New RSA amp...

[Hopstretch]

Bad day today. Saw a 14.4kv 1000amp commonwealth edison line short against another of same and blow a hole in the road about 20 feet wide. Sure wish i had my video camera for that.

Arcy sparky!

[Fungi]

Shes also getting thwacked with a by Jude in the Detroit mini-meet impressions thread on HF.

Speaking of jude, "That all said, in my opinion, the A-10/HE90 edged out the Apache/HD800 at our Mini-Meet. The former may very well be the best headphone audio setup I've heard, period"

[guzziguy]

Speaking of jude, "That all said, in my opinion, the A-10/HE90 edged out the Apache/HD800 at our Mini-Meet. The former may very well be the best headphone audio setup I've heard, period"

Jude really likes the RSA sound. You must consider that when reading his reviews and deciding how the UUT (unit under test) might sound to you.

[luvdunhill]

Bad day today. Saw a 14.4kv 1000amp commonwealth edison line short against another

of same and blow a hole in the road about 20 feet wide. Sure wish i had my video

camera for that. Whole building lost power for 55 minutes.

As for 6s4's you can push them to about 750 volts. They are rated at either 500 or

550 volts depending on which data sheet you read.2000 volts peak, but that really

does not count for class A. 5687's are rated at 300 volts.

The 6s4's are single triodes with a 200 volt heater to cathode. So they are a whole

bunch easier for many designs.

My datasheet (RCA Receiving Tube Manual 1966) says 250V max plate voltage in a class A1 amplifier.

So, I say .... pony up and do the video!

[Guest sacd lover]

My datasheet (RCA Receiving Tube Manual 1966) says 250V max plate voltage in a class A1 amplifier.

So, I say .... pony up and do the video!

That is not the max rating that is the recommended plate voltage .... and these ratings are sometimes very conservative.

TDSL Tube data [6S4-A]

[The Monkey]

Jude really likes the RSA sound. You must consider that when reading his reviews and deciding how the UUT (unit under test) might sound to you.

Yup, I generally think that Jude has solid impressions on phones, but not amps.

As for arcy sparky, are we really talking about an actual spark/arc if the A-10 (or similar) is pushed too hard?

[spritzer]

Wow, people gushing about the He90 on first listen... where have I seen that before? The phones have that "Wow OMG" effect regardless of the system they are used in. The HD800 should be a winner if it isn't as damn diffused as the HE90 and has more bass control. I'll know soon enough though...

[Guss2]

Jude has heard the HE90's on just about every amp out there,including mine,so I'm sure he has a rock solid idea of how they sound.IMO and others,the HE90's have never been a grab you by the nuts,wow kind of headphone,like say the R10.It took lots of time with them for me to fully appreciate what they bring to the table.I do agree with Spritzer though,they can sound good in most systems but they definitely do not sound the same on every amp.Gary

[manaox2]

Jude has heard the HE90's on just about every amp out there,including mine,so I'm sure he has a rock solid idea of how they sound.IMO and others,the HE90's have never been a grab you by the nuts,wow kind of headphone,like say the R10.It took lots of time with them for me to fully appreciate what they bring to the table.I do agree with Spritzer though,they can sound good in most systems but they definitely do not sound the same on every amp.Gary

I don't think Jude is lying. I do think Jude has an affinity for RSA just about anything and I don't. I'd be more interested in your opinion if you got the chance.

[spritzer]

They most definitely don't sound the same on all amps but their character is so overwhelming that the amp has much less of an impact then say with the Omegas, 4070, Sigmas, Lambdas, ESP950 and the list goes on and on... I for one could have lived happily with the HE90 off a T1 amp when it won't do justice to anything other then the oldest Stax phones.

As for Jude liking the RSA "sound", there is obvious bias and that "review" appears to me just as a sales tactic to help Ray. The simple fact is that Ray is after the wrong crowd to push his crap onto and the A-10 won't sell. Just look at how many Rudistor Egmont/Cirolan amps there are on HF as a guide. Not even the mainland Europeans buy that crap and rather have DIY amps made.

[Guss2]

I haven't yet heard the A10 so can't help in that regard.I can however tell you that the diffuse soundstage and sloppy bass that Spritzer speaks of has been mitigated greatly since going from the Egmont/HEV90 to the Aristaeus.I only really understood these criticisms after living with the Aristaeus for a while.It exposses just how soft,sugary sweet and rounded off the Egmont and especially the HEV90 are.The bass is much more controlled and the sound much more authoritative than the others,without any loss of treble extension.Some may feel it's a little too revealing because I use an SCD-1 but I just love it's honesty.The Aristaeus sounds like a solid-state amp in my system since changing from the stock tubes and it really is the sound I've been looking for without spending $6000+ on an amp.Gary

[Duggeh]

They most definitely don't sound the same on all amps but their character is so overwhelming that the amp has much less of an impact then say with the Omegas, 4070, Sigmas, Lambdas, ESP950 and the list goes on and on... I for one could have lived happily with the HE90 off a T1 amp when it won't do justice to anything other then the oldest Stax phones.

As for Jude liking the RSA "sound", there is obvious bias and that "review" appears to me just as a sales tactic to help Ray. The simple fact is that Ray is after the wrong crowd to push his crap onto and the A-10 won't sell. Just look at how many Rudistor Egmont/Cirolan amps there are on HF as a guide. Not even the mainland Europeans buy that crap and rather have DIY amps made.

Yeah. I mean, mainlanders. Pfft. Don't know what they're missing obv.

[spritzer]

The BH managed to clear up some of the diffuse nature and lessen the overhang in the bass but nowhere near acceptable levels to me. Off the same amp I preferred my lightly modified He60 since it added less of it's own character. Then it's been said that I'm a picky bastard that's hard to please...

Yeah. I mean, mainlanders. Pfft. Don't know what they're missing obv.

Us island folk are naturally superior. Being shaped by bad weather, isolation and an unstoppable need to drink alcoholic beverages just makes us better. Moar better even...

[Icarium]

Jude has heard the HE90's on just about every amp out there,including mine,so I'm sure he has a rock solid idea of how they sound.IMO and others,the HE90's have never been a grab you by the nuts,wow kind of headphone,like say the R10.It took lots of time with them for me to fully appreciate what they bring to the table.I do agree with Spritzer though,they can sound good in most systems but they definitely do not sound the same on every amp.Gary

I dunno that's nuts to me. The HE90 have huge wow factor.. that fluidness, richness and effortlessness is very wowing. When I had R10s (bass heavy) with the SDS specially tuned for it (Ask Riceboy how that pairing works out) even they didn't wow me as much nor nearly as immediately.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I was not "wowed!" by the HE90 via Elephas's ES-1 but I found them to be very enjoyable, fast and tight sounding. I didn't get enough time with them to decide how good they were, but I didn't hear anything about them that I didn't like during my brief audition. If they are easier to drive than other headphones (i.e. O2) then maybe the A-10 does do a good job driving them for Jude; and maybe it could drive the Jade, ESP950 or Lambda series well too. Maybe it's just the O2 Mk1 that it wont have enough power to drive properly. Just a thought.

[Deadneddz]

I agree with Icarium when he says he cannot comprehend how one cannot be wowed by the HE90 initially. On Andys ES2 the HE90 is insanely fast and open. Notes are extremely "lit" in its soundstage. The sound is very majestic upon first listen. But switch over to the O2s on the same rig and the control on the recording is leaps and bounds ahead of the HE90. The bass for example, on the HE90 is just not acceptable compared to a well driven O2.

I remember listening to a track from AIR which had a nice bass intro. The O2s presented this short bass intro in no other way i've ever heard. It was as if just the bass part was like an entire complex orchestral piece. It feels like you could make an entire 5 min. song out of just the bass, thats how dynamic the O2s can be.

It just does not have as much energetic "charge" as the HE90 in regards to the phones soundstage, which has enormous wow factor intitally.

[catscratch]

HE90 had a massive wow factor and a very strong initial impression on me, but then again it was a fairly long time ago and I was still pretty new to this whole headphone deal. It definitely sounded pretty colored, but those colorations were very euphonic and pleasing. This was with the HEV90 BTW, I heard a (then prototype) ES-1 with the HE90 and those colorations that I liked so much with the HEV90 were gone, and all that was left were the HE90's technical merits which were less than stellar. At the time I wrote that off because of the amp, but right now I'm having second thoughts. I would very much like to hear the HE90 again and see what's what from a more experienced viewpoint. I do know that I like its colorations, and I could probably live with the HE90/HEV90 system happily ever after, but there's no way I would fork over the asking price considering what else can be had for the money.

I haven't read all of Jude's reviews, but a lot of them do seem pretty fishy to me. He does have a track record for endlessly hyping up new incoming products, and a lot of stuff that he was claiming as the best thing ever in its category - like the E4c - I thought was pretty substandard. So, I don't know the guy and I won't make personal judgments about him, and he's always been very nice to me in online interactions anyway, but I don't trust his reviews at all.

Needless to say I will take KG's technical analysis over every other opinion. I don't have the knowledge to formulate educated technical opinions myself, so I'll trust the people who do, rather than going by random and potentially questionable people's audio impressions.

[Hopstretch]

... random and potentially questionable people's audio impressions.

Sounds like a pretty accurate description of Head Case in toto.

[blubliss]

I agree with Icarium when he says he cannot comprehend how one cannot be wowed by the HE90 initially. On Andys ES2 the HE90 is insanely fast and open. Notes are extremely "lit" in its soundstage. The sound is very majestic upon first listen. But switch over to the O2s on the same rig and the control on the recording is leaps and bounds ahead of the HE90. The bass for example, on the HE90 is just not acceptable compared to a well driven O2.

It just does not have as much energetic "charge" as the HE90 in regards to the phones soundstage, which has enormous wow factor intitally.

And this is why one must own both the HE90 and the O2. When the 'wow' of one wears off, it's time to move to the other . I am really enjoying the O2s right now.

[Augsburger]

Best of both worlds indeed. Now if I can just figure out how to manage all of that plus the speaker rig, then I would be set for a while.

[Dusty Chalk]

And this is why one must own both the HE90 and the O2. When the 'wow' of one wears off, it's time to move to the other . I am really enjoying the O2s right now.

I wish.

[Elephas]

Haha, all the crazies are gathered in one thread.

Wow, people gushing about the He90 on first listen...

It's been a year and a half and I'm still gushing about the HE90.

1. HE90

2..100. All other headphones, probably.

I only really understood these criticisms after living with the Aristaeus for a while.

Ah, I've only heard the HE90 first with an Aristaeus and then with an ES-1.

I was not "wowed!" by the HE90 via Elephas's ES-1 but I found them to be very enjoyable, fast and tight sounding.

The tubes were probably deficient!

You should hear the ES-1 now, with the O2Mk1 and O2Mk2.

Sylvania 5751, Sylvania 6SN7W metal base, Mullard EL34 xf2 FTW!

We can leave the HE90 hooked up to the Aristaeus.

And this is why one must own both the HE90 and the O2. When the 'wow' of one wears off, it's time to move to the other . I am really enjoying the O2s right now.

I'm enjoying the O2s now, too, but the HE90 wow never goes away. Is there a cure?

[Dusty Chalk]

... the HE90 wow never goes away. Is there a cure?

Yes there is -- finding a more expensive hobby (like drugs or pens). But even that may not work. It's not so much a "cure" as "trading up" fixations.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Also likely from Mikhail's choice of music which I did not like. Although when I complained that the Lambda Signature sounded better than the O2 Mk1 he got busy changing the tubes to see if it could sound better. He never got it quite there, and seemed to be fiddling with different tubes much of the time.

[penger]

Yes there is -- finding a more expensive hobby (like drugs or pens). But even that may not work. It's not so much a "cure" as "trading up" fixations.

Pens? How about photography and watches?