Nirmalanow
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2006
- Posts
- 1,473
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- 42
After a lot of fiddling, I came up with a system that I really liked the sound of. Only problem was it was pretty complicated and also a bit finicky to operate. It was based on AT-W1000 headphones supplemented with an Echofone which is a supertweeter for headphones. You can read more about it here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ech...paired-278315/
But then I got the yen to have a system I could take out in the backyard to listen to since we live in beautiful Sedona, Arizona with its ideal climate. And I tried a lot of stuff to try and get back to the same level of realism I had with my ATs fed by a nice home amp (the Yamamoto), again supplemented with the Echofone which gave the system its detail and live sound. Things I tried included ER4s with the Apuresound upgrade cable, and various combinations of cables and amps. But I kept coming back to the set up with the Audio Technicas and the Echofone. Nothing else could keep up.
Then I took a bit of a gamble and ordered a pair of D5000s and had them shipped directly to Markl for his magic mods. I was not predisposed to the Denons as I once had a pair of recabled D2000s and did not like the sound.
But now I am glad I took the chance as these phones have brought together the detail and aliveness of the Echofone with the fullness of tone of the ATs. And I can just pick up my system which is easy to carry around ( but not really portable as it is based on a laptop computer) and walk out in the backyard even as the music is playing. I put everything in and on top of a plastic box that is a little bigger than a shoebox (see pictures).
And the sound is everything I could want and more: clear detail and separation from top to bottom. I am kind of a detail junkie and the Markl Mods really deliver. These headphones blow away the Audio Technicas and even in some ways exceed the combination of the ATs and the Echofone. And that is with the headphones still breaking in.
Here is the setup from source to ears:
Dell laptop with Vista and Burwen Bobcat software (using all WAV files burned in EAC)
Kimber Cable USB cable
Pico as DAC/Preamp
Harmonic Technology Magic Link 2 interconnect
Predator as amp only
Denon D5000 modded by Markl
Extras: Z-cable Extra Heavy Sleeve on the headphone cable, Dakiom stabilizer on the output of the Predator, brilliant pebbles
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ech...paired-278315/
But then I got the yen to have a system I could take out in the backyard to listen to since we live in beautiful Sedona, Arizona with its ideal climate. And I tried a lot of stuff to try and get back to the same level of realism I had with my ATs fed by a nice home amp (the Yamamoto), again supplemented with the Echofone which gave the system its detail and live sound. Things I tried included ER4s with the Apuresound upgrade cable, and various combinations of cables and amps. But I kept coming back to the set up with the Audio Technicas and the Echofone. Nothing else could keep up.
Then I took a bit of a gamble and ordered a pair of D5000s and had them shipped directly to Markl for his magic mods. I was not predisposed to the Denons as I once had a pair of recabled D2000s and did not like the sound.
But now I am glad I took the chance as these phones have brought together the detail and aliveness of the Echofone with the fullness of tone of the ATs. And I can just pick up my system which is easy to carry around ( but not really portable as it is based on a laptop computer) and walk out in the backyard even as the music is playing. I put everything in and on top of a plastic box that is a little bigger than a shoebox (see pictures).
And the sound is everything I could want and more: clear detail and separation from top to bottom. I am kind of a detail junkie and the Markl Mods really deliver. These headphones blow away the Audio Technicas and even in some ways exceed the combination of the ATs and the Echofone. And that is with the headphones still breaking in.
Here is the setup from source to ears:
Dell laptop with Vista and Burwen Bobcat software (using all WAV files burned in EAC)
Kimber Cable USB cable
Pico as DAC/Preamp
Harmonic Technology Magic Link 2 interconnect
Predator as amp only
Denon D5000 modded by Markl
Extras: Z-cable Extra Heavy Sleeve on the headphone cable, Dakiom stabilizer on the output of the Predator, brilliant pebbles