Custom Cable - Headphone Demo-Rooms Article

[quadpatch]

I am always recommending people to actually go out and try headphones before buying. This is coming from someone who writes reviews. Reviews and forum help can be useful, but there comes a point where properly trying out headphones is needed. There are lots of shops that allow you to play with headphones, but proper headphone demo rooms are few and far between, so I've decided to write an article on one such place that I found near London - Custom Cable.

http://noblehifi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/headphone-demo-room-custom-cable.html

(I mention it in the article, but I will say it here too - I am not affiliated with Custom Cable. This is written purely off my own back and I've done it because I think this kind of place is great. They deserve to be supported and you owe it to yourself to take advantage of them).

I'm also planning to write about Hifi-Headphones' demo room, near Brighton. If you know of any others that might like this kind of coverage then please let me know.

 

[caesar44]

Thanks for the heads up quad, they have a nice selection of gear to try.

What was your favorite amp/dac?

 

[quadpatch]

You're welcome Caesar. Oh that's a tough question actually. Outright sound quality the Invicta was a clear winner for me. It's a super smooth and detailed sound, that's stunning with the HD800's treble (and in general). It's ability to run on it's own, direct from an SD card is just brilliant. It's just that price though, I can't entertain the thought of one unless I win the lottery, the fact that it's gone up £1000 in the last year doesn't really matter 0.o.

Something much more reasonable that I would actally spend my money on (and I do intend to buy) is the baby brother of the invicta funnily enough. The Herus was a real marvel for such a small unit, it really doesn't sound like it's small at all. The fact that it can be run off a phone and can accept DSD files is amazing. I love how it feels like a solid block of metal and yet it's tiny so weight isn't an issue. Paired with the B&W P7 it was really amazing too, it made me want to buy them both - and I probably will. So for reasonably affordable favourites I would pick the Resonessence Herus.

Saying this I did want to spend more time with the Burson amp and pair it with a few more DACs, that's for my next visit when I don't take the camer .