Time to go Planar!

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Fretless
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by Fretless »

George Hincapie wrote: Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:23 am Don't buy anything. I shall send you one. Will ship it over the next couple of days.


Ooh, er.

All donations gratefully received.

My eternal thanks. :bow-yellow:
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George Hincapie (Wed Nov 16, 2022 5:05 pm)

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

Vinyl-ant
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by Vinyl-ant »

Just been browsing through this thread.
I don't use headphones very often but have just recently bought some b&w p5s for not much to be used with a tablet i have been playing about with streaming spotify via a topping e30 dac. About the simplest streaming setup possible which cost me nowt because i had the required hardware already.
Daughter mithering for spotify finally got her way, so if im paying for it i should get some use out of it myself right?.

Anyway, back to cans, i had ath7s mentioned in the first post and they were lovely. i sold them because they were not getting used for furniture positioning reasons, and later bought some more planars, a pair of at706s. Because i wanted some cans again and wanted as close to the 7s as i could without shelling out stax money.
These sound gorgeous on the end of either my pass f5, or, my modded a20.
They havent been used in a while as i couldnt use them downstairs because there is no way to get a chair near the f5, and im abit to old to sprawl out on the floor like the teenagers in the house do. It would take me 10 minutes to get back up again.
So they would have to get used with the a20 which is not connected to anything at the moment. Plan is to connect the a20/p20 combo. The p20 was modded with a shunt pot with some lovely amtrans resistors, and a potential divider network to tame the gain of the a20 so i can use it with my 101db efficient fanes. And the cans incedentally. It is just far too high gain for either the speakers or the cans because it was never meant for such high efficiency speakers.

Part 2 of said plan is to set this up upstairs with one of the many many spare decks i have and a spare phono stage.

I do like electret headphones alot, my best listening experiences have all been with the 7s and the 706s
Ive also got some sennheiser hdr180 wireless jobs that are quite likeable but not up to the same standard.

The p5s are the series 2 model, i havent got them yet though so i am rather intrigued to see if they are any good. They do look the part...
We will see...

Also, re the ath7s needing power, its not that they need power, its that they need high voltage to excite the diaphragms. Electrostats have a hv supply to energise the mylar panels, which is why they need to be plugged into the wall that is essentially modulated by the amp wheras the electrets are permenantly charged. The transformers just step up the voltage to excite the diaphrams instead of having to provide the hv via a power source
These users thanked the author Vinyl-ant for the post (total 2):
Fretless (Wed Nov 16, 2022 4:08 pm) • George Hincapie (Wed Nov 16, 2022 5:06 pm)
Analogue: oracle delphi sme 309, jbe series 3 cx unipivot dv20x2l, roksan xerxes tabriz vm750, jvc ql-y5f rigb at440, jvc ql-y3f vm750, lenco 75, technics sl150

Phono stages: cole lcr, benedict audio hothead

Digital: cyrus cd7, wiim mini x2, topping e30, jds labs el dac 2+

Amplification: nelson pass b1, nelson pass f5

Speakers: 15" fane aperiodic wardrobes

Cans: myryad z40, hifiman sundara + deva, fostex t50rp, sennheiser momentum on ear +over ear, b&w p5 and p7

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Fretless
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by Fretless »

Thanks for that Ant. Nice to get a new perspective on the ATH7.

:guiness;

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Fretless
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by Fretless »

Swapped the Cambridge DacMagic Plus in for the DacMagic 100. Huge difference and really nice 'fruity' sound with the Sabaj valve amp and closed-back Monolith cans.

It is sometimes just fun to change components in a setup and then you can really appreciate what an individual device is (or isn't) capable of.

The score for this swap is that the DacMagic 100 produces nice audio with an LPSU but the Plus model really does have seriously musical, audiophile pretensions.

:violin:
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George Hincapie (Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:03 am)

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Fretless
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by Fretless »

Image

:grin: :guiness;

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Fretless
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by Fretless »

This is a revelation and makes me realise that I have probably never hear 'properly-driven' headphones before. A current favourite listen is JMJ's hoary old chestnut 'Equinoxe' (an album I can never get enough of) and I know it intimately - or I thought I did! Despite this office rig having a so-so streaming source (old Sonos Connect) a not-spectacular DAC (Teradak V4.1) and average cabling (AudioQuest Alpha), this setup is revealing detail and layers on this recording that I didn't know were there - and doing it with a precision, resolution and authoritative grip that is totally new to me.

Mind blown. :o
These users thanked the author Fretless for the post (total 3):
slinger (Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:54 pm) • George Hincapie (Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:03 am) • ljones67 (Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:11 pm)

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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George Hincapie
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by George Hincapie »

Fretless wrote: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:59 pm This is a revelation and makes me realise that I have probably never hear 'properly-driven' headphones before. A current favourite listen is JMJ's hoary old chestnut 'Equinoxe' (an album I can never get enough of) and I know it intimately - or I thought I did! Despite this office rig having a so-so streaming source (old Sonos Connect) a not-spectacular DAC (Teradak V4.1) and average cabling (AudioQuest Alpha), this setup is revealing detail and layers on this recording that I didn't know were there - and doing it with a precision, resolution and authoritative grip that is totally new to me.

Mind blown. :o
That blackground is real. I'm happy for you 😊👏
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Fretless (Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:59 am)
Headphone Amplification
Linear Tube Audio MZ3

Headphones
HifiMan Sundara • HiFiMan Arya Stealth Edition • ZMF Vérité Closed Ltd (Stabilised) • ZMF Atrium Open Ltd (Hawaiian Koa) • ZMF Aeolus Ltd (Mexican Bocote)

Digital
Audial S5 • Pi2AES 2.0

Cables
Forza Audio Works • Blue Jeans • DH Labs • Periapt

Power
Farad • Tomanek

Sources
Roon • Tidal • Qobuz

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Fretless
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by Fretless »

Amazon Black Friday deals include several devices from Sabaj, including the very fine A10h headphone amp for only 74 pounds.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SABAJ-A10h-Des ... 531&sr=8-7

Sabaj is a ChiFi brand but their products appear (to me) to be well-designed, nicely-built and extremely good VFM.

:animals-dogrun:
These users thanked the author Fretless for the post (total 2):
ljones67 (Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:10 pm) • George Hincapie (Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:49 pm)

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

ljones67
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by ljones67 »

I nearly ordered the Sabaj PHA3 a few days ago. Had it in the basket, along with some cables, but changed my mind. I couldn't decide whether to go for the A10h instead. By the time I add the cost of replacement tubes the price was getting closer to the A10h as well.

How do the two Sabaj amps compare to your latest Monoprice? Going by the Monoprice review it seems as though it's a lot better!

Do you think it's worth paying the extra for something like the Monoprice or would either the Sabaj models be good enough as an introduction to headphone amplifiers?

ljones67
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Re: Time to go Planar!

Unread post by ljones67 »

Also a fan of Equinoxe. Magnetic Fields was also a favourite. Haven't played them in ages so will give them a listen tonight.

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