[greggf]

I think the weird soundstages some of us hear - and are bothered by - are a function of the X9000's spectacularly tracking exactly how given recordings are recorded, mastered, and assembled.

On Jaco Pastorius' mid-'70's album, the X9000's are terrible. Some instruments come out of left field, some out of right - so far, so good - but others come out of the top of your head, some out of your navel, some from behind an ear, and so on.

Yet on Steve Hoffman's remastering of the Vince Guaraldi Trio's BLACK ORPHEUS, all is beautiful. It's a simple group in a studio - San Francisco's public broadcasting's recording suite? - recorded there in one piece.

Last night, I heard the Minnesota Orchestra's Reference Recording's COPLAND, and it sounded better - not as bright - than ever before, including on any speakers. I assume the whole group was recorded as an entity in one hall. Like with Guaraldi's Trio, the soundstaging was magnificent. No funny business with stuff coming out of weird places.

The X9000 are forensic instruments. They perform autopsies. They indict the guilty and let the innocent run free.

I can't wait to hear the Mama's and the Papa's, with all those messy multitracks.

And no, I guess the X9000 can't be all-rounders. Many - most? - recordings are not well done. But even then, the X9000 won't chase you out of the room with fatigue or excess brightness.

 

[Chefguru]

For those of you with x9000...
I decided to try the shorter cable today. I need the longer one for my current arrangement, but I was curious if I could hear a sonic difference. I remembered in the past there was a downgrade in sound quality when people used the stax extension cables

Well, for what it's worth I do believe I'm hearing a sonic improvement using a short cable. I wonder how much this is accounting for different opinions.

Am I really the only one here that was using the long cable ?

 

[genefruit]

Am I really the only one here that was using the long cable ?

I use the long cable and haven't noticed a difference. That said, I'm not A/B swapping the cable around frequent enough to establish a true baseline.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Am I really the only one here that was using the long cable ?

I use the long cable too

 

[greggf]

Am I really the only one here that was using the long cable ?

Short cable here, at least so far.

 

[Chefguru]

I use the long cable too

I'm hearing a sonic difference. Short seems to be sound a little bit better all around.
I tried a blind a/b with them (with the help of a friend) and guessed correctly each time.

 

[Kiats]

Am I really the only one here that was using the long cable ?

I was using only the long cable. Before I had to send mine back after it was afflicted by the dreaded driver imbalance issue.

 

[goldwerger]

If the mk1 sounds so much better wouldn’t EQ address the problem people have with the Mk2?

Perhaps yes, but I agree with @catscratch reply on EQ: It somestimes work, it sometimes doesn't. You can increase/decrease relative amplitude of any frequencies, but the inherent timbre that comes from resonance between frequencies which can't be isolated. To that I'd add, simply, the only way to know is try to test and find out for your own ears

And more fundamentally, I also agree that it's best to start by buying the headphone you like

ust look at the timeline of all the best flagship headphones ever made:

Stax sr-Lambda (1970s)
Stax Lambda Nova Signature (1980s)
Grado hp-1000, 1988/1989
Sony mdr-r10, 1988~1990
Orpheus 1990~
Omega 1990~
007 1998
Sony q010 - 2006

You'll see by early 90s, there is a big break because planar has a resurgence but is not yet ready to compete

My perspective on this is shared and mixed. I have tremendous appreciation to some of the great vintage headphones (I have and love the LNS, 007mk1, R10, L3000), but also appreciate greatly some of the newer headphones (Susvara and, most recently, Caldera which is quite innovative and wonderful to me). I think it takes the space of time to appreciate what was truly great in an era. We are living in an age of plenty, with a dizzying array of new headphone launches. Yet, in between all those many novelties, we still probbaly produce 1 ot 2 great headphones a decade or more. We will look back in a decade or two and have the perspective to know which those eventually were. Call me an optimistist...

Given that you have personally DM'ed about the x9000, I am aware that you have not heard the x9000. For those that are trying to use this forum as a place to make educated opinions about products

+1

I wonder how many people have had the opportunity to compare T2 with Megatron

I need some very basic education an estat newb.. Is anyone still building the Megatron these days? where might one have a chance to chance a listen (realizing no easy answer may exist to this one)?

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

I need some very basic education an estat newb.. Is anyone still building the Megatron these days? where might one have a chance to chance a listen (realizing no easy answer may exist to this one)?

Soren does, and maybe a couple other builders, not sure. And this is just a guess, but I think Megatron (and commercial amps with a similar design) will become more widely produced as the 'synergy' with x9000 becomes more of a consensus.

 

[goldwerger]

Soren does, and maybe a couple other builders, not sure. And this is just a guess, but I think Megatron (and commercial amps with a similar design) will become more widely produced as the 'synergy' with x9000 becomes more of a consensus.

thanks!

 

[Chefguru]

Soren does, and maybe a couple other builders, not sure. And this is just a guess, but I think Megatron (and commercial amps with a similar design) will become more widely produced as the 'synergy' with x9000 becomes more of a consensus.

Mjolnir is working on a new batch. He produced 5 units about 4 years ago. I tried to track one down but alas, no luck. Hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to get one from this round

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

Mjolnir is working on a new batch. He produced 5 units about 4 years ago. I tried to track one down but alas, no luck. Hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to get one from this round

I would be very interested in comparing a Mjolnir versus Soren Megatron. I was super close to buying an amp from Mjolnir, and that will always be a 'What if?'

Obviously given how widely respected Birgir is as a builder, but also given that Birgir and Soren seem to have very different building philosophies, I wonder how much of a difference there would be in SQ. Though I doubt both amps will ever be in the same room together.

An equally interesting question is how Megatron compares with the Grand Cayman. Supposedly a Grounded Grid sounds very similar to a BHSE--I haven't listened to either--but I wonder whether Grand Cayman shares Megatron DNA. Anybody want to trade their Grand Cayman for a gently used Carbon? Just kidding...

 

[goldwerger]

Mjolnir is working on a new batch

very interesting... have his Carbon and his builds are just outstanding. and he's always great person to deal with.

Birgir and Soren seem to have very different building philosophies

how so? curious to learn..

An equally interesting question is how Megatron compares with the Grand Cayman

including, but not limited, to cost... (I think the Grand Cayman will likely be offered in the $20-25k range, a different ballpark alright..)

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

very interesting... have his Carbon and his builds are just outstanding. and he's always great person to deal with.



how so? curious to learn..



including, but not limited, to cost... (I think the Grand Cayman will likely be offered in the $20-25k range, a different ballpark alright..)

My limited understanding is that Mjolnir uses some different components, which might improve quality and which do increase the total cost--for example, an Alps rk50 versus rk27. Soren uses many of the same components, but he's perhaps a bit more skeptical in his decision-making when it comes to SQ benefits.

I guess it's a matter of what you believe in. I picked Soren for all kinds of reasons, but one of them was that he gave me a detailed explanation for why he builds the way he does. My BS detector measured very low when listening to his explanation. I have a lot of respect for low BS. And, I haven't heard anything so far that convinces me of the SQ value of paying thousands more for a different wire or potentiometer. I am happy to be proven wrong, but I won't be emptying my wallet again in order to find out.

 

[goldwerger]

My limited understanding is that Mjolnir uses some different components, which might improve quality and which do increase the total cost--for example, an Alps rk50 versus rk27. Soren uses many of the same components, but he's perhaps a bit more skeptical in his decision-making when it comes to SQ benefits.

I guess it's a matter of what you believe in. I picked Soren for all kinds of reasons, but one of them was that he gave me a detailed explanation for why he builds the way he does. My BS detector measured very low when listening to his explanation. I have a lot of respect for low BS. And, I haven't heard anything so far that convinces me of the SQ value of paying thousands more for a different wire or potentiometer. I am happy to be proven wrong, but I won't be emptying my wallet again in order to find out.

Interesting!