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Mini-Review: Stax SR-009
Jan 10, 2013 at 5:36 AM Post #62 of 74
spritzer said:
The ES-1 having soul is some of the funniest things I've ever read.  The first time I heard one I was simply astounded anybody had considered this crap good at any point in time.  The -110VDC worth of offset they all had was perhaps this soul you speak of.?
 
Tubed output sources only mean one thing, very high levels of distortion.  Even the very best tube outputs have distortion orders of magnitude higher than the SS counterparts and those circuits are very rare.  Most tube outputs are far worse.Upsampling  lessens the effect of the brickwall filtering with 16 bit material so it makes the top end smoother and more extended.  So the bottom line is we should use "the best headphone in the world" with the worst amps, sources and source material we can find to make up for the transducer issues.  Makes very little sense to me... 
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The BHSE is tube output- Doesn't sound distorted to me. I have an Ayon Skylla 2 DAC- Tube output- extraordinarily clean and detailed sound- no roll off at all to my ears. I compared it to several top solid state designs and to my ears noticed no more distortion- just better musicality. One of my comparisons was between my Ayon and the renouned Reimyo DAP999EX- fully solid state, and known to have superb purity of sound. I compared both DAC's in my home for several months. The Ayon was no less pure, transparent, or clear- just a bit more natural. Better suited to headphone listening where those drivers are right on my ears. The Reimyo presented the detail in a more piercing manner, while the Ayon in a more organic manner. However, the amount of information I heard on both DAC's was equal. I don't believe we need to use the best headphones in the world with the worst electronics. I believe the SR-009 needs a DAC that does not have piercing detail but rather something a bit more laid back, smooth, natural, etc.... No distortion needed. Maybe there are Solid State Dac's that can do the job as well. I don't doubt that. I once tried the QB9- a solid state USB DAC and it was not harsh on my ears at all. It was to my ears more easygoing, a bit more laid back, and even slightly warm. However, it did not touch the transparency, musicality and PRAT of the Ayon or the Reimyo. There are many avenues to reach a certain point. We all need to use what works. I do not believe however that tube output is fundamentally flawed.
 
Jan 10, 2013 at 9:50 AM Post #63 of 74
How the tubes are used in the BHSE compared to the Ayon is worlds apart.  In the BHSE a triode strapped EL34 in a grounded grid setup is just about perfect for the job, better than any transistor I've seen.  Don't think that this extends to all EL34 amps though as the T2 and BHSE are the only ones. 
 
The Ayon (which I've heard in my system) is very poor indeed.  Completely wrong tubes for the job and no sense to how they were used.  I had it on a two week loan but returned it after a day, it was that bad. 
 
The less that is said about the Reimyo, the better.  Not high end by any means... 
 
Jan 10, 2013 at 10:04 AM Post #64 of 74
Quote:
spritzer said:
How the tubes are used in the BHSE compared to the Ayon is worlds apart.  In the BHSE a triode strapped EL34 in a grounded grid setup is just about perfect for the job, better than any transistor I've seen.  Don't think that this extends to all EL34 amps though as the T2 and BHSE are the only ones. 
 
The Ayon (which I've heard in my system) is very poor indeed.  Completely wrong tubes for the job and no sense to how they were used.  I had it on a two week loan but returned it after a day, it was that bad. 
 
The less that is said about the Reimyo, the better.  Not high end by any means... 
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Sorry you don't like the Ayon.  Which model did you hear?   You cannot compare the CD2 or CD3 to the CD5s or the Skylla DAC.
 
Irregardless, I'm glad we are both enjoying our own systems..
 
Jan 10, 2013 at 1:39 PM Post #65 of 74
Quote:
rsbrsvp said:
 
The BHSE is tube output- Doesn't sound distorted to me.I have an Ayon Skylla 2 DAC- Tube output- extraordinarily clean and detailed sound- no roll off at all to my ears. I compared it to several top solid state designs and to my ears noticed no more distortion- just better musicality.One of my comparisons was between my Ayon and the renouned Reimyo DAP999EX- fully solid state, and known to have superb purity of sound. I compared both DAC's in my home for several months. The Ayon was no less pure, transparent, or clear- just a bit more natural. Better suited to headphone listening where those drivers are right on my ears. The Reimyo presented the detail in a more piercing manner, while the Ayon in a more organic manner. However, the amount of information I heard on both DAC's was equal.I don't believe we need to use the best headphones in the world with the worst electronics. I believe the SR-009 needs a DAC that does not have piercing detail but rather something a bit more laid back, smooth, natural, etc.... No distortion needed. Maybe there are Solid State Dac's that can do the job as well. I don't doubt that. I once tried the QB9- a solid state USB DAC and it was not harsh on my ears at all. It was to my ears more easygoing, a bit more laid back, and even slightly warm. However, it did not touch the transparency, musicality and PRAT of the Ayon or the Reimyo.There are many avenues to reach a certain point. We all need to use what works. I do not believe however that tube output is fundamentally flawed.
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Team natural here!
No fake boobs, no fake sounds, no added tubey sound, no sacharine.
Just the plain unadulterated sound :)
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 8:45 AM Post #70 of 74
Quote:
Wow.   I'm shocked how two people can look at the music coming from the same DAC in such a different light.
 
Amazing.      
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That's easy to explain.
One has tin ears, while the other has golden/platinum ears..       Tee Hee
 
Jan 16, 2013 at 1:58 AM Post #71 of 74
I didn't know Spritzer had tin ears! 
tongue.gif

 
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