[reeltime]

I appreciate the Woo commitment, but at $15,000 to drive headphones, I'd be going Stax and a Blue Hawaii.

 

[Fririce0003]

I appreciate the Woo commitment, but at $15,000 to drive headphones, I'd be going Stax and a Blue Hawaii.

I was considering that for a while, having the WA5 and abyss with the BHSE and 009 on the side to get the best of both. But after hearing the Abyss+234 it was just too engaging whilst still having plenty of detail for me to pass up. There's no doubt from me that the 009's through the BHSE are more detailed and they're certainly end game but a completely different flavour compared to the abyss.... The price is very daunting though :S

 

[TonyNewman]

  I appreciate the Woo commitment, but at $15,000 to drive headphones, I'd be going Stax and a Blue Hawaii.

 
Or a big rig. 15K buys a lot of amp + floor standing speakers. That is exactly the choice I made - BHSE + SR009, or the big stuff, and I went with the big stuff and have no regrets.
 
I enjoy headphones immensely, but there are times when a big rig needs some loving too

 

[Stereolab42]

  I appreciate the Woo commitment, but at $15,000 to drive headphones, I'd be going Stax and a Blue Hawaii.

 
Heard Stax+BHSE multiple times, it's great but easily equaled by WA5+<insert your favorite four-figure headphones>.

 

[reeltime]

I hear ya.  I love the WA5LE (can't drive my Genelecs with a WA-5) both in looks and sound. But after doing some Stax listening... they're definitely in a league of their own.  My HD800s are world class headphones with the right amp (and the WA5LE isn't even the best amp for the HD800), but the 009 and the BHSE?  Nothing better than that to my ears.  
 
I had the joy of doing A/B listening to the Stax + BHSE and the HD800 + GS-X MkII (which probably is the best amp for the HD800) and though they were close, the Stax was just a bit better in every area.  

 

[Fririce0003]

Or a big rig. 15K buys a lot of amp + floor standing speakers. That is exactly the choice I made - BHSE + SR009, or the big stuff, and I went with the big stuff and have no regrets.

I enjoy headphones immensely, but there are times when a big rig needs some loving too :wink_face:

Speaker rig is always good to have, sometimes I find headphones to be a tad inconvenient. Upgraded mine at the start of the year, Vienna Acoustic The Kiss, GS-X Mk2 as pre amp and into some Auralic Merak's and a JL F113 for some extra thump Its been seeing a fair bit more use since the upgrade. But in terms of sheer detail it's still a fair while off reaching the headphone rig, even more so once the 234 arrives
Though I will say another point in favour of the 009 vs abyss is the fit, Abyss is way too dependant on fit. Some days I'll get it right first go, other days I'll be fiddling with it for a fair while before getting it right...

 

[TonyNewman]

... Vienna Acoustic The Kiss, GS-X Mk2 as pre amp and into some Auralic Merak's and ...

 
Thought long and hard about going for a set of Merak's using my Taurus Mk2 as a pre-amp, but the lure of the SET sound pulled me into the Triode Corp 845 based integrated amp. Something about tubes - it's an addiction I can't let go

 

[Fririce0003]

Thought long and hard about going for a set of Merak's using my Taurus Mk2 as a pre-amp, but the lure of the SET sound pulled me into the Triode Corp 845 based integrated amp. Something about tubes - it's an addiction I can't let go :tongue_smile:

There really is something magical about tubes, would've gone for them if the vienna's were a tad more sensitive. But probably best I didn't, tube rolling the WA5 was bad enough, even worse once the 234 arrives. Didn't need that expense on the speaker rig as well, that and I also use the speakers when I'm watching tv or movies. Would wear away at the tube life pretty quick

 

[TonyNewman]

There really is something magical about tubes, would've gone for them if the vienna's were a tad more sensitive. But probably best I didn't, tube rolling the WA5 was bad enough, even worse once the 234 arrives. Didn't need that expense on the speaker rig as well, that and I also use the speakers when I'm watching tv or movies. Would wear away at the tube life pretty quick

 
I am using a 20W 845 based amp to drive Brodmann F2s. These speakers are rated 91dB for 1.8W @ 1m. That works out at just over 88 dB for 1W @ 1m. So these speakers are nothing special in terms of sensitivity. The 20W amp drives them easily - plenty of bass and the gain is around 8 o'clock (barely on) to fill the living room with music.
 
I was skeptical at first, but then heard a demo of an 8W 300B based integrated amp driving similar speakers with no problems.
 
All 3 of my tube amps share the 6SN7 driver, and the WA6 and WA5 share rectifiers - which helps.

 

[Fririce0003]

I am using a 20W 845 based amp to drive Brodmann F2s. These speakers are rated 91dB for 1.8W @ 1m. That works out at just over 88 dB for 1W @ 1m. So these speakers are nothing special in terms of sensitivity. The 20W amp drives them easily - plenty of bass and the gain is around 8 o'clock (barely on) to fill the living room with music.

I was skeptical at first, but then heard a demo of an 8W 300B based integrated amp driving similar speakers with no problems.

All 3 of my tube amps share the 6SN7 driver, and the WA6 and WA5 share rectifiers - which helps.

I do like the sounds of that, the vienna's might see a bit of 300B loving. Hopefully the 45's have enough drive too, well as long as I'm not too tempted to get some tube mono's... Finances can't take another hit like this in such close succession

 

[TonyNewman]

I do like the sounds of that, the vienna's might see a bit of 300B loving. Hopefully the 45's have enough drive too, well as long as I'm not too tempted to get some tube mono's... Finances can't take another hit like this in such close succession

 
The odd thing is that the Triode 300B 8W integrated amp drove the Brodmann speakers (FS model in the demo) much, much better than the WA5 did. Both are 8W 300B based amps, but I'm guessing it is because one is built primarily as a headphone amp and the other as a speaker amp - horses for courses.
 
My 845 based amp uses 2A3 tubes to drive the 845s - lovely sound not dissimilar to 300B. Wonderful for vocals and instrumentals, particularly when paired with the Brodmanns. Something about the tube sound in general and SET amps in particular gets me everytime.

 

[isquirrel]

  I forgot about the KR 300B balloons. They certainly look cool. I may try them over the EML 300B mesh as a SERP alternative.
 
(Also, what's up with Australians and ultra-nosebleed headphone setups? Lol.)

Were so far away we've got nothing better to do....

 

[TonyNewman]

 
Were so far away we've got nothing better to do....

 
When not dodging all the kangaroos and snakes

 

[isquirrel]

And the Crocs !
 

 

[Fririce0003]

When not dodging all the kangaroos and snakes :wink_face:

Can't forget about the koala's, platypuses, wombats, emu's, red backs and funnel webs, they need some lovin' too. Spoilt for choice down here