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Hifiman Shangri-La, new Electrostatic


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The last post I wrote on HF several months ago was a genuine question, which was, " If sorbothane improves the SQ of Stax Earspeakers so much, then why hasn't Stax implemented the use of it ", to which that post was removed.

After that happened I'd had enough of HF, and only go on now for to have a laugh at some of the crap that's posted there, also to reply to PM's I occasionally get.

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Headphones without a headband, what is the world coming to?   Actually some of you are giving me too much credit for discovering resonance issues in  headbands and headphones.   As best I can tell Sennheiser got there first by using some "space age material" in the headband of the HD800. a couple of years before I started putting sorbothane on the headband of a Stax SR007A.  Not being a  Senn person I didn't know about this.   Now if there was no crossfeed from the earcups, putting damping in a headband should not work.  Evidently the good folk at Senn thought they were on to something.   My more recent posts, elsewhere, referenced some info raised by another member who found that both Audioquest and B&W were damping their phones and explaining it in terms of eliminating crossfeed.  So add in the Grado e-series  and you are up to at least 4 companies  doing mechanical damping (although Grado talks about improving transient response, not crossfeed.)

Don't get me wrong (as I am sure some will.)  While I am sure crossfeed is problem,  there are still resonance issues even if you take away the headband, which was the point of listening to some Lambdas without their headband, as a way to stop crossfeed. 

So I wouldn't spend too much money on most  TOL's since most are obsolete. If the new Sennheiser stat is using damping like the HD 800 then you are ok there.  Or don't worry about it but buy some sorbothane ( I recommend 1/4 inch self-stick 70 duro BTW) and figure out how to improve the sound on whatever phones you get. Did I mention it only costs a few dollars?  

 

 

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5 hours ago, edstrelow said:

Headphones without a headband, what is the world coming to?   Actually some of you are giving me too much credit for discovering resonance issues in  headbands and headphones.   (snip)

 

Did I do that...?  My sincerest apologies........:lol:

Sorb makes good innersoles too. I use them for soul music......   :rolleyes:

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13 hours ago, edstrelow said:

Headphones without a headband, what is the world coming to?   Actually some of you are giving me too much credit for discovering resonance issues in  headbands and headphones.   As best I can tell Sennheiser got there first by using some "space age material" in the headband of the HD800. a couple of years before I started putting sorbothane on the headband of a Stax SR007A.  Not being a  Senn person I didn't know about this.   Now if there was no crossfeed from the earcups, putting damping in a headband should not work.  Evidently the good folk at Senn thought they were on to something.   My more recent posts, elsewhere, referenced some info raised by another member who found that both Audioquest and B&W were damping their phones and explaining it in terms of eliminating crossfeed.  So add in the Grado e-series  and you are up to at least 4 companies  doing mechanical damping (although Grado talks about improving transient response, not crossfeed.)

Don't get me wrong (as I am sure some will.)  While I am sure crossfeed is problem,  there are still resonance issues even if you take away the headband, which was the point of listening to some Lambdas without their headband, as a way to stop crossfeed. 

So I wouldn't spend too much money on most  TOL's since most are obsolete. If the new Sennheiser stat is using damping like the HD 800 then you are ok there.  Or don't worry about it but buy some sorbothane ( I recommend 1/4 inch self-stick 70 duro BTW) and figure out how to improve the sound on whatever phones you get. Did I mention it only costs a few dollars?  

A headphone just for your taste: Kennerton odin. Only 666 grams. Fill it with sorbothane. You are good to go. You don't like it, no worries for I have 2 more solutions:

 

I have a friend who solved resonance issues just like cutting the butter with a hot blade. He doesn't listen headphones any more.

Another friend of mine followed different path: Earcups made of granite and headbands made of damascus steel. And earpads made of merinos wool. You should try that.

 

I found an entry when I googled "granite earcups"  I want to finish in one post so here is a solution Ed posted:

Just check the last two sentences, hilarious.

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Quote:
Originally Posted by richard51 View Post
 

It is not possible to repeat too often this Fact : with sorbothane it is necessary to estimate the right amount of compression applied on the sorb. hence to choose rightly the duro and surface of the sob and his height (experimenting is necessary ) ... i had receive the 70 duro pieces i want to put between the plates under the amplifier (30 pounds) in replacement of the 50 duro pieces... More clarity and better effect...

I am sure that these things do make a difference.  On a similar vein,

 

n my very first sorbing experiments  I used  clamps to hold sorb onto the metal headband of a Stax SR007A. This was just two pieces of stiff plastic attached by a nut and screw.  I found that you could get some variation in tonal characteristics by adjusting the tightness.  Generally looser gave more bass, tighter less bass and more treble. I must return to this some day.  If you are prepared to do some physical modification of earcups. you could have some kind of tightening arrangement with sorb located inside earcups and then somewhat adjustable.  You can see these and two small metal clamps in the picture.  I finally settled on just the plastic clamps moved down to the top of the earcups.

 

LL

 

 

 

 

 

The other thing to consider with equipment is mounting sorb inside equipment, such as on circuit boards.  Obviously you are not going to do this where boards get hot. 

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1d395213891ff2aa2ad9bc85ac0a83688efacca50363f546e988ee2d5013be4e.jpg

 

Edited by Sechtdamon
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I'm getting some 9C silver cables that are coated in sorb for all my headphones.   :wub:

Don't want all all those nasty resonances from the amp crawling up the cable and distubing the melifluousity of the headphones now, do I......  ;)

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37 minutes ago, grawk said:

He'll be in timeout if it's not gone by tomorrow, unless he obtains a license to your intellectual property.

I am sensing that I am missing something important in my newbie innocence... some forum bodies lurking in a basement somewhere... perhaps some unintentional plagiarism?

Should I sever a pinkie joint in atonement - Yakuza style?

I just don't know how these things work here. Perhaps some sorbothane would help?

 

AR.JPG

Edited by DonkeyBalls
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