Orthodynamic Headphones & all things planar

[anm]

@guru - as of now, sat early morning seems free. Can you guys make it early morning, say about 8am? Will confirm later in the evening but right now it seems quite possible. I have to be in office tomorrow later in the day.

 

[anm]

ok - sun morning 10am. Anyone else who is interested can join.

 

[gurubhai]

thanks, looking forward to listening to your turntable & magneplanars.

 

[anm]

and lyrita
I forgot about setting up smgs. Will do it tomorrow.

thanks, looking forward to listening to your turntable & magneplanars.

 

[sachi]

man..this next few days i hope to have my LCD-2.

 

[gurubhai]

Just came back from visiting Anant's home & wanted to say thanks to him & his family for allowing two audio nuts to invade their time & space.
We had a great time & shall post the impressions a bit later.
Unfortunately, we could not listen too his magneplanars since the electricity disappeared exactly at the time when Anant had finished doing all the hard work setting up the SMGs.

@Sachi : I can't wait to lay my hands on LCD-2 either.

 

[anm]

the hardest job was done by your partner, and I am right now enjoying his work plus the CD you left behind. SMGs sound amazing to me - even with their current cosmetic condition and placement. I think my amp is good enough, but I want to try it with higher powered amps.

 

[gurubhai]

My fellow ortho-head is a particularly helpful person.I can't praise his community spirit enough now that he is buying the LCD-2.
I guess I was busy listening to NAD while you guys were working.
I would be glad to keep the SMGs for safekeeping. Just give me a call.
Man, Am I disappointed I didn't get a listen.

 

[anm]

I forgot about the ehha contribution. Please let me know how to pitch in on money front, and when to join for the building session - though I can't be of much help, I will take this opportunity to learn.

 

[gurubhai]

^^ I shall let you know once I make a purchase.

Meet impressions :

Setup : NAD C542 cdp
Lyrita pre
Dire straits :Best of private investigations HDCD

DT880 600ohm : they sounded excellent , much better than my current setup (Xonar STX). The mids filled in nicely & the imaging was spot on. Lyrita pre drove them effortlessly & the synergy was great. Beyers really do love tubes !

HD650 : The amp drove them well, no veil. But I liked the DT880 better. The resolution was average & the bass was esp. disappointing,bloated mid bass drowning the sub bass.
All drums sound the same.

Yamaha YH-2/HP50S : I plugged them excitedly looking for similar improvement as DT880 , unfortunately, the amp could not provide enough gain for them.

NAD RP18 : I was contemplating not taking them since I am still finalizing its dampening scheme.Thankfully, I did took them & even though they put considerable strain on the amp, it was able to drive them to acceptable SPL.
The result was simply beautiful ! They were clearly the best headphones at the meet.
Amazing detail, clarity, separation & balance. And such natural timbre & texture!

The meet underscored the importance of a better amplifier to me, I am gonna go full steam ahead with the EHHA project.

 

[anm]

I am with you on the ehha project.
Will request Viren to look into this issue when he is back. The level from DAC too is quiet low.
Had we used NAD's digital out then it would have been a completely tube analog with zero solid state in analog path.

 

[sachi]

well i just spoke to Alex of Audez'e and asked him to delay my LCD-2 by a few weeks while i figure out some life stuff.

However, i did get another source today. Have two DAC 2.7s, two stackers and a liquid gold and 2 orthos now ..i think i have a problem here :lol:

 

[anm]

I can help you if you are looking to offload some.

 

[sachi]

haha..PM incoming..

 

[gurubhai]

New Ortho family member arrives

Here it is with other members of ortho family :

All of them :

 

[Brendon]

^^ Huh ? 50S, 50A ??? and which is the third headphone from left ??? Someone has gone on a buying spree !

 

[gurubhai]

You ought to recognize that one. Its YH -2, same as your HP-2 except a couple of letters.
BTW, I tuned it so that it is less bright than your HP-2.

 

[Brendon]

Ah ! What is the difference between the 50S and 50A in SQ ?

Also what are you thinking off regarding the amplifier ?

 

[gurubhai]

^^ No difference. HP50A was wired mono so I recabled it to stereo.
They sound the same now with similar mods.

About the Amp, gonna DIY EHHA with the help of some friends.

 

[gurubhai]

I finally purchased the parts required for EHHA.
I hope the most difficult part is over now.
Hopefully the build itself would go smoothly, fingers crossed.