tjkurita

Hey vpi. Those are some nice guitars you already have. Definitely enjoy them! Electric-wise, you can't go wrong with a strat. But if you like hollow bodies you should try a discontinued gibson ES 446s. I have one and it is the one guitar I will never ever sell. They can be had used for about the price of a CS strat (which I am assuming you will be looking at!)

Edit: I feel like I am intruding on the tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman, but... Ralph Kiner passed away today. A baseball legend, and an original broadcaster for the New York Mets. In addition to his baseball stats, his dating stats are off the charts: Ralph with Liz Tayor: Ralph with Janet Leigh: Ralph with Esther Williams:

I kind of like thelostmidrange's comment! He seems to overthink things, but at least he really, really, thought about it. Also, I like his taste in thinkers of the past, even if he misspelled Nietzsche!

This is so true. I can't really remember or pinpoint when it happend. I have been a member at HF since 2003. During my early days I thought it was really great. And then everything went bad. I could never put my finger on why or how, but I thing Eggil might be on the right track here. The other issue might be that I started as a newbie, went through the meat grinder, and now I'm just a pile of old hamburger.

The bad soldering wasn't the only problem with the amp. Leaving aside the hacked soldering, I think the experienced techs in this thread pointed out any number of additional problems with the build quality and execution.

Nik thought it was the greatest thing ever made on God's green earth. Until he heard the K1000 and then that was the greatest thing ever on the planet ever made. And then he heard the HD600 and that was the be all end all. The best sound ever that he would never part with. Then he heard an Air Tight amp and the heavens opened up and he was attached to the great Buddha in the sky (it is a Japanese amp, after all). Then he heard JJ 300Bs and they were like electrical morphine. Then he heard Sophia Electric and there was a Chinese firedrill in his loins. Then he heard the Western Electric 300B and it was all over for him. His head exploded. His estate has been in probate ever since...

My amp seems to do all the wrong things: 6SN7 driving 300B, cap-coupled output... But I think it sounds glorious. I wonder if it is just the same thing as a Woo. After all, it uses the same tubes! Perhaps the WOOl is being pulled over my eyes/ears.

So this only happens with the Singlepower amp? If that is the source, can you, or anyone, relieve whatever it is inside the amp that is causing the AM radio to be picked up? I wish I knew more about this, because I bet it is completely driving you nuts and I know you like the amp. What even causes radio reception to come through?

I have lived with the HD800 for a while now. I still like them very much but I can say that they do not necessarily replace my HD600s. I spent a little time comparing the two last night. The HD600 is undeniably a classic headphone and I think the HD800 compliments it rather nicely. There is a lot of talk about the peakiness of the HD800 is some (I can't remember which ) section of the bandwidth. I am not sure about that. Compared to the HD600, the HD800 sounds flat as a strap in terms of frequency response. They have treble sparkle, but they also have deep bass. It's just a lot of everything and in pretty even doses as far as I can hear. On the other hand, I found the HD600 a bit more boosty in the upper mids. This quality makes them "more fun" to me. A bit more "passionate" and "emotional." I know these words don't mean anything but there were moments when I was grabbed a little more emotionally by the music with the HD600. The HD800 is an intellectually appealing headphone because of its absolutely incredible resolution and the very wide, open soundstage. I enjoy high resolution and there is plenty of emotion in the HD800 for me, probably because my front end gear is, if I do say so myself, ridiculously great. But I think the HD800 could easily find itself in the boring category without a proper front end. But the reason for this post, really, is to say that I also really love my HD600s and I will probably continue listening to them as much as any other headphone I own.

The last posted price for these on the WE website was $1200. Seems kind of high unless they can sort out the inconsistencies. There are more reliable high quality 300b out there now. By reputation EML, black treasure and Sophia royal princess come to mind. And for more money one can now get takatsuki 300b. WE took WAY too long to reintroduce production and they may have been left behind. Although the cache of the name will never die. And they will be one of, if not the only 300b made in the USA. A tough call. 1200 per pair might be more than I want to spend.

I love the idea of this. But I have been burned by these tubes before (so to speak). Lots of noise problems. Jeez. I might have to buy a pair anyway against my better judgement.

So do the ecp amps have a similar sound signature to the Gilmore style amps? They have very different designs though, right. Trying to imagine what ecp amps sound like and I have heard the dynahi and the dynalo. Any further comments regarding the comparison between ecp and Gilmore?

Jimi: Winterland: Disc 3. Through a new source Emm Labs DCC2SE and CDSASE provided by the great Voltron.

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette: My Foolish Heart. Live at Montreux, 07/22/2001.

This place is fucking awesome...

Yes. This was my limited understanding as well. That would mean double the amplification. Or, at least, two signals plus ground.

So it can be balanced very easily, I gues? Just by reterminating in the correct way? Looking into balanced drive, I see that impedance matching is very important... It's interesting. Seems like there are a lot of benefits. Ground loop prevention, less interference, better dynamic range...

Hey Reks, is there any particular reason why you require balanced connections? Are you recabling your HD800, or just putting XLRs or TRSs at the end of a single ended cable (in which case, wouldn't that just make it a single ended cable with an adaptor? If I remember right, those DNA amps are single ended designs, not truly balanced. Is there a line of ECP amps that are "truly" balanced all the way through? I've never completely understood the difference between truly balanced and single ended. Perhaps someone could explain the appeal and the differences.

"The HD800 comes in a unique sandwich design that symbolizes the presence of different layers of plastic." mmmm... symbolic plastic sandwich...

You're goddamn right. There is no fear of credit card balances in this dojo.

If you decided you wanted the HD800 because you were listening to the HD800, why would you purchase the HD700 instead? It would be like test driving a Lexus, deciding that you really wanted the Lexus, but then going next door to buy a Toyota instead. Maybe you are planning on auditioning an HD700 first. If this is the case, I would love to hear your impressions when you compare the two.

I definitely second your findings. My HD800s have a couple hundred hours on them and I can safely say that they are my favorite headphones of all time and the best that have been in my system. Using my 300b amp, they sound significantly better than the O2/SR-007t combo I owned for quite a while. They have all the speed, neutrality, and non-fatiguing smoothe detail of that system with the added punch, bass weight, and liveliness of dynamic headphones. The bass is tight and deep and accurate. Always there when it is needed, but not boomy or overpowering. The highs are clear and airy and the midrange is, as you say, wonderful. I can listen to these headphones for hours on end without any fatigue or discomfort. This is something very new to me. My headphone experiences have gone from painful (K1K) to boring (O2/SR007t). This is nowhere near painful and definitely not boring. And yet totally unfatiguing. Lastly, the soundstage and presentation is the best of any headphone I have experienced. The K1K had something special in this area because of their physical design but they were so horribly unlistenable for me I didn't get to appreciate any of those qualities.

Damn. ^ This guy knows his stuff... I think I will have some impedance adapters made to see what all this impedance matching is about.

Thanks Grawk, Gene! I am going up there to write a book... My girlfriend is gainfully employed and will sponsor my effort for a while (she works at the Glimmerglass Festival, an opera and music festival every summer). In my off-time I will listen to music. I happen to be a huge baseball fan, so the HOF is appealing, although in my several visits I have never been there. As a joke I tell people "I'm going to Cooperstown for the Opera." It would be cool to organize a meet up there, but if not, I still have family in NYC and I will come down for the big meets. I must say in the 14 years I have lived in NYC I have taken it for granted. Including the access to all the audiophiles in town. Only did one meet at my apt. and that first HF. I am looking forward to a change, though... Every morning during my commute I feel more and more like a sardine.

I am moving to Cooperstown, New York at the end of May, 2013. My girlfriend will be the only one I know. Any Head-Casers up in that area? Otsego County, Herkimer (sp?), middle of nowhere, New York State? Let's get a couple of micro meets every now and again. Also, we can car-pool to the NYC meet in the fall (we will rent an Audi R8 from Hertz; there's enough space for a portable rig).