[kiertijai]

@Purrin Thanks  I think I have been hit by midlife crisis
 
    I didn't like the Abyss from the ECBA, but I've never felt the ECBA was an optimal match for power hungry orthos in the first place
     I think the same.  I think ECBA may have even less driving power than the ZDT.  That's the reason why I have to use the
preamplifier which has 17dB gain but I don't know how much it will help.   I will try balanced beta 22 first.
 
For the record, I do prefer the HE90 (from a DIY T2, the HEV90, or the Aristaeus) over the Abyss  
      I hope so even we have to test that from the setup that may be optimal or similar for both  If the Abyss is better
it is not very good for  me  because my HE90 value will be lower while there may be more people getting
the Abyss which I don't own now and it will cost me another fortune to do that.  You can see that there may be some
bias here but I will try to be professional.

 

[x838nwy]

Quote:

It's not as easy as getting the same sound signature by using a the "same" amp and comparing. The circuitry of the MV3 for the 'stat output is different from the dynamic driver output. The principle of driving 'stats is different from that of dynamic drivers. The reality of the situation is that if you are OCD enough, it really doesn't never end because there in fact are so many combinations.
 
The Mal Head Valve would be a poor match for the Abyss because it's a tube OTL (output Z is no less than 8 according to the specs.) I've heard the Abyss on a variety of amps and felt that it needs lower output Z and good power capacity to shine. This usually means solid-state. The only tube amp I've heard that drove the Abyss well was an EC prototype with doubled 45 tubes on the output.
 
Ultimately it's about synergy and personal preferences. Keeping in mind that I had a T2DIY, I still did not think the SR-009 was "worth it". And I've heard the SR-009 on a 323, 727, Aristaeus, BHSE, KGSS, KGSSHV, LL, and Electra.

 
Output stages aside, one hopes that the sound characteristics from both would have been similarly tuned. I think it's the closest we'll get to comparing an electrostat to another type of driver technology.
 
I think discussions about the abyss can only be sensibly done in relation to the LCD-3. When comparing headphones to Stax, TakeT or Jecklin's there's always the question of all the equipment in the chain before it gets to the ears which makes it an internet fight waiting to happen.
 
I think the Abyss has one thing going for it which is the ability to be used with your current headphone amp(s) - if I were to buy them, this would be one thing it has over Stax 009's.
 
p.s. I truly hope the Abyss does not give Audeze ideas for an even more expensive model... might be interesting to see what they can do if the sensitivity and price are less limiting...

 

[SoupRKnowva]

To level the paying field for amps you could always use a BHSE and a SuSy Dynahi for the 009s and the Abyss respectively, that's probably about as close as you could get for amps designed to "sound the same" while arguably being some of the best amps for each as well

 

[purrin]

Or an LAu and LL2 respectively for Abyss and SR-009. Or an EC445 and Electra.
 
I've had time with all of these aforementioned combinations. It really doesn't change any of the characteristics between the Abyss and SR-009 in relation to each other. Ultimately it doesn't matter to me because I've had significant time to experiment and get the sound most suited to my preferences with both transducers. More in fact with the SR-009 since my time with the Abyss was only about a week.
 
I guess what I'm saying is no amp in existence is going to make the SR-009 slam low like the Abyss. Or make the Abyss's treble as smooth as the SR-009. Or the SR-009 present depth like the Abyss. Or the Abyss have the "get-out-of-the-way" quality of the SR-009.
 
 

 

[Radio_head]

Remember, you're not getting a "wire-with-gain" with the Cavalli or Eddie Current amps.  So, two coloured amps would have to have the same colouration to be comparable, and that coloration may affect different headphones differently.  The Susy Dynahi/BHSE amps on the other hand are so transparent to source that they know what Bach was thinking when composing his preludes or #1 hit "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet."  This "lack" of sound would allow the respective headphones to play as intended rather than as some amp designer thinks they should sound.  I want my window into the soul of music to be clear, not stained glass.

 

[n3rdling]

Quote:

Or an LAu and LL2 respectively for Abyss and SR-009. Or an EC445 and Electra.
 
I've had time with all of these aforementioned combinations. It really doesn't change any of the characteristics between the Abyss and SR-009 in relation to each other. Ultimately it doesn't matter to me because I've had significant time to experiment and get the sound most suited to my preferences with both transducers. More in fact with the SR-009 since my time with the Abyss was only about a week.
 
I guess what I'm saying is no amp in existence is going to make the SR-009 slam low like the Abyss. Or make the Abyss's treble as smooth as the SR-009. Or the SR-009 present depth like the Abyss. Or the Abyss have the "get-out-of-the-way" quality of the SR-009.
 
 

Exactly. 

 

[rgs9200m]

Is the Abyss somewhat of an HE-6 situation, with a lot of power needed?
Or does the Abyss need an amp that handles high impedance phones well?

 

[n3rdling]

The Abyss isn't a high impedance headphone and it's an ortho so the load is purely resistive.  Impedance is something like 50 Ohm.  It is however somewhat inefficient, so it does need an amp with a bit more voltage swing than most other headphones do.  If by "HE-6 situation" you mean the insistence of some people that you need 90s Krell monoblocks to drive them to their "potential" then I'd suggest not listening at 134 dB

 

[wink]

Quote:RadioGaga

Remember, you're not getting a "wire-with-gain" with the Cavalli or Eddie Current amps.  So, two coloured amps would have to have the same colouration to be comparable, and that coloration may affect different headphones differently.  The Susy Dynahi/BHSE amps on the other hand are so transparent to source that they know what Bach was thinking when composing his preludes or #1 hit "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet."  This "lack" of sound would allow the respective headphones to play as intended rather than as some amp designer thinks they should sound.  I want my window into the soul of music to be clear, not stained glass.

100% true....

 

[purrin]

Quote:

Is the Abyss somewhat of an HE-6 situation, with a lot of power needed?
Or does the Abyss need an amp that handles high impedance phones well?

 
In my experience, the Abyss was easier to drive than the HE-6 and even other HFM orthos down to the HE-500. Most of the HFM orthos seems to need gigantuous power for them to sort of "snap-into-shape" and not sound flaccid. I actually prefer my HE-500s from a Crest CA2 pro power amp to any other headphone amp I've tried. The Abyss on the other hand was driven fine from the LAu or Mjolnir. But then again, I've done crazy stuff like powering my speakers from the LAu or Mjolnir.

 

[kiertijai]

I guess what I'm saying is no amp in existence is going to make the SR-009 slam low like the Abyss. Or make the Abyss's treble as smooth as the SR-009. Or the SR-009 present depth like the Abyss. Or the Abyss have the "get-out-of-the-way" quality of the SR-009.
    I don't know whether the tube rolling of the Mal Valve Three can modify that.  I have email to ask Dieter about how to tone down the frequency peak in the treble of the Abyss
    The tubes used are 2xECC81's, 4xEF184's and 4 6V6's
    I think tube rolling of ECC81 may do part the job but am waiting Dieter's comment although I know that most amplifier builders
do not like their amplifier to have tube rolling.

 

[AnakChan]

However I can compare the Abyss with both takeT, new Jecklin Float using my speaker amplifer (ZOTL ZH230). It should be able to test in the same setup and at the same time between takeT vs Abyss, new Jecklin with Abyss, but not all three at the same time or new Jecklin vs takeT

 
I would be very keen to see the results of this. Please do feel free to share your impressions.

 

[x838nwy]

Quote:

Remember, you're not getting a "wire-with-gain" with the Cavalli or Eddie Current amps.  So, two coloured amps would have to have the same colouration to be comparable, and that coloration may affect different headphones differently.  The Susy Dynahi/BHSE amps on the other hand are so transparent to source that they know what Bach was thinking when composing his preludes or #1 hit "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet."  This "lack" of sound would allow the respective headphones to play as intended rather than as some amp designer thinks they should sound.  I want my window into the soul of music to be clear, not stained glass.

With no intention to troll, could you please elaborate on the coloration(s) on the Eddie Current and/or the Cavalli? I have no experience with these two and have always considered them to be totl and as such would have thought they'd be transparent with a capital T?? How would you rate them against the GS-X (mkII)?

 

[citadel]

Quote:

I guess what I'm saying is no amp in existence is going to make the SR-009 slam low like the Abyss. Or make the Abyss's treble as smooth as the SR-009. Or the SR-009 present depth like the Abyss. Or the Abyss have the "get-out-of-the-way" quality of the SR-009.
 
 

 
It's as though you need a headphone with multiple drivers (i.e., like speakers or IEMs) to get the most of both worlds.

 

[dBel84]

Quote:

With no intention to troll, could you please elaborate on the coloration(s) on the Eddie Current and/or the Cavalli? I have no experience with these two and have always considered them to be totl and as such would have thought they'd be transparent with a capital T?? How would you rate them against the GS-X (mkII)?

sarcasm doesn't portray well , Radio_head was merely commenting on a myth that people perpetuate.