Rega Ear: A bargain!!!

OF COURSE it is - KNEW I'd seen that sweet face somewhere before (I think she's cutest as Michelle in AP2, but she's ditsy in Buffy, so that's always cool!).

Paul - how much are the DT531s? My Senns have enough treble for me, but I've always liked Beyers too - based on the slightly cheesier ones they used to use on the Virgin Megastore listening posts

 

The 531's are £80 at Superfi, although they are discontinued now, so stocks will be running out.

 

noone seen this anywhere online? i've googled my heart out, but to no avail.

getting my local to order me one shouldn't be a problem, but god knows what they'll charge me.

 

http://www.audio-excellence.co.uk/price.html Scroll down until you hit the Rs.

Alternatively wait until PBirkett wants to sell his, and get it for a bargain price

 

cheers David, but i found this quote on their mail order page: "Therefore we do not sell the following new products by mail order:
Acoustic Energy, Arcam, B&W, Cyrus, Kef, Linn, Marantz, Nad, Naim, Onkyo, Rega, Rotel, & TagMclaren."

good point though, are we taking bets on how long the ear lasts?

 

DAMN YOU Paul!!! They look great - from what the Superfi images look like - more comfortable than the Senns I reckon - based on looks alone. So that's one pair ordered Ah well - get my bonus at the end of the month and I was only going to pay off 2/3 of the credit card with it - what's another £79??? Will be interesting to hear these, and I can punt either these or the Senns on on £pay later since I still have the receipts/packing for the Senns

Should be interesting to see how these fair, as the only probs with the Senns are a slightly restrained bass and a smooth but none-too-extended treble...

 

I'll be interested to hear how you find them compared to the Senn's - although I've heard the Senn's, I've not heard them on the Rega Ear - but the Beyers always sounded a bit more upfront and lively to me, sounds good to me. And yeah they are more comfortable.

And BTW, the DT531's are enjoying something of a revival on headfi, and because they are very hard to get anywhere else - they are now enjoying something of a classic status, where people are literally screaming out to get them, I'd bet you could actually even make a profit on the 531's on headfi, if you didnt like em

 

I use a pair of fairly power-hungry Senn HD 600s with my Mk1 Rega Ear. Very nice too.

However, music via my amps and speakers is still far more fun, and there isn't much detail trade-off to speak of either, tbh.

 

Hmm - nice! Well, mine are being winged from ParcelFarce to Exter's main Post Office today, so I should get them tomorrow evening Will let you know. No way in hell was I cycling over to Marsh Barton - it's hell at the best of times - but in RUSH HOUR??? :yikes:

 

Cool, let me know how you get on - listening to the new Prodigy album on em now, and they are soundin good to me

 

A deliberate spello, methinks?

 

He he - yep They'd left another card in my letterbox yesterday saying "we failed to deliver..." - urm, so the item MIGHT have been on the delivery truck before they got my phonecall to redeliver to a post office, but still seemed a bit odd! I should get the cans this afternoon all being well, so will leave them on to start burning in...

Paul - how long do they take to run in?

 

Personally I thought they sounded fairly good out of the box, but I'd say 24-48 hours of bass heavy music and they'll be ready.

 

Sweet Will stick Infected Mushroom on on repeat through them then

 

Well, I WOULD have put Infected Mushroom on repeat, but my remote for the Pioneer CDR's gone missing It's in the bedroom SOMEWHERE (and the bedroom's not messy; I reckon it's fallen down the back of the TV or the bookcase!!!), so I only got 1 CD's worth of run in as I went out for some :guiness:

When I got back (at 11.30!), I proceeded to play 2 hours' music (vinyl and CD) through the Beyers. Urm, well, err, it sounded slightly toppy when I first started, but gradually got more and more refined while still boogying like a b*stard - these have MUCH more get up and go than the Senns, and are much more enjoyable to listen to. Bass is gettign there too - and the comfort factor is much higher; unlike the Senns, the Beyers will stay where I put them once on my ears

As I say, they seemed very slightly toppy, but from the opening piano/keyboard notes of Tunnel of love by (ahem!) dIRE sTRAITS (vinyl), there was something inherently right about the sound - a verve and soul. The Sennheisers sound like a career woman (soulless) in comparison. Plus the Beyers have better dynamics and go louder without cracking up.

They even managed to make me smile while I was playing Kate Bush's "The kick inside" (the last track on album of same name) on vinyl; this LP's never been the best tracker, but even with the odd bit of end-of-side distortion, the Beyers sounded excellent.

They even handled my totally shagged copy of Bowie's "ChangesONEBowie" (Changes and Sufragette City) without ripping my ears off.

So Paul - I owe you a beer!

Anyone want any Sennheiser 580s, mint and boxed????

 

Dom, I am really chuffed to hear you like them. I was especially interested in your opinions, since I do find the DT531's very groovy sounding and enjoyable headphones, but I was aware of the HD580 synergising well with the Rega Ear, so I thought it might be a tough battle, but yet again it sees off the competition. Also, I knew you liked similar music to me in many cases so again this comparison is very interesting to me.



I was actually pretty curious to hear the HD580 on the Rega Ear, but your post has convinced me that I am not really missing much.

 

Well - results may vary, 'cos my Ear is the older Mk1 version, but the Sennheisers, while pretty good on the back of it, aren't a patch musically on the Beyers

It's in the phrasing of things like piano - some kind of slightly peppier midrange; the bass should be doing OK now as well - they've been cooking on the back of my FM tuner all day and I'm not getting back home until about 11:30 tonight

 

The bass should fill out a bit, although they arent bass monsters, but they are quite punchy and fast sounding. You are exactly right about the musicality of them, I still aint found a headphone that can match them in this respect, and I've tried about 15 pairs, ranging from the lowly Sennheiser MX400 to the "mighty" Sennheiser HD650, Sony MDR-CD3000, Beyer DT880, and Stax Lambdas, and yet the DT531's, and while not technically "perfect", and also possibly one of the cheaper sets I've tried is the only one that makes me feel the groove

 

Hmm - Stax - I've never heard a pair. I've heard Quad electrostatic panel speakers and quite like them, but they need a fair bit upstream to groove properly - wander if the Stax just drag TOO much info out and bog down the "music" with the "hifi" stuff?

The cans are still on burn in - hopefully Radio 2 won't burn them in as boring (they play some OK stuff at the mo though ). I tell you one thing - Morcheeba's Big Calm sounds blinding on them. Just wish I could find the remote for my Pioneer PDR609