ChiUniFi 08 Meet Impressions - Chicago has another great meet!

Yay internet!

A few outsiders seemed really interested in what we were doing. I had two staff members and a kid ask me "what we do". I had to explain all that stuff was just to listen to music. They were intrigued- but I don't think they understood.

Great meet, and glad to meet many old and new faces!
Some great people we have.

Hope the rest of you are having a good time at Ray's

can't wait to see some pics.

Yes, pics would be nice. I do hope you all had a great time.

This Event was awesome and as you all can tell set a date for November 7th 2009 for next years! regardless if i am in a thread or not...its happening..its ChiUniFi...duh


So we did something a bit more National-ish this event around. I rented a sleeping/guest room for a spare just in case. Todd the Vinyl Junkie then set up his gear in the sleeping room, sort of like having a private room at a national meet type. the people where spread out in either the main room or TTVJ's room, so it gave you really a national walk around type flavor to such a small based event. Awww ChiUniFi is stepping up on it's own...how cute!


Of course i did not get to sit down and really focus in on any gear, i had to play the host sometime. but i did get to listen to a few quickies songs here and there. the biggest and craziest surprise was iPhone 3G > Germana line out dock > RSA p-51 > Sony R10. first time hearing the iPhone from it's line out and either the R10 is truly an amazing headphone more then i ever heard before or the iPhone has a great line out.. i really wanted to try the line out for along time and i was lucky enough to win a germania build iPhone dock in the raffle..talk about a perfectly needed prize! i can't wait till it comes in to give the iPhone a more sensible test with gear i know, then again if anyone wants to sell me some R10's for a few bucks then fell free so i can try..joking!

I heard the head direct electro's again and all i can say is YummY, if one day i ever get back into hifi headphones the electro is my next route. rite now i barely listen to any audio gear cause of work so really i just don't have any use for new gear. but if i did the head direct electros would be my first purchase.

i heard the Millet/TTVJ 307 on a more familiar source this time (Meridian G08) with balanced 701's. problem was i was listening to a coldplay cd that was not even mine. maybe Coldplay is not the music to let this gear shine or maybe i am spoiled with the G08 and B52 setup i have. its a great amp of course but when you own and listen to similarly priced and classed gear it just did not seem night and day. now throw the 808 on like at Canjam and i am sure to have a different opinion but rack it with the same source i have now it just seemed to loose some wow factor. the Zana, B-52, And 307a are my thre favorite headphone amps i ever heard but yet all different (the 307a and the B-52 seem very close, at least in this meet impression)..then again as with any experience at a meet or event like i had the number one rule is to give another listen and a more serious listen in private, esp with gear this price. still i won't be rushing out to get one as a loaner anytime soon though, again i just don't have the use or time for any new gear...

unless its a 808 of course..but thats an 808. anyone could use some 808 love in their life at anytime..haha

i really can not judge Rays new p-51 cause i just did not compare it to anything i owned in a serious fashion. and AGAIN i have no interest and no use for another portable RSA amp, hell the Hornet is still in my glove box of my TT from over a year, my sr-71 is my jacuzzi amp and the Tomahawk gets here and there use..i have to many portable amps with to little use to give a flying dog about another one. i can say it looks small and super cute but i believe i can say that about any RSA portable now.

Funny thing is i don't even need my Jacuzzi headphone setup anymore cause i Got a new Jacuzzi and i am having the Room built as i type (should be done in two weeks the latest). so i am going to have a insulted room for year round use and now i can roll with a speaker setup instead of headphones..
damn am i out of this hobby or what? i am currently waiting for a few people to die so i can finally move all my gear into a dedicated listening room upstairs from my bar..then its just speakers, no headphones. another hobby of mine that has replaced headphones is chasing tail, but i will stop there..

i said all my thanks at the event to the people that deserved to hear it, so i won't say anything more on that.

i have pics and will upload them in a few days, i got to go to work now..

Spread the word to all of the attendees.

We all live vicariously through other member's meet impressions.

We need pics and impressions. Sleep is not necessary. Impressions are.

We want more! We want more! Pics and impressions!

Sounds like a great meeting!
We want pictures though, and of course a bit more impressions...

Good to see you guys & gals again.
Man, I hadn't been to a meet since ChiUnifi 07. Really slacking off huh?

As usual, did more talking than listening but a couple things stood out.

Head-Direct's EF1 hybrid amp, just amazingly good sound from a relatively inexpensive amp.

The ATW-ESW9 headphones. Whaaat? Other than a little too much bass, they were nearly perfect. Thinking very hard about getting a set.

HEAUDIO's Jade electrostatic earphones. Really nice but $$$$$$

My first meet and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

I'd like to thank Billy and Ryan for making this happen. But boy, I thought the best experience came AFTER the meet itself, so I'd like to thank Ray for being such a gracious host (that's an understatement) and the rest of the crew at the 'night' meet.

Strictly from my experience, right now I just have way too many things going on in my head. I need to sit down and rethink what I've heard last night so I'll write my impressions a little later today. Let's just say this meet was truly an 'eye-opener'.

It was a great meet. I know there were a lot of pictures taken but just not by me.

I would first like to thank Ryan and Billy as organizers and host for the meet.

I would also like to thank Ray and his family for the after meet dinner and listening session. The meal was quite the spread. There were so many different items I can't remember them. They were all very tasty.

The surprise for me was the ES9 with the Apuresound recable. This was the first time I had a chance to hear them. I listened to them through my Stealth and they were right there with my HP-2s that also have the Apuresound V3 cable. I had also heard some comfort issue but they didn't cause any concern for me.

The new Jades were quite the surprise. They really got their workout after the meet at Rays. We were able to compare them directly with Ray's HE90s and they held their own. If you never heard the HE90s, I think you would wouldn't notice what you could be missing. But let's see, no current production for HE90s, with current pricing in the $10K range and the Jades with an introductory pricing of $1499 right now. The downside though is the separate dedicate amp needed for electrostats. I can't see that in my near future, though.

I also wanted to thanks the Vendors, with special thanks to Ray Samuels who donated a new P-51 Mustang, TTVJ for the 2 - $100 gift certificates and Head Direct for the headphones.

Pics or it didn't happen...


You guys in Chicago certainly know how to do it right! It sounds like a great venue, and some excellent gear.

There was an Audosaurus sighted...

I failed to mention the time I spent with TTVJ's 307A and his G08. It really made my HP-2s shine. I was using them with the single ended adapter most of the day when I took them upstairs to listen with the 307A. Some tube amps have a difficult time with the HP-2s but the 307A really took control of them. The sound was about the best I have heard out of them. The 307A pulled out every ounce of performance from these headphones. Ryan also had a chance to take a listen and his response was his HP-2s haven't sounded like these.

Todd did have the Luxman with him but unfortunately, I didn't spend any time with it as it was too much enjoyment listening to the 307A.