A slight change of course - setting up a headphone rig

[sachi]

^^OK, I call dibs on one TP.

lol..sorry bro..already sold one for 645USD shipped...in fact sold the one I used for the comparison in the review. Where do you think i got the monies for so quickly for the LCD-2!?:lol:

Wasn't an easy decision. Hate selling my orthos. :sad: And this one was special..very special

 

[gurubhai]

I missed again.

Probably is better for me though, I need to concentrate on my amp build right now.

 

[sachi]

Something I've been meaning to do for a while now. Transplanting the Wharfedale Isodynamic drivers into the zebrawood cups.

Didn't have the transpore right now, so went with the next best thing, a driver size cutout of thick felt glued right up against the driver and a layer of joann's thin felt covering the back of the cups..That's it. The wood cups came with a lot of mass damping (dynamat). I had to plug the 5 peripheral holes that were clearly drilled for some other experimentation as they were inducing weird resonances in the cups. Plugged them up with eletrical tape at first to make sure this was the problem and indeed it was. Took off the tape, sealed the ports from the inside using bitumen caulk.

Only had enough Canare cable for a 4-5 ft cable..but it does the job.

The result, a silly grin on my face.

There are some things that i need to fine tune, but it is sounding very good so far..will listen for a bit and tackle tuning in a couple of days. It is already better than the Leak. Wharfedale Isodynamic is one amazing headphone driver. :yahoo:

 

[gurubhai]

Nice work, Sachi.
And can you just stop gushing about these wharfies. You guys are gonna drive there price beyond us mortals.
Its just sad that these Zebra woodies are no longer sold. They seem to be a really nice fosterphone.

On other note, Have you ever tried the original T50 or its clones ?

 

[sachi]

Nice work, Sachi.
And can you just stop gushing about these wharfies. You guys are gonna drive there price beyond us mortals.
Its just sad that these Zebra woodies are no longer sold. They seem to be a really nice fosterphone.

On other note, Have you ever tried the original T50 or its clones ?

lol i was a victim of my own gushing tbh..when i had the first pair it just blew my mind how good it sounded. This pair cost me 50$ more and was in worse condition. Kinda got lucky on the price really.

I will plan to make some nicer deep TP style cups for them so i can use the cloned O2 pads on them sometime later. This honestly is TP beating quality.

As for the original T50, yeah i have heard an original T50, the aiwa, NAD Rp18 so far..

All sound very nice. AIwa was the best in my mind. So gorgeous looking too.

BUt yeah i wouldn't pay more than 250 for any of them.


Sachi

 

[longshanks]

Oh..one more note of interest, the Audez'e LCD-2 has an Indian brain behind the engineering.hyeah:

I am guessing this is the gentleman.

 

[gurubhai]

^^No, maybe Sachi can fill in the details, but I believe the gentleman's name is Sankar.

I have to say that the Aiwa looks really gorgeous, did you hear the one Kabeer owns.
How do they compare to yammies?

 

[longshanks]

believe the gentleman's name is Sankar.

Yes, that must be him i the pic guess.

 

[sachi]

^^No, maybe Sachi can fill in the details, but I believe the gentleman's name is Sankar.

I have to say that the Aiwa looks really gorgeous, did you hear the one Kabeer owns.
How do they compare to yammies?

Yup, that's Sankar alright.. nice gentle soul. Very knowledgeable and affable.

Yep..heard Kabeer's when it was over for at Don's. Compared to the Yammies, they are more neutral, extend higher, lack the deep rumble that the yammies have and while the midrange being really good, doesn't match up to the Yh-1K..but then agina hardly 1 or 2 headphones perform that well in the midrange.

Its a shame that Don will be moving away to Milwaukee Wisconsin next month. I'll miss out on listening to any nice orthos that may come along to his place. BUt yeah, i'll miss him hella more..gonna be meeting with Ken from ALO audio, Kevin (kwkarth), Andrew (from Maximo) Don, Devin and myself at ALo's store in Portland to palaver and raise our glasses to Don.

 

[gurubhai]

Weird, the picture wasn't loading earlier & I thought you were referring to Sachi.

Yes, that must be him i the pic guess.

 

[gurubhai]

This pair cost me 50$ more and was in worse condition. Kinda got lucky on the price really.

If it hadn't been for the poor condition, you would have got some serious bidding competition from here in India.
Unfortunately, I had no hopes for getting a decent fosterphone, My loss is your gain. :indifferent14:

 

[sachi]

haha..its funny, Donny (questa) was ready to bid on the ID1s..i told him i wouldn't bid higher than 52pounds or whatever it went for and at the last minute he found out that even though the seller had agreed to ship to Indonesia, he had failed to take the bidding restrictions off..so i got lucky. lol

Man the ID1 was light years ahead in terms of design and implementation. They sound soo darn good and are possibly the only headphones that can give the LCD-2 some competition. The TPs are capable to, but The ID1 in their foster phones I am afraid are better. When i heard them first at Don's place i was shocked. I kept my mouth shut and asked DOn to keep mum as well on the comparison results so i could try and secure one on the cheap...lol

 

[sachi]

bah..bought a Hifiman HE-5 just now..

The LCD-2 is not in sight for me till 2nd or 3rd week of june atleast..so will try and see if i can tune the HE-5 right .

 

[gurubhai]

Congrats, that price was just too good to resist......

too bad it was CONUS only.

 

[sachi]

heh yeah..Alan's a good friend. He is also a bit eccentric.

Crazy fire sale he had there going. ASked him to hold the HE-5 for me for a while so i could go hang with my friends.

Plan to tune that HE-5 like it was supposed to be and see where i get with it. Minimum benchmark is for it to beat either the TP or the Wharfedale TPs..both are very tall orders..but we'll see..if they don't do it for me I will sell them off. Will pass on the generous offer ..and will keep you in mind gurubhai. Won't forget this time. :cheers:

The way i se it, LCD-2, Wharfedale ID1 TPs and Fostex TPs...that's really like the top 3 headphones I have heard thus far...that really hit all the main spots for me. I own two of them and will soon own the flagship!! hyeah:

 

[gurubhai]

^^ I think Alan has fallen in love. He had no room for other flings.

Thanks, this is a great offer.I wish you all the luck in getting these to the level of ID1 or the TP, I think you are gonna need it.:licklips:

BTW, I just noticed that we are doing considerable OT on this thread. I think we should start a dedicated ortho thread, would you care to do the honours?:cheers:

 

[sachi]

Agreed..we are getting OT..you go for it..i'll join in of course

Planar headphones and speakers too..gotto love them Apogees..i want me some divas...aah bliss.

 

[asliarun]

...
Portable source - Need help here. There is nothing from squeezebox family that is portable and battery operated. Apple ipod touch/ iphone "MAY" not be able to access entire music lib I want to keep in a hdd stationed at house - without needing the laptop to be on always. Need internet radio, lossless streaming over wifi on this device. did I say I need help on this?
...

Would this work for you?
Audioengine - Upgrade your music

You would need a USB power source to power the wireless receiver.
I'm also not sure if the audio signal will have enough juice to drive your headphones.

 

[gurubhai]

Agreed..we are getting OT..you go for it..i'll join in of course

OK,
here it is