretty quiet listener so I had to turn down the volume using foobar. My amp isn't that powerful and yet is already so loud at it's 9 oclock setting.
 
Do you guys have this same issue or is the volume pot just crap for my amp? I hope it's the latter.

 

[Senn-Fi]

I think there is more to the loudness than the wattage.  There is something called gain which has a larger effect.  
 
On my particular setup, my preamp goes up to 140.  On my HE-6, I listen at about 35-45 depending on the music.  I also hooked up my HD-800 to see how they sound and it runs reasonably loud (but not uncomfortable) at 15-20.  On my speakers (~87db/w efficiency) I ususally listen between 40 and 60.  65 is very loud.
 
This thing sounds so good though that I am contemplating getting rid of all my headphone amps.  I am sure I won't, but I am really impressed with these amps on both my speakers, HE-6, and HD800.  I think part of it may be the pre-amp as well, as it seems to have some kind of magic that it does (it should for $10,500).

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Question for all you guys using very powerful speaker amps: How is the volume adjustment?
 
Just got my NFB-7.32 and when hooked up to my Icon2 (30Wpc @ 8ohms), the lowest volume (I could use since volume pot isn't that nice) was uncomfortably loud for me. I'm normally a pretty quiet listener so I had to turn down the volume using foobar. My amp isn't that powerful and yet is already so loud at it's 9 oclock setting.
 
Do you guys have this same issue or is the volume pot just crap for my amp? I hope it's the latter.

 
If I don't use a preamp to attenuate I have the same kind of issue, and my speaker amp is only 45 wpc @ 8 ohms.

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Question for all you guys using very powerful speaker amps: How is the volume adjustment?
 
Just got my NFB-7.32 and when hooked up to my Icon2 (30Wpc @ 8ohms), the lowest volume (I could use since volume pot isn't that nice) was uncomfortably loud for me. I'm normally a pretty quiet listener so I had to turn down the volume using foobar. My amp isn't that powerful and yet is already so loud at it's 9 oclock setting.
 
Do you guys have this same issue or is the volume pot just crap for my amp? I hope it's the latter.

 
You also do not want to run full volume from the NFB into the Icon2 because the NFB outputs 2.5V at max, and the Icon2 only accepts up to 2V. Any more than that and you will clip the input. 

 

[ohhgourami]

Quote:

 
You also do not want to run full volume from the NFB into the Icon2 because the NFB outputs 2.5V at max, and the Icon2 only accepts up to 2V. Any more than that and you will clip the input. 

How would I lower the output?
 
 
The Master-10 should give me any desired low-level volume right?

 

[wetfit9]

HI,
 
Which media player do most use to play their music files?

 

[conquerator2]

Quote:

HI,
 
Which media player do most use to play their music files?

 
Foobar2000 is very popular (free) and so is J River (trial/paid)
 
They are very similar but I chose the Foobar cause its free and there are many different plugins for it...
 
Here - http://www.foobar2000.org/ give it a shot

 

[LFF]

Quote:

 
 
Wow! They do look sharp, but man that sure is expensive. I got a chip in my cups and I was thinking about something to mask it. Wonder if hifiman would do something ?   Does anyone know if they sell headbands too? Mines the older version and I'd like a little more pad up top.
Hope your face is just as pretty as those cups

Thanks!
 
We know it's not cheap but there is a TON of work that goes into them.
Quote:

The price included the mini xlr mod, I don't know what is the price just for the paint job.  
 

If you just want a paint job, we can work with you on that. We have some REALLY cool colors too.
Quote:

I would be more interested in just the mini XLR connectors.

The Mini-XLR's require extensive modification of the cups and absolutely require a repaint.
Quote:

 
Ah! Does it include a cable too?

Yes! The current pricing does include a basic cable.
Quote:

It doesn't say that the cables are part of the deal. The plastic cups look different.

See above. The plastic cups DO look different. They have had much TLC applied. 

 
If you guys have any other questions, please PM me or contact me via the referencesounds website.

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

How would I lower the output?
 
 
The Master-10 should give me any desired low-level volume right?

 
Just setting the NFB or something at 90-95% should be enough to avoid input clipping the Icon2. In this case I believe it's a matter of input protection, to avoid overdriving the amp. This is not the same as input sensitivity, which brings us to...
 
The Master-10 has an input sensitivity (sort of an inverted function of gain) of 0.775V RMS for the rca inputs. This means feeding 0.775V into the amp is enough for it to produce its maximum output with the amp volume all the way up. If you're feeding it 2.5V from the NFB maxed out, the Master-10 volume will be somewhere around 75% (I might have messed up the math) when it reaches maximum output. Any higher and it will clip at output. 
 
The Master-10 has a lot of gain. If you want to have decent control at low volumes, then don't feed it max signal from your source. 
 
 
Quote:

HI,
 
Which media player do most use to play their music files?

 
I've been using JRiver for years. Even the free version has a ton of features and is excellent library management software if you want to do a lot of tagging, renaming, organizing, etc.
 
Foobar is good a simple player with low memory usage. It comes pretty bare-bones but there are many downloadable extras for it. If you like to spend time tweaking and customizing, this is a good choice.

 

[wetfit9]

 
 
 
I've been using JRiver for years. Even the free version has a ton of features and is excellent library management software if you want to do a lot of tagging, renaming, organizing, etc.
 
Foobar is good a simple player with low memory usage. It comes pretty bare-bones but there are many downloadable extras for it. If you like to spend time tweaking and customizing, this is a good choice.

Just want a good player, not really want to customize it, so which would be the better of the two. Price is not an issue.