HeadphoneAddict

The 8 watt ZDT sounds very nice with Blutarsky's Fostex horns. It's also a definite step up from my maxed WA6 (wider deeper soundstage, better instrument separation, moar power). I had the prototype WA22 for 2 weeks before our Colorado meet, and while the ZDT and WA22 performed similarly with a variety of Grados (RS1, HF-2) and Sennheisers (HD600/800), the ZDT performed better than the WA22 with modded Denon D2000/7000, ATH-A900 and K1000. This was with the PS Audio DLIII feeding the WA22 balanced and the ZDT single ended. The ZDT also sounds nice driving my SRD-7 Pro + HE60 or Jade, but not as good with the O2 Mk1 (duller and less detailed than my GES, darker). I still have to do some tube rolling with some new 5751's that I recently bought (GE black plate, tung sol).

Here, use this one:

This is basically the same 15 foot extension I bought from heels-6 last year (Jan 08 ): Ultimate Headphone Extension 1/4" TRS Cable - 15 foot - eBay (item 380147151946 end time Sep-06-09 20:29:13 PDT) The cable still looks new 18 months later.

ROFLMAO!

I've also bought a 15 foot headphone extension from heels-6 and he is a good seller, and the ext cable does not seem to degrade the sound either.

Well, with D2000 the Pico is going to be more detailed and spacious and still have great power for the low impedance phones, this is regardless of whether you use the built-in DAC or not. The Pico's DAC is one of the best USB DAC for under $700, and you can successfully use the Pico DAC/amp as a DAC/preamp to feed a desktop amp later and still sound excellent (I used mine for a year to feed my Woo GES). But the EF2 for 40% of the cost of the Pico is still pretty darn good, and is more powerful for the HD600 if you ever get a pair of those too. The EF2 is also warmer sounding, so you have to decide if you would take a less detailed but very musical sound over superior definition and soundstage for 2.5x the cost. All of this is with using a re-cabled woodied D2000 on them, and I can't say which is better for a stock D2000. I might guess the EF2 would fill in the mids a little better on a stock D2000 if you upgrade the stock tubes (my Raytheon 6AK5 have fuller richer mids).

Well, it's better than an iPod or Macbook headphone out...

I agree regarding O2 vs HE60/HD6X0, but fortunately the HD800 soundstage is not as blurred or diffuse.

Well, everything was in separate rigs but there is a comparison I think I can make. First off, the Cullen PSA DLIII wasn't mine, but I think it was Elluzion's (Doug). At the recent meet 2 weeks ago I thought the Cullen > HR Balanced Desktop > balanced HD600 was better than my Apogee mini-DAC > Sq Wave XL > balanced HD600. But in a previous meet that same Headroom amp was fed directly by the Music Hall 25.2, and at that time I felt that my Apogee > Sq Wave XL > balanced HD600 beat his rig. So, I have to attribute the improvement in his rig over mine this time to his new Cullen modded DAC, which he didn't have last time. I felt that now his rig had better space, definition, energy and slam with the Cullen PSA DLIII in the loop. In contrast, my stock PSA DLIII was feeding my new EC ZDT and I guess my amp more than made up for things, as I thought my rig sounded just as good or better. But, the rigs were not close to each other and we didn't get to do a direct comparison, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

The stock D7000 sounded very similar to a D2000 with APS V2 cable and no other mods. We compared the two at the 11/08 Colorado meet and I think everyone was in agreement that they sounded similar and that both have somewhat recessed mids, but with better bass control than a stock D5000/D2000. We also felt the APS V2 D2000 had a little more treble extension than the D7000. So the re-cabled D2000 are not such a bad deal, but they still have the recessed mids and lower treble, and they can sound dark after listening to an HD600 or Stax and then switching over to the Denon. Both headphones improve noticeably in the mids with the addition of wood cups and stuffed ear pads. At that point my D2000 sounded good enough that I could sell my APS V3 Edition 9 to help pay for my EC ZDT amp, and still have a decent closed can for night time listening. Of course now I am selling the D2000 to help fund my new LA7000...

That is nuts - now if it were a cassette to ipod adapter for a car or something then I would be impressed.

I have now heard both the Cullen Stage IV PSA DLIII (with a headroom balanced desktop) and my stock PSA DLIII (with my ZDT and WA6), and I think both are "good enough" for me. I can't say how much better if any the modded one is because it was too much trouble to try to hook both DACs up with the same source and amp and switch between them at the recent meet 2 weekends ago, but I didn't hear anyone complain one bit about my stock one. I have to say that I am very happy with it.

Did you try mine out?

Smeggy, can you tell me what the primary differences were between your current K1000 and the ones that you sold which I now own (#1378 )? Thanks!

Of the ones you mentioned, the CTH is the only one I have heard, but it was very nice and sounding above it's price. It did well with Grado, Denon and Sennheiser, with enough power to drive my 120ohm SFI orthos as well. It seemed to be similar to my EF1 and my son's Millett SSH, depending on the tubes (I liked the Mullard). I currently have an EF2 tube hybrid which sounds very similar to the EF1 in a side by side comparison, therefore I suspect the EF2 will be similar to the CTH as well. I mention the EF2 because it also has a decent Burr Brown Japan PCM2702E USB DAC included, for under $200. The EF2 however cannot drive a 4-8 ohm Head-direct orthodynamic prototype like the EF1 could (at CanJam). Still, I am pretty sure if you go with the CTH you will not be disappointed.

You wouldn't need one of those if you would simply retract the awning before you drive away.

I'm sad that it wouldn't be for me, but I'd go along with it for him regardless. I still plan to use my BH PCB for my own someday, but I don't have the rest of the parts and have no clue how to read a schematic.

Sherwood, were you as impressed with the SR-404 limited anniversary edition with leather earpads at the recent meet as I was? They sounded quite good on the GES, with very little etch if any.

I would try the "Press and hold the home and sleep button together" without plugging it in, but holding those keys until the unit totally reboots, which is after the power-off slider comes and goes and the white apple screen comes up. Once the white apple screen comes up I would let go of the buttons and let it complete it's reboot. After that it should be back to normal, without needing the computer. (crosses fingers)

I get the same impressions as Deepak when running my K1000 off my EC ZDT and my O2 Mk1 off my GES - I think the O2 on my GES are simply better in many ways than the K1000 with my best dynamic amp. As an FYI - I traded my first pair of O2 Mk1 for my K1000, but then ended up buying Naamanf's O2 Mk1 after I discovered the K1000 are harder to match with the right amp than the O2 have been. My new ZDT does a better job driving the K1000 than any other amp I have owned, but I seem to recall Naamanf's K1000 sounded better with his Beta 22 (don't know if the difference is his K1000 or his amp). But still, I even prefer my HD800 off the ZDT more than the K1000, although I still enjoy the K1000 (they are just not as good to me). Craig did tell me to buy a Balancing Act with 300B if I wanted to drive the K1000, but I also wanted the 8-watt speaker out for a Stax SRD-7Pro so that I could listen to stats in my dynamic rig in a different room from my GES. That SRD-7 pro works much better for the Jade and HE60 than the O2 Mk1. I have a harder time picking my first and second place out of the HD800/ZDT vs O2/GES, where I like the extra dynamics and openness of the HD800/ZDT and the refinement and smoothness of the O2/GES.

My wood cups are mahogany with a disc of dynamat on the inside.

Makes me wish that I hadn't traded my SR-325i for a pair of ATH-AD2000 that I eventually sold as well. (in the end, my RS-1 and HD600 beat out those other two)

That room isn't small, it's just the speakers are so huge!

I keep my K1000 and woodied D2000 in a pair of these same cases, so earlier today I ordered two more so I would have one each for my HE60 and HD800.

I forgot to mention, mine are balanced, and they do like an amp with good current reserves.