Icarium

I've heard Wilson requires quite a bit of volume to sound well. And yes that's where his bed/desk/computer/dresser is located too. The walls I doubt are all that good. He says he can't go all out at night because of his neighbors. Oh and a TV/stand.

Yeah again I stress get only what works with your room. Dwldlgh on head-fi who has had every high end headphone system including SR-Omega/HE90x2/4x L3000/2x K1000/Qualias moved on to Wilson Watt 5.1 watt puppies in a 12'x14' bedroom... in an apartment building. Last I heard it was on some shitty Korean integrated amp sourced by something that might have been computer based or something crappier. Though he didn't tell me about this development: Nordost Valhalla XLR IC Nordost Valhalla Speaker Cable Virtual Dynamics Genesis 1.0 Speaker Cable So I have to assume that maybe he's stepped it up in pre-amp/amp and source since he has also stopped looking for a EMM labs SE stack. But still.... 12' by 14' room....

Shrug. Sell if you are only sure you won't regret it. I remember when I got my own M-Audio LX4s (Probably inferior to your monitors). I didn't listen to headphones for a week either. They already are exhibiting some weirdness. I don't think they are built to last a long time. Of course anything you buy with the cash from the sale of your system will probably buy something to last. Now I exclusively use my monitors for movies/tv shows and anime. But I am a weird case. I am a headphone guy. I have heard a lot of pretty upscale speaker set ups (Sleestack's three set ups. Top of the line Green Mountain Audio Rig. Alex Peychev's set up that APL hifi stuff is voiced on. And a few more in the 20-50k range in good rooms.) Shit sounds good but I don't think I will ever stray far from headphones. But I don't go for the concert hall feel which speakers will undoubtedly excel at even over K1k/Sennheisers. That being said I am going to pick up at least some Green Mountain Audio monitors and possibly some super hemps if JP1101 makes his case well when I visit him. Nothing over the top though until I have a room that can justify it. Luckily I don't need much of a room to justify my 5 figure headphone set up(s).

I'm not made out of money ;p So its easier to stomach 50 extra bucks.

It was a tough choice. Silver plating over pure copper pins versus Rhodium over phosphor'd bronze. In the end I figured the Rhodium might matter more than the bronze and I think I was going to go with a solder connection rather than screws which [AK]Zip told me had to be removed or disabled to do soldering with the Xhadow. Screws I figured might gouge through the wire over time. Removing screws sounded like to solder we were somewhat leaving the designed usage... which in my mind means potential for unreliability.... Yes everything I said factored into the decision... but 90 percent of why I went Furutech? Because it's more expensive and I like wasting money. If I am getting ridiculously expensive connectors that probably won't even noticeably influence the sound... why not go all the way for like 40-50 bucks more. Plus Elephas was doing it too!

Yeah. I figured it was original packaging that AK[Zip] included. Or he made it himself just for the connectors which wouldn't surprise me either. Either way great packaging. Yeah the connectors weren't cheap. It was a tough decision for me between those and the Xhadow. But I think I made the right choice. Definitely can't have it on the L3000 and not the R10 :/

Yeah. I've had an ES-1/HE90 rig. A decent L3000 set up. My w5000 rig at work is decent. I've heard what I consider to be the best K1000 rig. Lots of other stuff. But I do love my Qualia rig. There isn't much information about the headband itself. It is somewhat of a custom product... I have a lot of pics/discuss it in my rig thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=260609&highlight=qualia+rig My only major complaint is while the solid milled aluminum is nice... it is kind of heavy and drags the headphone off your head if you try and listen to it in a supine position. I'd suggest Carbon Fiber or something else instead. I mentioned this to Mikhail. The weight I suspect also prevents optimal clamping on your ears. Mind you it does clamp and grips your head. But it isn't quite the perfect grip I get with my Medium Sized stock headbanded Qualias that fit me perfectly. The clamp job you get from the headband is as perfect as one can get though (Unless one goes with Carbon Fiber perhaps) if they can't get a perfect fit with any of the stock headbands. Only other worry is the aluminum rods seem to get gripped less and less by the springs over time. Very slowly, but noticeable I believe. I think this can be recalibrated and Mikhail will show me how next time we meet. Overall its a very sick design. $1500 dollars sick? I don't know. But getting paid 300 dollars essentially to take ownership of it is fine by me.

These Furutech connectors are so badass. I thought the housing was plastic but nope its sexy, sexy metal.

I kind of want that pint if you interested in selling.

It's too bad about the fit. Mikhail of Singlepower now offers an adjustable headband for the Qualias which is pretty nice though very expensive (Probably more than 99.5 percent of all people would want to pay, but I essentially got paid 300 dollars to take it off someone's hands so I did even though medium size fits me perfectly) at $1500 dollars. My friend is using it right now and he says it fits his head better than any other full sized headphone he's ever tried.

I heard out of my Rudistor RP010 and the Yamamoto HA-02 and Mikhail's gigantor (The Maestro chassises are like 2x bigger than normal Maestro chassises) SDS-XLR and it sounded practically the same out of all 3 amps. It didn't scale up at alllll. Squashed together. It might not have been fully burned in since it was probably the first appearance of the d5000 at a meet (The national in Cali), but even if it unmuddled I doubt it would have been amazing.

We all know the CEO and Chairman of AudioTechnica has a gigantic vault filled with L3000 drivers that he swims in like Scrouge and his money.

Yeah. I am not overly impressed by those headphones either.. muddled/squashed together sounding and they scale poorly.

You have/had a 010? Pfft. That should be enough ;p I am becoming more and more convinced (New 010 V3 [AK]Zip cable with the Rhodium Furutech XLRs, cheers Elephas ) that the 010 is my optimal headphone... I sent out my adjustable headband pair to asebastian and guy likes the bass better than the L3000 bass ;p (Though personally I still like the L3000 bass for that closed reverb quality which is nice), but that crazy validates my opinion that 010 bass is nothing to sneeze at. Alan's self-admitted basshead too! He also says with the headband it fits his head better than any other over ear headphone! Need another pair in blue! Looking more and more like the R10s will eventually go on the chopping block... though giving up that midrange (The only weak point in the Qualia) is tough. Geh.

I dunno I'd really suggest the HD600/650 still... headphones still scale like motherfuckers. Nothing else really touches them.

mini^3/pint (If you can find the boards/find someone to make you one) smokes the hornet hard. Pico's amp and ae-2 should as well though I am not nearly as familiar with either.

Wait til you hear them out of the ES-1 with the tubes I sent you. (Well I'd suggest Sylvania VT231 6SN7s in the midstage). Even Mikhail was surprised at how good that combo sound though he had said he had heard it in the past but he kept listening to it and struggling to remember if it had really been that good. LDJ said it was the best sounding headphone set up he'd ever heard preiod.

I dont think you'll be disappointed. Can't say I'm not jealous

Eh Hawaii. Not that cool really, but it was cheap so more money to spend on audio gear.

I handed my pair and SDS off to foo_me to enjoy while im on vacation.

I haven't put on Qualias at all this week. Been R10ing it up. Probably tomorrow or after I get back from my vacation. I'll do some more detailed shoot offs. It won't really be optimal though since while Qualias sound good with the SDS they really shine on the SS-1. The R10s really sound only so so on the SS-1 but really are amazing with the SDS. Not to mention single ended versus balanced though I do have an adapter.. geh. Keep in mind its not because I don't miss the Qualias.. I do.. I just want to get the R10 sound ingrained in me asap.

Telling you. I'm Black Magic! Planet Alignment + Chicken sacrificing hoodoo!

Hrm If you replied before or after. What a hell? Icarium's last post isn't showing up on the thread for me, though it's I can see it if I try to reply to the thread. and Insert Quote Icarium, can you see the reply? Then no. I also don't see my own post except in the reply mode.

Weird. I am steeped in the black magic.

My SDS is so goddamn clean sounding with the tubes I have in right now. Definitely as clear as the Zana Deux which is the other really clear tube amp I've heard, if not cleaner.