[vpivinylspinner]

Larry sent me a picture of my upgraded K340s with the full Philodox treatment sans wooden ear pieces. Now I just need to decide upon a balanced amp. Probably between Ray's new amp the B52 and a Singlepower balanced amp. Of course a Dynamite might be in the cards.

I can't wait to get my hands on these based upon what I heard of Philodox's at the National Meet.

 

[humanflyz]

How long did Larry take in modding your K340s? I'm thinking about sending them to be modded by Larry in the summer, so I'm curious as to the amount of time Larry takes with them.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

Two days from arrival at his shop to shipping out tonight. Can't beat that service but I set it up in advance so I paid a while ago to get on the list so that I could ship them out right after the National Meet and they would show up just in time for my name to be at the top of the list.

Jeff

 

[roy_jones]

I don't know if you've had a chance to hear Jay's pair, but they're amazing, so I know you're going to be very happy.

Eventually, I'm going to go that route. Not for atleast a year.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

Yes I listened to Jay's through both the Singlepower SDS-XLR and his Lavry and thought they sounded great.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vpivinylspinner Yes I listened to Jay's through both the Singlepower SDS-XLR and his Lavry and thought they sounded great.

Who's this Jay character? Just kidding! Congrats on a splendid set of headphones!

 

[fierce_freak]

I'm having a hard time finding any comparos of K340 to practically anything here. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fierce_freak I'm having a hard time finding any comparos of K340 to practically anything here. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Well that's a tough one. They've got their own unique sound. They're a hybrid and share characteristics with both electrostats and dynamics. Very lush mids, not what i'd call a forward sound sig. at all but not overly analytical either.

 

[CD44hi]

Congrats!

Man Larry does some cool stuff eh? I enjoy my modded Grados very, very frequently.

Incidentally, I wonder if Larry is comming up with some sort of a secret weapon, he's been really, really quiet lately.... suspicious...

 

[skyline889]

Any word on pricing for the B52? $3000? $4000? $10,000?

 

[fierce_freak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 Well that's a tough one. They've got their own unique sound. They're a hybrid and share characteristics with both electrostats and dynamics. Very lush mids, not what i'd call a forward sound sig. at all but not overly analytical either.

What "league" are they considered to be in, though? I see some prefer them to the $300-$400 level cans and some considering them on par with ~$150 level.

 

[dhp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fierce_freak What "league" are they considered to be in, though? I see some prefer them to the $300-$400 level cans and some considering them on par with ~$150 level.

it all depends on your amplification. They can sound worse than iBuds without an amp, but can sound comprable to 650s and other reference cans with juice. They have nearly unlimited potential to sound better as your system gets better. My two cents.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

I am not sure I would say they were worse than iBuds without an amp. They are certainly not at their potential that way but I think even poorly driven the stock K-340 is up there with some of the better modern headphones I have. Now that I have a proper amp to drive them and the full Headphile treatment I am hoping they surpass some of my other phones as I really like their strengths stock and think Philodox's set at the National Meet were some of the better headphones I heard.

 

[philodox]

Nice headphones! I'm sure you will love them.

Did you get them cabled in BlackGold as well? Hopefully they turn out to be the 'same version' as mine since you seemed to like their sound. Not that the other version sounds like garbage or anything... it is just a different flavour.

If you are thinking about balanced amps you will want to keep Moon Audio's new amp in mind as well as Headroom. The Max Balanced with the new modules was the best amp at the National with the K340's IMO. Though I think the SDS-XLR could sound amazing were you to select tubes with the K340 in mind. The one at the meet was tweaked for the R10's and these headphones sound very different. In the mean time your Dynahi SA should drive them quite well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vpivinylspinner I can't wait to get my hands on these based upon what I heard of Philodox's at the National Meet.

I'm glad you enjoyed them... I think they got overlooked by quite a few people who had difficulty figuring out my rig.

Of course, the fact that I was taking them around and listening to all the balanced amps didn't help either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 Any word on pricing for the B52? $3000? $4000? $10,000?

Ray said he was going to try to keep it around $3000, but he hasn't recieved the final word on the machining costs and can't say for sure. Quote:

Originally Posted by fierce_freak What "league" are they considered to be in, though? I see some prefer them to the $300-$400 level cans and some considering them on par with ~$150 level.

I liked them better than the balanced R10's if that gives you any indication. They are definately 'top tier' headphones. It all comes down to whether or not you enjoy their sonic signature. Quote:

Originally Posted by DieInAFire They have nearly unlimited potential to sound better as your system gets better.

Very true, they scale very well with better systems. I absolutely loved them out of the Wadia/Headroom Max Balanced at the National Meet.

 

[philodox]

Damn... I know we talked at the meet Jeff, but I can't picture what you look like for some reason. I just scoured the Meet Impressions thread trying to jog my memory, but I'm stumped.

PS. I still find it a little suspect that you like the K340's so much and also enjoy the SA5000. You're rig must have some damn good synergy with those headphones... or maybe there are different versions?