[NZtechfreak]

Thanks @Tsyer that's helpful. Presumably they will have it matched correctly since its their demo setup, but I will mention it to them regardless to be doubly sure.

 

[Matez]

It’s the int amp dealer’s place

Kharma, Dan D'agostino and many more, holy cow, that's one well equipped distributor right there. He must've run these RAAL cans with something very expensive. Do you remember what was it?

 

[fredfung28]

Kharma, Dan D'agostino and many more, holy cow, that's one well equipped distributor right there. He must've run these RAAL cans with something very expensive. Do you remember what was it?

The setup is from a Vitus CD player to the Analog Domain ISIS M75D MK2, it used Tripoint Orion as its power conditioner, plus using some expensive power cord and Tim reference speaker cable. My friend here mention that the short speaker cable provided might provide better result than the copper cable of Tim reference, however I know the sound of this speaker cable very well as I own its signature edition RCA and using it currently, its not forced or providing tough sound.

Anyway, I have to say in this well equipped showroom, I am not feeling great with SR1a. It is just my friends and my personal feelings, so who owned or impress how SR1a perform can ignore me, everyone has different feelings. Other than the excessive energy and not good enough layering of sound Sr1a gave me, I am satisfied with the imaging and soundstage.

The SR1a is the one I bought to there, they didn't sell it. I am going to try Absolare next month with good speaker cables and headphone cables to confirm if its the system problem or not.
Also, I will go and try with Zanden 100W int amp and with JMF SACD player, Dac and power conditioner together next Tuesday. Hope I would have a new thoughts about it.

 

[biscottino]

I only say to start with the one provided, to establish sound parameters, and then try something different if you are not satisfied.
The setup made with Raal of cables seems to me to be adequate, there will be better, but it is always a question of balance and synergy of the components, and I think this synergy is perfect when the Benhcmark amp is also used, not by chance the setup is the one used by Alexander.
The strange thing is that listening with this setup and dac Merging Nadac the stratification of the instruments is remarkable, I don't get better with Susvara who has a slightly less dynamic sound.
I think a lot is also a matter of habit and personal tastes, and in any case wearing the Raal correctly is not really easy, you need to study the position well, I listen to the drivers flush with the metal practically less than a millimeter, more open and more you lose weight in the low range, but I'm lucky because I've been listening to the k1000 for 10 years and so I'm quite used to the form of Raal.

 

[fredfung28]

I only say to start with the one provided, to establish sound parameters, and then try something different if you are not satisfied.
The setup made with Raal of cables seems to me to be adequate, there will be better, but it is always a question of balance and synergy of the components, and I think this synergy is perfect when the Benhcmark amp is also used, not by chance the setup is the one used by Alexander.
The strange thing is that listening with this setup and dac Merging Nadac the stratification of the instruments is remarkable, I don't get better with Susvara who has a slightly less dynamic sound.
I think a lot is also a matter of habit and personal tastes, and in any case wearing the Raal correctly is not really easy, you need to study the position well, I listen to the drivers flush with the metal practically less than a millimeter, more open and more you lose weight in the low range, but I'm lucky because I've been listening to the k1000 for 10 years and so I'm quite used to the form of Raal.

Susvara is not known for its position of instrument I would say if comparing with abyss Tc
However, I believe sr1a has great positioning as well.

 

[Jozurr]

So for my amp, I'm thinking of going from the Pass Labs X250.5 to the XA100.5 monoblocks. Couple of changes between the amps are that the X250.5 has higher volts: 64 volts on the X250.5 vs 41 on the XA100.5, and the XA100.5 has higher current: 28 amps on the XA100.5 vs 20 amps on the X250.5. So the question is, will higher volts or higher current benefit the SR1a when it comes to amplification?

The move is to go from class A/B to class A on pass labs (which is generally suggested to be better, but of course depends on the speakers).

 

[cukis350]

Anyone using the SR1A with the Macintosh MA252? Any thought would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Jozurr]

So for my amp, I'm thinking of going from the Pass Labs X250.5 to the XA100.5 monoblocks. Couple of changes between the amps are that the X250.5 has higher volts: 64 volts on the X250.5 vs 41 on the XA100.5, and the XA100.5 has higher current: 28 amps on the XA100.5 vs 20 amps on the X250.5. So the question is, will higher volts or higher current benefit the SR1a when it comes to amplification?

The move is to go from class A/B to class A on pass labs (which is generally suggested to be better, but of course depends on the speakers).

@Aleksandar R. any ideas?

 

[Matez]

However, I believe sr1a has great positioning as well.

What I've heard is that the latest Raal's spatial potential. Such an unusual and openly sounding product should do this one thing really well, I think.

 

[manishex]

How does it fare with sub bass, the sub 30hz frequencies?

 

[Articnoise]

How does it fare with sub bass, the sub 30hz frequencies?

My understanding, after reading about the SRH1A, is that the bass roll of very quickly at 30 Hz. It is to be expected from a headphone with open baffle and goes deeper than most OB headphones and speakers.

 

[biscottino]

How does it fare with sub bass, the sub 30hz frequencies?

The management of sub-frequencies around 30hz is not a problem for this headset, but it is a speech more related to the source and the type of amplifier you are using.
The headphone has a neutral transducer, much more neutral than any other headphone that my head has ever tried, and this is a sensation that affects the whole spectrum, not just the sub bass.
If your dac + amp setup will have a dry and detailed sound direction, you will hear the dry and detailed sound, if your setup has an analog sound and warm colors then this is what you will hear.
Returning to the sub bass, the presence and impact is everything, but you will not have the physicality of a cap closed with a leather pad like an Audeze, this is more a mechanical matter, since the driver is sealed by the pads it has a different presence, just to give you an example, but your feeling will be much more similar to that of being in front of a double bass and perceiving every nuance, up to the lowest note.

 

[dieslemat]

When I started this Audiophile journey, I was always perplexed when people say "more neutral". How can something be more or less neutral. When neutral never changes any thing, well in math it should be the case. Having heard (and owning) the Raal Requisite Sr1a, I finally understood what netural means in the audiophile world.

So I agree with @biscottino with his statements.

 

[biscottino]

When I started this Audiophile journey, I was always perplexed when people say "more neutral". How can something be more or less neutral. When neutral never changes any thing, well in math it should be the case. Having heard (and owning) the Raal Requisite Sr1a, I finally understood what netural means in the audiophile world.

So I agree with @biscottino with his statements.

thank you for your compliment, very flattered

 

[themystical]

So I received my Raal Requisite SR1A's earlier this week, delivered personally by Danny the CEO of Raal Requisite, no less! He came to Manchester after attending CANJAM in London and I spent a very interesting evening with him talking about all sorts of things audio. He is clearly a very talented partner to Aleks of Raal and it is obvious that it is the interplay and mingling of ideas that has given us this novel headphone.
So I guess the question most people have (and the one I had before I got these) is " Is it all hype?". After all here on Headfi, every new headphone seems to be portrayed as the second coming?

fullsizeoutput_329 by themystical2012, on Flickr

I have only had a couple of hours with the headphone but it is immediately obvious that this is the best headphone I have ever heard and I have owned and heard many of TOTL's including electrostats, dynamic and planar. My headphone of choice over the last couple of decades has been the venerable AKG K1000 and properly amped, none of the modern competition such as the Utopias, HD800's, LCD's, Stax 007's, HE60's etc have the sheer palpability, resolution, speed and impact exceeding it - equal in some respects, yes, but none of these give real people and voices playing real instruments like the K1000's do. The SR1A is the real spiritual successor to the K1000's adding bass and even more palpability, tactility, resolution and impact. In fact I perceive the SR1A to exceed the performance of the K1000's in all respects using the same set up (source, DAC and Amp)

The design of the headphones is completely non-compromising in a "form follows function" industrial way and I love it for not trying to be bling and artificially beautiful and audio jewellery like!

fullsizeoutput_32c by themystical2012, on Flickr

To get the level of performance that I am getting out of these phones, I believe that you have to get the source (DAC) and the amp right. I am an Electrical Engineer by profession and my personal experience has been that whilst measured performance of equipment becomes inaudible at a certain point, the improvement comes through not as purely what you hear but the placement and soundstage, the "concentration" of the sound so that all instruments and even voices have impact and you can "physically" feel the music. The DAC that I am using is a Sabre ES9038Pro DIY with around 132dB SNR. So as not to lose this hard earned SNR in the amp, I use again a DIY Ncore NC500 Class D design by Bruno Putzey (ex Hypex) which produces 500W into 4 Ohms and 350W into 8. The amp has a SNR of 124dB and the majority of the signal including spatial cues etc. is preserved. The low frequencies are all present with due impact - absolutely no need for EQ as some people seem to need.

So is this the best headphone in the world? Probably! I have not heard the classic Orpheus or the Sony R10's but I cannot imagine these will exceed the palpability and sheer presence of the SR1A's.

At USD3500 the headphones are quite expensive but I really baulk at having to pay and extra 20-25% in custom duties and VAT here in the UK/EU and fortunately with Danny carrying them into the country by hand, I didn't have to. That is the only way I have been able to afford them. Danny had a second pair of SR1A's with him when he came to deliver mine and I persuaded him not to take these back to the States and that I would ship these to somebody in the UK/EU, hence saving on customs/VAT for the lucky person! Danny is contactable by email
danny@requisiteaudio.com but I do know that he will not be back in the States until sometime next week and that he is currently having problems receiving emails. You can PM me too if you wish.

fullsizeoutput_324 by themystical2012, on Flickr

fullsizeoutput_327 by themystical2012, on Flickr