recstar24

The GCHA has a soft, bland sound. The volume control is nice but that's about it. The whole advertising of unlimited resolution or what not is not totally accurate. The DAC is okay. Meier's stuff on the other hand is tits

Gorillaz in Chicago - before that, Radiohead Grant Park Chicago 2001

Most headphone amps are great preamps, even if you use an adaptor to run it from the headphone out. No need to build or buy a special cable, just go to radioshack and buy a 1/4 stereo plug to RCA adaptor (make sure the 1/4 plug is stereo, and not mono!). I used my EC/SS as a preamp with a cheap SS poweramp on loan before the moth came using that adaptor and my normal rca ic's, and the sound was fantastic. Most headphone amps have low output impedance, good current and voltage drive, and are low noise, which are great attributes for a good sounding preamp. Do you think you could clarify a bit more what you are trying to accomplish with your rig? What kind of speakers are you using? Do you want simplicity, a single box to do it all, or are separates okay? we could probably help you further if you were able to provide some more info on the direction that you want go in.

Pretty feasible, there are a couple of different ways to create a headphone buffer of sorts that can run straight from a power amp. Easiest is to DIY a cable that has resistors in place which will present the appropriate load to the power amp when its hooked up to headphones. Couldn't tell you the exact numbers, there are plenty of people out there though that could snap one up in a second.

I agree, however I had read and researched various build quality problems with the cary's. Hum and noise has been somewhat of an issue on some models. Other Cary's have a 240 ohm resistor on the outputs which eliminates the hum and noise, but into the grados has a rubbery loose bass, as the result of zero damping factor due to the high output impedance. Some Cary's don't have the output resistor yet are susceptible to hum and noise. In general, there might be various build quality and tolerance variation issues that make each cary 300 sei different from each other, YMMV. Before I got the moth, I was pretty set on picking up a cary integrated, whether it be 2a3 or 300b, but after reading all the various accounts of model variance and the lack of damping factor into grados with the 240 ohm output, as well as all the accounts that the cary is bested in terms of hum and noise by other models like the moth, Fi, bottlehead, etc. with speakers, I opted not to.

Just researched and found out about another company - Leben Hi-Fi, based in Japan. It is owned by a man who used to work for Luxman, which made some very nice integrateds that also had a pretty good headphone out last time I heard it. http://www.leben-hifi.com/introduction.htm The models that would make the most sense are the 300 and 300x. EL84 output tubes in push pull config, custom made output transformers, the headphone jack runs straight from the transformer taps. Left Right balance control, bass boost circuit, high quality parts, excellent build quality, yowsers. http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/leben2/system.html http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/leben/cs300x.html Two reviews on Leben integrateds from my fellow 6moons writers. Paul with the 300x actually listened to it on cans and states that it is nice, I will contact him to get more specific details. The 600 is more powerful and expensive, so is probably not an option, but the review does state that word on the grapevine is that the headphone out is kickass. Pretty underground and rare stuff, just thought I would throw it out there. Another cheap option would be to get a vintage used Luxman, I forgot the model #, but they have an integrated with built in phono stage and a headphone out. I listened to it at the Chicago meet Jan 2005, with grado sr225's and hooked up to a vpi scout listening to brubeck's time out, and that memory still sticks in my mind as one of my most memorable listening experiences.

For sure, but going used does save you tons of money. My Moth S2A3 retailed at $3450 but I was able to get it for you max budget price. Do you have high efficiency speakers too? When I factor in the price I got it used and that it is my preamp, speaker amp, and headphone amp all in one, that is like breaking it down $500 for each component, which I feel is a pretty good deal.

considering those speakers are like 200 lbs, 2850 shipped is an amazing deal, congrats! those ICE power modules are powerful, you should have zero issues driving them.

You can sit tight for either a used Moth S/Si2a3 or a Cary 300B. That's about it I think. There is the new 300b woo but that is looking at 3000.

That sure is crazy. I like the Axiom Amp, from Chimera Labs. The schematic is available as well, and in addition to offering a built package, should be offering it in kit form to be built by the user themselves. http://www.chimeralabs.com/axiom_full.html

I concur, and should have mentioned that my above topic was in reference to the various sets of HP-2's that I have owned. In total, I have owned 3 and listened to extensively in a non-meet environment 5 HP-2's, 3 with the ultrawide and 2 with the standard, and with that experience have been able to base my opinon upon. Unfortunately, I have never heard a HP-1 so I cannot make a statement in regards to the effect of the polarity switch on the sound

Okay yes I understand, sorry about the semantics my original post was in regards to speaker systems that just happen to use one driver for the full range of sound. And within that context headphones have deeper bass extension than those speaker systems. Now if you are talking about speaker systems with multiway drivers and crossovers, with the sound being dissected into woofer, midrange and tweeter, then if designed correctly you might get better low end extension. Good Headphones with a good amp do deep bass easily, whereas you have to throw a lot of money at a multiway speaker to even get close to 30. However most basic speakers that have decent low end will slam you in the chest in a way that headphones can only dream of.

When I heard it, it was not my source, a philips sacd or something, which I think definitely played a part in it. I had no idea what tubes he was using, and again I think the biggest culprit was the standard cable on the HP's, I really feel that cable is the reason why the HP's have the connotation of being dull and rolled off, as the 3 different ultrawide bandwidth versions I have owned all slam in dynamics and extension whereas the standard was simply so boring and dull. That is why I am again curious to hear the melos with this new insight, and am definitely glad you have found your current setup to be on par with your expectations

Congrats on a fine purchase! Don't want to upset the boat, but I personally did not find my particular experience with the HP-2's and Melos SHA-1 all that great. When I heard it, it lacked dynamics, punch, and simply had a bland sound to it, nothing exciting or what I felt met the hype and expectations created on headfi about the supposed synergy. It might have been a source issue, and the cable was the standard cable, not the ultrawide bandwidth, which I feel is sonically inferior and sounds more dull and rolled off than the ultrawide bandwidth. I would love to give another go with a melos and my hp's though

Okay - full range driver in an actual speaker enclosure. There

I would disagree here. If you are comparing apples to apples, so headphones vs. a fullrange driver, the headphones will have much better low end extension (if the amp allows). The best a full range speaker can honestly do is 40 hz. I use a combination of classical music and some electronic music like bela sonus to try and hear that 20hz bass. The headphone low end doesn't slam you in the chest per se, but it definitely goes lower, or at least when compared to my cicadas. Now if I had a set of coincidents or even a set of klipsch cornwalls with their 15" woofers (!), now those things will slam you in the chest and go lower

Wait for a good deal either audiogon or ebay. They will pop up, just be patient

I believe some hifi users in Japan, due to lack of space, actually have to resort using their actual living space as the horn enclosure for their speakers. Essentially, the actual room itself is the enclosure in which the drivers are horn loaded into, imagine that. Basically, super ginormous.

Only thing bad about lowthers is that 1) they have to be hornloaded (usually) for their best sound, and 2) to get decent bass the cabinet needs to be ginormous.

Just buy the damn thing, you don't need justification from any one of us. "...Don wohrry, yoo cahn doo eht!!!"

With the HP's your a bit farther back from the stage, which gives you a better sense of depth. Depending upon the source and amp you have hooked up, the level of 3 dimensionality will be there in spades. With my Meridian G08 if I close my eyes the sound just swirls around my head, and images are real and tangible in front of me.

Both - however most users that get lowthers just get the drivers and build the cabinets themselves since they are readily available. Keep in mind though that lowthers are usually hornloaded to increase the bass output, there are some very nice cabinet plans out there for lowthers already.

Wow, two phono stages in fact. Good to see Eddie Current on the up, about time. Maybe another power amp or integrated won't be too far from the works. Eddie current version the Moth Hyper Dac could also be an option. Sky's the limit with Craig, for sure. I am almost there too with an all Moth Setup too.

My set of RS-1's came with flats. Judging by the fact they were slightly deteriorating and that the original seller had informed me he was the original owner and never changed them is enough for me to say that the early 90's RS-1's with brown headband all came and were designed with flats in mind. The bowl thing came into being as a response from John with reviews of the RS-1 being muddy with no soundstage. HP-1000's are definitely flats, I have talked to Joe about this and he is very adamant about it. PS-1s are bowl pads, the sonic tuning with them is perfectly balanced, the flats make the bass too overbearing.

I saw LMS right when I came out and thought it was fantastic. Dark and comedic, what a concept.