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hirsch

High Rollers
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Everything posted by hirsch

  1. Exactly so. The Stax "squeak" on the Lambda series can be eliminated by putting a little bit of silicone grease (use 100% silicone grease to avoid possible damage to plastics) at the hinges between the headband and the earcups.
  2. Just out of curiosity, does this mean that Kevin enjoys the same degree of immunity here that Ray Samuels gets on Head-Fi?
  3. Ask yourself why Kevin would call a basic safety post "massive bullshit". He's clearly been waiting for me to post just so he could use that phrase, but pulled the trigger on a post that had absolutely nothing controversial in it. Trigger finger was too quick, I suspect. I've very carefully steered clear of this thread up to this point, and he's clearly been waiting for a post from me that he could attack. Why would he be doing that? Think on it for a bit. There's certainly some massive bullshit in this thread. It just isn't what you think it is.
  4. Fuck off Kevin. This wasn't about your little crusade. Singlepower amplifiers have safety resistors in the power supply. Other amplifiers don't. If you're a novice, you don't know what to look for. There have been a lot of tube amps over the years, and unless you know that the amp you're working on has them, you need to take precautions. If a novice asks about how to work in a tube amp, you start off by emphasizing the possible danger. If a novice wouldn't recognize a bleeder resistor if it was staring him in the face, you want him being very careful any time a tube amp is open. Even if I'm staring at the bleeder resistor, I assume that it's not working until I've tested the voltages in the amp. I consider that to be tube amp safety 101.
  5. NO!! Do not attempt any solder work inside of a tube amp, from any maker, unless you know what you are doing. Tube amps often contain high voltage capacitors that may not discharge immediately (or at all) even if the amp is unplugged. You can get a serious shock unless you bleed the charge off of any capacitors that retain the charge once you've turned the amp off. Always assume that the insides of a tube amp contain dangerous voltages, regardless of whether the amp is on or off, unplugged or not, and act accordingly.
  6. I've had a modded Denon 2900 for some time now. The tubes chosen do make a big difference, as I was unsure about the player until I hit the right set. As it is, when I had a chance to hear the Emm Labs 1-box player, I thought it was a great source, but not enough improvement over the Denon for me to make the move.
  7. It really screws up the sound of electrostatic headphones. I was really interested in one until I actually heard it. That cured me quickly.
  8. Heh heh. If someone posts "best bass headphone ever", we'll see just how long you hold out.
  9. Denon build quality is also about the worst I've seen in a headphone, however, sonically, the D5000 is decent, if not great. The deal-killer for me is an imaging flaw that only is really obvious using better amps. Maybe Denon skimped to meet a price point, but the D5000 fell short. If the potential of the D5000 is unlocked (and I have no idea if the markl mods do this or not), it would be a great headphone. If the D7000 is what the D5000 could have been, it has a lot of potential.
  10. OK, you don't realize that you're talking about a headphone that makes the R10 sound like it has a fat bottom end. Now you know.
  11. You should never let ear wax get deep and hard enough to need one of those. If the wax cannot be removed using a felt buff attached to a Dremel, please see a professional!
  12. You do realize that you're talking about a headphone that makes the R10 sound like it has a fat bottom end?
  13. You're going to give up a stat rig for this? Amazon.com: Steam Fast SF-680 Digital Fabric Steam Press: Home & Garden
  14. Me too, in a different way. I've got HE90, and have no real use for OII, having already sold mine. However, my cursor was hovering over that BIN for several minutes while I agonized, and it hasn't sold yet, dammit. What's with you folks? All the time and posting in this thread and you don't want an OII? The original version that sounds better (even if it's not as good as HE90)? You know you want it. Just buy the freaking thing, and get temptation out of my way. Please.
  15. Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman and Ray Stantz expound on ES1 umbilicals: Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you. Dr. Peter Venkman: What? Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams. Dr. Peter Venkman: Why? Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad. Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"? Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. Dr Ray Stantz: Total protonic reversal. Dr. Peter Venkman: Right. That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.
  16. YMMV. I've never heard an Omega II that could approach the HE90 in bass and treble extension. I did hear a hump in the bass of the OII that simulated bass response, but the HE90 was the one that went deep, and had the real bass. I think the OII presented a tighter image than the HE90 at one point, but a modification to the ES1 erased that difference. With my current amp configuration, the HE90 is sufficiently more to my taste that I couldn't think of a reason I'd listen to the OII, so I wound up selling it. OII fell further behind using the Stax amps I had on hand (007t and T1S, IIRC). If the OII could approach the HE90 in terms of overall sound quality it would have saved me a lot of money, but it didn't go that way.
  17. I already did. HE60, Omega II, Lambda Pro, Sigma Pro...all bought used. You try and find a new pair of anything on that list but the OII (and that's got a new version that may not be the same sonically). I knew the seller of the HE60. I'd hesitate over older Quads, if only because they are now over 20 years old at best (and could be twice that) and would almost certainly need work, if not already done. If I wanted to buy one of the newer Quads that don't have years of abuse on them, I wouldn't hesitate if the right deal appeared. Wanting them is another matter...
  18. Huh? The only speakers I can remember buying new cost about $50/pair. Old speakers may need reconditioning, especially electrostatic speakers, but buying a "new" old speaker can be problematic anyway. Newer production speakers normally work or they don't. Highly unlikely to need concealed repair. Note that every time you buy a used headphone, you're buying a used speaker. It's just really little, and mounted funny. Phono cartridges, OTOH, are something that I'd only buy new. Buying a used phono cartridge feels like buying a used toothbrush. You just don't know where it's been or how it's been used.
  19. When I first heard the GS-1000 in NY, I thought that John Grado had nailed it, and that it represented a real advance in the Grado sound. However, when I bought one, and in others I've heard since, I've never heard that sound again. In NY, my Earmax Pro could not drive the headphone. However, when the commercial version appeared, the EMP drove it easily. So, my wild and speculative guess is that there was change in driver to increase efficiency, but also lost the midrange. I doubt that anyone besides John Grado knows for sure.
  20. Some of the older HE90's are indeed worn, and I know of two that have had driver issues. Since a driver replacement is about $2500 or so, that ain't good. You're right that pricing is hard to predict. Essentially, the first step for a buyer is to find a seller. Then you've got to work out a price that's agreeable to both. That's the price, which will depend entirely on the buyer and seller. My HE90 is technically not for sale, but if some truly crazy person were to put a $25K offer on the table, I'd certainly consider it. If I took such an offer, would that make the HE90 a $25K headphone? Not really. There's a limited number of truly crazy people with lots of money who want expensive headphones out there. There were more HE90's built than HEV90's, so that while the HE90 can be seen without the HEV90, I've never seen an amp without the headphone. Note that the HEV90 has output jacks specific to the HE90, so that if the headphone were sold, the HEV90 would essentially be a dead weight. The amp has low bias voltage for Stax pro bias headphones, so it's not likely to be sought for those. The only possible buyers would be those who had an HE90 already without the amp, and, at the price point, there are now several better sounding amps than the HEV90. However, the fact that HEV90 is not the king of electrostatic amps (to many ears, anyway) does help pricing of a set. While headphone pricing is high, amp pricing isn't keeping up. Most of the money will be for the headphone, rather than the amp. I'd estimate about $14K +/- for a full system. However, the first step is to find the full system...
  21. The second batch was $5000 from Meier Audio (the only seller). IIRC this was actually less than the cost of an old stock HE90 (without amp). I believe that Jan sold out in two or three days.
  22. Heh heh. Once you've heard a Bendix 6080 in a Wheatfield, you stop disrespecting that tube. The problem is finding them at anything resembling affordable.
  23. This needs to be on the front panel:
  24. No, mine is the Exemplar 2900. I'm extremely happy with it, to the point that I don't really see myself upgrading to another CDP anytime soon, if ever. OTOH, I'm very interested in the Modwright Transporter... The Exemplar is extremely tube-sensitive, and the pinch-waist 7062 were the ones I settled on. Until I found those, the sound didn't really lock in for me. Once I heard them, that was the last time I changed tubes in the Denon.
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