deepak

My impressions with the Original setup wasn't too far off from the real high end... Every high end headphone is sensitive to downstream gear (in my case I feel the K1000 is most sensitive with amp and source). But I feel with the time I spent with the L3000 I was able to get an idea of what they sounded like. It's not like evaluating subtleties in amps and sources, differences between headphones are very large IMO. I had a chance to snag a pair for $1800 which sat around for a couple of days. Mostly because the owner attempted repair on the drivers himself when the bass defect presented itself twice. I was still tempted to get them just based on their looks, it's certainly a very nice conversation piece.

If I had to sum it up I'd say it had the AT house sound with much better quality bass.

909 it was the Meridian that Mikhail uses to demo his amps. Also heard it on an Original tube output CDP, but it was paired with a cheap Original amp (so I'm not posting my impressions on that setup) A few of us grabbed food after the meet, and all 4 of us agreed the L3000 wasn't worth the cost of admission given the price and glaring flaws. It seems we were all impressed with Mikhail's R10 and HE90. On the same SP amps I really enjoyed the R10 and HD650.

I didn't think they handled all genres of music effortlessly. I had a demo CDR I put together using all lossless files, which composed of prog metal, jazz, orchestra, trip hop, and industrial that I had at the Boston meet. I heard the L3000 on a PPX SLAM and a Balanced Supra (but the L3000 used single ended). They were pretty sweet with the trip hop and jazz. Really nice intimate sound. But when it came to the fast prog, it seemed to smear the sound, this was pretty obvious and we had a few people that confirmed it as well. Also I heard some HF graininess in the treble. The tonality for the Star Wars and LotR sounded really off as well (for what it's worth I think the HD650 & K1000 handle these OSTs best). And the headphones were too "closed sounding" to make it very enjoyable. At least at the time I thought my HD580 was able to image better. For $2000 they were just too genre specific, a shame since I was close to buying them just based off looks. edit: oh yes I also had a few tracks off one of my favorite Swedish psych rock albums Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt. The groove factor was great. The electric guitars sounded wonderful with the L3000, but again things like cymbal hits sounded completely artificial.

I wouldn't recommend the CD3000 to anyone I liked And I can't say I was a fan of the L3000 either.

I might actually "downgrade" (if you can call it that) down to the Stello DA100 soon. I just got an opportunity to get an amazing headphone at a very attractive price so I might move my whole setup back to single ended with a separate preamp. Iron_Dreamer I see you own both you really feel theres no difference between the DA100 and DA220 sonically?

No comments on HE90/KGSS (never heard it), but I really enjoyed your HD650/SR-404 review. If you got the HE90 I'd really like to read another review of yours

Depending on how much it cost, if I was in your position I would buy it. Since it looks like we won't be seeing a new flagship electrostat from the usual suspects you probably wouldn't have any trouble unloading it. Look at neilvg's sale, it got a pretty good response.

Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third

Might as well start it up. This last week: Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (previously damaged) Kaki King - Legs to Make Us Longer Kaki King - Everybody Loves You Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Not to sound cliche but would you say it sounds closer to analog?

The HD650 cable is unshielded. Say the thread is the wire I assume this what you mean Solder after you pass the wire through the back endcap?

Thanks. A few websites (and Audiogon dealers) mentioned they'd only sell if you didn't have a dealer near you. I'm still going to check if there are any near the Boston area, might make it easier for warranty reasons.

Thats cool. That Bottlehead stuff is sexy (pun intended) As I undestand these can't be ordered online? Rega only allows you to buy from local dealers?

Just thought I'd bump this thread. I've so far amassed about 20+ pieces of nice vinyl I think I'll be ordering either a P1 or MMF 2.1 Pretty nice for a "budget" audiophile turntable to be made in England.

I think we've finally reached a stage where games are actually really taxing the processor. I used to run an overclocked Athlon XP before this with a nice video card, but it just didn't hold up. Yeah Gothic 3 is pretty fun. Make sure you buy the US version as the Euro is riddled with bugs. I would play them in order just to see how the games evolved. Gothic 2 is probably the best. You can get Gothic 2 Gold (with expansion) in the bargain bins. They're like the Elder Scrolls games in that they're free roam, completely open. But the games are much less politically correct being a German dev team and all. For example you see prostitutes, you can kill women, kids, etc. Oblivion is an awesome game I just don't like the auto-balance where you're placed on the same level as your enemies. Also the NPCs are really dumb. The Gothic series start off a shit load harder than the Elder Scrolls games in that you're a weak human and you'll get raped by most enemies (including wildlife) at the start of the game. But as you level up you can basically become a god and rape entire towns. In Oblivion you'll be lucky if you ever kill a guard :'(

I have all my parts and finally have some free time to balance the HD650 stock cable with 2 female XLR connectors. I have done some searching and these two threads in particular were the most helpful: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=205655 http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=89411 My knowledge of balanced configurations is limited so I'll try and compile all the information I've gathered tonight:

I won't lie my E6400 @ 3.1 GHz is pretty sw8, and Oblivion takes a toll on my 7800GTX as well. But seriously you should start playing Gothic 3 (if you haven't).

Damn I think every stand of his just looks better than the last. Nice one.

Is it possible to get more bass from a bass lite pair? I've decided to keep my NOS pair stock. Also is it easier to change the sound of a bass heavy set or bass lite set? Right now the second pair doesn't have the low end or boosted bass for orchestra music. For example tympani drum hits aren't as profound as the HD650.

My last and final update for anyone that cares Most of this listening was done with the NOS pair since I haven't replaced the elastics on the second pair, and I'm unable to get a good fit with them yet. So far I've played all 6 of the Star Wars soundtracks. For the original Star Wars Saga I have the deluxe editions which were each 2 discs, making for a total of 9 Star Wars CDs (and I still need to add Episode I's Ultimate Edition to my collection) Dynamics on both pairs is superb, topped only by the K1000. Even the HF-1 can't compete with these, and my thoughts on the HD650's dynamics are that they're very mediocre. The Star Wars soundtracks contain loads of dynamic passages ranging from very quiet to explosive. So far the soundstage is impressively large, even though the headstage is average size. I attribute the small headstage to giving them an intimate sound. I'm able to perceive sounds coming from left/right/front/back and images are placed accurately. If anything it's lacking some vertical soundstage that the K1000 handles with ease. I learned a lot about these terms from Darth Nut's fantastic Omega 2 review (I strongly urge any classical music fans to read the essay), and so far I would say the K340 is exceptional with all four depth cues. It was genuinely creepy to hear Princess Leia

Did some more searching this morning it looks like the Darkvoice will lend itself to lower volume listening better if I use more detailed tubes. I still think this is how I'm leaning. I had a friend that built my M3, but he's way too busy with life to start another project now.

Found the thread where Larry had inside pictures: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102220&page=15&highlight=akg+k340

I just searched around, the Aikido build is beyond my capability

Thanks will give it some thought. I'm going mod/recable this second pair first.