Elephas

That's it. But it isn't just a typing speed contest. It is also having something to say or type about. So it's a combination of blabbing + typing speed. In three minutes, I don't think that anyone will have as much to say (typing in Google Talk) about any Head-Case-related topic in terms of sheer text quantity and also speed. The Google Talk transcripts will show what I mean. For every word anyone manages to type out, Icarium will spew out three or more.

I had the unfortunate experience of Google Talking with Icarium once. It was a long time ago, Sept. 2007 I believe. Even now, almost a year later, my fingers are still somewhat numb. Doctors say that they might never fully recover. This being Head-Case, I would like to hold a contest suitable for you. Contest rules: 1. Enter into a Google Talk session versus Icarium by August 8. The session should last for at least three minutes. 2. You may Talk about anything Head-Case-related. 3. The Top 3 winners will be ranked by Icarium based on the amount of challenge he feels they presented to him. I don't expect anyone to actually beat him, so it will be a subjective evaluation. 4. Grand Prize: Slightly used Sony PFR-V1 headphones/torture device. 5. 1st Prize: Telos copper-plated RCA and XLR caps, actual number to be determined. 6. 2nd Prize: black semi-hard case suitable for most Grados, ES7, ESW9. 7. The contest sponser (me) will cover worldwide shipping of the prizes. 8. This contest is obviously based on Icarium's willingness to participate. 9. Contest may be declared null and void anytime for any reason I can think of.

USB is a good option to have, but I don't understand why there is bluetooth. I wouldn't use bluetooth to send music files to a DAC. Phones have larger storage capacities now, but so do other devices. I can't see myself using a phone to play music files through the Chordette Gem. BTW, I'm a DAC64 owner.

Haha, you've found the Supremus Forum. Welcome.

Mikhail is nice and good to talk with on the phone. That's a reason why I was so disappointed with his broken promises. Waiting for the amps was not the big issue for me. It was the lying, the broken promises and the long delays in communications and getting a response. Back in 2007, I was told by several people that the wait could take a long time and I was prepared to wait for a year or more. When I sent the amps to Mikhail, he didn't promise a date of delivery. Then, when I tried to sell the amps in Feb., Mikhail told me that the amps were done and ready to ship. So I sent him money. I trusted him then. I don't think I'll ever trust him fully anymore. BTW, I placed a deposit for a HeadAmp BHSE late in 2007 (I forget which month) and I'm happily still waiting.

Mikhail has promised to bring both the Supra-XLR and ES-1 to the Head-Fi Colorado Meet on July 26. I'm hopeful everyone there can listen to the amps. Thanks purk. I consider you one of my best "head-fi/head-case" buddies. One thing I don't understand is the low quality of the photos. A child could take better photos than that. I don't expect Mikhail to be a master photographer, but I expect someone at Single Power to be able to take decent pics. Hey, whether you know it or not, I consider you my "Single Power buddy" and expect you to help liberate our ES-1 from the dark depths of the evil blackhole in Denver. Given how fast you type in IM chat, I'm sure Mikhail will agree to anything in order to avoid suffering damage to his fingers.

I don't expect anyone to identify the parts and upgrades, or to act or say anything on my behalf. I'm only hoping someone other than Mikhail can take photos of the amps including the interior. It would be "proof" enough for me. At this point, I would trust almost any 3rd party more than Mikhail.

I'm glad you've talked to Mikhail. Although we've never had direct contact, you are one of the people whose posts I most respect and look forward to reading. Actually, there are many people whose posts I respect in this thread, so I am happy to share any info about my situation here. I would also be very appreciative of anything any of you might say to Mikhail that would improve his business practices. As I've explained above, there was never a reason for the ES-1 to be delayed. I'm not the one preventing it from being shipped, Mikhail is, and has been since February. Everything was paid for in February, all the upgrades to both the Supra-XLR and ES-1 plus shipping costs. Mikhail has my address, phone number and email address. What reason could there be for the delay? Unless work on the amp hasn't been completed yet. But that would mean admitting that he lied to me in Feb. about the amps being complete and thereby prevented me from selling the amps. I know, as sure as I a can be, that Mikhail lied to me in Feb. and may still be lying now. He admitted as much in our phone conversation in June. I didn't record it, though, maybe Mikhail did. I just want a resolution soon. I'm not looking for any freebies, extra discounts or anything else from Mikhail that was not agreed upon in February.

Yes, there was and is an unresolved issue regarding one of the amps, the Supra-XLR's front faceplate. In March, while I was expecting the amps to show up in the mail, I asked Mikhail about the functionality of dual volume controls. One of the upgrades was adding a second volume control to the Supra-XLR. Mikhail sent me a photo of the amp on March 27: I was dissatisfied with the way it looked. As part of the upgrades, Mikhail added a second volume control and a second 1/4 headphone output. I thought the result looked unprofessional. We discussed a new front faceplate or replacing the entire chassis. On April 18, Mikhail sent me photos of another Supra with a Maestro chassis, as an example. I was more interested in a new front faceplate. He did not respond and still hasn't given me an answer about this issue. So yes, I do agree with Mikhail that there is an issue about the Supra-XLR that is still pending. I've acknowledged this point to him in our communications, and never expected (or wanted) the Supra-XLR to be shipped as is, without a fix for the faceplate. But there is another amp, an ES-1. There were no unresolved issues with this amp. Along with the Supra-XLR, it was also supposed to have been completed in Feb. I've told Mikhail that I do understand that the Supra-XLR is held up because of the faceplate, but I don't understand why the ES-1 hasn't been shipped. He never gave me an explanation about this. All along, throughout our communications in Feb. through June, Mikhail has been telling me that BOTH amps were fully completed and ready to ship. In June, I didn't want to take his word for it anymore and finally asked for photos of the amps to confirm that all the upgrades were made and that they were BOTH complete and ready to ship. I received these photos on June 20, which I've posted below. In the email accompanying the photos, Mikhail again stated that "the units have been ready for shipment for over three months." I'll let you judge the photos for yourselves. Part of the purpose was to show each specific upgrades and parts, but I did not think that these photos showed all the upgrades and supposedly completed amps (Supra-XLR and ES-1) ready to ship. Last week, I asked Mikhail to bring both amps to the Colorado Head-Fi meet on July 26. I'm hopeful that the people at the meet can examine and listen to the amps. This would prove to me that the amps are working, that the upgrades have been completed, and they are both ready to ship. It would be my fault (which I have never denied to Mikhail), if I was not satisfied with the Supra-XLR's faceplate and requested a change and would continue to wait for a solution. But I would expect the ES-1 to be shipped immediately after the meet. I'm angry and frustrated with Mikhail, but I don't think that he had bad intentions or that he does not intend to fulfill his obligations. But if the amps are not brought to the Colorado meet and the situation continues to drag on, then I might be forced to conclude otherwise. Note: the cover of the ES-1's power supply had scratches; one photo shows the old cover, one photo shows the new cover

Yes, I have. He ignored me. I've asked Mikhail to bring the amps to the Colorado Head-Fi meet on July 26. It would be the first time anyone other than Mikhail lays eyes on them since 2007. He hasn't responded to my request.

Maybe one could argue that technically, I haven't lost money or goods...yet. But I haven't received goods that were promised to me five months ago. How much longer do I wait until it becomes a loss? Mikhail lied to me when I tried to sell my amps in Feb. 2008. He said the upgrades to both amps were completed and they were ready to ship. Instead of selling the amps, I sent him money, and have now been without the amps or the money for 5 months. Is that a loss of money or goods? I think it was definitely dishonesty, not just "bad business practice."

This is the type of info I wasn't aware of back in Aug. and Sept. 2007 when I bought the used Singlepower amps and in Feb. 2008 when I sent money to Mikhail. True, I was told by some people that the wait would likely be a long time. I was prepared to wait a year. I didn't think I would have to do so, because I wasn't waiting for an entire new amp, but some upgrades to existing ones. Now, it looks like a year or more is very probable. But no one ever said, through email, PM or a post on Head-Fi or here, that Mikhail could be dishonest. Maybe this info was already there and I missed it, or only hinted at and not explicitly said. Maybe some previous customers suffered through broken promises but eventually received their amps, so didn't have much incentive to post about being lied to. I never suspected that Mikhail, a supposedly "reputable" "high-end" "trusted" manufacturer, would lie about an amp being ready to ship when in fact it was not, and thereby getting his hands on the customer's money. As far as I know, no other well-known manufacturer on Head-Fi or Head-Case, including HeadRoom, HeadAmp, Meier, RudiStor, Eddie Current, Ray Samuels, etc. and Xin, Darkvoice, Little Dot and others would lie like this. The only one I was aware of being dishonest was Storm Audio. Now, it seems that one is less likely to miss this info. I don't blame anyone but Mikhail and myself for my problems with SinglePower.

Hmm, I don't doubt this is true for you, but I am a bit puzzled because it isn't my experience. Regarding the lack of deep bass, you're not the only one with this complaint, I remember spritzer and audiod having the same issue. Can you list some tracks where the O2Mk2 is lacking deep bass compared to the O2Mk1? For example, Jennifer Warnes' "Way Down Deep" from The Hunter is a track with some deep bass.

That info is actually not very easy to find. I tried some searching a while ago and a lot of it is scattered in small pieces and buried in various places. The SR-007 and SR-007A (or SR-007 Mk2) do sound different. Some people prefer the O2Mk1, some prefer the O2A or O2Mk2. The number of people who have heard both is still not very large, though. Different systems and different amps also affect the sound. I prefer the O2Mk2. But the difference with the O2Mk1 isn't very large. They sound very similar, and are a closer-sounding pair than most any other set of two headphones. The O2Mk2 has a more forward-sounding midrange, more bass quantity, a bit better imaging and a larger headstage. I find the O2Mk2 to be more engaging and involving, and its larger headstage to be a very welcome improvement. I've always thought the O2Mk1's headstage to be small. Even so, the O2Mk2's headstage is still not very large compared to the HE90, R10, Qualia, K701, etc. By headstage, I'm talking about the distinction between headstage and soundstage as defined by darth nut in his long ago review of the O2. Some of the differences could be due to the different earpads. The O2Mk2 also has a port. Others can tell you more about their construction differences. SQ-wise I think both headphones are excellent and owning either one should basically be equally satisfying to most people.

The next person who calls me a constipated elf will definitely see some litigation, after I sit on him and release some pent up internal gases. Nah, just joking. But I do appreciate the sympathy, Master Aardvark. I'm hoping that the participants at the Colorado Head-Fi Meet can listen to and inspect the amps. Not necessarily on my behalf, just informally checking them over like any other amp present. I was considering flying over, but it might not be fair to the meet if I yell and argue with Mikhail for 6 hours and end up smashing a T61p over his head. It's heavy enough, man, my aching baby elephant back. If I need to visit Mikhail personally, I can do that another time.

I thought the OP was somewhat informative, at least now I know not to buy a Razer sound card. For music, I've had good results with an RME HDSP 9632. Its analog outputs are not very good, but digital output to an external DAC works very well.

Some of you may remember that I tried to sell my Supra-XLR and ES-1, that were and still are in Mikhail's possession, back in Feb. 2008. I had been waiting since Aug. and Sept. 2007, and decided to sell them in order to buy other things. I bought the amps used, and the respective sellers should be able to confirm the dates and that they shipped the amps directly to Single Power. Very soon after I posted the FS ad here (not at Head-Fi), Mikhail sent an email to me saying the amps had been completed. I was surprised, because at that time I had not told him the exact upgrades I wanted yet. I was still waiting for him to get back to me with final pricing info. I had the spreadsheet with the list prices and had asked him if there were any discounts and whether the discounts could be larger if more options were chosen. He hadn't responded for a couple of months. I did tell Mikhail a target budget back in Sept. 2007 though, and he said that he had picked and made the upgrades on the amps based on my target budget and other things we had discussed. He also offered discount pricing, which I thought to be reasonably fair. I trusted him, and happily sent him the money in Feb. 2008, totaling US$6600. Before sending the money, I specifically asked if all the work and upgrades had been completed. If nothing had been done yet, which I thought to be the case, I didn't owe Mikhail any money and could sell the amps as they were. Well, I didn't hear from Mikhail again for a long time. I became increasingly anxious and frustrated about being ignored. I was particularly bothered by the fact that I had sent Mikhail the money based on his assurance that all the work was complete and both amps were ready for shipping. In June, I asked Mikhail to take photos of the amps in order to show me that the upgrades had been made and they are complete. He sent me several closeup photos of some parts, most of which were blurry. None of the photos showed an overview of the amps. None showed the entire interior. I could not accept the photos as any kind of evidence. It seemed to me that the out-of-focus and horrible quality of the blurry photos were intended to be just that, blurry photos that were useless. Along with the photos, he stated in the email that the amps had been completed for over three months. It's now mid-July and I still haven't received the amps. Since Feb., in every email and phone call I've exchanged with Mikhail, he has kept on insisting that the amps were complete and ready to be shipped. And I kept on believing his assurances, accepting his apologies, and waiting to no avail. As of right now, Mikhail is still insisting that the amps had been completed "for over three months" and were/are ready to be shipped. I don't believe him and don't trust anything he says anymore. I've asked him to bring the amps to the Head-Fi Colorado Meet on July 26. This way, at least the meet participants can verify that the amps exist and are working. They could open up the amps and take photos of the interior. It has come to the point where I don't even trust Mikhail to actually ship working amps with all the upgrades that were specified. If he ever does ship the amps, I'm afraid to receive either a non-working amp, an amp that has problems and doesn't work right, or an amp without the specified upgrades that I paid for. How has the "Single Power experience" come to this? I haven't heard any Single Power amp, so I can't speak for sound quality. But I'm extremely disappointed with Single Power. I'm also very disappointed with those people who've recommended Single Power and posted positive things while refraining from telling the truth about negative things.

I have a T1W, not the T1S. The Airbow SR-SC1 works well with it. It is a modified SR-404, so I would assume the SR-404 would also work well. The SR-Omega sounds surprisingly good with the T1W. Warm, smooth and pleasant. When I got the T1W, spritzer recommended trying Japanese tubes and I've had good results with them. Remember to bias the tubes.

Lucky for me! I've been listening to the HE90 + Aristaeus with Mullard ECC83 10M Series and Mullard ECL86 tubes. The sound is incredibly liquid and smooth.

Not IME. The Mk2's midbass is stronger than the Mk1's, but it can be a good thing. For example, there are some tracks I've tried where some background instruments are less audible than the Mk2. In those cases, I thought the Mk2 presented a more balanced tonality and made the bass instruments sound more integrated and balanced with the other instruments and the vocals. With the Mk1, I couldn't hear those instruments as clearly.

Somebody send Justin an O2Mk1, quick, to to develop the BHSE with. And an SR-Omega, 4070, HE90 and HE60. Tubes, too. I don't have a lot of tube experience, but the current production tubes I've tried all sounded bad compared to old stock tubes. Someone needs to send Justin some EL34 xf1 and xf2, Telefunken with five crimped plate, Philips metal-base and some Sylvania Fat Boys.

The ZD dress kit consisting of a shiny faceplate, 5 screws (one extra), and two chicken knobs arrived today. Thanks to Craig and to jeffrey for telling me about it.

Hey, besides Rihanna, I'll have you know that I also listen to Nelly Furtado, Madonna, Shakira, Michelle Branch, Hilary Duff... Lindsay Lohan. I've even been known to enjoy some butt wriggling with Tiffany (I Think We're Alone Now), Paula Abdul (Straight Up) and... Milli Vanilli. So there.

I'm also on the list for a BHSE, so maybe I'll eventually find some use for the 3D21 tubes and adapters. Your old ES-1 has also been sitting around.

I would miss your ES-1 too, but I have no idea what I'm missing. At least I have those four 3D21 tubes and adapters to play with and look at. I'm just glad that Fedex package to Hong Kong didn't contain a brick.