Sydney Head-fi Meet Impressions (26/10/2008) - Page 7

and doesn't look like princess Leigha's hair buns in the phantom menace

doh you know what I mean though. the other princess; her mother cant remember her name but it was one of the scenes on tatoine <-is that how you spell it. I was never into any of them after the first ones

Wow !You all had great fun their .

and thanks for the all the pix .

I know what you mean - that's exactly the feeling I had (but regarding cymbals in a nice little jazz trio) shortly after I got my MD5000s

Hi Guys!

Sorry I haven't been on line, came home to a non-working PC, been super busy and just now got up and running.

I have tons of email and PM to answer, way too many too answer all tonight at the speed I type If not tonight I will get through it all tomorrow. I have received them all and will reply ASAP.

If anyone is interested in buying any of the gear I had there shoot me a message. I committed to buying some gear from the US (phono stage, Pico's etc) at $0.90 and now that the dollar is $0.60 I am short of funds

Also, if anyone wants to borrow anything I had there, just ask and I'll try and work it out

Ivan, your thing is done and will be sent tomorrow Thanks for hosting the pics.

For me the highlight of the meet was meeting everyone and getting to know some people. The meet seemed too short for me, I would have loved to stay all night, as I'm sure everyone who was waiting for me to pack up so we get tea can confirm!

Thanks also to everyone at the meet, and some who weren't. If I start listing names I'll forget someone but I have to say everyone there was cool, an all round awesome bunch of people to hang out with for an afternoon/evening. Thanks to all for coming. Made hiking around Sydney with 30+kg of HPs/Amps on my back worthwhile!

I do have to give special mention to Jason (Covenant) without whom none of it would have happened. Also Uncle Wilson from Jaben Network for the generous donation of so many cool prizes, Brad from Triad for the Lisa's for people to hear, and Headphonic for sending over some gear for us to hear.

As probably mentioned (I assume, haven't read whole thread yet) it was a complete bratwurst festival, not a chick to be seen. Can't blame them to be honest I guess.

The venue was great but a little small in the main room, also got hot toward the end but I suspect that the Little Dot MK IV SE was to blame for that! Toasty! I like the idea of having lots of little separate rooms, like listening booths. Maybe we need to hire a dozen telephone booths for the next meet...

To the gear:

I found I couldn't really judge anything fairly, so keep in mind that all my opinions are subject to change if I get the chance to listen carefully in a quiet room with source material I know well. I listened to some gear and formed a brief opinion, then went back an hour later and heard it again and found it sounded quiet different, due to being amped differently, different tracks playing etc. Next time I'll bring more sources and cables so I can at least always hear tracks I know. A meet is no place to judge gear properly IMO.

Any cans I give a strong opinion on below, I at least heard a standard few personal test tracks with, if not I will say so. Bits of tracks used: Bjork-Hunter (bass depth and speed); Emiliana Torrini-Hearstopper- (female vocal + sibilance) Modest Mouse-World at large (male vocal, deep bass impact) Radiohead-No Surprises, Keith Jarrett-Kholn Concert and Dave Brubeck-Take Five.

I am definitely not a bass head, I can't stand it when it's over powering, bloated or muddy. Missing altogether is even worse though. Sometimes whole instruments are missing and you don't even know it. So, good bass depth and presence is important to me, I can't be happy with NO bass, whatever else a system does well.

My favorite of the meet was still the K1000/RWA Sig 30.2. I love that rig and don't listen to it enough at home. When I do I often connect an Omega Deep Hemp sub for that bottom octave. To the guys that found it lacking bass, after living with the rig for a while I realise it does have good strong bass down to 40hz or so, it's just that last bit missing. It seems weak in the bass as it's so fast and airy, no bloat, but the notes are all there, most of the time. Still, when you need to hear all the way down, yes, they need a sub.

I also still love my Denon's but maybe am just used to them and appreciate what they do, it's a sound that suits me.

After that, the next can that stuck out for me were the W11JPN. I made an offer once on a pair but it didn't happen as I'm in Australia and I never heard them till now. Much better than expected, from what I'd read here. Smooth and balanced with a warm sound, not flat or neutral but very,very enjoyable. I wasn't expecting such strong bass performance either, a must for me to enjoy cans. Not the fastest or most detailed, but fun and I could live with them I think. If I had the money...

Those glossy little ATs (ESW10?, the glossy ones) were a surprise too, although I only got a brief listen with my music. They gave fantastic bass for such a small can, which was unexpected. The rest of the range was good too, if not the last word in detail. Expensive, but a very good performance for such small cans, surely unmatched by anything else for that size?

I had another listen to ED9, and remembered why I loved them, and also why I sold them. I would have another pair if I was rich, but regret nothing. I know why people love them, but on reflection understand why some people do not. The main criticism I can fairly level is that they have great bass. Even if the recording doesn't.

I really, really wanted to hear HD600 and HD650 and compare the two, but didn't get the chance to give them a fair go and I didn't compare them. I listened to HD600 out of Little Dot IV SE and Darkvoice, was not blown away, bass depth and impact missing. Frankly I found them boring me then and there. Later I got a go from the balanced M3 and they sounded fine, but I didn't listen with any music I was familiar with as I was there interrupting someone elses comparison of 2 amps. After a few minutes though he kindly put on some tunes I knew, and I heard half of the first track from The Eraser when I got distracted and ran away again! So I can't fairly judge a stock HD600 let alone 650, balanced, recabled or anything. Another day.

Those D2000 with LADs wood cups sounded great too, and with no burn in. Going to be awesome George

The dud of the show for me was the W5000, I expected so much more than that. I suspect they were new as headroom sent them over for us so they probably had no burn in, but I felt I had a good fit, and with the LISA and my source I found them lacking in deep bass. Thin and boring came to mind. Details and tone accuracy were good though, probably best for classical/live recordings. Would still like to have a listen in my home for an extended time, to be sure what I heard is true.

The other little AT was poor too, EWS9.

I didn't get to listen to 325i but really wanted to. I chose MS2i over them (without hearing either) and would have loved to compare. My MS2i are modded beyond recognition so it wouldn't be a comparison, but still. One day I'll hear them.

MS-Pro were disappointing to me. No big insights into the sound but I heard both pairs there and neither blew me away. Maybe they would be better in different circumstances, maybe they are sensitive to amp etc but I found them typically the way Grado are criticized for sounding, if you know what I mean. I don't like SR80 but can see what's good about them. MS-Pro are much better than that, but I recall my HHF-1 sounding more engaging and enjoyable.

K701 I heard again, I know these pretty well, had extended loans, they have potential but stock are not great to me. A recable does wonders, more than any other can I've heard recabled. A must IMO. I heard APS and SAA cables on previous pairs and both improved the sound a lot, if being a biatch to fit. I would consider a K701 for myself if I wanted an open can like them.

I didn't hear Ultrasone 750 or AT AD900. Next time.

I wish there were some electrostatics there, I would love to hear some Stax. Maybe next time

For amps, I think the balanced M3 was the best thing there, although I only had a brief listen it was mighty impressive with what I heard, showing more control than the other thing we were comparing it too (whatever that was... BM DAC1 maybe?). Anyway I liked the sound of that amp a lot and wish I had bought it when I (we all) had the chance, and a balanced source. No funds anyway. Other than that I can honestly say the LISA were the best amps I heard there. There may have been an amp I missed but I think I got them all. Opera, that other one LAD was playing with, all the tube amps bar 1 very little one that looked cool, and the other portables. The only thing I will be upgrading to is a b22, or maybe a new Triad amp... Thanks again to Brad for sending 2 more over for us to hear. The power supplies came in handy too.

I also got the chance to listen to some mp3s that sounded superb, no need to cut of your arm man!

That's it for now, gotta sleep.

Thanks again for the great meet guys, already looking forward to next year!

Great impressions in here. Thanks!
Looks like there were quite some K1000/Signature 30.2 in Sydney that day. Its a really nice system indeed.

The VCAP seems to match with the Lisa very well!

I got the 3. They are bloated but it seems like the bloatedness seems to calm down a bit when burned-in but its still there of course. Anyway they are i supposed entry-level iem so of course they are pale in comparison with other more expensive iem

You sir are a wise man

...but that being said, do you really need your car after all?

I would be very interested in a loaner Lisa standard with LLP, but it would probably be best to wait on that till i can actually afford to buy it if i decide to, rather than shipping it back and waiting for funds.

Hm, i wonder if Brad has any of those exotic mahogany casings left...

hmmmmm it has been costing me a bit in running costs and fines lately

Not bad considering the cost :P