insanitybeard
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Post by insanitybeard on Dec 10, 2007 0:39:48 GMT
Miguel, just wondering if you ever got to listen to the Eddie Current Zana Deux amp that you said would be available for audition at a meet you would be attending fairly recently? Paul
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Dec 10, 2007 17:52:54 GMT
Please get one Paul & let us know what you think, preferably with Sennheiser HD650 headphones. lol.
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mrarroyo
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Post by mrarroyo on Dec 10, 2007 23:48:38 GMT
I did not make it to the meet, another one is coming soon. Sorry.
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FritzS
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Post by FritzS on Dec 11, 2007 9:56:29 GMT
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leo
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Post by leo on Dec 11, 2007 14:18:30 GMT
6C33C based amps usually are expensive
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insanitybeard
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Post by insanitybeard on Jan 5, 2008 19:40:29 GMT
My main reason for interest in the Zana was because of the benefit a tube amp could have on a pair of "bright" sounding headphones like the Grado GS thousands, Nigel- if I had the money I'd buy one, sadly not at the mo........ though I'd certainly be in favour of your earlier suggestion of a few of us clubbing together to buy one and sharing it round!
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insanitybeard
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Post by insanitybeard on Jan 14, 2008 2:10:31 GMT
Sadly not Miguel, I've never even listened to music through an MF X-can, let alone a Mikey modified one. I don't know anybody who could lend me one to try out, which is a pity because I'd be interested, especially after the poor job my last valve amp made of powering the Grados!
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jan 17, 2008 23:42:16 GMT
The X-Can v1 was developed using Grado SR-125's.
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insanitybeard
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Post by insanitybeard on Jan 22, 2008 23:59:15 GMT
In that case I'll make a point of trying to listen to the Grados through an X-can sometime!
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rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 24, 2008 22:53:53 GMT
A tube amp by nature is not "soft' unless the designer meant it to be that way (piss poor design rather than accurate) which to be blunt can be a blessing in a system with problems that need to be glossed over,sweetened if you will,just to justify keeping the offender in system. It is not that the Grados are bright as much as they reveal any upper midrange grain that is already present so it is dead nuts nuetral you want to shoot for and if you find that too bright look to the front end for your culprit.If that still is not the answer then dynamic reality is not your forte' and you would be/are better off with a system that SOUNDS like recorded music rather than a live event which to be honest most headphones can not even come close to pulling off at least in my personal (somewhat biased) opinion according to what i find to be real with my choice of music. BTW-my present "belief system" in what makes a good Grado driver has matured over the years to where it now is down to three suspects and with ALL 3 having zero voltage gain 1-Szekeres type single ended mosfet 2-"Naked buffer" (LH0033 ) of an LT1010 run heavily into class-A and with jfet input buffering 3-IT coupled Single Ended 6V6 run in class-A for Grados @ 800mv or so and in pentode mode for around 4W for everything else that can be driven to good volume in that power range (including my single driver nearfield monitors at the computer desk ) The last needs to be driven from my +20dB 6SN7 gain block to make up for the losses incurred by the "iron" but the others out of anything that plays music.Grados really need no gain unless it is lost somewhere in the system and you need to make it up......... rickmonster
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Post by dc on Jan 25, 2008 6:49:35 GMT
It is not that the Grados are bright as much as they reveal any upper midrange grain that is already present so it is dead nuts nuetral you want to shoot for and if you find that too bright look to the front end for your culprit. i can't say i agree with you in my experience with grados (HF-1 basically a woddied SR-225) i've found that grados do add a little high frequency sizzle as opposed to revealing high frequency harshness I say this because the Stax SR-404 i own are clearly more detailed than the Grado and yet is pleasant to listen to to my ears
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 26, 2008 14:59:12 GMT
It is not that the Grados are bright as much as they reveal any upper midrange grain that is already present so it is dead nuts nuetral you want to shoot for and if you find that too bright look to the front end for your culprit. i can't say i agree with you in my experience with grados (HF-1 basically a woddied SR-225) i've found that grados do add a little high frequency sizzle as opposed to revealing high frequency harshness I say this because the Stax SR-404 i own are clearly more detailed than the Grado and yet is pleasant to listen to to my ears If you consider 4-7khz "high frequency" then yeah some in the line have this "bump". I have found the Grados/Allesandro 1 to be about the most "nuetral dynamic" so is my do all-be all monitor yet the RS-1,even with the recessed mids and upper-mid to low treble (guessing somewhere in the 6-7khz range) "bump" is for me personally more of a pure music machine comparable to how I hear amped/miked music live so while I use the "beaters" more often than not (and they truly are that looking like someone had a case of the ass against them and needing some Grado Labs TLC to get them back to former glory ) for extended musical appre iation moments I go to either the RS-1 or for small format acoustical my Stax E-Stats. The problem is a lot of SS gear has a hardness or grain in this very same area that when combined makes for some very forgettable/regrettable sounds-the very same sonic profile that would have you running and screaming from a room with like sounding ampage connected to horn loudspeakers so it comes down to system synergy not distortion specs or some whacky stated +/-dB tolerance across the 20-20khz spectrum which can be ANY damn thing in reality. flip that to headphones/speakers that are power hungry and you usually WANT an amp that has a bit of peakiness in the upper registers (even though the specs say no and even though the plots look flat......) and in this case the descriptive becomes "detailed" or "articulate" instead of harsh. same amp yet will review differently depending on what it is connected to because of the needs of the end drivers and often overlooked.. Flip to E-Stats (both loudspeakers AND Earspeakers) and we get another kettle of fish entirely because again the requirements change and that change is first we need the juice,power baybeee ! Takes a lot of muscle to move thos stretchies Try to hit them with an amp that is lacking and we have what ? Thin bloodless music.Music with no foundation for the mids and highs to play off of so while we DO have the notes the entire scale changes. The second "must have" is total reliability under load.The amp needs to NOT change its basic sonic signature when pushed and many more do than not so a tall order. Presently i am working to,at least on paper,a modular approach to all things headphones so I have in mind a basic +20dB valve based gain block,WOT (with output transformer ) for line driving duty the trafos drops gain) and with a direct connected headphone jack for voltage hungry cans in the 300 ohm range followed by dedicated zero gain driver sections each in their own chassis (allows for future upgrades) : 1-Grado driver output trafos to perform the required attenuation of signal AND match the load 2-20W follower for driving the bitch hard 600 ohm AKG Studio cans and K1000 3-E-Stats driver All of course connected to my passive control console.This allows total driver/driving electronics matchups rather than trying the mostly doomed to fail "one size fits all" approach.A car will never be a truck even though you can load some up pretty good and a truck will never be a bus even though you can squeeze in a sh*tload of dayworkers in the back ( ) so why would any think a single amp can be the answer in a system with multiple headhphones each having a totally different driving requirement ? At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it until someone can convince me otherwise and that won't be easy so come loaded for bear ;D Rickeraptor
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insanitybeard
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Post by insanitybeard on Jan 28, 2008 0:52:44 GMT
Thanks for your take Rick, with some help one day I may attempt to build myself an amp purpose made to drive Grado cans!
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