hirsch

I posted something about five or ten minutes ago. I wonder if it's still there...Nope. They're in full Big Brother mode.

I posted some 6SL7 impressions when I was tuberolling my EAR HP4 some time ago. It's buried on Head-Fi somewhere.

My condolences. A pet can be a member of the family. We have social mechanisms to help us deal with grief from the loss of a loved human, but not the loss of a loved pet. We're on our own, and the hurt can be great. My cat Smokey died seven years ago this week from heart failure, and I still miss him. He used to have to lick my nose every day when I came home from work. The skin on my nose has almost grown back now. His brother Shadow had a heart attack a few months afterwards, went into partial heart failure, and I got ready to lose him too. Cats generally can live up to about six to nine months after going into heart failure, but Shadow apparently never read any books on veterinary medicine (he's the gray one running around over here to this day, now about 18 years old). Further, the medication he takes for his heart theoretically will damage his kidneys, but he's shown absolutely no sign of kidney disease even after all this time. The vets are still amazed every time he comes in for a checkup. But he's now getting old, even for a cat, and I have no idea how much longer he can keep his string of medical miracles going. It's almost a become a tradition to post this when a loved pet dies: Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... Author unknown...

That is freaking insane, but probably current market value. Last time I was buying 6SN7's, the metal bases tended to run about $250-$300/pr. Now the black bases can run that much, and the metal bases are through the roof. I bought black bases when they were $30-$50 ea. Got a fairly large supply of black bases (also 10-12 metal bases), but can't sell any because I'd never be able to afford to replace them (and I do love the sound of the 6SN7W). Note: I didn't pay market for my tubes. Patience and being in the right place at the right time can do wonders. So can looking at the pictures of unlabeled tube lots on eBay.

I've let Dusty listen to the ES1, but did not exact the pretzel toll. Good thing I saw this, as he may want to hear it again

Actually, the equation would likely be +$||+SQ (|| indicates correlation, IIRC). Since the relationship is not perfect, and actually rather difficult to calculate in the absence of a quantitative method of measuring SQ, r (correlation coefficient) < 1. OTOH, for the relationship +$||+price, I'd expect r=1. Normally, expensive gear does cost more

The older DT-880 always seemed to have a "dry" spot in the midrange that turned me off from the headphone. The 2006 DT-880 seems to have fixed that. The result is a very involving headphone with nice detail. My early impression is that this is a very nice all-around headphone. This headphone could be the first Beyer that I actually buy.

If you read down here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/t-amp_e.html center pin is indeed positive. The reviewer recommends at least 2 amp capacity on the power supply for best sound. Isn't Google wonderful?

The T-amp does not indicate polarity. Check the manual or the website. If it's not there, hope for center pin positive and offer a small prayer...

According to the manual on the Koss site, the amp has a bias voltage of 600 vdc. That's within spitting distance of the 580 vdc on Stax amps.

There is exactly one true high-end headphone still on the market today, IMO. Stax Omega II. As fate would have it, I don't happen to really like that headphone, but I have to acknowledge its quality. I suspect that Audio-Technica is about due for another limited edition headphone, but I don't see where the next true high-end can is coming from. The GS-1000 did not live up to my hopes.. RIP: Stax Lambda Pro (and variants. SR-404, the latest of the line, is a poor substitute for the earlier ones) Stax Sigma Pro Audio Technica L3000 AKG K-1000 Sony MDR-R10 Sony Qualia 010 Grado HP-1000 Grado PS-1 Sennheiser Orpheus Sennheiser Baby Orpheus The current "high end": Sennheiser HD-600 Sennheiser HD-650 AKG-K701 Beyer DT-880 an Audio-Technica of some kind or another I haven't been following. Grado GS-1000 Grado RS-1 Sony MDR-SA5000 and Omega II Which list would you rather pick from? The exception might be the IEM's, which are just coming into their own. The Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro is a stunning achievement, IMO. But I tend to prefer full-sized headphones, so there is still a big void out there. There is some sort of irony that just as headphone audio is coming into its own, the industry has backed away from statement products en masse. The amp builders are getting better and better, but the headphones worth driving are few and far between.

I guess I'll have to take one for the team, and compare them when you get the extra pads.

If Mrs. Thrice sees this, look for the Shure's in the For Sale area. Cheap. The PTH is likely to have sustained damage by accidentally being jumped up and down on. >

Oh, for those halcyon days I've got a two bedroom plus den condo. In it, I've one 7.1 channel HT rig, three two-channel speaker rigs (four if you count the T-Amp + Optimus speaker rig in the bathroom), and four main headphone rigs. (I'm not counting the computer rigs with speakers). Then there's the stuff that's not in a system right now, and the transportable rigs...

I can't remember what I voted. However, I think a good touch would be to give all members the ability to unlock any thread if they felt the need to add a comment. If that were in place, I'd be all for giving everyone the ability to lock their own threads. Otherwise, leave 'em open.

When can I come over and hear it?

If you want a modded Denon, $1600 gets you this: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1156166988. If that's not good enough, spend some cash and get this: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtltran&1154222146 I love what John Tucker did with the Denon 2900. It's my best player, and easily beats the G08 or Wadia 301 in A/B comparison. This player can made a Wadia sound sluggish However, you really need pinch-waist E180CC/7062's to maximize the sound.

This is a prototype. Grado has not yet decided whether or not to put it into production.

I'm still not sure if I've heard the headphone that I listened to at the National Meet. At that meet, I tried driving the GS1000 with my modded EMP rig. No love, there was not enough gain (rig was fine with L3000 that normally lives there). Fine, not a problem. However, production version runs out of that rig with no efficiency issues at all. I have no idea what's up with this. If I had to guess, I'd have to say that the production version is more efficient than the prototype...but why? I've got no clue at all. In any event, I've gotten close, but never recaptured what I heard at the National Meet. So, the GS1000 is going back to Todd. This is not a knock, just my feelings at this time. I actually did the same thing with the first RS-1 I bought, and now keep two around. However, I'm going to need a way to get the midrange out of that headphone, while keeping the highs and lows intact. Relative to almost any other of my headphones, the midrange sounds thin at my listening volume. Staging is very nice, and if you're not a midrange freak, this could be magic. However, to my ears, the mids are where most of the music lives, and if that's not right, I can't get no (satisfaction). There's just not the right sense of "palpability", for lack of a better word. Instruments aren't real to me through the GS1000. Until that issue is resolved, it hasn't really found a place in my rig. PS-1 is still the King Grado, IMO.

IC: Grado HF-1 #79, perfect condition in box, send me your offers...(Note: paying me enough money will disqualify you from bitching about not getting an HF-1). I'd normally put this in a Gear for Sale area, but this thread was begging for it

I haven't upped the voltage of my single-ended SDS, but am able to run 6BL7GT's just fine on the outputs. However, Mikhail altered the bias so that the tubes are being pushed hard. Also, I use an adapter to put a 5687 in the driver position. This seems to bring out the low end of the R10 a bit better than 6SN7's with no loss of detail or space that I can hear.

The Headroom MicroAmp with Desktop module is a bit larger than the SR-71, but will drive anything I can throw at it. IMO it's also a better sounding amp. The new Headroom modules may make it even better. Battery charge life is pretty short (6-8 hours) with the Desktop module, but you can opt for the Micro module that increases battery charge life at a small cost in sound quality.

Don't forget the 6BL7GT or 6BL7GTA. The Sylvania 6BL7GT is very nice as output, with Tung Sol 5687 as driver (using adapter). 6BL7GTA and 6BX7GT will both have higher current output than the 6BL7GT, but will also put more demand on the heater power supply. Mikhail has been experimenting, and can probably tell you which (if any) amps might need to be beefed up to handle the higher current output tubes.

OK folks, I just bought a dozen spares, but this guy has plenty: http://cgi.ebay.com/88x-Tube-6FQ7-6CG7-RAYTHEON-JAPAN-NIB-5-8-Each-Tube_W0QQitemZ5873841025QQcategoryZ50598QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I believe the actual manufacturer of these tubes is Toshiba. In my 007t, these outperform anything else I've tried. At a whopping $5.80 per tube, knock yourselves out. There are actually cheaper ones on eBay, but this guy has enough to make quads, and is a reputable seller (I've bought from him several times in the past, but have no other affiliation with him or this auction). If you know how to bias the amp, you should try these. If you don't, bias instructions are posted on Head-Fi. These sound good in the 006t also

New meaning is given to the phrase: "Can't find his ass with both hands".