[fidgeraldo]

Bryston BHA-1, I looked at the thread, and it's quite interesting. If I ever decide to go for a new solid state amp to complete the headphone amp story, it might be the one.
If I am not mistaken, have you said that you are a "speaker person"?
You have a profound taste in gear; which power or integrated amp would you recommend as good as owners satisfaction with BHA-1?
And why the second pair of Elegia? : )

Cheers!

 

[Rob80b]

Bryston BHA-1, I looked at the thread, and it's quite interesting. If I ever decide to go for a new solid state amp to complete the headphone amp story, it might be the one.

I've had Bryston for decades, brand loyalty or just a good Canadian supporting homegrown? But there are currently quite a few very good SS amps outs there. I picked up recently a used Sennheiser HDVD800, just for the amp and that performs extremely well with the Senns.

If I am not mistaken, have you said that you are a "speaker person"?

Yep. : ) Haven't changed things in quite awhile though..the Dynaudio Special 25s, powered by a Bryston amp and Velodyne sub are still holding up. Why fix something if it's not broken. Most recent addition was a Cambridge CXN streamer just prior to Covid. (room also doubles as my home theatre)

Although I've got quite accustomed to headphones over the years they cannot supply quite the visceral impact...different listening experience as you are well aware.

You have a profound taste in gear;

Don't know if I've profound taste, I like stuff that just works and like the "Sabine Hossenfelder , theoretical physicist, science communicator, author, musician, and YouTuber." likes to say "without all the Gobbledygook".
https://www.youtube.com/@SabineHossenfelder/videos

which power or integrated amp would you recommend as good as owners satisfaction with BHA-1?

To be honest, I am a bit out of the loop, settled in my ways, so wouldn't really know where to start.

And why the second pair of Elegia? : )


Cheers!

Good question, I sold the pair I had for no particular reason last fall but basically the new ones (an offer I couldn't refuse) play second fiddle to the HD660S2 on my other headphone setup in the BR.

 

[fidgeraldo]

To be honest, I am a bit out of the loop, settled in my ways, so wouldn't really know where to start.

Damn : ) I can see why you are settled. You have a dream setup. I love my new B&W 706 S2, and I guess an amp around 2.5k-3k would fit well. I have had NAD C338 for several years, and it's great. When I replaced Dali Zensor Pico, I thought it would be great to upgrade the amp too.
You also have a beautiful and cosy home. My wife would say: "You can see someone is living there" : )

We have a tiny apartment, and we have managed to install a 305 cm pull-down screen above the windows. It almost covered the whole width of the wall, which is 4 m.
What's a projector that you have? Is it Epson, JVC or Sony looking at the shape of the lens? I have ViewSonic px728-4k. The throw distance limited me, and I couldn't fit any projector for a 305 cm screen width. Another option was BenQ, but I decided on a cheaper solution and wasn't disappointed. My wife and I enjoy movies greatly. The only downside is an inferior audio connection; it doesn't have optical or HDMI Arc. We can't install a surround, but BOSE 600 is fantastic for our needs. The quality of the picture is excellent.

 

[Rob80b]

My wife would say: "You can see someone is living there" : )

Thanks.

We have a tiny apartment,

Looks may be deceiving, my apartment is also quite small, had a house but now ancient history, too much work. : )

have managed to install a 305 cm pull-down screen above the windows. It almost covered the whole width of the wall,

Sounds familiar...325 cm here, although mine is motorized : )

Is it Epson, JVC or Sony looking at the shape of the lens?

It's an Epson pro cinema 4030...and still on 1080p, looks fine by me.... though, if I ever upgrade, maybe a JVC. (for the black levels )

My wife and I enjoy movies greatly

...don't believe I've watched TV as such since the early 80s.

 

[fidgeraldo]

Hmm, it seems that we have pretty similar perspectives of indulging senses : )
A lot of people, almost everyone is, putting more effort into audio in home theatre rather than visual/screen. The bigger, the better is my moto about the screen size. I like the curtains; you nailed it! Yep....deeeep blacks...but almost black is good too.
I was thinking about getting Epson, but as I mentioned, I wouldn't be able, in that case, to project the size of the screen I wanted, and that wasn't an option! Actually, I also have Epson EF-12; hm, it's portable, and it has HDMI eARC. Sometimes we use it to use rear speakers for surround and Atmos.
I do have a TV, it's a 75" Samsung, it's all in the same room...but it's only there for movies or some Youtube, visual arts, a bit of snooker, ski jumping or MMA : ) news, politics, trivia...and similar...not been interested in years, hmm, most likely never was.

 

[Rob80b]

The bigger, the better is my moto about the screen size.

Also it's a reflective image so very easy on the eyes, most fall in love with the size..movies at home. I've a 55" Sony OLED for everything else.

I like the curtains; you nailed it!

Surprisingly the curtains on both sides worked out quite well, not to forget black velvet to drape over everything else. ...and takes only few minutes to set up, or the time the screen descends or the projector to warm up.


...anyway back to headphones.

 

[MRHiFiReviews]

B-Stock Sennheiser HD820 Sale Prices are good until 6 pm PST, May 20th, 2023. Deeply discounted B-Stock HD820 units 1,150.00 USD with full warranty.

https://thesourceav.com/search?type=product,page,article&q=current sale*

 

[exhale]

The unique tuning of hd820 is purpose-driven: to psychoacoustically model the hd800s' precision reference sound in a closed back as closely as possible. This is also what makes it worth owning IMO; if you EQ it flat then it's kind of defeating the purpose of the headphone.

I think you’re misusing the word “psychoacoustic”. That or you don’t really know what it means and you’re simply defending the HD820 by writing nonsense. No offense, etc.

 

[XMarsX]

The only EQ I apply is just a little extra bass, other wise I think these are a very underrated set of cans. A little tubeyness elevates the experience.

 

[Rob80b]

The only EQ I apply is just a little extra bass, other wise I think these are a very underrated set of cans.

Underrated or misunderstood? lol
I must be getting an excellent fit as I can't imagine adding more bass to the mix without spoiling the balance and I like bass and sub bass.

 

[XMarsX]

Underrated or misunderstood? lol
I must be getting an excellent fit as I can't imagine adding more bass to the mix without spoiling the balance and I like bass and sub bass.

I wanted more impact from the bass so it got a small bump. I have a large head so I get an excellent, and comfortable, seal from the 820s.

 

[exhale]

4.4 mm pentacomme and XLR sounds better than 6.3mm unbalanced connector.

What a bad suggestion. Sometimes, some of you people amaze me with your lack of knowledge. It doesn’t sound better, it just sounds louder, that’s it. And even then, there are amps which can output >3W of power over 6,3mm (such as Violectric, some Toppings, etc.). It’s all a matter of volume matching. Stop giving bad and inaccurate replies and educate yourself a bit before misleading others and making them waste money for nothing.

 

[Vamp898]

What a bad suggestion. Sometimes, some of you people amaze me with your lack of knowledge. It doesn’t sound better, it just sounds louder, that’s it. And even then, there are amps which can output >3W of power over 6,3mm (such as Violectric, some Toppings, etc.). It’s all a matter of volume matching. Stop giving bad and inaccurate replies and educate yourself a bit before misleading others and making them waste money for nothing.

First of all, this is backed by measurements. The difference in crass talk can be more than 30db and often in the audible range for quite some amps.

Especially full digital amps can have an lower noise floor on 4.4mm due to being able to use 4 LCs instead of 2 which can make an difference with sensitive In-Ear and so on.

Calling 4.4mm a waste of money is basically ignoring science.

Sure, there are Headphone/Amp combinations with no difference, but you can't make that an general statement.

Second, an 4.4mm balanced cable is included for free with the HD820, so nobody wastes money by using 4.4mm. All cable manufacturers I know demand the exact same price for SE and balanced cables. At most you're wasting the money for an cheap and simple adapter to be SE compatible

There is absolutely zero reason to use SE when you have an balanced amp

 

[exhale]

First of all, this is backed by measurements. The difference in crass talk can be more than 30db and often in the audible range for quite some amps.

Especially full digital amps can have an lower noise floor on 4.4mm due to being able to use 4 LCs instead of 2 which can make an difference with sensitive In-Ear and so on.

Calling 4.4mm a waste of money is basically ignoring science.

Sure, there are Headphone/Amp combinations with no difference, but you can't make that an general statement.

Second, an 4.4mm balanced cable is included for free with the HD820, so nobody wastes money by using 4.4mm. All cable manufacturers I know demand the exact same price for SE and balanced cables. At most you're wasting the money for an cheap and simple adapter to be SE compatible

There is absolutely zero reason to use SE when you have an balanced amp

Yeah, no. If an amp is designed with SE outputs in mind, it will deliver the signal as good as one which was made with balanced circuitry. But oftenly, the price is higher while the benefits are intangible. Those 30dB of crosstalk are noticeable at defeaning volumes. A normal human being will listen at or about 80dB, tops. Higher than that, hearing loss will occur.
Would you choose a Topping A90 because it outputs (can’t recall the exact figure) 7(?)W at 32Ohm or go for a Violectric that does 3,2W@50Ohm? And that has both 6,3 and 4,4 outputs but both SE. The RRP were close, between the two but personally, i’d go with Violectric and it’s non-clinical, dry, empty sound rather than choosing the Topping that yes, will power most of everything on the market at blistering high levels of dryness.

What i’m trying to convey is that you’re still wrong. Crosstalk differences do exist on the same amp but through different outputs and yes, it will be higher on SE if said amp was built with balanced circuitry in mind. But on a different amp, built with pure SE circuitry, you’ll get similar crosstalk values to that of a balanced one. Balanced =/= better. It just means louder. That’s it. Same sound signature. There are zero acoustical differences between a 6.3mm and a 4.4mm pole.

If you feel really adventurous, i’m down for a blind, unsighted, volume matched, A/B test between a SE output amp and a balanced one. If you can correctly point out the balanced one more than 4/10 attempts, on a headphone of your choosing, i’ll buy both the amps and the headphone and gift them to you. If not, you delete your account and never come back to head-fi. Deal?

 

[Vamp898]

Yeah, no. If an amp is designed with SE outputs in mind, it will deliver the signal as good as one which was made with balanced circuitry. But oftenly, the price is higher while the benefits are intangible. Those 30dB of crosstalk are noticeable at defeaning volumes. A normal human being will listen at or about 80dB, tops. Higher than that, hearing loss will occur.
Would you choose a Topping A90 because it outputs (can’t recall the exact figure) 7(?)W at 32Ohm or go for a Violectric that does 3,2W@50Ohm? And that has both 6,3 and 4,4 outputs but both SE. The RRP were close, between the two but personally, i’d go with Violectric and it’s non-clinical, dry, empty sound rather than choosing the Topping that yes, will power most of everything on the market at blistering high levels of dryness.

What i’m trying to convey is that you’re still wrong. Crosstalk differences do exist on the same amp but through different outputs and yes, it will be higher on SE if said amp was built with balanced circuitry in mind. But on a different amp, built with pure SE circuitry, you’ll get similar crosstalk values to that of a balanced one. Balanced =/= better. It just means louder. That’s it. Same sound signature. There are zero acoustical differences between a 6.3mm and a 4.4mm pole.

If you feel really adventurous, i’m down for a blind, unsighted, volume matched, A/B test between a SE output amp and a balanced one. If you can correctly point out the balanced one more than 4/10 attempts, on a headphone of your choosing, i’ll buy both the amps and the headphone and gift them to you. If not, you delete your account and never come back to head-fi. Deal?

Measured at 1kHz, yes. If you are listening to an 1 kHz Sinus Wave (apperently that is the only thing people on head fi do these days), then you get an crosstalk at around- 70 or even down to -90 db, but that is only at 1kHz.

Go to 200Hz or into the high frequencies and a lot of amps go up to -40db

That is absolutely audible at 80db volume listening

But I take the deal. Well meet for an A/B for SE vs Balanced on my Walkman with songs of my choice and if I win, you'll delete your account, right?