[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Samuels Hey Flecom..... . Please tell me that she is 18 years or older. Ray Samuels

IF NOT GIVE HER MY NUMBER...JHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

EDIT, she is.....oh well best of luck to you man!!!!

 

[JiiEf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Samuels Hey Flecom..... For a girl as sweet as that, I will deny my mother & forget her name too, who needs head-fi when you are with a sweet chick like that. Please tell me that she is 18 years or older. Forgive me if she is not. You did very well & you have the best reason in the world not to show up for the meet. If I were you I will spread the RED carpet under her feet. Man. your DA MAN. Ray Samuels

I was trying really hard to think of something witty, but I'll just second everything Ray said instead. Less typing too!

/JF

 

[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoZX Headroom microstack. Great sound quality out of mikes laptop. Unfortunately I could not get the microdac to work with my Archos AV320 at all. I even took a quick trip up to ratshack to get an adapter and still couldn't get it to work. Maybe headroom has some ideas on this. My AV320 worked fine when hooked up to Gene's Grace m902.

I had the same issue with my iRiver iHP-140. Worked fine with the Grace/Chord DAC64, but Overture didn't like it. A firmware upgrade fixed the problem. No idea why a conventional digital TOSLink out would have this issue, but I wasn't the only one with this problem with the iRiver/Overture.

Matey, you've gone pretty nuts into the hobby since getting those SA1k so long ago...

Best,

-Jason

 

[gsferrari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha Matey, you've gone pretty nuts into the hobby since getting those SA1k so long ago...

Yeah...he is upgrading and I am downgrading

I have his SA1000. Sold the SA5000 to pay for the SR-404.

gs

 

[gsferrari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeg Guru - What's your opinon regarding how the sound of the following compare: HD-90 Orpheus, versus HD650 running in balanced mode out of the Balanced Supra SDS XLR, versus the R10?

They compare very well. Putting aside the "wow!

" factor of the HE-90 and the "shock and awe" of hirsch's towering amp - the technical aspects of both setups compare quite favorably.

* The HD-650 finally has the immediacy of a good electrostat. There is PRAT and spadeloads of it. The lazy genius has finally been given a good workout.

* What happened to the soundstage!?

I think a single-ended amp will always have the problem of a collapsed soundstage. I am still unsure of the "engineering reason" behind this...probably has something to do with the CONTROL over driver motion. The soundstage of the HE-90 is akin a good speaker setup (maybe two high end bookshelves in nearfield setup with adequate amplification). There is no "inside the head" nonsense going on with the HE-90...scary! The HD-650 now has similar qualities but still sounds a little bit strained and collapsed in comparison.

* The tonal qualities are shockingly similar. The only difference I could tell was that the HD-650 was slightly tuned to the midbass and midrange and the HE-90 was midrange+treble oriented. The HE-90 has more bass than many headphones I can think of. The HD-650 just has overpowering bass on some recordings. BUT - compared to a single ended mode of listening the "congested" midrange (where everything seemed to sort of meld together because of the lower notes) is gone and replaced by plenty of "air" and a feeling of lightness...lift...Sony-esque without getting carried away.

* the HE-90 is still the king...effortless and flawless to my ears in every way. There is nothing that I "miss" in the sound and there is no headphone on my head when I listen with the HE-90. I can only dream and hope to own one some-day because THAT will truly end all forms of upgraditis. it is a shame that sennheiser decided to stop production...I want to know why

* The HD-650 driven in this way is an excellent headphone...finally...no longer an all-rounder of repute, the HD-650 steps up to the plate and smacks a big one! You can actually listen to ROCK! on this headset...and listen to Jane Monheit the next second...unflappable!

However it is still behind the HE90....for the price of the balanced amp and recabled hd-650s I would get a HE-90 and use it with the 007T running single ended.

[size=small]
Miles ahead of the rest...Miles away from the best!

[/size]

gs

 

[philodox]

The Kevin Gilmore electrostatic amps [KGSS and Blue Hawaii] are both balanced are they not?

 

[gsferrari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox The Kevin Gilmore electrostatic amps [KGSS and Blue Hawaii] are both balanced are they not?

Yes they are. but I dont think mikeg's source has balanced outputs.

Does it Mike?

 

[gsferrari]

If anyone is interested:

I went through my stereophile pile and found magazines that have reviews of:

* Sony SCD1
* Denon Digital Duo (looks like a Shanling T300

)
* Herron Audio Phono (tyrion - isnt this the one you brought to the meet...looks like it is HIGHLY sought after!)

etc.

Yeah...back-issues rule!

 

[tom hankins]

It's to bad that there wasnt a better source to use with the SDS-XLR at the meet. Owning the SCD-1, I can say for sure that it is not up to the level the amp/650-ZU-XLR combo is. This amp is more than capable of stepping up to the highest level of source.
Also, if Mikhail used the BMC cables, and older model LAT PC I sent him they are not nearly as good as several others I have tried with the amp. I truly believe the skies the limit with this amp. I'm glad others have got a taste of what I have had the good fortune of listening to daily.
Hirsch, you and your Qualias are going to be very happy.

 

[gsferrari]

Like I said - I was going through a few back-issues (just over a hundred

) of Stereophile and I found only ONE phonostage that has similar features to the RSA XR-10. This phonostage is by Manley Labs and although it shares the functionality of the XR-10 it doesnt quite have the full feature set of Ray's unit. Needless to say I am proud and happy to personally know the designer of the XR-10

I will always be "on the way...driving" to his house...one day I will get there and he will fry me some eggs

I think the FEEL amplifier (Joe's) is not getting sufficient exposure. Get off your lazy asses and write some comments...gawd! almost looks like NONE of you were at the meet doing any listening at all

My pics should be up tonight...videos too...

Any comments about: (apart from mine...)

* Shanling Sources
* Omega II and SR-404
* Qualia out of various amps
* Berendsen CDP1
* M-Cubed (M3)
* Dynahi

 

[gsferrari]

Herron Audio had their phono stage at the meet AND their vacuum tube pre-amp was what we heard at "Let there be sound" (during the speaker/VPI-HRX demo)

http://www.herronaudio.com/index.html


System Audio is the maker of the speakers that featured in the first demo (vpi-hrx with ray's xr-10)

http://www.system-audio.com/


Hope this helps

 

[tom hankins]

gsferrari, Did you guys get to compare the different phono stages with each other? What are your opinions of Rays new phono compared to? I am shopping a new turntable now and will be looking for a phono stage in the near future.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha Matey, you've gone pretty nuts into the hobby since getting those SA1k so long ago...

lol thats nothing. Whats really crazy is that i've seriously been trying to think of a way to be able to afford the r10s.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins gsferrari, Did you guys get to compare the different phono stages with each other? What are your opinions of Rays new phono compared to? I am shopping a new turntable now and will be looking for a phono stage in the near future.

The XR-10B was briefly compared to the herron friday night at LTBS. I think everyone was in agreement that the XR-10B sounded better.

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins It's to bad that there wasnt a better source to use with the SDS-XLR at the meet. Owning the SCD-1, I can say for sure that it is not up to the level the amp/650-ZU-XLR combo is. This amp is more than capable of stepping up to the highest level of source. Also, if Mikhail used the BMC cables, and older model LAT PC I sent him they are not nearly as good as several others I have tried with the amp. I truly believe the skies the limit with this amp. I'm glad others have got a taste of what I have had the good fortune of listening to daily. Hirsch, you and your Qualias are going to be very happy.

There were other sources there that were good enough to use with the SDS-XLR. The amp had a nice sound but at that price it better do more than sound good. Sorry, but for me that it a little over the top for a headphone amp. In terms of sources, my Berendsen was available for anyone to use.



The mmf-5 through Ray's phono stage sounded amazing considering it is far from a high end tt. Ray's phono stage brought out everything the tt and cart could offer and then some. I listen to that tt everyday using my Rega Mira 3 intergrated and it has never sounded as good as it did with that phono stage.

I don't think I've had a chance to comment on Joe's Feel amp. This was one heck of a deal. I tried it with HD-600 and SA5K and it was up to the task in each instance.

I haven't commented about the Raptor as I've already posted a review. It sounded as good at the meet as it sounds everyday at my house.