[BournePerfect]

Well it seems the PayPal dispute I filed yesterday got the ball rolling, cause I got an email reply finally! He claims my package is in US customs still and should receive it in about 10 days. That will put the total ship time at FOUR WEEKS. He did say he'd refund me for $25 for the long ship time. I appreciate the gesture, but I would have paid and extra $25 myself to expedite it had I known it would take this long. I also feel like the only reason he was willing to do this (and respond to me) is because of the PayPal dispute I filed less than 24 hours ago, which isn't cool in my book. Anyway I am glad that I will (hopefully) get my amp soon, and will be sure to update this thread with my impressions, which will include my layman's comparisons to the Schiit Asgard, being fed by the uDac into my K702s and possibly DT880/600s.
 
-Daniel
 
ps: Hopefully this is my last ranting post about this lol. I agree
      with the other poster above me though: look for another
      vendor to purchase from! My two cents.

 

[dlaloum]

I'll put in my vote of confidence for Coolfungadget / JTAM - I was/am happy with the service, and my parcel was delivered promptly.... 
 
I give him my recomendation based on my experience....
 
sorry your experience was not as good.
 

 

[navii]

Post# #1029 look for the panda.
 
Quote:

David has nothing to do with this thread and I do agree about David but 3 weeks from Tam is way too long and if he is not returning the emails I would watch it.

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

Post# #1029 look for the panda.

 

Duk David does not sell the Matrix. This is about Jeffrey Tam

 

[castlevania32]

hi im going to buy a m-stage but is the new design as good as the one reviewed on the first page ?
also where should i get mine from him http://cgi.ebay.com/Matrix-m-stage-Headphone-Amplifier-Amp-/350369229247 or him http://cgi.ebay.fr/Matrix-M-stage-Headphone-Amplifier-Amp-LATEST-VERSION-S-/330454610560 ?

 

[snakeeater69]

Can't wait to mod my M-Stage.

 

[dlaloum]

Quote:

hi im going to buy a m-stage but is the new design as good as the one reviewed on the first page ?
also where should i get mine from him http://cgi.ebay.com/Matrix-m-stage-Headphone-Amplifier-Amp-/350369229247 or him http://cgi.ebay.fr/Matrix-M-stage-Headphone-Amplifier-Amp-LATEST-VERSION-S-/330454610560 ?

1) I have the V2 seems good to me.... there was a comparison way back in this thread - you will have to read a lot of posts - but the outcome was that it was a wash.... much of a muchness
2) The M-Stage is available on various e-bay listings (as you found) or directly from coolfungadget.com or a couple of other vendors in china (use google!)
 
Jeffrey Tam (coolfungadget) will match the price if you find one cheaper than his. (Hlly had it at a lower price - he matched it immediately and changed the price on his website) - when I asked him about class A mod, he built it and added it to his site as a standard item....
 
From my perspective his service has been excellent

 

[kalda01]

I sent Coolfungadget a message on Ebay 3 days ago asking about the M-stage and received no response.
Also it sort of bothers me that he has a "Banned" status in this forum. any idea why that is ?

 

[kite7]

Quote:

I sent Coolfungadget a message on Ebay 3 days ago asking about the M-stage and received no response.
Also it sort of bothers me that he has a "Banned" status in this forum. any idea why that is ?

From what I know, he opened a new account under jtam I believe months ago and was given a member of trade recognition associated with coolfungadget. On head-fi, you're not allowed to have more than one account so I'm assuming the other one under coolfungadget was banned because of that. It has nothing to do with him being a bad seller. I'm not sure why he's not responding to you, try sending another message?
 
http://www.head-fi.org/user/jtam is his user name
 
I wouldn't blame the seller if it was stuck in customs, that's just beyond control and is expected from international purchases. I know what it feels like anticipating a package arriving after weeks, and sometimes patience wears off and frustration kicks in. I'm still having my fingers crossed on a package to arrive, that's all you can really do sometimes. Bourne, don't you have a tracking number? If he gave you one you should be able to see if it is in customs on the EMS site or USPS.

 

[0o0o0o]

I sent coolfungadget an email earlier today concerning a m-stage via https://coolfungadget.com/store/index.php?route=information/contact and recieved a very prompt reply within the hour. I also mentioned some of the issues other customers have been having with him and he answered that it has been a holiday issue. Can't blame the guy for taking some time off though I understand the people whos questions and orders have gone unanswered/stalled at customs or some other point in shipping. Though of course there are plenty of ways to easily contact people these days.
 
Personally I'll be purchasing a M-stage with the opa627au and class a biasing as soon as this paypal payment request comes through.
 
Ps. Speak of the devil it came through while i was posting this

 

[sunneebear]

Seems like every year there is a situation like this somewhere on head-fi and some other forums.  People must try to understand the scope of a whole nation shutting down for a week.  That also includes no communication from sellers.  This also causes a huge backlog in imports and exports after the holiday.  Just think how annoying it is to come back from vacation to find a ton of emails from buyers saying I know you're one vacation but at least answer my email.

 

[darknight670]

Can someone confirm tams opa627 are authentic?

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

Question about Class A Biasing, will it do damage to the opamp in time?
 
Finally, if pairing the HD650s with the M-Stage, is OPA627 biased a good choice? Would it balance out what most would say are laid back highs on the HD650s?

It depends upon your source. OPA627 which is already laid back with laid back 'phones like HD650 may sound kinda bleh. Class A biasing may help a little. I would go OPA2107 with HD650 because the the OPA2107 has a high-mid treble quality that cuts through haze and the bass is contained.  Seems like a good match for HD650s weaknesses.
 
On the other hand, OPA2107 would be the last thing I would want to pair with Grados (unless I was driving a very warm and rolled-off buffer or output section). 
 
YMMV.

 

[sluker]

Hi,
Has anyone bought from Hlly? I sent them an order (and payment cleared through paypal) but have not received a responce for three days now. Is this normal?

 

[AlfBaxter]

Quote:

 


It depends upon your source. OPA627 which is already laid back with laid back 'phones like HD650 may sound kinda bleh. Class A biasing may help a little. I would go OPA2107 with HD650 because the the OPA2107 has a high-mid treble quality that cuts through haze and the bass is contained.  Seems like a good match for HD650s weaknesses.
 
On the other hand, OPA2107 would be the last thing I would want to pair with Grados (unless I was driving a very warm and rolled-off buffer or output section). 
 
YMMV.

 
I think it also depends what version HD650 you have. I have the newer version with the silver baffle and have never really found them veiled or lacking in treble. In fact, using LM4562 in my M-Stage, the HD650 were way too bright, to the point of hurting my ears.
 
My source is an Auzen Prelude with OPA637AU, and I have an M-Stage with OPA627AU. Before I added the class-a mod to the M-Stage, the HD650 were sounding very good, but vocals could sound recessed and bass was occasionally overpowering. A nice sound overall but a bit too warm and laidback. Not as warm and bassy as the stock OPA2134, but still too much. Also, I could hear some 'grain' in the treble, especially in string sections of orchestral music.
 
Since I went for the class-a mod, the sound has really transformed - the difference between OPA627AU vs. OPA627AU class-a is (to my ears) larger than the difference between OPA627AU vs. OPA2134. The OPA627AU sound much more open in class-a, bass is tighter and more controlled, and strings sound very smooth indeed. Vocals have come forward a lot, and the top end is very crisp and detailed, without ever being harsh. The warm fuzz that used to colour the midrange has gone, and soundstage is larger with better instrument separation. So thanks to purrin for experimenting with class-a biasing. With a decent source, M-Stage with OPA627 biased into class-a can really make the HD650 sing.
 
@darknight: I asked JTam if he could confirm authenticity, and he sent me pictures of him testing the resistance across the pins with a multimeter. The measurements all check out. I have OPA627 I know to be authentic (from Cimarron) and the ones from JTam I bought as spares do look a little different. There's no notch, just a dot, to indicate pin 1, but the printing is consistent with the diagrams you can find on TI's website. So basically they are either genuine or pretty authentic copies. I haven't tested them yet for sound quality, too busy, but will give them a go at some point.