Do I set out looking for an R10?

[deepak]

i bet the North Star will match very nicely with the R-10s

Hopefully.

$3500 for a pair of headphones is insanity. Maybe an amp upgrade will make my K340 really, really good

[deepak]

I'm going to mod one of those pairs before summer ends. Going to terminate to 4 pin XLR then try my K1000 tail adapter with the Pass Labs amp >

[purk]

Purk I know you were pursuing Yahoo Japan for your R10, do you still feel this is the best way?

I've been checking every now and then and a couple of weeks ago a 137 SN sold for 410000 yen. Kinda on the lower side of things, I suspect a 700+ SN will go for more?

Reks: I exchanged a few PMs with nikongod he said the tonality of his Extreme Plat was exceptional, I remember he called it a "texture monster". I believe he still preferred his highly upgraded SHA-1 to it, just for the HP-2.

They were cheaper there but not any more I think. That pair of R10s probably ended up round 4.2K after shipping cost and service fees, which is almost the the same as over here. However, you run the risk of fraud, import tax, and shipping problems. Plus, you would never know which version of R10s you will get once you manage to win the auction. I believe it is a safe bet that the R10s with a SN # of 900 or higher is the more bassy version. I don't think the SN has can indicaties which version of R10s when the SN is less than 900. For instance, my SN#368 is the more bass version while the SN#764 is a lighter bass version. Therefore, you can't tell from the SN#.

[Dusty Chalk]

I'm going to mod one of those pairs before summer ends. Going to terminate to 4 pin XLR then try my K1000 tail adapter with the Pass Labs amp >

You are insane. Please post your results.

[purk]

FYI, I listen to a lot of vocals, jazz, and classical; therefore, the R10 fits my listening preference perfectly. I also listen to rocks and my bassy pair of R10s are doing a very good job with Beck-Sea Change and Peter Gabriel-So right now.

[deepak]

FYI, I listen to a lot of vocals, jazz, and classical; therefore, the R10 fits my listening preference perfectly. I also listen to rocks and my bassy pair of R10s are doing a very good job with Beck-Sea Change and Peter Gabriel-So right now.

I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately, and discovering some amazing stuff. I think the L3000 handles jazz very well, and the K1000 is great for when I really want a large soundstage and depth. At this point I think I'd just like another flavor from a different closed headphone. But the R10 would have to perform very well, not just meet my expectations.

On the K340: I wish I could say I would be a pioneer but someone has tried the K340/speaker adapter tail with their RWA Sig 30 with good results.

[philodox]

Did someone say my name?

Oh man... looser101 was over yesterday for 12-14 hours and we worked on my amp. Replaced the steppers with the new 4 channel balanced singlepower and did a couple tweaks that KG recommended... and the new faceplate is on.

I was only really expecting functional changes, but it sounds a lot better! Zero distortion at high volume [was getting a bit], fixed the problem with the leftmost tube socket so that I don't have to do a little dance every time I power up... and I've always been a believer in volume controls having a positive impact, but this singlepower stepped attenuator is just on another level entirely. So smooth, I love it. I've been told that the resistors Mikhail uses take quite a while to burn in too, so I might not even be hearing its full potential yet. I would take some pictures [the wood faceplate looks hott], but I think my Wife has the camera with her in Ottawa.

So yeah, definitely go for the amp upgrade first. The R10's are nice, but not $3500 nice IMO. I would personally put the R10, K340 and PS1 all on the same level of refinement at this point... though with different sound signatures. It is too bad the other two cost so much or I might have a couple companions to keep my K340s company.

[mjg]

jpak, i bought nikon gods amp. His amp certainly has a lot of texture, i was shocked at how good it sounded (despite the hum I had fixed and am waiting for the amp back). Will bet the bendix tubes i'm getting will make it even more rediculous.

[philodox]

Ok, alright, hold your horses... http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,1719.0.html

[tkam]

Dude....I had the SDS Slam when I had the R10s initially and I was not 100% satisfied with my system; hence the upgrade. You have understand that although the PPX3 does have more current and can tighthen the bass and allow better imagingm, but it can make your amp sound a little lean and bright. I could see you guys dislike the R10s when they are not properly amped, but once they do...they are tough to beat. I have both versions of R10 with me right now and I love both of them. Each of them are different but unmistakably the best headphone I've heard to date.

I still had the R10's a little bit after getting my current SinglePower amp and my thoughts on the R10 changed very very little.

[Nanoha]

Hah, Todd is the man.

[purk]

I still had the R10's a little bit after getting my current SinglePower amp and my thoughts on the R10 changed very very little.

Report to moderator Logged

Is your Dragon are tuned for the R10? Even my SDS wasn't a good match in beginning but sounds excellent right after I had it back from Mikhail. I'm not saying that everyone should like the R10, but I really like both of my pairs in my system. And Mikhail did a great job retuned my amp for both of my R10s. I will have a Sennheiser Orpheus coming my way soon, so let's see how well the R10s will stand up to the Big O.

Todd...what tubes combination did you use with R10? Also, do you listen to a lot of rock and heavy metals? If "yes", the R10s might not be for you.

[deepak]

Just IMO I think a good headphone isn't really genre dependent.

[purk]

Just IMO I think a good headphone isn't really genre dependent.

I think..its depend. For example, I can't imagin listening to the PS-1 with classical music. My R10s are great with rocks...but I still find my L3000 to be more forgiving and more fun to listen when I want to rock out.

[purk]

I want to add that I once asked Mikhail on the phone on what is your favorite headphones? And he me that for dynamics headphones he like the R10 (he enjoyed both versions equally) following by the Qualia. Again, I have an amp that is specially for R10s and out of the headphones I own and with music I listen to....R10 is the best I've heard.

[tkam]

Is your Dragon are tuned for the R10? Even my SDS wasn't a good match in beginning but sounds excellent right after I had it back from Mikhail. I'm not saying that everyone should like the R10, but I really like both of my pairs in my system. And Mikhail did a great job retuned my amp for both of my R10s. I will have a Sennheiser Orpheus coming my way soon, so let's see how well the R10s will stand up to the Big O.

Todd...what tubes combination did you use with R10? Also, do you listen to a lot of rock and heavy metals? If "yes", the R10s might not be for you.

No my amp isn't tuned for R10's why would it be? I tried every tube combination I could think of from 6sn7/2c51/6414/12au7/5687 as the input tube to the 6080/6528/7802 as the output tubes. They just aren't headphones I like very much. Yes I do listen to quite a lot of rock, but I do also listen to vocal, jazz and the occasional classical. Didn't really like the R10 with any of the music I tried them with.

[tkam]

Just IMO I think a good headphone isn't really genre dependent.

I tend to agree and this is a big part of the reason why I'm not overly fond of the R10, RS-1 and GS-1000. Sure they can sound great with very specific types of music and I guess if I only listened to that one specific genre they would be great phones. But I listen to a wide variety of music so I want versatile headphones.

[purk]

I tend to agree and this is a big part of the reason why I'm not overly fond of the R10, RS-1 and GS-1000. Sure they can sound great with very specific types of music and I guess if I only listened to that one specific genre they would be great phones. But I listen to a wide variety of music so I want versatile headphones.

I agree with you on that part, that's why I'm a big fan of the L3000 and HD-650. They sounds quite similar with the exception of the L3000 being more refined, upfront, and has better bass respond. I was not that happy with the R10s in the beginning but after the amp upgrade...I absolutely love them.

[Salt Peanuts]

Ok, alright, hold your horses... http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,1719.0.html

Hey cool, you amp now matches your stand.

[Nanoha]

So Deepak, did you land your hands on that R10?

[deepak]

So Deepak, did you land your hands on that R10?

I'm not going to get one. Thinking about it $4000 is just silly (to me). Plus the K1000/L3000 just work for me, they cover all my music genres and moods.

Plus I want a really nice speaker system.

[mulveling]

I'm not going to get one. Thinking about it $4000 is just silly (to me). Plus the K1000/L3000 just work for me, they cover all my music genres and moods.

Plus I want a really nice speaker system.

I'm with you there. While I had them, it became too tempting to sell knowing what else I could do with that money. Getting a nice vinyl source increased my musical enjoyment, on all genres, much more than the R10. Currently the L3000 and HD650 cover all my headphone needs superbly. Kinda wish I'd kept the K1000 though, now that I'm going to have a really nice tube power amp. Didn't love 'em when I had 'em, but then my power amps at the time were not up to the task (Outlaw M200, PS Audio HCA2).

[deepak]

I'm with you there. While I had them, it became too tempting to sell knowing what else I could do with that money. Getting a nice vinyl source increased my musical enjoyment, on all genres, much more than the R10. Currently the L3000 and HD650 cover all my headphone needs superbly. Kinda wish I'd kept the K1000 though, now that I'm going to have a really nice tube power amp. Didn't love 'em when I had 'em, but then my power amps at the time were not up to the task (Outlaw M200, PS Audio HCA2).

All good points.

Similarly I know I can afford to have the HP-2, but they just haven't got much use between the K1000 and L3000. And like you knowing what or where I could have put that money really tempted me to sell them if the right offer came along. Keeping them wasn't making my enjoyment of music any better or worse.

The K1000 absolutely rock with either a warm SS amp or tube amp/preamp.

[philodox]

Hey cool, you amp now matches your stand.

That's the idea.

[purk]

R10 and L3000 for all types of music for me. Couldn't be happier really. I get amazing bass response from my SDS-SE and my upgrade source really....so no complain here.