Headphone amp + headphones

MartinC, I have just heard my friends Sony MDR-CD1700's for the first time - these are £74 from www.askdirect.co.uk

He has done the foam mod which involves taking the foam pads out beneath the pads.

These headphones are great for the money, very much like baby CD3000's, seemingly pretty close in sound, and I have to say these are a SUPERB bargain for that kind of cash (they are £200 RRP). Nice detailed, dynamic sound just like the CD3000.

Foam modded CD1700's now take over from the discontinued Beyer DT531's as one of THE headphone bargains available IMHO. I would seriously recommend trying those. Also probably one of the most comfortable headphones developed by any manufacturer, ever.

 

Cheers for the tip Paul, and sorry I haven't got chance to reply sooner. I'll bear those Sonys in mind. This foam mod. is something I can easily do myself I assume? I'm just about resisting buying blind at the moment, although might consider it once I've heard more of what's out there and have more of a reference to compare things with. I'm planning to go to a few shops over the Easter period to check things out - I'll keep you posted.

Martin

 

The foam mod is easy. You simply remove the earpads and there is a bit of foam covering the speaker, glued on. Just remove it, and stick the ear pads back on, and you have just freed up some bass and treble.

 

Right, I've had a listen to some kit now...

On Thrusday I head the MF X-can V3, for about five minutes with some Grado SR-60s which were just too uncomfortable for me to stick with, and then for about ten minutes with some Sennheiser HD-570s. At this point the power supply for the amp died and they didn't have another. I then switched to the Project Headbox, but that was a definite step down from the MF, and didn't sound too good frankly. I wasn't desperately impressed with the MF HD-570 combo either really as I found it a very closed in sound.

This morning I had rather more success, and heard the Naim Headline, Project Headbox again, and the Rega Ear, along with Grado SR-80 and SR-125 phones, and Sennheiser HD-650s. Soundwise I much preferred the Grados to the Senns, irrespective of price; the Grado's were just so much more open there was no contest for me. Unfortunately though the Grado's weren't that comfortable (the Senn's are much better here). So, right now what I'd like are some headphones that sound like Grado's but are as comfortable as the Senns (i.e. fit right over the ear and press on the side of your head rather than the ear). Of the two Grados the SR-125s were clearly the classier of the two, being more open and detailed, although possibly with a little less bass than the SR-80s. I didn't get chance to listen to any of the more expensive Grados.

Amp wise the Naim is really outside my budget but the guy in the shop was very keen for me to hear it so I gave it a shot. Initially I had this and the Project connected up and could swith between them. Not surprisingly the Naim was clearly better - more open, detailed and natural, although possibly just a little thin at the bottom end. (The CDP was an Arcam FMJ CD33T BTW). I then switched to compare the Rega to the Project and the Rega wins hands down. I was very impressed with the Rega, especially with it's ~£120 price tag. I didn't have them both connected at once for a quick comparison, but I'd say to my very humble ears the Rega wasn't that much worse than the Naim, and certainly not the over 4 times worse of the price difference.

So, on what I've heard so far I'll be going for a Rega Ear plus some Grado SR-125s, but I'm planning a trip to London on Tuesday to try and check out the Stax, and hopefully some Beyerdynamic headphones...

Martin

 

interesting

for me, i'm looking at either the Rega Ear or Creek OBH-21. both of which i'll probably be buying deaf, depends whether or not my dealer can get a hold of them.

they'll be paired, for the time being, with my DT100s, nice easy 400Ohm load. Looking at replacing them with DT880s in time.

 

I'd be interested to see where PBirkett thinks the Sony CD1700 would fit into the comparisons that MartinC has just made.

Better / worse / similar to the phones MartinC has listened to?

 

Last time I was in Germany I heard some phones that were really good. They were so natural and 'non-phoney' that everyone who heard them lifted them off to make sure the speakers weren't on.

I can't remember which model they were (although I could find out) but the web site is: Ultrasone.

They're not expensive either.

 

i'd go along with your results Martin

I had some Grado Sr-80s at one point. Absolutely SUPERB headphones although they were oh-so uncomfortable. Made my ears itch. Allegedly the ear pads from the Sr-60s fit the sr-80s and are much more comfortable...probably worth a try. Were a dynamite combo with my old X-Cans too.

I haven't heard the Senn 650s but they are allegedly more open and revealing '580s which i found to be good headphones. Nothing startingly good, just pleasant..


I await your verdict on the Stax's on Tuesday with interest... me thinks you'll like them

 

I think Martin would like the CD1700's. They sound better than SR80's (and so they should, SR80s are $100 headphones in the US, the Sony's are £200 RRP), to these ears, and are more comfortable than Senn's. If you can get down to askdirect in London, then you should definitely audition those.

Make sure you also listen to the new Beyer DT440. I think you might like that one too.

 

I didn't realise AskDirect had a shop, that sounds like it should be worth checking out. Not sure if I'll be heading to London on Tuesday now but maybe sometime later in the week, I'll see.

 

I phoned up the AskDirect shop earlier to see if they had those Sony CD1700s available to demo, but apparantly they don't let you demo headphones at all, so that's out . I think if I don't like the Stax ones (which I'm going to hear on Thursday now as I've found a guy in Southampton trying to sell his...), then I may well give those Sony's a shot, on the basis I should be able to sell them on on eBay without a loss, to go with the Rega Ear amp.

My only slight dilemma now is that I haven't been able to check out any BeyerDynamic headphones, and am wondering if I ought to make a special effort to track some down to hear. Any thoughts? (My current, slightly lazy, thought is to give the Sony's a shot, and then check out the Beyers if I don't like them...).

Martin

 

The DT440 is probably going to be worth a shot if you can get to hear those. Early indications are that they are an improved version of the DT531's, which I rate pretty well for the price.

I think you are discovering just why I have been through so much headphone gear - its nigh on impossible to audition the stuff fairly isnt it?

Although more expensive, and even though you've said you dont like the Senn sound, if you can find a pair to audition, perhaps the HD595's are worth a shot, as they are more forward than the 580/600/650 range...

 

Yup . Although, to give them credit Audio-T in Reading were very good in that they actually left me alone with three amps and some headphones to try in a proper demo room, rather than just standing in the main shop. From my limited searching you seem to be able to hear a Project Headbox just about anywhere, which is a shame as, to my ears, it's the worst headphone amp I've heard . Sennheisers are pretty ubiquitous too of course...

I'm in Reading at the moment with my parents, but I haven't found anywhere here or in Southampton with any Beyers in stock. I'll just have to see if I can be arsed to go to London tomorrow to check some out... Superfi have some at least, and presumeably if I wander down the Tottenham Court road I should find some others. I'll see how lazy I'm feeling.

M.

 

I'm looking for some headphones in this price range (under 100 quid). Both these 2 headphones (CD1700 and the DT531's) have caught my eye.

How would you say the 2 compare to each other? and what type of music are they best suited to?

 

Back at work today , but it does mean I can finally reply to this thread again.

I went to London last Tuesday in the end, and essentially heard two headphones of interest, the Sony MDR CD1700s and some Beyer 931s. AskDirect had told me over the phone I wouldn't be able to demo the Sony headphones in their shop, but thought I'd try my luck in their anyway and did manage to get a quick listen. this was though on the headphone output of some Sharp (I think) micro system, and with the guy from the shop peering over my shoulder all the time, so I only listened to bits of two tracks from Massive Attack's Blue Lines CD. First up, for this short period, these headphones were VERY comfortable. Soundwise I was pretty impressed too, with them managing to do a nice job of have some reasonable bass whilst still being pretty detailed. Like I said though, not the best source and a very quick listen...

Walking down Tottenham Court Road I found a few places that stocked some of the more expensive Beyers, but nowhere prepared to let me listen to any . So I headed off to Superfi, where I heard a pair of Beyer 931 on the headphone output of a Linn Classic. They'd also got some Grado SR80s so I had a listen to them again, to get a feel for the Linn, which had a reasonable headphone output I thought. Anyway, the 931s, good, detailed, open sound, but very little bass, so overall rather bright sounding and so not suited for the range of music I like.

I also had a listen to the Stax 2020 system that was on eBay last week, as the guy selling them actually lived just outside Southampton. I go along expecting to hear a very open, clear, detailed sound, with some reservations about it's low end, and end up listening to what was a very warm sound indeed. I wasn't impressed frankly. The source was a Cyrus DVD player (7 I think) with some DAC upgrade, which was connected to the Stax by a VDH First Ultimate IC. (Actually I got my colours mixed up and thought it was a 102III when I was listening and the seller corrected me later. I say this as I really don't like the First Ultimate, and found it seriously rolled off the top end when I demoed one before, but my listening was NOT prejudiced by this as I didn't realise at the time). Needless to say I didn't bid for them. As the sound was so totally at odds with the reviews I've seen though I was left wondering if the unit was damaged in some way, the source is very warm sounding or the cable was having a significant effect.

So, what am I doing now? Well, I've decided to try and get a demo of a new Stax unit at a shop, just as soon as there are any available to listen to. I also found out today that the price of the 2020 system is being dropped from £450 to £350 which is nice . I've also though ordered a pair of the Sony CD1700s from AskDirect (this morning in fact), so I can hear these with some proper headphone amps, and for longer. I should be able to sell them on easily enough if I don't keep them. Gut feeling at the moment is that I'll end up with the Sonys and a Rega Ear, but we'll see...

Martin

 

I got the CD1700s yesterday and first impressions are good, especially judging to all the CDs currently strewn round my lounge and how late I was listening to music last night . I'm in desperate need of a proper headphone amp though, as I'm having to use my slightly faulty Pioneer A400 at the moment, and the electrical hum through the headphones is very obvious. The sound was a bit muted, due to the A400 I think, but despite this the quality of the 'phones was still extremely obvious. I haven't done the foam mod. yet either...

 

That's actually a problem with Stax - they're so accurate, they don't sound spectacular at all, despite having stupendous bass and transient accuracy. It's that ESL bass quality - if you like it, there's nothing better, but if you don't...
I think they make my old Senn HD565 Ovations sound muddy and slow (despite dicking with DIY headphone amplifiers for at least 10 years)

You could say I'm a fan

All Stax are also ruthless with sources, which what I'd point to in your dem; they shouldn't sound warm, they should be amongst the most transparent presentation you've heard from headphones. Note also they need to be connected to the energizer and powered-up all the time - the bias voltage takes time to stabilise on the diaphragm and a day or two makes an enormous difference - from cold, the first 15mins is so poor it makes you wonder what the fuss is about.

Note the differences to be heard across the Stax series are more in the energisers(amplifiers) than the headphone themselves. Lots of things to play with if you are into DIY, and are not afraid of 600V bias supplies

Felix

 

Interesting what you say about them being run from cold; that may very well have been the problem. I got the feeling the seller had only just plugged them in when I arrived.

 

MartinC, enjoy those phones, the reversible foam mod will be worth trying too, as this mod to my ears turns them into "baby" CD3000's, but they are probably the best phones available for less than about £200 IMHO.

 

I've been holding off on the foam mod in case I decided to sell these 'phones on in the near future. As I think you said the foam in question (I assume this is the bit you can see looking into them) is stuck in place, I wasn't sure how reversible it may be.

Thanks very much for putting me onto these 'phones by the way Paul, there's no way I'd have considered them otherwise.

M.