recstar24

x3

I just wanted to chime in and say how excellent Doug is. II emailed him a while back about my amp and seeked his opinion on what he saw with the schematic and my description. The man seems to have a very thorough understanding of tube circuits and maximising performance. We got together for him to check out and implement some of the things he felt needed addressing. This included bypassing the cathode bypass caps which were electrolytics with some obbligato films. Doug measured voltage levels and made sure that generally speaking things were running to spec as I had concerns of resistors and caps drifting a bit and whatnot. Doug saw the biggest improvement in my amp to be the input stage, and I agree. I have always thought that Craig with his designs could have delved more into maximising the input stage. The majority of his amps lean on using the 6SN7/6Sl7 resistor plate loaded into the output stage, sometimes with a cap sometimes DC coupled. In my case with the 6J5 though the amp has never disappointed me I always felt and heard that the tube was not running optimally, and never was truly driving the 2a3 or 45 as well as it could. After almost a year with the amp the sound manifested itself simply as a traditional, SE DHT type of sound, a slight softness to tone and just a lack of pop for lack of a better word. Doug sent me some info and links as well as his own experience with using an active load CCS for the plate of the input tube 6J5 (specifically a depletion mode cascoded CCS I believe). I felt this would be a step in the right direction. An led bias was also put in, and current was doubled running through the tube to operate it in a more linear part of its curve. Other than cool red LED lights popping through the hood and portholes I am pretty giddy and startled at the results. More gain for one thing, which was very noticeable on speakers, and a sense of more focus and definitely more clarity. The proverbial "wiping another layer" of grunge that exists in our audio path. The amp was quiet before but I do notice that there is a sense of vividness and contrast that I don't think was there before. I am looking forward to living with the tweaks a bit and just soaking it in and enjoying the music. Doug was really nice and gracious with his time and thoughts, and he is just a super nice laid back guy. In fact we have other ideas and thoughts for the next time we get together, he truly is a perfectionist and he seems to be able to see lots of different angles on how to approach things. The amps that he built, especially his espressivo, are fantastic. That little balanced mosfet follower he has sounded great.

Evil Nate is more Fun;D

Never mind the ps1000 curiosity now:p

Finally got a chance to hear the Grado HF-2 today at absorbine's when Beely brought his set to the meeting. Not only that, he was nice enough to loan them to me as well. Listened a bit at Mike's on the Zana, and my first thought was "whoa, this sounds pretty much like a PS-1", or as what Jim calls them, baby ps-1's. Fired them up a bit on the moth this evening, and I am really really really impressed. I can't get over how much they remind me of the PS-1's, but the bass is not as big, which to my ears is a good thing. I have always listened to and preferred bowls on the PS-1's, but even then the bass can get a bit overbearing. With the HF-2 I found it to share the same fullness in the mids but slightly lesser bass which I find to be more balanced. The top end has a nice sparkle on top without the sizzle that plagues some of the John grados, and I do feel it has a similar cohesiveness, a liquidity that runs from bottom to top with a nice full sound, very enjoyable. Other than the slightly less bass quantity, I found that the HF-2 did NOT have the upper midrange glare, what I call "shout" that I have heard on practically every John Grado can, including the post vintage RS-1's, PS-1, and GS1000. On first impression I find them even more balanced than the PS-1, the PS-1 was to me the most balanced and refined John Grado can though the bass being a bit too heavy and the upper midrange shout still present. The HF-2 to my ears doesn't have those 2 issues hence why I find them more balanced. I would be curious to hear the PS-1000's as Todd as described the HF-2 as a baby ps1000. All impressions are with bowls - the flats make them sound very weird to me, more closed in, the bass becomes muddy and congested, just like how the PS-1 sounds to my ears on flats, somewhat unlistenable to me past 5 minutes. Also it has been maybe a couple of months since I have had PS-1's in house so take the acoustic memory effect into...effect. Build quality - at least on Billy's pair the glue on the rim of the inner wooden chamber to the outer aluminum chamber is done pretty nicely. I was surpised to see that the whole inner chamber, even the part that is within the outer enclosure, is wood, and it appears the aluminum is braced around a wooden chamber. Interesting. I wish the etching of the letters was maybe a bit deeper, but I don't feel like playing the les garten card either. I am happy with my order with Todd, and I shall continue to bother Todd about shipment with a call tomorrow. I would also like to thank Billy for loaning them out to me, he probably was getting annoyed by how often I bug him about them:palm:

The cable itself looks like its rope, very tough rope that I am sure could handle itself if you went camping and needed to pitch a tent. It also reminds me of the rope that we used to do those freaking climbing tests in gym class in middle school for our physical tests. I am pretty sure that I saw Flavor Flav wearing something like those as well when he used to be with the group Public Enemy.

Thank you for your comments. I think not only will they prove valuable in the event that we end up dealing with them, but I think the same goes for any manufacturer. As this hobby and event continues to grow, it can only be safely assumed that the more commercial entities will take notice and want to become involved. Just speculating here, but I can see Bose or a Bose-like company wanting to be a part of the event and community. We will need to make sure that we articulate clearly what the community and the event is about, and ensure that they understand and respect the relatively close, respectful, tightly knit group that we have established.

I know my biggest concern is simply the fact of an individual on a scooter type vehicle driving around very expensive equipment. I forgot who mentioned that a set of ad2000's were manhandled and dropped due to their carelessness. Who knows what other stuff may have happened that no one happened to see or report on the various threads here and there. As long as that issue can be addressed I guess it ultimately is fine. As for headphones, I guess I would rather see Bose present at an event like this than Monster, for the reasons that Justin stated (in my humble opinion)

Heeelllloooo Bose Quiet Comfort 2 MSRP $299:p

Done and done:basement: I would LOVE to be the one that has to break the news to the Monster guys on why there were not invited to canjam '10 and why they are not allowed to come.

That is good to know. Hopefully whoever happens to be the planning crew for next years canjam will take that into consideration. Random question - is "canjam" the official moniker for future events? Would be best for the sake of branding to keep it consistent. Unless someone wants it to become a "head-fest" again:palm:

Anyone ever heard of it? 1990/91, build quality seems insane. There is a local hifi that had it used for sale but it quickly went. Sony CDP-X777ES on TVK, detailed inside views AudiogoN ForSale: Sony CDP-X777es

Very organic sound:p

It is the newer, thicker version that is on the updated "i" versions, correct?

I concur - I know I was looking at customs a while back, but your argument Nate is one of many that swayed me from them. Considering that like you I am a mow the lawn snow blow driveway iem user, the shures with my ipod suit me just fine.

Ah, I am sure markl listened to a post production one and hence why it was sooooooo sssssslllllooooooowwwww and eeeeelllooonngggaaattteeeedddd

For real, I mean what does sennheiser know about designing audio electronics and gear:palm:

Aren't comfy pads the ones that the sr60 uses? I believe radioshack sells a similar kind too. Basically a very soft comfy foam pad that has no opening is what I believe to be the official "comfy" pad.

I find the 508.24 a real genuine improvement over the G08. Having owned them both at the same time and able to compare both leads me to strongly believe of the 508.24's superiority. You hear it in the bass, the 508.24 has real balls but also just a more organic presentation than what you hear with the G08. The G08 (+ G07) was my 1st real player and I was startled by the detail and openness of the sound, but when I "downgraded" to the 508.24 I was really quite surprised to actually have acheived a more ideal source.

cough 508.24 cough

I asked Craig about it, basically I asked if whether the switch somehow increases the feedback a bit so that it brings the output resistance lower, and he said "That's about it". Last time I checked, the 6C33C-B is biased for a plate resistance of about 90 ohms, and with a little bit of feedback, he brings it to 12 ohms output in stock configuration. So I would imagine the easiest way to implement a lower impedance through a switch would be just having that switch either have a different bias setting for the 6C33CB so the plate resistance is a bit lower, either increasing the feedback level, or maybe a combo of both.

I will say, in defense of John, and whether your into acoustics, especially regarding the topic of resonant frequencies, and how bonding two components together through glue might actually be sonically beneficial when combining two components through some kind of screw or hinge. Using glue to bond components may combine the resonant frequencies of both components, whereas using a screw between the two components maintains the original 2 resonant frequencies and adds another on top (which is typically not a good thing). This is according to John and you can read it in the review below lollers: 6moons audio reviews: Grado Labs GS-1000

Highly doubt the rod locks and HP-1000 build construction. That kind of build quality, metal on metal on top of more metal construction would cost WAY more than $429, or really $389 because $40 of it is going to head-fi.

When I spoke with and interviewed John a while back, he was pretty upfront on his business model about planting a seed, and the consumer upgrading until they ultimately reached the highest model. Definitely worked for me, as I started with the sr60, then went to the 80, 225, 325, MS2, RS1 + GS1000 + HP2 x 5 and beyond. So I wouldn't be surprised if the HF-2 truly is like a baby ps1000, giving you enough of that sound to tease you and eventually upgrade to the ps1000 all together. Because of that, I think the HF-2 will probably be a limited run, once demand tapers off a bit, and grawk stated it perfectly, that a short run to generate hype actually will increase demand for the other products in the line.