Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
I keep hearing really great things about Sony cans
Traditionally not a headphones guy, but wanted something good for late night movie viewing.
After listening to the usual suspects at this price point (Senn 660's and the like) I much preferred the sound of the Beyerdynamic Amiron Home.
Took a while for them to open up, sounding a bit flat and etched in the high end initially, but started to do their thing with a couple of weeks on 'em.
Originally just for late night movie watching, I never realised how good cans could be for music too.
Very deep crisp bass drives the tune, very open mids and focussed highs.
Soundstage is downright spooky sometimes, things appearing behind you apparently feet away from your head.
They have a detachable cable, a good and bad thing I learned when I accidentally tripped over it and broke it one hungover morning!
Replacing it I took a punt on Beyer's upgraded 7N ONCC cable, and sound quality took a nice jump.
Can wear them for hours at a time, so comfortable.
Quite lightweight, very little cup pressure on your ears and they are covered in Alcantara fabric.
Even after a few hours with them you hardly notice they are there.
Not a headphones guy as I said, but these made me see what all the fuss was about.
Good headphone amp in my Pre, the Amiron's (especially with the upgraded cable) bring me a lot closer to whatever I'm listening to, whether music or movies.
Late night listening...Done.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
It’s the Lumin D2 streamer-
http://www.luminmusic.com/lumin-d2.html
The transmitter is the Bluetooth one I linked to in my earlier post.
“Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”
Hunter S Thompson
Monoprice Monolith M1060
I've always liked planar sound and while I loved the Tin HiFi P1, my ears have a problem with the pressures involved in IEMs so I started looking at full sized headphones. The Sundara were what I wanted but didn't want to spend that much so I was looking at the HE-400i (2020) and Monoprice M1060. There is quite a modding community surrounding certain cans and the M1060 is one of them. It seemed like I could get the planar sound I wanted for £200 and with a minimum of easy mods I could tailor the sound a bit to my preference... which is about what I've got, though a little tinkering left to do. I tend to be attracted to the tinkering aspect of HiFi along with my musical enjoyment.
Last edited by brucew268; 26-09-2020 at 18:05.
Bruce
Theories are not so much answers as questions, to be supported or undermined by experience & testing.
Source: Audiolab 6000CDT > Calyx 24/192 DAC
Amplification: Pass-design B1rev2 pre-amplifier > Neurochrome Modulus 686.
Loudspeakers: Proac Response 1SC
Cables/stands: spkr: MIT MH-750 biwire; IC: HT Truthlink; Target stands, sand-filled; Excel Cat6A 23AWG UFTP & 1attack.de Cat.7 SFTP.
Other: Balanced AC transformer to hydra mains distr; Bass traps & Acoustic panels; Isolation: Inner tube & roller bearings; 3xZyxel ES104A switches in series w/Vreg upgrades.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
I don’t have any headphones these days as I’ve no need, but in the past I’ve owned...
Sennheiser HD25s
Sennheiser HD600s
Sennheiser HD650s
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros
Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pros
Plus a pile of non-Hi-Fi stuff.
By a long shot, the DT1990 Pros stood out for me. Open backed, so transparent, weighty and clean, musical too. I drove them with a Beresford Headphone amp (can’t remember the name) plus an Audioquest Dragonfly Red.