Torpedo

I mostly agree with swt61. I'd just add that you need the VTA adjustment ring to make that Rega really compatible with that cart -or any other being a bit VTA finicky-, and making sure the Hagerman, which I've never tried, has at about 70dB gain or in the worst case 65dB at its MC input. The DL-103 has a low output and requires quite some gain and a very low noise level to shine as it can.

He said dynamic hahahaha, you edited your post while I was writing my reply

Apart from the HD600 which are more affordable? Probably none. From an objectively measured performance point of view, they're quite irreproachable. But considering personal taste... we could start a debate hahahaha

It'd be great you listened to the W3 on your big source and amp, just to be sure the Cowon or the Kenwood are as a good source as you're assuming. Not that I think they're not, I don't know since I never listened to any of both, but for all the things I've been reading about them, I'd be cautious in the least. DAPs sounding more than acceptable on average phones, really suck once you plug them into a good amp and you use resolving and well balanced cans. Maybe your W3s are defective, or maybe they happen to sound just like that. In any case I agree with you, most IEM suck when compared to serious phones and it's all a matter of personal preference to like some better than others for a portable use. I wouldn't expect the W3 to sound like the O2, L3000, PS-1 or not even the HD6xx no matter how good is your source and amp, but who knows, maybe they're more revealing than we would need for a portable use.

Common guys, I don't think you all need to make this that personal. I haven't listened to the W3 so far, so I don't have an opinion worth a s*** about them, but I can understand both points of view about their sound. This has happened before with many phones. For some what's balanced and mainly right, it's colored and unbearable for other/s and nobody is right or wrong, is just a matter of personal preference. To me the only truth to know what's balanced and what's not is a response graph properly made, then you can guess how you interpret what you're hearing and say if you like it or not. I'm sure HA is honest and makes his reviews expressing his opinion as he feels it, and there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe he could be less assertive and could leave more room for doubt, but this could also be said of many other people including myself. Nevertheless I can be in disagreement with many of his opinions, but still I try to respect them, and above all the man writing them. Call me naive if you want to, but I see no need to start a flame war, and getting too personal, just for how one perceives the sound of a pair of damn phones worth USD300.

Come on mate, if your transducer just can convert into sound 60% of the energy that reaches it spending 2ms in doing so, and you're trying to fake the response of a phone capable of converting 80% in just 1ms, it's impossible you can match that no matter how hard you try. It's like pretending to match the acceleration of a 2 strokes engine by overloading a 4 strokes one.

I'm not trusting that e-mail at all, looks like a fake thing just to grab some attention to the OP. Were it true, and knowing what did Sennheiser to go from HD600 to HD650, I'm not that excited, not sure about the direction they decided to go. However, were it a real improvement over the HD650/600, they'd be very interesting indeed.

I'm sure you'll have a helluva fun playing with that toy, but there are physical limitations that the device cannot overcome. Had you measured yourself several cans and had you seen their different responses, then you'd be as sure as I am that some things can't be "recreated" by software. Yet another whole story is that you can hear that and that you're able to tell the difference between the real thing and the recreation, which I can understand most people won't tell, maybe even myself hahaha. Keep us posted on your findings, it will be a nice read

The issue because I believe it won't work is that no matter how much you try to make an impulse response fast by software/hardware if the phones cannot match it. The same goes for intrinsic driver distortion pattern, it will add its signature over the one you're faking using that device.

Kind of not. There's no way you can mimic by EQ, reverb, delaying, phase changing, etc the distortion pattern, impulse response, sensitivity, energy storage and many other features of a pair of cans to make them sound like anything else. There's much more to transducers own sound than frequency response. However I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun trying

Catscratch, have you tried the W3 from a good CD/DAC source and amp? Your comment leaves to me some questions about being the problem on the Cowon more than on the own phones. It could be that the phones are just too revealing to the source as to be used on a "regular portable rig" basis.

Yep, I always like reading comments which include a good deal of objectivity. It's not that I like the moronic newbie review dissecting sound in parts and trying to make statements of individual performance aspects, but clever observations of how objective pros and cons manage to produce a result, are the most informative. I tend not to believe a word when a review is completely raving, nor when it declares as pure crap something that for its maker, building quality and design objectives (if any) should have some good points in the worst case.

I don't know how it works in the USA, but I know a bit how it works in Spain, so maybe it's a similar case. When sending a product to a foreign manufacturer for repair, you need to fill a "temporary export" form, stating the product, real value, serial number... even you need the actual proof of purchase, so they know you already paid the import duties. This saves the manufacturer paying import fees to have the product into his own country, but more importantly, will save you the import fees when the repaired product is sent back to you. I think your friend should ask to your Customs Offices. BTW, Fedex, UPS, etc don't provide this service -looks like they love charging you to pass Customs every time the product crosses borders- so to send the product using the temporary export condition, he'd need to check the carrier to know if they provide the service.

Had you the chance, try the Merlin TSM-xx they're very nice monitors. They produce one of the best mid-bass range I know of on any speaker, which extends to a rather natural midrange. Treble is smooth, nicely extended and blends well with the midrange. They're not resolution or detail monsters, but as most monitors, they image quite well once you use adequate stands and spend some time to place them well into the room. They're IMHO above the candidates you're considering, but perhaps for the Harbeths, which have their own set of properties. I find voices more natural in the TSM than in the Harbeths, which to my ears have a slight nasal tonality in the midrange. However this could be for room issues, I didn't try them in my own room. The TSMs have the advantage of being a closed enclosure design, their bass rolls off more smoothly than on ported ones, so subjectively, seem to get lower than they really do, but not causing much troubles in smallish to midsized room. Their 40Hz is quite audible, but where they shine is in the 80-200Hz range, you'll be amazed for the timbre they can reproduce for acoustic basses, guitars, male voices.... They love "neutral" tubes, but I guess they'll sing quite well with your CA amp.

I don't think GPH meant to say that 95% of experienced reviewers share his preferences, just that when you try to write about some headphones performance keeping observations objective, then impresions get much closer. One thing is what you hear assessing "sounds" which allow you to be quite objective, and another very different one is what you think about those sounds placed together reproducing music, and how you feel about them.

Come on guys, depending on the comparison terms, up to certain extent I can agree with Deepak. I find the HD600 properly amped more balanced and interesting than the 650, which for their enhanced bass always sound to me kind of "average", perhaps not mediocre, but not much more than that. Definitely not "world class" to my ears.

Not for what Tim told me when I contacted him asking that and some more questions. His own words were: "if you want an amplifier to drive balanced headphones, look elsewhere" Not a very friendly guy, however his stuff sounds great IMO.

The hum doesn't come from the "TV frequency" just from the dialing circuits. I ignore the reason, but this is a common problem when plugging receivers, no matter how expensive, into serious audio systems. Sometimes removing the TV antenna connection the hum gets better or disappears, but looks like tkam tried that already.

I'm afraid that despite all your efforts, the receiver will keep humming. Most of those devices using TV reception circuits hum like mad, and IMHO they should stay away from a serious audio system.

I agree with Ken, wait a few days more and let Mike to check it.

Let me know when you're ready, "we" could build the ultimate cost no object balanced β-22 hehehe. Again, Vicki, you lucky... Despite the amp not being yours, you have to post some comments.

Very nice Vicki, you lucky squirrel I asked for one of those 230v capable, but looks like it will never be produced, unless your name is Krmathis Let us know how it handles the R10, I'm specially interested in that combo, and your thoughts compared to your tube amps, which I suppose are optimized for them.

Have a good one!

CJ, you're receiving good advice mate, specially considering you're new to the tubes world. What you're feeling is a problem that needs some manufacturer's fixing, could just be normal issues which you just would need to accept as a trade off for the source you're using, or for some old/underperforming tubes. Just give it a think