milkpowder

Do you have a speaker amp? If not, go for a new SR-202/SRM-252. They'd be the easiest to find since they're in production. Otherwise, you can try tracking down some vintage SR-Lambda and SRM-1/Mk2. The SRD-7 seems to be quite a highly rated adapter if you have a speaker amp.

Wat!? Crazy. I managed to sell a pair of SR-404 for $350 and I thought I was doing pretty well

Hehe... low bias Lambdas. I've been fighting to keep my mouse away from the eBay auctions. Luckily, there haven't been many decent Stax listings lately. A nice T1W went the other day for a fairly reasonable price and that's just about it. Being in the UK doesn't help either.

No one seems to know about ProAc, but they make stunning speakers IMO. I've yet to come away from a single audition underwhelmed. They don't look all that impressive though... I thought they were discontinuing the iPod HiFi?

slwiser's comments weren't completely invalid IMO. He finds the E9/HA5000 is superior to the W5000/HA5000. He also believes that because Elephas, someone whose impressions he has faith in, thinks that the W5000/HA5000 is more or less on par with the SR-404/006tII, that the E9/HA5000 will be best of the three rigs. That to me, is a reasonable train of thought. The key is whether you trust Elephas or slwiser's ears. If you also think the E9/HA5000 is better than the W5000/HA5000, and that the latter is around the same quality as the SR-404/006tII, then it would be sensible to assume that the E9/HA500 is even better. It is not always possible to audition a combination of gear before the actual purchase so deducing the quality from others' comparisons may be the only possible method of comparison (however risky/inaccurate). In slwiser's case, he has just decided that the SR-404/006tII is not worth buying because he generally trusts elephas's ears and therefore thinks that his rig is better.

I like the idea of softer triflanges. The white ones were still a bit on the hard side.

Haha. A bit harsh tbh

They'll just turn green. Yellow + Baby Blue = Lime Green?

Good, but there are three speakers in the same price range that come to mind which I'd take over them any day (SF Cremona, ProAc D80, JMLabs Diva Utopia Be). I guess it comes down to sound preference. They are a significant step up from the 803S though. If I were looking for a stylish, (most likely) good sounding iPod integrated stereo/dock, then the Zeppelin would definitely make the shortlist. I'm not getting the B&W hate. They're not that overpriced.

According to the poll, I listen at earbleed levels. My SRM-006t isn't exactly a powerful amp by electrostatic standards (a measly 300V swing) so I usually have to get the volume control to 12 - 1 o'clock.

I tend to agree with you. I listened to the W5000 from a Single Power Extreme Platinum connected to a Meridian G08 (w/ Nordost SE Heimdall) and compared to my own headphone rig (Cambridge Audio 740c, Stax SRM-006t, HE60 + SR-202). Like mirumu, I can only assume that the the W5000/HA5000 synergy makes a huge difference. I've also had the SR-404 in my rig before I sold them and can relate to vague similarities with the W5000 vs HE60. However, my ears told me the SR-404 and SR-202 were both more refined than the W5000. I just didn't get transparency with the W5000. The W5000's sound was less nuanced and simply not as enjoyable. As a side note, I then swapped the W5000 out for a pair of R10. Ahh... wonderful sound

Ouch. Hope all works out for you. I'm guessing you're still waiting for that thing Jude posted on the FB thread again, this time saying the photo section won't be going up tonight.

Good news. x2 Ah, I like window-shopping too and the marketplace is a superb place to do so. I only delete the PMs which have no real use any more and save those that contain valuable information or particularly meaningful conversations.

Looking forward to head-fi coming back up. Losing PMs will be painful though...

My two layer one had a serial number in the 1xxxs. My foam disc had a hole in the middle. BTW, the new AKG website is pretty darn sexy. There are some saucy hi-res glamour shots of the K701 too.

The best thing to do would be to buy both and put your own ears to the test. Others' impressions are extremely helpful, but personally, I find that auditioning gear is the only way forward. As much as everyone is slamming the Opera and CanAmp, I'm sure they're perfectly fine-sounding amps. I had a short go with the CanAmp and it doesn't sound nearly as offensive as some of you guys described.

Oh my. A second Surrounder:D A picture of Doug wearing double stacked Surrounders with a pair of helmet-quadriphonic DIY jobbies would really make my day Oh, don't forget the Ergo shoulder guards and kilt

Spritzer, the caps in your BH are the same as the ones in the KGSS DX right?

The KGSS and KGSS DX look stunning too. All images stolen without permission!

This is da bomb, isn't it? G08, T1, O2, KGBH, 313, Gamma Pros? quad RK50 pot costs... $4k already? How did I manage to fit four questions (including this one) into a single post?

Unless someone pays 15x the price of a KGBH SE Justin, do you build the stepped attenuators in house or are they custom built by some other company? Single volume control would be great, although that's one less knob. Could you possibly do a single volume control with adjustable L & R like the Stax amps? Would it work with stepped attenuators? Spritzer, I saved some pictures of your KGBH before Head-Fi went down. It's damn gorgeous.

So the current KGSS will be replaced by an updated, pretty-box version and will cost under $2k?! TBH, I don't think the current box is ugly at all. It may not be as flashy as the HEV90, but it is far from ugly. Understated elegance would be a more accurate description. I'm a huge fan of the lettering you use on the front panel btw.

Concert/operas glasses are for grannies

This song is so annoyingly addictive