Hi from Washington DC Condo

I’ve been a big lurker and a small contributor to this forum and I’d like to introduce myself.
My wife and I moved to a high rise condo in Washington DC two years ago, after living in Raleigh, NC for 20 years. I’m a retired patent lawyer.
I’ve chronicled my stereo history in another forum. As a former intellectual property lawyer I don’t feel comfortable violating their Terms of Service by reposting here, but you can access these posts (if interested) in the What’s Best forum under the thread “Hi from Raleigh, NC”. I don’t have enough posts yet to include the link. I’ll add it when I have enough posts.
I’d like to describe the evolution of my stereo in moving from Raleigh to DC. In Raleigh, after decades of changes, I was thrilled with my stereo-Tannoy Canterbury SE speakers, Ayre electronics (C5xeMP SACD player and AX5-20 integrated amplifier) and Transparent cables. The system resided in a large lower level room. Long story in how I got to this system, but that’s in the other thread that I linked to above.
Although we are thrilled that we retired and were moving to downtown DC, there was a major challenge for the stereo- how to get the big, coherent, natural sound I loved in a small (12x13 feet) room, without visually and sonically overpowering the room. I spent a fair amount of time listening to speakers and fell in love with (and bought) the TAD ME-1 standmounts. They had a concentric midrange/tweeter that would provide coherence like the Tannoy, and had a small footprint that would not visually overpower the room. I played with placement for a long time, using the Jim Smith method of finding the best position of the couch in the room to maximize bass response (using a $5 iPhone real time analyzer app) and put in a sound absorbing panel to reduce the influence of a window alcove on the sound. The sound was smooth and coherent.
Unfortunately, over time I realized that the TADs were giving me an accurate but microscopic sound that was like looking through two small windows into the music playing inside. The size and majesty was simply not there. I also realized that the standmount speakers took up as much floor space as a floorstander might (maybe even more as the stand bases were wider than the speakers to prevent tipping). This led me to reconsider floor standing speakers after about a year.
I listened to a bunch of floor standers, none of which floated my boat. Due to the small room and the close listening distance, a typical floor stander’s sound would not integrate into coherence. Rather, you could hear separate sounds from the midrange and tweeter (and sometimes the woofer), which would shatter the illusion of music being performed in the room. Also, rear firing ports were problematic in overpowering the room.
I then found out about Fyne Audio, a new company formed by the managers of Tannoy when Tannoy threatened to move the company to Asia. On paper, they fit the bill- dual concentric speaker for coherence, the promise of the Tannoy tone, an omnidirectional bass port that would excite the room less and a deep, narrow footprint that might not look too overpowering. My dealer (Tenacious Sound) had just gotten in the line and I heard them at Capital Audio Fest 2019. With the promise of a 30 day money back return, I ordered them.
I could not be happier. First, they sound utterly coherent, and tonally vivid. Bass is full, extends to below 30 Hz, and you can feel the bass as well as hear it. They also have very high dynamic range for the times I can crank it up (and even at low volumes). Large windows into a live performance. And visually, they look less clunky and more streamlined in the room. Lesson learned for me- although standmounts may be right under some circumstances, there is nothing like a full range speaker for me. I couldn’t be happier.
What’s in the future? I wanted to try streaming and bought a Lumin T-2 a year ago while I had the TADs. I loved the organic, coherent sound and the opportunity to explore new music. Over time I found I listened to physical media less and less, so I’m now selling my SACD player. I’d love to move higher up the Lumin line and run the streamer directly into a power amp for simplicity. I’m a big fan of “less is more” and still recall fondly my older stereo that had a Wadia SACD player running direct into a Levinson amp. We’ll see what happens.
Once I have the requisite number of posts, I’ll post pictures of my Raleigh stereo, the DC stereo with the TADs and the current DC stereo with the Fyne’s.
Thanks for reading.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dylan

I’ve been a big lurker and a small contributor to this forum and I’d like to introduce myself.
My wife and I moved to a high rise condo in Washington DC two years ago, after living in Raleigh, NC for 20 years. I’m a retired patent lawyer.
I’ve chronicled my stereo history in another forum. As a former intellectual property lawyer I don’t feel comfortable violating their Terms of Service by reposting here, but you can access these posts (if interested) in the What’s Best forum under the thread “Hi from Raleigh, NC”. I don’t have enough posts yet to include the link. I’ll add it when I have enough posts.
I’d like to describe the evolution of my stereo in moving from Raleigh to DC. In Raleigh, after decades of changes, I was thrilled with my stereo-Tannoy Canterbury SE speakers, Ayre electronics (C5xeMP SACD player and AX5-20 integrated amplifier) and Transparent cables. The system resided in a large lower level room. Long story in how I got to this system, but that’s in the other thread that I linked to above.
Although we are thrilled that we retired and were moving to downtown DC, there was a major challenge for the stereo- how to get the big, coherent, natural sound I loved in a small (12x13 feet) room, without visually and sonically overpowering the room. I spent a fair amount of time listening to speakers and fell in love with (and bought) the TAD ME-1 standmounts. They had a concentric midrange/tweeter that would provide coherence like the Tannoy, and had a small footprint that would not visually overpower the room. I played with placement for a long time, using the Jim Smith method of finding the best position of the couch in the room to maximize bass response (using a $5 iPhone real time analyzer app) and put in a sound absorbing panel to reduce the influence of a window alcove on the sound. The sound was smooth and coherent.
Unfortunately, over time I realized that the TADs were giving me an accurate but microscopic sound that was like looking through two small windows into the music playing inside. The size and majesty was simply not there. I also realized that the standmount speakers took up as much floor space as a floorstander might (maybe even more as the stand bases were wider than the speakers to prevent tipping). This led me to reconsider floor standing speakers after about a year.
I listened to a bunch of floor standers, none of which floated my boat. Due to the small room and the close listening distance, a typical floor stander’s sound would not integrate into coherence. Rather, you could hear separate sounds from the midrange and tweeter (and sometimes the woofer), which would shatter the illusion of music being performed in the room. Also, rear firing ports were problematic in overpowering the room.
I then found out about Fyne Audio, a new company formed by the managers of Tannoy when Tannoy threatened to move the company to Asia. On paper, they fit the bill- dual concentric speaker for coherence, the promise of the Tannoy tone, an omnidirectional bass port that would excite the room less and a deep, narrow footprint that might not look too overpowering. My dealer (Tenacious Sound) had just gotten in the line and I heard them at Capital Audio Fest 2019. With the promise of a 30 day money back return, I ordered them.
I could not be happier. First, they sound utterly coherent, and tonally vivid. Bass is full, extends to below 30 Hz, and you can feel the bass as well as hear it. They also have very high dynamic range for the times I can crank it up (and even at low volumes). Large windows into a live performance. And visually, they look less clunky and more streamlined in the room. Lesson learned for me- although standmounts may be right under some circumstances, there is nothing like a full range speaker for me. I couldn’t be happier.
What’s in the future? I wanted to try streaming and bought a Lumin T-2 a year ago while I had the TADs. I loved the organic, coherent sound and the opportunity to explore new music. Over time I found I listened to physical media less and less, so I’m now selling my SACD player. I’d love to move higher up the Lumin line and run the streamer directly into a power amp for simplicity. I’m a big fan of “less is more” and still recall fondly my older stereo that had a Wadia SACD player running direct into a Levinson amp. We’ll see what happens.
Once I have the requisite number of posts, I’ll post pictures of my Raleigh stereo, the DC stereo with the TADs and the current DC stereo with the Fyne’s.
Thanks for reading.

---

Hi Dylan, welcome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome aboard, enjoy your stay

Welcome!

Welcome to AS!

Welcome!

Thank you Mike. I really like this site. Very knowledgeable and high end, but not pretentious.

Thank you Andik, Professor and Phil. I’m not really new- I’ve made a few posts before, but wanted to formally introduce myself. Now that I have enough posts, I’ll post the link and pictures I promised.

As promised, here is the link to my long introductory thread on another forum (if anyone is interested) and photo’s of my Raleigh Tannoy system, my DC TAD system and my current system with the Fyne F1-10’s.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/hi-from-raleigh-nc.12393

https://www.audioshark.org/attachmen...id=27981&stc=1https://www.audioshark.org/attachmen...id=27982&stc=1https://www.audioshark.org/attachmen...id=27983&stc=1

Hi Dylan, welcome. I was born in DC, and lived in MD before moving to California. I’m not a lawyer, but a judge did tell me I should be. I reviewed the WBF terms of use, and it is okay to post the same info on multiple sites.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/help/terms/

Hi Dylan, welcome

BlueFox, thank you for the info. When I searched the WBF site, I must have found an old Terms of Service. In any event, it doesn’t seem worth it to import all my previous posts to Audioshark. I’ll leave them at WBF, if anyone is interested.

Dylan, those Fyne F1-10’s look AWESOME! We have the F1-12’s in the store. How are you liking them?

Hi Dylan - your system pics look great! I'm right across the river here in Arlington - it's almost spooky how much the city has changed without traffic - interesting to see the buildings and architecture from a whole different perspective while driving around..

Hi Mike,
I love the speakers. See my long first post above for my assessment.

Thanks DP.
Yes, it is spooky. For exercise we have been walking the Mall and the Lincoln Memorial steps (10x up and down). Often we’re the only ones there. Here’s a picture.

Nice story about your adventure in Audio. I too am mostly retired. I thought that I could live with good stand mount speakers but I realized after adding sub woofers I actually had less than more and moved to full range floor standers. BTW, I love the painting. Is there a story there?

Welcome to AS Dylan! That is a mighty "Fyne" system! Enjoy in good health.

PS - I hope you have nice neighbors and/or great solid construction. Can't imagine having such a nice system and not be able to enjoy it because you are sharing the building with others.

Hi Watchdog,
The painting is a reproduction of the cover of the Bob Dylan album “Self Portrait”, that was painted by Dylan. The actual cover is in blue tones, but the reproduction is in red tones. My wife is an interior designer, and I used to go to the big furniture show in High Point, NC with her. While wandering, I found this. She had to buy a bunch more from this vendor to make his minimum purchase, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hi Watchdog,
The painting is a reproduction of the cover of the Bob Dylan album “Self Portrait”, that was painted by Dylan. The actual cover is in blue tones, but the reproduction is in red tones. My wife is an interior designer, and I used to go to the big furniture show in High Point, NC with her. While wandering, I found this. She had to buy a bunch more from this vendor to make his minimum purchase, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hi Mike,
We are in a high rise condo, steel and concrete construction. It is like a bank vault. Pre-coronavirus when most people have been at work during the day I was able to crank it up, although not near the level of my big Tannoy’s in the single family house. I haven’t had any complaints yet, so fingers crossed.

I like the painting, big and bold! I have some limited issue prints that always get a response from guests who haven’t seen them before. Always a smile and a conversation that follows.

I like the painting, big and bold! I have some limited issue prints that always get a response from guests who haven’t seen them before. Always a smile and a conversation that follows.

NEW ELECTRONICS- BOULDER 866

Continuing my audio saga, I was very happy with my Fyne F1-10 speakers, but I had the feeling that my Ayre integrated amp and Transparent cables were not the best match for them. But how do you find the best match in a world of fewer brick and mortar stores? How do you know which will work best with your speakers? You could read reviews, but they only reflect the reviewers opinion, in their room with their equipment. You could travel all over the country listening, but how will that aural memory translate to your system in your room? And cables- what a rabbit hole. I decided on another alternative- find a dealer who has my speakers and a lot of electronics, and is willing to stick their neck out with an unequivocal recommendation.

I had been a lurker/poster on Audioshark and knew the equipment Suncoast Audio carried, so I contacted Mike Bovaird. I knew they had my speakers and a lot of choices of electronics/cables that could go with them. After a few emails and a few phone calls describing my music tastes and priorities, my room, my budget etc, Mike recommended the Boulder 866 integrated amp/streamer and Wireworld Eclipse 8 cables. No wishy washy “It depends on what you like” - he unequivocally said “I have this combination in the store and it is fantastic. Many customers have been blown away by this combination. I know you’re going to love it”. A breath of fresh air.

The transaction was seamless and hassle free- no fuss and everything as/when promised. I got the cables first and I could tell the “jump factor” increased. When the amp came, I felt it retained the organic sound I liked but had more grunt and oomph. A great combination.
Service after the sale was also excellent- I had a number of questions setting up the server part of the Boulder and Mike was always curious to find the answer- even on a Friday night. All in all, a great experience.

It has now been several months and the Boulder/Wireworld/Fyne system has continued to make me happy. A well matched system that does everything as right as possible for me in my small room.

Am I perfectly content? No. The streamer of the Boulder is the weak point, as it relies on a third party UPNP program like Mconnect for the user interface and streaming function. This is much more clunky and glitchy than the Lumin interface I was used to. Perhaps Boulder should license Lumin like some other high end brands have done, rather than trying to develop a streamer in house using third party apps. But all in all I couldn’t be happier.

Picture of the system below. One more thing has been added- room treatments- that will be my next post.

Very nice! I am currently waiting for a pair of 502SPs to go with my Luxman.

Enjoy!

Congratulations! Nice system upgrade. Enjoy the music!

Thank you Brian and Mike.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dylan

NEW ELECTRONICS- BOULDER 866

Continuing my audio saga, I was very happy with my Fyne F1-10 speakers, but I had the feeling that my Ayre integrated amp and Transparent cables were not the best match for them. But how do you find the best match in a world of fewer brick and mortar stores? How do you know which will work best with your speakers? You could read reviews, but they only reflect the reviewers opinion, in their room with their equipment. You could travel all over the country listening, but how will that aural memory translate to your system in your room? And cables- what a rabbit hole. I decided on another alternative- find a dealer who has my speakers and a lot of electronics, and is willing to stick their neck out with an unequivocal recommendation.

I had been a lurker/poster on Audioshark and knew the equipment Suncoast Audio carried, so I contacted Mike Bovaird. I knew they had my speakers and a lot of choices of electronics/cables that could go with them. After a few emails and a few phone calls describing my music tastes and priorities, my room, my budget etc, Mike recommended the Boulder 866 integrated amp/streamer and Wireworld Eclipse 8 cables. No wishy washy “It depends on what you like” - he unequivocally said “I have this combination in the store and it is fantastic. Many customers have been blown away by this combination. I know you’re going to love it”. A breath of fresh air.

The transaction was seamless and hassle free- no fuss and everything as/when promised. I got the cables first and I could tell the “jump factor” increased. When the amp came, I felt it retained the organic sound I liked but had more grunt and oomph. A great combination.
Service after the sale was also excellent- I had a number of questions setting up the server part of the Boulder and Mike was always curious to find the answer- even on a Friday night. All in all, a great experience.

It has now been several months and the Boulder/Wireworld/Fyne system has continued to make me happy. A well matched system that does everything as right as possible for me in my small room.

Am I perfectly content? No. The streamer of the Boulder is the weak point, as it relies on a third party UPNP program like Mconnect for the user interface and streaming function. This is much more clunky and glitchy than the Lumin interface I was used to. Perhaps Boulder should license Lumin like some other high end brands have done, rather than trying to develop a streamer in house using third party apps. But all in all I couldn’t be happier.

Picture of the system below. One more thing has been added- room treatments- that will be my next post.

---

That’s a GREAT pairing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Hi Dylan,

It's great to hear that all is well with you & yours!

I remember when you came here to hear my Canterburys, and later RoomPlay voicing yours in N.C., not too long after your pair arrived.

I recently sold mine, which was really tough. I had thought they were keepers for life.

Interestingly, I am evaluating a pair of F-703s. I may have misplaced reactions, but I still miss the Canterburys, which were highly modified, if you recall. These days - sadly - I could not recommend that anyone purchase speakers from Tannoy, as their customer service is but the palest shadow of what they were before the Chinese buy-out.

The Fynes do have that wonderful cohesiveness and musical involvement that we appreciated in our Tannoys. I bet that your F-10s are almost magical!

Welcome !

Hi Jim,
So nice to hear from you. I hope you and your family are doing well.
Yes, the Canterbury’s were keepers for life, and you were instrumental in my hearing them, buying them and setting them up.
I’m very pleased with the Fyne’s. They have the coherence, tone and dynamics that I value so much. Although more transparent than the Canterbury’s, the smaller Fyne’s in the small (12’x13’) room don’t have the majesty of the big Tannoys in the big room. But that’s to be expected.
I voiced the Fyne’s in my small room using your techniques- starting with couch first, then speakers. I used an iPhone Real Time Analyzer app to help.
Take care and happy holidays,
Mitch.

ROOM TREATMENTS

I’ve never had to use room treatments because all previous iterations of my stereo were in very large rooms. Although they may have benefited from room treatments, there was no crying need.

On the other hand, in my new small (13’x14’x9’) second bedroom listening room, it was obvious that there were bass problems. I downloaded a $5 Real Time Analyzer iPhone app and it was clear that there was a bass suckout at about 70Hz. The real time analyzer app is a great investment. Although I’m sure it isn’t the most accurate, you can clearly see differences between, for example, different couch positions or door open vs. closed. Optimizing the couch position and keeping all the doors closed gave me a relatively flat low end response, but the suckout remained.

I also became aware that the sound was bouncing around the walls, which was creating smear. The smear manifested itself by a masking of low level details, poor clarity and significant changes in the sound with minor head movements (as a result of interference or comb filtering).

After my wife agreed that we could add room treatments (I am the luckiest guy in the world), I contacted GIK Acoustics. They were amazing to work with- I sent them pictures, a floor plan, my real time analyzer measurements and my findings. We had several discussions and emails over optimal and practical solutions, and finally decided on two 2’x4’x5” bass traps for the front and three 2’x4’x3” panels for the rear corner. I have to tell you, they treated me as if I was their biggest client, even though I was only buying 5 white panels. The first batch of panels all came in defective (creases in the fabric that wouldn’t steam out) and they gladly replaced them.

The difference in the sound was profound. There was a slight reduction in the suckout- I suspect I would need many more traps to really tame it. Most profound was the big improvement in clarity and fullness of the sound, much reduced interference and much reduced changes with slight head movements.

I heartily recommend downloading an RT A phone app and getting room treatments if you experience bass problems or smearing. Although the stereo doesn’t sound as good as in my earlier huge rooms, it certainly sounds much bigger and better than you would imagine. I’m very happy with the sound and can now get back to listening to music.

Pictures below: the front of the room, the back corner and the RTA graph after treatments.

I see a couple of issues that might be worth addressing as well.

In fact, When Robert Harley gave us (Avantgarde-USA) Best Sound at CES one year (IIRC, winter of 2003), I had - for the first time ever - given up prior to the beginning of the show on getting what I considered to be acceptable sound in the approximately square room.

As much as it pained me to do so, I had insisted that we should have a static showroom, because demonstrating bad sound was not in our best interests in any way.

Steve Bednarski at BAT (we were sharing the room with BAT, and as usual, I was the set-up guy) asked me if I would be willing to try something fairly radical for show conditions, and it definitely worked at a very high level, but also with some definite room usage limitations relating to the radical set-up.

If you are interested at all, we should probably have a phone conversation, as it is a bit complicated for posting or e-mails...

If not, no biggie, as it looks as if you have addressed most of your issues in a more than satisfactory manner! :congrats:

PM sent!

Another Update- I replaced the stock spikes on my Fyne F1-10 speakers with Isoacoustics Gaia 1 footers. A very worthwhile improvement- lower noise floor let’s me hear more detail, expanded soundstage, increased jump factor and more defined bass. Also, presumably less sound leaking through the floor of my high rise condo. They didn’t change the essential character of the speakers, but enhanced what was already there. Spent an evening installing, leveling and positioning, and spent a couple of hours today adjusting toe-in in 1/4”increments until I got the right image size, center fill and soundstage. Heartily recommended.
Thanks to Audioshark member JohnThomas for figuring out the thread size needed and for sharing his evaluation on his F1-10’s. Also thanks to Mike for the excellent service.

Dylan,

I’m glad the Gaia’s worked out for you. Not only do they enhance the sound they look way better than the spikes.

HEADPHONES???

Yesterday I was lamenting to my wife that one of my biggest regrets is that for the rest of my life I will never be able to listen to the music I like (electric Dylan, The Band, Allman Brothers, Dead, Stones, BS&T, Hendrix, Steely Dan, CCR, etc.) the way it is supposed to be played- loud.

A little context- six years ago we moved from our house to a high rise condo. It has taken a while, but I have now optimized the performance of my stereo in our small second bedroom, and it sounds excellent. But I simply cannot play my music loud. So I listen to jazz, soft rock, female vocals etc, but playing the music that really moves me at condo volume levels just makes me frustrated.

In her infinite wisdom she turned to me and said- “So why don’t you just get a good set of headphones so you can play your music the way you like to hear it? Just get whatever you want.”

I’m thinking about it, but the first and only pair of headphones I ever owned were Koss Pro-4AA in the early 70’s. . They were horrible, sound and comfort wise.

I’m asking the group for their collective wisdom and advice.

Thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dylan

HEADPHONES???

Yesterday I was lamenting to my wife that one of my biggest regrets is that for the rest of my life I will never be able to listen to the music I like (electric Dylan, The Band, Allman Brothers, Dead, Stones, BS&T, Hendrix, Steely Dan, CCR, etc.) the way it is supposed to be played- loud.

A little context- six years ago we moved from our house to a high rise condo. It has taken a while, but I have now optimized the performance of my stereo in our small second bedroom, and it sounds excellent. But I simply cannot play my music loud. So I listen to jazz, soft rock, female vocals etc, but playing the music that really moves me at condo volume levels just makes me frustrated.

In her infinite wisdom she turned to me and said- “So why don’t you just get a good set of headphones so you can play your music the way you like to hear it? Just get whatever you want.”

I’m thinking about it, but the first and only pair of headphones I ever owned were Koss Pro-4AA in the early 70’s. . They were horrible, sound and comfort wise.

I’m asking the group for their collective wisdom and advice.

Thanks!

---

I would also suggest a great headphone amp. I have tried over 50 different kinds and brands and LOVE the reasonably priced Rupert Neve headphone amp (I use their commercial mixing gear in my studio).

It will make a huge difference in the quality of sound through headphones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

I would also suggest a great headphone amp. I have tried over 50 different kinds and brands and LOVE the reasonably priced Rupert Neve headphone amp (I use their commercial mixing gear in my studio).

It will make a huge difference in the quality of sound through headphones.

---

Here is a link to the one I like: Access to this page has been denied.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dylan

HEADPHONES???

...

I’m asking the group for their collective wisdom and advice.

---

Headphones are going to provide a different experience than speakers, and I'm not sure they're the best solution for playing "loud" in the sense that oftentimes playing headphones loud is too loud and risks damage to your hearing. But if the issue is you can't even play your speakers at a decent listening volume due to the thin walls or specific times of the day / night, then headphones could be a good solution.

There are many very high-quality headphones now, with much better choices than you would have had even 10 years ago. There are also some products that can help recreate the speaker sound (i.e. crosstalk from your right ear hearing the left speaker a little later, and vice versa) like the Smyth Realizer, BACCH hardware/software, and the Weiss DAC crosstalk algorithm.

The best I've heard are Dan Clark headphones. I also like Audeze and Hifiman both have models in various price points. Unless something in your system has a headphone amp it is best to get one. You might also look on a site called headfi (I believe .org) Dan Clark has both electrostatic and dynamic driver styles.

If sticker shock I know Hifiman has good cans at a reasonable price that can be driven by a regular headphone jack. You might contact them to see which models.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dylan

HEADPHONES???

Yesterday I was lamenting to my wife that one of my biggest regrets is that for the rest of my life I will never be able to listen to the music I like (electric Dylan, The Band, Allman Brothers, Dead, Stones, BS&T, Hendrix, Steely Dan, CCR, etc.) the way it is supposed to be played- loud.

A little context- six years ago we moved from our house to a high rise condo. It has taken a while, but I have now optimized the performance of my stereo in our small second bedroom, and it sounds excellent. But I simply cannot play my music loud. So I listen to jazz, soft rock, female vocals etc, but playing the music that really moves me at condo volume levels just makes me frustrated.

In her infinite wisdom she turned to me and said- “So why don’t you just get a good set of headphones so you can play your music the way you like to hear it? Just get whatever you want.”

I’m thinking about it, but the first and only pair of headphones I ever owned were Koss Pro-4AA in the early 70’s. . They were horrible, sound and comfort wise.

I’m asking the group for their collective wisdom and advice.

Thanks!

---

Thank you for all the responses to my headphone query. This year at Capital Audiofest I’ll visit the headphone area and try these brands and others. I’ll report back on what I found.
Thanks again,

Perfect, that's the way to do it. The great thing the headphones will sound the same on your ears at the show as they will at your home. Pay close attention to comfort, it doesn't matter how good a set will sound if you are uncomfortable with them on

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dylan

Thank you for all the responses to my headphone query. This year at Capital Audiofest I’ll visit the headphone area and try these brands and others. I’ll report back on what I found.
Thanks again,

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dylan

HEADPHONES???

Yesterday I was lamenting to my wife that one of my biggest regrets is that for the rest of my life I will never be able to listen to the music I like (electric Dylan, The Band, Allman Brothers, Dead, Stones, BS&T, Hendrix, Steely Dan, CCR, etc.) the way it is supposed to be played- loud.

A little context- six years ago we moved from our house to a high rise condo. It has taken a while, but I have now optimized the performance of my stereo in our small second bedroom, and it sounds excellent. But I simply cannot play my music loud. So I listen to jazz, soft rock, female vocals etc, but playing the music that really moves me at condo volume levels just makes me frustrated.

In her infinite wisdom she turned to me and said- “So why don’t you just get a good set of headphones so you can play your music the way you like to hear it? Just get whatever you want.”

I’m thinking about it, but the first and only pair of headphones I ever owned were Koss Pro-4AA in the early 70’s. . They were horrible, sound and comfort wise.

I’m asking the group for their collective wisdom and advice.

Thanks!

---

Congrats on your retirement and my condolences on moving from a house to a condo that prevents you from listening to your system at the levels you are used to.

HEADPHONES AND CAPITAL AUDIO FEST

I went to CAF on Friday to listen to headphones per my previous post. For me, it did not work out well. I listened to headphones priced between $1K-$5K. The first thing that bothered me was the feeling that my head was in a clamp. I wanted to be able to listen for long time periods but after 1/2 hour my head was throbbing. As to the sound, the soundstage is too different from live music or speakers. On a vocal track, the singer is inside your head, and the other instruments are spaced at various distances away from your rears on the sides of your head. Very unnatural. Finally, in order to try recreate the physicality of speakers I tended to play the headphones way too loud and my ears were ringing after 1/2 hour. So, for me, headphones will not do it and I will just have to teach myself to enjoy my music at lower levels in my high rise condo.

CAF was a blast. I’ve probably gone 5-6 times since moving to DC. A few observations. These are all IMO:

1. There was a lot more diversity in the attendees and the manufacturer/dealer reps. Gives me hope that our hobby still has life in it.
2. The usual systems sounded good to me - eg, Kharma and Tidal, although I wonder if they can rock. The Estalon’s sounded good. I heard MBL’s for the first time and they were excellent, but they needed humongous amplifiers to make them sing.
3. Two big surprises for me- Legacy Audio- these speakers should not sound good- a large number of drivers and digital signal processing. Yet they sounded very coherent and organic, very small with small music and very large with large music. Would definitely be high on my list if I ever moved back to a house. Same with Joseph Audio- conventional WATT/Puppy clone but sounded surprisingly good in several rooms.
4. Systems that just don’t do it for me at all- Audio Note, Harbeth, Zu and the whole Danish speaker thing. To each his/her own but I just don’t get it.
5. I think there are just too many brands in our hobby to make it economically sustainable- far too many turntables, and how many slim floorstanders with a small midrange, small tweeter and two small woofers do we need? I guess hope springs eternal.

Dylan, thanks for the update. I came away with a similar feeling re. Joesph Audio, definitely a winner in my book !