Yes, I've emailed them already
Modhouse Audio Argon - T50RP MK2/3 & T60RP
- Thread starter omegaorgun
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It may take a little time for him to respond, but Ryan is really helpful with any issues or questions you may have.
Yes, I can confirm that. So far, nothing but great costumer service.
I myself just got my hands on a new pair of T50 MK2's after searching far and wide, time to send them off for another 12 weeks for some sweet sweet Argonization.
OK, I have already started the hunt for Emotiva Basx A-100 here in UK. However, before I invest any more money, are there any other amps I should consider. I am looking for a perfect match for the Argon Mk3. I want to invest into something that I won't have to change after a couple of weeks for any reasons. I am a little bit concerned about the floor noise on the A-100. To make things more difficult, I don't want to spend too much either. I know this is a headphone thread, but it still might be beneficial for anyone considering the headphones as well.
kukkurovaca
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I haven't heard the A-100, but I doubt you have much to worry about in terms of noise floor, at least with the Argons. The drivers in these headphones are not particularly prone to picking up hiss.
You might have issues with other headphones, though. And if you run the A-100 with jumpers in, make sure you use caution, for the sake of your ears.
If you're looking for a direct replacement for the A-100, you might want to look into adapters for plugging headphones into speaker amps. (That's what the A-100 is, basically -- a speaker amp with a headphone jack, with the option to drive the headphone jack directly (jumpers in) or through resistors which will lower the output for safety (jumpers out, default.))
Should be easy to find a speaker amp -- but I don't know about how easy/convenient it is to set up adapters to connect headphoens to speaker taps.
For an off the shelf headphone amp with similarly gratuitous power output, I don't think there's a better option at the price. The Audio-GD C2 looks nice, but probably more than you want to spend.
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/C22015/C22015EN.htm
renugaid
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For any really efficient headphones, you will hear the noise floor very clearly. However on the Argon Mk3 you won't be bothered by the noise floor unless you turn it up to ear damaging levels. The A-100 has been the only amp I own that can do that.
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Yes, that is a little bit much, but I will keep this amp in mind as a possible future upgrade. Thank you
Thank you. So it seems I should be happy with the Emotiva amp. I will continue the search. I can continie to drive my Fidelio X2's off my little dac /amp as the combo sounds really good to avoid hearing the floor noise off the Emotiva, so I only need something to drive the Mk3.
Thank you both
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Cruelhand Luke
Headphoneus Supremus
I have just stumbled across something that the Argon is terrible at.
I was doing some A/B comparisons of headphones and I realized that the Argon is not a good headphone for A/B comparisons because:
example One:
Step one, listen to a favorite track on headphone A
Step two, listen to the same track on Argons
Step three listen to music on the Argons for 3 hours
Step four, "Dangit! I was gonna A/B! I just wasted my time listening to music!?"
Example Two:
Step One: Watch favorite scene in Baby Driver with headphone A
Step Two: watch the same scene with Argons...get comfortable after 'the good part', close my eyes for a minute and "really listen to the dialogue"
sleep deeply for 52 minutes, wake up to the credits and think
Dangit!! I was gonna A/B! Instead I had an awesome dream about that time I sold a red WRX to the guy from Aha!?
Clearly the Argon just doesn't A/B well with other headphones.
I was doing some A/B comparisons of headphones and I realized that the Argon is not a good headphone for A/B comparisons because:
example One:
Step one, listen to a favorite track on headphone A
Step two, listen to the same track on Argons
Step three listen to music on the Argons for 3 hours
Step four, "Dangit! I was gonna A/B! I just wasted my time listening to music!?"
Example Two:
Step One: Watch favorite scene in Baby Driver with headphone A
Step Two: watch the same scene with Argons...get comfortable after 'the good part', close my eyes for a minute and "really listen to the dialogue"
sleep deeply for 52 minutes, wake up to the credits and think
Dangit!! I was gonna A/B! Instead I had an awesome dream about that time I sold a red WRX to the guy from Aha!?
Clearly the Argon just doesn't A/B well with other headphones.
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filo9s
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I've a review unit just here, i'll share some thoughts about sound and amplification:
First of all, amplification: I'm using a Teac UD-503 for every headphone i own, i found it really an exceptional combo unit. It outputs 500+500mW on SE 32 ohm and 700+700mW on bal 32 ohm. Just for the sake of completeness i've tried them also hooked up directly to my high end speaker amp, a power amplifier based on an Anaview AMS-1000 module (well, 500Wx2 on 2 ohm and 30A pk should be fine lol). I put also a scope between hp and power amp to see exactly how much power do they require. They become crazy loud with 80mW per channel RMS, so every hp amp that puts out at least 300mW-400mW peak should be ok (250mW RMS in alternative, it depends on how they measure power output). Doing some calculations given the 50 ohm and 92dB/mW rating, in order to reach 115dB SPL you need 200mW RMS distributed in 3.16V and 63.2mA, for 110dB (which is still an unsafe listening level), 63mW RMS it's enough. I've found the Teac be able to squeeze out their true potential, only slightly improved by switching on the power amp in terms of bass speed and soundstage but we're talking about an improvement that hardly passes a 7-10% of quality. At the end of the day i prefer the teac for the significantly lower noise floor. The Teac has a digital volume pot, that goes from -99dB up to +24dB, i'm listening normally at -15dB or -10dB max and it's far enough for me, leaving enough headroom in terms of power. I've tried them also on a FiiO X3 MK III just for curiosity but it's not enough, i can crank it up to 120/120 high gain and even if the volume is on the high side, it's still in the safe region and definitely not ear piercing. it surprises me however that there was only a slight worsening of the sound, even the X3 MK III can squeeze out a good 70% of their true potential. On internet it's written everywhere that they need a lot of power... maybe just because some users found a comfortable listening level only with volume pot past the half... Please remember that the pot used in most audio equipment is logarithmic, meaning that even at half way up you're using maybe 5 or 10% of total power output. Not 50%. They still need more power than lots of other headphones, but they're not something extraterrestrial, electrical data talks for itself. With only 1mW RMS on 50 ohm they DO reach 92dB.
Now on sound:
my primary headphone is an HiFiman HE-560, i've always loved planar sound and i think that it's the best way to listen to music, i'm running them in balanced but the comparison is done with both hp on SE mode. They have similar power requirements, even the HE-560 is a 50ohm 90dB/mW can, and EVEN with both connected at the same time at the Teac (the UD-503 has two 6.35mm outlets, a nice plus for A/B and reviews) the sound WAS NOT affected in any single aspect, showing that also 350mW+350mW it's still enough (yup, with one outlet loaded you can have max 500mWx2, with two outlets loaded the power decreases to 350mW per channel).
I found the sound to be really bass heavy, they have loads of bass, more than every single headphone i've ever tried, but fortunately it's a good bass, it does not cover mids or highs and it has a nice speed and impact, allowing the highs to be really clean and detailed, also airy. While technically the HE-560 is clearly superior in almost every single aspect (especially for bass speed and detail, there's a huge difference), it's overall a nice complementary headphone when you just want to sit and relax: give them a well mastered track (with no boosted bass) and they are really forgiving, it's something like an LCD-2 with more bass, more soundstage and a bit clearer highs. Or if you want to put in these terms, it's like a cup of dark thick chocolate vs an espresso (the HE-560). Two different tastes for two different moods. The soundstage is really good for a closed headphone, but nowhere near the HD800, not in terms of depth and width (the Argons has a lot of both) but in terms of realism: the HD800 makes you feel exactly the space of the recording: an hall sounds like an hall. The Argon sound more indefinite, less accurate (while still keeping a huge sense of openness)
PS: i've found them to be really really good with vocals, acoustic and pop music, also with piano tracks, they add some thickness to voices in a way which is really pleasant. Not for classical, jazz or instrumental where i still prefer the HE-560.
First of all, amplification: I'm using a Teac UD-503 for every headphone i own, i found it really an exceptional combo unit. It outputs 500+500mW on SE 32 ohm and 700+700mW on bal 32 ohm. Just for the sake of completeness i've tried them also hooked up directly to my high end speaker amp, a power amplifier based on an Anaview AMS-1000 module (well, 500Wx2 on 2 ohm and 30A pk should be fine lol). I put also a scope between hp and power amp to see exactly how much power do they require. They become crazy loud with 80mW per channel RMS, so every hp amp that puts out at least 300mW-400mW peak should be ok (250mW RMS in alternative, it depends on how they measure power output). Doing some calculations given the 50 ohm and 92dB/mW rating, in order to reach 115dB SPL you need 200mW RMS distributed in 3.16V and 63.2mA, for 110dB (which is still an unsafe listening level), 63mW RMS it's enough. I've found the Teac be able to squeeze out their true potential, only slightly improved by switching on the power amp in terms of bass speed and soundstage but we're talking about an improvement that hardly passes a 7-10% of quality. At the end of the day i prefer the teac for the significantly lower noise floor. The Teac has a digital volume pot, that goes from -99dB up to +24dB, i'm listening normally at -15dB or -10dB max and it's far enough for me, leaving enough headroom in terms of power. I've tried them also on a FiiO X3 MK III just for curiosity but it's not enough, i can crank it up to 120/120 high gain and even if the volume is on the high side, it's still in the safe region and definitely not ear piercing. it surprises me however that there was only a slight worsening of the sound, even the X3 MK III can squeeze out a good 70% of their true potential. On internet it's written everywhere that they need a lot of power... maybe just because some users found a comfortable listening level only with volume pot past the half... Please remember that the pot used in most audio equipment is logarithmic, meaning that even at half way up you're using maybe 5 or 10% of total power output. Not 50%. They still need more power than lots of other headphones, but they're not something extraterrestrial, electrical data talks for itself. With only 1mW RMS on 50 ohm they DO reach 92dB.
Now on sound:
my primary headphone is an HiFiman HE-560, i've always loved planar sound and i think that it's the best way to listen to music, i'm running them in balanced but the comparison is done with both hp on SE mode. They have similar power requirements, even the HE-560 is a 50ohm 90dB/mW can, and EVEN with both connected at the same time at the Teac (the UD-503 has two 6.35mm outlets, a nice plus for A/B and reviews) the sound WAS NOT affected in any single aspect, showing that also 350mW+350mW it's still enough (yup, with one outlet loaded you can have max 500mWx2, with two outlets loaded the power decreases to 350mW per channel).
I found the sound to be really bass heavy, they have loads of bass, more than every single headphone i've ever tried, but fortunately it's a good bass, it does not cover mids or highs and it has a nice speed and impact, allowing the highs to be really clean and detailed, also airy. While technically the HE-560 is clearly superior in almost every single aspect (especially for bass speed and detail, there's a huge difference), it's overall a nice complementary headphone when you just want to sit and relax: give them a well mastered track (with no boosted bass) and they are really forgiving, it's something like an LCD-2 with more bass, more soundstage and a bit clearer highs. Or if you want to put in these terms, it's like a cup of dark thick chocolate vs an espresso (the HE-560). Two different tastes for two different moods. The soundstage is really good for a closed headphone, but nowhere near the HD800, not in terms of depth and width (the Argons has a lot of both) but in terms of realism: the HD800 makes you feel exactly the space of the recording: an hall sounds like an hall. The Argon sound more indefinite, less accurate (while still keeping a huge sense of openness)
PS: i've found them to be really really good with vocals, acoustic and pop music, also with piano tracks, they add some thickness to voices in a way which is really pleasant. Not for classical, jazz or instrumental where i still prefer the HE-560.
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New Head-Fier
Really informative review! The Argons sound exactly what I'm looking for based on what you're describing. The elusive power requirement was tested to an extreme here. 500W per channel!!! lol
filo9s
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thanks!
yes that was quite extreme, but it's the best speaker amp i have actually, quality-wise. I've used also a noninductive resistor network to reduce the gain by 18dB, but still the teac was set at -75dB lol.
renugaid
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Was your review unit an Mk2 or Mk3? Also what pads were you using with it? A few differences with each but would be good to know for anyone looking to get the exact one you described.
filo9s
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MK 3 with lambskin pads. However those were only few thoughts written while i was listening, not a full review
Sadly i can't try them with perforated lambskin pads, for my personal tastes those should be better for bass and soundstage.
Cruelhand Luke
Headphoneus Supremus
round drivers/round housing.
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