I’m sure if you e-mailed the dealer you purchased from they would offer price protection. Or you can always return and buy from Drop instead.
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It is too much hassle to save 150$.
If the dealer had not offered 10% off on Sr1a, I would have bought Abyss 1266 TC with 10% off.
I hope to enjoy it forgetting 150$.
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I read your very informative article dated Dec 1 on the SR1a pushing the bass too hard and making them over drive the excursion limits of the design. It got me wondering if there is such a thing as an over line power reader that won’t change the frequency response or sound quality. I am reminded of amp meters that one clamps over the wire to measure amps in a line. If I get the SR1’s (possibly the 2nd version after time has raised the critical issues, if any that hopefully will be mitigated), I’d like to preserve the @ $5k investment. Also has anyone approximated a cost of driver replacement should something go bad either by my stupidity or a manufacturing defect. I’m reminded of the time I through caution to the wind and had my Hifiman HE500 in a box with other cables. Yes, yes let’s all jump on the stupid guy. There is a particular poignant moment when one looks at his headphones and notices the 3.5 mm plug shouldn’t be that deep vertically into the headphone ear piece…
Sooo… After sending the headphones off to China(!) for repair or replace, they came back good as new! @ $130 plus @ $50 shipping. (can’t remember shipping exactly) Thanks for showing the limits of the design by the engineers who make the SR1a. Guess I should thank them too. It’s really gratifying to see a young company releasing detailed information on a new product. And cudos to you for getting the data out.
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There are lots of meters that’ll let you do the measuring, starting at $20 or so. The current measurement can be done with a clamp, but to get the actual power you’ll also need to measure the voltage - and that’ll require having connections to the load.
Whether the impact of doing that will be audible or not is hard to say. It’s not something I’d leave connected while listening anyway - you’d need to do it with test tones to find out where the limits were.
Drivers for the SR1a are on user-replaceable, snap-in, cartridges and cost $199 for one, or $349 for a pair.
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Thanks Torq! (In who’s name I trust) One more question and I’ll leave you alone. You mention EQing sound. Is there a recommended EQ gear list you like that allows the sound to be altered without diminishing the “air” or “depth” of the recordings? Those are the 2 things that go first when adding electronics to a chain of equipment in my humble(believe it or not) opinion.
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I don’t do EQ in hardware, so no I don’t have a list of hardware EQ gear, sorry.
I run either DMG’s EQuilibrium or use the built-in EQ in Roon when I want EQ. Proper software-based EQ, applied before the digital output to the DAC, is vasty more precise and accurate, controllable, and powerful than any external hardware box is going to be.
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Thank you sir! I’ll start the research in that world.
I’ve been EQing at 20Hz with the little Schiit Loki and no issues. It’s a very “dry / cool” sound in the deep bass compared to my other phones (1266 Phi notably) that I would characterize as “wet / warm”. That’s the first descriptive word that popped into my head when I first hooked in the Loki.
The only mechanical issue I’ve had so far is that the left mini plug works its way loose too easily. I notice it right away as either no sound out of that side or reduced volume that shifts images to the right so I just snug it up and I’ve been good to go for the rest of my listening session. I’m hoping some cable manufacturer will tackle an aftermarket one (given the low impedance(?) requirement) that will fit more snugly.
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I suspect your left channel working its way loose its a socket issue, rather than a plug issue. Sockets are far more prone to variances in manufacturing tolerances.
Third-party cable wise, I don’t know of anyone offering SR1a cables as a standard product. And of those that are willing to do it on a custom basis, a couple of their potential customers pinged me for a “how to do it” (cheeky sods …) … which doesn’t bode well for the end result …
I build and sell cables from time to time … and have three designs for the SR1a … the varying impedances of which affect the tonal profile in audible and measurable ways:
But since I’m not really a commercial cable builder, there is no scale-of-economies at work with such things, and I tend to stick to the best available components (including hand-wound complex wire geometries using very expensive raw wire), AND I don’t like to work for minimum wage, my cables are usually prohibitively expensive.
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Anyone try using a 15W 300B amp with SR1a?
Like this Cary 300SEI?
https://www.caryaudio.com/products/cad-300sei/
Or I should not as amp would melt and explode.
Thanks for your take.
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I haven’t specifically tried it with a 15W 300B tube amplifier, but I can say that every time I’ve tried the SR1a with an underpowered amplifier the results have not been good (the lone exception being dual-mono Aegir’s at 80W each … and even that wasn’t ideal with any bass EQ applied and the volume turned up).
After testing across many amplifiers, my recommendation remains that you should take the power requirements seriously.
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No. 90 db spl easily eats up 30-40w at low frequencies.
A 60w amp is doable if you’re mindful of the spl requirements but will still not be idea.
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ok
A 100W 300B amp or monoblocks is hard to find.
Why 300b? There are warm solid state amps (Pass) costing far less.
IMO using tubes slows down the cans which takes away from the point of having a fast transducer. And 300b in particular is relaxed and low density unless implemented exceedingly well.
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Thanks!
Please recommend a good amp for me.
I will be using with Nagra DAC or Chord DAVE or just my iPhone X.
BTW, just googled RS1a and Drop.com has the RS1a at $2,999. Is this a great price or are they selling imports?
Thanks
paul
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There are several amps discussed earlier in the thread, ranging from a pending-unit that’ll be $799 (and is one of the best ways I’ve heard the SR1a driven), to $7,000 or so, as well as in @Zhanming057’s review, and more will be covered in my pending review as well.
You’d have to ask them, or RAAL-requisite, what they’re selling
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Here’s a link to my review:
If you’re not sure, I’m going to echo Torq’s recommendation and suggest that you wait for the Jot R.
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Does anyone have an idea when the Jot R will be available? Thanks.
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