Voltron

My family is French too, but this piece of merde was from France, like Air is.

Apparently I missed this one, V. Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette, to be exact. Truly one of the best shows I have been to see, and in the top 5 jazz shows for sure. I'm looking for the envy smiley because I really want to see Bob Mould, although I am not sure what the gay discoteque thingy is all about...

Good, non-noobish impressions Indra. Completely consistent with the only other people I know and trust who have heard them. Oh, and I really like that Talkie Walkie album by Air. One of the few things worthwhile I learned about form a deadbeat French boyfriend of my niece.

Yeah, to be specific, Vincent, I have an SRM-1, Mk 2 Pro and it is a good match.

I agree that the stock K701 is boring and flat, but my black dragon balanced K701s out of my SDS-XLR surprised a lot of people at MOA. It really can sound pretty great, have more body and life, and certainly can have a bottom end worth listening to. And mine have not even hit the 7300 hour burn-in mark! All that said, the HD600/650 with a nice Equinox cable will out-perform it in my opinion.

The only ones on your list I have not owned -- or even heard to my memory -- are the MS-Pros. I mostly agree with aerius in that the SA5000 sounds pretty bad compared to even decent high-end cans. They are tizzy and lack weight, though very comfortable. The RS-1 is a beautiful headphone in all respects, but not the most comfortable. Very light but they sit on your ears just like all the other Grados besides GS-1K. The MS-Pro apparently smooths them out a little but I don't really need that. I like my brown leather beauties the way they are. The AD2000 is another can I still own and really like. Warm but still detailed, very comfortable, and very open, on the open-can scale. I use them at work because I can still hear the phone. Really good deal imo. K601 I had and sold, but they are a nice can. I like the look much more than K701s, which I still own (x2 actually, s/e and black dragon balanced). They are darker and maybe warmer than the 701s and the problem is that their resolution isn't very high. At maybe similar price points, I would go with AD2K. Cheers.

45 RPM Analogue Productions/Acoustic Sounds Re-issues

All good things. Actually, it is closest to Magnolia's nicer sister spot Alembic.

Get one of these from Todd before you come out, and you can take a shit-load of vinyl home with you. Aomeba alone has hundreds of used records I would buy at any given moment.

Never!

Sweet selection, there Mikey!

Check craigslist for better prices.

Here is how Ultrasone describes the HFI-700: "Character These superior headphones are developed from the studio sector and are distinguished by a frequency response especially tuned for DVD. Sophisticated home cineasts and music enthusiasts are overwhelmed by the extraordinary sound that appears as though you are listening to speakers meters away from your head. Also demanding PC gamers appreciate the HFI-700 because of the impressing three-dimensional sound effects. The low frequency ranges are being risen in order to reach the highest possible synergies towards DSP-Systems like DOLBY HEADPHONE

Aeron

I didn't know Todd was announcing it yet! I dig the look for the most part, and think it is well thought-out. I really want to hear this thing! Very curious and looking forward to CanJam to do that.

You know, I thought your earlier post said Laurence/ldj325 liked the s/e better but I looked back and I read it wrong. In fact, the last I heard Laurence loved his balanced Ed.9s so that is more consistent with my memory anyway. He actually got the deal of the century on that rig because Rudi simply did not want to lug it back to Italy after the San Jose meet. Very interesting about the HFI line, and I bet not that well known on Head Fi. It could make some sense of the way that sound is tipped up and not particularly suited to critical music listening. Thanks for pointing that out. Lastly, the RPX-33 is s/e only both in and out, and is a dual mono topology according to Rudi. It has a pre-amp out, I believe. The RPX-100 is quad mono ("dual mono balanced using four separate amplifiers") and has 2 s/e input, 1 balanced input, high and low ohm s/e headphone outs, balanced headphone out, and pre-amp outputs in both s/e and balanced. The NX-33 is also a balanced option, but it is more limited and I do not think it has the same basic topology as the RPX-33.

Your system is killer with 650s and other cans, Vicki, and for the money it is a knock-out. I am hoping to spend a little time with another Extreme Platinum before CJ08 to try and hear the difference your Special Edition (as if it could be repeated, lol) makes. I am curious about these 780s simply because of the divergent reviews, and wonder if Ken's Jena wire can really make a difference in what you heard. If Blossoms got it right, you were not the only one to think they were bad at that mini-meet, right? Not to put words in other peoples' mouths but I thought he said another long-time HF'er thought they were shrill and painful sounding. Then again Ken Ball likes them and slwiser likes them and I believe there are others who make the "nearly Ed.9" comparison. I don't buy it, but haven't heard them yet.

I tried to edit the post above and instead of hitting modify I must have hit quote so I ended up with a pointless post. Sad kitty seemed appropriate atm. Maybe I should have done or instead although it was my own screw-up.

First of all, hello Indra and welcome to Head-Case! I would say that there is a big difference in sound signature/presentation between the 2500 and 750, so that assumption seems wrong to me. And from something that I admittedly heard second or third-hand, the 780 isn't really an Ed.9, Jr. I thought Vicki was able to hear them in comparison, so maybe she will pipe up unless I am mis-remembering. [i just found her comments in this thread, so there you go.] If that is correct, then it would not seem like a good move from 750 even as an interim to the Ed.9. Given that I own balanced Ed.9s, I would also disagree with the comment that they do not improve over the s/e version. I had my stock cable re-terminated with XLRs, and even that was a big change. It has more controlled and better defined bass and the high end gets more room to shine that way. At the MOA meet, a number of people commented that the balanced 9s on my SDS-XLR were the best they had heard those cans. Just this past Sunday I was at Mikeymad's with JP#s for a few hours and we had Mikey's Rudistor RP100 and RSA Apache. The 9s sounded extremely good on the Rudi amp and really mated as well as Rudi and Ultrasone have made out. That is a very nice match. The 9s did not sound as good on the Apache. Just didn't drive them quite right, and I tried all 3 gain settings. JP and Mikey both commented on how much better the 9s sounded than other times they heard them, and in JP's case owned them. Interestingly, we found exactly the opposite synergy with balanced Equinox HD650s. They were muddy and dull on the Rudi and great on the Apache. Ray clearly voices for his favorite, the HD600, so that is not surprising. If you have a balanced amp, re-terminating is a great option for the Ed.9, IMO. I am considering a re-cable at some point but I have not heard much one way or the other on whether it is a good change or who has done what.

I'm no authority Vincent, but the Lambda Signatures with and SRM-1 or better yet a 006t or 007t is a great combo. I bought a Lambda Pro, the SRM-1 and the ED-1 "equalizer" for $1000 or 1100.

Maybe asshat, jr. wasn't making it all up about how many times they screwed up... Actually, sorry about that, Real Nate. It would seem best to just get your cash back and let him haggle with UPS -- his problem, not yours.

Today I bought: Kathleen Edwards -- Asking For Flowers Keith Jarrett Trio -- Setting Standards (3 CD set) Goldfrapp -- Seventh Tree Deluxe Ed. Antonio Carlos Jobim -- Jobim's Finest Hour Flogging Molly -- Float :prettyprincess: :prettyprincess: