[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarney /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you could just purchase the plugs they use, it probably wouldn't be that hard. Said the guy who had to call has dad to help him solder RCA jacks...I still don't know how anyone does that with just two hands... Tim

Helping hands

 

[Penchum]

Or, the really cheap version: Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[Headdie]

Please stop writing in this thread ! You risk to destroy my personal and professional lives. Each time it gets bold in my browser, I can't resist opening it to read what's new... You should be tired as I am, no? May I suggest a one week break to recover? Or maybe I just need a doctor to cure this headfi disease...

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headdie /img/forum/go_quote.gif Please stop writing in this thread ! You risk to destroy my personal and professional lives. Each time it gets bold in my browser, I can't resist opening it to read what's new... You should be tired as I am, no? May I suggest a one week break to recover? Or maybe I just need a doctor to cure this headfi disease...

I really hope this was an attempt a humor??

 

[Headdie]

Grrrrr ! Now, I'm gonna relax and take it easy with the keyboard before getting extinct

 

[tfarney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif Helping hands

It looks like Wall E.

Tim

 

[tfarney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pp312 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That doesn't surprise me, though I don't particularly approve. My own experience is with budget to upper budget stuff, and that's what I was referring to. Using a high end speaker amp is kind of defeating the purpose for us cheapskates. Don't worry about specs; they have little to do with what you actually hear. Frequently I read user reviews that say something like, "This amp sounds brilliant to me, but it's now 5 years old and the game has moved on," by which I guess they mean the specs of modern amps are better so the sound must be better. Rubbish. For years Hi-Fi mags have been reviewing amps and telling us they sound better than the previous models, which means after 30 years in some cases (NAD for one) that either the original model sounded total crap, or the latest model is pure audiophile heaven. Yet when you listen to the two models side by side there's often hardly any discernable difference whatever the specs say. And what differences there are can be accounted for by component deterioration and drift--which is probably your biggest problem with the HK. Why not take it in for a full service?

Your point is well-taken. The old HK just got a full service a few months ago. Replacement of 2 caps and cleaning, and it ran above specs. And while those specs aren't up to today's SS stuff, they are well beyond tube specs. Yes. Specs are not listening.

Tim

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif Helping hands

Didn't they land one of those things on the moon?

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headdie /img/forum/go_quote.gif Please stop writing in this thread ! You risk to destroy my personal and professional lives. Each time it gets bold in my browser, I can't resist opening it to read what's new... You should be tired as I am, no? May I suggest a one week break to recover? Or maybe I just need a doctor to cure this headfi disease...

Well, you write here yourself....

Keeping it on top of the list, so that it gets bold in our browsers. Then we drop by to read what's new, and write a comment while being there.

 

[Dobro]

Quote:

I'm just curious, but do you know the gauge of your original cable?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarney /img/forum/go_quote.gif The original interconnects I just replaced with the Walmart DIY voodoo cable? No, but neither it or the Voodoo are particularly big. 12 guage maybe. The Walmart cable has 3 wires inside, and with the speaker wire, you twist two of them together for the positive, use just one for ground. An RCA jack doesn't leave room to do that, so you have to cut one of the three off at the outer insulator and just use two smallish wires. They're longer than the cable they replaced too. Gotta be something in the metai itself...or my imagination. Tim

The article says that the Walmart cable uses 16 gauge wire. The inter-connects I'll be replacing are lighter. I'd guess 20 or 22, no more then 18 certainly. I would assume that Tim's old ones where similar. Heavier gauge wire and hopefully better connection - I can easily imagine these leading to subtilely better sound, no voodoo there.

Now if only they where cryogenically treated. If I stuck them in the deep freeze for a few weeks, would that work?

Sorry Headie, discipline, my man, discipline.

 

[tfarney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobro /img/forum/go_quote.gif The article says that the Walmart cable uses 16 gauge wire. The inter-connects I'll be replacing are lighter. I'd guess 20 or 22, no more then 18 certainly. I would assume that Tim's old ones where similar. Heavier gauge wire and hopefully better connection - I can easily imagine these leading to subtilely better sound, no voodoo there. Now if only they where cryogenically treated. If I stuck them in the deep freeze for a few weeks, would that work? Sorry Headie, discipline, my man, discipline.

That sounds right. When I said 12 gauge, I was forgetting that it's backwards for wire -- bigger number + smaller wire. It's not big, heavy wire like my old Monster speaker cables. And yes, I used heavy, gold-plated Monster connectors in all cases. So what I"ve really ended up with is what I've always pretty much believed in -- good quality, voodoo-free cables. Do they, as the DIY article suggests, sound as good as Cardas Golden Cross? I don't doubt it for a moment and I feel absolutely no need to invest in Cardas Golden Cross to make the comparison.

Dear God, I just googled Cardas Golden Cross and found a pair of interconnects selling for $742.

Tim

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

I'm using my Pioneer A449 with my Pioneer Monitor 10 cans. It sounds fine. In fact it sounds fine also with the Sennheiser HD580. Although it does not sound exactly the same as with the XCANv3, a friend of mine prefers the Pioneer amp, and I like to switch between them sometimes.

 

[Headdie]

Today I listened to my DT990 with the Musiland LILO III, NAD C720BEE and Yamaha HTR5960.

My DT990 are from the 80-90 era. I've managed to loose the specs and I don't know there impedance. I don't know the impedance of the Musiland, but it's rated for low/medium impedance headphones. The Yamaha is 100 ohms and the NAD is 220 ohms.

Results :

The Musiland clips when I turn up the volume
The Yamaha clips when I turn up the volume
The NAD pumps a beautiful sound in those DT990

I wonder if my DT990 are not the ultimate test to detect an opamp hidden in a black box...

I also listened to my new D2000 with the Musiland, NAD and Yamaha.

They are 25 ohms and the break in is only beginning.

Results so far :

They sound good with all of the above. I'd say best with the Musiland and good with the NAD and Yamaha. I'll try later this week with an impedance adapter.

To be fair, it was quick and dirty testing. I'll have to do a better testing job and there is some parameters that I want to play with before we can draw any conclusion.

 

[MatsudaMan]

I've been quite happy with the sound through the headphones out of both my Nad and Atoll integrated amps, which kind of leads me to the point that I really don't need a dedicated amplifier for my headphones, and in fact buying one would not reap much better results. Is it really worth it? Am I right?

I've been reading about amplifiers in the 300 dollar range like a Little dot MKV or a Musical Fidelity x-can. I really want to buy the Little Dot MKV! If they really are a substantial upgrade over my headphone out, it'd be a fun and productive purchase. Does anyone have any experience with thinking that there headphone out is great and then realizing after purchasing a dedicated amp that it isn't?

I feel like I have two personalities: One that wants to believe that the headphone out is as good as it gets with something like my hd580s's, and the other that wants to believe that a Little Dot MKV would just sound sooo much better ----- so I can buy it!!!!!!!

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DefectiveAudioComponent /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm using my Pioneer A449 with my Pioneer Monitor 10 cans. It sounds fine. In fact it sounds fine also with the Sennheiser HD580. Although it does not sound exactly the same as with the XCANv3, a friend of mine prefers the Pioneer amp, and I like to switch between them sometimes.

I have a feeling this post gives a clue to the answer to MatsudaMan's dilemma (and many others). If the Pioneer A449 can sound close enough to an XCan V3 for one listener to prefer it, then (assuming that listener is not hearing defective) there's clearly no miraculous difference.