[FLTWS]

Anybody perchance have the measured height and width of the ear pad opening? I'll probably have to e-mail RAAL but figured I'd ask anyway.
And I'm fine with how it looks.
I've already got some aftermarket cables to play with as I guess it will come with the standard copper cable.

 

[FLTWS]

Some additional photos of the RAAL booth.

Close ups of the two tube amps would be fun!

 

[yyzSB]

Close ups of the two tube amps would be fun!

On it's way. I asked Danny to send some photos.

 

[yyzSB]

 

[FLTWS]

On it's way. I asked Danny to send some photos.

Thanks.

 

[FLTWS]

Very nice! Looks like some rubber grommets to accept pins for a cage over the tubes on the VM-1a.

 

[jasswolf]

I'm hopeful that RAAL look to develop an enclosure that more significantly angles the drivers on the circumaural, but it should be highly competitive either way.

 

[BassicScience]

In terms of the listening impressions, I think yours are pretty much aligned with what many of us expected with the Raal C. Outside of the tradeoff of spaciousness, which I think all of us expected, was it essentially a very similar sound in terms of tonal balance? Was it close to the Sr1a in regards to detail, imaging and clarity? Did it sound spacious in general for a circumaural headphone? Fully acknowledge that you only had a bit of time though with each, so I get it if it's hard to say.

With the caveat that I didn't have time to revisit the Raal booth today, and listened to a ton of other stuff in the interim, I will say the answer to all of your questions is closer to "yes" than "no". The two headphones are definitely cut from the same cloth, as it were.

 

[deafenears]

I'm hopeful that RAAL look to develop an enclosure that more significantly angles the drivers on the circumaural, but it should be highly competitive either way.

RAAL drivers in the Audeze cup attached to the Audeze Carbon Fiber headband... that would be awesome!

 

[yyzSB]

Some interesting comments on this site from the show about RAAL. It seems to me that some people do not like them because they do not sound like headphones. For me, that is a feature and not a bug. I love the fact that the SR1a sound more like my 2 channel setup and not headphones.

On Wed, I should get back from Ric Shultz a modified LSA Voyager 350 GAN amp. If this amp is good with the RAAL SR1a (not amazing before the mods with the SR1a) I realized I can setup the the SR1a and the RAAL C in 2 rooms without a dedicated headphone amp. Baby steps.

 

[FLTWS]

I just spent 3 hours listening to the SR1a thru the HSA-1b with Lokius engaged at 20Hz for approximately 5db, Yggdrasil 2 and NuPrime CDT-8. I also have Susvara and 1266 Phi. The RAAL is the one I most often listen too. But that's just my personal preference with my music. Everyone likes it different. The only thing I might have an interest in pitting my SR1a against presently would be Stax TOTL models. Not sure if they could handle the EQ on the bottom like these ribbons however. Maybe, someday, just to satisfy my itch.

I haven't attended any CES like shows since the 80's but I do remember they were fun for the eye candy, but not for the ears.

 

[normie610]

Some interesting comments on this site from the show about RAAL. It seems to me that some people do not like them because they do not sound like headphones. For me, that is a feature and not a bug. I love the fact that the SR1a sound more like my 2 channel setup and not headphones.

On Wed, I should get back from Ric Shultz a modified LSA Voyager 350 GAN amp. If this amp is good with the RAAL SR1a (not amazing before the mods with the SR1a) I realized I can setup the the SR1a and the RAAL C in 2 rooms without a dedicated headphone amp. Baby steps.

The impressions of Raal-C don’t look too good either. People are talking about “uneven” sound, very pronounced sibilance etc. Do you think perhaps they’re just not used to Raal’s sound?

 

[yyzSB]

When I heard the RAAL C at Danny's shop I was thinking this will work for my bedtime listening. I had the Meze Empy + WyWire Platinum XLR + Benchmark HPA4 before, so an excellent setup, and for a while, I enjoyed it tremendously. I sold the Meze because I never listened to it after getting the SR1a. My SR1a sounds incredible the way I have it setup (it took a while to get this sound).

In my short listen with the RAAL C, I felt the sound of the RAAL C was tonally similar to the SR1a and I would likely listen to the RAAL C long term. My current need is to veg out in my bed with headphones and away from the computer screen where the SR1a reside. I was not into doing the same bedtime listening with the Meze because I liked the sound of the SR1a so much more. I would rather be uncomfortable at my desk listening to the SR1a late at night than relaxing in bed with my Meze.

At the show, Danny was using the neutral sounding RME DAC. His HSA-1B is slightly warm so the DAC pairing maybe OK but I would not use a DAC like that without the AccurateSound.ca Convolution filter on ROON. My experience with my Benchmark DAC3B + HPA4 + AHB2 mono setup showed me the value of the Convolution filter with such a neutral setup. It still was not ideal but better than 'naked'. I do not use the Convolution filter anymore with my current KRELL K-300i integrated amp + SR1a.

The electrical power going into such a demo setup is also something to consider, especially at the higher frequencies. The RAAL SR1a was a 'beech' to get sounding right for me. I did not expect the CanJam demo to be of uber quality given the circumstances of the gear used, show noise, and power.

Hopefully, the shops that are going to sell the RAAL C will allow for a home demo. There will also be more people giving feedback on threads like this once they buy it. When I get the RAAL C I will move my KRELL K-300i integrated (with internal streaming DAC) to the bedroom. I am hoping that the modded LSA Voyager 350 GAN amp I amp getting back on Wednesday works great with the SR1a + CODA 07x preamp. If not then maybe the Voyager with my floorstanders (Thiel CS3.7's) and the SR1a with CODA 07x + CODA #8. That way I do not need to buy a headphone amp.

 

[ljsegil]

Are there any users' impressions from listening to the tube amp with the SR1a yet?

 

[normie610]

When I heard the RAAL C at Danny's shop I was thinking this will work for my bedtime listening. I had the Meze Empy + WyWire Platinum XLR + Benchmark HPA4 before, so an excellent setup, and for a while, I enjoyed it tremendously. I sold the Meze because I never listened to it after getting the SR1a. My SR1a sounds incredible the way I have it setup (it took a while to get this sound).

In my short listen with the RAAL C, I felt the sound of the RAAL C was tonally similar to the SR1a and I would likely listen to the RAAL C long term. My current need is to veg out in my bed with headphones and away from the computer screen where the SR1a reside. I was not into doing the same bedtime listening with the Meze because I liked the sound of the SR1a so much more. I would rather be uncomfortable at my desk listening to the SR1a late at night than relaxing in bed with my Meze.

At the show, Danny was using the neutral sounding RME DAC. His HSA-1B is slightly warm so the DAC pairing maybe OK but I would not use a DAC like that without the AccurateSound.ca Convolution filter on ROON. My experience with my Benchmark DAC3B + HPA4 + AHB2 mono setup showed me the value of the Convolution filter with such a neutral setup. It still was not ideal but better than 'naked'. I do not use the Convolution filter anymore with my current KRELL K-300u integrated amp + SR1a.

The electrical power going into such a demo setup is also something to consider, especially at the higher frequencies. The RAAL SR1a was a 'beech' to get sounding right for me. I did not expect the CanJam demo to be of uber quality given the circumstances of the gear user, show noise, and power.

Hopefully, the shops that are going to sell the RAAL C will allow for a home demo. There will also be more people giving feedback on threads like this once they buy it. When I get the RAAL C I will move my KRELL K-300i integrated (with internal streaming DAC) to the bedroom. I am hoping that the modded LSA Voyager 350 GAN amp I amp getting back on Wednesday works great with the SR1a + CODA 07x preamp. If not then maybe the Voyager with my floorstanders (Thiel CS3.7's) and the SR1a with CODA 07x + CODA #8. That way I do not need to buy a headphone amp.

Thanks that’s very helpful indeed