Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

One note; the 6xx were the first piece of equipment I observed very real burn-in with. I'd say they settled down after maybe 60-90 days of constant listening. In that inital period I'd experience what seemed like different cans every day. They were never bad even then. I'd say they are more like wine, haha.
 
debianlinux said:
One note; the 6xx were the first piece of equipment I observed very real burn-in with. I'd say they settled down after maybe 60-90 days of constant listening. In that inital period I'd experience what seemed like different cans every day. They were never bad even then. I'd say they are more like wine, haha.
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Thanks for the heads up! Quick question, how loud are open back headphones like the 6XX for people that are just in the room? Is it obnoxious sound leaking?
 
Ghost said:
Thanks for the heads up! Quick question, how loud are open back headphones like the 6XX for people that are just in the room? Is it obnoxious sound leaking?
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Haha, well I'd say that depends on your listening level. People in the room will definitely know you are listening to headphones. I'd say it's easily ignored or drowned out. I'm going off what they sound like when I set them down on my desk which has ot be louder than when they are on my head.

They are loud enough that if I know the song I will recognize it and where in the song it is (again off my head). I probably listen louder than average but not by a huge degree because I try to be careful with the fact that I listen so much but I am also 75% deaf in one ear.

I listen in an open floor plan office and no one has ever commented on it.
 
kvetcha said:
It’s very very apparent.
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debianlinux said:
Haha, well I'd say that depends on your listening level. People in the room will definitely know you are listening to headphones. I'd say it's easily ignored or drowned out. I'm going off what they sound like when I set them down on my desk which has ot be louder than when they are on my head.

They are loud enough that if I know the song I will recognize it and where in the song it is (again off my head). I probably listen louder than average but not by a huge degree because I try to be careful with the fact that I listen so much but I am also 75% deaf in one ear.

I listen in an open floor plan office and no one has ever commented on it.
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Well let’s hope it’s at acceptable levels for the lady. I can see the conversation already:

“Why did you get headphones that I would be able to HEAR?! The whole point was so I wouldn’t hear your music.”

“But BABE, open back headphones make for better imaging and sound staging! What you want me to listen to my records on a pair of BOSE?!”

*engagement ring thwacks me in the eye*
*front door slams shut*
*cat meows*
 
Ghost said:
Well let’s hope it’s at acceptable levels for the lady. I can see the conversation already:

“Why did you get headphones that I would be able to HEAR?! The whole point was so I wouldn’t hear your music.”

“But BABE, open back headphones make for better imaging and sound staging! What you want me to listen to my records on a pair of BOSE?!”

*engagement ring thwacks me in the eye*
*front door slams shut*
*cat meows*
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Nah, easy come back. I got these so I could still hear you when you needed something. I mean, my wife says she has been screaming for me and I didn't hear her and she's worried a axe murderer will disassemble the family while I rock out in my office but that's another conversation for later when she realizes it doesn't actually work like that.
 
I had a couple of projects/tweaks going on this weekend. This was one, I've kind of gotten to the small, or not so small, tweaking of things on these systems. This was for the PLX 1000, I had an acrylic mat on it and it sounds great, better than the felt or rubber, in my opinion, but the sound still seemed a bit "thick" when comparing it to the UD. That's an unfair comparison, but if I could get the sound closer to that, I was all for it. I did a little research on PLX tweaks, and the simplest one that seemed worth indulging was the mat, with an aluminum platter and being used to the mass that is the Delrin platter on the UD I started looking at the Funk Firm Achromat.

The Achromat comes in 3mm (if you can't adjust your VTA) and the recommended 5mm. This thing is a bit expensive, but a money back guarantee helps with these experiments. So, it's a mat, the theory is bubbles (air paths) within the mat material taking up space and in turn absorbing vibrations and such. It's really hard to accept and wrap your head around tweaks like this because of the "bang for your buck" factor, which is a tough sell for many at $130 for the 5mm (Currently $100 +/- for the 3mm)

So I played a couple of "go to" albums on the PLX to get my ears dialed in, then swapped the acrylic with the achromat. An interesting thing when setting this up, at first, like most of us, I just dropped the mat on the platter and spun away, I could hear a subtle difference, but was feeling a bit "ehhh" about it and was ready to chalk it up to "not for me" based on the cost. I sat down and looked at the paperwork that came with it and THEN noticed it came with a set of very thin double-sided "adhesive discs", about the size of a quarter, but you're supposed to affix these to the mat first then drop it on your platter to form actual "contact" with the platter.

How in gods name can 6 .2mm stickers make any kind of difference? Well, you could have hit me with a brick. I'll be damned if the "stage" didn't open up more, the bass tighten up and the detail plucked from the "thickness". Instruments had much more separation and spacing. It was kind of crazy.

I'm going to preface this with a simple comment, I don't know if I would drop the money on one of these if you have a U-Turn, or a more "entry" level system. If you have a moderate, above average system, I would recommend looking into one, if you have a PLX, I would strongly urge you to give one a try, again, you can send it back if it doesn't work out for you.

Improvement in sound? Without a doubt (when installed correctly ;) )
Worth the investment? I think it's worth checking out as I explained, at $100- 130 I would make sure you're hearing A. An improvement in sound and B. Is the improvement worth the price in YOUR OPINION.

Anyway, just thought I would share the "little" tweaks as they come along :)
20200718_144328.jpg
 
Ghost said:
Thanks for the heads up! Quick question, how loud are open back headphones like the 6XX for people that are just in the room? Is it obnoxious sound leaking?
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I'll say that they are louder than closed back headphones, but nowhere near as loud as speakers. If someone is right next to you they will hear, but across the room, not as much (although they may still hear some sounds).
 
debianlinux said:
Nah, easy come back. I got these so I could still hear you when you needed something. I mean, my wife says she has been screaming for me and I didn't hear her and she's worried a axe murderer will disassemble the family while I rock out in my office but that's another conversation for later when she realizes it doesn't actually work like that.
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This 100%. My wife HATES that I can't hear her with my closed back headphones on. I hear about it nearly daily. Open back is a nice compromise
 
apholden said:
What effect would a negative review have on these sorts of deals? Obviously, in theory, it shouldn't matter, while my cynical expectation is that anything less then 5 stars means the last thing you ever hear from the manufacturer is a demand for the immediate return of everything they've ever given you.
Where in the middle does the truth lie?
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Career and good reviews will tell manufacturers/distributors that they are declining to write a review of they think the gear is bad. So these bad reviews tend to get cut before pen is really put to paper. On big endorsement deals, the relationship is either established or financial so it wouldn't come up.

But free gear optional reviews where the influencer gets to keep it... well they are usually very excited to have the free stuff which leads to rave reviews of often ok stuff. Human nature.

But like hifi said, reviews are just starting points anyway.
 
AnthonyI said:
I would counter with.........
A. Not if it brings the most out of the cartridge and extends it's life by doing so.
B. Is the $130 cart the last cart you'll ever buy
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touche


i mean my upgrade into the true audiophile territory will be the mofi deck (with a non mofi cartridge) so it is useful
 
AnthonyI said:
I wouldn't get caught up in the term "audiophile" too much, tools are tools, and calibrating your rig is beneficial from a LP-60 to a $10K deck ;)
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i was just wondering because rn while im just trying to slightly update i could have just bought uturns 5 dollar somewhat paper one and call it a day until i get a lot more money
 
duke86fan said:
i was just wondering because rn while im just trying to slightly update i could have just bought uturns 5 dollar somewhat paper one and call it a day until i get a lot more money
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I would grab one of the mirrored ones on Amazon over the paper version. My issue with the paper version is that if you punch the spindle hole "off", your alignment isn't worth anything ;)
 
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AnthonyI said:
I had a couple of projects/tweaks going on this weekend. This was one, I've kind of gotten to the small, or not so small, tweaking of things on these systems. This was for the PLX 1000, I had an acrylic mat on it and it sounds great, better than the felt or rubber, in my opinion, but the sound still seemed a bit "thick" when comparing it to the UD. That's an unfair comparison, but if I could get the sound closer to that, I was all for it. I did a little research on PLX tweaks, and the simplest one that seemed worth indulging was the mat, with an aluminum platter and being used to the mass that is the Delrin platter on the UD I started looking at the Funk Firm Achromat.

The Achromat comes in 3mm (if you can't adjust your VTA) and the recommended 5mm. This thing is a bit expensive, but a money back guarantee helps with these experiments. So, it's a mat, the theory is bubbles (air paths) within the mat material taking up space and in turn absorbing vibrations and such. It's really hard to accept and wrap your head around tweaks like this because of the "bang for your buck" factor, which is a tough sell for many at $130 for the 5mm (Currently $100 +/- for the 3mm)

So I played a couple of "go to" albums on the PLX to get my ears dialed in, then swapped the acrylic with the achromat. An interesting thing when setting this up, at first, like most of us, I just dropped the mat on the platter and spun away, I could hear a subtle difference, but was feeling a bit "ehhh" about it and was ready to chalk it up to "not for me" based on the cost. I sat down and looked at the paperwork that came with it and THEN noticed it came with a set of very thin double-sided "adhesive discs", about the size of a quarter, but you're supposed to affix these to the mat first then drop it on your platter to form actual "contact" with the platter.

How in gods name can 6 .2mm stickers make any kind of difference? Well, you could have hit me with a brick. I'll be damned if the "stage" didn't open up more, the bass tighten up and the detail plucked from the "thickness". Instruments had much more separation and spacing. It was kind of crazy.

I'm going to preface this with a simple comment, I don't know if I would drop the money on one of these if you have a U-Turn, or a more "entry" level system. If you have a moderate, above average system, I would recommend looking into one, if you have a PLX, I would strongly urge you to give one a try, again, you can send it back if it doesn't work out for you.

Improvement in sound? Without a doubt (when installed correctly ;) )
Worth the investment? I think it's worth checking out as I explained, at $100- 130 I would make sure you're hearing A. An improvement in sound and B. Is the improvement worth the price in YOUR OPINION.

Anyway, just thought I would share the "little" tweaks as they come along :)
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Huh...very interesting. Maybe this will be my next “small” upgrade. I’ve been contemplating a new mat. I have a cork mat currently. I wonder how it will work with my TT. I have a Rega Moth tonearm and no VTA. So I would probably need the thinner version. Did you buy from MD?
 
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