NorCal Regional, August 25th, 2007 - Impressions - Page 9

Indeed. There were several people asking where it was.

I definitely will

The Vibe?

The posts are getting thin so I better put in my 2 cents while it's still relevant.

2X above.

ASR, you made it happen !! Thank YOU. And I'm glad that everything turned out OK.
Ray, you did not have to do what you did but we are most grateful that you did, thank you.

With that said I will unabashedly state that at the Meet, my RSA Tomahawk more than held it's own against everything that was smaller than a pack of Winstons.
Caveat: I did not listen to the Pico--NO Optical interface, and I sampled the AE2 at the National Meet...and ended up buying the RSA TH.
My reference set-up; Shure E-500, Sony D-NE20 (lineout), with ALO Cryo interconnect and a late model TH.

There was only one portable amp that I heard that made me want to upgrade (although slightly bigger than a pack of Winstons) and that was the RSA SR-71. But Big Ray was also the bearer of bad news, there may be a year delay on new SR-71's. So if any of you NorCal HF'rs have an SR-71 just sittin' around gathering dust PM me.

Wakerider, thanks for bringing the Westone 3s, they're definitely worth the wait, and yes I have pre-ordered and I'm waiting...patiently. Which is better, Westone or Shure? Put it this way, I was NOT disappointed with their performance, but I'm not trading in the E-500.

Calaf, thanks for the lesson in CD-R pedigree

Big disappointment: did not get to listen to the reel-to-reel, wanted to but the station was always taken.

This was my first local meet, and kept hearing about "the vibe." To you HF veterans, what was "the vibe" of this meet?

Thanks for the assist drp! I'll have to post up a couple in your thread to keep it fair.

Sorry you couldn't make the meet. You could have enjoyed our favorite N. Cal beverage, which Steve had chilled in coolers around the room:

Damn, I guess I missed out quite a bit from what Ti told me and the impression posts. I especially dig that Open Reel!

Intriguing! Balanced Mini Cubed. The only potential problem I can see would be the difference in output voltage on the batteries.

I wanted to do an A/B/C... compare the lisa with my PPA and the PRII... Oh well, maybe next time. Just for the heck of it.

I love 'em. I just can't fathom why AT doesn't import them??? They do have a slightly forward midrange but I compensate with that National Union 6SL7 which has a very slight recess there. The thing I really like about them is their clarity.I listen to allot of jazz and acoustic piano just sounds right. It's the first headphone that I don't get distracted by what's missing or over done and I can just concentrate on the music.

I was in a bit of a funk myself, and I had to leave before the evening session kicked in, but overall this meet had more of a "big meet" feel to it than our usual Bay Area meets even at that number of people. It seemed there was a lot of vendor focus and a lot of gear focus in general. That seems kind of obvious, or maybe inherent given that is the stated purpose of a Head-Fi meet, but the fact is that most meets have even more socializing and gabbing. This meet was fun, and the people I mostly hang with are serious chatters so there was no shortage there, but the overall "vibe" was a little more gear-focused. Other veteran meet folks said the same.

It sounds like I really missed a great meet. I wish I could have made it up there.
At least my wallet is better off

Was that yours with the blue light inside? I was standing next to Ray admiring that (I was the guy with the shaved head and camo shorts). I'd love to hear that thing maybe we can swap for a while at some point.

Sounds like a great meet, I wish I coulda made it. Exciting news about the HeadAmp DAC being so successful...and I hereby pledge to hear Ironbut's reel-to-reel setup one day.






















Are we at page 8 yet?

Dupe.

Sorry to somehow miss you wakeride74 and the Lisa. If you guys have a mini-meet and want company I'd love to hear that someday.


So close.

blessingx - I remember you asking me about Lisa III and GS1000 synergy a few weeks back. After going to the meet and listening to the GS1000's on a few different rigs the best I heard them sound (without spending a fortune) was on the Raptor with Tung Sols and a Telefunken. In case you were still on the hunt