Not another Florida thread! Ft. Lauderdale Dec 5th, 09

A couple quick answers/impressions from the airport waiting to head home. Mike did his usual amazing job as host and meet meister even though he traveled to NYC Thursday/Friday for a funeral. Really nice meet and the addition of Zu Audio was a lot of fun. Thanks as always Mike for the arrangements, the beer, the booze, etc. Thanks to all of the Team Florida and the Travel Team for making it a blast.

I only listened for one song, but the Pico Slim is really nice and Dom's comments on build quality and form factor are quite true. The great bass stood out on the track I heard and the sound overall was very balanced. The attenuator is incredible. This is a very nice, very little amp.

The Zu room was great sounding and the speakers have a much more full sound for a full driver speaker.

Shoot, boarding now, gotta go.

SoFla Meet Impressions

I wanted to thank everyone for coming to the meet from far and wide. Despite a setback which required me to be out of town until about 1:30 am Saturday morning (when the party began for me) the meet went off without a glitch. This was due to Jp #s, Voltron, agile_one, 1117, NightWoundsTime, Highlife, and whoever else helped out in my absence. Hopefully, there will be some pictures posted once people return home.

ZU Audio was in attendance and set up a two speaker rigs, one in the meet room and the other in a hotel room. They also had a Peachtree Nova, which was excellent.

The room where the red Essence were set up was a piece of the meet room that had a temporary wall that could split it off from the rest of the room. It was about 35' wide and about 20' deep with high ceilings. The speakers were set up on the long wall. The only complaint I had with them in that room was with the highs. This was less of a problem with my Berning amp than with the Accuphase, which seemed to distort a bit at loud volume. The guys at ZU are all about rocking out and they create their speakers with that purpose in mind.

In the hotel room, where there were some acoustic treatments set up, the rocked out without a problem with both the Berning EA-230 and the prototype 6AS7 mono blocks. They also sound nice with the Peachtree Nova. This room was probably 12' x 15' with the speakers about 7.5' apart and the listening chair about the same distance. Ron Williams, from ZU, spent a great deal of time setting up the speakers using laser measurements. He said they recorded the bass down in the range of 25hz in this room. Unlike the Druids, these speakers produced substantial bass. I believe they are rated to about 30hz. These speakers had about as natural a tone as I've heard in a while. They reproduced what was on the recording without adding much to the sound. When you sat in the sweet spot, the image was as dialed in as anything I've heard. The question for me is whether they will work in my room which is smaller than the hotel room that was used. Fortunately, ZU has a 60 day in home trial period and Ron made it clear that if I don't like them to send them back. He added that if he sells 4 or 5 pairs in the area, he will come back and personally set the speakers up for the owners.

I probably should have started out with this but I wanted to thank the ZU guys for driving down from TN to entertain us with their speakers and knowledge. They were truly just nice guys who are into the music. They also said that we were very different from their typical crowd and had a great time. They are looking to do more events with us in the future. I am putting them in touch with Jim to set something up for CanJam.

There were three excellent portable amps in attendance, the ALO Rx, TTVJ Millet and the Pico Slim. They are all excellent. That is simply a fact and I would be happy with any of them. I own the Rx and will own a Slim, the moment it is available. I suspect that once I have the Slim, it will become my go to portable amp. It just did everything right. I've posted before about the volume control on the Slim from when I heard it at CanJam LA. It is the best of the bunch, no question. This includes the Shadow, which I heard in prototype form at CanJam. One real cool feature is that if you turn the amp off while listening, say to answer your phone, when you turn the amp back on, it starts at 0 volume and then slowly increases volume until it reaches the level where you left off when you turned the amp off. Using the volume knob was not a problem and had just the right amount of tension that gave it a nice feel when adjusting the volume. While I've had no problem with the volume control on the Rx or TTVJ, I preferred the knob on the Slim. I believe that once the Slim is out, it will set the new standard in portables amps.

Vicki's BHSE and O2 rig was as good as always. It's one of the only rigs I had a chance to check out since I spent most of my time recovering from the late night partying on Saturday morning (Friday night) and the speaker rigs. The JH13 out of 1117's Luxman P-1 was a good match.

These were taken by Voltron:














Stupid New Guy had the K1000s on backwards.


So we straightened him out.

The Pico Slim made a splash upon arrival and was passed around eagerly all day, except when Mike and Vicky walked off with it for extended auditions. And before people flip out, the "input" and "phones" labels were switched on the prototype but will not be that way on the final model.














And then this really bad Michael Jackson impersonator came in wearing two gloves. Rookie error.



It took a while, but 1117 eventually pulled out much of the history of high-end Grados and set up a killer rig.


















Zu Audio were gracious enough to drive their van all the way from Tennessee with loads of cool gear. I failed to take pics of the Zu Room, but they had a second setup in the meet room. Thanks Zu, everything sounded great!

Dam Ed, would of been a treat to have you with us man, it was a smokey weekend =)

The Zu's were really nice btw...im not a fan of the bright red paint on speakers, but they do look nice.

There were 2 setups going during the meet. The meet room was divided in half and 1 half for the Zu room, the other was a hotel room with everything moved to setup the speakers. I didnt really like them in the big room, was WAY too much echo, too much ambient noise and since it was such a HUGE room, the bass didnt really give you that immersed feeling. However, once i moved into the hotel room...W O W ....they really came alive, the bass was full and deep. I REALLY enjoyed the ribbon tweeters with some nice jazz, the sax just sound sooo nice. I believe the Zu the high is slightly rolled off to give it a more pleasant listening experience. You only noticed it slightly...however, im not a speaker guy. Just some quick impressions.

I just merged another impression thread I started with this one. My post above has some impressions of the Zu speakers. I've owned Omega SuperHemps and while they have an excellent midrange, they did not go low enough for me. Same for the Abbys I've owned. The Zu's are rated to 30 hz and are capable of going lower without losing the great mids.

I want to thank all the head-fiers that put this event together, as well as the vendors and persons that attended! Everyone that both my son and I meet and spoke with was very nice, professional, informative and fun to speak with. I can’t say it was as big as the last CanJam I attended, but the smaller more personal nature was just awesome and we had a great time, thanks again guys and keep up the great work

Here are only a few of the pictures we took in no specific order …

And here’s a few more but not all, I think we took too many

Big thanks to Mike for hosting yet again another great South Florida meet, and mostly for getting a bunch of good friends together again. It was, as usual, too short.

Surprises:

Qualias: I'd heard these a few times, but only really had a chance to listen to them at last year's CanJam when Dreadhead was kind enough to let me walk around with his size small pair (the others are waaaay too large for me). I was impressed with the detail, but they didn't really do anything for me. Got a chance to hear the same pair (new owner) again, but in my rig (Exemplar modded Denon 2900/SP Extreme Platinum) this time, and was pretty blown away. Though I'm set as far as headphones go, these are the only dynamic headphones that I'm seriously interesting in acquiring. Absolutely wonderful!

HP2: Yes, I've heard these a few times, and as with the Qualias, I had respect for the sound, but nothing to make me drool except when in a one-time rig, Frank Cooter's now non-existant GM70 home brew amp. Alex (1117), seems to have cornered the market on HP2s with a couple gorgeous examples, and out of his Exemplar Denon 2900/Luxman P1, I was totally taken by these. The same Luxman rig was also my favorite HD800 amp at the meet, and my JH13s never sounded better.

Good stuff:

asr's Woo22 with the AD2000 (clean goodness)
asr's Stax 404LE outta my APL modded Phillips SACD 1000/BHSE (the only other Stax I've liked enough to want outside of the original Omegas and O2s
agile_one's Woo6SE with the HD800s (forgot how nice the soundstage was on these)
nikongod's seriously modded HFI780s and even more seriously modded orange SP Extreme (turned garbage into really good sound)

Disappointments:

HE-5: Really nice headphones, and maybe a good lesson in poor memory, but I listened to these at CanJam and was quite impressed. I'd read that the ones now out were "better" than the prototype I so liked. I seem to remember there being an airier feel to the ones I'd heard. I tried these out on a couple rigs here, and the sound was really fat, but with excellent detail. They seemed to be missing the top end, and though the detail was definitely present, the sound was too thick for my taste. Don't know if I can explain it any better. I loved the speed and detail, but would need to hear them again in different rigs before coming to any kind real judgment. Nice headphones, but maybe not for me.

Amps Wars:

Spent a good deal of time comparing the Pico Slim with the ALO RX, and also with the TTVJ Pete Millet portable, though I spent less quality time with the TTVJ. The only headphones used were my JH13s, and with my ipod classic. The RX brought out superbly detailed mids and decent bass, with the best sense of soundstage of the three. I did not like the build at all, and wasn't overly fond of the volume control. It had the poorest treble of the three amps. I really liked the build of the TTVJ portable, as well as the size. It had better top-end extension, than the RX, but in comparison to both the Pico Slim and the RX, it seems to have a softer, almost gentler tone (yes, I know that doesn't make much sense, but I'm not great at describing these things). I didn't pick up on any "softness" when just listening, but only after switching back and forth between the amps, so it's a very minor observation. The Pico Slim had the best sense of treble (clean, clear and detailed), with quite good mids and bass as well. It didn't offer the same sense of soundstage that the RX did, but, like with th TTVJ point, it's a subtle observation. The volume control is absolutely the best of any portable amp I've seen and heard. You can listen with perfect clarity and channel balance at nearly inaudible levels. Justin also added a feature where if you turn it off with the volume turned up and turn it back on, the amp slowly increases the volume up to where you'd been listening before rather than just hitting you with sound. Nice safety feature. It also makes a tiny little squeak when you turn it off, which I rather liked, both because I know the amp's off, and it reminds me of my cat when I pick him up. It had the best build of the three amps, though I'm not as fond of the small size as other people seem to be. I do like the leather case quite a bit.

Anyway, the upshot is that all three are really nice amps and mate well with the JH13s. I've spent much more time with the Pico than the other two amps (at previous times), and am now even more excited to be getting mine when released. Hurry up, Justin! I also could see myself happy with the other two. I've heard the TTVJ with the HF2s and even HD800s before, and think it deserves far more buzz on the forums than it does. The RX has the best soundstage, but I wish they'd pay a more attention to the build. I'd actually need to live with all three for awhile to feel confident about any impressions, but for a first shot at things, this is it.

Biggest Relief:

Thanks to the DIY guys (colin, frank, ari), who kindly opened up my amp and power supply, I now know that my SP Extreme Platinum is in good shape and will hopefully continue to bring me enjoyment for at least a few more years. Thanks, guys!

Just walked through the door after a day of travel, Big thanks to Mike for organizing this event. Great to see the Florida crew as always, I love you guys. Travel team was out in full force with a good amount of folks from the Kure Beach meet just a few months back.

Gear, Beer and Cheer!

First off for a meet that was billed as maybe not having that many rigs every table was packed with great set ups.

I really like Jeff's amarra, uln-2, balanced M3 set up it sounded great with the grados and jh13s.

Vicki's BHSE sounded as awesome as ever I am not a huge O2 fan but on this rig they sound great but the real surprise was ASR's 404LE's they were right up my alley. They could use a bit more bass quantity but all else was spot on, I would take these over the O2mkll's (heresy I know but they are really nice).

Gene's Accuphase amp and cdp set up driving K1000s made me sad that I sold not one but two pairs of these. Best bass I had heard out of the k1000s with this rig. Gene may single handedly start a k1000 revival.

Colin's spud amp was killer great sound and further proof that they DIY world is where it is at. Can't wait to heat the larger case version that will cut down the slight noise that was present with iems.

Hifiman HE-5, sounded great but something was missing, I felt like there was a slight obscuring of detail in the midrange. They sounded great but did lack in this one area. They were a hit with many of the attendees so take my comment with a grain of salt.

Pico Slim, Justin has really outdone himself, HeadAmp has always had the best build quality in portables but the Pico Slim has taken his obsessive standards to a new height. I would rank the amp sonically right up there with the Rx amp it is just that they have different strengths.

Zu Audio, many thanks to Ron and (sorry I forgot the gentleman's name from Tn). The Zu room sounded superb and I can see why the Zu Essence got the rave is stereophile. Bass that went low and was tuneful, very real mids with a you are there presence. These would be on my very short list if I was in the market for speakers and represent a screaming value at the direct price of $3500. My only quibble is they did not pinpoint instruments in the soundstage as well as I like but did things others speakers I have heard do not readily do with top class dynamics and tone. Solid recommend with a low powered amp.

We had some special beer at the event, thanks to Mike and Matt who went out of there was to keep us entertained with some outstanding beers. Standouts were some of the bottles from Cigar City Beer, also the Lot B and Sazerac Rye (cask strength) were special treats.

Nice to see you all had such a great time.

Bah. You should have been there.

Superb pictures of a happy crew. I almost feel like I was there.

I miss Florida meets.

The equipment looks spectacular!

Now I wish I was able to make it, but college calls.

If the date is good for the next SoFla meet then I might be able to do the drive.

Or go to the next Central Florida meet.

Or start a NE Florida meet, mmmmm.....

Edit: Well I talked to a few people and I can actually do a meetup here in Jacksonvile! Check the sig.

Sorry that you and your wife were under the weather, Mike. You were missed. It was good to see Oz, AudioGalore and Arrowmark again, though, and nice to meet WalkGood more formally (I think met at CanJam '08) and his son Jandro.

Though I had attended a previous Mike meet earlier this year, I didn't really participate as I didn't know anyone and was more interested in listening to gear than anything else.

However, learning from that past experience, I now know that gear listening takes a back seat to listening to people. I'm still getting used to everyone, so I was not as loose as I can be (though with Brent, Colin, and Scott I got along great from the start, as I expected). Nonetheless, I had a good time talking with everyone and just being introduced to some real drinking for once.

I am not a drinker at all. I have drunk before, but never like this, and I have a rousing suspicion that even this was light drinking for most of you. Of special interest was the Sazerac. A damn nice surprise. The vapors reaching out from my borrowed Glencairn glass (thanks Brent) literally made my contact lens burn a bit. That was crazy good.

Thanks to everyone for such a great time, especially the crew who flew in. I can finally place faces on the names I see online. Thanks to Mike who goes out of his way as a host for everyone, and I definitely took notes in case I ever need to do the same.

Al, Matt, Vicky, Carl, Gene, Dom, well, everyone in other words, I had a hell of a good time; no regrets about renting out a room even though I practically had a place to stay 40 mins away from the hotel. It was well worth it (consider it a bargain, actually).

Also, big thanks to Zu for bringing all their gear. Though I know nothing on speakers, listening to their arrangement (and watching them set it up with laser and all, which was an entertaining and impressive feat all on its own) made me realize that my next audio experience will definitely be venturing into the speaker realm. To me, it's not better or worse than headphones, just different. And something about a turntable just screams for speakers... my TT wants a pair! Thanks Zu guys!