Is Vintage Pete becoming a Headphone guy??

[Vintage Pete]

It all started a few years ago....when Dan aka Jdandy asked me if I'd be interested in a pair of Sennheiser HD580 headphones. Seems Dan had moved up to
the HD600 and didn't see himself using the 580's too much any more. So, I took him up on it. Well, I said, this is pretty good! At that time I was using the monitor amp
in my McIntosh C-40 preamp, which did a pretty decent job. But I felt it was a tad wimpy with its 20WPC rating, so in late 2012 I grabbed a Crown D-75A amplifier to
use as a dedicated headphone amp. With twice the power, I suspected that this would do a nice job. And that it surely did, so much so I grabbed a second one for my
office Crown system.

Fast forward to late 2013....Dan comes down for a visit, and brings with him his HD600's, which I had purchased from him, since he had decided to raise his headphone
bar ala the HD800, which arrive the day after Dan returns home from my place. Dan invites Pete up, since Pete is still on Holiday, with the idea that Pete might like to hear
the 800's and perhaps A/B them with the HD600's. This is a good enough reason for Pete to make the 4 hour drive the next day...after all, there is a superior pair of phones
to listen to!

So, Pete heads up to Dan's the next day, and has a blast playing with all the toys. Dan sends Pete home with a very nice Stefan AudioArt Headphone cable. Pete gets home
and realizes that his present setup should be modified to eliminate the cheap headphone extension cord which had been running from where the D75A was located in the main
equipment stack, to an area proximate to my listening position(s). It didn't make sense to use the nice Stefan cord with a cheap extender. So, the solution seemed to be to
relocate the Headphone amp to a more ideal position. I needed a much longer balanced interconnect to accomplish that, and Dan came to the rescue here, boxing up and sending
a spare pair of balanced interconnects.

So...today's project was to move the amplifier. I installed it in similar fashion as my D75A in the office is installed, underneath one of my power amps, on the floor under the rack.
But I first fashioned a piece of plexiglass for the amplifier to sit on.

I am very pleased with the results....the 12' headphone cord now reaches very nicely to either of my listening areas without the need for extenders.

Here's a few photos:










I feel this was a good move from not only the functional standpoint, but from the aesthetic standpoint as well. I think the both areas of the system look more organized
and sensible in the present arrangement.

Here's a shot of the main stack without the Crown amp. I thought I would post this one too because I'm thinking I may not have posted a photo since I moved my McIntosh MR78 tuner
back into the main system after 10 years or so of being on duty in my office system.





So to answer the question, am I becoming a "headphone guy"? Well, let's just say I'm enjoying this little journey a lot. The HD600's, with the Stefan AudioArt cord, sound great driven
by the Crown amp, which kicks butt. I can't help but to lust for the HD800's after hearing them at Dan's...but that will have to wait since I have my sights on a new laptop so I can start
enjoying the hi-rez audio journey. That moved to the top of my priority list after Dan's visit, which included playing hi-rez selections through my DAC-2 from his laptop.


This is all Dan's fault...er, I mean...thanks to Dan!!

Thanks for all your help Dan, and thanks all for looking.

[jdandy]

Pete........Uh oh, I've created a new headphone aficionado. .

The new location for the Crown D75A headphone amplifier looks perfect. It fits in the space like a glove and looks great. The best part is you can now use your Sennheiser HD600 with the Stefan AudioArt Equinox headphone cable from the couch or the sweet spot arm chair without needing the low end headphone extension cord. I call that a winning situation. I am happy I was able to contribute to this excellent outcome.





As usual, your photos are super. Gotta love that C40 and MR78 sitting side by side. Gorgeous.

[Vintage Pete]

Dan....thanks, I do think it's a winning situation. I didn't know a thing about the Stefan AudioArt line until I acquired this cable from you. I see from your post this is the "Equinox" cable. I guess I need to sit down with that literature you sent me home with....

[1KW]

Pete this is a fantastic picture

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by 1KW

Pete this is a fantastic picture

David....thanks!

[djwhog]

Nice Pete, yep I have been thinking myself of a better cable to try for the HD 700 I own, I also have a the HD 800, but for some reason I really like the 700s, I had the 650s for years and recently sold them.

Bottom line how much more open and cleaner do your cans sound with the cable upgrade?

I just without listening do not know if I could justify the cables I have seen for the HD cans that cost from $500 to $1000 for 10 to 15 footers.

Anyway back on topic, love your system looks very nicely done!

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by djwhog

Nice Pete, yep I have been thinking myself of a better cable to try for the HD 700 I own, I also have a the HD 800, but for some reason I really like the 700s, I had the 650s for years and recently sold them.

Bottom line how much more open and cleaner do your cans sound with the cable upgrade?

I just without listening do not know if I could justify the cables I have seen for the HD cans that cost from $500 to $1000 for 10 to 15 footers.

Anyway back on topic, love your system looks very nicely done!

Hey Dave...thanks. Unfortunately, I'll have to say that there wasn't much time or circumstance (to date) to really do an evaluation of one cable to the other. I only had the cans two days (slightly less, actually) before I drove up to Dan's and we installed the new cable then. Prior to that, I was using the stock cable, with cheap extension, for a day and a half and really didn't have time to get a full sense of the performance with that arrangement for any extended period. Once I returned home with new cable installed, I did not reinstall the stock cable and instead focused on getting my headphone amplifier relocated.

Having said all that, I believe that the new cable did yield some benefits in the area of spaciousness and upper end detail, but again this is based on a very limited opportunity to compare.

Now that I have my arrangement the way it needs to be, I may at some point do some cable swapping for a more controlled and meaningful comparison.

[robfine]

Originally Posted by Vintage Pete

Hey Dave...thanks. Unfortunately, I'll have to say that there wasn't much time or circumstance (to date) to really do an evaluation of one cable to the other. I only had the cans two days (slightly less, actually) before I drove up to Dan's and we installed the new cable then. Prior to that, I was using the stock cable, with cheap extension, for a day and a half and really didn't have time to get a full sense of the performance with that arrangement for any extended period. Once I returned home with new cable installed, I did not reinstall the stock cable and instead focused on getting my headphone amplifier relocated. Having said all that, I believe that the new cable did yield some benefits in the area of spaciousness and upper end detail, but again this is based on a very limited opportunity to compare. Now that I have my arrangement the way it needs to be, I may at some point do some cable swapping for a more controlled and meaningful comparison.

I can't comment on upgraded cables for headphones (I have a stock cable on my HE-500s), but I have a set of Shure 535 LE (the red ones) and I changed out the stock cables for a set of Double Helix cables (copper, not silver). The 535s sounded great until I changed the cables. The only way I can describe it is that was like taking my thumb off of the end of a garden hose....

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by djwhog

Nice Pete, yep I have been thinking myself of a better cable to try for the HD 700 I own, I also have a the HD 800, but for some reason I really like the 700s, I had the 650s for years and recently sold them.

Bottom line how much more open and cleaner do your cans sound with the cable upgrade?

I just without listening do not know if I could justify the cables I have seen for the HD cans that cost from $500 to $1000 for 10 to 15 footers.

Anyway back on topic, love your system looks very nicely done!

Dave.......I owned and enjoyed the Sennheiser HD600 for quite a few years using only the stock cable. After doing some research and reading forum comments on upgraded headphone cables I decided to take the leap. I purchased the Stefan AudioArt Equinox headphone cable (12 ft.) for the HD600. Before it arrived I had my fingers crossed that I didn't waste money ($249.00), but once I had the Equinox headphone cable connected to the HD600 I discovered an improved bass timber and added space around voices and instruments in the mid and high frequency ranges. The improvements were subtle but evident. I never went back to the stock HD600 cable so that told me I was happier with the Stefan AudioArt Equinox cable.

The new Sennheiser HD800 has a vastly improved headphone cable that uses silver plated oxygen free copper conductors. I think this cable sounds remarkable. The only upgraded cable I would consider for the HD800 is the Sennheiser CH 800 S ($379.95) which is a balanced connector version of the stock cable. I would only make that move if I were to go with the Sennheiser HDVA 600 fully balanced headphone amplifier or another headphone amplifier that offered balanced headphone connectors. Comments from balanced cable users confirm improved resolution and even wider sound stage with the balanced cable.

I agree with you that some of these "audiophile" headphone cables for the HD700 and HD800 are ridiculously priced. I have seen some cables as high as $899.00 for a three meter cable. Then there are other after-market cable makers like Moon Audio making some very nice HD700 and HD800 headphone cables, some with pure silver Teflon insulated conductors for under $400.00. Prices for specialty headphone cables are all over the chart. I still believe the stock Sennheiser HD700's cable, a three meter symmetrical, silver-plated oxygen-free copper cable, will deliver a fine performance. The stock cables on the Sennheiser HD580, HD600, and the HD650 are not in the same league as the HD700 and HD800 cables.

[Vintage Pete]

Dan....don't look now, but it appears there is an HDVA 800 looming on the horizon....