Jupiter Audio Research (JAR650, JAR600)

Discussion in 'Product Announcements' started by ext1, Jul 30, 2020.

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  1. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    Hi everyone,

    First of all thanks to @ChaChaRealSmooth for giving the go-ahead to post here!

    Most may already know- I’m Jupiter, and I’m the guy currently making the HD650 and HD600 mods that are known as the JAR650 and JAR600. JAR is for Jupiter Audio Research, and honestly it’s more of an in-house name than anything else. Half serious, half frivolous! (Honestly I think I’m still far from Industry.)

    I started making the prototypes around 2017 and along the way so many people have pitched in and helped me out that I wouldn’t want to call the headphones my own work/creation. Definitely it would have not been possible without the kind souls I’ve met in this community, and also the incisive criticism from those much skilled than me. (You know who you are!)

    When the design got finalized there was a loaner tour and I was really happy that people recognized the hard work everyone put into this. It was really great, until starting in 2020 I’ve not been able to make practically any because of the COVID situation and on top of that, mandatory military service.

    Now though, it looks like the situation has gotten better (in where I am, anyway) so I can now make a few pairs (albeit in a much lower capacity than before). It’s moreso that I just think it would be great if people who want to hear this thing can hear it, instead of me trying to sell more pairs. (Despite how much fun making each pair is, it’s really exhaustive and it’s not something I want to be doing all the time! Last year I was doing this on top of a ton of exams and that honestly had made me really stressed about having to make these.)

    So depending on the interest Chacha has kindly said a loaner tour can be made. And also I just wanted to take this time to write this thread so that I can stop being a mystery man and help out if anyone has questions for me.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    Congrat for having a dedicated space in this forum. Not to mention I want to get my hands on your products (I'm very much in), I also would like to read your in-depth thoughts/insights regarding design, voicing, and modding anytime in the future.
     
  3. Koth Ganesh

    Koth Ganesh Friend

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    Finally, the man surfaces \/! I was an early adopter of the JAR HD 650 that I held onto until a week ago. A person that was introduced to me listened to the JAR 650 and the 2A3 tube amp I used to pair it up with; he bought the HP first and the tube amp a couple of days later.

    I should be contacting him soon on a JAR 600 (the 600 is my preferred HP in the Sennheiser line). Welcome aboard !
     
  4. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Welcome and glad things are looking better on your end! I’m very interested in one of your headphones, is there a pricing structure in place?
     
  5. tommytakis

    tommytakis MOT: E.T.A Headphones

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    I already PM’d you but glad to see you post again @ext1 ! The JAR650 has been my daily driver since I got them from you, so thanks a bunch and be safe my dude!
     
  6. HotRatSalad

    HotRatSalad Friend

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    Excellent I need a pair of these in my life.
     
  7. Brian D

    Brian D Facebook Friend

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    I'm glad you're back and safe, I'm absolutely still in for the 650's regardless of the time line.
     
  8. E_Schaaf

    E_Schaaf MOT: E.T.A Headphones

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    As a treble-allergic basshead, I actually LIKED the JAR600 when I borrowed it from brencho. Kudos to anyone who can make a headphone that's impossibly both smooth and hot in the top half at the same time. That was a really tight and lively phone. I imagine the JAR650 would be even more up my alley.

    I'm going down my own path with modding the Senns (and I'm probably aiming for a different target than what's here) but the JAR mods are improvements across the board vs stock with zero drawbacks. Nice work and cheers to your future success.
     
  9. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    Sorry for late replies!! I only get to use internet 3 hrs per day here..

    Thanks! I’m happy to answer any questions you might have on that- although I’m not an expert still! There are still better mod wizards here than me, I just happened to stumble on something that looks clean and works well, and people here helped me improve that.

    I first made this thing for myself. I also loved the stock 650 but I couldn’t understand how it could do so many things right, but screw up on some parts. I made a prototype full of really sloppy damping materials as a proof of concept first- I first wanted to get the target damping areas right first. Then I thought it would be pretty if I had some kind of enclosure helping and containing the damping. So next I spent many nights drawing this up on Solidworks, I had to learn how to use that thing for the first time. I wasn’t talented, just really stupidly stubborn enough.

    Getting the enclosure to fit perfectly took some months, and finding the right damping material that would be durable for long term use also took some months. Once something somewhat presentable was made, I showed @Jinxy245 what I’ve got and sent it to him for fun. Cool stuff happened after that- @Pharmaboy came over to Jinxy’s and liked what I had made. Some months later I actually came over to NY to meet them. Their thoughts really helped me out, since there were no ears I could trust where I was. But more importantly their encouragement really meant a lot to me. I was happy that others liked what I had made at first for myself. So definitely this was not just me, and I have a lot to be thankful for!

    (I can continue if you want, about how I was lucky enough for @Hands to give me specific guidance and much more advice outside of that, and how it eventually led to a loaner tour)

    Voicing- well my goal was to fix the problem, but I ended up fixing it and (from what people have been telling me) improve the rest. I first started to do tuning using the songs I like, because I simply didn’t like how the stock voiced some songs and my initial motivation was to fix that. Then after Hands got me measurements (yay!) I started to have a second point of reference. I don’t have a rig yet- that’s still too expensive for me! It would be really nice if I could do some QC using the rig though..
     
  10. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    Hey Koth! Yep I know you were one of the first people part of the initial impressions. I was really encouraged to improve on the design after how much you enjoyed it and your thoughts on the sound. I am also pairing my own JAR650 on the tube ECP T4- thanks for the warm welcome!
     
  11. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    @tommytakis @Brian D @RatSalad I’ve always been thankful for all the thoughts and the encouragement! It’s still really wild for me to see people enjoying what I initially started but eventually something that we’ve been able to make as a community. That sort of encouragement is what really pushed me to make each pair with effort and care in the middle of all other life things going on, as well as the help others had given me- which they also took out of their time among all the life things. I like that everyone involved took time out of their life to do something that we liked doing. It’s what really captures the spirit, IMO.
     
  12. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    Thanks! I was actually reading your impressions with much interest along the time, especially with that TH900 stuff as well. And your own work on the 600. Really interesting stuff- I need to try so many things once I’m outta military. I’d love to hear your work if I get the chance. Let me know if you need anything from me as well. Cheers to Senn modding!!
     
  13. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    So I was in need of a place to share updates with my build progress and what’s going on with peoples stuff, and some other miscellaneous updates. Thanks to @ChaChaRealSmooth for letting me know I can do that!

    All the parts arrived and are ready to go. In the meanwhile I scored a vintage black screened 580 and 600. (Still looking for 650) So I am planning to use them as a base and see how it goes!

    I am drawing up the schematics for that thing with the 650 body and 800 drivers. I’m calling it the JAR725 right now because it is the average of the two (ha ha..) It basically has the same edge damping like the JAR650 but the 800 driver will be suspended on top of the silver screen, and the damping piece will be holding the driver. Obviously now I need to do tons of adjustments and designing to make it happen, but that’s the fun part!
     
  14. Magnetostatic_Tubephile

    Magnetostatic_Tubephile Friend

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    From all the attempts to mod HD650, this is the first one in years that actually got my attention!

    I guess too early to say but how much more this could cost us customers compared to regular HD650/HD6XX? Is this potentially doable (profitable enough for you) for under 1000USD?
     
  15. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    Thanks! For the latest magic on the hd800 driver utilization research though, you should check out @Bill-P ’s awesome results. I’m far behind him!

    I have no clue as of now really. I start projects for fun not thinking about the money bit. It’s not really profit that drives me, I’m unfortunately too lazy for that! It just doesn’t motivate me.

    I have no clue how much the parts would cost at full finalized mode. This was kind of a impulsive idea, so I ended up cannibalizing my own 800 for this lol. Don’t worry though, I’ll make its sacrifice worth it.
     
  16. mokobigbro

    mokobigbro Acquaintance

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    Whenever a slot opens up, I'm ready to purchase a JAR600 from you. I'll patiently wait!
     
  17. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    Hey all!
    I finally got to go home to work on the cans. I've finished around a quarter of the whole process.
    I also got to look at what sort of parts came. Interestingly the drivers are stamped 2019 March. So maybe they are the last of the Ireland batch?
    [​IMG]
    Also cleaned up and tested that ~20 year old HD600 with the black screen. Sounds really interesting.
    [​IMG]
    Here it is against the light. I'd say it's more permeable than the modern metal screens. It probably accounts for the sound difference (and the material)
    [​IMG]
    You can see my fingers through it without putting light through it. That doesn't happen with the modern ones.
    [​IMG]
    Closeup of the driver. Voicecoil isn't red wire and the magnet is also different. Hmmm....
    [​IMG]
    Macro shots of the black screen.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  18. mokobigbro

    mokobigbro Acquaintance

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    I used to work for a ribbon microphone manufacturer. I found out that there is a manufacturer from Italy who makes the black mesh cloth with acoustic impedance value. There are different impedance for different mesh and thickness.

    We also test for hearin transparency and measurement transparency when choosing the cloth.

    Just wanted to point out the resemblance when you showed the picture of the driver with the black cloth.
     
  19. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    More updates. I'm ~80% done, the next time I come around they'll be done.

    Holy trinity in black.. excited to work on these.
    [​IMG]

    Yellow-ringed drivers... hmm!
    [​IMG]

    New stock vs old stock.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Really funny how the membrane has a black line printed on it.

    The new and yellow-ringed magnets side by side:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Also I realized for some reason the pics disappeared up top. I can't edit the previous post and re-add pics so I'll add here.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
  20. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    So is that (i'm assuming brass?) bit acting as a shorting ring?
     

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