bdh
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2004
- Posts
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- 65
First, I received the Emmeline HR-2 last week. I plugged in my Sony V-6 and knew it had the magic described by markl in his review. I compared it to my Melos SHA-Gold and the headphone-out of my Marantz 63SE CD player. Compared to the others the Marantz output had a closed, muddied, and un-detailed sound. After one more comparison, I gave up listening with it. The Melos had a nice open sound with good separation, control, high highs, low lows, and detail the Marantz didn’t have. But I already knew that.
However, each time I compared the Melos to the HR-2, I thought the Melos had better ‘sound’ when I listened to the sound, but my attention quickly wandered. I’d look around the room, start thinking about different things, listen to the great sound and so forth. When I switched to the HR-2, there was something else. I focused on the music. I couldn’t help it. It just had this beauty you couldn’t ignore. Musicality some of us call it. And this is what I want much more than great sound or accuracy from my stereo equipment. Now the differences in sound between the Melos and HR-2 are not great. There is the blackness of the HR-2 as described in other reviews and which I love. But other than that, you have to listen very closely for the differences. I say the Melos had better sound, and other than a little more separation and openness, I can’t seem to put the subtle differences down in words. But what I can state is that the HR-2 had that musical magic and the Melos did not.
What timing. I received my R-10’s the next day. Wow. They come in a SUITCASE! (Probably because they are so big.) I first tried them with the HR-2. It was very different at first. I could immediately hear the increased detail, delicacy, extended highs, and attack. But where was the bass? Uh-oh. Those people who said the R-10’s have no bass were right! I tried the Melos. Other than the subtle differences in sound mentioned above, there was no increase in the bass. I was thinking at that point, the V-6’s were more satisfying musically! Did I make a big mistake? I didn’t have time for more listening that night.
The next day is when it happened. I put on the V-6’s and HR-2 and just listened to the music without analyzing the sound. Great. I put on the R-10’s and I was stunned. Again, I wasn’t analyzing the sound, I was one with the music. It was incredible. This was what I was after. After pulling myself away from the music, I tried to understand why the R-10’s sound and feel so much better than the V-6’s now. I don’t know if it was break-in overnight or, more likely, simply getting used to the R-10’s, but this is what I now hear.
A huge soundstage. An openness of the music. The amazing detail and separation of instruments and voices. Extreme punchiness and attack to the notes, and yet lush voices and fullness in the midrange. An effortlessness with the whole presentation. Highs that make everything else seem ‘dark’, yet are utterly non-fatiguing or harsh. The clarity of everything, including the bass. But, I still wished there was a little more bass.
The problem with describing sound and music is it’s a very complex and illusive thing you’re describing. Before the R-10’s, I would have said the V-6’s were just about completely accurate, and showed every detail of the music – at least with the presentation you get from headphones, which is different than with speakers. And until you hear something better, it can be hard to image better. And unfortunately, once you hear that better sound, it can be hard listening to anything else.
After lamenting a little more about the bass, but still being so satisfied I couldn’t go back, I took them to work, which is where I do most of my music listening since I got married and had kids.
I hooked up the HR-2 to the Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD player (with Telefunken ECC88 tubes) and proceeded to enjoy the music. The Njoe Tjoeb is a much better player than the Marantz. The next day while listening, I realized I hadn’t tried the headphone jack out of the Njoe Tjoeb, which is what I’ve been using up till now. As soon as I plugged the R-10’s in, the music opened up even more. There was an even more extended treble than before, which I didn’t think was possible, and there was more bass! Yes!
The main differences I can notice between the HR-2 and the Njoe Tjoeb output is that the HR-2 emphasizes the mid-range. I think that is what gives it that focus that makes you listen to the music rather than the sound. But the R-10’s don’t need any additional emphasis in the mid-range, and the Njoe Tjoeb and R-10 combination has just the right balance (well, still a little more bass would be appreciated). Although the music feels more open, it doesn’t lose the magic of the HR-2, it just adds to it rather than subtracts from it like the Melos did.
Anyway, those are my thoughts about my new headphones. And even after all the glorious music I now have, headphones still don’t have the satisfaction and the incredible experience as compared to sitting nearfield to my B&W 801’s with Conrad Johnson Premier 11’s. But then nothing I’ve heard yet has. Which brings me to my final off-topic thoughts about high-end audio. The two reasons people who’ve HEARD high-end audio products and think it’s still all a rip off, are probably because they’ve either put a great component into their consumer grade system and did not hear any improvement and possibly they heard degradation. Or they heard a high-end system that was not set up properly.
The improvements a high-end CDP bring to your system are not just ‘better’ sound from your JVC speakers, they are detail, instrument separation, openness, refinement and/or attack, soundstage, extension, transparency – things beyond which those speakers are capable of reproducing and almost totally unknown concepts to the listener until you’ve actually heard them. And so better sound is not heard from them. Or vice-versa, with good speakers being driven by a Panasonic CDP and receiver/pre-amp/amp. And especially in not having the speakers SET UP PROPERLY. I’ve been to about half a dozen stores that display high-end audio equipment, and out of all those setups, only one store and only one system out of about eight inside it had a setup that showed what high-end audio is capable of. And if it hadn’t been for that one system, I would have forever thought high-end audio was just rubbish and full of snake-oil salesmen ripping people off (of which there are a lot, unfortunately.) Almost all of the other systems were totally un-involving and didn’t seem to provide much of a benefit to justify the cost. But most of the problem, I realize now, was the setup. Although admittedly I have never heard any other audiophiles’ system in their home, I can honestly say I have never heard music reproduction anywhere that even comes close to what I have in my house. (Although I’m sure there is better. I’m just immensely satisfied with what I have and don’t have the money to constantly upgrade, but I don’t rule it out.) I could go on about what I think proper setup is, but suffice it to say, if it doesn’t sound like the musicians are standing right in your room, filling it with MUSIC, something is not right. And if you do experience that magic, you’ll understand what some of this overpriced hardware is capable of.
bdh
P.S. You don’t need to respond about my poor CD players, etc. I’ve just been waiting for the perfect Universal player. Maybe the Esoteric DV-50. We’ll see.
P.S.S. All auditioning was done with a wide variety of music. I didn’t want to write down every album I listened to, but I listened to just about every genre and type of recording from chamber music to punk rock.
However, each time I compared the Melos to the HR-2, I thought the Melos had better ‘sound’ when I listened to the sound, but my attention quickly wandered. I’d look around the room, start thinking about different things, listen to the great sound and so forth. When I switched to the HR-2, there was something else. I focused on the music. I couldn’t help it. It just had this beauty you couldn’t ignore. Musicality some of us call it. And this is what I want much more than great sound or accuracy from my stereo equipment. Now the differences in sound between the Melos and HR-2 are not great. There is the blackness of the HR-2 as described in other reviews and which I love. But other than that, you have to listen very closely for the differences. I say the Melos had better sound, and other than a little more separation and openness, I can’t seem to put the subtle differences down in words. But what I can state is that the HR-2 had that musical magic and the Melos did not.
What timing. I received my R-10’s the next day. Wow. They come in a SUITCASE! (Probably because they are so big.) I first tried them with the HR-2. It was very different at first. I could immediately hear the increased detail, delicacy, extended highs, and attack. But where was the bass? Uh-oh. Those people who said the R-10’s have no bass were right! I tried the Melos. Other than the subtle differences in sound mentioned above, there was no increase in the bass. I was thinking at that point, the V-6’s were more satisfying musically! Did I make a big mistake? I didn’t have time for more listening that night.
The next day is when it happened. I put on the V-6’s and HR-2 and just listened to the music without analyzing the sound. Great. I put on the R-10’s and I was stunned. Again, I wasn’t analyzing the sound, I was one with the music. It was incredible. This was what I was after. After pulling myself away from the music, I tried to understand why the R-10’s sound and feel so much better than the V-6’s now. I don’t know if it was break-in overnight or, more likely, simply getting used to the R-10’s, but this is what I now hear.
A huge soundstage. An openness of the music. The amazing detail and separation of instruments and voices. Extreme punchiness and attack to the notes, and yet lush voices and fullness in the midrange. An effortlessness with the whole presentation. Highs that make everything else seem ‘dark’, yet are utterly non-fatiguing or harsh. The clarity of everything, including the bass. But, I still wished there was a little more bass.
The problem with describing sound and music is it’s a very complex and illusive thing you’re describing. Before the R-10’s, I would have said the V-6’s were just about completely accurate, and showed every detail of the music – at least with the presentation you get from headphones, which is different than with speakers. And until you hear something better, it can be hard to image better. And unfortunately, once you hear that better sound, it can be hard listening to anything else.
After lamenting a little more about the bass, but still being so satisfied I couldn’t go back, I took them to work, which is where I do most of my music listening since I got married and had kids.
I hooked up the HR-2 to the Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD player (with Telefunken ECC88 tubes) and proceeded to enjoy the music. The Njoe Tjoeb is a much better player than the Marantz. The next day while listening, I realized I hadn’t tried the headphone jack out of the Njoe Tjoeb, which is what I’ve been using up till now. As soon as I plugged the R-10’s in, the music opened up even more. There was an even more extended treble than before, which I didn’t think was possible, and there was more bass! Yes!
The main differences I can notice between the HR-2 and the Njoe Tjoeb output is that the HR-2 emphasizes the mid-range. I think that is what gives it that focus that makes you listen to the music rather than the sound. But the R-10’s don’t need any additional emphasis in the mid-range, and the Njoe Tjoeb and R-10 combination has just the right balance (well, still a little more bass would be appreciated). Although the music feels more open, it doesn’t lose the magic of the HR-2, it just adds to it rather than subtracts from it like the Melos did.
Anyway, those are my thoughts about my new headphones. And even after all the glorious music I now have, headphones still don’t have the satisfaction and the incredible experience as compared to sitting nearfield to my B&W 801’s with Conrad Johnson Premier 11’s. But then nothing I’ve heard yet has. Which brings me to my final off-topic thoughts about high-end audio. The two reasons people who’ve HEARD high-end audio products and think it’s still all a rip off, are probably because they’ve either put a great component into their consumer grade system and did not hear any improvement and possibly they heard degradation. Or they heard a high-end system that was not set up properly.
The improvements a high-end CDP bring to your system are not just ‘better’ sound from your JVC speakers, they are detail, instrument separation, openness, refinement and/or attack, soundstage, extension, transparency – things beyond which those speakers are capable of reproducing and almost totally unknown concepts to the listener until you’ve actually heard them. And so better sound is not heard from them. Or vice-versa, with good speakers being driven by a Panasonic CDP and receiver/pre-amp/amp. And especially in not having the speakers SET UP PROPERLY. I’ve been to about half a dozen stores that display high-end audio equipment, and out of all those setups, only one store and only one system out of about eight inside it had a setup that showed what high-end audio is capable of. And if it hadn’t been for that one system, I would have forever thought high-end audio was just rubbish and full of snake-oil salesmen ripping people off (of which there are a lot, unfortunately.) Almost all of the other systems were totally un-involving and didn’t seem to provide much of a benefit to justify the cost. But most of the problem, I realize now, was the setup. Although admittedly I have never heard any other audiophiles’ system in their home, I can honestly say I have never heard music reproduction anywhere that even comes close to what I have in my house. (Although I’m sure there is better. I’m just immensely satisfied with what I have and don’t have the money to constantly upgrade, but I don’t rule it out.) I could go on about what I think proper setup is, but suffice it to say, if it doesn’t sound like the musicians are standing right in your room, filling it with MUSIC, something is not right. And if you do experience that magic, you’ll understand what some of this overpriced hardware is capable of.
bdh
P.S. You don’t need to respond about my poor CD players, etc. I’ve just been waiting for the perfect Universal player. Maybe the Esoteric DV-50. We’ll see.
P.S.S. All auditioning was done with a wide variety of music. I didn’t want to write down every album I listened to, but I listened to just about every genre and type of recording from chamber music to punk rock.
