wavoman

Catch the two turntable scenes! It's a Gammon Transcriptor Hydraulic Reference (these were also made by JA Michell, but the one in the movie was purchased by Kubrick himself from the elder Gammon). Nikongod (Ari) is restoring mine as I write this. I bought it new in the 60's.

Our usual date (last Saturday in July -- 10 a.m. to way past dinner), at the usual place: Ramada Inn & Conference Center I figure all the Jersey Boys know about this already, but what the hell. We let New Yawkers in as long as they've had their shots. Big room this year -- the hotel doubled the friggen' fee, so buy stuff at the auction (or buy raffle tickets, whichever we end up doing). Hey, my wife left her D2000s (Lawton 2000s, full markl plus wood) by the computer, so I'm listening to them as I type this. I forgot how good they are. Mark L. is a genius! Looks great too -- I mean the headphones, I have no idea how Mr. Lawton looks. Back to the meet. If you can drive here, do it. You won't be disappointed!

Microphone XLR cables are 80 ohms. AES-EBU Digital XLR cables are 110 ohms. Both will work for balanced analog audio I suppose, but Blue Jeans Cable and River Cable (two I just checked) both use 110 ohm cables for their balanced analog audio offerings.

Could you elaborate on the EQ settings you use (to compensate for the mastering)? I have a pro dbx EQ box but I hadn't considered injecting it into the balanced chain between my CDP and my KGSS (which I use with O2 007a's/Spritzer mod). Interesting idea.

Well that explains it. Probably everything: the HE60s and the 600/880s must have slight peaks there, and the 007 none. Or else the HE60s and 600/880s are flat and the 007 rolls off, as I first thought. Stereophile has made a big deal lately of freq resp graphs for HPs, but I didn't think such huge standout peaks or valleys would exist and be so audible -- this tape hiss sound is so clear on the Grado and just not there on the Stax.

Question on highs: I have Spritzer-modded (by Spritzer) 007a's driven by a KGSS. I take a good CD, JVC xrcd re-master from 1957 master tape (Dvorak's New World, Reiner, Chicago -- very well known recording). On my dynamic rig (GS-1000s modded by Grado Labs, balanced using Stefan AudioArt Equinox, driven by fully balanced 4-channel Beta 22 built by Ying at YBM Audio with top components) you can clearly hear the tape hiss (in general I don't hear highs so great since I'm 60, but the hiss is clear!). However on the Stax it is gone. Gone! Much better listening. Do the Grado's incorrectly inflate the highs (why would they at the tape hiss frequency?) or has Stax done something very clever with a deliberate roll-off to enhance the sonic experience? It gets more confusing. I tried different HPs: HE60's (just re-built by Senn) on the KGSS (thanks Vcoheda for the adaptor!) and my manufaktur 600-ohm beyer 880's, just modded for balanced by Larry at Headphile on the Beta 22. With both I hear just a bit of tape hiss, the same on both, less than Grado, more than 007. Then I tried the SACD re-master of the same -- forgot I had both, but I found it -- and this re-master drops the overall level of the tape hiss, but the same conclusions hold (although now the HE60 and 880s are enjoyable too, since the hiss is barely there). But the 007 is the best listen, no question. To mark the contrast -- on modern CDs (pop, vocals) I hear no high freq difference between the GS-1000 and the 007s, and the GS-1000 (balanced, modded) hold their own against the Stax. That's why this experience with the Dvorak CD is so startling (to me, anyway). Wise head-case folk and Stax fans, what is happening here?

Have you A/B'd 404 vs Lambda Sig with a KGSS? Yea, your 007a's sounded better than both no doubt about that, an easy conclusion I made in an instant, but that's not my point. My point is: I expected the Lambda Sigs to sound better than the 404s and they did not. Maybe the used Lambda Sigs I got are damaged. I should send them for repair? On the secondary issue in this thread, "size matters". HPs have smaller mass to move than speakers do so they should have better transient response and they do, no doubt. Speakers move more air so in theory have deeper base, but the chambers on HPs can compensate for that so it could be a tie, although edge in bass goes to top-end speakers. HPs cannot even play in the same league as good speakers for soundstage height and depth, although with the right cross-feed could win on width. As for detail and separation, speakers can have more drivers, so they could win, but managing those multiple drivers is tricky so in fact HPs often win this one, but not always. Speakers are more comfortable on the head since they have a Newton value of 0. HPs take less floorspace. Surround sound with speakers is a solved problem, but still a work-in-progress for HPs. The best HPs cost a lot less than the best speakers, and can be driven with smaller amps. High end HP cables cost less than high end speaker cables, although some vendors are trying to change that. In theory you can trip over long HP cables and fall, I have not seen that actually happen, but I have seen an audiophile trip over his speaker wires (about as thick as a gas pump hose) and crack his head. My $200K/rig audiophile non-HP "friends" are totally hung up on soundstage and speak little of detail and separation. And never of saving money.

Many on HF like Wadia, but I got it because you can access the DAC and use it with other digital gear (other but not all CDPs allow this), and because it will produce hi bit-rate PCM from the actual SACD layer of SACDs on its digital out, to be captured error-free by an S/PDIF PC capture card (there are some mod boards for other CDPs that allow this, but all-in-all the Wadia does everything). Now I can be totally PC playlist based: redbook tracks ripped with EAC, and SACD tracks ripped with the Wadia, and the PC output on USB converted to S/PDIF by an Empirical Audio Off-Ramp, into the Wadia digital in, thru the Wadia DAC, then out the balanced analog to the KGSS and finally to Stax phones. [in reality it is more complex than that, since my wife likes her D2000 better than Stax, and she needs her own attenuator, so we are building a balanced Beta-22 with an XLR pass-thru. The Beta-22 will drive the balanced/markl modded D2000's and pass-thru the balanced analog to the KGSS for me]. I'm actually going to listen with Spitzer-mod 007a's, but I don't want anyone else to use them, so when the extended family gathers I will hide those and plug other Stax into the KGSS ... that's why I was trying the 404s and the Lambda Sigs. Still like the 404's better. I know that's not possible, but I hear what I hear.

Wadia 781i

Bang & Olufsen 4x oversampling CD player with analog and digital outs, but I'm using the analog (single ended) right in to the KGSS. I have a spare DAC, not too high end (Moodlab Concept -- cheap but got great reviews) and I could put that into the mix I guess ... it is se out, not bal. I have a much much better CDP on the way, with balanced outs and a world-class DAC inside, I could wait for that and try again, going balanced into the KGSS. You think? Added: Kimber PBJ RCA analog interconnects / Tara Labs Power Conditioner / Zu Birth Power cables ... all the lowest lines of these manufacturers, but high-end compared to the ratshack stuff I used to use, no?

Here's a secret: almost all RCA audio cables sold today are really 75-ohm terminated (the original spec says 50 ohms) 'cause it just doesn't matter for analog audio. Video and S/PDIF over coax-with-RCA should be 75 ohms, and that matters, so it's just plain easier for everyone in the world to have 75-ohm RCAs no matter what the actual use. So use your video cables for audio ... why not?

Getting back to headphones. I have been A/B-ing Lamda Sigs against 404s. Amp is KGSS and source is a good CDP with high-quality classical CDs. The idea was to be blown away by the Lambda Sigs, which I just got. But I was not. Many times I thought the 404s were actually better: transient response, detail, etc. Am I crazy? I know hearing diminishes with age ... is it over for me? Can you put Viagra in your ears? Do they get bigger? Do you have to seek immediate medical attention if you listen for more than 4 hours? Seriously -- what's up with this?

Good point! I should have mentioned the dynamics. In the middle of the first movement there is a very quiet part with these little just-so hits on the tympany -- never have I heard it sound so perfect, even live at the Philly Orchestra ('cause people make noise with their programs and fidget and cough). Just transcendant! As for it being a nice "starter" rig -- ah, the power of buying used! I learned this from HF and HC ... would never have realized that used is better than new, not just cheaper. Could not/would not have spent the bucks to buy stuff new. I owe the community a big "thanks". Plus I got to hear Stax and such at CanJam and the meets. It was all risk-free! And what I didn't know but needed to, I asked via PM's and every PM got answered. The folks here and at HF are as amazing and great as the gear.

Just finished installing my first Stax rig: Sprtizer-mod 007a's (purchased from Spitzer, who else?) powered by KGSS formerly tkam's, which wouldn't have happened without HC, so double thanks to tkam. Source is a Bang & Olufsen CDP. Kimber SE IC's, Zu Power Cords, Tara Power Conditioner, Cardas Isolation Blocks. Looks fantastic, the wife approves. This is a private listening station for classical music. No glitches, everything worked right out of the box which doesn't always happen (nothing was purchased new). First two CD's were Tchaikovsky 4th, Gatti leading the Royal Phil, on harmonia mundi, and Greig Violin Sonatas (I listened to #3) on naxos, Kraggerund/Kjekshus. OMG! In the 1st movement of the 4th, near the end where the opening theme is re-introduced, it always sounds like so much noise, even with my fave dynamic phones (beyer 880/600-ohm, powered by hybrid SS/tube amp, EF-1 from Head-Direct, using RCA sidegetter 12AU7). With the 007's I can pick out individual instruments, and can hear a sharp attack from the drums. Way cool. My life is going to turn into one big dynamic vs 'stat experiment. Over the next few months I am going to get to hear the same CD's with a Beta 22, and with Senn 600s and Grado RS-1000s. Recabled/balanced too. I am also going to be able to try a 717, and Lambda Sigs, and an HE60. I plan to keep good notes, and if I have anything interesting to say, I will post. Thanks again to tkam and Spritzer.

Done