WEST MICHIGAN MEET Impressions

Yeah, please come back with some impressions and pictures.

2009 West Michigan Meet Photos

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Nice gear guys! I really enjoyed seeing a Fischer unit. Was it being used to drive the energizer for the electrostatic? way cool!

Nice pics !

Thanks to everyone who made the effort to get to this meet in what's become all too typical West Michigan weather this winter.

To Al: Thanks for the meeting place and hospitality. It worked out perfectly.

To Chris: Thanks for the portable setup lessons, including being generous with your gear and sharing.

To Bill: You're a geek, old school! You're gear is cool in that it bridges many generations, quite similar to the hobbiests in this...uh...hobby. Your knowledge and expertise in music is helpful to those of us who still have a lot to learn. Oh, and those Yamaha's....

To Mike: House? I don't need no stinkin' house! Nice gear, man....and thanks for making trip around the lake. A man's gotta Deux what a man's gotta Deux....

To Fred: I'm jealous...you realize, of course, how good those custom UE IEM's would be while bulldozing!

To Gordo: You're cool! Thanks for leading me down the path of temptation....but shouldn't it be the other way around?

Very fun, and I would encourage those of you who haven't made the effort to do a meet yet, to do so. The people make the meet...cool, expensive equipment is just a bonus!

Joe

missed another good meet!!! the weather was horrible yesterday though, so not really regretting.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Can't believe I missed a meet right in west michigan! I've been looking to try out some denon d2000's and it looks like there was a pair there. Oh well, I'll have to make sure I don't miss the next one around here.

Oh and I'm just wondering.... where in west michigan did this meet take place?

This was my first Head-Fi meet and I am still overwhelmed.

I'm most impressed by the people who came. What a great group of guys. Friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and we had some really nice gear they were all willing to share. We had:
Absorbine_Sr
HoldenTheBeans
SpineyNorman
GordonLindsey
BillinKansas
No.9

Random thoughts ...
I learned so much about portable gear.
Westone UM2s are so clear. That little Flio portable amp is simply amazing. And a portable tube amp? Wow!
Three Orthos. I'm a believer. Especially in the garage sale modded HP-1. Way cool vintage equipment. Just remembered I forgot to try the D2000. Unfortunately I listened to the modded Ortho first. Eclipsed the Stax and HD600.
Eddie Current Zana Deux. Very cool and quite musical. I think I could toast marshmallows over the tubes. RS-1s with flats? I think I'll stick to bowls. AKG 340 - that was sweet and it had not been modded. HD600 was very nice in this setup.
Darkvoice 337. Equally sweet. Those Markl modded D5000s were very nice. DX1000s were very nice on this system.
Father and son introduced to me to DURABLE portable gear. Takes a beating and keeps on playing. And that live recording with the train going by blowing the whistle .... priceless.

There really was too much to take in for someone new to the hobby like me. Next time I'll bring a couple of cds to listen to and spend more time with individual items. It's like a smorgasboard of gourmet gear.

Sure looks like you guys had a nice time!
Several great looking rigs, both portable and not so portable...

It was a great meet with a great group of guys.

Let's see, where should I start...

As far as headphones go, there really wasn't a pair there that I said to myself "that's it, those are perfect". Now, that's not to say I wasn't impressed by almost all of them. They all had their obviously strong points, but most had just a little something that wasn't clicking with me.

Denon D5000 modded - I really, really wanted to like these phones. From everything I'd read online, they sounded (pun intended) like they'd be the perfect headphones for me. The bass was outstanding, I mean great punch, quick, tight, just sweet. The mids I think are what put me off, there was just something about them that I wasn't liking. The highs were pretty good though, plenty of clarity and definitely not harsh.

JVC DX1000 - I liked these a bit better than the Denons. Yeah, they are colored a little bit but I'm not so worried about having a completely neutral setup as long as it's musical and let's me listen to the MUSIC and not the equipment. This phone was probably my favorite one there. With that being said, I could still tell it was a closed headphone and closed just must not be preferred type of headphone.

Grado RS-1 - I used to own these once upon a time, but without a good amp to run them through. I still think they are a little too colored for me to listen to some old jazz. Great for rock of course though, and through the tube amps, absolutely no harsh sound coming out of these at all.

Sennheiser HD600 w/Cardas - Still the most natural sounding headphone I've heard. And probably the best at integrating the whole sound spectrum together, meaning bass, midrange, and treble just flow together without you being able to tell. But not quite enough 'fun factor' or punch to the sound for me.

AKG K501 - Like the HD600's had little to no punch. But it was SWEET on acoustic, live, and jazz music. Great sounding phones, but limited on what I could listen to.

As far as amps go, all of them were pretty sweet sounding.

The darkvoice (337 I'm guessing) was a powerful and punchy sounding amp. I enjoyed it alot. It's kind of weird with the separate volume controls for each channel.

The EC Zana Deux was amazing. There really isn't anything else to say. I could power the K501's without blinking an eye, something the Meier Opera wasn't quite sure about. But the Opera was a great amp also, making everything sound good. I liked the overall feel and build of the amp, making me want to buy a Meier Arietta.

The little TTVJ portable tube amp made my Grado SR80's sound pretty darned good.

I didn't get a chance to listen to the iBasso D1 but it looked and felt like a nice solid portable amp.

Anywho, I think that's about all I remember about equiptment.

Thank you to everyone that traveled many miles and brought all the awesome gear to share. Thanks to Al and everybody else that made it possible to have a meet in W.MI and am looking forward to having another one in the future.

Random thoughts on the West Michigan Meet:

The weather outside was frightful but the warm glow of tubes was quite delightful.

Al threw this together without ever attending another meet. Great job! You will be an inspiration to others to do the same.

The Head-Fi community has some really great people and this was comfirmed once again in G.R. No matter your experience level or equipment, everyone was happy to share their knowledge and their percious (and expensive) equipment without hesitation or judgement. Salt of the earth, all.

Yamaha Orthodynamics are really nice headphones. They are the most comfortable supraaural phone I have ever worn. Very musical and involving with a neutral full-range sound. Plus they are available at reasonable prices. Thanks for the re-introduction Bill.

The Beyerdynamic 880's were a real surprise to me. For some reason I thought they were a dark, base-heavy phone. NOT! The top-end on these things goes on forever and without sibilance or fatigue. Actually I prefer more base and mid coloration but they are impressive none the less.

The Zana Deux never disappoints. Just a great amp. This along with the Bel Canto source was a nice treat...but my wallet got weak in the knees. Thanks Mike (I think).

Chris, Joe, Mike, Gordon, Al, Bill (in no particular order) it was my pleasure meeting you and sharing an enjoyable afternoon.

Thanks again Al for hosting and providing the stenographer and photographer.

I wasn't sure what to expect with Bill talking about bringing his stump puller and Joe with his bulldoser. I've had a few "help-a-buddy-out" weekends. Luckily this wasn't one of those weekends.

Cheers

Good job Aimless1. You took the lead and made it happen.

Mike, you go man. The Cooper is a warhorse audio chariot.

Lol props to Billinkansas for making 2 meets a week apart from each other.