TheEAR

Woo Audio amps are all that and more, I will get the WA6SE fully decked out with all options and quality tubes can buy...no longer $1050...we are talking $2300 plus shipping. And the Woo Audio 5 SET amp..$6000 once all options are in. Both are dual chassis amps. To me this level of refinement and exquisitebuild justifies the price. I have Tenor Audio monoblocks I almost never used, these OTL's cannot be converted for headphone use with ease,so the Woo Audio will do.

Dr. JT, Yes your report is spot on, I do have a compulsive purchase disorder ! [:$] I will do a full report when I get my two Woo Audio headphone amps and my Yamamoto headphone amp. Right now I am starved with a mere Headroom Max and lowish Shanling.For headphones nothing matches the beauty ofquality tube or hybrid amplification.

Well since I have cured my sub addiction over a year ago, I have caught another one...headphones. From basic to high-end. Here a few pics of roughly 3/4 of the headphones I own. Not shown is the Beyer Dynamic Tesla (on order) and the Stax units(also on order). As you can see Sennheiser HD800,Grado PS-1000,Denon D7000, Audio-Technica W5000 and Ultrasone Special 8 among others... Now the mess...

Do not want little pieces stuck in your ears, get custom molded in ear monitors. Plus nobody can ask can I hear them,as you will say NO WAY HOSE, these were custom molded for ME! [] I love my UE11 and will order my UE18's. []

P. Thump, Good news now I can order the X10i from my Klipsch dealer, I enjoy the Klipsch Custom 2 and Custom 3 alot, and they fit perfectly. I like my S4's and X10 too. A job well done on the entire in ear lineup, your headphones compare very well to the established big names of in ear heavyweights.

Levitation aside the energiser has speaker terminals at the back(the screw conectors for spade/bare wire) ,the power cable...well you know electricity. The Thick cable containing the four color coded conductors goes to the back of your two channel amp output. From the color coding .... I have found ...Red-Right +, Black-Right-, White-Left+, Green-Left So wait a bit while I make sure as it has to be 100% spot on.

The iPod Nano is fine for listening on the go, people who claim they need a high end portable make me laugh, these little bourgeois clowns would be pretenders do not pay attention like one would when doing CRITICAL listening at home,studio or listening room in a store. High-End on the go is pure laughing stock. I have many headphones and in ear plus custom in ear...guess what? I NEVER listen on the go, when I walk,drive,fly and levitate I want to be focused and connected with the world,not insulated in my world. Only fools are absorbed in music on the go,these people deserve an as s whoopin and beatdown,for being a danger to others. This said I did not forget your STAX electrostatic issue and will send you info soon.

Yes stocking up on cans,found the Klipsch Custom 1 and 2 ...purchased these too at discount prices since they are discontinued! And my Audio-Technica reference are comming...finally! Here a test of my iPod Nano cam taping my mess O rama desk. Too many headphones... Soon a vid of my subwoofer wall in action...[] twenty 18 and 15" drivers doing what they do best.

Please be advised the Paradigm PS series are band pass subs,great for movies,explosions,general sound effects. They are however poor for music duty(too one notey for my taste). The PW line is great, the Seismic 10 and 12 are very good subs,even better the Servo subs they make and made in the past. Like the classic Servo 15,one of the cleanest,best sounding subwoofers at any price and unmatched in its price class. The RSW15 from Klipsch is another example of clean,low distortion subdoing well on movies and superb for music.

A horn loaded sub thissize will pound a Sub-12 into the ground ,not much of a competition.For impact,efortless quality this is a great way to go. The driver moves very little to produce substantial SPL at the horn exit. Good project. And complexity(construction) is all the more rewarding when it works great Congrats on what looks like a job well done !

Good description of the Image S4's. I am mighty impressed with the lack of major faults with each new Klipsch in ear I buy,from the less expensive Image series all the way up to the Custom 3. And as for getting a proper fit with the Custom(2 and 3) series I do not see how can people have trouble with getting a proper seal ! Klipsch has little competition in the market, Shure's in ear are great sounding but the built qiality(mainly cable) is lacking.UE is the othercompetitor, they are mostly known for the custom ubber UE10 and 11. Now we need some Klipsch on ear,better yet over the ear. But the market here is bloody competitive. []

Neo, Thanks let me come back to you with some info.

Neo, Figure out how it works? Can you post pictures of the kit(headphone/energiser) and all the cables you have with this combo? Then I may be of help.

DrWho, Nope , for example the many Sony headphones even the high end cans have faults I cannot tolerate for critical listening. The Monster beats Studio are good, if they sold for $100 less(the price I paid ..$200).The Monster SOLO are bloated in the bass, making them good only for listeners who like heavy bass( sound like a BAND PASS subs stuck in a corner!). Shure 440 with Grado SR80 are my favorite inexpensive headhones, Skullcandy Ink'd are my favorite super duper cheap plugs(paid $10 what can you as for for $10...a lap dance?) .And the Ink'd sound better than many known 20-$40 plugs! Shock and awe. There are nice finds in inexpensive headphones and major garbage. My personal favorite for the price is the AKG 702, can compete with the $1400 and even $1700 headphones I have with little loss of sound quality. That is impressive.

Very airy...[] STAX from all the models have I auditioned at home and the one I have are way more , not just airy. They are the most accurate,detailed,natural sounding cans money can buy besides the Sennheiser electrostatic headphones I have heard. Hard to go wrong with Stax headphones, lets say they do not have too much competition in what they do best,superb resolution and capable of detail no dynamic match.They are not perfect but to my ears as close to perfection as it comes.

Anything like? I know these are older Stax headphones/energiser unit that is about it. I have no experience with this model, I saw someone selling a combo like this for cheap...that is about it.

Ah my newest arrival... In all modesty of course.[] Headphones can be like subwoofer to me,like a drug. I am overdosing constantly! The budgeto cans ! The Denon are quite pleasing ,sound quality from the preliminary listening ...great and built quality first rate.

I have two Velodyne SMS1 units, they work well with any sub. Not a SVS or JL or Klipsch thing here,these are proven good performers and will faltten the response in just about any setup you can imagine. Unless your upscale receiver or better pre/pro has an advanced bass(sub bass) correction the SMS1 is a good add on. I use mine with custom subs,my wall O subwoofers, consisting of 10 18" and 10 15" subs. I get a pretty flat frequecy responseat listening position down to 12Hz at outputs over 120dB with ease,I did never try max output as the shaking starts to get car like.The SMS1 has a roll off very deep but this is just for empty talk over the net. In the real world what is cut off is extreme LF that is WASTED ENERGY anyway.

The Grado headphone amp is nothing special,I love Grado headphones(the sound quality not comfort) but the overpriced piece of wood with two 9V cells...a nice catch. Get a Headroom MAX or at least a Headroom Supreme and listen to these again. Lacking in bass...not any of the Grado cans I own and I own the SR60/80/125/225/325...RS2/1 and PS1000...I mean I think I know how Grado cans sound. Unless I am deaf and in that case I would not even bother spending a dime on audio.Grado are not bass heavy and as you know open air cans do not match sealed cans in the bass(in general). Never own a pair ! Come on, I am sure one day you will be able to buy any pair of headphones you will want. Hey I started dreaming about RadioShack $79.00 headphones in 1983, I did not even have the money for $39 cans(I had $5.99 headphones made in Taiwan)! The Optimus 1000 were incredible High-End speakers (I know I know these are jokes today)and the K-Horn was an unrechable target. Times change for the better for those who work hard(well most of the time). Oh I like my Shure SRH440 alot, for the price these are an incredible value! And one of the best buys in the headphone world, sound quality is good enough you do not miss much more expensive headphones! This says alot about the Shure.

DrWho, Good to see you noticed this forgotten section. [] Grado's PS1000 are not lacking in the bass,you need a proper headphone amp to drive these headphones properly. I agree about the wacko ear cushions, what was John Grado thinking ? With the proper headphone amp these are stunning headphones, these are in the heavyweight division due to the massive weight(for a headphone). Sennheiser has struck a perfect balance with the HD800, they are electrostatic like more so than any headphone I have or have tested. These are to me the last step before the almighty Stax reference cans/amp.And they float over the ears,you can wear them for hours with zero fatigue! Shure, shure they have godo headphones I have the 840 and 440, both competent headphones. The in ear Shure earphones suffer from cheap cabling ,this is the only gripe I have with them. Klipsch for example uses quality wiring on the Custom 3. Shure uses Dollar Store wires! WTF where they thinking, you use very high quality wiring on $500 plus in ear , not wires found on no name units sold at your local Dolla Store. Seal with all in ear headphones is a MUST to really hear the what they are capable of,the Klipsch Custom 3 I have...the seal is not easy to get. I have found a method that makes them easy to "install", for the average customer this may be an issue.

Today I have spent some quality headphone time with both of these flagship headphones. Te HD800 is the epitome of quality fit and speaker like sound, you do not listen to headphones, simply reference studio mains here ! The Grado flagship have more impact and are more monitor like, the weight is forgotten as soon as a few monutes bring you so close to the music. The HD800 is slightly laid back, the PS1000 more direct,ruthless monitor. Both are simply stunning with either solid state or tube headphone amps. The Grado matches better with tube amps, the combination of quality tubes with the PS1000 becomes magical. Cannot wait for the big Denon and Audio Technica flagships. Report and pics will comenext week if all goes well. At the end I will compare these with the Stax flagship electrostatic,the Stax represents the last step when it comes to detail. The best value in full size headphones so fat sounds to be the AKG K 701/702, supreme comfort and simply world class transparency,neutrality and full range sound reproduction at a low price ! These are just quick preliminary tests. Next week I will start in-ear headphone preliminary listening. Note I use my RME external FW sound card as source feeding quality solid state and tube headphone amps. And I have purchased these Monster Beats(Studio and Solo) just for fun,so far the Studio's sound quality is very good for noise canceling headphones ! The Solo's are a bit bass heavy and work best with portable MP3 players as the bass heavy side is reduced and the Solo's improve. One thing The Solo's go for $199 and the Studio for $349 here in Canada. At this price the much less costly Koss PortaPro and Sennheiser PX100 best the Solo's with ease in sound quality. About the Klipsch Custom 3 and X10's, so far after a few hours of use...with a proper seal. They rank in the upper class of in ear headphones. The Shure Sh530 bests the Studio 3 in detail and offers a more balanced presentation(to be expected considering the price tag).The Klipsch use higher quality wires,Shure's wiring on the 400 and 500 series is seriously lacking in quality. Noodle wires should be used,as the stiffer wires will break alot faster than flexible wires.

Today a small update, still gathering (buying) the very finest headphones made. Here the Sennheiser HD800 and Grado PS-1000. Next week Denon and Audio Technica's very best. Comming up... HD800 PS-1000 One ugly box,who cares it is what is inside that counts !

Tonight another show of headphone masterpiece...[] [] The Grado top O the line $1700 cans. Next week more top O the line budget units !!! BE THERE!! The budgetos !

Subs I do not care for them much, I have all 40 + something subs so... Now I have twenty plus headphone,not as expensive but still. I am missing the Orpheus.

Darkside, Peerless XXLS's are great drivers if you are looking for SQ first. Two of these 10" should have plenty of output for any music listening at sane levels. The HD800 is the third best headpone in the world,after the Orpheus and a STAX SR-007 Mk2/SRM-007 tII. I am on my way to get the STAX,the Orpheus well I am not ready to shell the moolah,yet.