Hirsch's Ultra cool, mega small Mini-Meeting
Dec 2, 2002 at 2:27 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 5

ServinginEcuador

Founder of the Head-Fi Pay-to-Post Program.
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Posts
8,384
Likes
17
First of all I wanted to say thanks to Hirsch for opening up his house to my father and I, getting his stuff all ready and set-up, tuberolling the amps so that they sounded their best, and then letting my father and I loose to audition and listen to stuff in marathon fashion for nearly two hours!!!

My impressions:

Sony R10 - hooked-up to an Ear HP4 and Creek 53 CDP, both with Nite pcs, and a Cardas Gold balanced cable giving the feed. Might as well start off with the big guys! Although these things have less bass than the W2002s, these things had SO much air around and between the instruments, so much detail, and so much larger of a soundstage that anything I have heard to date that it ain't funny!! The effect was like sitting in the fifth row of a symphony, where all the different instruments can be heard fro different directions and depths. The high end on this thing was unreal. It had an ease and delicacy to the music that was just breath taking. No harshness of any kind all the way up as far as anything I threw at them could go!! They relayed the most incredible sense of ease to even the most complicated passaged of music. If they only had some more low end punch they would be nearly perfect IMHO!!

AT W2002. Used these in various configurations from a Sony 500S to the aforementioned Creek, using both a Melos SHA-1 preamp, MicroZOTL, and Ear HP4. DIdn't seem to matter too much which amp it was played with, they were impressive from bottwm to top. Midrange was warm and lush. Might have been the wood enclosures, but MAN did this thing really give a warmth that was to die for!! Bass was there in spades, but didn't go real deep, but what it did was tight and palpable. A certain guitar riff that was missing in the R10s was really nice thru these cans.(Obviously my listening was more for overall sound that precision type stuff to compare soundstage and sonic characteristics. They were simply sweet and enjoyable, period!!
biggrin.gif
)

Grado RS-1. This particular little marvel was quite a surpirse and was actually played thru the Sony PCDP using the Grado RA-1 headamp with unknown cables. They were not VD Nites or Cardas Golds, but seemed quite good for this application. Surprisingly comfortable for supra-aural cans, but the fact that Hirsch swapped out the stock ear pads for the Senn ones helped quite a bit. Even though the particular music was unfamiliar, let me tell you one thing - WOW did the soundstage sound HUGE!! I listened to a harp that sounded like it was in the room right next to me, and as the harpist strummed through some chords it seemed as if the sound travelled from slightly left of center to nearly dead left, one chord at a time!! The effect was nothing less than incredible. Like the harp was perpindicular to me as I could hear her go thru the scales as the sound travelled from near center farther and farther from center to pure left. No wonder these are Grado's flagship!! I should have listened to this particular CD thru a few other cans and the better equipment, but time was a wastin!!

Sony CD3K - this was run using a Melos SHA-1 from a Sony NS500V DVD player thru the Outlaw PCAs. The high end on these things is absolutely incredible. It's extension on the high end seemed to pass out of audible hearing, bot because the cans could no longer reproduce the sounds. The bass was well done, mids more forward than my Senn 600s I'm used to, soundstage was quite large for an enclosed set of cans. These made me reconsider selling my AT cans in favor of these!!! I will listen to the W1000s once they come in, but these Sony's are a callin my name. Even my father was ready to buy a pair of these over the W2002s!!! He came home and went right to Audio Cubes and was flipping thru to see how much they cost! (Now I know where the sickness started - heredity!)

AKG 1000s - these also ran from the Sony 500, thru Outlaw PCAs. Man, this thing is like a pair of speakers on your head more than a set of cans!! The fact that they ran out of the speaker outputs of a Fisher 400 tube amp leant credence to my appraisal. The way they pivot to allow for soundstage and acoustical changes and preferences was incredibly well done. The sound was totally transparent with these cans. While everything from mids on up was absolutely incredible, the bass was somewhat lacking, but no too much so. Again, these were one of the last sets of cans I listened to, so I didn't have more than 3-5 minutes total time to listen to them while switching between the Sony, AT, and these. Impressive, with their own set of sonic characteristics. Although I have never heard electrostatic cans before, I would say that these would come close to what others have said about electrostatics.


Next time you get a chance to come to a meeting at Hirsch's place, BE THERE!!! You're wallet and spouse may regret is, but you never will!!!!
 
Dec 2, 2002 at 4:24 AM Post #3 of 5
Quote:

AT W2002. Used these in various configurations from a Sony 500S to the aforementioned Creek, using both a Melos SHA-1 preamp, MicroZOTL, and Ear HP4. DIdn't seem to matter too much which amp it was played with, they were impressive from bottwm to top. Midrange was warm and lush. Might have been the wood enclosures, but MAN did this thing really give a warmth that was to die for!!


What tubes was Hirsch running in the Melos? my impression is the W2002/Melos is lacking a bit of weight in the lower mids.
 
Dec 2, 2002 at 4:37 AM Post #4 of 5
Quote:

Originally posted by pigmode
What tubes was Hirsch running in the Melos? my impression is the W2002/Melos is lacking a bit of weight in the lower mids.


I'm running Sylvania 7308's. Incidentally, the Outlaw PCA's were running to the Fisher 400, but the Melos was using DH Labs Silver Sonic BL-1 interconnects (home soldered).

I've got to revisit the Melos again. The last time I heard it with the CD3K I was using a modded ART DI/O, and didn't like the high end. However, the incompatibility seems to have been between the DI/O and the Melos (but only with certain headphones), because the highs are nice and clean now. There was a trace of sibilance with the BL-1 interconnects, but that clears up using better cables (I switched in a pair of the VD Nites this evening, and the Melos is singing nicely).
 
Dec 2, 2002 at 5:23 AM Post #5 of 5
Quote:

Originally posted by DanG
Thanks for your impressions, Doug! I moved this thread to the Members' Lounge for more exposure.
smily_headphones1.gif



DanG,

Sorry!! I thought I found the other thread about the meeting at Hirsch's place in Meeting and posted there because of that. My bad. Should have checked again before I posted.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top