This is headphone madness!

iPod, walkman, headphones, earphones, boomboxes, etc...

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This is headphone madness!

Postby dogears » Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:51 am

Sa madaling sabi, Racio is looking for a headphone and after some text messages and calls - we found ourselves at Sir Ken's home last night and we got to intimately audition his preciousss toysss.
That Stax 303 is something I can aim for my retirement :lol:
Again, thanks so much Sir Ken for that sumptuous dinner and wonderful accommodation. Panalo ka talaga! :)


Hmn, Headphones Meet 2008 anyone? :P
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Postby onedown » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:12 am

racio looking for a pair of cans? doesn't he have an hd600?

how's racio? tagal niya dehins post dito.

teka lang...looks like i remembered wrong. at yata yung phones niya. but i know he has at least a pair of headphones.
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Postby JackD201 » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:26 am

I believe racio has gone full tilt into photography :cry: I purchased his Senns from him 2 years ago.

Moises,

WELCOME BACK!!!!!! Yes iba talaga ang Stax. Sira lang nga yung headband ng akin :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
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Postby dogears » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:36 am

@Sir Jack, I've turned into lurking :lol:
Sira ang headband? Nakow! Benta mo na lang sa akin para makapagretire na ako! :lol:

@Sir Jon, nasira na yung ginagamit niya.
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Postby JackD201 » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:41 am

Sir Moises,

Long time no see kami ni Tito MandyM. He offered to try and fix them for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed :D

Jack
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Postby dogears » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:45 am

Hehe, good luck to you Sir Jack. Hope you'll arrange for a Stax welcome party when it's finally fixed. Which model?
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Postby onedown » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:58 am

JackD201 wrote:I believe racio has gone full tilt into photography :cry: I purchased his Senns from him 2 years ago.

Moises,

WELCOME BACK!!!!!! Yes iba talaga ang Stax. Sira lang nga yung headband ng akin :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:


so i remembered correctly after all that he had a senn. :D

hope your stax gets fixed.
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Re: This is headphone madness!

Postby kenckn » Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:32 am

dogears wrote:Again, thanks so much Sir Ken for that sumptuous dinner and wonderful accommodation. Panalo ka talaga! :)

Sir Moises you're welcome anytime 8)
Hopefully Sir Racio did find the right headphone for him :roll:
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Postby dogears » Fri Jun 06, 2008 3:11 pm

Post daw siya memyang gabi :D
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Re: This is headphone madness!

Postby kenckn » Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:18 pm

dogears wrote:Hmn, Headphones Meet 2008 anyone? :P

Finally, nice to hear that abt ............meeting 8)
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Postby rom » Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:19 pm

Sir Moises,

My long time headphone dream was a stax too.

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Postby dogears » Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:22 pm

Sir Rom, ikaw pa - kayang-kaya mo yan! :wink:
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Postby Racio » Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:19 pm

It started from just an SMS to sir Ken here on what he thinks about Audio-Techinca's Raffinatos, then man oh man, I didn't expect Moises and I were in for a such a grand treat. 'Twas like a HeadFi-nut's all time eargazmic fantasy come to life! Headphone galore extravaganza! I honestly lost count on the high end cans I was being poured at after the 1st dozen or so... AT A950LTD... mmmm good good good!,… Grado RS1... mmm yawzah!... Alessandro MSPro... mmmmmamamia!,… AT W5000 "Raffinatos"... Oh My God!.. Stax SR303... POOOt@####!!! Wave after wave Kenneth still kept on bringing out the flag ship goodies which I've only seen and read on the net, I couldn't believe it (Pioneer SE10R, Philips HP1000, AT W1000, AKG 601, AKG, Technics, Sony, Philips…etc etc)! Last time I was this bowled over was when I 1st saw Francis' vintage amp collection, then the late great Mang Johnny's plethora of NOS tubes, and Mickey's personal stash of liquors (hehehe).

Ken, I can't thank you enough for that head-fi heaven experience. The food was delish and your headgear collection is absolutely mind-blowing!

-Racio 8)

(BTW, I'm getting my AT's this coming Tues from BlueTin.com. Now, if I could only find a reputable online purveyor for those gorgeous Alessandros… hmmmm)
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Postby Racio » Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:26 pm

onedown wrote:racio looking for a pair of cans? doesn't he have an hd600?

how's racio? tagal niya dehins post dito.

teka lang...looks like i remembered wrong. at yata yung phones niya. but i know he has at least a pair of headphones.


JackD201 wrote:I believe racio has gone full tilt into photography :cry: I purchased his Senns from him 2 years ago.

Moises,

WELCOME BACK!!!!!! Yes iba talaga ang Stax. Sira lang nga yung headband ng akin :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:


Thanks for the greets guys! Yeah, the Stax ruled the night. The thing is, I simply need something mobile for my 160gig iPod (hehehe), hence, I can't go the Stax route. At 1400ohms, I need to lug around car batteries to pump enough juice in them.
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Postby onedown » Sat Jun 07, 2008 5:02 pm

racio,

nice to see you here again!

hope all is well. :D
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Postby kenckn » Sat Jun 07, 2008 6:58 pm

Racio wrote:(BTW, I'm getting my AT's this coming Tues from BlueTin.com. Now, if I could only find a reputable online purveyor for those gorgeous Alessandros… hmmmm)

Sir Racio, u mean u did order ATh-W5K?
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Postby dogears » Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:40 pm

Racio wrote:Stax SR303... POOOt@####!!!


You can say that again :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks Ken for opening my mind and ears... now I can't get the word 'Stax' out of my mind :lol: Woof!
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Postby dogears » Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:41 pm

kenckn wrote:
Racio wrote:(BTW, I'm getting my AT's this coming Tues from BlueTin.com. Now, if I could only find a reputable online purveyor for those gorgeous Alessandros… hmmmm)

Sir Racio, u mean u did order ATh-W5K?


Sir Ken, I think it's the EW59? The wooden portables(?).
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Postby kenckn » Sun Jun 08, 2008 12:01 am

[/quote]
Sir Racio, u mean u did order ATh-W5K?[/quote]
Sir Ken, I think it's the EW59? The wooden portables(?).[/quote]
I think it's ATH-ESW9 8)
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Postby Racio » Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:57 am

dogears wrote:
kenckn wrote:
Racio wrote:(BTW, I'm getting my AT's this coming Tues from BlueTin.com. Now, if I could only find a reputable online purveyor for those gorgeous Alessandros… hmmmm)

Sir Racio, u mean u did order ATh-W5K?


Sir Ken, I think it's the EW59? The wooden portables(?).


Yep, I'm getting the ESW9 as my 2ndary cans. I can't seem to shake off my thoughts on AT's signature creamy highs and liquid smooth mids (not to mention that the ESW9 is the least dorky looking cans around. hehe). When I got me feet dipped into head-fi a few years back, I simply fell in love with their house sound, their sonic signature is very Sonus-like if you will. And with the dismal local (non)availability of those beauties, I didn't think I'll be able see a Raffinato in person, much less audition one.

Then of course thru the kind graces of Ken, when I did get to listen to them, aside from their gorgeous build quality, the 1st thing that got my jaw drop (literally!) was its soundstage, I haven't heard anything like it from any cans I've heard so far, it was deep! :shock: It was so deep that while listening to John Legend's live version of "Ordinary People", I felt I was amongst the applauding crowd, and John was about singing his heart out a couple of meters in front of from me. It was surreal I tell yah! I think I spent a good 30mins or so just being mesmerized by this psycho-aural effect. I then switch to the W1000 and A950LTD to check if I could get the same sensation, but to my dismay, nada, not even close to sounding like it, it was if I was sitting right behind the piano beside Mr. Legend.

Well, the Raffinatos were almost the perfect cans for me, yes got that right... "almost", coz as soon as listened to Sade's "Love Is Stronger Than Pride" bass heavy passages my heart sunk. It seems that he Raffinatos doesn't only share the wood grain looks of my SF Guarneris, they share the same bass repro shortcomings. If only I could also squeeze in an SF Gravis inside the Raffinatos, I'd be such a happy camper indeed. hehe.

Moving on to Grado's RS1, I was rather enamored by its retro looks (putting them on, for a brief moment I felt like a U-boat radio man. hehe). And contrary to what has been said of those Grado wooden chambers, they don’t look like door knobs to me, I luv 'em! But man, those cans are quite aggressive. Fleshed out tones, visceral mid bass, and an extremely forward upper mids. Swapping to its twin brother, the Alessandro MSPros, though sharing the same sonic characteristics of the RS1, seemed tamer and better poised. Imaging and soundstage are better as well, not as compressed and a hint of outward distance.

But when Moises substituted the stock bowl pads on the RS1 with Senn's 414 pads, ahhhh... everything simply snugged back to its rightful place. More balanced and controlled highs, and the bass... oh the bass is even more vicious. The mids are luscious and extremely intimate, detail galore. If the Raffinatos got my jaw drooping, the Senn padded RS1 kept me grinning from ear to ear. Although not the last word on linearity, those cans are an absolute fun to listen to; dynamic, zesty and quite involving. If the AT's are akin to a scrumptuously sweet Swiss warm coco, Grados are steaming hot full robusta Arabica doppio (double-shot espressos).

The best bang for the buck award of the night definitely goes down to the Philips SHP895 with full flying colors. At only a little over Php3k, you can't get a more premium hifi performance from such an able can. Excellent built with a detachable cable socket to boot, cable rolling is a cinch, not to mention the free HP stand that comes with it, sulit! :D

My only regret in that whole head-fi experience is that we weren’t able to try the Senn pads on the Alessandro MSPro, but I'd bet my stars and garters they'd topple the RS1 in every respect. When Moises handed me those Stax, I was so gob-smacked how huge and vast they sounded, I forgot I was there to just focus my thoughts on the ATs and Grados. hehe. (reminder to self: pangit yung Stax, they look like my wife's hair curlers which are ugly fugly, basta pangit. repeat 3 times daily. :twisted: hahaha)

Thanks again Ken, cheers!

-Racio 8)
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