Headphone shoot out at the OK Coral

[c1ferrari]

Haha

i don't do anything half way.

No hyperbole
Sonny and I attended the event.
What was evident to us was the harmony between certain headphones and specific amps

 

[DaveyF]

Well, the shoot out went off with out too many casualties. The group listened to a custom made tube OTL amp hooked up to Senn 600's and did an AB' between that amp, a Headroom Max amp and my MF X Can V3 with rolled in NOS 6922's. Using the same Marantz CD source and with various other cans, including AKG 702's, Beyerdynamics ( not sure of the model, Sam/c1ferrrari step in here), Senn 650's, Senn 600s with and without the Cardas upgrade cable, Grado SR125i's,Grado Sr60i's, Senn 551's and lastly Senn 201's we came to the conclusion that the headphone amps ability to drive high or low impedance was the main issue. My fave was the Senn 600's with Cardas cabling on the custom OTL amp, but many others preferred the Grado's on my MF X Can's. But as Sam just posted, the other thing that was evident was the harmony between certain 'phones and specific amps. An example of this, was I thought his Beyerdynamics worked great on my MF X Can's and not as well on the custom OTL amp.

One thing I came away with was that regardless of which cans I was listening to, the 'gestalt' of listening to cans vs. a full high end speaker system left me with little interest in a Can system. Just as I had thought before

 

[c1ferrari]

Hi Davey,

The Beyerdynamics were DT770. The Senn 600's in tandem with the custom OTL sounded very good! I thought the amp you brought -- MF X Can V3 -- was the correct amp match for the DT770. The AKG 702 sounded great on that tiny tube amp. One of the highlights for me was interacting with that very nice young man who was both communicative and informed
It occurs to me that I, like you and Mike, am more enamored with the conventional two-channel rig.

 

[Ronm1]

My fave was the Senn 600's with Cardas cabling

Interesting I always preferred the original vs the Cardas, unless Cardas modified their recipe. Course the Equinox IMO easily topped both.

the other thing that was evident was the harmony between certain 'phones and specific amps.
(

Agree without ?, synergy is very important with phones, IMHO.

 

[DaveyF]

Ron, you preferred the original Senn cables to the Cardas cables for the Senn? Please elaborate as to the Equinox, as I do not think that I have heard of those.

 

[Ronm1]

Ron, you preferred the original Senn cables to the Cardas cables for the Senn? Please elaborate as to the Equinox, as I do not think that I have heard of those.

Its been quite awhile, especially since I haven't used them for so long. Cables, any, have a tendency to attenuate, to my ears anyways. Don will probably come and slap me around now, but so be it. I don't mean in an overall way but some Hz get attenuated, its not which set does it better , its which mangles less. That was the original to my ears more balanced. The Equinox more so. As mentioned in an other thread that is what I always look for with cables and everything else. Those with HD600's were a great match for the SOLO. Now some may not like that balance but with my own disc's I can pretty quickly tell what's going on. At the time I read about them on-line and then at a phone show in the area. Once again at the time one guy made them, so in a Q you go, I had to wait 4 mo to get them. I believe he may have a full fledged cable biz now out of NYC. I also think WP may have mentioned them in his rag years ago. I'll try to get my old invoice, I usually save all that stuff.

 

[LL21]

Interesting I always preferred the original vs the Cardas, unless Cardas modified their recipe. Course the Equinox IMO easily topped both.


Agree without ?, synergy is very important with phones, IMHO.

I just picked up the new Stefan Audio E-Series headphone cable (20') which is supposedly the newer version of the Equinox which got such strong reviews almost universally with the Sennheiser HD650. Very interested to hear it. Needed the length, and extension cables did degrade the sound. Was debating between Cardas, Moon Audio Silver Dragon, and then remembered your post above...thanks! Did some reading and it seemed very strongly in favor of Stefan Audio across the board.

 

[LL21]

I just picked up the new Stefan Audio E-Series headphone cable (20') which is supposedly the newer version of the Equinox which got such strong reviews almost universally with the Sennheiser HD650. Very interested to hear it. Needed the length, and extension cables did degrade the sound. Was debating between Cardas, Moon Audio Silver Dragon, and then remembered your post above...thanks! Did some reading and it seemed very strongly in favor of Stefan Audio across the board.

Update: After ordering the Stefan online, the audio dealer kindly called to say he was not offering them any longer, and i subsequently found out the same for several other dealers who were listed as being dealers. Unfortunately, could not get through the Stefan Audio via phone or email to get the name of a dealer. I ended up ordering the Cardas which arrived today on time and sounds great. Job done.