Chicago Mini Meet 4/19 Picture and Impressions thread. - Page 2 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Todd R · #16 (**permalink**) 04-20-2008, 04:31 PM

Whoops!
How'd I miss this one? Guess I better check the meet page more often.

Guess I'll see you guys in November unless someone is holding a summer meet?
TR

(Hey Rob, ever think about opening a tube store?)

VeipaCray · #17 (**permalink**) 04-20-2008, 05:50 PM

Skylab > Many thanks to you and your wife for the extremely generous hospitality. You have a very nice family, an incredible home, and an audio collection that is the envy of many of us.

Your vinyl setup was like a small dose of addictive drug. The Denon > Moon > Krell > Sunfire > B&W setup is beyond fantastic. Thank you for sharing it with us. I don't think anyone minded listening to speakers at a headphone meet. Good audio is good audio.

Thanks to your wife for the Starbucks run. I still don't think an iced black coffee is all THAT wierd.

CryHavoc > Thank you for organizing the event. It was a pleasure meeting you and comforting knowing there was at least one other sports addict besides myself at the event. What brand / type iPhone case did you show me? My idiot self forgot to write it down.

As probably the newest member of head-fi at the meet, it was a lot to absorb and take in on one day. I learned more than I expected, and I got to experience a great deal of gear that was previously only read about on this forum. Ray Samuels and his B-52 / Sony R-10 setup were eye-opening for me. Headphones..."Who knew?" says this former speaker guy. Ray's Predator amp was also of great interest to me. This was my first time seeing and hearing it...very impressive. Sonically, the Predator is a very well-rounded amp.

Ray > Thank you for enlightening all of us with your incredible gear and passion for the audio hobby. Thank you also for the pizza.

I got to hear the Zana Deux for the very first time thanks to Absorbine Sr.

Xnothingpoetic > many thanks for letting me try my Little Dot MK IV on your Kaces DAC. I'm hooked and have asked Maniac to sell me one.

GLF > Thank's for sharing your SEXy setup with us. The Shanling CDP and the rest of your setup sounded incredible. I did buy "The Bad Plus" CD already.

Germania > Thanks for the tip on the insten IPOD dock. I ordered one off buy.com yesterday. I only got to listen to the k400s for one song as Ray was smiling when listening to them and I didn't want to disturb him. Kudos on the blinged out girl-fi ipod.

The STAX SR003 was very smooth and detailed. As a huge jazz fan, these phones were more comfortable than I expected and quite possibly a future purchase for me.

I got to meet a lot of great people... I apologize for not mentioning everyone in this thread. It was alot for me to take in on one day... new faces, names, gear, and music. I was a bit overwhelmed. What a great friendly group of people all of you.

Thank you very much everyone and being so patient with me yesterday with all of my questions. I look forward to the next meet and hope to see you all soon.

-=Germania=- · #18 (**permalink**) 04-20-2008, 06:40 PM

There is nothing like waking up and putting some Ella or Dvorak on your head.

Mmmmmm... Breakfast!

Thanks again Morpsci.

morphsci · #19 (**permalink**) 04-20-2008, 08:25 PM

Well, first things first, thanks to cryhavoc for a great job organizing this meet and GO SPURS. Second thanks to skylab and his wonderful family for allowing all us crazy headfiers to share their beautiful domicile. I must say Rob, I only hope my son grows up to be as well-behaved and charming as your children.

O.K. now on to the real business. The highlight of the day for me was unfortunately not headphone related. It was Skylab's vinyl rig, the sound was glorious (as is Rob,s taste in music, eclectic is good!). The Denon turntable was not only glorious to behold but produced some great sounds, especially out of the B&W 800ds (I'm pretty sure that's what they were). Truly a great sound, I guess I know where I will be going next!

Back to headphones.

Zana Deux - I finally was able to listen to the headphiled K340's out of this and it was an great experience. My comment was that if I had heard the K340's out of the Zana earlier, I would have felt no need to go balanced. Yes Margaret, it is that good.

B52 - I also got to spend some quality time with the K340's on this "little amp". Listening to Bella Sonus I was amazed not only by the quantity of bass but also by its quality. Although it did not thump quite as hard as Rays R10 I actually preferred the frequency presentation of the K340s compared to the R10 (good for my wallet). I may need to rethink my dynamic system as I am now convinced (I know I have already been told this) that the K340 does synergize better with some (but not all) tube amps. Maybe I'll wait for Uncle Ray to throw his monkey in the wrench

K400 - Although I did not have much time it will definitely require my attention in the not too distant future.

HFI 780 - meh. I'd rather listen to my 650 pro's. Seemed recessed and appeared to have gaps in the frequency response.

DT 990 - Meh, yawn. It doesn't do anything better than the HD 650 or 701 can do, so I see no need for it in my stable. If you do not have either one of these, especially the 650, then I see where it might be attractive. I am pretty sure this was a custom manufacture 990. I feel better about my recabled custom 880

.

Listened to a few other things including a Meier amp vberch brought along but I cannot remember what model it was. It sounded nice but less than dynamic, I will not comment further until I figure out exactly what model it was.

As usual the best part was seeing old friends and meeting new ones, the forum is good but meets are what its all about. Thanks again to the organizers and hosts for an excellent meet.