[rhythmdevils]

I've had a beard ever since I spent a summer in Jamaica and when I didn't shave I realized I could grow a beard .  Since then I've only shaved it all the way off once when I was in India.  The barbers there are amazing and I had to have a shave.  They slap a series of all kinds of unknown colorful solutions all over your face, use a real knife-razor, and finish it off with a face massage that's more like a bludgeoning than anything else especially after the neck cracking yank at the end...

 
Having no beard feels unnatural to me now.
 
I got the RP18's and haven't listened too much yet.  But my first 2 impressions are that the stock pads are a joke I think they are made for square headed-seal-eared aliens, and also the vocals are so rich, full and glorious.  Vocals like Chris Isaac and TV on the Radio have never sounded better. 

 

[gurubhai]

Quote:

Since then I've only shaved it all the way off once when I was in India.  The barbers there are amazing......

 

.
Truth be told, those kind of barbers are a rare breed even here, nowadays. AC saloons, sterile disposable blades & branded shaving products have ruined it for the masochist in you. You still can get the massage though, if one asks nicely.
 
 
And, Welcome to the club NAD. They are the best.
 

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

.
Truth be told, those kind of barbers are a rare breed even here, nowadays. AC saloons, sterile disposable blades & branded shaving products have ruined it for the masochist in you. You still can get the massage though, if one asks nicely.
 
 
And, Welcome to the club NAD. They are the best.
 

Thanks!  Yes the vocal quality is amazing, it affirms my belief that most/all headphones are kind of thin throughout the spectrum.  Now if only I can keep that while bringing down the flabby elephant fart bass...
 
It was only four years ago when I was in India, has it changed that fast?  That seemed to be the norm when I was there, and I wasn't exactly in tourist country.  But that's too bad, it felt like some forgotten art that we lost in the states. 
 

 

[Inkmo]

I hate shaving but I never really bother growing a proper beard either.  I kept a pretty epic one once for about 9 months once, though.

 

[gurubhai]

Quote:

It was only four years ago when I was in India, has it changed that fast?  That seemed to be the norm when I was there, and I wasn't exactly in tourist country.  But that's too bad, it felt like some forgotten art that we lost in the states. 
 

It has been changing fast, esp. in the metros. Of course, one can still find the old style barber shops these days but that isn't the norm anymore.
The hand-held razor knife is gone for good though, sterile disposable blades are mandatory now(growing HIV concerns)

 
 

 

[wualta]

And I'm glad enough of the NAD T50v0/1/2 variants showed up to give you guys as much enjoyment as my T50s have given me. It's truly the direct ancestor of the current crop of NeoOrthos.

 

[GrandZechs]

Ok so I've been pouring through this thread for over a week now. Great stuff here! I've been trying to be a good noob and not ask stupid and redundant questions. But I have scoured the Internet in search of the fabled SFI drivers in 32ohm. All I can find is 120ohm and since I have no amp (yet) i didn't want to start with the higher impedance drivers. So anyone know where to get the 32ohm counterparts? Or the source for another similar driver.
 
I've got a nice vintage Stanton Dynaphase Fifty I plan on modding.
 
Sorry if this has been asked before.
Thanks!

 

[nickchen]

Quote:

And I'm glad enough of the NAD T50v0/1/2 variants showed up to give you guys as much enjoyment as my T50s have given me. It's truly the direct ancestor of the current crop of NeoOrthos.

And I bet any estat would be able to sound so glorious like that as well. Too bad that most Staxes got tuned by (and for) guys w/o balls...

 
 

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

Ok so I've been pouring through this thread for over a week now. Great stuff here! I've been trying to be a good noob and not ask stupid and redundant questions. But I have scoured the Internet in search of the fabled SFI drivers in 32ohm. All I can find is 120ohm and since I have no amp (yet) i didn't want to start with the higher impedance drivers. So anyone know where to get the 32ohm counterparts? Or the source for another similar driver.
 
I've got a nice vintage Stanton Dynaphase Fifty I plan on modding.
 
Sorry if this has been asked before.
Thanks!

I have a large stash of both 32R and 120R SFIs.  All but 4 pairs are for sale...  How many pairs do you want? 
 
 

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

And I bet any estat would be able to sound so glorious like that as well. Too bad that most Staxes got tuned by (and for) guys w/o balls...

 
 

???  The issue with 'stats is the amps or energizers.  They definitely have a different sound signature than the vintage orthos even after tuning and mods, but I can't say I like one beter than the other.  My 1974 Lambdas off an eXStatA are simply superb.  The Lambdas are my best bang for the buck can I own with my 001s shortly behind them, but I put $170 custom tips on them so they cost more than my Lambdas.  Most O2s off great amps toe up to the borderline of having too much bass for many listeners.  The drawback to 'stats is that they really do scale with investment and they aren't necessarily cheap, but you can build a grat budget 'stat system with patience and persistance.  I run my Lambdas primarily off a Yamaha CR-620 receiver feeding a SRD-6 normal bias only energizer.  The transformers in the energizer strip away the lower octave and roll off the second octave, but it's easily corrected with +2 or +3 on the bass and a little tweak to the loudness dial.  I have less than $450 in the whole setup, but I was given a Good Karma price on my Lambdas and I traded a lawn mower for the Yamaha.  The SRD-6 was $60.  Real world, the CR-620 is a $150-$200 receiver, the Lambdas are $275-$350, and the SRD-6 is in the $75 range.  So you can get into a decent 'stat setup for $500-$600 total with the added benefit of being able to easily drive any ortho or dynamic off the headphone jacks and run 89dB or higher efficient speakers with plenty of volume for most listening levels.  Oh, and the phono stage in the Yammie receiver is quite good too, better than any sub-$300 stage I've heard yet.  One of these days I'll mod the Yammie a little with some critical resistor replacements and probably some TDK pots.  Then replace all the electrolytic caps and I'll have one helluva amp.  My DIY energizer will restore the missing bass to the Lambdas too, but I'll soon have the first prototype of the Liquid Lightning amp built soon and then after some mods it will be my Magnum Opus dedicated 'stat amp and it will be great, but it will cost as much or more than a set of the new 009s so it's definitely not a budget system. 
 

 

[Sim1]

Quote:

 
And I bet any estat would be able to sound so glorious like that as well. [...].

 
And they do . Wualta mentioned many times that T50v1 was direct competitor for Stax SR-X. I've got both (SR-X is mark3 version, so released few years after T50 and thinner diaphragm than first SR-X) and that is true indeed. Both headphones when well powered, by good amps, sound soooo close.
 
 

 

[GrandZechs]

 
Quote:

I have a large stash of both 32R and 120R SFIs.  All but 4 pairs are for sale...  How many pairs do you want? 
 
 

Wow sweet! Really I guess two pair tops, 32R (unless you would say otherwise, no amp) What price you want for yours?
 
Right now Im just starting with head-fi diy. Wanted a nice vintage update set and wanted to try orthos so I thought id just do both at once.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

 
Quote:

 


Wow sweet! Really I guess two pair tops, 32R (unless you would say otherwise, no amp) What price you want for yours?
 
Right now Im just starting with head-fi diy. Wanted a nice vintage update set and wanted to try orthos so I thought id just do both at once.

To stay within the rules of H-F, I'll drop you a PM, but I bought 100 pairs of each from the eBay seller so I received and nice discount from the $30/pr he was listing them for individually.  I'm just selling  them at cost to clear the inventory, but most are matched to within .2R or .3R. 
 

 

[wualta]

Thanks for stepping in, BMF. I did a quick webwide search but found no 32-ohm SFI "bipoles" left. Which is sad.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Here's a picture of my crew setting up my new speakers.  Once they get it into my house, which you can see in the distance, they're going to drill holes in it and slap a diaphragm in there.  I'll let you know my impressions.