postjack

I didn't think I was much of a horror guy until I watched Saw. I'd enjoyed horror flicks before, but Saw really turned me onto the whole genre. Too bad there just isn't too much quality horror out there. Saw I is great, probably the best realized of the series. Saw II is highly entertaining, and essential to the trilogy as whole, but the acting on the part of the main character-cop is atrocious, on par with those softcore porno guys on Cinemax late night. Saw III, while not as tightly directed and as fully realized as Saw I, is my favorite out of them all. Really outstanding throughout, beautiful ending. I really really like the character Jigsaw, as well as the actor who plays him. Anyway sounds like you wouldn't like them.

Breaking character from Jigsaw a moment: No manufacturer really makes a dynahi anymore though, right? Strictly a DIY thing? And isn't a GS-1 essentially a dynalo? I've been making extensive use of the search engine over at HF and reading a lot of posts to try to learn about the whole dynaXX thing. I like the idea of an amp design that has been well proven by time. I'm not really in the market for a new amp, but the driver explosion on the RS-1 freaked me out a tad, so I'm just fishing for information & opinions, exploring all my options.

I've never listened to any solo Lennon, aside from of course the single "Imagine". I am hoping to explore his music further, and am looking into picking up Plastic Ono, Mind Games, and Imagine. There is much debate over at SH forums as to whether the MFSL Gold CD versions are acceptable, since they are remixes. An eBay seller (CD LTD) has tons of copies of all three for around $25 apiece shipped. Feelings on remixes aside, I was wondering how folks here felt about the sound/sonics of the MFSL versions of the above three albums. If not the MFSLs, I'll probably hunt down some inexpensive vinyl versions. Or the new MFSL vinyls, but I heard new MFSL vinyl is noisy.

And you will have to Come Pick Him Up, and take him out, fuck him up, steal his records, despite the best of your abilities to do otherwise.

The choice is yours: music with solid state amplification, or no music at all. What will you decide, bhd812?

First, no. You can't rewrite the rules to this game. Second, yes, its sadistic. Astute observation.

Not an option!! You are in a room, yet another victim of one of Jigsaw's devious plots to teach those who don't appreciate what they have a lesson.

You've lived your whole life as an audiophile experiencing the natural goodness tubes bring to headphone amplification. While others sought refuge in new technologies, in solid state design, you were content to relish in the warmth of heated glass, ignoring any design that did not implement your selfish, no, sinful obsession, with hot, glowing metal through sometimes tinted glass. But what will you do when all the NOS tubes are gone? What will you do when Sovtek 6sn7s go for $750 a pair? Today, this is a lesson you must learn. Look around you. All around this room are popular solid state amp designs in the $1000 dollar or less range, maybe a bit more if you can stretch the wallet. They are all attached to quality mid-fi sources with copies of the MFSL Ryan Adams "Heartbreaker" SACD inside them. The Grado RS-1s stapled to your head cannot be removed. If you cannot choose a solid state amp that at least approaches the warmth, impact, and smooth clarity of your coveted tubes both drivers will explode, and you will never be able to hear again. You have one hour. Or there will be blood.

Thanks for the input big and aerius, I'll definitely stop pulling and plugging in RCAs, and might as well stop switching headphones while the amp is on, just to be safe. The tubes might have done something wonky, but these are tubes I'd used before many times, and they've never done this before. Kind of makes me want to go solid state just to avoid the hassle, I just don't know if a solid state amp exists that can be as satisfying as tubes.

Actually thats a good point. But I honestly don't know whether to blame the amp or the headphones. And if it is the amp, I don't know if this is just something intrinsic to PPX3's, Slams, Singlepowers, or if there is just something wrong with my specific amp. Here are a couple of things I do regularly. Somebody tell me if any of these are "bad": 1. I unplug and plug in RCAs while the amp is on (to change sources) 2. I unplug and plug in different headphones while the amp is on. I stop the music and turn the volume knob down all the way when I do this. 3. The only time headphones are not plugged into the amp are the few seconds when I do #2. I keep headphones plugged in when the amp is off, when the amp is on, when turning the amp off, when turning the amp on.

What are you running again n_maher? Is it the 3910?

:'(

Right on, I'll take that advice for future reference. However, the POP did occur while no music is playing, in the first few seconds of the amp heating up. Regardless, the RS-1s are headed to Brooklyn tomorrow. I'll tell them to say word to Biggie for us. "Who shot ya? Mob ties like Sinatra Peruvians tried to do me in, I ain't paid them yet"

Damn, already got a reply from Grado Labs. Who is holding down the fort there at 10:30pm CST on a Monday? In short, they said I definitely blew a driver. Repairs are a $100. Not bad. I didn't want that Genesis SACD box set anyway.

Great point. Then I wouldn't have to worry about headphones anymore, because I wouldn't be able to hear shit. I actually never have headphones on when I power up the amp, because there are unpleasant noises as the amp heats up. Now that I think about it, the one time I did have them on, there was an unpleasant, but low volume popping coming from both L and R cans, which is why I don't wear them anymore. I just wrote Grado Labs an email, we'll see what they have to say. If repair is too pricey, I'm just going to have to sit patiently and wait for another used deal to come up and roll the dice, because I sure as shit don't want to pay $700 for a new pair. Or maybe I'll buy something further down the line like the MS2i, but I'm afraid I'll just end up disappointed and wanting the RS-1s again. I'm using the HD600s now, and they are fine, but seriously dullish sounding coming from solid Grado listening for the past couple of months (I think its been 2 months). At least now I have no excuse not to dig in and really listen to that stack of Living Stereo SACDs growing on my CD rack.

Thanks all for the condolences, I'll get in touch with Grado Labs and see what they can do to help me. And yes, I rolled in all three tubes at once. Regardless, when I'm tube rolling, I usually leave the amp off for some time, maybe half an hour, until the tubes are dead cold, before I roll them out. Okay, so I guess this is just bad luck on my part. I'm all twitchy now though. Listening to the HD650s now and everything sounds fantastic, so I don't think anything is wrong with the amp. Thats a plus. Fuck though, you know. Shit.

Shit. I'd been listening to my RS-1s for a couple of hours. These are the darker wood used ones I bought from Larry at Headphile a couple of months back. I stopped the music and turned off the amp to roll out the tung sol's and RCA grey glass 6sn7, and roll in the sylvania gold pin 5687s and a Ken Rad vt-231 6sn7. All the tubes are firmly in place, and I crank up the amp. A few seconds later, I hear an alarming POP noise come from the general vicinity of my headphones and amp. Just a singular, loud, POP. The RS-1s are now only producing sound from the right cup. I plugged in the HD650 and everything is fine. I even rolled out the tubes in desperation, to no avail. FUCK. Okay, first off, can anyone make an educated guess as to what the hell happened, so I can avoid doing it in the future? I always have a pair of headphones plugged into the amp, even when its off, so they are always plugged in when I turn the amp on. What did I do wrong? Second, I don't suppose there is anything I can do about getting these fixed? I'm certainly not covered under any kind of warranty, who knows how many owners had these before me. Does Grado Labs do paid repairs, or should I just hunt for a new pair? FUCK FUCK FUCK :'(

Anyone have any feelings they'd like to share about this conflict? http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=233352 Basically Headphonia completely ripped off Dr. Meier's design for the Porta Corda III. I don't get any joy out of portable amplification but it was an interesting thread to read through.

Yes, I'm pretty excited about this. So long as it is up to par with recent MFSL releases it should be outstanding.

Not necessarily, you just need the right tool. Get in touch with these guys, they can help you out:

Does anyone know if there are plans to release Year Zero on vinyl?

Dr. Arthur Wells posted about twice before the mob ripped his ass up. He hasn't been back I don't think.

I hope it comes out on DVD, so I can put it on my HT and CRANK THAT SHIT UP G. MY SHIT GET LUOD YALL

Wait, there's going to be a movie? I just watched seasons 1 and 2 this past Fall so I doubt I'll rewatch them.