Sorry I missed the aftermeet again. Plans changed back at the last minute.

This was a great meet and thanks to Big Poppa for pulling this off. Really didn't think this would happen. With that said, my heart wasn't in it as much this time. Just wasn't in the mood to listen to music or compare all the big and small differences amongst all the different headphones after the first hour or so. It was nice to get out of Seattle and I did get to take a long walk around Centralia once there was a nice break in the clouds. Liked the historic feel of everything.

So back to meet. I was very impressed with ATH electrets. Very dynamic and fast. Also impressed that Dr. Strangelove made the effort to bring what looked like a ton of equipment. I complain about bringing my iMac to meets sometimes. My other favorites were once again Kingstyles and Seamaster's setups (I'll have to look up their correct system info). Seamaster's setup was different this time with the T1 and some other tweaks to his amp. It seemed to have a little more energy while still staying lush.

Didn't get to spend too much time with the Stax or Orthos. There was classical music playing, which sounded nice, but hard for me to make a comparison with. I ended up liking the HD800 much better on my DHA3000 this time (removed power converter so my amp has more power now). The HD800 is still a little light on bass for my taste but starting to see why people like it so much. I also liked that tube amp with the little effects tube in it. Cool to look at and sounded great with the Beyerdynamic headphone hooked to it.

The last thing to mention is Seamaster and I tested computer vs cd player as a source going into my DHA3000, which is a DAC/amp combo. On the first test neither of us heard a clear difference. We then tried some Pink Floyd and Seamaster noticed a smoother top end. Said the computer almost sounded grainy. I couldn't really tell myself but my have to say the cd player was a hint smoother. Made me feel better about using a iMac as my source or transport or whatever you'd call it. Love the convenience of having over 2000 albums on hand at once.

Lastly want to thank Andrew for the pizza. I was starving for some reason and this really helped. Also thanks for bringing the universal JH-13. Had a lot of trouble getting them to fit but held them tightly in my ears the way my ue-10 would fit. They are an improvement over my ue-10 but iem's are just missing something for me. Don't like not being able to feel the movement of drivers. Can't see iem's ever replacing fullsize headphones for me.

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I don't know how good of G08's digital output. But as hard as we tried at meet. I am impressed with imac's ability with music output. That little difference...... well, iamonegain you are golden as right now. To be honest, I still think stand alone high end CDP is the way to go.

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What! Not one picture of my rig. Who else had FLAC playing from an Apple device? Who else had hi-res 24/192 from a netbook through USB? Who else had the HD800. You're welcome, America. ;>)
Your love is like the water that splashes on a stone.
Your love is like the music. It's here and then it's gone.
Thanks, Mick and Keith, with a nod to Robert Johnson.
I think the T1 has promise. It's still early days as these had only a few hours of use, but they may be a viable alternative to the HD800. Sibilances were not splashed and the highs are not over the top. Slightly recessed mids may improve with burn-in. Ambience retrieval already there in spades. Dynamic shadings were exemplary. Bass was a bit reticent, but again that could change with time. None of the sterile presentation I've come to expect form the 990 or 880.
The D7000 Lawton mod stopped me cold. Sorry.

I had to work so I couldn't make it yet again. Im not sure what I would even try out of everything there, it looks very overwelming for a newb.

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I have never heard a CDP outperform well done rips to hard drive. Next meet we'll wheel the Apple TV and Benchmark over to your Woo. Let the games begin. Linn is pretty much abandoning CDP in favor of HD playback. PS Audio is staking its reputation on HD playback. Even audio streamed wirelessly from a server or NAS outperforms CDP. The only optical drive I would want to hear would be SACD as there is no other way to hear those titiles.

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Magneplanar 1.7 Review: First Listen by Jonathan Valin
I see that you regard the ML speakers you use as placeholders. Consider the recently introduced Magnepan 1.7 as replacements. Should work well with the Melody M88Q.

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FWIW - I've done a bunch of A/B testing with some pretty good CD players vs computer digital front ends, both in my own system and a couple of friend's systems. There are many variables with PC systems that come into play and if they are not sorted out the really good players will sound better, hands-down. Things that make a difference in PC digital: Software you ripped the files with, the file type itself, the delivery software, the conversion to the DAC's language, the cables used (go ahead, shoot me now), the DAC itself. PC audio, in my experience, definitely has the potential to equal and even outclass a great player. One of the first rigs I listened to at the meet was a really nice PC system and sounded great for digital...Sorry, I'm not great at remembering names..I think it was Josh, but it was a RedWine DAC fed by an Empirical OffRamp. I thought the digital aspect of that system was well sorted out and sounded excellent.

That brings up an obvious discrepancy in "comparisons" of various rigs at these meets. In my view, comparing one rig to another is pretty much a moot point when each rig is fed with a different front end and using different cables and power. At best you can get a general idea of some core differences perhaps.

On to a few further impressions from the meet: I was very impressed with the Lisa III, particularly at it's pricepoint and size. That is one very tight little amp that certainly delivers the goods. I also liked Griffin's newly modded WA22, which actually made my Grados (the GS1K's Griffin was not fond of) sound more linear, pushing the midrange up a bit somehow. It's the best I've heard those cans sound. I do think his amp has some further burn-in knowing the caps Dan uses, so would expect it to sound even better at the next meet. I was not that impressed with the T1's, but again, low hours on them...not likely broken in. The HD800's, damn their $1600 hide....I so wanted NOT to like them so they'd be easy to di$mi$$. That did not happen. To my ears those cans do everything right and sound like you are not listening to headphones at all. I'm not a basshead, and I don't listen to much rock, so take this with that in mind - If I were to point out a "weakness" I would say they were a tad bass light. One other can that really impressed me was the HE-5's which I listened to on my amp (someone there brought a WA6SE, which I believe was maxxed) - I thought those cans did a lot of the same things the HD800's did right but had a bit more punch, with a slight sacrifice of some of that total suspension of disbelief I had with the HD800's. Very impressive for a pair of cans that costs 1/3 the price. I enjoyed finally getting to hear a pair of Stax and they did not disappoint with their light airy touch, but they definitely did not seduce me the way that the HD800's did. There were some tiny, tube-driven, plexiglass cube amps in the corner on the ALO table - though not a statement piece, I was impressed with the sound from those tiny cubes...seemed like a nice portable solution. Can anyone fill me in on those?

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It could have been the godawful one that cracked the lens or the one that was so popular I couldn't clear the masses to get a clear shot. but sorry about missing your rig, I thought I had em all.

..dB

Damn. Work upset my plans to be there. Maybe we can do another NW get together in the fall? Sounds like enough people showed to make it worth considering.

Curfeeler. Lookie Lookie

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Cool! which amp is the MOSFET amp?

This one


..dB

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Thanks for the photo, Gil. All is forgiven, dBel84. Some would be happy to crack the lens if it got them noticed, but what's apparent from Gil's shot is that it was my dead ass blocking your view. Liked what I heard of the Woo 3+, ambience retrieval particularly. I'll spend more time with it paired to the HD800 next meet. Perhaps we could strap my source to it. Haven't met a Woo amp I didn't like. Also dug the Wright modded WA22 and the WA6SE. Sergio played a fabulous track for me by a girl named Feist. Gotta look her up.
iamoneagain is getting compelling sound from his amp now that power supplied to it isn't throttled. To take it to the next level invest in better power distribution and resonance control.
Thanks to Boomy for the loan of the screwdriver. Griffin, you weren't tripping when you thought you heard an imbalance at my station through the T1. I had failed to set the second jumper block correctly when I increased the gain, so the left channel was down.
Add my voice to the chorus thanking the bringer of pizza. We should have another meet in West Seattle just so we could be close to the Porterhouse and its exquisite tap. Just wait until you wet your nose in a Velvet Merkin or such.

This was my brother and I's first meet and it was a blast. Thanks Gil for arranging it and thanks Andrew for the food and drink. It was a pleasure meeting everyone. Head-fiers are really nice and relaxed bunch. The after meet was also a lot of fun and Centralia was nice little town for the meet. I also want to thank everyone for letting me try your gear even though I didn't contribute much. Next time we will bring the goods.

Stand outs to me were the T1/Woo22. Personally I thought the T1 sounded great straight out of the box. I wanted to try the HD800, but by the time I got around to it they had been put away...bummer. It was also my first time hearing electrostats. The Stax/Exstata sounded rediculous...very, very impressed. I put them on and there was some vocal jazz playing. Usually I don't really care for vocal jazz, but those things sounded so lush that I ended up listening to 2 songs of it and enjoyed every minute of it. I also liked the Lawton modded D7000. Anybody know what kind of wood the cups are made of? We couldn't figure it out. One amp I was really wanting to hear was the WA6. I tried the WA6 SE, but I'm now kicking myself for not plugging in some phones I'm more familiar with in order to get a better feel of it.

We were both a bit apprehensive at first, but it quickly disappeared. Everyone was so kind and passionate about their music and gear and it was real pleasure meeting and talking to all of you. I look forward to many more meets to come.

Thanks for a cool meet, It was nice to finally meet some seattleites. If I'm ever actually paying attention and have the time I'd like to take the train up to seattle for a weekend or so sometime when you're having a meet. If it was a short vacation from life at home I might be a bit more relaxed than I was yesterday.

Here's a few obligatory photos: