MuppetFace's TakeT H2+ Thread

[kiteki]

Quote:

Well, the headphones themselves are quite interesting, but I just don't quite see the purpose of the supertweeter. 
 
I'd be interested to know if it enhances your listening experience, and why you'd feel that way though.

 
There is no single sentence answer, there are various long academic essays on it, you can either read one of those or try the Taket-BPP for yourself and then you'll come closer to the answer.
 
 

 

[MuppetFace]

There's also a very brief explanation on the website itself:
 
http://taket.jp/h2/sound-stage.html
 
As kiteki says, there is no simple explanation that would do the concept much justice. In the most basic terms, it is supposed to change the perception of soundstage depth.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

I tried a pair in Tokyo, albeit under less than ideal conditions, including a very poor source for one. They were somewhere between orthos and Stax in presentation with a bit more body than 'stats and more air and less punch than orthos. I'm willing to bet that with a good source they'd be fantastic.

That's a very intriguing description.
 
Also intriguing is the fact that these aren't even being used to their full potential with the TR2 out of a very good source. Supposedly a custom-built amp is closest way of getting their full performance. Even crippled though, they are said to perform extremely well. Makes me wonder just how much potential could be squeezed out of these....
 

 

[wink]

I must say, the thin pads are more comfortable than the thick pads.....

 

[MuppetFace]

Small update.
 
I'll be placing my order with Mr. Takei in the next week or so.
 
On a semi-related note, I'll also be ordering some Rooth LS8 customs from China which use supertweeters as part of their driver complement. It would be interesting to compare them to the BATPURE for any similar effects.

 

[Endys]

Hi all. I heard this headphones with TR2 and some tube amp. Fit is very very bad, worst fit I ever saw. Bass is too 'booomy' (unsuitable amp is a reason, i think), mids are a bit backward and not impressive, highs are clear,  nice soundstage. I've compared it to stax 507 with 006t amp and stax was far far better. So it's my impressions 

 

[MuppetFace]

 
 
Opinions will differ for every pair of headphones, especially those occupying the upper echelons. Many experienced head-fiers have ranked the H2+ as a very impressive headphone. A few have even gone so far as to say it is one of the best given their subjective tastes. I've also certainly seen a few underwhelming impressions of them. Your impressions though are definitely among the most negative I've encountered. Not to dismiss them; on the contrary, as an outlier they make me curious.
 
These headphones are very fit dependent. How much time did you spend with them, if I might ask? Reports suggests finding the optimal positioning is crucial. Also do you happen to recall the source and amp? Pairing the TR2 up with a tube amp than happens to have stereo plugs rather than a more powerful, full-on stereo amp may also impact the sound greatly. Finally I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "backward mids", Would you mind elaborating?

 

[Endys]

I heard them at local dealer. Source was Audiolab 8200 (not the best, but good sounding cdp) and amp was some local made tube amp (weakest part of the rig, i think). AFAIK, Taket needs very powerfull amp, and maybe it's a reason, why they sounds so poor. Anyway, amp can't affect on fit, and fit is the realy bad. Headband is made of plastic and it fits very uncomfortable, ATH-like wings rise too high and top of listeners head contacts with the headband. Also, cups havent enough contact with ears and dangles on the head
"backward mids" I mean opposite to W5000-like sound with forward midrange. I hope you understand my explonation
Sorry for my bad english

 

[metalsonata]

Looking forward to seeing what you think about these unusual headphones!

 

[catscratch]

I'm with Endys on this one, these headphones are bad (sorry Duggeh). The mids are recessed and the bass is boomy. The highs can be piercing depending on where the tweeter is on the ear. The fit could be better as well. I did like the soundstage, the resolution was very high and the drivers had both speed and impact, so in that sense they do what they set out to do... but the H2 is only a development prototype in my book, not a finished product. It needs a lot more fine-tuning to even out its FR and work out the issues of physical shape and construction.

I'm still interested in the technology but never again am I going to pay top dollar to be essentially a beta tester. Once is enough.

I was using mine with the TR2 box and a 18wpc push-pull amp. It's possible that the amp is to blame, but I'm not convinced.

 

[bcg27]

Out of curiosity has anyone tried these out of a stax amp?

 

[kiteki]

 
I suspect the 'bad fit' is an intentional design from TakeT to achieve optimal sound.
 

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

Out of curiosity has anyone tried these out of a stax amp?

Duggeh would have the most experience with this, I suspect. He mentioned using a SRM-717 at some point. Reportedly it sounds much better than the TR2 box, but the main issue is not being able to fully power them at their full potential. There have been a few members here who report using it with a KGSS or BHSE as well, but the actual safety of this is still not completely known.
 
Amping these with anything not to spec could potentially cause damage to the headphones.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

I'm still interested in the technology but never again am I going to pay top dollar to be essentially a beta tester. Once is enough.
I was using mine with the TR2 box and a 18wpc push-pull amp. It's possible that the amp is to blame, but I'm not convinced.

Well, the TR2 box really does hinder the H2+. The problem is few people really know what the H2+ is actually capable of, since no one is hearing it off of a dedicated amp for driving it. At best, reports seem to be with BHSE, but that's still not an entirely safe option for driving them.
 
I can understand your reluctance in being an early adopter. I felt a bit burned by the LCD-2 rev. 1, back before they even knew what materials to make parts of it out of and the thing broke.

 

[MuppetFace]

 
I do wonder about the fit. Specifically, why the headband was designed to be adjustable in the horizontal plane and not the vertical plane. Considering that the drivers "beam" the sound (as Jude puts it), and that you can actually dismount the cups and use them in your speaker rig, I don't think snugness is at all important.
 
Duggeh mentioned using a donor headband from a pair of Sennheisers (I forget the exact model), but that is supposedly compatible with these and improves wear comfort tremendously. Not sure how / if it affects the sound to any degree.
 
Quote:

I heard them at local dealer. Source was Audiolab 8200 (not the best, but good sounding cdp) and amp was some local made tube amp (weakest part of the rig, i think). AFAIK, Taket needs very powerfull amp, and maybe it's a reason, why they sounds so poor. Anyway, amp can't affect on fit, and fit is the realy bad. Headband is made of plastic and it fits very uncomfortable, ATH-like wings rise too high and top of listeners head contacts with the headband. Also, cups havent enough contact with ears and dangles on the head
"backward mids" I mean opposite to W5000-like sound with forward midrange. I hope you understand my explonation
Sorry for my bad english

I understand what you mean now. Thanks for your impressions.
 
Honestly, every headphone in our hobby has positive AND negative reviews. I think it would be pretty unnatural for there to be a completely positive resonse for something. Even the mighty SR-009 (which I still consider to be at the top of the heap) has detractors. Given that so few people have heard the TakeT H2 and H2+, it's actually quite remarkable that it has such a GOOD reputation here.