Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share you ideas and experiences.
In Reply to: Headphone amp - long gestation, successful birth posted by Doc B. on March 30, 2004 at 20:34:16:
I remember Gary Dahl using those in his Expressivo amp and raving about them. Can you say if they'd be part of any future Bottlehead kit (he asked inquisitively)?...Glad you're enjoying it. Nice job! I can't imagine how good it must sound; this coming after being unable to tear myself away from my CJ and Seduction last night. You mentioned system synergy/ground issues in a post below; one of my biggest reliefs was how dead silent the CJ was when hooked up to the Seduction. GREAT synergy there.
I need to try C4Sing my CJ at some point. By relying on the kindness of strangers, I have a vague idea of how to do it, but don't be surprized to see a post on here asking for help...;-)
Follow Ups:
Yes, Gary did build a headphone amp with TL-404s and active loads after he heard my original prototype for this project a couple years ago. My prototype was a practical construction of the Kugelis dream/thought problem/very rough sketch I published a few years ago.I think the TL-404s are among the best inductors Mikey has ever made. They could end up in a kit someday. That project would be out in the future a ways. Needless to say it would be a high end kit.
I should also tout the virtues of the Jupiter beeswax parafeed caps here. They were specially made for me and Chris Young has been patiently waiting to hear from me about them. So far they seem excellent - very neutral and revealing with great bass coming thru - just as the smaller ones I installed in the Seduction I built for VSAC have.
I have several different headphones here right now - AKG 240, Sennheiser HD 540 reference II, HD 600 with cable mod, Etymotic ER-4S, and a pair of Koss Sporta-pros that I use for jogging. The HD 600s seem to be pleasing me the most right now as things continue to break in.
Doc -- how do the Etymotics compare to the HD600? Curious b/c I use the lower end ER6 for portable use and HD600 at home. Been thinking about stepping up to the ER4S.
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The ER-4S are very nice for a situation where you need isolation. They are very clean and concise. To me the HD-600s are a better headphone for situations where you don't need the isolation from external noise. The bottom end is mo'betta.That said, I haven't gotten to trying the Etymotics with the new headphone amp yet.
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I recently did a closed cans shootout b/w the beyer 250-80, beyer 770, and AKG K271. The AKGs were the winner. I'm really loving them, and there are a few mods I'm going to try on them as well. One involves damping the inside of the cups with bluetak. This is said to improve the bass, which can be lacking on (surprise!) bass shy recordings (The AKGs are very neutral, very source revealing). The other will be a DIY cable.At some point, I would like to try the Jupiter caps. I've already bought Auricaps for the CJ, (going to install them after I do a voltage divider mod) but I'm not sure how big an impact they'll have on the overall sound.
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I'm curious what you didn't like about the 250-80s. They spec out very close to the Grado 325's I own, but they don't have the Grado treble spike.
Play safe and play longer! Don't be an "OUCH!" casualty.
Unplug it, discharge it and measure it (twice) before you touch it.. . .Oh!. . .Remember: Modifying things voids their warrantee.
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