Oh man! That was a tremendous meet. I couldn't believe how well it worked out. Larry (Wavoman) is definitely to be commended for doing such a fantastic job getting that hotel room ready. We found some extra tables and were able to set up even more equipment, so things were hopping as you can tell!
Preface: I am horrible with names, and if I forget your name, I apologize.
Well, firstly, I got to try Larry's Predator with my setup. That thing is definitely a monster for something that small. It's really not even funny how much butt that thing kicks in such a small package. Great neutrality overall. I think my only complaint would be that the highs can be just a little much at times, and it could use a tad more bass. Still doesn't detract from the value or the sound. IMO, for $500, it's a killer. Too bad I didn't get to compare it to the Pico.
Next I got to listen to 88db's rig. This rig completely impressed the heck out of me. I've never seen the Tonewin HD19 CDP mentioned on this board before, but that thing was a killer source. It has both a tube and solid state section, of which I preferred the solid state but could see the tube making a difference on harsh albums. The amp he had hooked up to it was also a mystery to me. The list says "Channel Islands Audio VHP-1 and VAC-1". I'm not sure how much those cost, but they sounded great. Overall, the biggest thing I noticed was that his rig, despite having totally different equipment, and using Sennheiser HD600's, sounded
extremely similar to my rig, but with less bass and sharper highs. My experience with the Sennheiser HD580/600/650 series is that they sound very slow with anything I throw at them, like the bass is delayed and the sound is coming through foam or something and doesn't have any edge to it. This predisposition was shattered upon hearing this guy's rig. I cued up some music on my laptop source and put a CD in on his CDP and compared the same track, and we were both switching back and forth, unable to understand how two completely different headphones could acheive such a similar sound. All I know is, we definitely have similar tastes and I'd take his setup as a second rig any day of the week.
Next I got to try Matt's (malldian's) DAC with my laptop. This was a DAC that I'm not familiar with and honestly forget the name of. It had a glossy semitransparent black case and a few LED's inside. Anyway, this DAC sounded very good indeed, but unfortunately produced a low-level buzzing sound with my rig. I'll have to look into that some other time.
After getting tired of hearing my rig, I strolled over to vpivinylspinner's Stax setup and heard those. He said there was something wrong with them, I believe, but I thought they sounded decent anyway. Electrostatics are always interesting to hear, no doubt.
Once in the electrostatics mood, I took a trip over to coldkeith's setup, which was very cool. I switched between the Stax Lambda Pro's and Signatures (one was brown, one was black, can't remember which was which), and was very curious to see that each one had its advantages over the other. A couple people nearby asked me which one I preferred, and one expressed a preference towards the brown ones. I switched a few more times and said "I can't decide, honestly". Coldkeith was sitting nearby and said "Just say both." well,
exactly! I enjoyed that setup a lot, easily my favorite electrostatic setup to date. Electrostats seem to be able to pull apart the individual instruments with ease.
At some point I got to try out Larry's Beyerdynamic Headzone. This was a very interesting concept with a strange design and unusual implementation. Basically, it's DT880's with sensors on them that correspond with sensors on the unit. When you turn your head, the voice will move as if it is coming from the screen. Really, for a $2,000 device, none of us were impressed, and Larry himself stated the truth: it's rather "gimmicky". The amp wasn't that great, the effects were mostly useless, and honestly, I was much happier just plugging Larry's DT880-600ohm's into my rig. Those sounded GREAT. I wish I had compared them to the 250-ohm's.
Well, Ari (Nikongod) showed up with his usual compliment of absolutely awesome equipment. I didn't get to hear his vinyl rig, but the xiangsheng with the CDP they had set up there (sp???) sounded very nice. I got to hear the HP-2's again, and they were just absolutely awesome as usual. I swear, there are no other headphones like those in the world. His black HD580's with the 600 screens were very cool-looking, too, and sounded great. I also heard his K1000's. Man, those are some killer cans. Whoever says they don't have enough bass is crazy.
Barry (Barry)
and Matt (threEchelon) showed up from Philly, who I have attended a meet with. They both brought RS-1's, which I was happy to compare to my HF-1's. I never realized this before, but the HF-1's with flat pads sound very similar to the RS-1's with flat pads. This was a very interesting thing to actually hear. The RS-1's have a darker midrange and brighter highs with the flats with better resolution and detail, but the HF-1's are pretty close, IMO. the HF-1's sound way more like the RS-1's than any other Grados do. This meet re-confirmed for me that the RS-2's are a great value, and at the same time, nothing like the RS-1's in the Grado universe.
clauswitz came equipped with a rig that really surprised me. A Pioneer CDP as a transport to an Entech 205.2 DAC with a Porta Corda II amp. This setup really sounded sweet to me. I was really surprised at how neutral, clean, and non-fatiguing it was. I'm definitely going to have to look into that DAC. That setup really surprised me because it definitely sounded much better than mine with my headphones, and at the same time, wasn't anything fancy.
All right, so towards the end of the meet, I decided to cut the crap and head on over to SACD-Man's (Craig's) rig. He decided to show me a cable demonstration first that re-confirmed my suspicion about cables. At the same time, though, the room was noisy, the source was foreign, and the music was not mine, so I admit that it might not have been totally fair. Anyway, to cut to the chase, his SACD source (Sony SCD-XA777ES with modwright mods), along with the Headroom Desktop Amp with Max module and Max DAC, is THE BEST setup I have ever heard in my life. I played my DSOTM 30th anniversary edition SACD and was just FLOORED by the sound that came out. The soundstage with SACD is
HUGE!!!, and the overall sound is as well! Unbelievable detail, no fatigue, huge, huge deep bass. Everything you could ask for. I told him later that whatever he had spent in mods and such on the player may have been ridiculous, but IMO, you cannot put a price on the sound that came out of that rig. I tried Ari's HP-2's, my HF-1's, some RS-2's, and some HD600's with that setup, and all of them sounded absolutely insane. For this reason, I'd say that was the best rig at the meet, and, indeed, the best digital rig I've ever heard, period.
My final stop was at Fang's setup. Fang, for the unacquainted, runs Head-Direct, a newcomer to the audio market, but with some great products and excellent offerings at extremely competitive prices. Two years ago, he showed up at the NYC meet and pretty much blew us away with his PK1 eabuds. Today he was back with some more great products that I hadn't hear before. The OK's are a newer series and in my opinion, superior to the PK series. I heard the OK1's, and while I didn't get to try the little sound tube, I thought they sounded really great as earbuds. The kind of sound that this man is able to acheive with earbuds is absolutely insane. These earbuds sound so huge, that if you hadn't told me I was wearing earbuds, I'd tell you it sounded like I was listening to full-size cans.
Fang also had a newer series, the RE series, that similarly impressed me. I'd like to think of these as a full replacement for the Sony EX71SL's and all the other look-alike cheapos like them on the market. They take on a similar design but add real sound and the result is pure confusion because they're low-priced, extremely easy to insert (literally, push and twist, no messing around like with Shures, UE's, Westones, Etymotics, or any of them), cosmetically appealing, and sound great!!
I also got to hear two prototypes. One was the RE0, a very nice-looking vmoda-ish IEM, but made completely of metal. To-notch construction for sure... puts the E500 to shame, even. I remarked that it was a bit bright, but he said that they would fix that, and this was just one of many prototypes. I think once he fixes the brightness problem on those, those things will be able to compete with Shure's higher-end stuff. I know most of the stuff he had there could easily demolish my Shure E3's. The other prototype was his EF1 headphone amp, a tube-solid-state hybrid. This amp floored me as well. He had a meridian CDP source, and the two together sounded glorious. Very, very neutral sound with a huge soundstage, big bass, and non-fatiguing highs. Just what I like. That amp is going to be an absolutely killer amp when it comes out. It's customizable somewhat as well (tube, op-amp rolling at least), so I think it will be extremely well-received. To be honest, I would have liked to compare that amp to the RSA Raptor, it was that good.
All in all, the meet was a huge success, and I'd be glad to participate in another one like it some other time!
And again, huge thanks to Larry (wavoman) for getting the room!!!