CanJam 2009 Impressions - Page 15  

Here is a link to my gallery page for CanJam 2009 pics. I'll be adding more pics later. Enjoy.

CanJam 2009 Gallery

Yes, they sound very transparent like the HP2/48. If the HD800 has the biggest ss ever for a headphone, then they are worth the price of admission. Since you always pay top dollar for the 'best.'

The enlarge function isn't working properly Ti Kan.

Yesterday, Saturday May 30th, I had the pleasure of attending Can Jam ’09, held at the LAX Hilton Hotel. It was good to see what’s new in the world of headphones, the hobby, and a chance to visit with “Headfi-er’s” I haven’t seen in a long time. Praise and compliments must be offered to all individuals who generously gave time and effort to organize the event. You can tell that both the organizers and volunteers put in countless hours putting this together, to make it the success that it has become.

The last “International” meet I attended was the one in San Jose, California two years ago. This time around the event took place in many smaller “breakout rooms”, instead of a larger central meeting place and a few breakout rooms, as in San Jose. I liked the way it was done this time, because it lent a more intimate environment in which to evaluate the various manufactures and members equipment, with less of the noise and congestion that comes with the larger room format.

An interesting aspect of these events is the evolution of the hobby, especially in these hard economic times. Some of the vendors that were “flying high” in San Jose are no longer with us. Others who were just starting out two years ago and had very few products, now have fully mature product lines, while others rather new to the headphone hobby have made big commitments to it.

For me the highlights of Can Jam ’09 in the realm headphones were, first the Grado HF-2’s. For anyone reluctant to pull the trigger on these don’t be. They are everything you have envisioned them being and then some. Grado has listened to their favorite customers, you at <headfi> and produced an outstanding headphone that is a hybrid of aluminum and wood with stunning results. They have made some of the changes that you have requested over the years, a thicker gauge cable that is much more twist resistant. Better manufacturing fit and finish and QC, if this batch is any indication. The hybrid wood metal combination and what ever else they might have done also seems to have tamed the shrill, strident high end that was always a problem for this listener. This is a headphone that will produce a rich listening experience and compete favorably with more expensive headphones. I personally was hoping to buy on the spot after hearing them, if there were any sets left available, alas there weren’t any left to be had on site.

The other stand out headphone products were the Sennheiser hd800’s and the Grado PS1000’s. Much anticipated and worth the wait. At first when comparing the two I felt the 800’s were the superior headphone, but later when listening to the PS1000’s with a different amp it seemed to be a toss up between the two. Just goes to show it is all about senergy.

My favorite amps at the event were the tube amp line produced by Woo Audio and in the solid state segment, the amps produced by Rudistor.

If you are in the area it’s not too late to take in this event and I encourage you to do so. Thanks again, to the organizers and volunteers for a wonderful event!

- augustwest

Correct you are.

Thank you so much for this particular impression. I was sold on the HD800's already, having heard them twice at Detroit mini-meets (proximity to Jude is helpful for stuff like this ), but my only concern is how they sounded with balanced termination. This is nothing but good news...thanks again!!

Clicking on any of the small images takes me to the web page:
Ti Kan's Web Site

Going there, and having a look around, I hadn't realized that you'd come up with a companion DAC to the Mini^3. Nice! And you're up to the Beta24!!! You've been busy - always good to see what you've been up to. It's been too long since I've taken a look.

Nice shots in your gallery, BTW. Can't wait to see them larger.

Just got back from my first Can Jam. It was a great experience for me. I'm relatively new to headphones but not high-end audio. Even with all the limitations of a meet, I found this to be a great way to narrow the search space for gear. OK, my impressions/highlights....

The combination of hearing the Technics SL 1200 MKII tt with the Zana Deux and the Steve Hoffman/Joe Harley demonstration reignited my interest in vinyl. I sold off my vinyl rig to a friend several years ago because it was too much hassle. I'd get back into vinyl just to hear the Music Matters catalogue. I loved Steve/Joe's anecdotes abt all that went into the various recordings. The meet was worth the drive just to hear those guys and the music they played.

OK, so now I know why people love the Eddie Current gear. I really liked both the BA and Zana Deux. This is my preferred sonic landscape. Clean, musical and dynamic. I wasn't aware of the AD2000s prior to this. They sounded great at both the Eddie Current display and another member's set-up with the Metric Halo dac. The ZD/Metric Halo/AD2000 combo was one of my favorites. There were a bunch of outstanding member set-ups.

The WA5 with the AKG1000s was another one of my favorites. I don't know how liveable those headphones are, but they sounded very nice. Sorta forgot where I was for a moment. I didn't listen to all of the WOO set-ups, but I can't imagine going wrong with anything in his line-up based on what I heard. He also had killer t-shirts available for a donation. I went to listen to the WA5 and when I got back the last XL t-shirt was gone. Talk abt decision regret.

As I write I'm listening to my new HD800s courtesy of Todd. They were waiting for me when I got home. I have to say I wasn't blown away by them at the meet. I was expecting a sonic revelation similar to what I heard when I first listened to the HE90s with Ray Samuels A10. In fact, I had some buyer's remorse on the way home because I preferred the AD2000s. Well, I'm happy to report that they are sounding very nice this morning, even with my non-optimal Yammy amp. So decision regret be gone. However, I'm definitely buying a pair of AD2000s in the near future and am spec'ing out a KAB modified Technics SL1200 MKII with a Denon cartridge.

I also want to thank all the organizers for putting this on.

Sorry about that -- file permissions problem, now fixed.

Don't assume we are all members of the in-crowd

Do these people have names? Do they make headphone equipment? Why not label the pictures and let the rest of us - the great unwashed headphone masses - on your little secrets.

Relax. People tend to fill in names in a lot of the pics as they return from Meets.

No need for apologies! Your table at Canjam is very nice btw. I loved the way the M^3 and B22 looked.

Seems the HD800's do better when balanced. How much better though? Also, when the Luxman P1 was driving the HD800's, was the Luxman connected with balanced cables to the source, or RCA?

Wish I was able to go.
I feel bad for all of the other vendors there trying to compete with the HD800.

Chop chop guys, more pictures!

Don't feel bad as virtually all of them all at least one pair of HD800 for demo testing purposes.