Loaner: RAAL Requisite CA-1a

sign up here. includes transformer.

@JK47
@penguins
@miter53 N.Cal 6/21
@rhythmdevils[/USER] - N. Cal
@loadexfa - N. Cal 7/12

@Vtory PA 7/22
@Slade01 - NJ
@Phantaminum TX

 

Yes please. Dallas, TX.

 

Me please, SoCal

 

Count me in. Philly, PA

 

Thank you SBAF! Yes please. SoCal.

 

how do we only have 4 people on this???

 

Seriously. This is one of the best headphones on the market, and for its price, you'd be hard pressed to find something better. Sure, people may prefer other presentations to the CA-1a's, but it does take on different sound qualities with the pad swap, one being more studio neutral, the other warmer and more mellifluous.

Also, don't be put off by amplification requirements: you don't need an especially beefy amp to drive the CA-1a well. I sold mine to a friend - I couldn't justify having it and the SR1a - and he had success driving it from his Piety, among other amps. I should think popular amps like the Jot 2, Lyr + , Pietus Maximus, MJ3 and others would do a fine job with it (the MJ3 can drive the SR1a, which is more demanding than the CA-1a).

 

I'll give it a try if I can. Oakland CA...

 

Sorry to ask as I know next to nothing about Raal and Ribbon headphones. But in order to use these with regular headphone amps (e.g. Piety, Jot2, MJ3, etc.) do you need the TI-1b transformer adapter to make this possible? And if the case, is this included in the loaner tour as well?

 

Of course being a planar guy for my speakers… and my Koss ESP’s…

Question: would the Kara headphone jack/amp have enough to work?

 

Would love to compare this against my final d8000 pro and Raal Sr1-a. I'm in the Seattle Area, WA

 

I'll join. Pisek, ND

 

@julie Received safe and sound, everything functions as it should.

 

Handed off to @penguins at a mediocre izakaya of my choosing

 

I'd love to hear this.

Bay Area, CA

 

SOLVED
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Had a very busy week and just got around to plugging these in. I'm hearing something weird in my setup I have not been able to diagnose yet though so I will have to get back. So far, it's happening on both the RAAL and other transducers so I don't think it's anything with the RAAL stuff.

If anyone wants to jump in and speed up the diagnosis process:
Problem: I'm hearing what sounds like a low grade or quiet rattling and buzzing that sounds like driver exertion, even at low volume, but only for some frequency bands of music (it's not just "all music" or even "all the highs" or "all the mids" etc).

Otherwise, the initial chain that I just plugged in very quickly to listen for a few minutes:
PC > Optical into Yggdrasil (switched over to optical to help minimize chance of electrical issue, already have PC and audio equipment on separate plugs with separate surge protectors / electrical isolation) > Balanced or SE out from Yggdrasil > MJ3 (personal loan from JK47) balanced output > various transducers or RAAL transformer > CA-1A.

Pulled all of the cables and checked all the terminations, everything looks fine. The MJ3 has been warming up for 48 hours (no load, no music, just plugged in and left on). When using the Yggdrasil SE out > speaker amp > speakers, I do not hear this odd issue. Initial guess is likely culprit is in the output jacks, cables, or possibly the amp. (However, JK47 uses this amp regularly and said he doesn't have problems with it. He also opened it up to check components + caps before delivery to be extra sure).
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edit: I may need 2-3 extra days with this if that's fine, I will update this post later if I need to formally request it. This should be offset by time saved via our in person hand-off though. Need it because lost some time this week due to busier than expected week and may lose some more listening time to troubleshooting later today.

edit2: RAAL stuff is working fine. turns out it was a strange interconnect cable issue between the DAC and amp - one I cannot consistently reproduce.

 

Do not need an extension, was able to get enough listening time in to have my opinions.

Sending PM to @miter53 for shipping info, will ship tomorrow or Wednesday this week after receiving info.