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Hi-Fi Headphones Hut
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“I have a Mac tube amp and grado phones. Would I benefit from a headphone amp? How are they hooked up? Thanks for any thoughts.” 21 enthusiasts express their opinions MORE
Gentlemen, which era of STAX headphones are more reliable. Old or new? Howard Popeck writes as follows: First things first, I’ve not been involved in selling STAX equipment for some years and so my comments and observations are based on my experiences then and not currently. They’re called ‘Earspeakers’ incidentally. Old or new is not […]
Hi Howard, Here is my Stax experience: I have been familiar with the brand for a long time but the first time I had the opportunity to try any Stax product was on the Frankfurt High End show in 1988. I listened to music thru a pair of Stax earspeakers (I do not remember the […]
Each AK380 casing is milled from a solid, 1.7Kg block of copperwhich is then hand finished and coated in a four-stage process that prevents oxidization and produces a brushed-metal finish. The player is completed by a carbon-fibre backing, and comes with a V1 leather case. Only 500 units of the AK380 Copper will be available […]
The Audiophiliac loved the original Asgard, the new Asgard 2 is still made in the U.S., it has more features and improved sound, but it’s still $249! Right, the name attracts a certain amount of attention, but Schiit is no joke. The California-based company made its name with the very first product, the little Asgard […]
The 1975’s chart-topping album is just one of a string of hit debuts engineered, mixed and produced by Mike Crossey. Mike Crossey is a man of many talents, two of which are a knack for propelling unknown acts to the top of the hit parade, and the ability to mix tracks that sound amazing on the radio. Speaking […]
My system is LP12/ Itok/ Koetsu/Armageddon/Groove/Hi cap/82/250/Kabers.Some time back I bought a Densen 400XS CD player second hand to play a few discs I usually keep in the car. 30 Min’s into the first blues disc it sounded so bad I assumed I had a poor recording.On with another – same terrible sound.Even my wife […]
CHRIS HALL: What’s happened?The Cleer Enduro ANC headphones fall on the more affordable end of the spectrum when it comes to wireless noise-cancelling cans. But, despite the relatively low cost of entry, these headphones have some serious specifications.Our quick verdictIf you’re looking for an affordable set of wireless noise-cancelling headphones, the Cleer Enduro ANC are well […]
Why are headphones not as enjoyable as loudspeakers for listening to music on your system? MORE
Audiophiles have gotten a lot of bad press recently, what with the apparently silly Pono music player (which plays much higher quality audio files despite almost no one being able to hear the difference) and the news from Wired magazine that “burning in” your headphones has no discernible effect on sound quality. Reading about the […]
John Siau writes: The Benchmark AHB2 power amplifier and HPA4 headphone amplifier both feature feed-forward error correction. This correction system is an important subset of the patented THX-AAA™ (Achromatic Audio Amplifier) technology. It is one of the systems that keeps these Benchmark amplifiers virtually distortion free when driving heavy loads. It is also the reason […]
If you’re looking for a slice of top quality comfort with sophisticated audio quality to boot then the Philips Fidelio L3 delivers one of the most outstanding over-ear experiences of any headphones released in 2021. However, the Fidelio L3 can’t deliver class-leading active noise-cancelling (ANC) – so if you want to more-or-less remove all of […]
Hi While at the Bristol show last year I had the opportunity to quickly demo a Stax headphone + amplifier set-up (I cannot remember the actual model – the headphones had rectangular-shaped pads and looked like the current 207/307/407 models). I was impressed. I have experience with middle-tier dynamic headphones (AKG, Beyerdynamic, Grado) but what […]
“Finally I was able to acquire an SRA-14S and it has arrived now! No phono equalizer modules however. A previous owner had been cutting copper tracks on the input/switching pcb and added a lot of wires (in different places than the cut traces). Neatly done, but still…. Maybe he had some problem with the switches? […]
Dear Howard. Grateful for your views as to whether the captioned extension cable (6-pin in/female & 5-pin out/male) will work with a pair of SR-3 earspeaker into the normal socket of a SRA-14s.Many thanks in advance. I am finding this a very difficult question to answer with any confidence. First, despite many years of intimate […]
John Siau writes: Benchmark has introduced the new HPA4 headphone/line amplifier with four 256-step relay-controlled attenuators and four 16-step relay-controlled boost amplifiers. Together these form two fully-independent, fully-balanced stereo volume controls. One volume control is dedicated to the line output and one is dedicated to the headphone output. Each has a +15 dB to -122 […]
The Audiophiliac visits Grado’s Brooklyn factory to document the fabrication and assembly of the most affordable “e” Series headphone, the SR60e. Steve Guttenberg:Grado manufactures all of its new “e” Series headphones (and phono) cartridges in a funky looking four story building in Brooklyn, NY. There’s no “Grado” logo or signage of any kind, just a […]
Dear Howard. Grateful for your views as to whether the captioned extension cable (6-pin in/female & 5-pin out/male) will work with a pair of SR-3 earspeaker into the normal socket of a SRA-14s. Many thanks in advance. I am finding this a very difficult question to answer with any confidence. First, despite many years of […]
Paul McGowan writes: I’ve been noodling on a comment made a few weeks ago that high-end audio is mostly a status symbol owned by wealthy people who do not care about audio or music. I must say I find that totally wrong and offensive. In fact, the more I think about the comment the more […]
Howard Popeck writes: Part of the considerable expense of the Omegas is the fact that the driver membrane is phenomenally thin, in fact thinner than STAX have ever built before. Around 1.6 microns thick. Far lighter than even the thinnest tissue paper. Consequently the membrane can respond to draughts, sudden movements of air and so […]
James Harwood replies … Audio engineers typically do use high-end headphones, just not high-end consumer headphones. There is a difference from headphones that are meant for studio use (mixing) vs. what is used for listening to music (consumer). The difference is the frequency response. Most consumer headphones are made to either boost or reduce frequencies […]