Post by lobalwarming on Jun 5, 2017 21:57:58 GMT
Thanks for the warm welcome and almost decisive advise.
The 240DF and T20 are fringe cases, like their owner. I've used the 240DFs for mixing/monitoring for over 20 years out of a variety of mixing boards and external SS boxes - not because they sounded great, but because I knew them so well that my brain could make them sound neutral - with only a little perceptual tweaking.
The T20s were my gateway drug into headphone modding. Still haven't tweaked them to deliver the clean, linear FR of a 650, but it's fun to try.
I rarely feel the need for high SPL. 96 dB is the max output limit of my old Gibson A mando at full chop at .5M - that's not banjo loud, but loud enough for me. My normal HP listening levels peak around 70db with 85-90dB peaks, if that. I'm more of a first milliwatt kinda guy. I use phones as a way to listen 'into' the music/audio, not so much for visceral impact. I have cats for that.
Solderdude, thanks for the detailed overview. Seems like all 4 will drive the 650s just fine. That narrows the field. ;-)
The Horizon now ships with the supercharger option? That's a cost saving for me - but a profit loss for Jeremy. Class A plus way too much headroom for a little bit more than Sunrise and Solstice could tip the balance.
Jeremy mentioned that the Class A mosfets outputs provide a 'smooth laidback' 'jazzy' sound but the 551s are more dynamic. A smooth laidback presentation on phones sounds attractive. But, does that tradeoff detail and subtlety? In my experience with Class A SS speaker amps it meant the some of harsher transistor high frequency artifacts were reduced. Dynamics weren't limited, at least not until the outputs blew. How large/subtle is the difference between the mosfet vs opamp output models?
How much extra bother is the manual bias process? The G1217 video makes it seem like fun! Do these small signal tubes drift that much over time? As a musician, I've learned the importance of laziness, so smoothness be damned, the Solstice could be a better match for my lack of discipline. ;-)
I have no idea how much rolling of tubes I will do. I'm curious to experience the 'magic' of these old legendary electron streams in a vacuum. If it's just lots of added 2nd order harmonics, I will be disappointed. I want MAGIC, damn it! Magic. And a bigger, wider, deeper more magically transformative vocabulary so I can score a dream job writing for headphonia. LOL!
Will play another round of 20 annoying questions with Jeremy and then maybe let the cats decide - they'll likely select the model with the most heat output to snooze on.
Thanks again, everyone. Hope to be rolling with you all soon.
The 240DF and T20 are fringe cases, like their owner. I've used the 240DFs for mixing/monitoring for over 20 years out of a variety of mixing boards and external SS boxes - not because they sounded great, but because I knew them so well that my brain could make them sound neutral - with only a little perceptual tweaking.
The T20s were my gateway drug into headphone modding. Still haven't tweaked them to deliver the clean, linear FR of a 650, but it's fun to try.
I rarely feel the need for high SPL. 96 dB is the max output limit of my old Gibson A mando at full chop at .5M - that's not banjo loud, but loud enough for me. My normal HP listening levels peak around 70db with 85-90dB peaks, if that. I'm more of a first milliwatt kinda guy. I use phones as a way to listen 'into' the music/audio, not so much for visceral impact. I have cats for that.
Solderdude, thanks for the detailed overview. Seems like all 4 will drive the 650s just fine. That narrows the field. ;-)
The Horizon now ships with the supercharger option? That's a cost saving for me - but a profit loss for Jeremy. Class A plus way too much headroom for a little bit more than Sunrise and Solstice could tip the balance.
Jeremy mentioned that the Class A mosfets outputs provide a 'smooth laidback' 'jazzy' sound but the 551s are more dynamic. A smooth laidback presentation on phones sounds attractive. But, does that tradeoff detail and subtlety? In my experience with Class A SS speaker amps it meant the some of harsher transistor high frequency artifacts were reduced. Dynamics weren't limited, at least not until the outputs blew. How large/subtle is the difference between the mosfet vs opamp output models?
How much extra bother is the manual bias process? The G1217 video makes it seem like fun! Do these small signal tubes drift that much over time? As a musician, I've learned the importance of laziness, so smoothness be damned, the Solstice could be a better match for my lack of discipline. ;-)
I have no idea how much rolling of tubes I will do. I'm curious to experience the 'magic' of these old legendary electron streams in a vacuum. If it's just lots of added 2nd order harmonics, I will be disappointed. I want MAGIC, damn it! Magic. And a bigger, wider, deeper more magically transformative vocabulary so I can score a dream job writing for headphonia. LOL!
Will play another round of 20 annoying questions with Jeremy and then maybe let the cats decide - they'll likely select the model with the most heat output to snooze on.
Thanks again, everyone. Hope to be rolling with you all soon.