mikeg
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- May 4, 2002
- Posts
- 3,171
- Likes
- 11
My search for a truly outstanding headphone system, one that relies on only a single headphone, and one that gives the finest reproduction for all of the kinds of music to which I listen, has now ended successfully. This system consists of a Sony MDR-R10
headphone, ASL AQ-1005DT Power Amp. with TJ Mesh 300B Gold Tubes, ASL UHC-Signature Headphone Adapter, ASL Passive T1DT Preamp., and Marantz SA8260 SACD Player.
My “discovery” of the MDR-R10, and my evaluation of it with the above equipment, came about as a consequence of a meeting this past Sunday with Head-Fi members agile_one, matt, gsferrari, and NightWoundsTime. A detailed description of this meeting is provided in agile_one’s thread at:
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=67166
Unfortunately agile_one had to leave the meeting early, but he kindly left his MDR-R10, and other equipment, for the others to use until the end of the meeting. Then, after the others left, I spent many more hours evaluating and comparing all of agile-one’s wonderful amps and headphones that remained at my home, pending their retrieval by him. I was also able to intermix his equipment with mine, in order to achieve optimal performance.
To my great surprise I discovered that the conclusions that I reached during the meeting, i.e., while the others were present, were completely wrong. I originally concluded that the MDR-R10 had too much base, and therefore sounded too heavy to be acceptable. I also concluded that the HD650 with ZU Mobius cable sounded better than the MDR-R10. In addition, I also felt that the Audio-Technica ATH-L3000 had a total lack of base, and
was therefore inferior to the HD650. I reached these conclusions while hurriedly switching back and forth between the various items of equipment, while sharing the equipment with the other participants. But, following the departure of the other participants, and after spending hours and hours with the equipment myself, I realized that all of my preceding conclusions were wrong. In fact, had agile_one not left his MDR-R10 behind, I would have rejected it as an unacceptable headphone, which would have been my loss.
I concentrated my tests on the MDR-R10, which I first connected to my own amp./CDP system, consisting of an ASL AQ-1005DT Power Amp. with TJ Mesh 300B Gold Tubes, ASL UHC-Signature Headphone Adapter, ASL Passive T1DT Preamp., and Marantz
SA8260 SACD Player. The sound of the MDR-R10 was unbelievable. What I formerly thought of as too much base, now revealed itself to consist of layer upon layer of rich deep sound. While the sound of regular CDs was exceptional, the sound of SACDs was truly glorious. The sound reproduction of the R10, when connected to this equipment, was truly amazing in terms of reproducing a true concert-hall effect. The sound-stage was
extremely broad, with rich and unbelievably detailed waves of sound in every frequency range. And, when I momentarily switched to the HD650 with ZU Mobius Cable, the HD650 sounded terrible in comparison to the R10. The sound field of the HD650 was shallow and flat, with the sound lacking terribly in detail in comparison to the R10. These results also occurred when I switched briefly to my RS-1 and K1000 headphones. These headphones were clearly not in the same league as the R10.
Further tests with the MDR-R10 clearly showed that it’s glorious output was dependent to an extraordinary extent on the amplifier to which it was connected. When connected to
a solid state amp., the performance of the R10 lost it’s breathtaking beauty. When connected to the HeadRoom Max (with stepped atten.), or to the Rudistor RP5, the sound
produced by the R10 was rather ordinary; i.e., cold, flat, sterile and devoid of beauty. It was a typical cold SS (as opposed to warm tube) sound. Although the sound obtained
with the Max was clearly better than that obtained from the RP5.
The MDR-R10 requires a tube amp. in order to reach it’s potential of producing glorious sound. So, when connected to the Stealth Emmeline II, it began to show its potential. The sound became richer, more detailed, and warmer, with a wider sound stage. But, it was still no where near the full potential of what I was to hear. This full potential was only achieved after the R10 was connected to an amp. equipped with 300B tubes. The TJ
Mesh 300B Gold Tubes in my ASL AQ-1005DT amp. were, according to reviews, among the very finest tubes available when I bought them about 2 years ago. So, the glorious
sound that I obtained from the MDR-R10 when connected to my system, seemed to depend heavily on the use of these exceptional 300B tubes. I confirmed this by replacing these tubes with O & J Enterprises Valve Art 300B tubes, which were less expensive tubes that I originally obtained with my AQ-1005DT amp. The result was a very noticeable loss in sound quality. I also connected the R10 to ASL Wave monoblock
amps., and the loss in sound quality was immediate, substantial and clear.
As a consequence of my preceding tests it was clear that the sound produced by the MDR-R10 is extremely dependent on the type of amplifier and tubes that are used to drive it. This headphone benefits from tube amps. much more than from solid state amps., and its performance is extremely dependent on the quality of tubes used. I think that the MDR-R10 only achieves its full glory when connected to a tube amp. that’s equipped with the finest 300B tubes.
I also briefly evaluated the Audio-Technica ATH-L3000 headphone, and found its sound, when connected to my preceding tube amp., to be clearly superior to that of the HD650,
RS-1, and K1000. It produced fine, rich and detailed sound, but with a substantially smaller sound stage than that of the R10. It’s sound was not nearly as rich and broad as
that of the R10. Thus, the L3000 is clearly an exceptional headphone, but it’s not in the same league as the MDR-R10.
I apologize for writing such a long review, but I really didn’t have sufficient time to write a shorter one.
headphone, ASL AQ-1005DT Power Amp. with TJ Mesh 300B Gold Tubes, ASL UHC-Signature Headphone Adapter, ASL Passive T1DT Preamp., and Marantz SA8260 SACD Player.
My “discovery” of the MDR-R10, and my evaluation of it with the above equipment, came about as a consequence of a meeting this past Sunday with Head-Fi members agile_one, matt, gsferrari, and NightWoundsTime. A detailed description of this meeting is provided in agile_one’s thread at:
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=67166
Unfortunately agile_one had to leave the meeting early, but he kindly left his MDR-R10, and other equipment, for the others to use until the end of the meeting. Then, after the others left, I spent many more hours evaluating and comparing all of agile-one’s wonderful amps and headphones that remained at my home, pending their retrieval by him. I was also able to intermix his equipment with mine, in order to achieve optimal performance.
To my great surprise I discovered that the conclusions that I reached during the meeting, i.e., while the others were present, were completely wrong. I originally concluded that the MDR-R10 had too much base, and therefore sounded too heavy to be acceptable. I also concluded that the HD650 with ZU Mobius cable sounded better than the MDR-R10. In addition, I also felt that the Audio-Technica ATH-L3000 had a total lack of base, and
was therefore inferior to the HD650. I reached these conclusions while hurriedly switching back and forth between the various items of equipment, while sharing the equipment with the other participants. But, following the departure of the other participants, and after spending hours and hours with the equipment myself, I realized that all of my preceding conclusions were wrong. In fact, had agile_one not left his MDR-R10 behind, I would have rejected it as an unacceptable headphone, which would have been my loss.
I concentrated my tests on the MDR-R10, which I first connected to my own amp./CDP system, consisting of an ASL AQ-1005DT Power Amp. with TJ Mesh 300B Gold Tubes, ASL UHC-Signature Headphone Adapter, ASL Passive T1DT Preamp., and Marantz
SA8260 SACD Player. The sound of the MDR-R10 was unbelievable. What I formerly thought of as too much base, now revealed itself to consist of layer upon layer of rich deep sound. While the sound of regular CDs was exceptional, the sound of SACDs was truly glorious. The sound reproduction of the R10, when connected to this equipment, was truly amazing in terms of reproducing a true concert-hall effect. The sound-stage was
extremely broad, with rich and unbelievably detailed waves of sound in every frequency range. And, when I momentarily switched to the HD650 with ZU Mobius Cable, the HD650 sounded terrible in comparison to the R10. The sound field of the HD650 was shallow and flat, with the sound lacking terribly in detail in comparison to the R10. These results also occurred when I switched briefly to my RS-1 and K1000 headphones. These headphones were clearly not in the same league as the R10.
Further tests with the MDR-R10 clearly showed that it’s glorious output was dependent to an extraordinary extent on the amplifier to which it was connected. When connected to
a solid state amp., the performance of the R10 lost it’s breathtaking beauty. When connected to the HeadRoom Max (with stepped atten.), or to the Rudistor RP5, the sound
produced by the R10 was rather ordinary; i.e., cold, flat, sterile and devoid of beauty. It was a typical cold SS (as opposed to warm tube) sound. Although the sound obtained
with the Max was clearly better than that obtained from the RP5.
The MDR-R10 requires a tube amp. in order to reach it’s potential of producing glorious sound. So, when connected to the Stealth Emmeline II, it began to show its potential. The sound became richer, more detailed, and warmer, with a wider sound stage. But, it was still no where near the full potential of what I was to hear. This full potential was only achieved after the R10 was connected to an amp. equipped with 300B tubes. The TJ
Mesh 300B Gold Tubes in my ASL AQ-1005DT amp. were, according to reviews, among the very finest tubes available when I bought them about 2 years ago. So, the glorious
sound that I obtained from the MDR-R10 when connected to my system, seemed to depend heavily on the use of these exceptional 300B tubes. I confirmed this by replacing these tubes with O & J Enterprises Valve Art 300B tubes, which were less expensive tubes that I originally obtained with my AQ-1005DT amp. The result was a very noticeable loss in sound quality. I also connected the R10 to ASL Wave monoblock
amps., and the loss in sound quality was immediate, substantial and clear.
As a consequence of my preceding tests it was clear that the sound produced by the MDR-R10 is extremely dependent on the type of amplifier and tubes that are used to drive it. This headphone benefits from tube amps. much more than from solid state amps., and its performance is extremely dependent on the quality of tubes used. I think that the MDR-R10 only achieves its full glory when connected to a tube amp. that’s equipped with the finest 300B tubes.
I also briefly evaluated the Audio-Technica ATH-L3000 headphone, and found its sound, when connected to my preceding tube amp., to be clearly superior to that of the HD650,
RS-1, and K1000. It produced fine, rich and detailed sound, but with a substantially smaller sound stage than that of the R10. It’s sound was not nearly as rich and broad as
that of the R10. Thus, the L3000 is clearly an exceptional headphone, but it’s not in the same league as the MDR-R10.
I apologize for writing such a long review, but I really didn’t have sufficient time to write a shorter one.
