plainsong
Headphoneus Supremus: Untie!
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2002
- Posts
- 6,453
- Likes
- 26
I'm not sure how to start this post. It's been a good long while in lurk mode for me. Afterall, I didn't really have enough gear, and you know sometimes this can be a difficult place for a girl
, and my belief system is different from many here. I just felt that maybe I wasn't ment to be posting here.
But does that make me less of a headfier? Soon after I stopped posting here I found a d-311LE locally for €30.00. Well ok, the Grundig is still good with the 990s, but this d-311 is obviously better. Then I finally fiound a 24v wallwart for my Porta Corda. Once again, audio nirvana... so I thought. I got the Senn 600s plus the upgrade cable from Jan. and you know, it just starts to snowball once you take a step like that. For budget-fi with the computer, and for portable home use, I got the ms-1. Now that's a Grado sound I can like. Paired with the flat pads from Todd, my new groovilizers. Not bad for €75.00. Then I found the Philips 890s locally on clearence for €40.00. Finally, nice late-night tv-watching cans. And we won't speak of the ety 4p/s for Christmas. I recently tried out the Shure E3, definately not for me. The etys still rule.
A couple of months ago, after I got my hair done, I dropped by the local audio shop. I wanted to hear what al lthe fuss was about when it comes to portable versus full-sized. I listened to the Tivoli cdp, Denon umd-31. To me it sounded like a tiny upgrade from my current setup. Feeling smug, I decided to try something in the price range of €500 (remember, stuff isn't cheap in Finland). Why €500? Well my ipod cost as much when I got it. I wanted to see how far the same money goes with a full-sized source. So my eyes wandered to the Nad C542.
This was hardly a scientific audition. They only had the project headbox amp and some Senn 650s with a cd of different kinds of music, classic, rock, techno. Well for now it would do. The guy took the components to a quiet listening room and left me alone. First impressions? WOW! That killed portable gear for me, for anything other than portable use. I wasn't expecting great things from the headbox, and obviously couldn't compare it head-on with the porta corda II. And obviously I was blown away by the source. The only thing I can say is that they powered the Senn 650s. Otherwise I can't say anything good or bad about the amp.
That started a two month forced starvation. My d-311 sounded like nothing. Time to liquidate and upgrade. This was complicated by the buying of this apartment. The spouse doesn't look at you favorably for wanting audio gear when you should be thinking of home improvements.
I was able to get rid of everything...even stuff I would miss, like my trackmasters. I even considered getting rid of my Seiko Final Fantasy watch. :0
For the amp, I wanted two equal headphone jacks, like with the headbox, only not the headbox. The reasoning for not choosing the headbox was that I wanted to make a substantial upgrade. This led me to the Perreaux. I contacted Totallywired in New Zealand and they hooked me up. Even got the correct power cord for use in Europe. Including customs, it wasn't much more than the AA US price.
Now started the two week agonizing wait. In the last week there have been some late nights with Pixel (our dachshund), who somehow caught kennel cough. And then yesterday we bought the apartment...got back from the bank, and there was the package notification for the Perreaux! Was I more excited about the apartment or the amp? I'll let you decide.
Today I went down to customs, picked up the amp and almost ran to the audio store (Totally Wired packages really well BTW). They only had that floor demo of the Nad, but that's ok. I feel like I know it now, and it's in perfect condition with the full warranty. I got the ICs for free as a discount.. Tara Labs 1100i.
Yes, this is extreme upgrading. The proper thing would be to burn-in the Perreaux first. Not burned- in, bass is a bit recessed, and the sound a tad harsh. Already the bass is less recessed and it's lost the harshness altogether. But even not run-in yet, words cannot describe what this upgrade means for me. Music is so important to me, and now I'm one step closer to it. Sure, my system could stand improvement, but that's the fun of it.
So does this mean that I'm still a headfier at heart? Should I leave the membership of Team Gone? Do I have anything useful to contribute? I was never good at posting impressions. Sound and music are such a personal thing.
I should be in bed asleep. But who can sleep when you're hearing the music for the first time? Care to place bets on how long it is before I go for the Senn 650s?
But does that make me less of a headfier? Soon after I stopped posting here I found a d-311LE locally for €30.00. Well ok, the Grundig is still good with the 990s, but this d-311 is obviously better. Then I finally fiound a 24v wallwart for my Porta Corda. Once again, audio nirvana... so I thought. I got the Senn 600s plus the upgrade cable from Jan. and you know, it just starts to snowball once you take a step like that. For budget-fi with the computer, and for portable home use, I got the ms-1. Now that's a Grado sound I can like. Paired with the flat pads from Todd, my new groovilizers. Not bad for €75.00. Then I found the Philips 890s locally on clearence for €40.00. Finally, nice late-night tv-watching cans. And we won't speak of the ety 4p/s for Christmas. I recently tried out the Shure E3, definately not for me. The etys still rule.
A couple of months ago, after I got my hair done, I dropped by the local audio shop. I wanted to hear what al lthe fuss was about when it comes to portable versus full-sized. I listened to the Tivoli cdp, Denon umd-31. To me it sounded like a tiny upgrade from my current setup. Feeling smug, I decided to try something in the price range of €500 (remember, stuff isn't cheap in Finland). Why €500? Well my ipod cost as much when I got it. I wanted to see how far the same money goes with a full-sized source. So my eyes wandered to the Nad C542.
This was hardly a scientific audition. They only had the project headbox amp and some Senn 650s with a cd of different kinds of music, classic, rock, techno. Well for now it would do. The guy took the components to a quiet listening room and left me alone. First impressions? WOW! That killed portable gear for me, for anything other than portable use. I wasn't expecting great things from the headbox, and obviously couldn't compare it head-on with the porta corda II. And obviously I was blown away by the source. The only thing I can say is that they powered the Senn 650s. Otherwise I can't say anything good or bad about the amp.
That started a two month forced starvation. My d-311 sounded like nothing. Time to liquidate and upgrade. This was complicated by the buying of this apartment. The spouse doesn't look at you favorably for wanting audio gear when you should be thinking of home improvements.
For the amp, I wanted two equal headphone jacks, like with the headbox, only not the headbox. The reasoning for not choosing the headbox was that I wanted to make a substantial upgrade. This led me to the Perreaux. I contacted Totallywired in New Zealand and they hooked me up. Even got the correct power cord for use in Europe. Including customs, it wasn't much more than the AA US price.
Now started the two week agonizing wait. In the last week there have been some late nights with Pixel (our dachshund), who somehow caught kennel cough. And then yesterday we bought the apartment...got back from the bank, and there was the package notification for the Perreaux! Was I more excited about the apartment or the amp? I'll let you decide.
Today I went down to customs, picked up the amp and almost ran to the audio store (Totally Wired packages really well BTW). They only had that floor demo of the Nad, but that's ok. I feel like I know it now, and it's in perfect condition with the full warranty. I got the ICs for free as a discount.. Tara Labs 1100i.
Yes, this is extreme upgrading. The proper thing would be to burn-in the Perreaux first. Not burned- in, bass is a bit recessed, and the sound a tad harsh. Already the bass is less recessed and it's lost the harshness altogether. But even not run-in yet, words cannot describe what this upgrade means for me. Music is so important to me, and now I'm one step closer to it. Sure, my system could stand improvement, but that's the fun of it.
So does this mean that I'm still a headfier at heart? Should I leave the membership of Team Gone? Do I have anything useful to contribute? I was never good at posting impressions. Sound and music are such a personal thing.
I should be in bed asleep. But who can sleep when you're hearing the music for the first time? Care to place bets on how long it is before I go for the Senn 650s?
