recstar24

Yup, sure love mine as well. However, right now I am rocking out to my vintage brown headband RS-1's

Yes. A balanced amp, which last time I talked to Craig, will be a different topology than the Zana and not simply a Zana Deux x2. What I am interested in is possibly a new full range speaker with drivers which Craig and I talked about. It should at minimum equal to the cicada if not better. HD30, EC/SS should also be up. Craig is going to be busy for sure

I absolutely love my RS-1's with my moth s2a3. 2a3's are very sweet tubes. I am picking up some RCA biplate 2a3's soon which should add some of their magic to the sound as well. The moth s2a3 runs the headphone jack right from the transformer outputs which are big electraprint TM-3's, very high quality iron. However, the moth doesn't teleport you into the music like the Zana does, the Zana simply transports you to another level. BTW - I have the older NOS RS-1's, with the brown headband. To my ears and comparing them to various sets of new version RS-1's, and they are considerably smoother, not as peaky in the upper midrange, and don't have anywhere near the upper bass bump that the newer RS-1's have. This gives the impression that the older RS-1 has tighter deeper bass, more akin to the HP-1000 than the newer black headband RS-1.

The basic circuit is essentially the same. The HPA-1 has much better build quality, with slightly better parts (caps, resistors, etc.). Whereas the RA-1 has some grain, the HPA-1 is dead smooth. There are of course better options IMO.

If there is one source that I am most curious about it is that modwright. Almost went with that over my G08. Bet it sounds fantastic, great catch

He's hilarious, what more could you ask for? It's head-fi, did you think you were actually going to get valid and informative opinions on audio gear? Of course not! I go there for the entertainment value, and Patrick82 is the truth

The Lite is a good bet - it will sound ever better if you upgrade your source, but I wouldn't necessarily say its overkill for you at the moment. And I agree those SE black lites look badass

I love the Zana. I have a hard time listening to the hd-25 now with the zana in tow. The hd-25 sounds harsh and edgy compared to it, especially in the treble. With the zana, its smooth as butter but incredibly detailed. Its more about the inner detail with the zana, certain timbral nuances and subtleties really come into the foreground. The bass is absolutely disgusting, so deep, tight, and impactful. The highs are perfect to me.

Just to add my 2 cents. $5000 is way above what I would spend on a headphone amp, it would have to double up as a preamp and be the center of my whole setup. Even $1900 for the Zana is too rich for my blood, whether used purely as a headamp or serving as a preamp/headamp. Considering that I got my hd-25 with tung sol 5998's and black glass roundplate 6sn7 for $400 total, and it has 3 inputs, preamp out, and a tape out, you can see how much I like to stretch my dollar.

I concur, completely unlistenable to me, just like PS-1 w/ flats, just the opposite end of the spectrum in regards to RS-1 w/ bowls.

Read the review a couple of days ago. 43k is sure a lot of money for simply another form of sonic coloration. Drugs or even ice cream would probably be cheaper

Just got the hd30 in today - it is using 2 7233's for the output tubes and 1 6sl7 for the input. uses different polypropelene output caps than the zana, solid state rectified, but same circuit topology as the zana. And it sounds killer

He tried the 5842's, they didn't work the way he wanted them to. The output tubes that are in the proto and what will be in the final production I will see next week when it gets here from its transit. Pretty sure about my number, 50 seems a bit over the top. The last one to sell was the tube rectified version in Russia. Craig didn't sell a single hd25 for a year. So my number of 5, at most has a margin of error of about +/-1

Last time I checked with Craig he ditched the 7233's. They weren't working for him and in his words the sound was unengaging. He rewired for 5842's and that did not work out. Where the hd30 at is right now is using the exact same circuit topology as the zana, just different output tubes and output capacitors. 6sl7 for the input. And yes his hd30 proto sample is on its way to me to check out, should be here next week. From the picture he sent I couldn't see exactly what the output tubes are, but instead of 4 7233's there is now only 2 output tubes with the 6sl7 as the input. Will fill you guys in once i have some time with it. As a side note, a couple of weeks ago Craig wanted to send me the hd30 initially to compare with my hd25. Apparently he doesn't even have an hd25, as there are only a couple out there, maybe 5 total. He held it off sending it to me because the 7233's and the old topology wasn't satisfying him. Now with the new tubes and using the zana circuit topology he says its back in "goosebump" territory. I offered to send him the hd25 to him so he could listen to it and compare with the hd30 and he told me "don't bother, I already know which one I prefer"

Grado HP-2's for $600 HD-25 for $400

Not only good - the best, plain and simple. And pictures from my bachelor party can attest to that

According to Craig, "It is a different power supply, stiffer than Mikey01's, and it has better output coupling caps. The power supply has more instantaneous available energy to the load." That is an email he sent me to let me know the Zana was ready

Well, I would confront the ladies and say, "Ladies, stop this madness right now! Your behavior toward this poor man is totally unacceptable. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. In the good book, it tells us to do onto others as we would want done onto us, which I don't see happening here. I take pity on you all for your disgusting and despicable behavior, and I hope you all burn in hell." Then they would probably divert their action to me, and I would probably go ahead and tap that ass

Before I answer, serious question - could you please elaborate on the term "molested?" Thanks

Didn't you have the Moth Si2A3? I believe that was an integrated stereo amp in addition to having a headphone out. That seems to be a pretty good all-inclusive option for the few users out there. I may end up having Craig build me one so I can use that as the center of my rig, to drive my headphones and a set of cicadas I plan on getting. Other than that, the Cary is probably your best bet.

Tigther and deeper, seemed to have better control and grip of the wooliness of the 650 bass. That might just be a tube vs. solid state thing, but that is what i can recall

The GS-1 is simply a great overall performer that is quite versatile. It was one of the most enjoyable amps I haev reviewed so far, and probably sometime in the future will end up owning one. When I had it here it sounded great with the hd650's. The GS-1's top end is very refined, smooth, and silky, with great bass impact, slam, and depth. The 650's bass can sounda bit wooly but the GS-1 controls it very nicely, making it tight and impactful.

vatos locos forever essay

Unfortunately I could not nor do i think I have a chance getting out of my wedding in july JK august 5th sounds good, i should be able to make it this time

Nope, not at all - and remember the whole point of the batteries is that it sounds better in that particular implementation. Nothing wrong at all with huge capacitors and inductors, but those can color and congest the sound. DC is DC, doesn't get any simpler than that.