[Arm3nian]

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[Focker]

I would put the majority of your budget into the headphones, assuming the amp you choose for them - even if a budget amp - is properly matched to drive them. When I jumped into T1s, I packaged them with a Meier Corda Jazz amp and bought them as a package from Meier Audio. I enjoyed that combo for over a year until I recently just upgraded the gear. But as the headphones will have the greatest impact on the audio quality, I'd focus on a nice upgrade over  your Senns and then adding an amp that can properly drive them. 

 

[Arm3nian]

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[Pratt]

Quote:

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/
 
============
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.

 
I've got some tubes to play with, but, as you might guess, I don't think they make a significant difference in sound most of the time (again, blind testing reveals lots of interesting things

).
 
I don't own setups worth tens of thousands either...for many reasons I won't go into here, but not because I couldn't afford to. All of my systems together add up to a lot though I'm ashamed to admit...I guess what most people spend on a new luxury car or down payment on a higher than average costing house. But at least that's over 7 systems, not one or even one speaker!
 
But I don't think cables matter on even modest systems. I have heard systems under 5k with exotic and regular cables and again no difference. And again jme and enjoy using what you think gets you better-fi!

 
Quote:

I would put the majority of your budget into the headphones, assuming the amp you choose for them - even if a budget amp - is properly matched to drive them. When I jumped into T1s, I packaged them with a Meier Corda Jazz amp and bought them as a package from Meier Audio. I enjoyed that combo for over a year until I recently just upgraded the gear. But as the headphones will have the greatest impact on the audio quality, I'd focus on a nice upgrade over  your Senns and then adding an amp that can properly drive them. 

 
Do you think the Classic is worth the extra money over the Jazz? I'd hate to spend half what I spent on the T1's on an amp.

 

[Lorspeaker]

i had the older stagdac/concerto combo...enjoyed the crossfed features on the stagdac. 
And i had the smaller Arietta too. 
now it appears these stagedac crossfed features are on the amplifier CLASSIC, nice. 
 
If i were to choose, without the benefit of actually testing them out..
i would go for the CLASSIC as added insurance against the amp running out of steam on any of my cans.

 

[Focker]

Quote:

 
 
 
Do you think the Classic is worth the extra money over the Jazz? I'd hate to spend half what I spent on the T1's on an amp.

 
It depends. The Jazz is a very fine amp and it pairs really well with the T1s. I would upgrade to the classic if 1) you have other headphones that would benefit from the extra juice of the Classic (the Jazz drives the T1s just fine), or 2) if you don't plan to pick up the Daccord. The reason I say #2 is because the Daccord has the full crossfeed circuit, so pairing it with the Jazz would be all you'd need for the T1s. But if you don't have a Daccord and don't plan to buy one, since the Classic has a more robust crossfeed circuit than the Jazz, I do feel it's worth the money to upgrade. The crossfeed filter is just an amazing feature, IMO. The Jazz has this feature, but it's a stripped down version of the full circuit. 
 
Just my opinion

 

[Focker]

Quote:

Thanks for the reply,
 
My budget is around 3k to buy something enjoyable, my point was would it be worth it to shell out that much money for an "upgrade", or will something like a dt990 and an amp matched with that price range be considered an decent upgrade. I would obviously have much more money left over to buy something other than audio gear with that second option. Is the difference in price worth it? Thanks!

 
Oh, well that's a really tough one for anyone else to answer. You have to consider that the law of diminishing returns applies to audio gear as much or more than anything else. We pay more money for incrementally smaller upgrades as we go up the line. You have to decide if paying the premium for gradual improvements in fidelity are worth it to you vs. staying with phones that may offer better bang for the buck. In my opinion, the T1s is a nice upgrade over the 880/990s. Personally, it was worth it to me to obtain that level of audio reproduction at that price point. Beyond the T1s, I'd say it's probably NOT worth it to me, because I've reached a level of audio quality that is very satisfying. If the 990s are able to provide you everything you want in terms of your music, I'd say consider yourself very lucky and go spend the money on something else. But if you ARE looking for better quality audio, upgrading the headphones will make a bigger difference than keeping the 990s and upgrading the gear. 
 
But in terms of whether any of this is worth it, that's a question only you can answer. 

 

[Pratt]

Quote:

i had the older stagdac/concerto combo...enjoyed the crossfed features on the stagdac. 
And i had the smaller Arietta too. 
now it appears these stagedac crossfed features are on the amplifier CLASSIC, nice. 
 
If i were to choose, without the benefit of actually testing them out..
i would go for the CLASSIC as added insurance against the amp running out of steam on any of my cans.

 
Yea, just hate to spend that much on an amp.
 
Quote:

 
It depends. The Jazz is a very fine amp and it pairs really well with the T1s. I would upgrade to the classic if 1) you have other headphones that would benefit from the extra juice of the Classic (the Jazz drives the T1s just fine), or 2) if you don't plan to pick up the Daccord. The reason I say #2 is because the Daccord has the full crossfeed circuit, so pairing it with the Jazz would be all you'd need for the T1s. But if you don't have a Daccord and don't plan to buy one, since the Classic has a more robust crossfeed circuit than the Jazz, I do feel it's worth the money to upgrade. The crossfeed filter is just an amazing feature, IMO. The Jazz has this feature, but it's a stripped down version of the full circuit. 
 
Just my opinion

 
Great info, thanks!
 
My other cans will get little to no use or are not hard to drive anyway. I don't plan on getting another dac for this setup, but I'm not too worried about crossfeed.
 
Looks like the Jazz would be perfect for me, or even the Rock. The Classic is kind of big too, don't like that. And the Rock is kinda too small.
 
So is the Classic just basically the Jazz with a better crossfeed feature and more power? And are you selling your Jazz?

 
 
PS: Currently listening to Overkill "Coma" (nice wake up song lol). Man these T1's have some speed! (This is classic speed metal for those who don't know). They kill with this song, no clutter or congestion with the fast passages, just clear blistering speed metal! And just last night I was thinking these cans were perfect for the jazz/classical I was listening to lol. Good chameleons like headphones/speakers should be imo.

 

[Lorspeaker]

Go ahead, make my day...buy the jazz...then later buy the classic...it's a path all takes...it's unavoidable....lol.

 

[Stealer]

Hi All,
 
I think I had asked this question before but did not get any reply..
  Probably most of them were to engross over this discussion..
 
So am hoping that I get some response this time around..
 
Is anyone using a 3rd party earpad for their T1..
I am looking for some leather / pleather / velour earpad...
 
reason, the comfort level is not too my expectation..
seem to be my problem not the headphone..
So I am looking for some pads with a greater comfort level...
 
pls provide me a link for me if you have.
 
thanks in advance

 

[Lorspeaker]

I tried the Alphapads, didn't work for me..sounded too sharp n echoey...maybe it's too angled, on top of the angled drivers.

The t5p leather pads should fit...
I have the jmoney beyer pads too..didn't like the sound of it. It's rather thick.

What worked for me is this...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-Audio-Technica-HP-AD2000-Replacement-Ear-Pads-for-ATH-AD2000-Pair-/130945411170?pt=US_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item1e7cf46862

It's a ad2000 soft fabric like flat pads. ..like pancakes..v comfy..
The sound not affected much.cept the drivers are closer..but the deep beyer cups didn't let mty ears touch the drivers.

 

[Focker]

Quote:

 
 
 
 
Great info, thanks!
 
My other cans will get little to no use or are not hard to drive anyway. I don't plan on getting another dac for this setup, but I'm not too worried about crossfeed.
 
Looks like the Jazz would be perfect for me, or even the Rock. The Classic is kind of big too, don't like that. And the Rock is kinda too small.
 
So is the Classic just basically the Jazz with a better crossfeed feature and more power? And are you selling your Jazz?

 
 
 

 
The Classic is a better sounding amp, but when I was swapping out both amps with the Daccord, the differences on the T1s were very minimal. I'm sure if I was running something that required more of what the Classic can offer, it would have been a bigger difference. But honestly, even though I love the Classic and I'm glad I have it, especially since I'm going to pick up some Audez'e phones later this year, in terms of the T1s I could be very happy continuing to use just the Jazz. 
 
As for mine, the fact that I'm not selling it should be some indication of how much I like it  Even though it's not active in my system right now, it's just too good to part with it. If it didn't have the crossfeed on it, I'd probably consider selling, but I just consider it too good of an amp to sell. You'll likely feel the same way if you order one! 

 

[Stealer]

Lorspeaker
 
Where did you get your Alphapad & the Jmoneypad?
the T5 as I was told is a closed can pad and it is not to be used on T1..
see reply below, when I was asking about the leather pad for Beyer
 
 
[size=small][size=10pt]"The leather ear pads are for T5 not for T1. [/size][/size]
[size=small][size=10pt]T5 is a closed headphone and T1 is an open headphone. [/size][/size]
[size=small][size=10pt]The ear pads for T5 are closed too and for T 1 we use open ear pads. [/size][/size]
[size=small][size=10pt]Please do not use closed ear pads for an open headphone."[/size][/size]
 
 
[size=small][size=10pt]It seem like no one replace the T1 pad and have good experience with it..[/size][/size]
[size=small][size=10pt]Or they had been using the original velour pad and have good experience>>>[/size][/size]
[size=small][size=10pt] sigh... [/size][/size]
 
[size=small][size=10pt]rgds[/size][/size]

 

[Pratt]

Quote:

Go ahead, make my day...buy the jazz...then later buy the classic...it's a path all takes...it's unavoidable....lol.

 
Lol, you may very well be right.
 
Quote:

 
The Classic is a better sounding amp, but when I was swapping out both amps with the Daccord, the differences on the T1s were very minimal. I'm sure if I was running something that required more of what the Classic can offer, it would have been a bigger difference. But honestly, even though I love the Classic and I'm glad I have it, especially since I'm going to pick up some Audez'e phones later this year, in terms of the T1s I could be very happy continuing to use just the Jazz. 
 
As for mine, the fact that I'm not selling it should be some indication of how much I like it  Even though it's not active in my system right now, it's just too good to part with it. If it didn't have the crossfeed on it, I'd probably consider selling, but I just consider it too good of an amp to sell. You'll likely feel the same way if you order one! 

 
More great info, thanks!

 
I'll have to make up my mind between the Jazz and Classic. There are a few other amps out there too, but I've never had a Meier product and they look to be very nice, not to mention many speak of the synergy with the T1's so...
 
One last question: do you think the Jazz or Classic are pretty neutral? I don't want a warm sounding SS amp, slightly warm ok, but not overly so like my EF-1 which is making the lower mids of the T1's sound somewhat dry/tubby/resonant. Also, I'm sure they work well at low volumes right? No channel imbalance? I usually listen to phones at low to mid volumes.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

the T5 as I was told is a closed can pad and it is not to be used on T1..
 
[size=small][size=10pt]Please do not use closed ear pads for an open headphone."[/size][/size]
 
 
 

 
 
tell hifiman that....
 
 
anyways umm some people have used T5p pads on the T1, all impressions on that where negative. it makes the T1s muddy and messy sounding.