Are Headphones Fit for Serious Music Listening?

I get the appreciation for the feeling of the waves of sound in my Livingroom system, and it is an incredible listening experience. However, my earphones are like 2-channel except for the waves of music hitting your body. Though, I do not have to deal with a room, and I can listen late at night without bothering the family. I had to purposely set my ROON Core server to automatically shut down at 2:30AM so that I was forced to go to sleep.

RAAL requisite SR 1a Earfield Monitors Review

I also do not like headphones.

@devinplombier I have used a sub with the SR1a. At one time I had my KEF KC62 sub on a bar stool near my ear level. I was just trying the sub on the stool for kicks. I now have the sub on the floor.

Office System 2 | Virtual Listening Room

The KC62 sub is fast and can keep up with the fast SR1a. This sub is for music and not HT. It was good and definitely added to the low end of the phones since the SR1a is open. However, one of the reasons I use the SR1a is so as not to disturb others late at night and a sub booming away does not help keep it quiet.

I used to own the RAAL CA-1a and that was not an open baffle headphone and had a lot more bass and was a RAAL ribbon phone. However, I gave that to a family member since I do not miss the bass on the SR1a and the only purpose it served was that I could listen in my bed with the CA-1a and not the SR1a. The review I linked to explained how the SR1a moves around if you bend your head too much.

I am friends with Danny Mckinney who was the co-designer of the SR1a with Alex in Serbia. Danny recently told me that he is designing a bass module specifically for the SR1a. Something similar in execution as how I used my KC62 sub. Danny is about to release an open baffle 2-channel speaker, and it was an incredible sounding unit. The bass was the best I ever heard. He is going to use the same bass driver for the SR1a bass module.

If you are interested in getting the SR1a send me a DM and I can help advise the amp to drive it. The SR1a is a bright phone so care is needed. I have the best amp for it, the RAAL VM-1a. However, relatively soon there will be new competitors for that title.

Over the past 5 years, I did amp rolling for the SR1a. I loved this phone so much that I wanted to get the best sound from it. I must have spent $40k (but sold about $30k). It is a lot easy these days because of a new amp adapter called the RAAL TI-1b, when I amp rolled that device did not exist.

There is also the $7k - $10k RAAL Immanis that is considered by most the best RAAL phone. It is not open baffle like the SR1a, so I like the SR1a more. However, the Immanis is a tour de force and on my radar because I no longer have the CA-1a. The bass on the Immanis is supposed to be as good as it gets for headphones. I had this phone in my home for about a week and the bass was terrific.

@devinplombier I have not spoken with Danny McKinney the designer in about a month. My issue is that I am trying to go cold turkey on all purchases at least until December 2025. I am working 2 jobs to get the financial house in order. I have been selling audio gear the last few weeks, including today with the Sanders Magtech amp.

I will give Danny a call tomorrow and ask how the speaker is progressing. It should be ready soon and he already has a few sales queued just on his stellar reputation. I may be one of the few that has actually heard the prototype.

Once I am clear on my finances I will get the open baffle. Wife is already OK with having 2 speakers in the Livingroom.  Danny actually wants to try it in my Livingroom where my Yamaha NS5000 resides. The NS5000 sounds great in the space with the Schitt Yggi+ OG DAC, and he thinks his speaker will be even better. He has heard the NS5000 at my place and he loved it.

I heard the prototype with my Schitt Yggi+ OG DAC at his home (not a good audio space) and it was great. The Yggi+ OG is something special with bass.

I find it interesting that you like the SR1A better than the Immanis. Could you elaborate on the difference other than the bass which is kind of a given. I use a REL Carbon Special to raise the SR1A’s bass performance significantly with no downside other than cost.

@rdoc I loved the Immanis with both a Schitt stack and the VM-1a. However, the Immanis is a headphone and the SR1a is not. The Immanis has a massive stage and hit incredibly hard, without being fatiguing. The details maybe even better than the SR1a. All factors that should make me like the Immanis more. However, the open baffle design of the SR1a wins out for me. The Immanis is burden by being a headphone.

I listen to the SR1a late at night when my kid is sleeping. The Immanis is louder than the SR1a. Sometimes I am working until 2:30AM and the Immanis coud be too loud. My Dad was visiting when the Immanis | Magna | CA-1a were in the house for demo. I was a little surprised how loud it was when he was listening.

I also found that the VM-1a amp is a bit too powerful for the Immanis. It is extremely good, but it could be dialed back a little bit to be perfect with the Immanis. Though I went back to the stock tubes on the VM-1a. There is a mellower tube that Danny recommended to me and that would likely have made the VM-1a and Immanis sing. I did not have the tube anymore to test the Immanis with.

The Schitt stack I used, Mjolnir v3 preamp | Aegir v1 amp | Schitt Yggi+ LIM DAC was a bit more suitable for the type of late night listening I do. A dialed back mellower sound. Though I should say I also listen to heavy metal too late at night, usually on the Vm-1a.

The SR1a is best with the VM-1a. Nothing I tried can touch the VM-1a for the SR1a (not comparing with the Immanis). Listening to this right now (David Lynch: A Tribute on ROON).

@devinplombier I spoke with my friend Danny today about his progress on the open baffle speaker. They have got the CNC stuff sorted out now and are bout 90 days from going to the public. I was invited to his shop or home to hear the final product in 30 or 60 days. He is in Ventura, CA and close by. I think I will take my Schitt Yggi+ OG DAC down and compare it with the Meitner M3 DAC that he has been doing CanJam shows with.

He is going to be updating his web site during this timeframe. I will post a link when the site is updated.

He also told me that a famous late night TV host's sound guy was over a few days ago and listened for hours (with great ears) He had the same reaction as me to the crossover less open baffle speaker.

There was also something mentioned that was very exciting for me that would marry the open baffle speaker with my SR1a earphones (or ANY headphone).