[mektarus]

Awww...it's great to see this thread still hanging around. Thanks for the suggestion, Steely. Have any of you that bought both the A250 and A130 done a long term comparison?

 

[facelvega]

Yes, I'd like to hear some reports about this too. A friend who missed out on the A250 but loved my pair ordered the A130 just as I was leaving Boston for Berlin, and I added one to the order as well, which I'll pick up when I head back for a visit in October. So, my friend has heard both (but not A/B) on his old Headroom mini and his Rega amp. AFAIK he's done no mods, apart from a little glue to cure the rattle. He reports that they are easily better than his SR-60, K301, DT231, and (the obligatory) KSC-75, but not as much better as my A250 are. He also says that the two A130's sound noticeably different from one another. So far, this and what you guys have said are all I have to go on.

I think it's amazing after all this discussion that there are still 41 of the original what, 100? still available. How could you pony up the cash to buy, say, some A900's without risking a mere $33 on what may well be superior headphones? I guess the rattle issue scared a lot of people away.

edit, uh-oh, I hope nickchen doesn't read me snubbing the A900. Let's say "what may well be comparable headphones" instead, shall we?

 

[phergus_25]

I think that its people dont want to buy somethign new and have to fix it. but for such a great price I wouldent have a prob. BUT, Iv got my A250s.

 

[The Dan of Steel]

I bought mine about 2 weeks ago. I ordered knowing what would have to go into owning them thanks to this thread. So when I put them on for the first time and heard the rattle it wasn't a surprise. I was a little skeptical about taking off the pads, but it was much like taking off and putting on a tire on a rim. Unscrewed the housing and glued down the drivers. Then on to enjoy some great cans. Didn't take more than 15 minutes. I'll take a $150 can for $35 and 15 minutes of my time any day of the week. Nuff said.

 

[steely333]

I didn't get at aA250's. If, they have the same driver they very well could use the same fix. Very easy to try anway.

 

[phergus_25]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steely333 I didn't get at aA250's. If, they have the same driver they very well could use the same fix. Very easy to try anway.

the A250s dont have the screws to get into the cups, they are glued togeather.
-greg

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phergus_25 the A250s dont have the screws to get into the cups, they are glued togeather. -greg

Um, the 250's housing is screwed in. I think you meant that the driver is glued into the housing, but the housing itself is held together with 4 screws at the 4 corners of the ear cup.

I started a 30 page thread? YEAH!

 

[DLxX]

How would you guys compare the a130 and a sony v6?

 

[phergus_25]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSloth Um, the 250's housing is screwed in. I think you meant that the driver is glued into the housing, but the housing itself is held together with 4 screws at the 4 corners of the ear cup. I started a 30 page thread? YEAH!

O, wow , I didnt see those. Time to recable.

 

[VR6ofpain]

 

[DLxX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLxX How would you guys compare the a130 and a sony v6?

No answers?

 

[izquierdaste]

Does anyone find that these headphones are too easy to drive. I find it very difficult to amp these with a 0db source. It is just too loud. In fact, back when I had a pa2v2, I could turn the amp off, then turn the volume to zero and i still found it too loud. I have tried a 75 ohm adapter and that only made a marginal difference. Are my sources too loud (e.g. dac-ah)? How do you work around this? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by izquierdaste Does anyone find that these headphones are too easy to drive. I find it very difficult to amp these with a 0db source. It is just too loud. In fact, back when I had a pa2v2, I could turn the amp off, then turn the volume to zero and i still found it too loud. I have tried a 75 ohm adapter and that only made a marginal difference. Are my sources too loud (e.g. dac-ah)? How do you work around this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Brian

???? You turn the PA2V2 "OFF" with the volume at zero and still hear sound? That must be one heck of a PA2V2!!!

I dont find them difficult to amp at all..... But they still are less sensitive than my RS1.


lets start fom square 1. Whats your source? what amp are you using? Any EQ boost? is your DAC outboard? Turn all gain settings down... what happens?

 

[izquierdaste]

Hey, thanks for the response.

My main source is a lite dac-ah, so I don't think that I can turn the gain down, unless I use my computer to feed the dac-ah and turn the volume down in foobar. However, I have heard that this degrades sound quality. My other source for the dac-ah is a dvd player. I cannot adjust gain at all with that.

I traded the pa2v2 for my new beloved pair of a250s. So that amp is gone now. I was also shocked that I could hear sound with the amp off! You should try it if you have one. If you turn the volume all the way down, you can hear music quite easily out of a powerful source. Once you turn the amp on, it gets quieter, but still present. I am currently using a little dot 2 amp as my main amp (no sound when off) but I am also getting a go-vibe v5 some day. As far as I know, I can't change the gain on either. When I use the little dot 2, I turn it just past the point where sound is audible (7 o'clock maybe). So maybe the go-vibe will solve the problem, but I've noticed people talking about using tube amps with these phones so I thought others may have some experience.

Thanks again

 

[slindeman]

It's likely a combination of your DAC having a high voltage output and your amp having a high gain. For a typical source and headphone I think a gain of 2-3 is plenty, but most amps seem to be in the 6-11 range.

FYI I used the A250s with my NOS dac which has about a 1.4V output and my Millet Tube Amp which has a gain of about 6, and like you, I didn't have to turn the volume up very much (8 o'clock). Maybe a headroom amp is up your ally since they have a low/high gain switch.