[NZheadcase]

  I have one of 2359glenn's builds. A very good description is in the first post of this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/600110/2359glenn-studio

 
Hmmmm... I'll read up on that. Thanks!

 

[NZheadcase]

   
What's you're budget?
 
The Crack is excellent, especially with the Speedball, but the Bottlehead S.E.X (SET, not OTL) is better with the T1s IMO. It's also more versatile with other lower impedance cans.
 
Check out the comparison (Crack, SEX and Mainline) thread if you're interested... http://www.head-fi.org/t/683012/bottlehead-amplifier-discussion-comparison-thread-crack-sex-mainline

 
Oh no wait, it was the other Crack thread I was on. I will read the thread in its entirety now.  
 
Gadz...I hate this hobby.

 

[Loquah]

  Really? Been lurking that thread, yeah.  
 
Pretty much the cost of the WA2 in Australia. About 1200 AUD give or take. 
 
However, I've been wanting to do a bit of DIY. Used to be really handy with a soldering iron back in the day. I imagine there's layers of rust I need to remove. Used to build CB and ICOM type radio antennas and cables. Nothing to fancy. That's why the Crack and Speedball were on my radar. 
 
How much more difficult is the S.E.X. to build when compared to the crack? 

 
The S.E.X. is more difficult only because of the higher number of connections and a few slightly cramped solder jobs, but otherwise it's still just point-to-point work and is straightforward if approached with care and patience (not necessarily high levels of skill).
 
While the Crack is warm, rich and smooth, the S.E.X. is open, transparent and textured. It pairs exceptionally well with the T1s.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

  I have one of 2359glenn's builds. A very good description is in the first post of this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/600110/2359glenn-studio

 
ive been considering a glenn amp, but no idea how they sound like or what they're like

 

[wotts]

   
ive been considering a glenn amp, but no idea how they sound like or what they're like

 
 
I really like mine. I always thought the Valhalla and Crack sounded very good with the T1, but Glenn's amp seems better to me. I had the "X-mod" done so I can switch between 5998 and 6AS7 tubes, and he made a number of adapters to roll rectifiers and driver tubes. I haven't even tried all the combinations yet. Shoot me a PM and we might be able to work out a demo. I'm only 2.5 - 3 hours from Chi-town.

 

[Loquah]

   
 
I really like mine. I always thought the Valhalla and Crack sounded very good with the T1, but Glenn's amp seems better to me. I had the "X-mod" done so I can switch between 5998 and 6AS7 tubes, and he made a number of adapters to roll rectifiers and driver tubes. I haven't even tried all the combinations yet. Shoot me a PM and we might be able to work out a demo. I'm only 2.5 - 3 hours from Chi-town.

 
Is there a website with info about these amps?

 

[wotts]

No, just info in the thread I linked before. You can PM Glenn for information too.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

   
 
I really like mine. I always thought the Valhalla and Crack sounded very good with the T1, but Glenn's amp seems better to me. I had the "X-mod" done so I can switch between 5998 and 6AS7 tubes, and he made a number of adapters to roll rectifiers and driver tubes. I haven't even tried all the combinations yet. Shoot me a PM and we might be able to work out a demo. I'm only 2.5 - 3 hours from Chi-town.

 
oooh x mod?
 
and wow thats not that far away!

 

[sp3llv3xit]

Sorry, but I have to disagree. This sort of stuff is what slowly makes me lose all respect towards what I read in the high end part of head-fi. I mean, stop freaking over-exaggerating. T1's 3 classes ahead of HD650? Really? In which way? Nobody is saying that HD650's do anything better than T1's, but saying that they're outclassed (or triple-outclassed as you claim) by T1's is just stupid. I have them both in front of me now, I can volume match them using a 1khz tone and A-B compare them. But I won't do that, because I did it countless time before, and as I said in the previous post, T1's always won. Switching between them is like switching between two very good headphones with totally different sound signatures, but none of them scream "hey I'm the more expensive one!!!", or "that one sucks, pick me!!!". T1's in a direct comparison do sound more detailed, fast, open, clear, etc., as I already said, but not to the extent where HD650's are totally outclassed and stop giving the impression of a really great sounding headphone. Sometimes when you compare two headphones directly, you listen to one of them, take it off, put the other one on and you think "yea...this sucks, it's definitely much worse". It's not the case with T1 vs HD650, definitely not. In fact with some music HD650's just sound better. I mean, we're talking about a headphone that 4 years ago was THE best mainstream consumer headphone on the market, something that sounded so good nobody thought it could get considerably better. Nowadays some people talk about it as if its complete rubbish just to justify the fact that they paid much more for a product someone else told them is much better. I don't buy stories like that, I did when I was 6, not anymore. I mean, a little less elitism, arrogance, just over-the-top-exaggeration and a bit more realism and common sense could do good to these threads.

Also, about the "properly driven" T1's...what about the properly driven HD650's? What if you used the HD650's out of a 2500 dollar OTL amp? I mean, it has a reputation of scaling very well with expensive gear.


About the T1's being in another league compared to the HD650's....yes, they are, but that league is not far ahead.

This is how I would rate them:

Apple earbuds........HD202...............................................................HD558.................HD650....T1

Or if you will:

Apple earbuds........HD202........................................................................DT770Pro..DT880.......T1

I am confused. The highlighted text in red are the things you said about the T1.  And yet you still wouldn't accept that the T1 outclasses the HD650.


 

out·class

 transitive verb \ˌau̇t-ˈklas\ : to be or do much better than (someone or something)




 

Full Definition of OUTCLASS

:  to excel or surpass so decisively as to be or appear to be of a higher class

 

 

 

 

Which part of the definition of outclass do you not agree with?  Because it seems to me from your long argument is already accepting that.

 

[Loquah]

Do we really have to rehash that argument?

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[xnuthecaveman]

Anyone have tried the Torpedo parafeed amp with the T1?

 

[Revogamer]

Signing in with SN # 14967, running through Burson Conductor & Wa6 (conductor for dac) - WA2 down the road;
 
Listening to Gregory Porter - Be Good; with a bit of whisky and complete relaxation 

 - lovely combo!

 

[Loquah]

Nice! Congratulations.

 

[derbigpr]

I am confused. The highlighted text in red are the things you said about the T1.  And yet you still wouldn't accept that the T1 outclasses the HD650.



 

out·class

 [COLOR=717274]transitive verb[/COLOR] \ˌ
au̇
t-ˈ
klas\


: to be or do much better than (someone or something)











[FLOAT=RIGHT]



 





















[/FLOAT]

Full Definition of OUTCLASS

:  to excel or surpass so decisively as to be or appear to be of a higher class


 



 



 



 



Which part of the definition of outclass do you not agree with?  Because it seems to me from your long argument is already accepting that.

I said many times that I do agree that T1 is the technically better headphone, but it does not outclass the HD650. Its not MUCH better in my opinion. Its MUCH better than HD558 for example. I feel that T1 is overall only maybe 10-15% better than HD650 out of my current setup in the areas I described. But that "better" is not better to everyone. Its more the question of sound preference than pure humiliation in terms of performance.

 

[derbigpr]

Anyway, I listened to the T1 from a variety of amps yesterday, I visited a high end hi-fi shop in my city that has all kinds of expensive goodies that cost way too much to even consider, including amps from Leben, Naim, Bryston, Rega, Cyrus, NAD, Musical Fidelity, even The Gryphon.
I went to audition the new NAD 1050 DAC/head amp. Sucked, didn't like it. It might be because I compared it to amps that cost 10x and more, but anyway, I would not pay 500 euros for it. For example, T1 sounded MUCH better out of the NAD 356BEE integrated amp, which had crap loads of power, I believe it could probably easily power a couple of T1's plugged into it at the same time if it had more headphone outs. I mean, I could not turn the volume knob past 9 and half o'clock, it got too loud, and it powered the T1's with absolute authority, making the bass more powerful and punchy that out of any headphone amp I've tried, it also sounded really nice, warm and full, with no harshness or edge to the sound. Superior to Nuforce HDP for sure, no doubt.
I also listened briefly to the Rega Ear (no good, sounds like a cheap amp, no power for T1's), Kingrex HQ-1 (for some reason had really weak bass extension and its in my opinion very overpriced for what it sounds like), Musical Fidelity M1HPA (liked it most out of all dedicated head amps, plenty of power and authority in the sound, sounds nice and warm, almost like a tube amp).

But then I plugged the T1's into a Naim Supernait 2 integrated amp.... and I feel sorry I did so, because the thing costs almost 5000 euros. I believe my face looked like this when listening:


I think I'm in love with that amp. It looks so good in person, especially in a slightly dark room full of high quality dark wood furniture and nice creamy tones to contrast it. That black smooth metal look...with those sweet looking green LED's and the shiny green Naim logo...and the sound is just, unbelievably smooth. Just so freaking effortless, it feels like every sound the headphone produces is produced with zero force required, like it just happens. It had the depth that I never heard from the T1's, at first I actually though the pair of PSB Synchrony One speakers that were plugged into the amp were working. Everything else, and I mean everything else, even the Musical Fidelity M1HPA that I liked A LOT before, sounded bad in comparison. Is this really the actual T1 sound? Or is the Naim responsible for the magic? I hope so, because next week I the guy in the shop will get the Naim Headline 2 for me to try out, which he claims has exact same headphone amp circuitry as Supernait 2, and it costs 600 euros, which is not too bad. Its also apparently designed for high impedance headphones.