I'm thinking of "downgrading" and looking for opinions and advice

[aamefford]

I'm thinking of downgrading my headphone rig a bit to see if I can free up a little extra cash to put into my new obsession - the speaker rig.
 
Currently:
Digital Source
A mac mini streaming to airport express - that part stays, at least the ability to stream.  There are better options than the airport express, but I already own two Airport expresses, so I think I'll stand pat on the very front end.
 
Analog Conversion
A Cambridge Audio Dacmagic fed optically from the Airport express
 
Amp
A MisterX built Dynalo.
 
Headphones
Denon D7000.
 
I really struggle with parting with any of these, especially the Denons.  The sound signature is close to perfect, and likely as good as I'll find with closed phones, for my taste.
 
Requirements:
CLOSED PHONES - my listening requires that I minimize sound leakage, and to a lesser degree, I need the isolation.  I listen in bed, or in the living room when I'm not interested in the TV show that everyone else is watching.
 
A good DAC, as my primary music source will be digital out from the airport express or my macbook pro.  Secondary source is the iPhone - its pretty good, but I don't want it as my only source.
 
A good amp.
 
The Dynalo was about $200 used, probably worth $175 all day long now.  I doubt I could trade it for anything close and retain any cash from the deal.
 
Dacmagic - Probably worth $350 +/-.  Anything out there that sounds (nearly) as good for enough less to make it worth while?
 
Cans - I really love my D7000's.  I also loved my AT ESW10's, my Senn HD580's and my shure SE530's.  Of the modest selection of gear I've owned, these are my favorites.  The D7000's and the ESW10's are my all time favorites to date, whith the D7000's winning for comfort.  If I can get 90% of the sound quality and comfort in another CLOSED can, maybe there is some money to be retained in the trade?
 
Music - Prog rock, jazz, classical, LOTS of acoustic and male and female vocals. A bit of rock and metal, virtually no rap or hip hop.  Generally pretty quiet listening levels.
 
I'm looking forward to any suggestions the head-fi community can offer, whether it be recommended changes, or telling me I've already built the rig that punches above it's weight for what I'm looking for.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

From the way you have described your present setup, I would save for your new obsession and leave what you already have alone.

 

[Frank I]

 
Quote:

I'm thinking of downgrading my headphone rig a bit to see if I can free up a little extra cash to put into my new obsession - the speaker rig.
 
Currently:
Digital Source
A mac mini streaming to airport express - that part stays, at least the ability to stream.  There are better options than the airport express, but I already own two Airport expresses, so I think I'll stand pat on the very front end.
 
Analog Conversion
A Cambridge Audio Dacmagic fed optically from the Airport express
 
Amp
A MisterX built Dynalo.
 
Headphones
Denon D7000.
 
I really struggle with parting with any of these, especially the Denons.  The sound signature is close to perfect, and likely as good as I'll find with closed phones, for my taste.
 
Requirements:
CLOSED PHONES - my listening requires that I minimize sound leakage, and to a lesser degree, I need the isolation.  I listen in bed, or in the living room when I'm not interested in the TV show that everyone else is watching.
 
A good DAC, as my primary music source will be digital out from the airport express or my macbook pro.  Secondary source is the iPhone - its pretty good, but I don't want it as my only source.
 
A good amp.
 
The Dynalo was about $200 used, probably worth $175 all day long now.  I doubt I could trade it for anything close and retain any cash from the deal.
 
Dacmagic - Probably worth $350 +/-.  Anything out there that sounds (nearly) as good for enough less to make it worth while?
 
Cans - I really love my D7000's.  I also loved my AT ESW10's, my Senn HD580's and my shure SE530's.  Of the modest selection of gear I've owned, these are my favorites.  The D7000's and the ESW10's are my all time favorites to date, whith the D7000's winning for comfort.  If I can get 90% of the sound quality and comfort in another CLOSED can, maybe there is some money to be retained in the trade?
 
Music - Prog rock, jazz, classical, LOTS of acoustic and male and female vocals. A bit of rock and metal, virtually no rap or hip hop.  Generally pretty quiet listening levels.
 
I'm looking forward to any suggestions the head-fi community can offer, whether it be recommended changes, or telling me I've already built the rig that punches above it's weight for what I'm looking for.

You want to downsize your rig, To design a good 2 channel system we need  some information to see what you really want to spend to get what you desire. The room size is important before any advice can be given on what would work well. How much money do you want to budget? How important is the wife approval factor? It is entirely possible to put together a very nice system for about 2K that will give you 90 percent of what a 30K system could do. Please give more information and I would be glad to shoot you some ideas as 2 channel has always been a passion for the last 30 years. The nice thing about headphones the room never comes into the equation.

 

[muad]

Umm, I think he's looking for advice on a headphone setup he could downgrade to and achieve 90% of his current sound...
 
Anyways, I agree with the first poster. If you're happy with your setup, then keep it. I think trying to downgrade is gonna lead to regrets. Save up and get speakers. Keep in mind that dac magic will carry over as a dac for your speaker setup. Can your dynalo be used as a preamp for your speaker rig? It may sound just as good as a much more expensive preamp! As for the headphones, I'd probably just get rid of some and keep your favorite one or two.
 
For example in my speaker and headphone rig i use my audio-gd fun as a dac, headphone amp and preamp for my speakers.
 
Good luck!

 

[aamefford]

Ahhh, I must have been unclear!  My desire is to downsize the headphone rig, to free up a bit of cash for the speaker rig.  Design of the speaker rig is another subject.  Nonetheless Frank, you bring up some fun questions, so I'll derail my own thread a bit:
 
Room size - connected family room / kitchen, maybe 30 x 12 with the speakers in the family room side, firing across the short dimension on the family room half.  No room treatment, carpeted floor.  Basically a crappy listening room, but its what I have to work with.
 
Budget is variable.  What I have so far, a new Peachtree Nova ~$1220.00, and a pair of Fritzspeakers Grove Towers (demos' and a heck of a price, compete favorably with the likes of Totem Forest) ~$1050.00.  My next object of desire - a class-d power amp in the roughly 150 to 150 wpc range.  I am looking at Audiogon and also considering building a kit from Class-d Audio.  I am also considering used class a/b, but the class-d really fits my space constraints, both in size and temperature.  I want the amp(s) because the Groves like a bit of power.  The Nova is rated as 80 wpc into 6 ohm, so probably about 60 into the more conventional 8 ohm.  They are a tripath chip amp.  I'd like a bit more headroom and bass control, I don't really need additional volume.  Plus, I just want to see what a healthy class-d amp will do.  Budget here is probably (much) less than $750.
 
So, lets open this up to the original headphone rig question, AND comments, questions and recommendations on the speaker rig.  Cheers!
 

 

[freakmax]

I would keep D7000 and save up a little bit for the speaker rig.
Patience is golden.

 

[Acix]

You can get the M-50 on ebay.

 

[nickchen]

Click on the "closed back" link in my sig & take a look...

 

[aamefford]

Quote:

Click on the "closed back" link in my sig & take a look...

That looks pretty cool.  I did some fairly extensive mods to a pair of Ultrasones a while back.  It made them a much better pair of headphones.  That said, I don't think I want to DIY a pair of headphones again for a while.  I'm starting to think I can't get there from here - that what I finally have is really what I want for now, and that trying to liquidate and replace on a budget will not generate enough extra funds to make it worth while.

 

[VALIENTE]

Quote:

You can get the M-50 on ebay.

Or a Grado SR60.

 

[aamefford]

Quote:

Or a Grado SR60.

Grados and I don't get along.  I owned the SR125, auditioned SR60 through SR225, and I've heard RS2.  They are just not my style.  Much as my beloved Denons are not everyone's favorite by a long shot.
 

 

[pcf]

Would you consider trading your Denon down to D5000 or D2000 for now?
You can always get another pair of D7000 in the future.
Just a thought.

 

[aamefford]

I owned the D5000, and I've heard the D2000. Short answer is no. Now if I could get the esw10 sound in a circumaural for say $200, I might consider that.

 

[Ypoknons]

On a side-note, is the D7000 that different from the D2/5K? I see you like the D7K and ESW10, I'm a ESW10 and D5000 owner who doesn't like the D5K at all.

 

[aamefford]

The D7000 is still a denon, but is better in every way over the D5000. It is still colored, lush and with huge bass. The bass is "correct" in the D7000, not boomy and flabby as with the D5000. If you don't like the denon house sound, you won't like the d7000. I drank the coolaide and I love mine.