[OldDude04]

Yup, the pics came through. Great way to get the SZ2k up and running again.

 

[StarTreker]

Yes we see the pics now. Photo sharing sites are so unreliable now because they don't want to pay the cost of running their own sharing service, so they force you to upgrade to some premium paid package deal, just so you can share pictures on message boards. Which is why I like that Headfi, allows for direct upload to the site, makes life better lol. Your fix looks like the original minus the color. You could always paint those white hinges black you know.

 

[me69]

Yes we see the pics now. Photo sharing sites are so unreliable now because they don't want to pay the cost of running their own sharing service, so they force you to upgrade to some premium paid package deal, just so you can share pictures on message boards. Which is why I like that Headfi, allows for direct upload to the site, makes life better lol. Your fix looks like the original minus the color. You could always paint those white hinges black you know.

We all want a better life! Having some good headphones certainly helps with that... I did consider painting the hinges black (actually, they are a light green color but that didn't really show in the photos) but I kind of like the Frankenstein-ish look about them now.

Yup, the pics came through. Great way to get the SZ2k up and running again.

Yes, after over a year of doing without them, it's good to be able to use them again. Shame about the disintegrating vinyl on the headband, although that does not affect the sound at all. Just leaves some black flecks in my hair...

 

[smodtactical]

Quote:

I suspect that it is the Japanese to English translation of what is commonly known as faux leather. So no animals were harmed, which would in turn not cause sales problems with customers who might be turned off by the use of animal hide.

Has this been confirmed anywhere? I sent a message asking JVC. I wonder if the leather on the pads and headband is totally faux or made from eggshell membrane like annoying fostex th900 arghh

EDIT from the uk site, god damn it:

"In addition to the low-resilience cushons, the HA-SZ2000 features Protein Leather ear pads."

http://uk.jvc.com/microsite/uk/szfxz/sz/index.html

 

[424358]

I just bought used SZ1000s on eBay. What should I look out for?

Blown drivers show rattling? Anything else that is common fault with these? Hinges?

Not sure what amp I want to get to drive these yet either. Will be driven from my laptop, iPhone, and nw-a45 till I find an amp I want.

 

[StarTreker]

I just bought used SZ1000s on eBay. What should I look out for?

Blown drivers show rattling? Anything else that is common fault with these? Hinges?

Not sure what amp I want to get to drive these yet either. Will be driven from my laptop, iPhone, and nw-a45 till I find an amp I want.

Be careful when putting them on and taking them off, do not stress the hinges out too much by spreading the cans out too much. The only way you are going to toast these drivers, is if you are driving more then 1.5 watts through them. The Fiio A3 AMP which is what I have will drive them. If you want a little more power, you could try the new Fiio E18 amp.

 

[OldDude04]

Be careful when putting them on and taking them off, do not stress the hinges out too much by spreading the cans out too much. The only way you are going to toast these drivers, is if you are driving more then 1.5 watts through them. The Fiio A3 AMP which is what I have will drive them. If you want a little more power, you could try the new Fiio E18 amp.

They can take more power than that . I've ran up to 3W a channel using my Schiit Magni into the SZ2k and they are still kicking. But seriously, don't stress the hinges @misterchao, we've seen some snap. I don't even fold mine up at all, I just keep them hanging on a headphone stand.

 

[StarTreker]

OK guys, I didn't want to spend over 100 dollars for an amp, back when the Fiio E12 Mont Blanc was the king of the land for portable amps. So I chose to go with the Fiio A3 and its wimpy 450MW output power, so I only had to spend 60 bucks. Now, to be fair, the A3 has driven my cans pretty good. But when I really want to push my cans for seriously awesome hardcore sound, the amp just kind of falls short a bit. Also, if you try to drive these cans at closer to maximum AMP gain levels, you will get distortion.

Sure the A3 gets the cans too loud for me to stand if thats what I am looking for. But in reality, I just want an amp that can get my cans loud, with nearly 0% distortion, and I also don't want to hear clipping when a T-Rex in Jurassic Park decides to call out his dominance. Fiio decided to discontinue the Fiio E12 2-years ago, as they replaced it with the Fiio A5. While I would prefer something that can put out at least a whole watt, since its almost 2019 now, you aint going to get that for less then 200 dollars I think.

So I have just ordered the Fiio A5 amp. Many people like it, and have given positive reviews for it. Even that crazy guy Zeo's wanted to make deep love to it while listening to Uncle screwr. Yeah, he's a bit of a nut, but is well known in the audio gear community. Anyways, here is the link to the amp, and some sleak pictures of it.
https://www.amazon.com/A5-Portable-...=UTF8&qid=1540591265&sr=8-13&keywords=fiio+q5

Question? Should I be spending more money when I am already in debt? Probably not. But life is short, and God knows where this country is going to end up. So I say, lets enjoy life until the very end.

 

[OldDude04]

Did your new amp need to be portable @StarTreker? Because the Schitt Magni 3 puts out 3W per channel @ 16 Ohm for $30 less, but you're not going on the road with it, lol.

 

[StarTreker]

Did your new amp need to be portable @StarTreker? Because the Schitt Magni 3 puts out 3W per channel @ 16 Ohm for $30 less, but you're not going on the road with it, lol.

You are so right, I found that out about the Magni 3 most recently. (FYI, I've seen the insides of all three Magni boxes from over the years, there are some minute differences inside, pics online) Technically, I could have gone that rout since I don't use an amp portably. However, someday I might, so getting it just makes sense just incase. The other factor is, the amp is on my couch, and I got a lot of crap on the other seat as it is. The Magni boxes while small, are larger then the Fiio A5, just don't need the Magni taking up so much room. Plus, I don't like that the Magni only uses 1/4" jacks, means I would need to get an adapter, yet another connection to add to my already numerous connections, naa.

Do you own a Magni? If so, which version? There was the Magni 1, Magni 2, Magni 2 Uber, Magni 3, and these days they just call the Magni 3 a Magni for some reason. Which amp do you primarily use for your setup? Desktop amp? Portable amp?

One of the reasons why I really love the Fiio amps, is that they do not change the sound signature. All they do is straight amplify. Yes you can throw on high gain and bass boost, but that still doesn't change the architecture of the sound. Fiio seems to understand that doing straight amplification is what half of all audiophiles want. The only difference is, their newer amps provide more power, and they use higher end chips inside.

The other half of audiophiles, prefer a warmer sound, so they opt for sound signature changes, such as what all tube amplifiers do. And some of them are so diehard fans of it, they will run modern day turn tables, through pre-amps, and into a tube amp. Frankly, I don't really understand their side of the audiophile realm. Give me digital amplification and high fidelity any day, pumping raw power into the bass channel, to literally make you feel like your going through space at warp speed, and then slam the breaks hard when you get her out of ludicriss speed.

 

[OldDude04]

You are so right, I found that out about the Magni 3 most recently. (FYI, I've seen the insides of all three Magni boxes from over the years, there are some minute differences inside, pics online) Technically, I could have gone that rout since I don't use an amp portably. However, someday I might, so getting it just makes sense just incase. The other factor is, the amp is on my couch, and I got a lot of crap on the other seat as it is. The Magni boxes while small, are larger then the Fiio A5, just don't need the Magni taking up so much room. Plus, I don't like that the Magni only uses 1/4" jacks, means I would need to get an adapter, yet another connection to add to my already numerous connections, naa.

Do you own a Magni? If so, which version? There was the Magni 1, Magni 2, Magni 2 Uber, Magni 3, and these days they just call the Magni 3 a Magni for some reason. Which amp do you primarily use for your setup? Desktop amp? Portable amp?

One of the reasons why I really love the Fiio amps, is that they do not change the sound signature. All they do is straight amplify. Yes you can throw on high gain and bass boost, but that still doesn't change the architecture of the sound. Fiio seems to understand that doing straight amplification is what half of all audiophiles want. The only difference is, their newer amps provide more power, and they use higher end chips inside.


The other half of audiophiles, prefer a warmer sound, so they opt for sound signature changes, such as what all tube amplifiers do. And some of them are so diehard fans of it, they will run modern day turn tables, through pre-amps, and into a tube amp. Frankly, I don't really understand their side of the audiophile realm. Give me digital amplification and high fidelity any day, pumping raw power into the bass channel, to literally make you feel like your going through space at warp speed, and then slam the breaks hard when you get her out of ludicriss speed.

I own the Magni 3/Grace SDAC as my work setup, the Topping D30/Garage1217 Project Polaris as my home setup, and my LG V30/Cayin C5 as my portable setup. To answer your question, I use the desktop setups primarily. And the reason I asked if your amp needed to be portable is because the SZ1k/SZ2k love the extra juice of the desktop setups. The sound good from my Cayin C5 (800mW x 2) on high gain with bass boost on, but they will bounce your skull around with the more powerful desktop amps in a way that the smaller portable amps just can't do. My question to you is why do your amps sit on your couch? Lol.

Also, the 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter is a very common thing, and no big deal to just leave in the front of the Magni 3. Most everyone into audio should have one or two sitting around. I have at least 10 sitting in drawers and boxes I'm sure.

 

[StarTreker]

I own the Magni 3/Grace SDAC as my work setup, the Topping D30/Garage1217 Project Polaris as my home setup, and my LG V30/Cayin C5 as my portable setup. To answer your question, I use the desktop setups primarily. And the reason I asked if your amp needed to be portable is because the SZ1k/SZ2k love the extra juice of the desktop setups. The sound good from my Cayin C5 (800mW x 2) on high gain with bass boost on, but they will bounce your skull around with the more powerful desktop amps in a way that the smaller portable amps just can't do. My question to you is why do your amps sit on your couch? Lol.

Also, the 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter is a very common thing, and no big deal to just leave in the front of the Magni 3. Most everyone into audio should have one or two sitting around. I have at least 10 sitting in drawers and boxes I'm sure.

WOW, you have a really nice setup dude, I really approve! That makes sense that you use mostly desktops setups, they are probably usually better, unless your buying the cheapest Chinese made amps. Even Zeo's has given his approval to some 100 dollar desktop amps. Maybe I should have got the Magni 3 amp, but its too late now, the order has been placed, and its been hours since placing it, so its probably beyond the ability to cancel.

Yeah, I know those adapter don't cost much money, I just don't want to add to the numerous connections I have already pass through, also, I don't want it sticking out too far where I could accidently snag against it and snap the port off or something. Well, keep in mind too that the SZ2000's need more power then the SZ1000's, so I can totally see how the 2000's benefit from some 1.5 watts or more of raw power being dumped into it. But the SZ10000's should be happy with 800MW to 1 watt respectively.

The amp is on my couch, because these dam SZ cans only got a dinky 3 foot cable, that won't reach nothing. So I got a 6 foot cable linking the Fiio digital to analog DAC to the amp, so that the amp can be near me and can easily control the volume to my cans while watching, gaming, or listening on my tv. You know, companies that make these cans should really make them with a retractable cable or something. The idea is, when on the go portable, shorten the cable to the length you need. When at home doing home theator, lengthen the cable.

 

[StarTreker]

The reason I asked if your amp needed to be portable is because the SZ1k/SZ2k love the extra juice of the desktop setups.

BTW, I just realized that the 800MW spec on the A5, is for 32OHM. Since my cans are 16OHM, chances are, the A5 will be outputting a full watt to the drivers. OK, I am definitely happy about the purchase then. lol

 

[StarTreker]

Holy Crap!!!

Which were the first words that came to mind, when I put the amp to high gain, bass boost on, and set the level to 3/4. Lets just say, I put on some Wiz Khalifia On My Level, and I can tell you right now, oh I am on my level alright! When I listened to that track with the old A3, it did sound amazing, I aint gonna lie. And I really didn't think that it could get any better with the SZ1000's. Dude, you put a whole watt through these babies, and they open up like the gates of hell, ready to to kick some demons a**. With the old A3, it sounded like my head was in a 10" sub woofer. But with the newer A5, my head sounds like its in a 15" sub.

Also, games and movies are nicer as well. The A5 really brings out the sound more, in all the frequency ranges. You still need EQ oh yes, you can't run a single pair of JVC cans from the SZ series without EQ. But the A5, produces more punch, and more low end then the A3 did, due to the power increase. Another example would be, if you watched the Matrix on the A3, you would hear when Neo entered bullet time. But on the A5, you don't just hear it, you feel it baby!

I got it on high gain, cause of course, who's gonna use low gain with these cans right? LOL! And I got the bass boost on cause you know, I'm all about that bass! This amp pumps out some power yo. This A5 is a little bit bigger then the A3, no surprise there, when it comes to the power increase. Male voices are deeper with the bass boost on. Folks like Zeo's who are not a true basshead, would rather have that switch off, but hey, if you can't stand the bass, get out of the sub woofer.

So, if your used to your cans vibrating before, well, these are gonna shake your brain all night long. And its gonna feel so good, that your gonna pop a nut! I do find it a bit weird that Fiio chose to put the USB plugin on the side, I really don't see how that benefits anyone. Personally, I thought the USB port on the back end of the A3 to be a finer choice. However, there is an improvement with the line in and headphone out ports being on the front now, good move. I like the volume knob on the A5 better as well, its easier to grab a hold and rotate. (thats what she said)

So in conclusion, what does all this mean? It means, if you wanna be on the level, like your boy Wiz Khalifia, you better get the A5. Nobody got time for no wimpy A3! Get the A3 for your old lady, and get the A5 to keep alive.

 

[tegrah]

It has begun, the decay is here. It's been doing so well, I thought this would never happen but alas.
It's very sad.