Nick Dangerous
Mr. Tuberrific
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2001
- Posts
- 2,626
- Likes
- 31
Today is August 21st. Time to celebrate!
For those of you NOT from Texas, the arrival of September is an important landmark. Texas sits inside of a giant invisible oven that sparks to life every year. With the pops of the July 4th fireworks, the gargantuan oven roars to life with violent flames, roasting everything alive until the end of August. I'm grateful that Independence Day provides us with such a visually splendid temperature warning: See the fireworks, dive for the shadows, clutch the air conditioners, and pray for rain for the next 60 days.
Luckily, 2002 has been kind to us Texans, weather-wise. The rest of the world may curse the El Nino weather phenomenon, but for us it's a blessing. This summer has been one of the mildest I can remember. There has been hardly a single day of triple digit temperatures in summer's wake. Texas oven, we cheated you! HA!
Next comes the arrival of September. The sudden coolness in the air snaps my heat-baked neurons back into electric focus. Everything sounds, tastes, and smells better... crisp and alive. It is the perfect time to spend a series of wonderful, tranquil evenings with friends, enjoy a little Scotch, grill a thick steak, and relax under a trademark Texas sunset. You betcha. September is heaven.
To prepare for the up and coming good times, I've been working hard to finish tidying up everything. The recent Head-Fi meeting left me with lots of shipping to do. Headroom, Divergent, and Channel Islands Audio have all received their gear in the mail, leaving me with only Shivohum's W100's to return. It was especially sad to send the tube-laden Twin Head on its way... like saying farewell on the final day of a beautiful island vacation.
In the absence of musical headphoneage, I've been continuing to experiment with the Oris 200 Project. This is the current configuration at present:
Source -> Pioneer 440 DVD/CD/MP3 player
Preamp -> Creek OBH-12 passive preamp w/remote
Tube amps -> Bottlehead Paraglow 2A3 monoblocks
Bass filter -> Custom made bass filter
Bass amplifier -> Parasound HCA-1000A 125W SS THX amp
Everything is connected with .5m Outlaw interconnects. The speakers use ordinary twisted-pair copper lampcord.
Upon first glance, you might be thinking, "Where's the DAC? Can't celebrate September without a decent DAC, right?".
You be right!
I sent my stock ART DI/O to Wayne (of Boldercables fame) for the full modification treatments. He currently charges $265 for the service, which seems reasonable considering the amount of work required. The modded DI/O comes back in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I have had plenty of time to listen to the Pioneer DVD player's direct CD output via the Oris 200. For those of you unsure of the importance of having a decent source, take heed! The Pioneer delivers great looking video, but the audio quality leaves much to be desired. I'm counting the SECONDS until I can get my DI/O back. Think about it: How can a $180 DVD/CD/MP3 player be expected to do it all with exceptional quality on every front - video, inputs, motorized tray, stability, panel display, video/audio DACs, wiring, power, chassis, packaging, manuals, and remote? It's too much to ask.
Newbies are frequently told not to buy a cheap CD player because, "you can't polish a turd". This may be true, but in my experience it is difficult to distinguish a quality CD player from a budget Korean knockoff with an average pair of speakers and a typical consumer grade receiver. A consumer who buys an expensive high-end source and slaps it into an average system will not hear much of a difference and will feel cheated. Could there be any other explanation for the abundance of forum posts stating "cables make no difference" and "it's all 1's and 0's" from frustrated newbies?
I know I'm re-stating what is conventional wisdom around here, but the importance of having a quality source cannot be denied... AS LONG AS your speakers and amps are up to the task. Concerning headphones, I'd go so far as to say that every Head-Fi reader should consider making an investment in a quality source, since headphones deliver such high performance for the money. We hi-fi headphoners are some of the most critical listeners in the world, yanno. A modded DI/O coupled with an inexpensive SP/DIF CD transport is the least expensive way to own a high quality source. Should be about $575 total. Just do it.
Aside from waiting for my DI/O to get back, what else could I do to get into trouble? Tinker with the amps! Examining the Bottlehead forums led me to a fascinating discussion about modding the Paraglow amps to a "Paraglow II" level of performance. Apparently, the mod involves a complete swap of the 12AT7 driver tube circuitry for a 6N1P, a higher voltage version of the famous 6922/6DJ8. The 6N1P is wired in such a way that one half of the tube serves to shunt regulate the other half.
Is this exciting? Many people report that the level of improvement is so substantial that it eclipses the performance of expensive Amperex and Siemens NOS tubes. Best of all, the 6N1P is an abundant, currently manufactured tube that is cheeeeap. Hey, look at that... Headwize.com has a headphone amp schematic that uses the 6N1P.
I'll have this mod completed before the end of the month. Expect a full report. Could be great news for the tube community.
The last tweak I've been experimenting with is "cable rolling"... specifically, speaker cable. As users of the Cardas and Equinox Sennheiser replacement cables are well aware of, cables can make or break a system. This is equally true for speaker cables.
As an experiment, I stripped some of Doc's solid core 20.5AWG magnet wire and hooked it up to the Oris horns in place of the lampcord. Talk about a difference! The highs, although too splashy, were smooth and detailed like I had NEVER heard before. It is amazing that a simple piece of wire can make such a change. I've since replaced the magnet wire with the lampcord to minimize the overemphasized highs, but due to the potential gains I have ordered five different lengths of wire to do some serious cable rolling. Again, more details to come after some extended listening and a New Belgium wheat beer.
If there is a tweaker out there who would like to take Sennheiser headphone cable rolling to THE NEXT LEVEL, let me know! It would be a simple matter of sacrificing the stock headphone cable and liberating the connectors. I'd be happy to send over a variety of different lengths of wire for the benefit of the community. A little soldering/desoldering experience and patience is all it would take. I'd do it myself but I sold my Senns a few weeks ago. Might be a super cheap way to turn that mediocre stock cable into a great one!
September is gonna be great! Oktoberfest, the State Fair of Texas, and many other wonderful activities await. I hope everyone here has as much fun this Fall as I plan to.
As always, happy listening!
For those of you NOT from Texas, the arrival of September is an important landmark. Texas sits inside of a giant invisible oven that sparks to life every year. With the pops of the July 4th fireworks, the gargantuan oven roars to life with violent flames, roasting everything alive until the end of August. I'm grateful that Independence Day provides us with such a visually splendid temperature warning: See the fireworks, dive for the shadows, clutch the air conditioners, and pray for rain for the next 60 days.
Luckily, 2002 has been kind to us Texans, weather-wise. The rest of the world may curse the El Nino weather phenomenon, but for us it's a blessing. This summer has been one of the mildest I can remember. There has been hardly a single day of triple digit temperatures in summer's wake. Texas oven, we cheated you! HA!
Next comes the arrival of September. The sudden coolness in the air snaps my heat-baked neurons back into electric focus. Everything sounds, tastes, and smells better... crisp and alive. It is the perfect time to spend a series of wonderful, tranquil evenings with friends, enjoy a little Scotch, grill a thick steak, and relax under a trademark Texas sunset. You betcha. September is heaven.
To prepare for the up and coming good times, I've been working hard to finish tidying up everything. The recent Head-Fi meeting left me with lots of shipping to do. Headroom, Divergent, and Channel Islands Audio have all received their gear in the mail, leaving me with only Shivohum's W100's to return. It was especially sad to send the tube-laden Twin Head on its way... like saying farewell on the final day of a beautiful island vacation.
In the absence of musical headphoneage, I've been continuing to experiment with the Oris 200 Project. This is the current configuration at present:
Source -> Pioneer 440 DVD/CD/MP3 player
Preamp -> Creek OBH-12 passive preamp w/remote
Tube amps -> Bottlehead Paraglow 2A3 monoblocks
Bass filter -> Custom made bass filter
Bass amplifier -> Parasound HCA-1000A 125W SS THX amp
Everything is connected with .5m Outlaw interconnects. The speakers use ordinary twisted-pair copper lampcord.
Upon first glance, you might be thinking, "Where's the DAC? Can't celebrate September without a decent DAC, right?".
You be right!
I sent my stock ART DI/O to Wayne (of Boldercables fame) for the full modification treatments. He currently charges $265 for the service, which seems reasonable considering the amount of work required. The modded DI/O comes back in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I have had plenty of time to listen to the Pioneer DVD player's direct CD output via the Oris 200. For those of you unsure of the importance of having a decent source, take heed! The Pioneer delivers great looking video, but the audio quality leaves much to be desired. I'm counting the SECONDS until I can get my DI/O back. Think about it: How can a $180 DVD/CD/MP3 player be expected to do it all with exceptional quality on every front - video, inputs, motorized tray, stability, panel display, video/audio DACs, wiring, power, chassis, packaging, manuals, and remote? It's too much to ask.
Newbies are frequently told not to buy a cheap CD player because, "you can't polish a turd". This may be true, but in my experience it is difficult to distinguish a quality CD player from a budget Korean knockoff with an average pair of speakers and a typical consumer grade receiver. A consumer who buys an expensive high-end source and slaps it into an average system will not hear much of a difference and will feel cheated. Could there be any other explanation for the abundance of forum posts stating "cables make no difference" and "it's all 1's and 0's" from frustrated newbies?
I know I'm re-stating what is conventional wisdom around here, but the importance of having a quality source cannot be denied... AS LONG AS your speakers and amps are up to the task. Concerning headphones, I'd go so far as to say that every Head-Fi reader should consider making an investment in a quality source, since headphones deliver such high performance for the money. We hi-fi headphoners are some of the most critical listeners in the world, yanno. A modded DI/O coupled with an inexpensive SP/DIF CD transport is the least expensive way to own a high quality source. Should be about $575 total. Just do it.
Aside from waiting for my DI/O to get back, what else could I do to get into trouble? Tinker with the amps! Examining the Bottlehead forums led me to a fascinating discussion about modding the Paraglow amps to a "Paraglow II" level of performance. Apparently, the mod involves a complete swap of the 12AT7 driver tube circuitry for a 6N1P, a higher voltage version of the famous 6922/6DJ8. The 6N1P is wired in such a way that one half of the tube serves to shunt regulate the other half.
Is this exciting? Many people report that the level of improvement is so substantial that it eclipses the performance of expensive Amperex and Siemens NOS tubes. Best of all, the 6N1P is an abundant, currently manufactured tube that is cheeeeap. Hey, look at that... Headwize.com has a headphone amp schematic that uses the 6N1P.
I'll have this mod completed before the end of the month. Expect a full report. Could be great news for the tube community.
The last tweak I've been experimenting with is "cable rolling"... specifically, speaker cable. As users of the Cardas and Equinox Sennheiser replacement cables are well aware of, cables can make or break a system. This is equally true for speaker cables.
As an experiment, I stripped some of Doc's solid core 20.5AWG magnet wire and hooked it up to the Oris horns in place of the lampcord. Talk about a difference! The highs, although too splashy, were smooth and detailed like I had NEVER heard before. It is amazing that a simple piece of wire can make such a change. I've since replaced the magnet wire with the lampcord to minimize the overemphasized highs, but due to the potential gains I have ordered five different lengths of wire to do some serious cable rolling. Again, more details to come after some extended listening and a New Belgium wheat beer.
If there is a tweaker out there who would like to take Sennheiser headphone cable rolling to THE NEXT LEVEL, let me know! It would be a simple matter of sacrificing the stock headphone cable and liberating the connectors. I'd be happy to send over a variety of different lengths of wire for the benefit of the community. A little soldering/desoldering experience and patience is all it would take. I'd do it myself but I sold my Senns a few weeks ago. Might be a super cheap way to turn that mediocre stock cable into a great one!
September is gonna be great! Oktoberfest, the State Fair of Texas, and many other wonderful activities await. I hope everyone here has as much fun this Fall as I plan to.
As always, happy listening!
