Mr.Sneis

Hi George, In this case it is o2mk1. I have used these headphones for years with a KGSS (ECBA acting as a pre) and had NO complaints! My other rig is Lambda Nova Sigs with 323s. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty sure my ears are "broke" by many others' standards!!

Shelly, Maybe this helps. I finally bit the bullet and found some RCA branded XF2's on eBay. I sent the seller an offer for $350 and he did accept so I was somewhat forced at that point anyways. Luckily the item description provided the XF2 date codes to confirm that they should inf act be Blackburn XF2's. At any rate this listing was my runner up: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181550483388?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Another idear I had is to keep an eye out for Dynaco ST70's. I'm talking the amps themselves. I was thinking about finding an "original" one with stock dynaco branded XF2 tubes and doing a swap and re-selling with new Mullards. Lot of work, but maybe cheaper than outright buying tubes. ---- I've been quiet about this for too long. So what are my experiences with the BHSE so far? The irony of me actually owning one now is that of course I have almost no listening time when I am at home. To be perfectly honest so far not smitten with the sound. I've tried the tubes I have on-hand, the Winged C SED's, PSVane's, Stock Mullards. I've tried a plethora of DACs; PWD2, Parasound d/ac2000 +1100, EAD DSP-1000mk3, Adcom GCD-750, Assemblage DAC 3, Apogee Mini Dac, probably a few more I am forgetting too. Just yesterday I received a Sonic Frontiers SFD-2mk2 and I'm still not sure it's there yet. Without getting into too much of a novel, I want to say my favorite thus far has been the d/ac2000. It's by no means a technical performer (hell it has op-amp coupled output afaik) but it has a certain haziness to it that helps to mask any lack of detail or stridency, it doesn't sound offensive or draw attention to any problems which many of the other dacs did almost right away. I would think the better design of the SFD-2mk2 would be that much moar betters but to these ears it presents greater detail at the expense of sounding more up front and almost borderline bright with vocals. Maybe it's the XA5400ES digital out (no PC playback) that's throwing me for a curve or maybe even the tubes? Maybe I'm just not throwing enough money at the damn thing. Hoping the XF2's are worth all the hype.

I would describe it as crunchy or crinkly, like my puppy and baby toys

Comparing lambdas to dynamics is very difficult! Hard not to say I prefer the lambda sound but at the same time I still like many aspects of the hd800.

On impulse I snatched up a SR-202. At first listen it is very apparent the Lambda Nova Signature is superior as they have a significantly richer midrange and are perfect in the bass. The 202 on the other hand is more neutral and not quite enough bass, I also think they are noticeably brighter. The ear-side foam is rotted out on the 202's so that foam is 90% not present; not sure if these are keepers to bother with the cleanup yet!

Same thing happened to me and it was not cool. To my amazement the PO who was deceased had done all sorts of dumb mounting/disassembly of my LNS including the pads on the wrong sides and upside down on the aluminum frames and losing the screws that hold it all together. Fun fun fun. I ended up using a very small amount of glue to re-attach the drivers on both sides so they stay put, I used polyurethane gorilla glue but will probably go back and use better glue in the future when I am up to the task. Before that I had to use tape to cover up some punctured holes in the dustcover screen which fell apart on me at the same time and also had to re-glue together. I think I grew some hairs on my chest after I did all of the above, I am shocked the set still works great today!

Gotcha, not worth the risk/hassle then I suppose!!!

I read that as 24 total tubes or 6 sets available. Any recommendation one way or another vs XF2?

http://www.head-fi.org/t/622756/joseph-grado-signature-product-hp2i-upgraded-hp-1000-headphone-information-journal-and-comparative-review-on-hiatus There's a link at the top of the post which directs you to the beginning of tamahome77's saga. He is/was not alone it seems and he has since received the pair back from JG but at much higher cost than originally quoted. As a result he's having to sell them to recoup what he can. I genuinely wish it weren't so but it's quite unnerving to read.

While we're at it a short PSA -- it seems JG has gotten quite shady in his business practices as he ages so buyer beware if you happen to decide you want to throw money at him. What I've read is enough to scare the shit out of me to eternally kid gloves now my stocker HP-2.

I felt with the 407 and 323s that vocals were also slightly harsh but nothing I couldn't handle. The LNS and 323s on the other hand match up very well (also ESP950). The 007 and 323s sound like crap to be frank. I think the bottom line is the 323s can sound great with the better regarded (older) lambdas, just don't expect the world from it. There are some people that really dislike the 323s by the way and would probably prefer the 006t so it's anyone's guess but best to hear on your own. I had the 007tii for a while with better than stock Japanese tubes and it was OK but I like the 323s better. The 006t probably had a similar sound?

http://www.head-fi.org/t/721369/stax-007a Killing me.

Did you pay his asking price? He offered the same pair to another member for 1400 Iirc then renegged. I sold a pair less than a month ago for around 1500.

*** Truly the Holy Grail of MK1 Headphones- the 4th Pair EVER MADE *** Haters gonna hate. Clearly a supreme collector museum piece, a part of headphone history. Seriously who fell for the trap?

So pissed, ebay required me to change my password during which time someone else got them. Hope it was someone here?

Hnnnnnng. Justin has some competition now.

Any info on how will the BD be encased?

The PM-1 not so interested, but this looks like it could be solid. ESS Dac chip uuurgh. Reminds me a bit of the Lynx Hilo which I liked but didn't hang onto.

If only the HF thread didn't de-evolve into monkeys throwing poop at each other. Thank god for the "search this thread" tool though!! I'm basically reading: It's not the headphone fault... it's the amp. The amp needs to be shitter! I did like the 009 in the time I had with them at least. Now they are simply too far out of my reach... meh. Also Stax related. I ordered a second set of Lambda pads from Amazon USA this time and kinda got screwed but not too bad at least at $49. I ordered for the 404LE and did not get the black leather pads but rather the 407 brown pads after 3 weeks Smarter to go through Amazon.co.jp and use forwarding service if you want the 404LE/507 pads.

Still no geek out 450 - supposedly they will get all shipped by this week. I just want it to end!

So much resolution I can taste the spit on the microphone!

Any concern over chemicals + plastic? Isopropyl Alcohol does wonders on adhesives but can discolor plastic - haven't used hydrogen peroxide before

Alright, these 507 pads I ended up getting off of Amazon.co.jp are the real deal! I've seen some horror story mentions of removing adhesive from the lambda frame... Any pointers?

Thinking about snagging some SR-507/404LE pads for SR-407's. I notice there's quite a few for sale on Amazon Marketplace and eBay for prices far lower than from Yamas... should I be concerned about receiving crappy knock off pads?

Gentle touch I guess? Never had much challenge with one of these and eyeballing the size. You can also just clamp down with the correct gauge which will bite into the sleeve a little bit and pinch tightly with fingernails to rip it off. Getting the enamel off is trickier - I've done it at least a few times now but I melt a thick glob of solder on the tip of the iron and pass the cable through it until you see the enamel melt off. You can then flick the "dirty" glob off the iron and proceed to tin with fresh solder. Also don't forget to trim the kevlar reinforcement hiding in the copper strands!