RAAL requisite audio SR1a Review: HOLY MOLY! Buy this now!

Did you try closing the wings so the ear cups are closer to you? This would reduce soundstage but (somewhat) increase the bass.
Also, I found that laying flat in bed with my head and the wings resting on a pillow would also increase the bass quite a bit.

 

Yeah, I played around with the wing position a lot. I liked it best with a finger width distance from my ears.

I also came up with a mod for them that increases bass by a factor of about 2 and fixes a couple of my issues with them. I've written a mod guide for it that I'll post on Monday probably so everyone can try it. It's very easy to do and costs $40 in materials.

 

I'd love some mod suggestions. I essentially own the SR1a in lieu of speakers--it's just never going to happen with two mischievous animals and a partner with significant sensory processing issues. I love them with the Lokius and Marv's setting suggestions. I'm sympathetic to your experience even though mine is different. I have no issue with the quality of microdynamics at all. What I did notice is that I can (and do) listen at a markedly lower volume than any other headphones I've had and am able to hear everything I need to. Which is a first. I always found myself inching the volume up, "leaning into" the transducers as it were. Not here. As for timbre, it's been about a year and a half since I had a different rig and made any comparison ... but you've motivated me to dip back into my audiophile jazz to see what I think.

 

The upcoming circumaural, CA-1a, is supposed to solve the lack of bass response, likely at a cost at some other things. Maybe @GoldenOne can share a few comments about this given he's recently tried out the latest prototype.

Oh yeah, I love the tinkering and can't wait to read your mod guide rhythmodevils.

Thanks for sharing your impressions.

 

I can understand that, these cans are extremely investigative and some folks might find that too much. The way how these propagate air into one's ears and behave on all imaging tasks also is very differnet from what most of us are used to. An odd one for sure and polarizing at that; to some gloriuous (to me it is), but to others unbearable. Thanks for your feedback!

 

No I agree with you 100%, when I've heard SR1a with solid-state amps, whether restored speaker, class a monoblocks, HSA-1a/1b or whatever I always felt the detail was a bit too forward. It felt like it had the worst parts of my 009 and HD800 and I was simply not a fan... at all, so much so I just wrote them off entirely


That said, however... the VM1a really changed the presentation enough that I have to say it's now a headphone I listen to almost daily. While my HD800 and SR-009 still each have strengths and albums where they sound marginally but still a bit more natural, neither is as consistent. The only downside, however, is the bass extension. It doesn't quite dig as low as I'd like given the price point, while it is no worse than my HD580 it's not better, still, it seems the CR1a remedy that and it's possible the combination of both might be everything I need for my tastes & preferences.

As someone who owns and enjoys the HD800, SR-009, LCD 2 R2.2 Pre-Fazor (@Torq's old Unicorn), ESP-95X w/Angeld Vesper Hybrid Pads, K1000 Bass-Heavy, Black Silk HD 580 ect... I still worry about using any of those on a regular basis given that none of them are in production anymore. If something fails there is no replacement aside from attempting to find another for sale. As any manufacture provided repairs will be with updated drivers that sound worse than the originals.

So, for me, the combination of outstanding sound quality and the peace of mind associated with being able to replace everything really make the RAAL headphones appealing as daily drivers with the VM1a. I just can't quite vibe with them on solid-state stuff as I have a lot of the same frustrations @rhythmdevils did... and frankly the VM1a has been the best amp I've heard them with at this point. Maybe we'll see some tube other options pop up here in the future!


Also @iFi audio I'm still frustrated I didn't get myself an iFi iESL when they were in stock, tho Marv mentioned some one still has them listed???? Where!!!

 

Ok, yea I tinkered with the EQ set the master to -9.5 dB... got as high up as a +9 low dB shelf set at 50, Q=.85, just goofy levels of bass but the drivers held up well and I didn't perceive much if any loss of detail or tactility just MOAR bass, good information to have! I certainly see the appeal, tho I do most of my serious listening thru a CD-T so the EQ is fun but not entirely useful for me. Still, credit where credit is due! Will @schiit have a set of Dual Aegir's running an SR1a at CanJam next month? Be kinda cool if they did :3

If not I might have to see if I can't catch the next event you guys host in TX to hear that set-up for myself!

 

I honestly have no idea which our reseller/distributor might still have iESL for sale. The best way would be to take a look at our stockist page here: https://ifi-audio.com/stockists/

...and ask directly at a shop near your place. We have some backup units at our HQ, but these are donors for parts to service iESLs out there in the field. Sorry!

 

Can someone explain something about the HSA-1b to me that I'm not savvy enough to figure out?

The amp comes with an adapter to plug normally wired headphones into the RAAL port. But sensitive headphones like my 20 ohm LCD-MX4 hiss even with the volume at zero. I'm scratching my head because the SR-1a is .2 ohms and is dead silent out of the same port. So it must be sensitivity.

The MX4 is rated at 105 dB/1mW
The SR-1a is rated at 91dB/1W

So that's a huge difference. Must be what is causing it? I was hoping to use the HSA-1b as an uber ortho amp and better then Jottenheim A for my LCD-R but the Liquid Gold X sounds better with Audeze's and I think the LCD-R would hiss like crazy out of the HSA-1b ribbon port.

 

the knob is pretty sensitive from the RAAL port. But hisses even at zero. The pot has much more range with the .2 ohm SR-1a.

I guess I don't know enough about how impedance and sensitivity combine to figure out what's going on.

 

If the hiss is constant regardless of volume knob, then it is the amp noise floor.

If the hiss increases with volume, most likely there is noise from your source (although the HSA-1b does have that compensation circuit, but I think that's mostly passive so shouldn't add noise).

 

I’ve read somewhere the designer said he anticipates the LCD-R would hiss out of the Raal output because it is much more sensitive than the SR1a.
I suspect the adapter is meant for the Susvaras of this world, not MX4s. The headphone output is meant for the more sensitive headphones.

 

I wonder about the TI-1a

 

Me too! Is there somebody more tech-savvy than me who could explain whether using a good tube amp with the TI-1a can yield some of the benefits of the VM-1a? Or is that complete nonsense? Do you lose the tube magic when you add a transformer interface to the chain?

 

the TI-1a sounds more tube like than the 1B and the soundstage is a bit larger at least with my equipment...the 1B is more detailed and transparent...that said the tl is a very good addition