[ScornDefeat]

Totally off topic but how many of you do typical speaker stereo setup? If you do, I’m curious what you got?

Also, if any of you are interested in diy speaker cables, I can give you ingredients for some awesome cable on the cheap side that competes with far more expensive cables.

I am also very much into 2-channel. I'm new to head-fi, but doing 2-channel for many years.

Currently, I have the following:

DIY Streamer (Raspberry Pi + Audio-Linux) > Roon > Metrum Onyx DAC > Ayre K5xeMP pre-amp > Ayre V-X5e power amp > Volent Paragon VL-4 speakers

My stereo blows away my headphone setup, spend-wise, that's for sure. But my current living conditions dictate that headphones are more viable than stereo. I suspect that will change drastically in a couple of months.

 

[FYFL]

I am also very much into 2-channel. I'm new to head-fi, but doing 2-channel for many years.

Currently, I have the following:

DIY Streamer (Raspberry Pi + Audio-Linux) > Roon > Metrum Onyx DAC > Ayre K5xeMP pre-amp > Ayre V-X5e power amp > Volent Paragon VL-4 speakers.

My stereo blows away my headphone setup, spend-wise, that's for sure. But my current living conditions dictate that headphones are more viable than stereo. I suspect that will change drastically in a couple of months.

Violent rang the bell but I had to actually do a little search to refresh my memory. It didn’t. Lol
I remember their monitors years ago. Pricey little buggers. But I wasn’t expecting this extravaganza.
And I thought that I was burning money on my stereo rig.....lol
Im sure they sound fantastic. From build perspective alone I can sense quality and heart that was put into that design. Very impressive.
Ayre always had stellar reputation but I only heard it in show condition. But that was long time ago. DAC is unknown to me. Pi is interesting. I hear a lot of ppl use it. But beyond my confidence and skills level. Did you build it?

And I’m not surprised that it blows away your headphone rig. It’s hard to compete with well put together stero rig. It’s not even a contest. But good headphone setup can get you a taste in a bit more intimate presentation. Headphones are also great when blasting your rig at 90dB is put on pause by annoyed significant other.
Any plans to your stereo rig? It would be a shame to let it collect dust.

 

[Terriero]

I saw in a pic from @OctavianH that he has Adam A5X active monitors. I'm interested in those active monitors and if the differences between it's sibblings (A7X or A8X) mere the worth. Maybe in the future I will replace my old Fostex PM1 Mk2 for something better. I like the Adam's have the power switch at front.

How about the sound of those Adam's?, I have read just a little about them...

 

[OctavianH]

I quite like the A5X but for me the speaker system is only for youtube or gaming. I do not make any critical listening or anything on it since I am 100% on headphones. They sound good, build quality is top class. I have no idea how A7X or A8X sound. But keep in mind these are near field monitors, I am not sure if these are fine for a room, more for a shelf or like I keep them on my desk.

 

[Terriero]

Here is an old pic of my desk. I have them like that.

 

[OctavianH]

Seems fine, I keep them directly on the desk. This is an older photo as well but the position has not changed. Only the DAC + Upscaler.

 

[ScornDefeat]

You guys have great set-ups! Both are good, clean and functional. I will post mine up shortly, it'll take me some effort to get it at that good clean level haha.

@FYFL The Volent Paragons are certainly a hell of a design. Incredibly robust speakers, cost-no-worry type of design. They sound amazing as well but they really require a bigger room and played at 85db+ to get the best of them. I just can't do that now sadly. But I do have plans for the stereo rig....move into a new living quarters where I can have a listening room haha.

I built the Pi myself, and added a Pi2AES hat w/ RJ45 I2S out module. The Metrum Onyx is compatible with RJ45 I2S so it made sense to add it, although I do think USB is just as good anyway. But total cost of the Pi2AES and Pi streamer was like 200 bucks and very easy to build, so not a bad value proposition.

 

[Terriero]

You guys have great set-ups! Both are good, clean and functional. I will post mine up shortly, it'll take me some effort to get it at that good clean level haha.

That pic is old (a few years ago)... some things have changed since then. Now I'm moving my desk to other place at house and will post pics when done

 

[FYFL]

I had several monitors before but I always found it very challenging to get them sound right. I guess positioning and placement proved to be a bit much with designs I used at the time. Those were not what you would call a typical desktop monitors but rather a small bookshelf/stand mount speakers. Perhaps they’re never meant to be used near-field or close to the wall.
If I was going to try it again, I think I would have made sure that speakers were meant for such application. Buchardt speakers come to mind. Especially their new series with amp/dac/DSP build in. A bit pricey tho.

@FYFL The Volent Paragons are certainly a hell of a design. Incredibly robust speakers, cost-no-worry type of design. They sound amazing as well but they really require a bigger room and played at 85db+ to get the best of them. I just can't do that now sadly. But I do have plans for the stereo rig....move into a new living quarters where I can have a listening room haha.

I built the Pi myself, and added a Pi2AES hat w/ RJ45 I2S out module. The Metrum Onyx is compatible with RJ45 I2S so it made sense to add it, although I do think USB is just as good anyway. But total cost of the Pi2AES and Pi streamer was like 200 bucks and very easy to build, so not a bad value proposition.

Yeah, some speakers, especially low sensitivity ones, need some juice to get them going. 85dB isn’t incredibly loud. I’m guilty of pushing my speakers to 90dB+. They are great at low listening levels and some of dynamics are still coming through but when those 15” woofers get pushed a little harder, it gets intense. Lol
Your speakers sensitivity requires quite a bit of power to get them going and it makes power amp choice a bit complicated and perhaps pricey if you really care about feeding them with quality amp. And I think you did exceptionally well in that regard.
Ofcause my affair with tubes kind of prohibits me from speakers under 90dB. Therefore, my choices were limited to very efficient speakers. Cornwalls 4 are 102dB so you could probably run them with 1 or 2 watts in medium size room.
I hope it all works out and you get to enjoy your stereo rig again. There’s no alternative to well put together rig . No headphones or monitors can compete with full range assault. Lol
I’ll have to investigate that Pi solution. If you say that it’s relatively easy to put together, perhaps I might be able to handle it. Doubtfully, but I might give it a shot.
Any exotic cables in your system?

 

[OctavianH]

My home office desk usually is nice, but today became nicer because of a wood box I put on it.

And my T1.2 received a good competitor. I am very impressed, even if more honest I am blown away. These were the headphones I was searching since I was born, and only today I found them. It is love at first sight.

Soundwise, I will abstain in making complex statements, these need burn in and much more analyse. I will only say that preliminary impressions are:
- outstanding build quality, these are truly premium headphones
- cables are decent, but of course, not at the same level with the headphone itself
- comfort is good, even if these are the heaviest pair from T1.2, ADX5000 and Verite
- earpads are big enough and comfortable
- the level of details is the same or comparable to ADX5000, higher than T1.2
- these are warm headphones (with Verite pads), but the bass is better defined, more controlled and punchier than on T1.2 (one of the points I was not happy about them)
- instrument separation and 3D placement is better, here you really hear if an intrument is closer or far away from the microphone
- timbre is natural, closer to ADX5000 which are for me a kind of reference in terms of natural sound, closer to the real world

I will stop here, time will tell. One thing is for sure, these will never leave my house and these look like endgame.

 

[FYFL]

My home office desk usually is nice, but today became nicer because of a wood box I put on it.



And my T1.2 received a good competitor. I am very impressed, even if more honest I am blown away. These were the headphones I was searching since I was born, and only today I found them. It is love at first sight.



Soundwise, I will abstain in making complex statements, these need burn in and much more analyse. I will only say that preliminary impressions are:
- outstanding build quality, these are truly premium headphones
- cables are decent, but of course, not at the same level with the headphone itself
- comfort is good, even if these are the heaviest pair from T1.2, ADX5000 and Verite
- earpads are big enough and comfortable
- the level of details is the same or comparable to ADX5000, higher than T1.2
- these are warm headphones (with Verite pads), but the bass is better defined, more controlled and punchier than on T1.2 (one of the points I was not happy about them)
- instrument separation and 3D placement is better, here you really hear if an intrument is closer or far away from the microphone
- timbre is natural, closer to ADX5000 which are for me a kind of reference in terms of natural sound, closer to the real world

I will stop here, time will tell. One thing is for sure, this will never leave my house and these look like endgame.

I’m glad you like them. Keep your findings and comparison coming as I’m interested in these headphone for future upgrade. I’m interested to hear how they sound with tube amp especially and are they well balanced and tonally acceptable. As you know I don’t EQ and those are important factors to me. Comfort is also very important so report on that as well. They sure look pretty.

 

[Terriero]

Where did you buy the open Verites? (or was second hand?). I don't know if you have already said that in this thread. This forum is my perdition. I assume certain brands (Sony, Beyer, Denon...) but then appear Kennertons or Verites... aesthetically appealing and everybody saying that it's sound is so wonderful....

I think that the cost imported in Europe is about 2000 € or more... I'm interested in the closed ones... but that price put me away...

 

[OctavianH]

I will need time. These are very different than ADX5000 or HD800 and are more on the romantic side. So I am not sure if these are for you. The mids are darker as you mentioned before, and another interesting thing is that the pads, being quite wide, are keeping the driver at a bigger distance from the ear, this making somehow the soundstage more towards speakers. Of course, I might be crazy, but I never had this feeling with other headphones, with drivers closer to the ear, and it is quite nice. And these sound killer with metal, the electrical guitar is heavy as hell and the the drums are punching. These are fast and heavy as I always wanted. Not sure if these are so good for classical or jazz.

 

[OctavianH]

Where did you buy the open Verites? (or was second hand?). I don't know if you have already said that in this thread. This forum is my perdition. I assume certain brands (Sony, Beyer, Denon...) but then appear Kennertons or Verites... aesthetically appealing and everybody saying that it's sound is so wonderful....

I think that the cost imported in Europe is about 2000 € or more... I'm interested in the closed ones... but that price put me away...

I bought them from the UK, Acorn Audio.
https://www.acornaudio.co.uk/shop

They were new, and I am very happy that I've done this, since I think more and more each minute that these are my endgame headphones. I do not think I can find something better for me, or that I will ever need to search again for headphones.

 

[Terriero]

Comfort is also very important so report on that as well. They sure look pretty.

Comfort wise, @Malevolent put the closed ones at top with Z1R here