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The diary entries of a little girl in her 30s! ~ Part 2
Apr 7, 2013 at 4:10 PM Post #9,754 of 21,761
Sundays are always slow. I'm stuck at home with an ailing spouse, otherwise I'd be out running around on such a warm, beautiful day. :frowning2:
 
Apr 7, 2013 at 4:17 PM Post #9,755 of 21,761
Quote:
magick man said:
Sundays are always slow. I'm stuck at home with an ailing spouse, otherwise I'd be out running around on such a warm, beautiful day.
frown.gif
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:/ hope she gets better.  sundays. wonderful days. Magic with a "k" seems more correct for some reason...
 
Apr 7, 2013 at 5:03 PM Post #9,758 of 21,761
I'm feeling tempted to get another USB->SPDIF converter/power supply for my secondary rig. I PM'd someone about a JKenny MK3, but iuno if he'll sell it to me in the US. Otherwise I'm not sure what to go with since I don't feel like getting another Stello/Aqvox combo for a system I don't use as often.

I need to start running again. I've been neglecting to more or less since I messed up my back (which is better now, btw).
 
Apr 7, 2013 at 5:08 PM Post #9,759 of 21,761
This morning I sat down with the Float QA after a month (or thereabouts) long hiatus. It sounded *really* good. Maybe the best headphone in the world to which no one is going to listen? There's going to be a set at the NY Audio Show, so maybe some folks will get to listen.
 
I've been avoiding posting more about them for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I doubt my "qualifications" as stupid as that sounds. Lately I've been speaking with a buddy in the UK who got a pair of the older Floats (on which the new QAs are heavily based). He also got the new QA power supply to replace the horrible vintage one, and it seems to solicit quite an improvement. We've been sharing impressions back and forth, and I'm more confident now as to what I'm hearing. This is a rather tricky headphone to pin down; it's difficult to articulate its rather unique character at times.
 
 
Speaking of the NY Audio Show, the preproduction Cavalli LAu will be on display for the first time in public. The headphones that will be plugged into it? The Abyss. Cavalli and JPS will be showcased together, something having to do with the use of JPS wire in the amps now I'm sure.
 
I *really* want to hear this setup.
 
Which might happen sooner rather than later. I'll be checking out the preproduction LAu for a while, and I've got some leads on sampling the Abyss.
 
Going back to my correspondence with JPS for a moment, they pointed me in the direction of The Cable Co. For those not familiar with them, The Cable Co. has tons of cables you can audition for a small fee. They've also set up a headphone lending library. For a 5% non-refundable deposit you can rent headphones for a few weeks. The deposit, while non-refundable, can then be applied to any future purchase at The Cable Co. This system makes sense if you think about it, because it prevents people from renting tons and tons of headphones over and over.
 
Still, with a headphone like the Abyss that costs 5,500 USD, that deposit turns out to be almost $300. That's why I was a little taken aback by the response I got from the manufacturer. Basically "sure you can audition my headphones, but you'll have to pay a non refundable $300 for the privilege of doing so." It would make more sense to me for them to offer a demo of the Abyss themselves for a full price deposit, but one that is also fully refunded after the demo.
 
 
Anyway, going back to the LAu... I'm really getting psyched about this amp. It could very well be the greatest amp Dr. Cavalli has ever designed.
 
I'm sort of mellowing out on the amp front; still planning on auditioning some other stuff like the Stratus, but for my main audio rack I'm pretty content to have the LAu / LG / LL2. Then the Leviathan for speaker taps.
 
Apr 7, 2013 at 5:13 PM Post #9,760 of 21,761
Quote:
driver 8 said:
I'm feeling tempted to get another USB->SPDIF converter/power supply for my secondary rig. I PM'd someone about a JKenny MK3, but iuno if he'll sell it to me in the US. Otherwise I'm not sure what to go with since I don't feel like getting another Stello/Aqvox combo for a system I don't use as often.
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This thing has piqued my interest quite a bit:
 
 

 
Also I'm curious about their full-on DAC which has the above built into it more or less:
 
 

The Empirical Audio Overdrive SE. It's quite expensive, but it's on my short list of "mega DACs" to consider upgrading to soon-ish. Also on the list: Berkley Alpha Series 2, Meitner Audio MA-1, and Resolution Cantata. I've ruled out the PWDmk2 because it's just too unceartain due to all those updates.
 
Apr 7, 2013 at 6:35 PM Post #9,762 of 21,761
muppetface said:
Also I'm curious about their full-on DAC which has the above built into it more or less:



The Empirical Audio Overdrive SE. It's quite expensive, but it's on my short list of "mega DACs" to consider upgrading to soon-ish. Also on the list: Berkley Alpha Series 2, Meitner Audio MA-1, and Resolution Cantata. I've ruled out the PWDmk2 because it's just too unceartain due to all those updates.
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Those look very cool. Reminds me of the original BSG Cylons. Quite afraid of googling it though, the price might give me a shock.
 
Apr 7, 2013 at 9:42 PM Post #9,765 of 21,761
Quote:
tomscy2000 said:
The problem with Empirical stuff is that they seem to enjoy twisting science around just to serve their own myth. I'm not sure what to make of them.
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 I was a bit suspicious of their OR5 when I was was looking for a new USB/SPDIF transport, I ended up going with Bel Canto's Reflink as it is apparently almost indistinguishable over SPDIF connection, and it costs a lot less, like over $1000 less.  Berkley Alpha USB was another option, I really want to try one of those also.  Empirical are always upgrading their designs, apparently there are some more upgrades in store, maybe at some point some of the upgrades will become more economical or standard rather than insanely expensive.  When it comes to USB/I2S transport OffRamp has few competitors at that level of performance, and apparently that's where the OR5 really has an advantage to justify the price premium.
 
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