kelly
Herr Babelfish der Übersetzer, he wore a whipped-cream-covered tutu for this title.
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- Jan 1, 2002
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Hirsch
What is a TDS Passive Audiophile?
Kurt has reported good results from using the microZOTL with both the W2002 and the W100. I know from talking to him that neutrality isn't as big a priority for him as it is for me (though it still makes the list) but it'd probably still be worth seeing which tubes he's using.
When you talk about darkness, I tend to associate that word with tonal balance only. In other words, I define dark as "an overemphasis on the lows in the frequency response." It seems that you mean something different here as you're saying that tubes that might make the HD600 dark might tend to make the W100 more neutral. While I do think the W100 has a peaky frequency response, my issue with it lies more in how it just applies a standard sound to every instrument played through it.
Maybe I'm using the wrong word, but I'd say the coloration is similar to when a band plays in a different room and all of their instruments pick up the qualities of that room. I feel every headphone and speaker does this to some degree or another but the W100 does it moreso and in a room I'm not fond of (and imagine most other people wouldn't be either, given a choice).
One thing worth noting is that when Nick and I were auditioning the W100, we did at one point use the Corda HA-1 which a lot of owners seem to like with the W100. I can't, of course, account for the variations in source and interconnects but Nick and I both found the HD600 to be far preferable to the W100 with the Corda HA-1 in the system we were using. Nick also didn't care for the W100 with the MG Head and his typical stock of tubes--I didn't get to hear this myself as he'd already moved his MG Head on by the time I got there.
What is a TDS Passive Audiophile?
Kurt has reported good results from using the microZOTL with both the W2002 and the W100. I know from talking to him that neutrality isn't as big a priority for him as it is for me (though it still makes the list) but it'd probably still be worth seeing which tubes he's using.
When you talk about darkness, I tend to associate that word with tonal balance only. In other words, I define dark as "an overemphasis on the lows in the frequency response." It seems that you mean something different here as you're saying that tubes that might make the HD600 dark might tend to make the W100 more neutral. While I do think the W100 has a peaky frequency response, my issue with it lies more in how it just applies a standard sound to every instrument played through it.
Maybe I'm using the wrong word, but I'd say the coloration is similar to when a band plays in a different room and all of their instruments pick up the qualities of that room. I feel every headphone and speaker does this to some degree or another but the W100 does it moreso and in a room I'm not fond of (and imagine most other people wouldn't be either, given a choice).
One thing worth noting is that when Nick and I were auditioning the W100, we did at one point use the Corda HA-1 which a lot of owners seem to like with the W100. I can't, of course, account for the variations in source and interconnects but Nick and I both found the HD600 to be far preferable to the W100 with the Corda HA-1 in the system we were using. Nick also didn't care for the W100 with the MG Head and his typical stock of tubes--I didn't get to hear this myself as he'd already moved his MG Head on by the time I got there.