[sysfail]

Quote:

Heya all,  I'm soon to be the proud owner of my first pair of Smeggy-built Thunderpants (wenge cups, fostex pads).  These will be paired with an original CTH amp I recently purchased here based on all the praise that amp has received in terms of its synergy with the TPs.  The CTH is already en route to me and will come with a few tubes to get me started.   These are (and I'm quoting the builder and seller here) "12BH7A, 6DJ8,ECC82, and 3 6N6Ps (a Russia tube, my fave, great power).  I sold another CTH to a ThunderPants user, and he really liked the 6NP6 with them."  
 
My question for those (current and past) Thunderpants owners who've had experience with these cans and the CTH, is what tubes might I also consider grabbing that have nice synergy with TPs in addition to the tubes I mentioned?  Ideally, I'd like to have different tubes that are suited to my preferred types of music;  tubes that excel in different areas such as - bringing bass extension, impact, etc for electronic genres such as drumnbass, dubstep, etc and perhaps others that excel at imparting the beloved ortho mids for things like jazz, world music, vocals, and classical, stuff like that.   I do realize there's a whole thread for CTH tube rolling options, and I'm continuing to peruse it for this info and had considered asking for this advice there instead, but I decided to post my question here as I'm really looking for suggestions on tubes specifically geared for Thunderpants & CTH pairing and I figured this would probably be the best place to find opinions from folks who've heavily experimented with this pairing and would have insight into what tubes do well with the TPs specifically in different ways.   
 
After I've had a chance to thoroughly listen to the TPants and CTH  together along with whatever tubes I end up using, I'm planning to write a thoroughly in-depth review of both separately and together, so if I can include a variety of tube-rolling options and notes in my review I'd certainly like to do so.   I would be much obliged for any advice you folks would be kind enough to impart!   I am so excited to have this combination of cans and amp in my possession that I'm bouncing off the walls.    Thanks again all

Looking forward to it! I am also looking at the CTH for my Thunderpants. Since the CTH can power the Orthos well, does it mean that it can power any dynamic headphone easily?
 

 

[dmcs414]

Quote:

Looking forward to it! I am also looking at the CTH for my Thunderpants. Since the CTH can power the Orthos well, does it mean that it can power any dynamic headphone easily?
 

From what I've read, yes they can;  the CTH appears to be a very versatile amp that just happens to make these orthos shine.  One test I'm looking forward to conducting is pairing the CTH with a particularly high impedance dynamic like my friend's Beyer 880 600ohm, but that's probably discussion better left to the CTH threads.  

 

[chrislangley4253]

Deoxit. I grabbed some from amazon for about 15 bucks. Worked wonders on the fostex headphone jack, no more channel imbalance or complete signal drop. I sprayed it on pretty much everything else too. Good stuff! 

 

[mrspeakers]

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Deoxit. I grabbed some from amazon for about 15 bucks. Worked wonders on the fostex headphone jack, no more channel imbalance or complete signal drop. I sprayed it on pretty much everything else too. Good stuff! 

 
Love my T50, but you have to believe this is a simple manufacturing issue that they could/should have solved ages ago.  Most people would return the phones as defective.  
 
 
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

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Love my T50, but you have to believe this is a simple manufacturing issue that they could/should have solved ages ago.  Most people would return the phones as defective.  
 
 
 

agreed. I almost did.
 
 

 

[mrspeakers]

I have now purchased 5 sets, and EVERY set had the problem.
 

 

[BattleBrat]

DAMMIT PEOPLE NYOGEL! Mr speakers stop by my shop I'll give you a decent sized container of it, it will be up to you to share it with our can wielding brotheren (sp)

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

DAMMIT PEOPLE NYOGEL! Mr speakers stop by my shop I'll give you a decent sized container of it, it will be up to you to share it with our can wielding brotheren (sp)

You missed my point.  I use Deoxit, and have plenty, and it solves the problem.  The real problem, though, is a QA issue at Fostex.  This clearly is a problem, as most users of the T50 may not read the thread.  When any product has an issue affecting nearly 100% of the product, the solution is to fix the problem in manufacturing.
 
So chill a little, eh?  

 

 

[BattleBrat]

apologies...

 

[sbradley02]

After initially convincing myself that having the ports covered by the pad leather (black O2 in my case) makes no difference, with a lot of experimentation back and forth I feel that the bass is reduced somewhat when the ports are covered. More noticeable with higher volumes.
 
How best to address? So far I have been rolling the leather at the ports. This works but keeps getting undone. I have thought of punching a hole through the leather at the port locations. The downside I can see to this is the pads rotate rather easily on the cups and again the leather would cover the ports regularly.
 
I am sure people have played with this, and looking for recommendations for the most elegant solution.
Not much of an issue at all, just looking at doing a minor tweak in my case, and don't want to mess up my beautiful (and expensive) O2 pads.
 
Thanks

 

[PhaedraCorruption]

Quote:

After initially convincing myself that having the ports covered by the pad leather (black O2 in my case) makes no difference, with a lot of experimentation back and forth I feel that the bass is reduced somewhat when the ports are covered. More noticeable with higher volumes.
 
How best to address? So far I have been rolling the leather at the ports. This works but keeps getting undone. I have thought of punching a hole through the leather at the port locations. The downside I can see to this is the pads rotate rather easily on the cups and again the leather would cover the ports regularly.
 
I am sure people have played with this, and looking for recommendations for the most elegant solution.
Not much of an issue at all, just looking at doing a minor tweak in my case, and don't want to mess up my beautiful (and expensive) O2 pads.
 
Thanks

Punch a hole in the O2 pads and use a brass circle ring thing to attach it to the cup. 
 

 

[Teejaay]

Quote:

After initially convincing myself that having the ports covered by the pad leather (black O2 in my case) makes no difference, with a lot of experimentation back and forth I feel that the bass is reduced somewhat when the ports are covered. More noticeable with higher volumes.
 
How best to address? So far I have been rolling the leather at the ports. This works but keeps getting undone. I have thought of punching a hole through the leather at the port locations. The downside I can see to this is the pads rotate rather easily on the cups and again the leather would cover the ports regularly.
 
I am sure people have played with this, and looking for recommendations for the most elegant solution.
Not much of an issue at all, just looking at doing a minor tweak in my case, and don't want to mess up my beautiful (and expensive) O2 pads.
 
Thanks

take some double sided tape  on the inside then fold it back into its self do it in 4 places in the same place ...
 


Quote:

You missed my point.  I use Deoxit, and have plenty, and it solves the problem.  The real problem, though, is a QA issue at Fostex.  This clearly is a problem, as most users of the T50 may not read the thread.  When any product has an issue affecting nearly 100% of the product, the solution is to fix the problem in manufacturing.
 
So chill a little, eh?  

 

ive had a few 7 now sets and non of them had this issue ..
 

 

[schwallman]

I must say I am really liking the Cavalli CTH with the custom t50's. Im glad I found this thread. Lots of good info on great cans and amps to go with them.

 

[sbradley02]

Punch doesn't work very well on that thin leather apparently. I used mini scissors to cut a narrow slot that clears the ports and the cables. Works quite nicely and looks rather nice.

 
Quote:

Originally Posted by PhaedraCorruption /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 

Punch a hole in the O2 pads and use a brass circle ring thing to attach it to the cup. 
 

 

 

[Wharfrat]

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Question for you noble Thunderpantsers...if you were willing to spend around $500 on a pair of orthos (which incidentally would be your very first orthos ever ) , would you either contract Mr Smeggy to create a pair of TPs or buy a legitimate Smeggy TP from someone else, or go for one of the less expensive Hifiman orthos like the HE-4, HE-5LE, etc? Why or why not?

I ask this here rather than in the Ortho roundup thread because I really want to hear from TP owners who have had experience with the Hifimans. Also for the sake of argument let's assume a proper amp and DAC would be available for optimum synergy with whichever route one took.

Edit- I should mention that I presume most everyone in this thread believes that properly modded, legit Smeggy TPs are at or close to the best of the best orthos around. So I'm not asking if you think the TPs are "better", that's silly. What I'm really wondering is whether you all think it would be wise should I make my first owner experience with orthos of any kind be a modded ortho with (at times; albeit infrequent) varying results -- versus retail, factory cans that I can be reasonably sure will sound just like every other can that bears the name. (HE-5LE for example).

To put it another way, I know I want my next rig to be based around an ortho, which will be my first. I'm a tad worried that I might be unlucky and for whatever reason find myself unhappy with my TP and then my whole ortho experience starts out on the wrong leg and I end up doing something stupid like go back to dynamics. I'm absolutely positive I'll acquire Thunderpants at some point. I'm not sure I've ever wanted a headphone more. I'm just wondering if it wouldn't be wiser to start my ortho journey with something "safer" to get my feet wet, or something along those lines.

Jeez sorry for the rambling post. Thanks if you stuck through my long-windedness. Hours of reading this thread does strange things to the mind

I am a Noble Thunderpanter. I own a Smeggy made pair I bought from a fellow Head-fier, and I met the Smegster himself and kicked back with the DIY Duke Sachu

 
..and I do own a HE-5 and EF-5, so i would say I am in position to provide input on the well-put "rambling post".
 
To be honest, the HE-5/TP cans sorta struggle to reveal their inherent orthodynamic greatness with the EF-5 and mine has a Telefunken 12AU7 sweetness that gets kicked to the curb with those cans...why do I say that, one might ask, given the consensus amongst the cognoscenti that there IS a happy marriage twixt the orthos and the EF-5?  I say it because I dove off a cliff and bought a 1976-vintage Pioneer SX-1250 receiver on the simple exclamation from Skylab about the "AMAZING" headphone output it had (and I lusted over its chrome looks, walnut case, testosterone-poisoned power capacity of 200 watts to power a pair of Dunlavy SC-IV I accidentally came across and bought).
 
Now, boys...that old Grandad of a receiver WILL, on my mother's good name, truly put out the kind of neutral, crisp, image-defined, eargasmic goodness orthos are capable of.  The TPs in comparision to the HE-5 (a lesser can compared to its LE and HE-6 brethren) now shows its dynamic limitations, though the mid to lower treble output is much more pronounced over the Pioneer compared to the EF-5. 
 
So to get to the point, it may be an incomplete comparision because we are actually looking at an unfair setup betwixt a relatively less expensive Fostex driver and a more dedicated planar magnetic (thus more expensive) design.  I truly think in the world of orthos, the amps might be a more  critical factor in comparing the two fairly, and someone may have already thunk so in this wonderful TP thread (I got dizzy, 100 webpages and all).  I have not ever heard a CTH unit, so there just may be something there that might give the Pioneer decent rivalry in powering the orthos and their lovely ilk.  Its just that this experience with the Pioneer gave me pause to wonder if a particular amplifer would allow both to shine well and then be subject rightfully to a fair comparison.
 
Just me half-penny of an opine.