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Post by tony on Jan 3, 2015 18:14:14 GMT
Brian, ive always found a big car battery has the edge in sonic terms regards oomph....instant power delivery and finesse in terms of micro details. My set up is all hard wired but your always welcome to plumb the mini t into my rig and give it a whirl on the battery...I have a couple of the original mini t with upgraded psu to give a datum point. The Temple audio mono blocks are my staple but I have always loved the sonic presentation and signature the Minis bring-nice to hear the new one....
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Post by tony on Jan 1, 2015 10:28:11 GMT
Steve supplied bases for my Frugel3s which work on the same principal. They make for a very sturdy base which is easy to tweak position of the speakers and allows tuning through use of supplied materials.
Look gorgeous too....
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Post by tony on Dec 26, 2014 16:38:00 GMT
I find like most things in life you get what you pay for. I find there are very noticeable differences between different cables and plugs -some folks don't and will cause a fight in an empty house defending they're position.
Buy them and let us know how you get on.
Brian of this parish has let me hear numerous cables he has made with different wiring configurations/plugs/plug metals-everyone of them sounds different but we all crave a different flavour of distortion....one mans meat is another mans poison!
Its a bit like cooking....give half a dozen folk the remit to make a meatballs dinner and you get half a dozen different dinners in front of you-all different but appealing to different tastes.
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Post by tony on Dec 26, 2014 16:14:45 GMT
The Caiman 2 is settling in nicely. It is noticeable upgrade over the BM2 which is a keeper-gratefully received by my son. The level of detail is breathtaking, with an even handed sonic presentation that is just a joy to listen to on cans with the Capella. It really requires careful cable matching as it reveals every nuance in the signal path. I don't think the bang for buck caveat is appropriate....it is an excellent piece of hi-fi regardless of cost or aesthetics. A fine upgrade to my music listening experience.
A Dac developed purely for use with the Capella with minimal features would be right up my street. The Capella is serving duties as an active battery powered pre in my set up. I returned to my passive pre but was concious that I lost nothing in terms of transparency and detail but gained the extra oomph and drive an active brings.
Im having great fun just listening to tunes I haven't done for years-probably the best indicator that your going in the right direction.
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Post by tony on Dec 20, 2014 20:26:50 GMT
Moved from the Bushmaster 2 to the Caiman 2. Stan had subsequently sent me a battery optimised chip for the BM2 chip that I installed and reaped the benefits from on cans and in my main rig.Recently upgraded across the board-speakers/headphones/HPA.
An Improvement...end of.
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Post by tony on Dec 20, 2014 19:48:50 GMT
Plug and play Martin....I regard the 650s in headphone terms as similar to 63s or Spendor SP1s -totally unfatiguing and very musical. Re cabling brings the same sonic benefits as upgrading speaker cable or interconnects in a main system.
Getting the most out of an already excellent set of cans!!
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Post by tony on Dec 19, 2014 17:45:55 GMT
received my cable today for the 650s. Improves on the bass but is noticeably less congested in the mids without adding any treble nasties. Very good pound for pound upgrade.
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Post by tony on Dec 17, 2014 15:35:03 GMT
700s have about 20 hours on the now.They sound about right for every penny of the their £500. Its an awful lot of money to spend oh cans BUT if you are a serious headphone user and want the best sound you can afford get a listen to some. They are very revealing and really require top notch partnering equipment.
A good quality DAC/cables/head amp is crucial.
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Post by tony on Dec 15, 2014 17:35:42 GMT
Jammy, There aint half a lot of pish written by key board warriors slagging off cans, most haven't listened too OR on an I pod.A good headphone rig bang for buck is unbeatable.Fantastic music well within the budget of normal folk. People drop 10k on kitchens they never cook in FFS!!!
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Post by tony on Dec 15, 2014 13:56:41 GMT
My senn HD700s arrived today. They are new and not run in yet so I can only provide initial impressions at this stage.
I run a Beresford Capella HPA/Bushamster 2/MF v-link/Lap top with everything ripped lossless. Im off the grid power wise using battery.
My reference cans were HD 650s with the foams removed. In addition I have Senn HD202s, Superlux HD660/440/330 and 668B.
The cans themselves are similar to 650s in that they have seperate cables going to each cup. The cable isolation is even better than the 650s-(when the cable runs on your clothing sound can transmit to the cans). The cable is very quiet.
Fit and finish is excellent, I removed the dust covers which are perforated cloth as opposed to foam. Adjustment was set after a minute or two-comfort is very subjective but after an hour and a half they seem to be even better than the 650s. You could get the best sounding cans in the world but if they annoy you after a while you wont be listening to music!
I like the Senn house sound, I crave neither frequency extreme and listen to a broad range of music...mostly blues/folk/jazz/rock.
My sonic impressions are based on coming from a couple of years of very happy use of 650s.
In short the 700s are an upgrade over the 650s. They are more open/detailed/accurate/toe tapping. From experience they will settle down after a couple of hundred hours but straight out of the box Im delighted.
The most noticeable difference Im hearing is the level of transparency-voices that have had effects added or double or triple tracking that was there before is far more apparent.
Im off for a few days so will hopefully get a few hours on them and post my impressions. Usual caveat -my ears/music/ancillaries.
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Post by tony on Dec 15, 2014 13:18:50 GMT
HD700s arrived today.....will start a new thread.
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Post by tony on Dec 14, 2014 13:50:06 GMT
Jammy, Thats some set of cans!!! A lot of guys on Head Fi sing the praises of going balanced and re cabling to get the best out of they're set ups. Look forward to your impressions. Mind and give them plenty of time to break in and you to tune into what they do. My 650s took about 200 hours to really settle down and just got better with time.
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Post by tony on Dec 14, 2014 13:44:15 GMT
Well ive Just "Hit the Tit" on a pair of Audeze LCD3's. Fuk it, Its Xmas and you only live once...!!! So next Question, Would i benifit much by going the ballanced route.
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Post by tony on Dec 13, 2014 19:29:54 GMT
Pulled the trigger on a pair of HD700s hopefully a nice upgrade over the 650s without throwing the baby out with the bath water!
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Post by tony on Dec 13, 2014 18:11:20 GMT
Where is the best place to get HD800s, saw them at £789 BUT the site was a tad dodgy looking for a bank transfer and charging a fee to use pay pal.
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Post by tony on Dec 13, 2014 14:54:44 GMT
Head FI is a very useful site for headphone user. Cans are a very personal thing-one mans meat is another mans poison! Comfort/sound/amp are all subjective. If you want to just zone out with a couple of halfs the senn 650s have got to be on your shortlist. I like the senn in house sound and the attention to detail regards comfort and cable isolation. HD700s and HD800s are both on my wish list but both require to be amped properly to work at their best.(Im in the market for both)
The type of music and environment you listen to the cans in is also a factor.
The Capella thread gives an indication of what the tune ability of Stans HPA can bring.
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Post by tony on Dec 11, 2014 0:00:24 GMT
I have went for a 5m klotz/neutrik/cardas.....look forward to trying it in comparison to the standard cable/grado extension.
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Post by tony on Dec 6, 2014 1:57:45 GMT
I have given the Capella a try with my Superlux hd 660, they are great value for money budget cans that can be retro fitted with AKG velvet ear pads that really improve the comfort level and improve the sound slightly. I have removed the inner foams also. The settings on the Capella are quite different to the senn 650s. The gain is quite a bit higher,the high frequency backed way off and the damping set mid way. I wasn't sure all the features were necessary but having played around a bit it would appear that it lets you get the best out of the cans you plug in budget or otherwise.
I was worried that I would be forever adjusting settings but once you get the cans dialled in settings wise you just get on with listening to music.
I was lucky that my BM2 was a great match for the 650s but this has really got me thinking about maybe buying 800s. The senn sound signature suits me down to a t, Its just that they are an awful lot of money.
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Post by tony on Dec 5, 2014 2:41:41 GMT
Got going with my Senn 650s. The Capella has loads of scope for adjustment but half an hour of playing around left me in a position of -that sounds right!!!
I cant seem to wrong foot it with material....its particularly good with Rock/blues/jazz.
I really regraded my BM2 headphone section as something special...this is better by some margin!
I will endeavour to try my other cans but as a HPA this does the business and then some!!!!
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Post by tony on Dec 4, 2014 13:42:46 GMT
I received my Beresford headphone amp this morning and plumbed it in to give it a whirl. It unusual in the features it has for cans users, letting you tailor the output to cater for different types of cans. One feature that caught my eye was its ability to output DC to another device ie powering it and a DAC. I use a Bushmaster 2 that Stan Beresford optimised for use with a battery.
Well, it can also be used as an active pre amp -so thats what I tried to see how it would fare against my Tisbury audio passive. Initial impressions are very surprising, sit up straight surprising. I had to change the impedance settings on my Temple audio mono blocks to match the higher output. It surpasses the abilities of my passive by some margin. The sound is far more dynamic without losing any of the detail retrieval and delicacy I enjoy. If anything its even more revealing and expressive.
I haven't even plugged in a set of cans yet. I will give it a listen when I finish my shift tomorrow.
My set up/ears/music but synergy wise this is some bit of kit.....I will post up impressions when I get to try it as intended with cans.
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