Master-9 

New nomination: Beyer DT880 600 ohm.

No. Unless they sound significantly better than the lower ohm versions. The lower versions don't sound bad, but they don't sound better than HD600s.

Quote from: marvey on October 08, 2014, 07:01:36 PM

New nomination: Beyer DT880 600 ohm.

No. Unless they sound significantly better than the lower ohm versions. The lower versions don't sound bad, but they don't sound better than HD600s.

I need to do a listening comparo someday between the versions.  Always seems to be a question that was never really resolved.  I think Tyll did talk about it a bit, it's been a long time ago so the mind is fuzzy on the details of such an article if it exists.  The question is, how consistent are the Beyer drivers going to be.  Would have to measure all 3 sets first to make sure if it's even worth pursuing.

Quote from: marvey on October 08, 2014, 10:34:56 PM

Nominate:

BHA-1 = decent balanced solid-state amp clean sound and decent headstage depth and imaging stability.


Feel free to nix them.

Overpriced for the performance and there are more options in that range than there were when this came out a couple years ago.

Yeah, you were one of the first to buy one and had it for awhile right?

Quote from: Clemmaster on October 09, 2014, 12:05:03 AM

Master-9 

So what's the Master 9 beat and what's it close to or not as good as?

In the grand scheme of things, it would compare to the Rag. They have a different sound however.

The Rag has deeper / taller (bigger overall) sound-stage with more texture (almost "smoky" kind of sound). It is smoother, too.

The Master-9 is more on the super clean / transparent side, but not harshness. Very refined all across, too, but does not have the apparent smoothness of the Rag (from the amps I heard, only the Stratus had that apparent smoothness on first listen). Tighter and more impactful mid-bass.
Does not suck me in the music as much as the Rag, though. Did not try ACSS with the Master-7, yet.

A direct competitor would be the Taurus mkII -> I really did not care much for its sound at the last meet. Could be bad condition (LCD-2 felt so congested...) but I did not bother plug in my HE-6 that I had with me at the table... Not an inspiring first listen.

You guys have much more experience with tube gear than I do (I digged your amp and the Liquid Glass with HD-800 but was more focused on enjoying the sound than critically listening to the gear, ha!).

Feel free to borrow the M9 before I sell it to make your own opinion!