stewtheking
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- May 6, 2005
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So, this weekend saw another London Mini-meet. If you live in London and you missed a second one of these, then shame on you, where were you, on the moon? Not to worry though, as there’s another one coming upon the 30th July in Crouch end. (Check the meetings forum)
So this was a quite small affair, with just StevieDvd and myself for the main part, and Vic joining us in the middle before he had to run off back to work. (Too much dedication I feel). Both Vic and Steve are great guys, and a pleasure to have about the place, especially when they bring such great gear along.
So, to the impressions. Before Vic arrived, Steve and myself busied ourselves with portables. Basically I was checking out his two mighty fine portable amps against my young pretender. This was the first time I had seen anything by Ray Samuels, and I liked these babies very much. Build quality was superb, and both of these guys were really neatly presented, easy to get your fingers around, and sounded fab. From my iPod and using my e5c’s as the cans, both the SR-71 and the Hornet were really pretty darn great, the only problem I had with the SR-71 was there was some hiss. I know my ears are pretty picky with hiss, and I get a bit anal about it, but it definitely was there and annoyed me. The adjustable gain on the Hornet sorted this out for me, though, and I was able to put it out of my mind and have a more proper listen.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I did like this amp, and it certainly was a bit more capable than my Cmoy, but it really was only a little bit. My Cmoy is configured for unity gain, so if anything it’s more just a buffer with a volume control, and I assume that the hornet is doing a bit more than that, but the differences the Hornet gave me were not ones that I was really fussed about. There was a bit more detail, sure. There was a tad more bass and treble extension, definitely. But I had this nagging feeling I was missing something. I am sure that if I had one of these longer term I would learn to love the sound, but I am glad that my little home-build was not too embarrased.
This effect was not, however, continued when I tried them with another portable can, the KSC75. These seem pretty sensitive to amplification, and when these were tested with the same setup, the Ray Samuels amps easily trounced my own, with the differences in detail, and extension being far more apparent. That said, with funds as they are (decimated) I am unlikely to be placing an order here any time soon, but it’s certainly one for the future. In the interests of being thorough, I remember trying on Steve’s ATH FC7s, and remember them being pretty comfy, however I don’t think I got around to plugging them in for a listen, because about now, Vic arrived with armfuls of new toys.
Those of you following Vic’s “battle” thread will know that since the national meet he has been on a bit of a buying spree, and most of the spoils of that arrived at my house. I got a chance to have at least a brief listen to these before he left. I have just summarised my impressions on each one.
HD650 Balanced.
Not sure really which bit here was impressing me. These were great cans, clearly worlds above my 580’s, however in comparing the 2, I was going from stock 580’s up against recabled, balanced 650’s out of the Lavry. Although the differences were immediately apparent, I am not sure whether it was the different output from the lavry, or the better cable, or the better headphones that were making a difference. These were really nice however, and I am more seriously considering the upgrade from 580 to 650 in the near(ish) future.
K701
With all the hype surrounding these cans, I am not sure what I was expecting. Maybe I was expecting more than they were ever going to produce, but I went away from these disappointed. Firstly the comfort didn’t agree with me. I assume that the pads will squoosh in over time, but when I tried them, they were too firm. That, combined with the self-adjusting headband pushed them into the bottom of my ears, and annoyed me. The other thing is, I can’t get over how CHEAP they look. For a serious audio company, to cash in on iPod white in their flagship model is bad enough, but apart from the gorgeous leather headband, these felt tacky and plasticy. The sound on these was pretty good, with excellent detail and soundstage, but I felt a bit lacking in bass. Maybe as the pads squoosh in and the drivers move closer to the ear this would improve, but as is, I was underwhelmed.
SA5000
Firstly… WOW. In comparison to the AKG’s, Sony have done something very, very right with the look and feel of these cans. Gorgeous metal everywhere and really neat adjusting segments. These were probably the most comfortable cans I tried all day, and (excluding woodies) easily the most beautiful. That said, the sound was just not for me. The detail was too much, and the highs were a bit too prominent, just on the verge of sibilance. I have mentioned my picky ears before, and here again, the cans were just enough to annoy me. In spite of the superb looks, (really, photography does not do it justice) these are definitely not the cans for me.
W5000
At the last meet I was disappointed by these. I couldn’t get around the fit issues I was having, and didn’t manage to get a proper enjoyable listen out of them. This time, however Vic had fixed the “wings” on top and I was able to hear them properly. Although it was only a brief listen, I was clear that these are something special. Certainly one of the best, if not the best cans I have heard, these excel pretty much in every area. Mmmm… I wish I had had longer on these. But Cest la vie, there’s always next month.
Whilst we’re on the subject of headphones, and before a brief look at amps, I’ll say a few words about Steve’s ‘phones. Aside from the recabled balanced 650’s that I didn’t end up listening to, I was entering Grado/Allesandro country, and more specifically, Headphile country.
This was my first experience of Larry’s work other than in photographs, and his skills with wood are exactly as good as they are made out to be. Steve had headphiled MS-1’s MS2I’s and HHF-1’s.
Each of these cans was beautiful in their own right, and sound-wise very different. The MS-1 was startlingly similar to the SR-60, almost disappointingly so given the work that had clearly gone into it. This was the fun SR-60 sound I know and love, with a little bit more rounded wooden sound. The HHF-1’s were different, these reminded me a lot of how my RS-1 used to sound, rich and warm and fantastic. Made me realise just how much of a gift the HF-1 was to head-fi.
The MS2I were also a great draw, especially the chance to try the C-pads. Coming from somebody who was fairly happy with the comfort of bowl pads, these were still an improvement, and seemed to give the sound a bit more air, with the possible side effect of losing some bass response.
I was going to write about some amps here, but with one thing and another, and my computer losing the file I wrote the first time around, I have pretty much forgotten how they sounded, apart from that each of the solid state amps that arrived were pretty good, the corda and the original master fighting it out for top honours, the benchmark sitting below, and then the WNA, just bringing up the rear.
I will just mention Steve’s corking creek CD player that I had a brief listen to at the end, which seemed like a really great bit of kit, but unfortunately I had done a bit too much listening by this point to make any meaningful comparisons.
* sigh * Right, that’s all folks, the sum total of my impressions. And now for some pics.
Mmmmm… GORGEOUS red wood. I spy one of these in my distant future.
Sexy silver DAC and CD player combo. That Benchmark DAC is so beautifully made.
The Corda amp, (I forget it’s full title)
The WNA, a great little amp
The original master. Sleek, and less dusty than the picture makes out…
Finally, the scene in my living room. Can you spot all the gear?
We had a great day here, and hope to have just as much fun at the July Meet, coming up later this month.
Stew
So this was a quite small affair, with just StevieDvd and myself for the main part, and Vic joining us in the middle before he had to run off back to work. (Too much dedication I feel). Both Vic and Steve are great guys, and a pleasure to have about the place, especially when they bring such great gear along.
So, to the impressions. Before Vic arrived, Steve and myself busied ourselves with portables. Basically I was checking out his two mighty fine portable amps against my young pretender. This was the first time I had seen anything by Ray Samuels, and I liked these babies very much. Build quality was superb, and both of these guys were really neatly presented, easy to get your fingers around, and sounded fab. From my iPod and using my e5c’s as the cans, both the SR-71 and the Hornet were really pretty darn great, the only problem I had with the SR-71 was there was some hiss. I know my ears are pretty picky with hiss, and I get a bit anal about it, but it definitely was there and annoyed me. The adjustable gain on the Hornet sorted this out for me, though, and I was able to put it out of my mind and have a more proper listen.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I did like this amp, and it certainly was a bit more capable than my Cmoy, but it really was only a little bit. My Cmoy is configured for unity gain, so if anything it’s more just a buffer with a volume control, and I assume that the hornet is doing a bit more than that, but the differences the Hornet gave me were not ones that I was really fussed about. There was a bit more detail, sure. There was a tad more bass and treble extension, definitely. But I had this nagging feeling I was missing something. I am sure that if I had one of these longer term I would learn to love the sound, but I am glad that my little home-build was not too embarrased.
This effect was not, however, continued when I tried them with another portable can, the KSC75. These seem pretty sensitive to amplification, and when these were tested with the same setup, the Ray Samuels amps easily trounced my own, with the differences in detail, and extension being far more apparent. That said, with funds as they are (decimated) I am unlikely to be placing an order here any time soon, but it’s certainly one for the future. In the interests of being thorough, I remember trying on Steve’s ATH FC7s, and remember them being pretty comfy, however I don’t think I got around to plugging them in for a listen, because about now, Vic arrived with armfuls of new toys.
Those of you following Vic’s “battle” thread will know that since the national meet he has been on a bit of a buying spree, and most of the spoils of that arrived at my house. I got a chance to have at least a brief listen to these before he left. I have just summarised my impressions on each one.
HD650 Balanced.
Not sure really which bit here was impressing me. These were great cans, clearly worlds above my 580’s, however in comparing the 2, I was going from stock 580’s up against recabled, balanced 650’s out of the Lavry. Although the differences were immediately apparent, I am not sure whether it was the different output from the lavry, or the better cable, or the better headphones that were making a difference. These were really nice however, and I am more seriously considering the upgrade from 580 to 650 in the near(ish) future.
K701
With all the hype surrounding these cans, I am not sure what I was expecting. Maybe I was expecting more than they were ever going to produce, but I went away from these disappointed. Firstly the comfort didn’t agree with me. I assume that the pads will squoosh in over time, but when I tried them, they were too firm. That, combined with the self-adjusting headband pushed them into the bottom of my ears, and annoyed me. The other thing is, I can’t get over how CHEAP they look. For a serious audio company, to cash in on iPod white in their flagship model is bad enough, but apart from the gorgeous leather headband, these felt tacky and plasticy. The sound on these was pretty good, with excellent detail and soundstage, but I felt a bit lacking in bass. Maybe as the pads squoosh in and the drivers move closer to the ear this would improve, but as is, I was underwhelmed.
SA5000
Firstly… WOW. In comparison to the AKG’s, Sony have done something very, very right with the look and feel of these cans. Gorgeous metal everywhere and really neat adjusting segments. These were probably the most comfortable cans I tried all day, and (excluding woodies) easily the most beautiful. That said, the sound was just not for me. The detail was too much, and the highs were a bit too prominent, just on the verge of sibilance. I have mentioned my picky ears before, and here again, the cans were just enough to annoy me. In spite of the superb looks, (really, photography does not do it justice) these are definitely not the cans for me.
W5000
At the last meet I was disappointed by these. I couldn’t get around the fit issues I was having, and didn’t manage to get a proper enjoyable listen out of them. This time, however Vic had fixed the “wings” on top and I was able to hear them properly. Although it was only a brief listen, I was clear that these are something special. Certainly one of the best, if not the best cans I have heard, these excel pretty much in every area. Mmmm… I wish I had had longer on these. But Cest la vie, there’s always next month.
Whilst we’re on the subject of headphones, and before a brief look at amps, I’ll say a few words about Steve’s ‘phones. Aside from the recabled balanced 650’s that I didn’t end up listening to, I was entering Grado/Allesandro country, and more specifically, Headphile country.
This was my first experience of Larry’s work other than in photographs, and his skills with wood are exactly as good as they are made out to be. Steve had headphiled MS-1’s MS2I’s and HHF-1’s.
Each of these cans was beautiful in their own right, and sound-wise very different. The MS-1 was startlingly similar to the SR-60, almost disappointingly so given the work that had clearly gone into it. This was the fun SR-60 sound I know and love, with a little bit more rounded wooden sound. The HHF-1’s were different, these reminded me a lot of how my RS-1 used to sound, rich and warm and fantastic. Made me realise just how much of a gift the HF-1 was to head-fi.
The MS2I were also a great draw, especially the chance to try the C-pads. Coming from somebody who was fairly happy with the comfort of bowl pads, these were still an improvement, and seemed to give the sound a bit more air, with the possible side effect of losing some bass response.
I was going to write about some amps here, but with one thing and another, and my computer losing the file I wrote the first time around, I have pretty much forgotten how they sounded, apart from that each of the solid state amps that arrived were pretty good, the corda and the original master fighting it out for top honours, the benchmark sitting below, and then the WNA, just bringing up the rear.
I will just mention Steve’s corking creek CD player that I had a brief listen to at the end, which seemed like a really great bit of kit, but unfortunately I had done a bit too much listening by this point to make any meaningful comparisons.
* sigh * Right, that’s all folks, the sum total of my impressions. And now for some pics.
Mmmmm… GORGEOUS red wood. I spy one of these in my distant future.
Sexy silver DAC and CD player combo. That Benchmark DAC is so beautifully made.
The Corda amp, (I forget it’s full title)
The WNA, a great little amp
The original master. Sleek, and less dusty than the picture makes out…
Finally, the scene in my living room. Can you spot all the gear?
We had a great day here, and hope to have just as much fun at the July Meet, coming up later this month.
Stew
