[Overwerk]

   
I agree that comfort and build quality are a huge issue with the HE-500. You really have to suffer for the music, and with mine I have to constantly tighten the screws holding them together or they will occasionally fall apart.
 
I think I want to demo the HD800 some day and see where it goes. I don't really like the HD650, I feel they sound very dry and papery and I am always aware I am listening to headphones. If the HD800 can fix these problems maybe I can find a nice used pair in my price range some day.

i like the "headphone experience" and as a student i honestly prefer having cheap mid fi cans and a lot of them so can have the luxury of switchinga round, I don't know of a lot of headphiles that owns some 20-30 headphones on a long run basis, I have owned them for almost 2 years and I will never sell any of them. I have returned he500 and x1 because they both sound the same and both feels too heavy for me. they rather don't have the intimacy and the mid range sweetness that comes with most my other cans either. Preference aside I really don't think anyone appreciates ton of wweight on their head. Me personally my jaws hurts from extensive usage of hd600 too, if i forgot to position it correctly. with he500 if I remember correctly if it hurts jaw there's no way to get it up higher on the ear. So is the case with lcd2. 

 

[GoldfishX]

Finally...The HE-500's I'm borrowing REALLY seemed to like the Siemens 1972 A-Frames. At this point, I've realized the Marantz player is very warm and the headphones didn't care for the 79 Voskhods at all (non-descript, pairing was too smooth). With the Siemens, that smoothness is broken up, like the sound is breaking through and becoming much more involving and fun. Not perfect...it's missing some detail retrieval on some tracks, but the end product is a winner.
 
I'm really considering swapping out the Marantz player for something more neutral. I think that is what is hurting my ability to find good pairings with this stuff.
 
The HE-500's are a bit heavy. My head had adjusted to their clamp though and they just feel like I am wearing a hat at this point. After the LCD letdown though (those pads are ass!) and me trying to keep the AD2000x settled on my head for more than 5 minutes at a time, they aren't bad at all.

 

[Olivier11986]

Has anyone tested some Bugle Boy ECC189 and could tell me how they sound?

 

[R Scott Ireland]

   
I agree that comfort and build quality are a huge issue with the HE-500. You really have to suffer for the music, and with mine I have to constantly tighten the screws holding them together or they will occasionally fall apart.
 
I think I want to demo the HD800 some day and see where it goes. I don't really like the HD650, I feel they sound very dry and papery and I am always aware I am listening to headphones. If the HD800 can fix these problems maybe I can find a nice used pair in my price range some day.

 
The HD800 is in another universe compared to the HD650.  I have both; the HD800 is my favorite among all phones and is totally comfortable. The HD650, not so much. I actually think I prefer my HD580 to the 650. YMMV.

 

[rb2013]

I agree that comfort and build quality are a huge issue with the HE-500. You really have to suffer for the music, and with mine I have to constantly tighten the screws holding them together or they will occasionally fall apart.

I think I want to demo the HD800 some day and see where it goes. I don't really like the HD650, I feel they sound very dry and papery and I am always aware I am listening to headphones. If the HD800 can fix these problems maybe I can find a nice used pair in my price range some day.

I've never heard anyone complain about the comfort of the HD800s. Most complaints are about it's bright, sometimes simbilant nature. With a solid state dac like the Bifrost that may be an even geater issue. But there are remedies, for example a warmer tube set for the Lyr, and/or a cable change I've had good success with the Black Dragons. So it may take a little patience and tweeking to get just right, the reward is really world class sound. Just bought a pr of Maggie 1.6qrs, which have rave reviews from Absolute sound. They were used but like new. After weeks of tweeking and driving them with a great Class A tube hybrid amp, I really think the HD800/Black Dragon/Lyr/‘75 Voskhods are better! More natural, better bass (and I have aVelodyne Sub with the Maggies), very realistic tone, outsounding detail. The only place the Maggies excel is their huge lifesized, very transparent sound stage - but heck they're 5ft tall planar dipole panels!

 

[rb2013]

Finally...The HE-500's I'm borrowing REALLY seemed to like the Siemens 1972 A-Frames. At this point, I've realized the Marantz player is very warm and the headphones didn't care for the 79 Voskhods at all (non-descript, pairing was too smooth). With the Siemens, that smoothness is broken up, like the sound is breaking through and becoming much more involving and fun. Not perfect...it's missing some detail retrieval on some tracks, but the end product is a winner.

I'm really considering swapping out the Marantz player for something more neutral. I think that is what is hurting my ability to find good pairings with this stuff.

The HE-500's are a bit heavy. My head had adjusted to their clamp though and they just feel like I am wearing a hat at this point. After the LCD letdown though (those pads are ass!) and me trying to keep the AD2000x settled on my head for more than 5 minutes at a time, they aren't bad at all.

I think a lot of results are source dependent. I stumbled on to this tube review over on Audio Circle back 2009 (not me), the review compared the Voskhods 6n23p Rockets to a whole group of Amperexs like the Holland A frames, Holland PQs, USA PQs, and the Tesla goldpins. Interesting
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=71847.10;imode

 

[tuna47]

I have some bugle boy o getters that I can part with for more details pm me

 

[GoldfishX]

I think a lot of results are source dependent. I stumbled on to this tube review over on Audio Circle back 2009 (not me), the review compared the Voskhods 6n23p Rockets to a whole group of Amperexs like the Holland A frames, Holland PQs, USA PQs, and the Tesla goldpins. Interesting
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=71847.10;imode

I was expecting the Voskhods to sort of "open up" the HE-500 and the LCD-2 and that really didn't happen, I figured they were neutral to bright. I ended up with a boring combination. But that might also be the Voskhods amplifying the warmth and smoothness of the Marantz's DAC...At this point, I want to try a more neutral source and get to the bottom of it. Which means more $$$ and probably another trip to Schiit's online store (Bifrost most likely).
 
The Siemens, which have given me mixed results overall up to this point, loved them both and kind of did open them up. Which I was not expecting. I could probably live with the Marantz/Siemens/HE-500 pairing (warm source, bright tubes, neutral headphones), but am more interested in finding something that works better with the HD800.
.
For the Siemens, they were ass with the AD2000x (WAY too bright) and were too bright with female vocals on the HD800. However, they were very good with heavy metal on the HD800.

 

[Zuckfun]

The HD800 is in another universe compared to the HD650.  I have both; the HD800 is my favorite among all phones and is totally comfortable. The HD650, not so much. I actually think I prefer my HD580 to the 650. YMMV.

It is great to know the Lyr can handle, and excel, with the HD800. Source is important, not only for playback, but the source material. Much of my music is not modern professional recordings, and therefore has various flaws. HD800 could be my endgame phones, but I worry it will overexpose the flaws in the recordings. Hopefully I'll be able to try these phones someday- Cable Co. sure provides an amazing opportunity to do so. Until then, the HD650's will keep me rocking along.

 

[Olivier11986]

Does anybody know something about Trans Radio tubes?

 

[Fearless1]

  Does anybody know something about Trans Radio tubes?

I have heard of Trans Oceanic,  not sure if it is the same?  If so, those were made by Zenith/Sylvania and are warm and balanced sounding.

 

[Olivier11986]

Thanks for the info! I saw a double NOS pair (4 tubes) for $135 and was wondering, but that's a bit high IMHO

 

[Oskari]

 
I have heard of Trans Oceanic,  not sure if it is the same?  If so, those were made by Zenith/Sylvania and are warm and balanced sounding.

 


Trans-Oceanics were Zenith radios.


 

 

[Olivier11986]

Did Zenith produce their own tubes or were they sourced by another company?

 

[Oskari]

 
Thanks for the info! I saw a double NOS pair (4 tubes) for $135 and was wondering, but that's a bit high IMHO

 


On eBay? Those look like Teslas to me.