TheSloth

I'd agree only in that the 340 is the only headphone that I would have kept alongside my 650 if I had an interest in multiple headphones. I felt that neither distorted the tonality of acoustic instruments, within reason. In the end however I found that the 340's were a little more fatiguing to my ears, and as a musician by profession, I need to be safe!

As far as I understood the Qualia, even with a good fit, has a pretty weird FR which some will love and some will hate. Me, I need a pretty neutral FR. Despite what people say about the 650, it's FR is in the region of neutral for many ears. Yes, the dips at 5 and 15k (I think) are a bit too large and bass can feel a bit bloated but overall I find it represents recordings with similar tonality to the very best speakers I've owned, as well as my experience of acoustic instruments in real life (and I have just a little bit of that). Maybe that is just a question of fit, but that seems a little far fetched that it could go from thin and weird to spot on just with a slight difference of fit. Perhaps one could experiment by using silicone sealant to seal them to someone's head and see if they reported an improvement . It's a shame I don't really get on with the DT880 because at least that offers some isolation. Not much, but quieter background noises are definitely less obvious. But that peak at 8k is way too big and I can't listen to it. So overall, people have mixed feelings about the L3k and R10 (headphile is going to be selling one soon), and negative feelings about the CD3k. Which leaves the rather unknown ultrasones but judging from the proline 750 and 2500's, both of which sound pretty dire to me, I see no reason why the Edition 9 with basically the same driver is going to be better. So that leaves custom IEM's or the Stax 4070, though if it sounds anything like a lambdas again the peaky upper midrange is going to bother me. Such a hard customer!

Unless you are talking about tubes, I know of little to no equipment that goes from being bad to good. Maybe from good to great, or horrible to not quite so horrible, or even from horrible to even more horrible...

Thanks for all the great responses. I've had a lot of bad luck with custom ear moulds so far. I've had impressions taken twice now for musicians ear plugs, and neither time did they come out right. The first time was in the UK, and I couldn't be there for long enough to get the free refit. The second time was in NY, but I only really noticed they weren't quite right after the refit period was over. So I suppose yes I can consider something like the UE10, but I just don't trust ear moulds to be comfortable for me. The second audiologist commented that my ear canals, particularly the left one, are quite a difficult shape. I own Ety 4p's and think they are great, sometimes with the s adapter, but having them in my ears, though not actively uncomfortable, isn't enjoyable either with either flanges or foamies. I've owned the DX1000's and they weren't my cup of tea - quite coloured in the midrange particularly. I owned K340's and really liked them in many ways, but didn't like them with a closed back - that gave decent isolation actually, but the sound just wasn't as balanced as with it open or partially open, to my ears. I've also owned A900ltd's, and again, the midrange was too coloured for me to enjoy. I think I'd probably be quite disappointed with L3k's beacuse of the cost involved. To pay that much money for something I sort of like doesn't make much sense. So I guess that's pretty much the end of my closed headphones idea .

Well that's quite a concensus . Seems that there's plenty to not like about all the high end closed phones. That's a terrible shame for me - I just can't guarantee peace and quiet in my living environment, so any money spent on really nice speakers is partially wasted because I never feel like I can relax and enjoy them. Same goes for an open headphone system, except worse in that I find that without the spatial cues to focus my attention on, external noises are more irritating. Though, the L3k seems to be overall very well liked. jpak, what didn't you like about the L3k?

How would you compare it to the 650 with proper amplification?

What are people's opinions on the best closed headphones, current or past production? I'm assuming that the list is down to the R10, L3k, perhaps CD3k and the Ultrasone Editions. Did I miss anything? Current generation woodies like the DX1000 (owned, didn't like, sold) and AT's (too much upper midrange)? I heard the K340 with sealed back and didn't like it - much better open IMO. One of my QUAD's died, and I used that as a good opportunity to sell them through the repair place. I have been thinking hard as to what to replace the setup with, and am feeling increasingly that a closed headphone that I can really enjoy would be a worthy replacement as my apartment is just never silent enough for me to really sit back and enjoy, as well as being small and awkward for speakers. I woudn't object to IEM's on sound, except they just aren't 'relaxing', all stuffed up in my ears. Budget wise, assuming I could find one, any of the above headphones are doable. My reference is the 650, and I hate peaky midrange and highs (obviously!). I don't think it's perfect, but its flaws bother me less than anything else. I briefly heard the L3k at a meet and was on initial listening very impressed with the tonal balance. I've never heard any of the others, but I'm fairly certain I'll hate the ultrasones. I don't want to woody the 650's, as I think that sounds weird, and doesn't give enough of an improvement in isolation for the sonic price.

I think the whole K701 love fest is wearing off a bit. It's a good headphone, but dry and a little peaky in the upper mids. I'd try out some other headphones to make an assesment of the GCHA's SQ.

If you mean Headphile's Larry, he's said on quite a few occasions that in all the K340's he's seen/heard (a lot!), there was nothing to suggest to his ears that there were different versions sonically. There are often small design changes/tweaks over the production life of a product, but those design changes rarely indicate an active sonic change.

Well I would be surprised if it didn't sound like a 627. From the specs it looks like a 627 with a bit more of everything, spec wise. What that adds up to, sonicially, if anything remains to be seen. I think in some ways what is most interesting is the 2827. Brown dog adapters are fine, but I think its great to be able to get that sound quality (or most of it) in a dual package. I know they said no new modules, but I think HeadRoom should replace the 2134's in the Home Module with 2827's, and the 627's in the Max with 827's (assuming there is an improvement, and even if there isn't, on principle!). They might even be able to throw some in without the class A bias in the Desktop Module. That's a hefty upgrade to the product line without any R and D cost - just swap the opamps on the production line (and some added parts cost). Are you listening over there in Bozeman ?

Ah, I dont read that forum very carefully these days so I'm a bit out of date. Never mind, news to me anyway!

I saw this in a post somewhere and assumed it was a typo, but it is in fact real. Here's a linky to the page: http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/opa827.html. Aparently an upgrade to the 627. I'm a big fan of the 627 (I know, it's just an opamp, discrete rules, yadda yadda), so I'm quite anxious to hear what this new flagship is all about.

Though, in defense of the UK, the original Huntingdon UK address is still there, and does still have some of the original service staff there. When I had 988's back in the UK I drove one of them there to be repaired (a bass panel started hissing). Great service - it was out of warranty but they still did it for free. But that was one of the last 988's that was actually made in the UK, and funnily enough, the ones made in China are more reliable!

As far as I am aware, IAG who owns (pwns?) QUAD, Wharfedale, the rights to Leak (unused unfortunately) and some others I can't remember, is a Chinese investment consortium. So, as they are Chinese owned, and all production of all products is now done in China (better than they ever did it in the UK I might add), I'd say QUAD is Chinese! And to aerius's question, I certainly wouldn't.

I wouldn't worry about that aspect of it. My favourite audio company is Chinese (www.quad-hifi.co.uk) .

Always good having you around here aerius .

Isn't that a non-sequitur?

Yeah, the K340 is a true classic. Not a classic because it is old or unique, but simply beacuse it is darn good.

I was thinking of using some anticables speaker cable actually. It's solid core, and quite inflexible which in this case is actually a bonus. I just had a look inside my pair, which is slightly different from the ones pictured - it's got a better resistor so that doesn't need replacing, but it does have the nasty cap. Here's a picture to make you cringe aerius: But don't worry, soon it will be no more...

Well I'm going to go with the Solen 220uF, externally mounted. It's tried and tested in this application, so that gives me some comfort. I'll need to run some extra wiring to the external mounting - any suggestions for what to use?

220uF is the biggest listed at parts connexion, so they do have it. But it is very big and would have to be mounted externally and then wired in. Don't like the idea of that, given my 'expertise'. I think I might try a non-polar Black Gate cap and see if it does anything first. Partsconnexion has a 220uF, 160V Black Gate NH model - that sounds like the best option to me. The maximum input voltage allowed by the clamping circuit is 55V, so the voltage shouldn't be an issue come to think of it.

Thanks for the suggestion. The Solen's really aren't that big for this installation, and at the worst could be mounted externally and clamped to the base. Final question - what are polystyrene caps?

This is was posted in a discussion about this: "From a theoretical standpoint this tweak should lower the distortion in the midrange and treble, and also make the sound 'faster'. This is because of the non-linearity and polarity of the electrolytic capacitor." Is changing to another (better brand) electrolytic going to change that?

Also, is there something other than a Polypropylene cap that would be better than an Electrolytic cap in a smaller package?

I knew they were big, but didn't realise they were that big! People that have done this with 1 220 have mounted it outside the housing, but you can actually fit 2 100's, just not both in the same place. So I suppose 2 100's in parallel it is. Is Solen the way to go?