Dusty Chalk

You keep misspelling it...it's Dewey, Cheatem, & Howe.

I'm actually in agreement with the dissenters here -- how is the cure any better than the disease? I agree that Head-Case has turned into a whine-about-Head-Fi board, and I agree that it is a bad thing. But shutting down threads that you don't want to hear about...well, that's what they do, and that's what was claimed wasn't done here. As I've said before -- there is only one way to change the nature of discussions on a board, and that is to change the nature of your part in the discussion. E.G. if you want to hear less whining, then whine less. You want to hear positive contributions? Make one's own positive contributions. So...how about those diamond buffers, eh?

Well, I listened some more last night, and the bass has calmed down significantly. Maybe my amp just needed warming up (hadn't used it in a while). Also, that Talk Talk SACD seems to be mastered with rather significant bass.

You didn't hear the bass? Or do you mean, you didn't hear any obvious colouration besides the obvious bass colouration? (Aside: I knew that going in, so I'm not disappointed.) It does have an otherwise cleanliness to the sound that I haven't heard out of any other headphone I can think of (maybe a high-end electrostat). Maybe that's what you heard. Have you heard the AT-100Ti? I love my pair of those, too. What, you mean mod the amps in there? No way! I might screw it up, let out the magic smoke. That said, I am opening them up, as one of my next speakers is going to be a DIY design, and (again) the Quad will be my reference. (Actually, it's a LS3/5a-based design -- not so much a DIY design as mostly a plagiarism.) But I'll be opening it up to see what kind of drivers it has, etc. I'll take pictures when I do. I'll be using the Quad as more of a audio reference than mechanical reference.

I'd add the Quad L series to that list. And Focal. And since you mentioned transparency, Reference 3A.

That's the new reference, isn't it? I have to admit, I find myself comparing a lot of things to the Quad 12L's. They're completely different. I'm sure I'll get different results with some judicious tuberolling, but right now, in my amp, these are seriously basshead headphones. Almost PS-1 bass. And I don't find the Quads bassy at all. And you know that slight emphasis in the ...erm... emphasis region? The L3000 doesn't have that at all -- if anything, it has a slight midrange suckout (very slight...and maybe -- I might just still be getting used to the bass emphasis, and I'm hearing that as a suckout) with my current amp and set of tubes. It's hard to tell -- I've only had 40 minutes with them so far (Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring SACD).

You keep telling yourself that.

I use the diagonal setup at work, and I have to say, it sounds pretty good (but it's also nearfield listening, and they're bookshelf/standmount speakers). I'll second that suggestion. No, not at all.

No sub? That rules out the Spendor S3/5... A used Quad 21L or 22L. I'll think about it some more, to see if I can't come up with some better suggestions. For new, maybe a Vandersteen 1C? I haven't heard it myself, but I've heard their higher end models. Are those exact measurements? See, the problem is, 10 feet and 12 feet are both multiples of 2 feet, so you're going to have problems with resonances. You may seriously want to consider "treating" the room. (Google on "ethan winer".)

That one should spend most of one's money on the speakers &&/|| headphones for best results. I think markl is the biggest purveyor of this myth, but he ain't alone.

Speaking of which, I just got an L3000, and it is the best shit ever! Or, "...evar!" That I owned, anyway. ("That I pwned, anywayz.")

Yeah, I definitely second the K1000 rec.

But...but...(sputters)...but...based on that reasoning ("...because they're fucking annoying..."), then you'd have to lock this thread, too! So that would be an invalid thing to post, neh? Meh, I'm getting dizzy with that kind of logic.

And then there's this.

DT880.

I've heard the EarMax Pro, and it is wonderful. I haven't heard the Woo 3. The EMP is the best size/SQ that I can think of.

Apparently not (my previous post was made in ignorance of this one).

So...what does that make you, bitcher of bitching, "bitch^2"? And yes, I realize the irony here is that that automatically makes me "bitch^3". I have found, that if the discussion is not to your liking, bitching about it accomplishes nothing, other than to raise the noise-to-signal ratio. Your best bet is to start discusssions of the variety in which you are interested in hearing about.

Hey now! They are better. For certain things.

My personal favourite is that if a particular piece of gear is not good for a certain type of music (techno, rock), then it can still be good for another (chamber music, vocals). If a headphone (or amp or source or speakers) are only good for a certain type of music, then they are not good. I also agree with a lot of those previously mentioned. Tube amps rock!

My condolences.

The micro-Stax setup that Dave had, what was it, the SR-001 Mk II? 98% of the magic of electrostatic earspeakers for a fraction of the price. That K1000 sale that Headroom had, when they were blowing them out. US$379, was it? I don't usually get bargains. The Quad 22L seems like a steal -- US$1600 (and that's the MSRP) for a beautifully finished (7 layers of lacquer?), wonderfully sounding fullrange floorstander.

Unholy crap!

I've also heard good things about Bryston (and in my boss's system) -- seems like the 4B and the 6B meet your criteria. link

Did some research on the Rotel: 700 Watts into 4 ohms?!? Unholy carp!!! I bet that would sound pretty nice with my Dynaudios, may have to consider that, myself. Current generation MF would be the A5 (unless you could settle for an integrated): 416 WPC/4 ohms, US$3.5K MSRP.