What is the craziest Audio related idea you have ever had?

[AudioDoctor]

My wife thinks I am having mine right now...

 

I have been considering headphones for a while now, as they will let me listen to music with small kids in the house without waking them. Always a plus. So far I have made no moves in this direction, just thinking about options and where to begin at the moment. However, I have had an absolutely crazy idea...

 

The HiFiMan Susvara, besides being expensive, is also difficult to drive. So much so that HiFIMan themselves make an amp for it that puts over 10 watts into its 60 ohms and 83db efficiency rating. All Class A they say. It also puts 50 watts of class A at 8 ohms into speakers and 150 watts at 8 ohms in Class A/B. I am tempted to give this combo a try. But then I got to thinking... Because the Susvara requires so much power, there are actually a lot of amps that could drive them that are made for speakers if only there was a way to connect the two. taking this idea further, because the Susvara are a top of the line headphone, they should clearly be coupled with top of the line amplification, right? And then of course we're going to need top of the line sources...  I am sure you can see where this is going. One option is the Primaluna Evo400 of course. Pop in some bigger, more powerful tubes than the EL34s and you're golden... The EL34s put 11 watts into 32 ohms already. Tempting, but not crazy enough. You see, I recently had an opportunity to hear the Lampizator Pacific DAC and was blown away. This got me thinking. How great would a system made of the Lampizator Pacific DAC and their Pacific 211 Balanced mono blocks sound through the Susvara? I honestly don't know. Nor have I done the math yet to figure out how much that would cost and just how upset my wife would be. Rest assured though, she thinks I am nuts right now.

 

Share your stories.

[AudioDoctor]

18 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

actually, the most surprising thing in your post is that "she thinks I am nuts right now"

 

 

why did it take her so long?

 

I had to hide it so she would marry me...

[AudioDoctor]

Good thing I don't lie to her then!

[AudioDoctor]

43 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

Cables...

 

expensive interconnect cables was first

but expensive USB cables is worst

 

that YOU have had...  

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, sphinxsix said:

Class A tube car amp. I had very good Focal speakers in my car back in the 90s which I'm sure would have sounded just great with a good, tube amp. Actually the maker of my home stereo tube (6C33C tubes from the 80s used in MIG fighters, often used in BAT and Lamm amps) amp was ready to make it ('hmmm.. that would be some challenge') but I gave up the idea.. Frankly - I regret! 

 

Might have looked like this 

 

 

Now this is crazy and I love it!

[AudioDoctor]

4 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

Some other crazy ideas. I've read an article by a (British, I believe) audio journalist who described making two holes in his listening room wall (he did't use the space behind the wall) and fitting two huge Tannoy concentric drivers into them to get closer to the idea of the infinite baffle. 

I've also heard of Japanese audiophile who had a horn shaped ceiling with a bass woofer of his SET/horn setup placed up there.

These two ideas at least make some sense, the one I described here long ago doesn't

(I apologize for quoting myself):

 

 

I've read about some Japanese audiophiles getting their very own power connection straight from the power company, poles and all.

[AudioDoctor]

4 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

I bet there are more than a million audiophiles in Japan for whom none of the above crazy ideas is that extreme.. 

 

probably!!

[AudioDoctor]

2 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

 

I just want my own power pole and utility sized transformer like that Japanese guy has.

 

He must have a lot of on

 

solar and wind?

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, sandyk said:

 Neither of these are suitable for reliability without battery storage, and even with Solar and Batteries used you rarely see anything more than a 5KW Inverter used, which is incapable of powering many electrical appliances .

OTOH, you could use Solar/Wind with battery storage for AV only, and continue using the A.C. mains supply for Cooking, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning etc.

 

duh...

 

I assumed Ralf11 is smart enough to know that. 

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, rando said:

@AudioDoctor  Audiophile travels recently lead me to a McCormack design from years ago. 

 

https://www.stereophile.com/headphones/796mcc/index.html

 

I'm cautiously interested in what happens here with your crazy idea.  Or should I say how you are planning to go about this.  In any case, since I saw the other thread I thought to provide alternative means of connecting the headphones to a stereo amp.  In reverse of the above.

that’s an interesting device, thanks for the link!

 

im curious to know where this leads as well. Time will tell. I’ve tracked down a HiFiMan EF1000 and and a pair of Susvara headphones for a listen. I guess doing that will be step 1 

[AudioDoctor]

12 minutes ago, rando said:

 

Less about the 5 w/ch device than the idea not being new.  Also exploring the idea to talk to an amp designer about whether a one off cord is technically a better decision than using a one off adapter.  You might even find someone crazy enough to remove the speaker terminals and install the desired headphone outputs.  

I have already discussed this with Lucas from Lampizator...

[AudioDoctor]

6 hours ago, Summit said:

 

I use speaker amps to drive all my headphones and have done that for the last four years without any problem. Before I used a Marantz PM11 and are now using a Simaudio Moon 600i, that like very much. If you planning on using a tube amp you should know that not all can be used directly without risk of damaging your ear, amp and headphone. The reason is that many tube amps need to have a constant load on the output and not all headphones provide that or that you disconnect the headphone while the amp is on.

Thanks for the heads up, I will investigate that as well before plugging them in. I am glad that I’m not completely out in left field with this idea too. 

[AudioDoctor]

4 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

without question, the craziest Audio related idea I have ever had was to buy some spendy piece of gear without any listening tests to determine if it really improved SQ

 

- never done it tho

but...

 

doing that would seriously limit someone’s options at times. I think it’s best to find a seller with a good return policy who can be trusted. 

[AudioDoctor]

That’s totally not clear...

[AudioDoctor]

15 hours ago, sandyk said:

 I didn't want post the whole schematic for copyright reasons, but  they used a Stereo Headphone socket, insulated, Double Pole Double  Throw -Switched , with 330 ohm 1W  series resistors  fitted to the headphone side to protect both the headphones and the listener, as well as give a more suitable output level to the headphones .

https://www.altronics.com.au/p/p0074a-6.35mm-insulated-dpdt-stereo-jack-socket/

if I gave you medical advice by giving you the chemistry rather than just saying take this pill once a day, would you have any clue what I wanted you to do?

[AudioDoctor]

4 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

Actually buying my first audiophile quality system and thinking it would be the last one proved to be maybe not crazy but unrealistic.. 

 

same...

[AudioDoctor]

Just now, sandyk said:

 In this case though , you would have output coming from the speakers as well, not just the headphones, which is what is needed.

I see that mentioned a lot when researching this. It may be headphone/amp specific. Lukasz said nothing about a resistor needed when connecting the Susvara to his 211 Pacific mono block amps. 

[AudioDoctor]

3 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

I bet we are not the only two here.. 

 

Probably not.