Koss Totem Mani-2 User Manual download pdf (Page 40)

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Listening Room

ot an ampliﬁer? Got head-

phones? Now how do you

plug the second into the

ﬁrst?

Headphones have long been an alter-

native listening method for those whose

partners don’t share their musical tastes.

Or those with thin walls. In recent years

the idea of listening to music through

headphones rather than loudspeakers

has gone mainstream. The reason for

that can be summed up in a word: iPod.

(Then again, there’s the word Walkman.

Remember that? Neither do we.) But no

portable player can do justice to great

headphones.

Neither can your high end ampli-

ﬁer, chances are. Because headphones

are sensitive and go right against your

ears, they’ll let you hear hiss and hum

normally inaudible. And you can’t

rig up a switching system without

doing major damage to audio

performance you’ve spent good

money for.

An ampliﬁer made specially

for headphones may be the solu-

tion. Run it from your regular

amp or preamp’s Tape Out jacks,

and you’re set. We reviewed three

possibilities.

But ﬁrst, let’s talk about a new head-

phone, the one below.

The Goldring DR150 headphone

It’s from a surprising company, but

then Goldring seems to offer all kinds of

things these days, even turntables. The

DR150 phones are the most expensive of

three models at C$260. This is of course

much more than the phones on the racks

of iPod stores.

They’re dynamic phones, with a

titanium ﬁlm diaphragm, comfortable

circumaural muffs and open backs.

They don’t block much sound, and

consequently you won’t want to listen to

them next to someone trying to get some

sleep, because they leak like the Titanic.

The good side is that if the phone rings

while you’re listening, you’ll hear it.

If you don’t see a cord in our picture

it’s because it’s detachable. The 3 metre

cord in fact has a gold-plated miniplug

at each end, with a full-sized phone

plug adapter. All three of us rated them

comfortable, thanks to their lightness

and the design of the muffs.

Do we have a reference headphone

for comparison? Yes we do, though we

seldom list it. It’s a Koss PRO/4AAA,

purchased many years ago for studio

monitoring (anyone recall that our Alpha

room was originally a broadcast produc-

tion studio?). It was excellent then, and

it still is. We ran a single recording,

Margie Gibson’s The Best Thing For

You from her Say It With Music album

(Shefﬁeld CD-36), ﬁrst through the Koss

phones, then through the Goldring.

Each panelist (listening separately for

once) would evaluate the Goldring, and

then continue the ampliﬁer evaluation

with the phone of his or her choice. The

choice, however, would have to be made

on the basis of the sound, not comfort.

Did the Goldring sound neutral?

Not really. Albert found it colored, with

an alteration not only of Gibson’s voice

but also of the piano, bass and percus-

sion. We did note some strong points.

The transients are quick and lifelike,

the dynamics impressive, and Gerard

thought the somewhat leaner bass might

actually be a plus. But we didn’t enjoy

the increased graininess of the highs,

nor the somewhat claustrophobic space.

All three of us opted to do the rest of the

test with our Koss reference phone.

The Goldring, we should add, seemed

sensitive to the quality of the ampliﬁer. It

sounded best with the CEC amp (but of

course so did the Koss). Plugged into

an iPod, it was harsh and edgy.

Then on to the comparisons of the

ampliﬁers. We usually listen to our

reference system ﬁrst, and then drop in

whatever component we are reviewing

and listen again. However we have no

reference headphone ampliﬁer, and that

Headphone Ampliers

38 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine

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Koss Totem Mani-2 User Manual Page 40

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