[blubliss]

Great posts by IronDreamer and everyone else.

I would certainly think twice about sending the amp or headphones to Mikhail . His track record recently is really poor.

Fing, great tube ideas. Are those the Red Bank Bendix and do you know where to find any of these?

 

[Audiofiler]

Iron Dreamer makes very good points to the R10 and L3000, as does Wayne, well put.

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elephas /img/forum/go_quote.gif APureSound would be a better choice. If you're also thinking of sending in an SP amp for upgrades, you probably have a lot of optimism, patience and tolerance for excuses and delays.

Hmmmm, I've never heard of APS until just now. Well, I sent my R10s to Mikhail for recabling a couple of years ago and didn't have any problem - and they sound great. As for patience, that's really not a problem. I often go several weeks to a month without using my system and then when I get time I'll spend a week with it, so being without it for a while doesn't both me...

Quote:

Originally Posted by blubliss /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would certainly think twice about sending the amp or headphones to Mikhail . His track record recently is really poor.

Gee, NOW you tell me! Well, I'm not too terribly worried. If something goes wrong then I do have the option to go ahead and send it to A Pure Sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fing /img/forum/go_quote.gif On my Supra, I've found that L3000 sound very good with Bendix 6385 (premium 2C51) as input and 6BX7GT as output with high voltage setting. The 6BL7GTA's weren't a good match for me and other input tubes didn't have the all round ability the the Bendix has.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll start looking around for some Bendix 6385s.

EDIT: Hmmm, they seem to be even rarer than the Tung Sol RPs. Guess I'll have to keep my eyes open in the future for a pair...

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGhostWhoWalks /img/forum/go_quote.gif As for patience, that's really not a problem. I often go several weeks to a month without using my system and then when I get time I'll spend a week with it, so being without it for a while doesn't both me...

i think the wait could be much longer than that.

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

Well, if I get the L3Ks in and they sound great with the amp and just a tube switch then it might not even be necessary to send in the amp. I'll just have to see.

 

[nc8000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elephas /img/forum/go_quote.gif APureSound would be a better choice.

X2 on APureSound. Alex has done excelent work on all the phones he has done for me including the L3000 and a very timely turn around time too.

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

Well... You know what they say about the best laid plans, right?

I had been watching the L3Ks on Yahoo Japan for the last 10 days without a single bid, so I had no worries. Went to make a bid tonight when it went off and there were 8 bids up to 260k yen, which is about $2500. So, I guess so much for THAT idea! Maybe not though as I'll definitely keep my eyes out for another L3K. They do pop up now and again.... but I sure am kicking myself for not snatching up a new pair or two when they went OOP. I remember being right there when they did and really thinking about it, but decided to go another route and upgrade my source.

Anyway, a sincere thanks to everyone for all the help. If you see a new L3Ks up anywhere, keep me in mind and drop me a line, ok?

 

[blubliss]

You just missed a pair here today.

$2500 is about right.

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

$2500 probably should be right, but I was really hoping to get them for a bit less, and was more hopeful considering the auction had been there, to my knowledge, for more than a week with no bids. Oh well, I will keep my eyes out.

Any suggestions on alternatives?

I've been checking out the Ultrasone Edition 9s and some of the reviews remind me of the positives of the L3Ks (bass + PRAT), however, beyond that, the reviews are quite mixed. They'd certainly be a cheaper and more readily available option...

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGhostWhoWalks /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been checking out the Ultrasone Edition 9s and some of the reviews remind me of the positives of the L3Ks (bass + PRAT), however, beyond that, the reviews are quite mixed. They'd certainly be a cheaper and more readily available option...

Give it a shot. At least they are readily available. I'm not sure how much I'd consider it an alternative, since it does have a different sound signature.

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

Ya know, I love the audiophile world - it's the only place where people can say "give it a shot, at least their available" when it comes to $1500 headphones!

Maybe I should give that Ferrari a shot too... (if only!)

Anyway, yes, I gather they have a very unique sound from what I've read. But two things jumped out at me, and that's the aforementioned bass and PRAT. One reviewer described them as more aggressive and up-front, which is a good thing. I can't seem to find much clarity regarding much else though... very mixed.

 

[Covenant]

If in doubt about the Ed9, try a Pro/Proline 750.

I only just recieved my Ed9 yesterday, so I can't say with certainty how much the Ed9 and Pro 750 will end up differing, but from my listening on the Ed9 so far they definitely seem to share a house sound.

Sort of like how a SR60 and RS-1 have basically the same house sound, the latter just being a heavily refined version of the former. And Pro 750's can be had used for around $200 and onsold to little/no financial loss.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif If in doubt about the Ed9, try a Pro/Proline 750. I only just recieved my Ed9 yesterday, so I can't say with certainty how much the Ed9 and Pro 750 will end up differing, but from my listening on the Ed9 so far they definitely seem to share a house sound. Sort of like how a SR60 and RS-1 have basically the same house sound, the latter just being a heavily refined version of the former. And Pro 750's can be had used for around $200 and onsold to little/no financial loss.

Great idea. It will definitely give you an idea of the E9 sound. Of course, it's not quite the E9, plus it's not balanced, but you would still get the general idea.

Much better would be to give a balanced pair of E9's a listen on an SDS-XLR at the next national meet. Of course, that won't be for quite a while.

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

The national meet's probably out of the question. It's been a good while since I've made it to a meet and scheduling for me is a real bitch. The problem with the Pro 750 is two-fold: 1. It's not the E9, and it would be hard to tell what differences there are between them - especially where it matters, and 2. Yeah, not balanced. Plus, the only non-balanced system I have is my crappy $200 DVD/CD player.

Anyway, there's no big rush. I'll mull it over and snoop around here and elsewhere for idears.

 

[Akabeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blubliss /img/forum/go_quote.gif You just missed a pair here today. $2500 is about right.

I wonder if that was for a used pair 2 years ago

Would US$2800-3000 be a good price for a 9.5/10 L3000 (on A'gon scale) today?