[dstrimbu]

I am not sure if its been asked but the speaker terminals are a wide apart.
Will this be an issue on existing speaker terminals such as the ones from AudioQuest?

Yeah, the center-to-center distance between the speaker terminals will preclude using my current speaker wires, for sure...

 

[Paladin79]

Built 2 Dynaco 416 kits while in highschool. Used to biamp Magneplanar Tympani speakers. Still have the Dynas and their matching C100 capacitor banks. Haven't played the amps in years. Perhaps I should dig them out and see if they work.

Thanks,
barondla

After this amount of time it is the capacitors I would be concerned about. Maybe early 80's construction? 40 years is a long time. I would offer to help but shipping those beasts around the country would not be easy lol. I can remember the power transformer being delivered in a separate box because with it, the weight was over what UPS would handle at the time.

 

[wout31]

So with all the Tyr sales, what speakers are being paired with them? Any hard to drive beasts, that'll challenge the mono-blocks?

I will drive my Quad ESL Plus 63 with them. Hard to drive? Maybe, Aegir is powerful enough, but I need the 10 dB gain stage on Freya-S.
With Tyr I expect and hope to get more head room and not an absolute need to use the gain stage.

 

[RickB]

Amps, tubes, DACs, even pads -- all these things have a considerably larger impact on sound than an SE vs. balanced headphone cable will ever have, so I wouldn't expect too much of a difference, if any at all. The difference you'll hear will almost entirely stem from the fact that you'll be listening to a different amp and DAC than the ones you are used to. But as long as you're listening to the same amp and DAC, and all you change is just the headphone cable, I doubt that things would audibly change a whole lot for you.

That said, with certain tracks* and ultra-revealing gear, I sometimes feel that separation is a tad better with balanced headphone cables. Which would make sense, because pretty much all that SE vs. balanced does in headphone cables is to keep the two channels' grounds separate from one another, so there should be less (or rather – and ideally – no) cross-talk.

But then again, it's entirely possible that what I'm hearing is just psychological.

* especially those where both channels were recorded and mixed completely and perfectly separate, as it's often the case in electronica as well as some super old recordings

[As an aside: Don't get "balanced" headphone cables confused with "balanced" interconnects. They may share some terminology, but are two entirely different concepts. If anything, balanced headphone cables work essentially like SE interconnects: one "hot" wire and one ground per channel. Balanced interconnects have two hot wires and one ground per channel, and each hot wire carries the same signal but with opposite polarity. (Well, at least in the case of differential signaling. It's complicated.) Balanced (differential) interconnects can make an audible difference -- especially over longer distances and/or if you have to route them past something that causes a bit of interference, like badly shielded cables or antennas, and data or power lines -- because you can use the two opposing signals to "filter" out any induced interference from your audio signal for as long as both opposing signals share the same induced interference. This is not the case for balanced headphone cables, they're strictly just two SE connections in one wire, one per channel.]

The balanced out on the Jot 2 sounds very different to the SE.

And every balanced headphone cable that I've tried has sounded slightly different to me. Emphasis on the "slight." The thing is, I listen so much that slight differences make a big impact in my case.

 

[Paladin79]

The balanced out on the Jot 2 sounds very different to the SE.

And every balanced headphone cable that I've tried has sounded slightly different to me. Emphasis on the "slight." The thing is, I listen so much that slight differences make a big impact in my case.

Are you able to hear slight differences between cable materials as well? I am not being facetious, just curious. Some have a higher acuity for that as well.

 

[OldRoadToad]

Amps, tubes, DACs, even pads -- all these things have a considerably larger impact on sound than an SE vs. balanced headphone cable will ever have, so I wouldn't expect too much of a difference, if any at all. The difference you'll hear will almost entirely stem from the fact that you'll be listening to a different amp and DAC than the ones you are used to. But as long as you're listening to the same amp and DAC, and all you change is just the headphone cable, I doubt that things would audibly change a whole lot for you.

That said, with certain tracks* and ultra-revealing gear, I sometimes feel that separation is a tad better with balanced headphone cables. Which would make sense, because pretty much all that SE vs. balanced does in headphone cables is to keep the two channels' grounds separate from one another, so there should be less (or rather – and ideally – no) cross-talk.

But then again, it's entirely possible that what I'm hearing is just psychological.

* especially those where both channels were recorded and mixed completely and perfectly separate, as it's often the case in electronica as well as some super old recordings

[As an aside: Don't get "balanced" headphone cables confused with "balanced" interconnects. They may share some terminology, but are two entirely different concepts. If anything, balanced headphone cables work essentially like SE interconnects: one "hot" wire and one ground per channel. Balanced interconnects have two hot wires and one ground per channel, and each hot wire carries the same signal but with opposite polarity. (Well, at least in the case of differential signaling. It's complicated.) Balanced (differential) interconnects can make an audible difference -- especially over longer distances and/or if you have to route them past something that causes a bit of interference, like badly shielded cables or antennas, and data or power lines -- because you can use the two opposing signals to "filter" out any induced interference from your audio signal for as long as both opposing signals share the same induced interference. This is not the case for balanced headphone cables, they're strictly just two SE connections in one wire, one per channel.]

Well if those cables don't make it sound better then at least they will do the one thing I require above all else:

Make it look cooler!

Yes, I am quite shallow.

ORT

 

[OldRoadToad]

I would have to research it. I can recall doing upgrades from someone named Van Alstine?

I used to hang with a Van Helsing.

ORT

 

[Zer0.p0int.Zer0]

Have you ever had a car painted? You drop it off, they tell you “2 weeks.” You come back in 2 weeks, and they tell you, “2 weeks.” You come back in two more weeks, and they tell you “2 weeks.” You come back in two more weeks, now getting frustrated, and they tell you, “2 weeks.” And you continue like that until, maybe a year later, you have a painted car.

I love this and hate this at the same time. Last year I finally found a semi-local guy willing to do body work / rust repair / paint my VW camper van. Dropped it off in April -“2 weeks.” After constant harassing, finally got it back in October….and he asked me for an extra $1000

 

[corndog71]

I made a 3-wire braid out of Kimber TCSS as a headphone cable for my AKG 702’s and easily heard more detail than the stock cable.

The only downside is from the 702’s themselves. They sound good but they’re too dammed heavy! After an hour of listening my scalp gets irritated.

 

[tincanear]

Built 2 Dynaco 416 kits while in highschool. Used to biamp Magneplanar Tympani speakers. Still have the Dynas and their matching C100 capacitor banks. Haven't played the amps in years. Perhaps I should dig them out and see if they work.

Thanks,
barondla

After this amount of time it is the capacitors I would be concerned about. Maybe early 80's construction? 40 years is a long time. I would offer to help but shipping those beasts around the country would not be easy lol. I can remember the power transformer being delivered in a separate box because with it, the weight was over what UPS would handle at the time.

+1 about the capacitors which have been sitting for a long while and not advisable to just power them up. it might be possible to stabilize the capacitors to make them usable (albeit with reduced performance) by re-forming the dielectric oxide layer, but that requires a variac / variable bench power supply and suitable ballast resistors (best to find a competent electronics technician with the proper equipment if you are not familiar with this process.

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

A 60 W incandescent light bulb makes an ideal ballast resistor.

JC

 

[valiant66]

Your choice of silver with black stripes, or black with silver stripes. One SKU.

 

[valiant66]

If you have serious trouble with your Rs there is medications that can help. I hesitate to ask, but exactly what is the problem?

 

[valiant66]

None are right, some are close.
.

 

[RickB]

Are you able to hear slight differences between cable materials as well? I am not being facetious, just curious. Some have a higher acuity for that as well.

I have a silver-plated cable that sounds brighter and clearer to me, but is not as good with bass as my other two copper cables.