[normie610]

The CA-1a is good. I put on the donut pads after listening to the other ones for a while. The bass is definitely better on the donuts. These have nice resolution as well. I just don't know where they fit in my collection. They don't do anything my other cans aren't doing

I guess it makes sense since you already have a diverse collection of headphones that covers pretty much all kinds of sound signature.

 

[Ciggavelli]

I guess it makes sense since you already have a diverse collection of headphones that covers pretty much all kinds of sound signature.

Yeah, with my collection already it's hard to impress me with new stuff. What does impress me is the bass out of the donut earpads. A ribbon headphone with actual bass is something special, just in general. Plus, they sound extremely good for the price. If I didn't have so many headphones already, I think I would be even more impressed with them. It's just the price to performance ratio is damn impressive.

 

[mimaximax]

I found the CA-1a to scale with the VM1a more than the SR1a does.

How and why? So the CA-1a is up to the level of the SR or the CA even surpass them? Is it only because of the bass? What about resolution, soundstage, imaging, holography realism?

@Ciggavelli I saw you ranked the 1266 Phi TC above Shangri-La SR, SR-X9000 and SR1b ; aside from bass, what do they do better than the others?

I am asking since I am running my SR1a (Star8 cable) with a subwoofer, so bass is not what is lacking here. Thanks to both of you for your answers!

 

[Polygonhell]

So the CA-1a is up to the level of the SR or the CA even surpass them?

I own both, the SR ago me has a slight technical advantage, and if you like the presentation is an easy win, but it’s pretty easy to argue the CA is the better headphone,
I’m not bass head, dislike the 1266 despite the bass, and I still don’t like the donut pads on the CA, they lose too much of the clarity at the top end with them to me, and the additional bass isn’t worth the trade off.

The CA are just easier to get on with, because they are more like traditional headphones, with less shortcomings,
the SR are more like a pair of magnaplanars in nearfield. I don’t really find them overly bass light, but they can present a little thin.

If I could only own one it would probably be the CA, but I already own and prefer MySphere 3.1’s which have a somewhat different near field speaker like presentation.

The Raal’s though really are a lot of headphone for the $.

 

[Ciggavelli]

How and why? So the CA-1a is up to the level of the SR or the CA even surpass them? Is it only because of the bass? What about resolution, soundstage, imaging, holography realism?

@Ciggavelli I saw you ranked the 1266 Phi TC above Shangri-La SR, SR-X9000 and SR1b ; aside from bass, what do they do better than the others?

I am asking since I am running my SR1a (Star8 cable) with a subwoofer, so bass is not what is lacking here. Thanks to both of you for your answers!

Well, the bass definitely is a big reason, but it's also the resolution, soundstage, and imagining. The Shang Sr has all of that, but not the bass, so the 1266 TCs wins. The bass is such a big win for the TCs. I listen to a lot of metal and hip-hop, and bass is key to those genres. That's why I put the CA-1a slightly above the Sr1b too.

Aside from bass, I'm also a treble-head. I love high resolution. The 1266 provide that as well. They don't have as high of a resolution as the Sr1b or Shang, but it is still very high. The soundstage is also maybe the second best, behind the Sr1b perhaps. Everything images well too with the TCs. They just do everything really well. For what I listen to, they are not deficient in any area. My other headphones have deficiencies, so they get rated lower

 

[number1sixerfan]

I own both, the SR ago me has a slight technical advantage, and if you like the presentation is an easy win, but it’s pretty easy to argue the CA is the better headphone,
I’m not bass head, dislike the 1266 despite the bass, and I still don’t like the donut pads on the CA, they lose too much of the clarity at the top end with them to me, and the additional bass isn’t worth the trade off.

The CA are just easier to get on with, because they are more like traditional headphones, with less shortcomings,
the SR are more like a pair of magnaplanars in nearfield. I don’t really find them overly bass light, but they can present a little thin.

If I could only own one it would probably be the CA, but I already own and prefer MySphere 3.1’s which have a somewhat different near field speaker like presentation.

The Raal’s though really are a lot of headphone for the $.

I agree. I have the Sr1a but I don't use it. The CA-1a is a much more complete headphone that has just about all of the abilities of the Sr1a, with a more complete and uniform sound, without a bass limitation. For me, I have to listen to the Sr1a with a specific playlist (just like my K1000 previously), but with the CA-1a I can listen to anything.

Now if you only listen to a few certain genres, the Sr1a starts to make more sense to me as a daily driver.

 

[Lokust]

I've listened to a lot of hps, prefer my SR1a to everything so far. The resolution, wide soundstage and alacrity are amazing - might be my focus on classic rock that makes the SR1a so alluring. My LCD-4 hardly gets any use.

Only slight disappointment was the Star8 cable, actually prefer the stock cable as bizarre as that may sound.

 

[yyzSB]

I own both, the SR ago me has a slight technical advantage, and if you like the presentation is an easy win, but it’s pretty easy to argue the CA is the better headphone,
I’m not bass head, dislike the 1266 despite the bass, and I still don’t like the donut pads on the CA, they lose too much of the clarity at the top end with them to me, and the additional bass isn’t worth the trade off.

The CA are just easier to get on with, because they are more like traditional headphones, with less shortcomings,
the SR are more like a pair of magnaplanars in nearfield. I don’t really find them overly bass light, but they can present a little thin.

If I could only own one it would probably be the CA, but I already own and prefer MySphere 3.1’s which have a somewhat different near field speaker like presentation.

The Raal’s though really are a lot of headphone for the $.

The SR1a is very much like a Maggie. I have the SR1a and the Magnepan LRS+ (in a small office). I listen to the LRS+ for most of the day and the SR1a for the late nights. The differences between the 2 are not that large.

 

[yyzSB]

I've listened to a lot of hps, prefer my SR1a to everything so far. The resolution, wide soundstage and alacrity are amazing - might be my focus on classic rock that makes the SR1a so alluring. My LCD-4 hardly gets any use.

Only slight disappointment was the Star8 cable, actually prefer the stock cable as bizarre as that may sound.

I consider the CA-1a my rock and roll headphones. The SR1a is my all-rounder. The VM-1a and the CA-1a is my fav pairing, The SR1a sounds good to me with many amps.

 

[rlawry]

For me, the aspect of headphone sound that I cannot get over is the sound of music within 2 earcups where most of the sound is located in the earcups and inside my head. There are some differences in headphones where some give a sound just outside the head and earcups, but after 50 years of listening to speakers, it is difficult for me to pretend that I am listening to loudspeakers, or more correctly, a live band in a listening space. If you ploppped me into a listening room and asked me to identify whether I were listening to either loudspeakers, a live band, or headphones, I seriously doubt I would ever be mistaken on the source of sound. For me, the only headphones that give some sense of listening to a live band in a performing space is the SR-1b. Knowing this, the slight drawbacks such as the lack of low bass of the SR-1b pale in comparison and mean little to me.

 

[Sandro Sena]

For me, the aspect of headphone sound that I cannot get over is the sound of music within 2 earcups where most of the sound is located in the earcups and inside my head. There are some differences in headphones where some give a sound just outside the head and earcups, but after 50 years of listening to speakers, it is difficult for me to pretend that I am listening to loudspeakers, or more correctly, a live band in a listening space. If you ploppped me into a listening room and asked me to identify whether I were listening to either loudspeakers, a live band, or headphones, I seriously doubt I would ever be mistaken on the source of sound. For me, the only headphones that give some sense of listening to a live band in a performing space is the SR-1b. Knowing this, the slight drawbacks such as the lack of low bass of the SR-1b pale in comparison and mean little to me.

in this respect, dear rlawry, even with all its problems, the AKG K1000 is still better than the Sr1a/b and the mySphere 3. It's amazing... When audiophile jargon talks about "naturalness", it usually refers to timbre, forgetting that the distribution of sound in space should also sound "natural". And I'll die for a "headphone" that has that virtue.

 

[Hiker816]

I found the CA-1a to scale with the VM1a more than the SR1a does.

How and why? So the CA-1a is up to the level of the SR or the CA even surpass them? Is it only because of the bass? What about resolution, soundstage, imaging, holography realism?

I only meant that the VM1a makes a bigger difference with the CA-1a than it does for the SR1a, to my ears. In other words, the CA-1a improves a lot moving from any other amp I've heard it with (plus the interface) to the VM1a, whereas the SR1a improves only a little. (This is when using the Mitch filters with both when not using the VM1a, and using no filters when using the VM1a).

In terms of the CA-1a vs the SR1a, I would say the CA-1a (off the VM1a) is a more complete headphone, and its bass and dynamics are a step above the SR1a. Resolution, soundstage, imaging, holography, and (maybe) realism are probably fractionally better on the SR1a, but the CA-1a is no slouch. I tend to listen at pretty low volumes compared to most people, and that could certainly be influencing my views. Since the SR1a is so open, I find I need to crank the volume beyond what I prefer to allow it to cut through ambient noise, whereas the CA-1a doesn't require that.

 

[Roasty]

just chiming in on the Ca1a/vm1a combo. if u already have a good pre/power combo (eg something set up for Susvara), the bass and midbass on that setup with the ti1b/ca1a will trump the vm1a. I also get better staging/width on the speakers setup. mids and highs I'd give to the vm1a.

vm1a is a sexy looking unit though.. and works well with both sr1b and ca1a. also, reduced box count and footprint/rack space requirement. the price though... some pre and power combos would cost a fair bit less than the vm1a, and if using dac as a pre that'd cut cost down even more.

don't mind me.. just sharing some thoughts. I love my vm1a.

 

[yyzSB]

just chiming in on the Ca1a/vm1a combo. if u already have a good pre/power combo (eg something set up for Susvara), the bass and midbass on that setup with the ti1b/ca1a will trump the vm1a. I also get better staging/width on the speakers setup. mids and highs I'd give to the vm1a.

vm1a is a sexy looking unit though.. and works well with both sr1b and ca1a. also, reduced box count and footprint/rack space requirement. the price though... some pre and power combos would cost a fair bit less than the vm1a, and if using dac as a pre that'd cut cost down even more.

don't mind me.. just sharing some thoughts. I love my vm1a.

As I stated before I sold my VM-1a for funds to buy a Magtech amp for my Magnepan LRS+ speakers.

The combo that I miss is the CA-1a and VM-1a in Pentode mode. That was my rock and roll combo. My current and final setup, Schitt Yggi+ LM | Schitt M3 preamp | Schitt Aegir amp is great with the SR1a. I feel it does not blow my mind like the VM-1a with the CA-1a. My current setup is not bad by any means, and it cost a lot less, but for me the VM-1a was the king of the hill in every aspect.

 

[jlbrach]

for me the VM-1a is noticably better than my CFA3 with the sr1a and ca-1a...and the CFA3 is no slouch with both