recstar24

Oh don't worry the door isn't shut completely - local headfier, offering me again a very reasonable and sane deal or at least noticeably lower than what the past l3000's have been going for, at bare minimum I could check them out and unload them and pass the savings to the community. The idea of a high quality bad ass looking insanely built closed headphone is very appealing. The hp1000 is built very well imo just in a very simplistic manner. The l3000 appears to offer a more luxurious experience in that regard especially with the comfort, but comfort is simply not an issue with my and grados.

For the most part you are correct. John won't help you that is for sure, however I did speak with Joe last week and when I asked him if he was still available to service the HP-1000's, he replied "Sure...as long as I am still here..." Gotta love that old school new york humor. He did say as an alternative that I could buy his nephew's SR125 series and buy some flat pads from him. When I told Joe that I actually have the RS-1, Joe replied "ummm...what's that?" God bless the old son of a gun, gotta love it. Random update - I settled on the HP-2...ummm...actually I settled on 2 of them One with the standard cable, one with the ultrawide cable. Definitely was NOT my intention to buy 2 of the freaking things, but I got two offers, one came before the other, the 1st guy didn't get back to me for like a week or so, the 2nd guy was offering a very sane and reasonable price (how shocking), preferred to just get the 1st one, but I didn't want to let the 2nd one go, so who am I to deny any of their joe gradoness. I would imagine I will probably let one of them go in a bit. One of them did have the drivers replaced by Joe in 2005 which is great. Reasons why I didn't go with the L3000: 1) Wasn't sure how it would mate with the Zana. I emailed Craig and he definitely loves the phone and its his favorite, but thought it sounded its best on his transformer coupled amps. Also he let me know that the impedance curve is really wacky and all over the place, so you really need an amp that has a very low output impedance to make sure the damping factor is high and keeps the impedance controlled throughout the range. This is probably the reason why impressions on the L3000 can be a bit over the place, classic story of a can being driven to all sorts of different levels. On the other hand, I have been happy in the past with the HP1000 and Zana, really thought it was a nice fit with the meridian, so I am more clear on what I am going to get and expect. 2) The couple of times I have heard the L3000 really weren't special or "ah ha" moments, whereas I could not possibly count all the numerous ah ha moments i've had with the HP1000. at the chicago meet, the L3000 sounded really good with my moth s2a3 but I no longer own the amp so its a moot point. I had an extended audition with the L3000 being driven by the Krell SACD standard and my EC/SS (what I could bring over the guy's place at the time) and I noticed a couple of different things. Bit of a midrange suckout in relation to the HP1000, didn't quite have the midrange magic of the Grado. Also I noticed a slight coloration in the upper mids, a glare of some sort, like a glassy patina that was on top of everything. Definitely nothing crazy or something so extreme that it would cause you to not like the can, but I guess I just find the Hp1000 to be more transparent and neutral and that is kind of what I am looking for. Obviously I only have a very limited amount of L3000 empirical experience to use to base my decision on, hence why I sought out the advice of you guys and gals. 3) The L3000 has been referred to as an "euphonic" can or sounding "fun" to some. I feel I have that already - my vintage RS-1's. God damn do those things do so many things right, I actually prefer them and find them superior than the PS-1. The vintage RS-1 is full of coloration but I have not heard a can where those colorations seem to synergize so well together than the RS-1. I really do believe there is enough of a difference between the vintage and current stock, noticeably the tighter upper bass, resulting in more apparent low end extension, less bloat in that area leading from the upper bass into the lower mids, the biggest difference is the lack of glare up top that the current stock RS-1's exhibit. This is based on experience of owning 2 vintage RS-1's and 3 current stock RS-1's in addition to all the meets I've been able to compare them to. For me my fun awesome can is my vintage RS-1, and what I was looking for to compliment her was something more neutral and transparent. Now I am not saying the vintage RS-1 is on the same level as the L3000, the L3000 is definitely more detailed, less colored, more comfortable, more neutral, on paper is a superior phone, but damn I just love the way my rs-1 sounds on my current rig. I think that covers it. Thanks for the input from everyone. I am excited to be able to directly compare and A/B in my rig the standard vs ultrawide cable, its always been about acoustic memory for me, but probably will end up letting one of them go after I'm done checking them out and seeing which one I prefer if I can even tell a difference.

Its kind of like how some guys compare cars to girls, even give them female names. For example, my first car was a 1991 plymouth voyager, a real POS. I called her Daphne. She was a big girl, but she was gentle. Its just one of those things I guess...

Let me throw one more monkey into the mix: Which do you feel would be a better compliment to my current headphone stable (assuming that I don't let them go), which consists of vintage RS-1 and HD650?

Well to me, the bass and hi end are like 1st impressions when you 1st meet someone. You right away hear how the bass sounds and how the hi end sounds. But the midrange is the true personality of what music is about, IMO. Can't be with a girl that long if she is dull and boring where it counts, right? So I'm a midrange man myself. I need to get together with msport911 who is local to me and has the L3000 and a couple of hp1000's to boot.

OK, need your help. It's one or the other. Pairing with ZD and meridian 508.24. Which one should you go with? For me, Hp1000 is the good ole familiar girl I always knew would be there, apparently will still take me back after all the times I've ditched her, and since its familiar territory I know how she will work and know that we will go very well together. L3000, flirted with her a couple of times before, have always been impressed, never been around her long enough to really know who she is as a person though. Starting a relationship with her would be fun, different from the typical girls I usually mess around with, but the uncertainty of how we will gel together is somewhat holding me back. Yah.

Well, they did take away their land like a fat kid takes cake.

Thanks, that is good to know - now the question is, do Indians take offense to people using the term indian to refer to Native American?

The official politically correct term for those individuals who are aboriginal to the area we now call America is "Native American" - you know, like chiefs and peyote and stuff. You were correct in correcting me when I said American Indian, as the 1st part "American" i thought he was from the US, but you are correct that he is from Canada so he is officially "Canadian Indian".

Ah ha, the plot thickens...BTW - wouldn't a square wave be somewhat harmful?

Ah ha I was somewhat referring to his ethnicity, and forgot that on Leno he had mentioned he's canadian, so I got it half right. Canadian Indian represent, sweet. Now that's a weird combo.

Funny guy! I saw him on Leno one night. American Indian represent

Well in the famous words of the old chinese lady that owns the little grocery store down the corner... "...yoo don liek, yoo don buiye!!!" Apparently there is enough demand for $40 pieces of foam, and even if there wasn't, the margin is cleary big enough to not care whether people buy them or not. Please keep in mind they are just not foam pucks, they are GRADO foam pucks hahahahaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovfwYrLNIw8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovfwYrLNIw8 Good lordy ewing JR, don't think your dad could do that. For me this ranks up there with Jordan's cradle dunk, shawn kemps dunk from the free throw, and dominique wilkin's windmill

Have a good one Mike! Go buy some new vinyl to check out.

I am actually calling my new senn cable that you built for me the "SIALO." Apparently it is a medical term, for saliva, to salivate, which fits because the cable is darn good sounding. Of course those in the know truly know what it stands for

Hahaha nice edit! Note to self: Don't mess with someone who has message editing abilities. Confucious says..."one who messes with mod hits himself in eye with fly swatter"

Just received my proto senn cable that I commissioned Nate to help me out with (the ones posted previously by him). Man I love this UP-OCC wire. You get the detail and precision and focus but it is warmer and full-bodied as well. I am one happy camper. And to think that Nate is saying he can do better than this is simply scary

I stand corrected - "I'm dumb" - as in the contractual version of - "I am dumb"

Your dumb

yahhhh

The "fuzz" was created by the one and only goredwings19. So shut your mouth and know your place foo.

I think the concept of "dark" vs "fuzzy" needs to be elaborated and clarified further to get a better sense of what people are referring too. I will use the RS-1's as an example. Most users find the highs to be slightly forward, even etched, where it gives the overall sound balance a "brighter" perspective. However, the fullness of the mids and the upper bass gives the overall sound a "fuzziness", sometimes I call it a dirty or "mushy" sound, which others could describe as dark. Dark would be more in line with the senn 650's I think, even though I can see where someone would say a grado is dark especially if they use flat pads and it has a more full bodied presentation. Compared to the Dt880's however, which to my ears have a very shrill, thin, super etched presentation, the grados are definitely "darker" than them.

There are 3 levels of hot that I have experienced... (1) Zana Deux hot - the chassis gets pretty warm due to the chassis acting as a heatsink for the 6c33c's. It is not too hot where you can't touch the chassis, it is warm to the point where you can touch the chassis at its hottest point and keep it there for an extended period of time without getting uncomfortable. Works great in the winter especially in Chicago. Most class A solid state headphone amps and tube amps fall under this category, which is perfectly normal and usually well below maximum operational points. Obviously the more biased into class A, the hotter it will get typically. (2) Pass Labs/First Watt hot - the hotness takes a whole other level. You can touch the chassis but after awhile it gets a bit too much and you have to take off your hand. However still perfectly operational and nothing to worry about with internals and safety. (3) Prototype Raptor at Chicago Meet hot - this is the highest level of hot that I have experienced. The Raptor was debuted at the Chicago meet at Ray's January 2005 and the chassis was so hot you could not touch it, if you did it you would have to lift your finger up immediately. The production was much better in that regard, and when the power supply went to the switching supply it was fine. Levels 1 and 2 are fine...level 3....ummmm....someone else can comment.

Yes that is a terrible idea! It is so bad you can forward me the offer from the user and I will take it off your hands EDIT: I could swear you can get a 650 for not that much more, I knw absorbine has his on sale for 225 i think. I would probably go that route.