[reddog]

Ya, I was planning on selling my Primes for ETHERs as well, but will hang on to them for a little longer until the 2nd market price stabilizes after they are sell out.  I look at it like getting your flight canceled while you're stuck in Maui or something.. not at a bad outcome, all things considered.

+1 I was planning to seek my beloved primes but a I managed to sell a old ww2 rifle to a collector. I am quite happy, get to keep my primes and sell a. evil rifle. I might sell the primes if Dan comes out with closed back version of the Primes.

 

[money4me247]

So quick question at the current price does anything else even come close closed or open?

I thought long and hard about the ether however at this price it is 600 bones more than the primes.

Will the CLAS Duet be able to drive them correctly in balanced mode?

at its current price point, there are very few competing options. There is the EL-8 closed at $699. Then above the Primes there is the TH900 ($1,200+) and Audeze LCD-XC ($1799).
 
Against the Ether, the main orthodynamic competition would be the HE-560 ($899), the Audeze LCD-2 ($995), or the Audeze LCD-X ($1699). From early sonic impressions, the Ether's sonic tuning seems to sit in between the HE-560 and LCD-X.

 

[Poimandres]

So back to my original question will the CLAS Duet drive the Alpha Primes?

 

[zachawry]

  So back to my original question will the CLAS Duet drive the Alpha Primes?

 
I couldn't easily find info on output, but my ALO RX-MKIII-B+ easily powers the primes. On high-gain mode I don't go much above 10-11 o'clock on the volume dial.
 
It's hard to imagine the Duet would have any problems. 

 

[tepet08]

So back to my original question will the CLAS Duet drive the Alpha Primes?

http://www.audiobot9000.com/match/mrspeakers/alpha-dog/with/cypher-labs/duet

Since Prime is not listed, I used Alpha instead. IIRC,Prime is a little more efficient than Aloha Dog so it should work..i think

*edit speeling mistakes

 

[Poimandres]

Thanks that is a neat site. Does anyone know the calculation used? It's odd that amps with a lot higher mw rating drive the primes to the same or only slightly higher spl.

 

[tepet08]

Thanks that is a neat site. Does anyone know the calculation used? It's odd that amps with a lot higher mw rating drive the primes to the same or only slightly higher spl.

Headphone Efficiency
The unit used by this site is dB SPL/mW to represent the efficiency. If the sensitivity (dB SPL/V) is listed instead, as is often the case with Sennheiser headphones, the value is converted to efficiency using the formula:

Efficiency = db SPL/V - 30 + 10 * log(headphone impedance)
If no units are listed next to the figure, then dB SPL/mW is assumed.

 

[mrspeakers]

Thanks that is a neat site. Does anyone know the calculation used? It's odd that amps with a lot higher mw rating drive the primes to the same or only slightly higher spl.

It appears that there are some bugs in their calculator.  I tried a few examples and the SPL calculation doesn't appear to be reliable.  100mW is the absolute minimum we recommend.  If you like louder or more bass heavy content 200mW would be the suggestion.

 

[Poimandres]

Thanks Dan,
For future reference what formula did you utilize? So 100mw will drive the primes to the required spl?

 

[Frosty3258]

After a few days with these planted firmly on my head, well, I love them. I'm still loving the clarity, the treble is awsome, I have no silibance issuse, great presentation of cymbals, and very crisp. The vocals are clean and given the recording never drowned out. The bass, at first I thought I had a good seal but after tinkering I adjusted them to my likeing and it is very clean. I don't want to say subtle but when you get into the music at times it simply textures the music. With bass guitars you can hear the strings reverb and the tones change as they fade which is amazing. I'm also not used to the fact of how with these you can hear where distortion is coming from. With my other cans it's oh darn that distorts, is it my gear? With these I can tell with certain tracks no the track distorts with this channel. Or no my source is clipping. my only complaint with these sonicly is that it irritates me when a good song is poorly recorded. When I first got them I was excited to use the pads and blue monkey dots to play with the treble, with my now around 50 hours with the primes I now see the dots collecting dust on the bag in my drawer and feel no need to tamper with them. Outside of sonic complaints they are large as expected, heavy as expected, and get hot as expected. With those mentioned it's not uncomfortably hot, nor uncomfortablely heavy. the band does a great job spreading the weight out. Of the headphones ive used it is more comfortable than both the m50 and denon d600. But not as comfortable as the hd598. I've honestly forgotten those were on my head before.

 

[m8o]

Does anyone know, are the MadDog 3.2 pads interchangeable with the Alpha Prime pads? (Speaking diameter-wise)

I've come to the conclusion I like the Primes the most when I push the cups & driver closer to my ears. I toyed with cutting the thick memory foam padding of the prime pads down. But it makes more sense to keep them as is and use the thinner Maddog pads, if they will fit.

Hope to hear the answer if someone knows.

 

[Poimandres]

Thanks Dan for offering the community an opportunity to own the Alpha's at a discounted price.  Full size cans are definitely a new area for me as I just recently started to explore them with the Sennheiser HD650's about a month and a half ago.  I was immediately impressed with them so much that I sold my JH13 Pro FP's and decided to further explore full size cans.  I as most, have stumbled across the Alpha Prime thread previously and have been curious about them since last year.  I then stumbled across the closeout pricing thread and decided I had to try them, I am certainly glad that I did.
 
As impressed as I was with the 650's at 1/4 of the price compared to the 13's I am even more impressed by the primes in comparison to both the 13's and the 650's.  Top to bottom the Alphas are clearly superior to both IMHO.  I hear things with them that I simply am unable to with either.  Across the board Mr. Speakers the Prime is akin to well.....full sized speakers.  The low end is completely mind boggling how far it excels in comparison to anything that I have heard and it accomplishes this without bleeding out of its range.  The clarity that the Primes possess is unrivaled again by anything that I have heard.  These gems excel in every area including comfort, the sheepskin is so damn soft and comfortable.  It's hard to imagine and I find it hard to believe that I crammed acrylic in my ears for so damn long, it's not even close.
 
The primes are heavier than the 650's but after getting adjusted to them they all but disappear.  They are also harder to drive and although the Duet appears to drive them adequately I can't help but feel that I may be missing something.  The Liquid Carbon can't arrive soon enough, hopefully I am wrong as the CLAS stack is also stellar.
 
I hope to one day purchase the Ethers, I can only imagine what Mr. Speakers is capable of when designing a headphone soup to nuts.
 
Kudos to Dan and his team!
 
-Scott

 

[reddog]

Hi all, I know this question, might have been asked, but can anyone suggest a case for the Alpha Primes, I am hoping to go to a head-fi meet, and would like a protective carrying case.
I would look up the info, but still feeling nasty, found out I am hypoglycemic, and sugar level got way to low. I hate entropy and its effects upon me body lol.

 

[M-83]

Hi all, I know this question, might have been asked, but can anyone suggest a case for the Alpha Primes, I am hoping to go to a head-fi meet, and would like a protective carrying case.
I would look up the info, but still feeling nasty, found out I am hypoglycemic, and sugar level got way to low. I hate entropy and its effects upon me body lol.

Hey Reddog
 
I had this very same question only a few days ago, as I am to start taking my primes away with me. I asked Dan and he kindly recommended this case which will do just fine - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009NE7B06/ref=cm_sw_em_r_am_wp_am_gb?ie=UTF8
 
Best Rgds
M-83

 

[reddog]

Hey Reddog

I had this very same question only a few days ago, as I am to start taking my primes away with me. I asked Dan and he kindly recommended this case which will do just fine - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009NE7B06/ref=cm_sw_em_r_am_wp_am_gb?ie=UTF8

Best Rgds
M-83

Thanks for the information and link. It is very much appreciated. Please have a good one jamming out.