Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 39 minutes ago, Bengineer said: The original AD900 was my first expensive expensive headphones That was like 2005? Around then sometime. They were excellent. Maybe I'll foray into the AT sound again. What's the pick of the bunch. I just bought a T5p Gen 2 to try too. Heard praises. May or may not stay Haha you’re on a buying spree. I just sold off the Beyer T1.2 with balance cable for cheap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Just trying models I haven't. Some mid-fi gems around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruc3 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 10 minutes ago, Odyssey said: I just sold off the Beyer T1.2 with balance cable for cheap. I wonder how the newer Beyer T1.3 sounds, but have not been reading very good things about those. Also guess wont go well with tubes being so low impedance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Check out the thorough StereoNet review of the new T1 and T5. *cough* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 7 minutes ago, Bengineer said: Check out the thorough StereoNet review of the new T1 and T5. *cough* Is it good bad or ugly. Can’t check atm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 It's a typical SNA "review" that sounds like it was written by Beyerdynamic. Hollow like the mids on a pair of early Beats. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Arya on Toppings combo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Hekse on Toppings combo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Toppings d90 / a90 are very good indeed. As good as the Questyle. Just more neutral / bright which opens up the whole soundscape. Same power delivery. I could live with either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Bass on the Toppings are very thumping and impactful. I don’t have the 2 units side by side but I could be happy with the Toppings indeed. Now waiting on the v280 to arrive next week. These are not high end gear but by George, they sound like Buckingham Palace. No need for Chord Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Arya on the Toppings is simply amazing. Holding On by War On Drugs have me hooked. Buy this ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruc3 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Odyssey said: Arya on the Toppings is simply amazing. Holding On by War On Drugs have me hooked. Buy this ! Speaking of the devil, one pops up on classifieds, trade for CMA12, yeah nah yeah nah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) $1500 for the Toppings stack is great value but I wouldn't trade CMA 12 for it. As I said, they are similar in the enjoyment stake. Just different flavours. Even the power delivery is identical. One box vs 2 boxes - your choice. CMA 12 has better finish in the 10mm thick Foxconn design panels. Toppings feel very light. Edited January 2, 2021 by Odyssey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruc3 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 21 minutes ago, Odyssey said: CMA 12 has better finish in the 10mm thick Foxconn design panels. Toppings feel very light. Yeah was just fishing for opinions, no way I would trade my CMA12 ever, Topping gear always has that tacky chifi look to it imo, although I know they measure extremely well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Wouldn't trade a nice solid heavy amp for a light opamp chifi thing again. Ever. I didn't really enjoy any of those amps much. Topping/THX etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 They are both made in China. Even the Auralic Taurus Mk2 is made in China. La Figaro 339 is made in China. While I'm biased towards gear made in Europe or USA, my perception is slowly changing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 The new incoming toy v280 is made in Germany. My mind tells me that should be better. However it is how it sound that I'm interested in. How it sound is always subjective. One man's musical is another man's dark and warm. One man's clarity and details is another man's clinical and sterile. One man's TOTL cans is another man's over priced nonsense. At the end of the day, my best purchase this period may be the $120 owner's unwanted Christmas present - the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earpads (not the Mk2 but the original). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 When I first bought Feliks Elise in 2016, they were priced at an introductory offer of US$649. They were unknown then and the take up rate was very slow initially. Many reckon the Crack with Speedball is better. Then they introduce the Euforia which I also bought and Lukasz (the proprietor's son in charge) and I are on 1st person talking terms. I was talking them up in the Head-Fi threads. Not just me but a few others. Fast forward to this day, the amps have been reviewed by major reviewers and are accepted now as being good. After all it is made in Poland - that's Europe. If you ask me now though, I'd say La Figaro 339 and Woo Audio WA22 is more exciting for me and cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Plenty of great Chinese products for sure. I just don't like these refreshed_every_2_months ones. Don't like the sound. Topping: Here is our DX7ProSPlus February model Auralic: We made this in 2013, haven't changed it. The 789 brought a high end sound to the masses, and has sparked this wave of increasingly high value amps. It's good for the hobby I think, just not my jams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruc3 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 6 minutes ago, Odyssey said: One man's TOTL cans is another man's over priced nonsense. At the end of the day, my best purchase this period may be the $120 owner's unwanted Christmas present - the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earpads (not the Mk2 but the original). I envy those who think Beats headphones are the best thing they have ever heard, I use to think Beats were expensive little did I know how expensive it truly became deeper down the rabbit hole. Its funny, cause when I first started getting into this hobby it was around the time Beats was really fashionable/trendy and literally 80%> of people you see in public using headphones were wearing Beats. My wife saw that I had an interest in headfi stuff and decided to surprise me with an expensive Xmas gift one Year, lo behold it was a pair of Beats. I remember telling her that it was overpriced garbage, but she thought they were one of the better headphones you could get (the hype and marketing was real). We unfortunately could not get it returned, so instead it was re gifted to a family member who thought it was the best headphone ever haha.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Dr. Dre was listed with a net worth of $550 million on Forbes' The World's Billionaires 2014 list. It was also estimated that the Carlyle Group would receive a profit of $1 billion from the sale of its minority stake in the company. Don't underestimate Beats. Just like Alibaba owner Jack Ma his net worth is US$65.5 billion and what does Alibaba do? E-commerce, retail, Internet and Technology. Maybe they could do a TOTL headphone. I am sure they could produce a space age tube amp or any amp / dac. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 26 minutes ago, Bengineer said: The 789 brought a high end sound to the masses, and has sparked this wave of increasingly high value amps. It's good for the hobby I think, just not my jams 789 is not my butter too because an amp that does not have a proper name but a jailhouse number is just .... a number. You're right. I get tired of sequels. I think they copied Apple. iPhone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Even Samsung is doing that. A new model every alternate years. How tiring is that? And Siri .... hehehe you should see what she writes for me when I dictate to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 I may have found my end game stack. As a precursor, I will try the v280 on Hekse. That will give me some idea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Odyssey said: I may have found my end game stack. As a precursor, I will try the v280 on Hekse. That will give me some idea. Is that your photo? Suvara? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 minute ago, Bengineer said: Is that your photo? Suvara? Nope stole it from the Internet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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