[Pratt]

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T1 definitely need burn in, also what amp you have for them?

 
In my sig, currently using the Matrix. And psycho acoustic burn in yes, just like with every can/speaker.
 
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I haven't heard a speaker that I prefer to the T1's yet but in saying that i have not heard a speaker that costs more than $3,000. In September i will get to hear 20,000 dollar electro-static speakers. I wonder how the WA2/T1 will hold up in that fight. 

 
I have heard speakers costing over 100k and dozens from 5 to 75k and have speakers costing over 10k in my main. (Yes I'm a speaker guy mostly). My cheapest speakers are 1200 retail and in my garage system (I have 7 systems around the house/yard) and yes I think even they trump any headphones (not that I've heard them all of course) and I do like headphones, but they just can't compare to speakers, especially exceptional speakers imo. Thus why I haven't felt the need to spend more than $250 on cans before...but maybe I shouldn't have waited.
 
Lower mids already bugging me less...and these are not at all harsh even at high volumes with music that can make you wince on poor setups. There is sibilance, but the kind that is just always there no matter what the setup.

 

[magiccabbage]

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In my sig, currently using the Matrix. And psycho acoustic burn in yes, just like with every can/speaker.
 
 
I have heard speakers costing over 100k and dozens from 5 to 75k and have speakers costing over 10k in my main. (Yes I'm a speaker guy mostly). My cheapest speakers are 1200 retail and in my garage system (I have 7 systems around the house/yard) and yes I think even they trump any headphones (not that I've heard them all of course) and I do like headphones, but they just can't compare to speakers, especially exceptional speakers imo. Thus why I haven't felt the need to spend more than $250 on cans before...but maybe I shouldn't have waited.
 
Lower mids already bugging me less...and these are not at all harsh even at high volumes with music that can make you wince on poor setups. There is sibilance, but the kind that is just always there no matter what the setup.

1200 hundred dollar speakers trumping high end headphones? - maybe. I understand why people like speakers more and maybe I prefer headphones because I have spent the majority of my listening life with them. I have a pioneer speaker system for about 7 years that cost about 1500 euro but I honestly prefer the WA2/T1 a lot more. A friend of mine has some really nice KEFF speakers also that cost a lot more than mine. He probably wont be happy about me saying this but i think the T1's kick there ass. 
 
Maybe those Electro-stats will change my mind but for now its headphones all the way. 
 
By the way have you got any pics of your speaker setup? I would be interested in seeing them. You could send a PM maybe? 

 

[Pratt]

No offense intended of course, but that's my stance. These are also monitors that are much less costly than towers (just add a sub if you think you need it). And again I do like headphones (of course!) and they do have that intimacy that is hard to achieve with speakers, unless maybe near field monitors.
 
Sorry, no pics, I will not share any pics of my gear or anything remotely expensive I own online, my strict policy...a friend of mine did that and was robbed when on vacation. Besides, it's just a speaker setup(s), nothing that great looking imo, just gear no big deal.
 
Off for intense listening before bed! 

 

 

[Lorspeaker]

when the hi end speakers are sounding in full glory, its an impossible act to follow via a headfone...
they are just commanding two diff sort/size of "space". 
 
Pratt, u must have a set of premium cables, how are these affecting the sound of your T1 setup? 
Just curious since u have been a longtime homespeaker guy

 

[Lorspeaker]

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i used to slot a tube amp in between a stagedac and a concerto. 

 

 
triple decker with cheeze otta do it...

 

[Blisse]

Has anyone have any comparisons between the T1 and HD700? I remember enjoying the HD700 but I can't remember exactly my findings.

 

[CantScareMe]

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Wow, those are some beautiful amps you got there! I was looking into the Graham Slee amp a few months ago...heard lots of people say it sounded almost tube-like even though it was SS. 

 
Lol, thanks!
 
I've had this graham slee diamond (his signature amplifier) for over 6 months now and I rate it highly. It's very revealing, very revealing of source components - power supplies/connectors/dacs.. It's got an impactful bass line and smooth, coherent soundstage that while not being wider than the burson sl (or hdvd800's built in amp) is more developed. The midrange doesn't take a back seat and you never find yourself trying to hear the details - which is what I find when switching to the burson.  
 
They're both very good amps and I sat down with both on sunday (with 3 sources - arcam rdac/vdacII/beresford bushmaster) but I think I need more time to decide which I like better. This weekend I reckon I'll give them a listen.

 

[billerb1]

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Has anyone have any comparisons between the T1 and HD700? I remember enjoying the HD700 but I can't remember exactly my findings

I've had my T1's for a couple of months now...running  through a Schiit Lyr/Schiit Bifrost Uber.
I had occasion to audition the HD700's before I bought the T1's, again through the same amp and DAC.  To my ears the T1's have a meatier, much more natural presentation.  Instrument timbre is  much closer to real on the T1's.  They both have pretty up-front presentations...say 3rd row compared to HD800's 10th row.  But the 700's sounded thin and somewhat artificial to me vs the T1s.  But as always your ears may hear things very differently.  You know how this game goes.

 

[Digitalchkn]

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Lol, thanks!
 
I've had this graham slee diamond (his signature amplifier) for over 6 months now and I rate it highly. It's very revealing, very revealing of source components - power supplies/connectors/dacs.. It's got an impactful bass line and smooth, coherent soundstage that while not being wider than the burson sl (or hdvd800's built in amp) is more developed. The midrange doesn't take a back seat and you never find yourself trying to hear the details - which is what I find when switching to the burson.  
 
They're both very good amps and I sat down with both on sunday (with 3 sources - arcam rdac/vdacII/beresford bushmaster) but I think I need more time to decide which I like better. This weekend I reckon I'll give them a listen.

 
Sounds like I'll be trading in my dacmini at some point then (I'm in between girlfriends at the moment.... figuratevly not literaly...so that upgrade might actually happen). But I've got fairly limited real estate at my listening station, so it's likely a dac/amp combo for me. Maybe a conductor SL(9018 or 1793)? I wonder if those have same signature with T1 as the soloist?

 

[Dubstep Girl]

I've had my T1's for a couple of months now...running  through a Schiit Lyr/Schiit Bifrost Uber.
I had occasion to audition the HD700's before I bought the T1's, again through the same amp and DAC.  To my ears the T1's have a meatier, much more natural presentation.  Instrument timbre is  much closer to real on the T1's.  They both have pretty up-front presentations...say 3rd row compared to HD800's 10th row.  But the 700's sounded thin and somewhat artificial to me vs the T1s.  But as always your ears may hear things very differently.  You know how this game goes.

Ive always been interested in hd 700 vs t1 since theyre supposed to be similar in some ways, but yeah i kinda always figured t1 was better

 

[Blisse]

oh no definitely I think the t1 is pretty superior. my issue is that I bought the t1 a while after I had auditioned the hd700, and the hd700 at that point was sounded much better than the hd650 I owned, so now I'm just wondering how the hd700 measured up now that I'm used to the t1, and if they still sounded as good as they did before.

 

[Pratt]

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when the hi end speakers are sounding in full glory, its an impossible act to follow via a headfone...
they are just commanding two diff sort/size of "space". 
 
Pratt, u must have a set of premium cables, how are these affecting the sound of your T1 setup? 
Just curious since u have been a longtime homespeaker guy

 
I agree (and I'll add presence, scale, realism, and emotive impact: with speakers you feel/live the music, with headphones you are more of a disinterested spectator). With the many serious audiophiles I know (I'm a member of a local group) most don't even "bother" with headphones. I really only listen to cans about 20% of the time.
 
Nope, basic Bluejean cables for all my systems. I absolutely do not believe cables make a difference, especially after much blind testing. Yvmv.
 
 
So switching back and forth between my Head Direct EF 1 and Matrix M-Stage and the T1's both have their strengths and weaknesses. My problem, so far, with the T1's is their lower mids/mid bass can sound downright tubby/resonant/throaty...but that's on my EF 1. The M-Stage largely removes all this. However the M-Stage just doesn't have the hi-fi sound of the EF 1. The mids, in particular, are more congested, less detailed, less open, as is the sound stage: it's much smaller. Instrument separation is also much diminished, as is treble detail. A more flat homogenized sound overall compared to the EF 1.
 
So I might be looking for an amp upgrade, probably a Meier Corda Classic or other SS as I'd like to keep the clarity and resolution of the EF 1 but without the tube warmth which makes those lower mids too resonant for me. Or maybe with "burn in" the mids will settle...in my mind at least.
 
I briefly compared my loved Shure 940's to the T1's and there was no contest of course. However the Shures didn't sound as bad as I thought they would in comparison. I guess I just like their sound signature as artificial as it is.
 
PS: One of my rock test tracks, Billy Joel's "An Innocent Man", has that snap throughout that is an excellent test of speakers/cans, especially for clarity and decay, and the T1's really impressed me with that. They are also particularly good with percussion imo.

 

[Lorspeaker]

quite a treat i had on the 940 with acoustic music...the strings n frets came alive. Think i had the ef5 then.
 
wow, u just use bluejean huh...interesting. i guess u know your system best. i am a cable addict of sorts within my means..
cables make up whatever deficiencies i had in my humbler home setup, heee. 

 

[Pratt]

I like the 940's, pretty good all rounder with some hi-fi traits for the money. Acoustic with the T1's are in another category however.

 
Yep, plain cables. I was always skeptical of exotic cables but that solidified after several blind tests with high end cables and reasonably priced ones of good solid quality. I nor anyone else could tell a difference (inb4 we don't have "golden ears": several of the group were professional or semi professional musicians--jazz and classical mostly, or we didn't use resolving enough gear to hear the differences: the setups without cables cost ranged from 20 to over 50k).
 
Anyway, that's just ime and I don't mean to disabuse anyone's enjoyment of gear that they think gives them better-fi so enjoy!

 
Did you get some mid tubbyness from your EF 5 btw? That worked well with the 940's to give them some weight and reasonable warmth but it's not working with the T1's so well. I'm wondering if a Corda might be the way to go. I need more clarity in my mids and then these things will be as close to perfect as headphones can get.

 

[Lorspeaker]

its been a year since the ef5, remembered i swapped in a tube and the sound got cleaned up top to bottom...think it was a fullmusic tube? 
http://www.tonepublications.com/review/tj-music-full-music-vacuum-tubes/
 
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i havent got the $$$ for the big setups...my own deduction/guess is that these premium products are so well engineered/isolated within the box,
that nothing outside the box is gonna affect wats going on inside the box.. hence u will do just fine with the bluejeans./mambas/ watnots.
just my theory. dun shoot me.