Leonardo Drummond

Did anyone get to listen to the Unique Melody PP6? I'm quite interested since it appears to be what the JH-3A was supposed to be in the first place.

Oh, true! Indeed, got it mixed up with the Peak.

Thanks, Rob. A friend of mine (the one who sold me the Eartube, actually) just got an upgraded SHA-1 for like 350 bucks on eBay. Can't believe I missed this! Really? The opposite of what I'd expect from a tube amp! But then again, the Little Dot MKVI sounded more like a SS amp than the Burson HA-160D.

Guess I'm going for a DSHA-1 indeed!

Yup. Well, I guess it'd be better than my current DacMagic, but in any case I'd prefer to upgrade my DAC later. I'm inclined towards the DSHA-1 since that would maximize my HP2s performance, which is my main headphone at the moment. Just remembered the SPL Phonitor though... I quite like crossfeed.

Thanks a lot, Peter and Larry! Peter, I actually didn't consider the Grace (and CEntrance for that matter, Larry) because it includes the DAC as well, and I wanted to avoid one-box solutions. In any case, do you think it should be up on my list? And the Beta 22 sounds interesting... in any case, thank you both for the suggestions! I'll give them and the DHSA-1 some thought and see how it goes!

Sorry if that's derailing the thread! But a quickie: I've decided to sell my K1000s and already have a buyer. He's also interested in my Meier Eartube. I use it as a do-it-all amp since it has power to spare but, as the K1000s are leaving, I won't need that much power anymore. I now have an HP2, HE500 and plan on getting an HD600. The thing is that I've been looking for a more "wire-with-gain" kind of amp (but not one that makes my headphones sound aggressive) that pairs well with anything I might get in the future. Would it be wise to give up on the Eartube? I'm interested in the DHSA-1 given its sinergy with the Grado, but the question is, does it pair well with the other cans, especially the high impedance HD600?

Truly fantastic article! A joy to read.

Actually, reading the post dates first would best. 2007, WTF? EDIT: ˆ beat me to it!

Did you guys know about this? http://www.thevintageknob.org/samsung-SP-01.html

Oh, thanks Rob. Found them on TTVJ, I'll try to get hold of some! I see, Torpedo! Tried a quick search to find the pictures to check whether that's my case but I couldn't find them. Mine are on loan now, but when I get them again I'll try and check if I can find anything!

That's weird then, my AKG has a lot more impact than the Grado! Hm, that could be the case, but I doubt it, since it was bought as a pretty much NOS set, they even smell like new. However, I don't know if being kept in its box for 20 years could help or ruin the case. And I agree with you actually, as a do-it-all headphone, the K1000 fails to me. They're fantastic on some occasions, but these are kind of rare (at least with the music genres I listen to), so even though I didn't like the HD800 very much, it sounded like a better all-rounder to me.

That's something I'm really not getting with mine. They have as much bass I used to have with the HD800, which I considered bass shy. Thought the yellow pads were supposed to be good? Peter, I tried it with quite a few amps actually, and while some seemed to tame the mids (such as the Meier Eartube, the one that I currently use), some didn't (like the Little Dot MKVI). Apart from these, I've tried a Cambridge 340A SE -- quite good combination, very energetic --, Marantz PM-11S2 -- softer, very nice as well -- and a vintage JVC A-S5 -- crap combo. I find it interesting how we hear things differently, as most people here apparently don't agree with me in that they sound mid-centric, but to my ears that's really evident. Most other headphones I've heard have mids pushed back in comparison, and I think the only exceptions are Grados and Shure SE530. In any case, to be brutally honest I nowadays just think that the K1000s aren't really the headphones for me. They only work on certain specific occasions, and while these help my decision to keep them, a lot of it comes from its collectible factor. But well, I don't know what might happen down the road! The AKGs or the Grados? The K1000s to me are hopeless, but the Grado's are good, especially with 60s/70s rock music.

Larry, did you have bass light or bass heavy K1Ks? Mine are bass heavy and have significantly more bass impact than the Grados! In fact, in terms of pure, dry bass impact, they have more of it than most cans I've heard to date. jp11801, that matches my impressions. jvlgato, I see! They look really good! Being a design student, I'm just not too happy with the logo Some more treble extension (as well as a bit more bass) would be a good addition to my HP1000s. Not that I'm not enjoying it, I am (this one came to stay), but I reckon these are things that could be solved with some other amplification. I've always liked the Meier because it's very tubey and softened the mids of the AKG, which I've always found to be very hard sounding. However, I was really impressed with that prototype amp, because it seemed to maintain a soft-ish sound but with added bass and treble, and that sorted the mid-centric "issue" in a way. So I guess it could be what I'm looking for for the Grados as well!

Really?? I find them both quite mid-centric, at least in the position I use the K1K at and with the HP1000 with the yellow Sennheiser pads. The AKG seems to have some more highs and more bass impact, but they both have happy mids to me.

Seems interesting, jvlgato... I had never head about it before, actually! I now have a Meier Eartube, and I'm having nice results, but I recently tried a prototype amp that a friend showed me with the K1K and liked it a lot. And both headphones seem somewhat similar in terms of tonal balance - slighly mid-centric -, so I guess the result with the HP1000 might be good as well, drier in the midrange and more extended in the bass and treble. I'll probably hear it again soon!

Just wondering out of curiosity here, what amps do you guys use with your HP1000s?

Hahahaha you didn't like old Jandira there?? Well, to compensate then... Edit: By the way... Googling "Brazilian maids" gave me somewhat unexpected results.

I dunno about that! The ones who work/have worked in my house are more like this: Very nice, eh?

Is that why every kid out there with a Beats must use them around their neck everywhere they go? I've seen one going to the cinema with it. Thought it was a fashion statement, but maybe it's just fear of someone hurting their precious item. But actually, all kidding aside, maids here in Brazil for some reason are quite destructive when cleaning stuff. They're not allowed to clean anything near the livingroom sound system, cause you really don't know what might happen to it.

Well, doesn't hurt to ask, does it?

Thanks, recstar24! Is it viable/worthwhile to get the net from, say a SR60i and glue it there?

Guys, I just bought some HP2s, despite the fact that I usually don't like Grados all that much, because judging by what I read they seem to be a lot different from their current line and I'm curious to know what the fuss is all about. However, browsing through some pictures of HP1000s I noticed that my unit (it's not with me yet) doesn't have that "net" just in front of the drivers as most units seem to have. Should I worry about driver authenticity or anything like that? Here are some pictures:

There's a good solution! I actually haven't ditched the idea yet. It's just that I have some other priorities at the moment, but I reckon I'll jump on that boat as soon as I get the chance. I care a lot about music on the go but get slightly underwhelmed by those high-end DAPs. I now have both the HM-801 and DX100, and apart from the ability to play very demanding headphones, I find it hard to justify their price. With my JH13s they're hard to tell apart from an iPod Classic... so I guess to me a JH-3A with an iPod is a much better solution!

Oh, nice. Do you guys have any experience with the JH13s? If you do, how do they compare, briefly? Sorry if this is going off-topic though, I hope that's fine. It's just that there's really not much about them out there.