Bedroom Headphone Bliss !

by chams_uk on Done For Now

Description

I used to have a nice little JVC "Executive" Stereo system, looked pretty, and had single driver ceramic speakers. Actually sounded pretty nice.

But I could never listen when I wanted (especially at night), as it would bother the wife, despite her liking a fair bit of my music.

So headphones were the way to go. I had the Sennheiser 580's already. Got the Cardas upgrade and it made a great difference: more of everything good, with nothing glaringly bad (as I mentioned, it's a little fat sounding, but it's a pleasant coloration).

After lurking a while on head-fi.org (great site, diehards there !), I contacted Ray Samuels and bought his XP-7 system. All I can say is: transformation into heaven !

Got the Sony's as the Senn's were still a little too noisy.

I just played "Baby Now That I've Found You" from Allison Kraus and Union Station Live SACD for my wife last night on the Sony's, and she just smiled all the way through it !

Success ! Who says you can't have it all :-)
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Components Toggle details

    • Pioneer Pioneer DV-45a EVS-Modified
    Incredible mod'd universal plaer, mods done by Ric Schultz at www.tweakaudio.com. Improvements over stoc include smoother and more extended sound, deeper soundstage, incredible focus and clarity. Ric has been mod'ing digital for years, and has even designed his own DAC (I have owned 3 of his products). This unit rivals digital gear I've heard at 3 times the price!!! Price is with mods installed.
    • Tritium UHV Gold
    Tritium makes Triphasers, some of my favorite tweaks. These UHV (Ultra High Velocity) interconects are thick but flexible, made with solid gold wire, and sound just damn incredible: smooth yet SO detailed, spacious soundstage; they just get out of the way of the music.
    • Ray Samuels XP-7 Headphone Amp
    A superb headphone amp. Comes with a separate power supply (optional), and can be run off 2 9V batteries. I have NEVER used the term "organic" to describe the sound of stereo equipment, until this puppy came into my system ! Detail, smooth top-to-bottom response, with a suprisingly good amount of in-head soundstaging ! Drives any normal headphones. Price reflects optional PS ($495 without it). www.raysamuelsaudio.com
    • Sony MDR-CD3000 Headphones
    A closed-ear design, good for shutting out the wife...uhhhmmmm, keeping the noise from bothering her :-) Remarkably clean & neutral sound all around, does not seem to emphasize any frequency. Has been labelled bright, but I think that is dependent on source and headphone amp; I get none of that ! Phones can be bought at far below list price, I recommend www.audiocubes.com
    • Audio Resolution Vibration Shelf
    I posted a review for these here; they are similar to Symposium products. Not as pretty, but they list for $115 ! And they do a fantastic job. They take internal vibrations from the equipment, and drain them away. I noticed a nice improvement in midbass through midrange with these, as well as deeper bass impact. www.audio-resolution.com
    • Bybee Technologies Signature
    Signature Conditioner, used on A;gon, with ERS strips placed to help with EMI/RFI. Putting this in my headphone system opened up the soundstage a bit more, and more clearly delineated the performers and instruments within that space. Female vox were already great, now they are superb ! VERY nice addition to the system !
    • Aural Thrills Silver Big One
    Inexpensive but great sounding cord from Tom @ Aural Thrills. One pen-pal friend who tried the older copper version likened it to the Audience cord at 1/3 the price. www.auralthrills.com
    • Michael Wolff Silver Carbon
    Very nice and smooth sounding cord, didn't think ti would have the positive impact it did. Combination of carbon and silver conductors, amking it cheaper than the all-carbon.

Comments 6

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Todd,
I recently got the same Pioneer player (stock) due to a problem with a NAD DVD player that I had. What modifications did you have done and what are the differences from stock as I am considering doing mods instead of buying new components. I've heard this is the way to go in terms of bang for the buck. Thanks,

Keith

thebeave250

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