CanJam 08: Team Florida Invites All Their Friends...

[Skylab]

^^^ Better grab some JVC DX1000's before they are no longer available and start to sell for the price of the L3000 or R10

[ingwe]

Originally Posted by Skylab

^^^ Better grab some JVC DX1000's before they are no longer available and start to sell for the price of the L3000 or R10

Duly noted! Thanks.

[HighLife]

Originally Posted by blem

How about we chill.... What's wrong with asking how many people attended ? I was just curious.

As much as I would have love to come, living in Europe makes it expensive for me. Sorry.

ya, i think he was just kidding hahaha

[bperboy]

CanJam Rulez!!! It was my first Head-Fi meet, and I had a blast! Meeting the cool people of head-fi was awesome!

[GlendaleViper]

Damn... is that jjhatfield that was wearing the Crimso Red t-shirt? And wearing the WEEN t-shirt a few pages back?

Ok, officially adding to my CanJam regret list: Not properly introducing myself and chatting about music with JJ.

[boomana]

I've been trying to get some impressions out for the last couple days, but I'll have to do this piecemeal.

First, the big regrets (quick and easy): What the heck was I thinking! I missed out entirely on the Smyth room and table! I kept going in, saw the line, and thought I'd get back later, but then I also missed Woo and Moon's tables (though I did get a chance to hear Drew's modded Original in philodox's rig), and those were two I really wanted check out. Guess I just have to make them first stops at next year's meet. At least tyrion has the suped up Woo 6 at his house. I just might have to invite myself over. I also didn't hear as many member rigs as I would have liked, but at some point the ears and brain just shut down. Purk had sent a box that we somehow missed at the opening of the meet. Mike brought it out mid-day on Sunday. We thought it was L3000s (which I don't recall seeing elsewhere), and didn't even open it because we were fried It turns out that he'd sent nikongod's modded D5000s, my one gear request, and I missed it. The box went back unopened.

Surprises and humble pie: Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a Ultrasone fan, even though I like them enough to wish I liked them (yes, that makes perfect sense). I stopped by RudiStor's table for a bit, and I have to say that the reported synergy is true. He had a few new amps, and though I don't recall which was what, the couple that I spent time with made the Ultrasones sound as good as I've ever heard them and far better than I expected. I've also freely trashed the HFI-780s as a horrible headphone here and on other sites. They are grainy and have a shrill treble and boomy bottom. I didn't think they sounded like headphones for music listening at all, and the stock pair I heard had more than 100 hrs on them. Ken Ball had his modded/recabled pair out so I gave them a listen. The highs were tamed, there was better balance, and they'd lost much of that irritating grain, especially in the midrange. I'm still not a fan, but for those who like these headphones (and many do), these guys have brought out what's good or at least banished the bad.

Btw, ALO had a line of their Jena recable headphones out. I've got to say Ken's sense of humor and grace over the whole Jena/R10 debacle give him major points in my book. He's a really nice guy, who also simple handed me a new imod LOD when I told him mine was getting a little loose in the connection. Thanks, Ken. I'm listening to it now.

ALO shared a table with Red Wine Audio. I was already a fan of the Sig 30 for K1000s and as an amp for single driver speakers. I had a hard time deciding between that and the FirstWatt for my rig, and if tyrion hadn't sold me his F1, I probably would have gone for the Sig 30. Vinnie had the newer 30.2 with the ALO recabled K1000s, it only confirmed my opinion. I would love to hear the two versions side-by-side, but then again, I suppose it doesn't matter. The 30.2/K1000s sounded great, full and tight. Vinnie also had his new Isabella pre-amp/dac with a headphone out in the back for this pre-production model, but will be in the front when it finally comes out. I spent some time with it and my R10s, and found it very enjoyable. Vinnie's work reminds me a little of HeadRoom's in that if someone's looking for a small, beautiful setup that can drive a variety of headphones well, he's got it. There might be a little sticker shock over the combo, but if someone is looking for the perfect K1000 rig (seriously good) that happens to drive other headphones, speakers, and looks great while having a small footprint, I think it compares more than favorably to other offerings that are bigger, uglier, and more expensive.

On one side of Ken and Vinnie's table, Ray Samuels had set up shop with his line of colorful portables. I had planned to go back and listen to a burned in predator at last, but missed out again. I did spend some time with the Apache since I felt I hadn't given it a real chance at previous meets. The thing is that it's hard not to compare it to Ray's B52 when they're sitting there in front of you, and the B52 sounds sooo much better to my tastes that I couldn't appreciate what the Apache offered. I really think Ray's portables (when are you bringing back the SR-71?!!!!) and Ray's top-of-the-line B52 are the best of RSA, though I think the HR2 is pretty nice. On a side note, if anyone hasn't met Grace Samuels, they're missing the better side of Ray. She's smart, fun, and beautiful, and Ray needs to bow down and kiss her feet at least once everyday (I told you I'd remind you ).

On the other side of ALO and RWA, Craig Uthus of Eddie Current had his Balancing Act and EC/SS. I've been lucky enough to hear quite a few of his amps (Moth) before and I simply do not understand why half the head-fiers looking for amps aren't breaking down his door to get one. The EC/SS is one of the cleanest sounding, small footprint ss amps I've heard. It's great with the 650s (and I'm picky) and the RS1s I heard. Outside of DIY, I haven't heard a better overall amp than the The Balancing Act in its price range, and it sounds better than one's I've heard that cost at least $1000 more. I got to hear an earlier version at the MOA meet in California a couple months ago, and this (still pre-production) version was a significant improvement. Craig said that it will be available in August, so start planning folks. It comes with one balanced input, (optional), three unbalanced inputs. It has transformer balanced outs via four pin, or two three pin XLRs; and unbalanced output with standard 1/4" phone jack. Other details:

Tube compliment two 300B, or 45 tubes, one 6SL7.
Power out into Grado RS-1's, 2 watts.
Frequency response +.5dB at 10Hz, -.5dB at 40kHz.
Source out 5 ohms.

I know I sound like a shill, but so be it. I'm a'shilling cos I think it's that good, and am blown away by its price, which, without tubes and power supply options, is ballparked at $1800. There's simply no commercial offering out there I've heard that sounds this good (I checked it out with 650s and 600s) and offers so much for even close to that price. I'm a complete fangirl of SinglePower's Extreme Platinum, which is in the ballpark, but the add-ons to get it where the Balancing Act comes stock would raise the cost waay above, and it doesn't even come balanced. Both the EC/SS and Balancing Act are two of the best bang-for-the buck amps available, and I really think folks should start paying attention. One of my fav's at CanJam.

Okay, I gotta go do life right now, but I'll get back with more, as I haven't even hit my wallet busters yet.

[Jon L]

Originally Posted by Asr

No other headphone I've heard really satisfies me as much as the AD2K when it comes to the music I place most importance on, which is electronica (comprises more than 67% of my CD collection).

I see. Now it all makes more sense, and of COURSE, you will prefer O2MkII over others also

[Voltron]

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper

Damn... is that jjhatfield that was wearing the Crimso Red t-shirt? And wearing the WEEN t-shirt a few pages back?

Ok, officially adding to my CanJam regret list: Not properly introducing myself and chatting about music with JJ.

That was indeed Jack. He was not hanging out at night when your eyes were actually open.

[-=Germania=-]

I read through the entire thread thus far and I am really sad that I lack the funds to go to such an event. *STUDENT*
Can I suggest Chicago for Next Year?

Seriously, we have some great venues. How awesome would it be to have the event on the lakeshore with a great view!

Anyways, this has given me some insight to future upgrades. All these meets make me want to try new stuff. The winter Chicago meet made me buy customs. The spring Chicago meet made me go DIY crazy. Chiunify last year got the whole process started!

[Asr]

Fantastic pics as usual Dreamer, and good job on those vids, Lan! Great stuff for those who couldn't attend.

Originally Posted by blem

From the pics, it does not look like it was very crowded. How many attended ?

Well, it indeed wasn't that crowded. The 1st and 2nd National Meets were definitely more crowded but those also had less meet space. I can say with certainty that so far, CanJam had the most meet space! The main room was pretty huge overall and the individual vendor rooms were conference rooms in their own regard, as opposed to the guest rooms that they had last year @ HeadFest. So that it was less crowded doesn't mean much, and it was a nice change too, I could actually squeeze my left toe!

Originally Posted by Jon L

I see. Now it all makes more sense, and of COURSE, you will prefer O2MkII over others also

Indeed, the OII MKII will be my personal king of headphones! When I heard it, I definitely thought it was good enough that I could live with it alone and that I could probably throw away my dynamic rig even. But I'll just have to see if I really do end up throwing away my dynamic rig...

[bozebuttons]

Who won the UE11 raffle? I have not seen it posted anywhere.

[Voltron]

Originally Posted by bozebuttons

Who won the UE11 raffle? I have not seen it posted anywhere.

They were going to do the drawing this week at UE and then notify me, er, I mean, the winner, by email. There were going to be a few Triple Fis in the raffle too. I also assume that they will post something up eventually.

[immtbiker]

Originally Posted by grawk

Could it have been bigger? Of course. The big meets in NY and Cali right before didn't help attendance, I'd guess.

I've heard this before and I just don't get the equation.

First of all, this year, approx 80% of the NYC meet was noobs and first timers (honestly, I can show you the attendee list...the Manhattanites didn't even come). The NY contingent was quite scarce being that Easter fell out the 3rd week in March which took everyone by surprise.

Second of all, I don't know about the Cali folks, but anyone that is dedicated enough and can afford an airline ticket, would not, in my opinion, allow a local meet to dissuade them from coming to what is known as "the most funnest time that an audio lover could ever have".

Third of all, for the past 6 years, NYC has always had a local meet in late March early April.

The reason why I dated the first National Meet the weekend of April 18/19th 2006, was so that everyone could receive their tax money back and I gave everyone 9 months notice so they could save up and there couldn't be any legitimate excuses to not come.

If someone is going to go, they are going to go.

IMNSHO!

[lan]

BTW when did Ultimate Ears leave? I was looking forward to trying out all the IEMs but didn't get a chance to check them out.

[guzziguy]

Originally Posted by lan

BTW when did Ultimate Ears leave? I was looking forward to trying out all the IEMs but didn't get a chance to check them out.

UE left late Sunday morning. They had an early afternoon flight to catch.