Seattle Head-fi Meet at Front Panel Express October 2, 2010 - Page 15

Been reading through the posts...as I told Big Poppa, who was kind enough to remember me from the Redhook meet, I would be coming though I wasn't sure what setup to go with this time.  Seeing that there is so much fine equipment coming, I have decided to bring two amps with me this time and a different CD player.   Accordingly:

Rotel RCD-950

Lavry DA-10

Opera Audio Cyber 20 tube amp

ATH-2000 cans

Running Springs Haley

I also want to take time to visit with each of you as much as I can and learn more about what is out there.  I am interested in auditioning the Beta22 and Cavalli products and other cans I did not have much time with in July.  I will be bringing a professional sign language interpreter to assist with communications and such who will be with me from 12 to 2 pm Saturday...(I wish it would be much longer, but $45 an hour is a bit too much so ya'll better have something good to say, ha ha).

I will arrive about 9 am to setup and register....pardon me hobbling about as I have been doing so the past 4 weeks with a tendon injur.  It didn't stop me from 3 straight nights of Dead shows two weeks ago....pouring rain and all. (I will bring a CD of the first night's show, which had a second set that simply ripped my face from my head).

Be seeing you all.  I look forward to the grand camaraderie and lessons...

Quote:

Originally Posted by replytoken 

Well, I am packing up to head to some warm and sunny weather tomorrow east of the mountains so I will be going dark until a few days after the meet.  I am really sorry to be missing it because there will be some gear that I have looking forward to hearing, and I was also hoping to have a few ears analyze the high frequency noise that my Ety's are hearing from my new NuForce uDAC-2.  But, alas, temperatures in the 80's call, and its too late to cancel my reservation.  Plus, my wife would kill me if I did!   So, I will read all about the meet next week, and find out who the lucky winners were for those cool door prizes.

 

Have fun guys,

 

--Ken

Shame you can't make it out man, but we gotta do what we gotta do, right?  Maybe you can touch base with some of the in town folks in the next few weeks or something about your Ety's and uDac-2.  I'll try to take notes this time at the meet, so I can give some impressions, despite my lack of experience and expertise.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wharfrat 

Been reading through the posts...as I told Big Poppa, who was kind enough to remember me from the Redhook meet, I would be coming though I wasn't sure what setup to go with this time.  Seeing that there is so much fine equipment coming, I have decided to bring two amps with me this time and a different CD player.   Accordingly:

 

Rotel RCD-950

Lavry DA-10

Opera Audio Cyber 20 tube amp

ATH-2000 cans

Running Springs Haley

 

I also want to take time to visit with each of you as much as I can and learn more about what is out there.  I am interested in auditioning the Beta22 and Cavalli products and other cans I did not have much time with in July.  I will be bringing a professional sign language interpreter to assist with communications and such who will be with me from 12 to 2 pm Saturday...(I wish it would be much longer, but $45 an hour is a bit too much so ya'll better have something good to say, ha ha).

 

I will arrive about 9 am to setup and register....pardon me hobbling about as I have been doing so the past 4 weeks with a tendon injur.  It didn't stop me from 3 straight nights of Dead shows two weeks ago....pouring rain and all. (I will bring a CD of the first night's show, which had a second set that simply ripped my face from my head).

 

Be seeing you all.  I look forward to the grand camaraderie and lessons...

 

Didn't get a chance to really touch base with you at the last meet, but great to hear you're coming out again.  And don't worry, I'll probably be hobbling around too due to gout.  Fun stuff.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG POPPA 

All the details have been worked out. Front Panel Express is providing ten 8' tables besides the ones the have already. There will be enough room for people to spread out. Please Bring Power Strips. There is a Herfy's for food in the Parking lot. Did I miss anything?

Sweet man.  In case I'm a space cadet and don't remember after the meet, much thanks for the organizing and all for the meet.  I'll be sure to throw a surge protector in with my gear, but I definitely don't have anything fancy.  One of the things I want to invest a little in somewhere down the line, but the outlet in my bedroom is improperly grounded so lots of stuff wouldn't work as well in there.  Gotta figure out a solution to that sometime soon.

Very cool. Great gear and great people to talk to.

Yea.

The people I figured I could borrow couch space on Friday seem to be busy so I'll be showing up Saturday morning.  Looking forward to seeing you all and your gear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG POPPA 

Just got an email from Gary Koh of http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com/ he will be attending. Gary, Ken Garza, and Joe Pittman are all members of the Pacific Northwest Audio Society. Great wealth of knowledge. Then you have Doc B, Ken Ball , Alex Rossen and audiowize. If you have any questions this meet is the place to get the answers. You will have experts in everything here. Then all the DIY guys coming. If this is your first meet, This is a heck of a first meet to have.

 

Holy crapazoids..this is starting to sound better and better as it gets near.

So, I must admit that my boss is a little crazy.  Not only was she so generous that she insisted on donating our space this Saturday, but she gave me a very cross look when I announced that there would be a raffle and we would not need to donate anything.  There was a comment that went something like, "I want to donate an item, and it better be the &%*$".  

So, here you go!  This is a reasonably straight forward implementation of the Morgan Jones mini, but with a cranked up power supply!  B+ is now a shunt regulated 300V supply, and the heaters are now on their own separate DC supply (biased up for lower noise).  The tubes are buried in the chassis and accessible through the gold covers on top.  They also have bayonet shields for additional noise rejection.

The enclosure is really a combination of two pretty standard Front Panel Express enclosures.  The power supply is tucked away on its own, then all the feeds pass through an aluminum tube into the signal section.  

This is a pretty smooth sounding amp, and hopefully it will sell a few additional raffle tickets!

Love the amp. There are a ton of great raffle items. Setup is tomorrow. Cant wait.

Ok not really meet-related per se but I got into Seattle this morning and spent the day in and around the area. First I went to Microsoft's main campus in Bellevue (ok so I'm sort of a computer nerd) which was actually kinda cool, then I jumped on a Ride the Ducks trip (which was really cool), then I checked out Seattle Center briefly, and then Westlake Center briefly (the monorail between them was awesomely convenient I have to say), and then went back to Seattle Center for dinner at Racha's Noodles (which was awesomely tasty btw), then I just hung around for a bit to soak in the city at night. Felt like a long day, tired now. For tomorrow I'm trying to decide between checking out the Pike St Market area or taking the ferry between Seattle and Bainbridge Island. The ferry is probably the obvious choice, right?

The ferry ride would be a nice trip on a beautiful day. Also if you want to go 45 min. east of seattle you may like snoqualime falls. You packed a lot into one day for your first day.

That settles it then, I'll do the ferry. And no offense to Snoqualime Falls or anything but I get enough of the outdoor scenery in Colorado, so probably won't be doing that. I planned out most of my trip itinerary in advance (though there was some spontaneity today too) since there's a lot in the city I wanted to see (and more to do tomorrow). No time for downtime, I always keep moving! Probably won't have time to really relax until meet day.

Quote:

For tomorrow I'm trying to decide between checking out the Pike St Market area or taking the ferry between Seattle and Bainbridge Island. The ferry is probably the obvious choice, right?

Plenty of time to do both. The ferry trip is only about 1-1/2 hours round trip. I'd invite you to our new office on Bainbridge, but we'll have the system torn down to pack up for tomorrow, so there won't be anything to listen to.

Depending upon your tastes there are several great places to eat in Pike Market. I like Campagne Bistro and Place Pigalle, and Etta's is very good too. For something less spendy the cheese shop makes some righteous macncheese and the steamed Cha Siu Bau at Mee Sum are pretty good, if not quite up to San Francisco standards. And you will want to at least see the original Starbucks store ( there is far better espresso to be had in Seattle than that dreck - I suggest Cafe Umbria in Pioneer Square, it is a long walk from Pike Market but not too far from the ferry terminal). There's a really fine newsstand and of course the famous fish market. Pike and Western wine is a fine shop too. Oh and I suppose you have to go down to the alley and see the gum wall...getting pretty gross these days.