[upstateguy]

It has been postulated in this forum that you can't get into the high end with less than a $2000 - $3000 amp (plus the rest of the associated gear), This leaves about 98% of us without an answer to the same question that was asked of the high end guys.

What is the worst Almost High End equipment you've heard (figure $450 - $1500 for an amp)?

I'll start off with the Heed CanAmp, which in fact, is the only thing I ever sold. In its favor the Heed could play really loud without distortion, but it was completely unable to get the sound right. When I had it, I was using Tom Petty's "Highway Companion" as my benchmark. No matter what I did, poor Tom just didn't sound like Tom through the Heed. The essence of my opinion stemmed from comparing the Heed to my M^3 and Woo3, and although the Heed was in the same price range, it just couldn't make the sonic grade. Many people argued that the Heed was just fine, but my take on that, was, that more often than not, they were coming from portables or lesser amps and to them the Heed was indeed an improvement, but IMHO it was not competitive at its price point. (this is not meant as a bash or defend the Heed post, it is just meant to get this thread rolling)

I also didn't like any of the Ultrasones I heard at the meets.

So, in the spirit of Asr's thread, what is the worst Almost High End gear you've heard?

USG

 

[jp11801]

so maybe this should be in the almost high end forum also know as the regular forums

 

[mikeymad]

^^ x2

 

[Tachikoma]

$1500 amps are only "almost" high-end? o_O

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp11801 /img/forum/go_quote.gif so maybe this should be in the almost high end forum also know as the regular forums

I looked for a place for this in the regular forums, Mr #s, but since it covers all components, where should it go?

USG

 

[jp11801]

Quote:

Originally Posted by upstateguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I looked for a place for this in the regular forums, Mr #s, but since it covers all components, where should it go? USG

there isn't as you know, but there are three forums to discuss amp, headphone and source near misses. I guess my comment was entirely too short and should have been better explained. If we start talking about heed can amps, dark voice, little dots, senn 555..... it dilutes the high end forum.

Hey wait a minute there is a place we could do this, the member lounge which is a catch all for threads that do not fit in the pre defined forums.

Sorry if my initial post came off the wrong way.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp11801 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey wait a minute there is a place we could do this, the member lounge which is a catch all for threads that do not fit in the pre defined forums.

Good call, numbers! Consider it done.

 

[upstateguy]

USG

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tachikoma /img/forum/go_quote.gif $1500 amps are only "almost" high-end? o_O

Yeah, probably "almost" there...

 

[QQQ]

There's no direct affiliation between high-end sound and price.

 

[aaron313]

Most things that sound high-end are pricey, although many pricey things are not high-end.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Two items of gear come to mind (a lot of not-so-good-sounding music also, but that is another issue):

ANY Sony headphone I've ever put on my head, even the TOTL, but some people love 'em.

Yee preamp, oh! nasty!! I love to bash this POS - I sank a lot of money in mine, for little-to-nothing in return.

Laz

 

[jp11801]

Quote:

Originally Posted by QQQ /img/forum/go_quote.gif There's no direct affiliation between high-end sound and price.

actually there is a strong correlation between high end sound and price.

maybe you could attend a meet and listen to a rig that cost $1000, $3000 and $10,000 then talk about the corellation between price and sound quality.

If you hyposis were true then $100 headphones could compete with $1000 headphones and that saly is not the case. While there are examples of lesser priced gear beating higher priced gear it typically happens after a price threshold has been acheived. An example might be (for me at least) the Edition 9 vs the vintage rs1. Your statement tends to be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp11801 /img/forum/go_quote.gif actually there is a strong correlation between high end sound and price.

x2

Price is not the main factor when defining if a product is High-End or not. Sound quality, build quality, design, .. are more important.
But there are indeed a strong correlation between High-End components and price, since they tend to be expensive to design, produce, ...

 

[Kirosia]

Don't think I have worst, though I haven't heard that many. That said, some of the phones I have owned and enjoyed did have arguably fatal flaws:

RS1 = relatively small headstage

HD650 = Three Blob-effect

DT880 = Ethereal treble, no "bite"

K701 = Great all-round sound, but lacks character