catscratch
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2004
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Don't you hate it when your tastes in gear do a 180 and the rig you carefully and painstakingly built simply doesn't cut it anymore?
I've been seduced by the dark side, I admit it. I love the HD600 in ways a man shouldn't love his headphones, and the fast/bright/analytical sound simply hurts my ears. I used to be a detail freak, but I've gotten over that, and I want a different listening experience now.
I'm thinking of replacing the SR-404/SRM-313 with the O2/KGSS, but it's really quite expensive. I'm just getting out of college and will have grad school to contend with in a not too distant future, and I don't see myself dropping $4-5k on a rig (gotta upgrade source too for the O2) when I'll have $30k per year for the next 4 years to contend with.
So, let's say we talk about a cheaper dynamic alternative. I think this will be a good mental excercise anyway, and a good read for others in the same situation.
The sound siganture I want out of this rig is: warmish and completely and utterly free of any kind of fatigue and sibilance. Natural tone and tembre for most instruments, though piano is really what I want to get right. Forward sound signature but with a pretty decent soundstage (doesn't have to be the best). Good detail but once again doesn't have to be up to SR-404/SA5k levels. Plenty of weight and body to the sound. Lots and LOTS of drive and dynamics. I mean lots! I want to listen to something engaging and say "Whoa!" and I want someone who's completely new to head-fi or hi-fi in general to pick up the system and say the same.
In terms of how it relates to the HD600: I really like this with the Hornet and the stock cable, but I don't think it has enough detail, and the treble is slightly grainy and sticks out due to a recessed upper midrange. I'd like a smoother treble, but I don't want to make it more recessed (i.e. HD650). I want more detail than the HD600/Hornet but I want the detail to have a relaxed presentation (in other words, everything's there but not shoved in your face). I like the weight and heft of it, but I don't quite like the slowness. When the music picks up and things start getting fast and multi-layered, the HD600 starts tripping over it's own feet. I like the forwardness of the Hornet and it's drive and dynamics, and I like a forward instrument placement for everything in the foreground, but I want the background to be a) slightly clearer and b) be spaced further out.
I really think that I'm describing the HD600 with more detail/forwardness or an RS-1 with more soundstage. Warm but not excessively so, somewhat forward, dynamic and very lively, with enough detail and soundstage not to sound muddy/congested to someone weaned on electrostatics, but not overdoing it in the detail department (excessively huge soundstage is OK by me
).
So, if you wanted to build this sound from scratch, what would you do?
AD2000 with a Singlepower amp? HD600 with a balanced amp? HD650 with a silver cable and a very clear solid state amp? K701 with a warm, liquid amp? K1000 with an inexpensive vintage tube amp? K340 with something that can actually drive it? RS-1 with something that gives it a soundstage?
I don't know too much about dynamics. I know a fair amount about electrostats (enough to see that the system I want is going to cost an arm and a leg), and pretty much everything there is to know about IEM's from a consumer point of view. None of that really helps in this case
[Edit: I really wish there was a modern planar magnetic headphone that gets most of the electrostatic clarity/air and space, and combines it with dynamic weight and heft. Sennheiser, are you listening? Nah...]
I've been seduced by the dark side, I admit it. I love the HD600 in ways a man shouldn't love his headphones, and the fast/bright/analytical sound simply hurts my ears. I used to be a detail freak, but I've gotten over that, and I want a different listening experience now.
I'm thinking of replacing the SR-404/SRM-313 with the O2/KGSS, but it's really quite expensive. I'm just getting out of college and will have grad school to contend with in a not too distant future, and I don't see myself dropping $4-5k on a rig (gotta upgrade source too for the O2) when I'll have $30k per year for the next 4 years to contend with.
So, let's say we talk about a cheaper dynamic alternative. I think this will be a good mental excercise anyway, and a good read for others in the same situation.
The sound siganture I want out of this rig is: warmish and completely and utterly free of any kind of fatigue and sibilance. Natural tone and tembre for most instruments, though piano is really what I want to get right. Forward sound signature but with a pretty decent soundstage (doesn't have to be the best). Good detail but once again doesn't have to be up to SR-404/SA5k levels. Plenty of weight and body to the sound. Lots and LOTS of drive and dynamics. I mean lots! I want to listen to something engaging and say "Whoa!" and I want someone who's completely new to head-fi or hi-fi in general to pick up the system and say the same.
In terms of how it relates to the HD600: I really like this with the Hornet and the stock cable, but I don't think it has enough detail, and the treble is slightly grainy and sticks out due to a recessed upper midrange. I'd like a smoother treble, but I don't want to make it more recessed (i.e. HD650). I want more detail than the HD600/Hornet but I want the detail to have a relaxed presentation (in other words, everything's there but not shoved in your face). I like the weight and heft of it, but I don't quite like the slowness. When the music picks up and things start getting fast and multi-layered, the HD600 starts tripping over it's own feet. I like the forwardness of the Hornet and it's drive and dynamics, and I like a forward instrument placement for everything in the foreground, but I want the background to be a) slightly clearer and b) be spaced further out.
I really think that I'm describing the HD600 with more detail/forwardness or an RS-1 with more soundstage. Warm but not excessively so, somewhat forward, dynamic and very lively, with enough detail and soundstage not to sound muddy/congested to someone weaned on electrostatics, but not overdoing it in the detail department (excessively huge soundstage is OK by me
So, if you wanted to build this sound from scratch, what would you do?
AD2000 with a Singlepower amp? HD600 with a balanced amp? HD650 with a silver cable and a very clear solid state amp? K701 with a warm, liquid amp? K1000 with an inexpensive vintage tube amp? K340 with something that can actually drive it? RS-1 with something that gives it a soundstage?
I don't know too much about dynamics. I know a fair amount about electrostats (enough to see that the system I want is going to cost an arm and a leg), and pretty much everything there is to know about IEM's from a consumer point of view. None of that really helps in this case
[Edit: I really wish there was a modern planar magnetic headphone that gets most of the electrostatic clarity/air and space, and combines it with dynamic weight and heft. Sennheiser, are you listening? Nah...]