NY-Long Island Mini Meet -Sept 12

How is it goin? You really have to ask..................

these impressions suck.

just got home. will post something later. but fun, fun, fun!

just got back! i locked my keys in my car in the parking lot here, so i had to break into my own apartment via the window - the neighbors were looking at me funny

will post impressions once i settle down a bit

3 hour drive back home, but home at last. ^_^

Gonna unpack, and then post up my impressions.

If I'm not mistaken, I was the only one who took pictures. I didn't take very many, so lets see if any come out halfway decent.

Impressions:
It was very good.

Thank you so much Dan! You have a lovely place there, and your family was a saint for putting up with us today.
I'm sorry I had to head off so early, but it was a long drive back.

It is always a pleasure meeting familiar people (even if I forget your names (I'm bad with names, sorry)). Thank you for sharing your equipment. It was a pleasure to hear each setup. There certainly was some serious gear here!

I've listened to a lot of these headphones before, but this was the first time I have been able to really listen.

The Grado HP1. I have heard this on other people's setup, but this time it didn't sound very harsh. It is certainly one of the best dynamic headphones around. Comparing it to the HD800, the HP1 have a closer presentation. The sound, although similar, still had something unique about it. Joe Grado really made a fine headphone with the HP1.

The Meridian CDP, B52, and HD800. I was happy because I wasn't able to discern much difference between this setup and my setup. That'll help me fend off the upgrade bug.

I was shocked at the HE90. First time I heard it was a few years ago, and I thought it was the cat's meow. I've had the HE60 for a while now. When I put on the HE90, I was shocked at how similar the presentation and sound was to the HE60. I was not expecting this. The HE90 disappeared. Nothing was distracting about the frequency response, and the sound stage was closer to the HE60 than the HD800. I'm sure it would take me a lot more time to find out what makes the HE90 different from the HE60, but it was comforting that they were not *that* far apart (certainly closer than compared to say... a stax O2).

Speaking of the stax O2 Mk1. The bass was huge! I was hearing bass notes in songs that I have never heard before, which was strange. It reminded me of dynamic speakers. It was driven by a HeadAmp KGSS. The rest of the frequency response seemed smooth which was very nice. I don't think the O2 is for me because of the bass, but it was still very interesting.

The Stax Omega was very interesting. I had never heard one before. It had a very lush sound, somewhat close to the sennheiser stat sound, and the bass was right in line with what I was expecting. I really enjoyed these! Sad these are not made anymore.

I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with the HD800 and HE60. :sigh:

Some Pics

First off, some pictures of the people who made this meet what it was!



Listening to the Quad 63's.









They are all ears!

Equipment Pics

Now some pictures of the Equipment. Sorry for anything I forgot to photograph.










My setup (HD800 not pictured). My dad made the two stands.

a few impressions.

* the omega is solid. very different from the O2. both were driven by a KGSS with black gates. not possible to confuse them when listening. both have great clarity, but the omega is very forward by comparison. the O2 on the other hand is more balanced in presentation, which is a positive. but it also seemed slow/thick. i preferred the omega but also wondered if fatigue would set in after a while. the sound stage of both seemed rather small when compared to the HE90/HEV90. the detail was not as good on the HE90, but i found the headphone to be more engaging than either of the omegas. the HE60/HEV70 for a fraction of the cost sounds very good. the detail is excellent. for classical, this headphone is very hard to beat. the only drawback is the smallish sound stage. despite this, the imaging is very good.

* listened to the 650 with silver dragon through some tube amp (forgot the name), which used a 12AU7 as a driver. i only mention this, because it was a great little combo. no veil, large sound stage, everything was very open and clear. nice little surprise and i think the silver dragon played a large part as well.

* HP1 through heavily modded krell amp (stepped attenuator, black gates, etc). really like the HP1000 and i think i prefer the HP1 over the HP2, although i would have to hear them side by side to be sure. the HP1 has a very neutral although not sterile sound - you hear the recording and nothing else - with good detail and tight bass. the sound stage is narrow, but the left to right is wide which compensates. wouldn't mind getting a balanced pair.

* the 800 has stat-like detail but lacks its clarity. the sound stage is very large, one of its biggest draws and voices sound as natural as i have ever heard them through a headphone. there is good body and weight to the music but the bass does not hit as hard as i would like. but it is still above average.

* spent some time listening to quad electrostatic speakers. i loved these things. if i ever get speakers, the quads will be at the top of my list. they had the signature stat clarity of sound and excellent low-level detail. voices were perfect, although percussion was not as heavy/dynamic as i have heard on other speakers. the DAC was sonic frontiers and the preamp was audio research, which i am sure helped things.

* we listened to back street boys (oh noez!).

great pictures drew!

Thank you kindly!

dan:

thanks again for having us. very enjoyable time.

david

I love mini-meets!

There's something special about someone generously inviting you into their home, and sharing audio goodness with a handful of friends, that just cannot be beat, even by a large regional or national meet.

First and foremost, a huge thank you to Danny (and indirectly to Elyse for her generous allowance of our run of your beautiful home!) for your terrific hospitality. We really, really appreciate it.

It was great seeing some long-time Head-Fi friends, and couple of new buds. Having "only" a handful of setups to listen to had an interesting effect (quotes intentional, as having HE90's, O1's, O2's, HE60's, HP1's, and several HD800's is quite the handful ). First, one is not overwhelmed with a huge skyline of gear from which to pick. Secondly, this focus allows one to see the beauty & synergy (or occasionally lack thereof) in each setup. There is rarely a "best", or even "better". Differences become more preferences, and often specific to certain genres of music & recordings.

It was indeed a pleasure to hear the Omega I's for the first time. I agree with Dave in that they are a bit more forward than the O2's. Whether that is one's preference, or something you would live with long-term is up to you. But the reference quality is there, and one could easily tweak the sound with associated peripherals to one's likeing quite easily.

After finally hearing the HD800's (both balanced & SE), I can understand the varied impressions that resulted from these this past year. They are quite the chameleon, sharing qualities with the venerable HD650, as well as electrostats. Again, the reference quality is clearly evident, and they are very sensitive to changes in associated gear. I'd even go as far to say that they are a bit finicky, because one errant piece of gear, or even recording, can cause them to lack a certain cohesiveness. Still, they are top cans, and worthy of spending time & money building your system around.

Drew, thanks for taking the time to visually document our little soirée. Your Havana DAC made the HE60/HEV70 combo sound awesome. Lots of synergy there, each component balancing out their strengths & weaknesses. I liked it a lot. P.S. - your dad is cool.

The cherry on the top of this audio cake was clearly our speaker listening session toward the end of the night. Those Quads are simply sublime, and perfect for the type of music to which I listen most often (vocals, acoustic, strings, jazz, small orchestral classical, etc.). I never found them wanting in the bass regions at all, and preferred the sub out of the equation. Of course, that Sonic Frontiers DAC, Audio Research preamp, and amp (don't recall the name) helped out more than a little. A terrific setup, and a pleasure to listen to.

Last but not least, I will say that I enjoyed the company & conversation the best. It's clear that you all are in it for the music more than anything, and it was lots of fun sharing that experience in an intimate setting. Thank you all.

Cheers.

First & foremost.
Thanks Dan & your lovely wife for opening up your home for a great mini-meet.
Off course I was late to the party due to work,& missed Yikes,immtbiker
who unfoutunately didn't make it.
I Listened to the SR Omega or the first time & I liked it,seemed to be more in the line with the He90 then the Omega Mk11.
It seemed to have more treble energy then the omega Mk11,not as dark sounding. The Omega 11s also seemed to harder to drive as I had to turn up the volume 2 notches over the Sr omegas.

The hd800 with the B52 was sounding very good as well,The Hd800 is a very revealing headphone,very system dependant.
My biggest problem with them is their openness,is that any outside noises are heard more then any other headphone,so they really need to be listened in a quite enviorment.



That amp would be the Radii Hpa 03 ,Cheap tube amp but unavailabe
that has terrific synergy with the Hd650,Killer setup on a budget if you can find one.

The Quad ESl63 speaker system listening session at the end of the meet
just topped off the evening of hanging out with Head-fi buddies ,with great conversations.
Yeah the Backstreet Boys Track sound quality on the speakers was truly
great regardless if you like their music or not.

Towert 7 Your Dad was more into the music then all of us there,great to meet him.