Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Showing 1 of 309 conversations about:
s1rrah
25
Jan 8, 2016
bookmark_border
s1rrah
25
Jan 12, 2016
bookmark_border
kevinxxzI've owned/used with the PS1000's: Woo WE6 SE, Headamp GS1 and my current Mapletree Ear+ Purist 100 ... the Woo amp was very nice but for my ear, too bass heavy with the already bass forward PS1000's ... the GS1 was much better, truly excellent, even but I found myself missing the "saturation" that tubes provide to the overall sound ... the GS1 was a tad "dry" sounding (as solid state can be when coming from tubes) ... the Mapletree Ear+ is by far the finer listen among all three amps ... it's absolutely *perfect* with the PS1000's ... lending just the right amount of tube saturation/sexiness while not at all sounding "tubey" ... and even though the Ear+ is a pure wire/tube design, it still sounds like something between a great tube amp mixed with a great solid state ... epic, EPIC detail and just gorgeous tone ... if I could recommend one amp for the PS1000's .. .it would be the Mapletree Ear+ HD ... buy it without hesitation ...
There's a picture of the new all aluminum chassis that Mapletree is using here: https://hollowstate.netfirms.com/#headphone%20amps
My particular Mapletree amp is a vintage design of which Loyd only made five ... it's about 10 years old and uses the now out of production Blackgate capacitors throughout ... just sonic SEX with the PS1000's :
Best! Joel
There's a picture of the new all aluminum chassis that Mapletree is using here: https://hollowstate.netfirms.com/#headphone%20amps
My particular Mapletree amp is a vintage design of which Loyd only made five ... it's about 10 years old and uses the now out of production Blackgate capacitors throughout ... just sonic SEX with the PS1000's :
Best! Joel
s1rrah
25
Jan 12, 2016
bookmark_border
kevinxxzAlso, Kevenxxz ... I've found the PS1000's (and Grados in general) to sound best when mated with a good source ... about 10 years ago, while trying to find a DAC that would push some Grado RS1's without the screeching highs, I stumbled on some of the MHDT Labs early tube buffered NOS/R2R DACs .. I think the first one I used was a Constantine, then moved up to the Paradisea, then the Havana and now the Stockholm v2. All are classic, NOS/R2R circuit designs, which are very long standing and quite legendary for their totally non fatiguing, non "digital" sounding output. Further, they all employ dual PCM56K DAC chips, which again, are quite well known and loved in the audio scene and have been around forever ... these particular chips, as with the overall NOS/R2R DAC design, are known for their musical, analogue-like tone and performance. All that said, I've never heard a better source for Grado headphones and the PS1000's are no exception. Utterly smooth, totally musical and zero digital "edge" to any given frequency (especially the highs). If you can find some way to demo an MHDT Labs Stockholm v2 DAC, the do so by all means. The Havana v2 is also an excellent DAC but the Stockholm is technically, the better design. Here's a review of the MHDT Labs Stockholm v2 DAC that I did a bit back: http://www.head-fi.org/t/724061/mhdt-labs-stockholm-2-a-review
s1rrah
25
Mar 19, 2016
bookmark_border
kevinxxzThat's great, man ... I'm stoked that my suggestions prompted you to take a chance on that gear; in my opinion, having used Grados for the past 15+ years, you've just put together one of the best possible audio chains one can construct for that breed of headphone (and any headphone, really if you favor musicality, natural timbre and a truly real and organic listen). BTW: I just finished a review of MHDT Labs new 24bit NOS/R2R DAC, the "Pagoda" ... it's an identical circuit as that employed in the Stockholm v2 but instead of dual PCM56K DACs internally, the Pagoda uses two PCM1704 DAC chips. As with Grado headphones, I've used the MHDT Lab NOS/R2R DACs almost as long and can say that the PCM1704 DAC sounds markedly different than the PCM56K based Stockholm 2 (and all other previous DACS). In the final analysis, I think I prefer the Stockholm 2 and it's more casual, "just love the music" sort of approach, it's ease of delivery and the way the machine just seems to "disappear" when listening ... whereas the Pagoda DAC is markedly more of a technical listen. It's still very much an R2R DAC ... it's smooth, natural and very analogue in tone but it certainly accentuates the micro detail retrieval and over all comes across as a more "clinical" ... "analytic" listen. Anyway, if you care to read a detailed comparison of the Pagoda vs Stockholm 2 ... you can find it at the following link ... I just got this bit published a month or so ago ...
But to sum up the differences neatly? This bit from the review is my take on things:
Pagoda/Stockholm 2 comparison: http://www.head-fi.org/t/799153/mhdt-lab-pagoda-a-review
Otherwise, would love to hear what you think of the Stockholm/Ear+ combo ... email me with some thoughts once you've had a moment to acclimate. My email: leojharris -AT- gmail
Best, joel
But to sum up the differences neatly? This bit from the review is my take on things:
Pagoda/Stockholm 2 comparison: http://www.head-fi.org/t/799153/mhdt-lab-pagoda-a-review
Otherwise, would love to hear what you think of the Stockholm/Ear+ combo ... email me with some thoughts once you've had a moment to acclimate. My email: leojharris -AT- gmail
Best, joel
Related Products
Drop Refurbished
Like-new products you can trustDrop Rewards
Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more
Drop Keyboard Club
Become a member and expand your keycap collectionCollaborate With Us
For Brands & DesignersFollow Drop
I'm a die hard Grado PS1000 user and source the aforementioned cans through a highly analogue sounding, highly resolving desktop rig consisting of an MHDT Labs Stockholm v2 NOS/R2R valve buffered DAC feeding a Mapletree Ear+ Purist HD 100 amplifier and have really heard nothing to equal it. And then along come these $30 Superlux cans ($30! LOL) and I can easily say, that powered via the same source/amp, they equal at least 85+% of the performance of my $1500.00 Grado PS1000's ... and being about as hair splitting as they come in regards to "things audio," ... this is not said lightly.
Incredible clarity, fantastic sound stage and imaging ... just tilted up enough in the highs and lows to yield a very rich (slightly north of neutral) listen, again ... much like the PS1000's... and nary a hint of fatigue, harshness or bloat. My god what an insane value...
I will say this unequivically ... the Superlux HD668B *definitely* sound better when properly powered/amplified. Plugging them in to my Cowon J3 portable player yields okay sound but in comparison to my desktop rig or even my MSI GS70 Stealth Pro laptop's audio out, they sound really bad from the Cowon (which doesn't surprise me as I think the Cowon J3 is rather underpowered; the damn thing runs for 70 hours on one full charge for chrissake). Just an FYI...
Anyway ... if so inclined, you can read some of my more detailed thoughts on the Superlux cans vs the PS1000's at a post I authored at Head-fi.org ... as mentioned in that post, of all the cans I've owned, the HD668B's remind me most of the Grado PS1000's ... very closely related in sound signatures....
Here's a link: http://www.head-fi.org/t/793934/superlux-hd668b-lordy#post_12231134
Insanity...
:-)