I agreed that a date and and place should be agreed as soon as possible ( and we should stick to it) so everybody would have time to get themselves organised. 

16th or 29th of April in London would be ideal for me but looking at EddiE's map it looks like Birmingham would be a good compromise. A poll seems like a great idea.

If not the 9th, then the 23rd for me in Manchester or Birmingham.

Any of the dates are fine with me as long as it's decided fairly well in advance.

I'd prefer to go to these places in order.

1. London

2. Birmingham

3. Manchester


Shall we say with the dates that the city with the most votes by the end of January is the place to hold it? Maybe someone in those cities could start looking at suitable venues. Obviously Manchester has a suitable venue that we know of so maybet he dates could be checked to see if it's available?

As per MusiCol's opening (edited) post, please can those interested in attending list any gear they're willing to bring along? Other than having enough sponsors with lots of gear to look at, it's people willing to bring along their own gear which will make the meet interesting and a success (plus I would say UK based sponsors are less likely to have any of the more exotic/further afield gear).

 

Here's my modest list of stuff I will bring:

 

Headphones
Sennheiser HD 25-1 II
Sennheiser HD 650
Westone UM3X

 

Amplification
Little Dot I+ Hybrid
Meier Audio CORDA STEPDANCE
Little Dot MK IV SE

 

DAC
Nuforce uDac 2
Little Dot DAC_I

 

A fairly meager and not uncommon selection I know - please help us build on this!

 

For example, it'd be great to see any amps by Woo, DIY (i.e. AMB M^3 and B22), the Senn HD800, Beyer T1, any Orthodynamics and an Audio-Gd DAC or two... (Not that I just reeled off my personal wish list or anything...! ).

 

It would also be really useful to get a list of UK suppliers for us to approach. The ones I know of off the top off my head are (at least I think they're all UK based):

 

http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/

 

http://www.iheadphones.co.uk/

 

http://www.ampcity.co.uk/ (these guys have got some interesting gear)

 

They don't necessarily have to be dedicated headphone suppliers if they've got some interesting source gear, etc.

 

i.e. http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/ has a nice headphone section on their website.

 

Then of course there are the UK based amp makers such as Graham Slee, etc.

 

Lastly we might be able to get one or two of the UK headphone manufacturer reps. to come along, Sennheiser, etc.

 

Bit of a rambling/unfocused post I know, but if you can help us build a list of gear that'll be at the event and potential suppliers to approach, that should really help peak peoples' interest and generate some real momentum.

 

To further echo MusiCol, there's still the small matter of agreeing a date, location and venue, so please keep posting your views on this!

 

Lastly if anyone is willing to dedicate some time to help us organise this, so we can divy up what will be a large to-do list, that would be fantastic and would significantly increase the chances of this going ahead and being a success.

 

Many Thanks.

 

I'm going to do some reading up on past events and get in touch with previous organisers to see what I can learn and add to the good start MusiCol has made on listing everything we need to cover off and will post back soon.

If I go I can bring the following.

Fiio e9 amp and Fiio e7 dac.

Fischer Audio FA-003, Sony mdr-xb700, denon ah-c751 headphones.

RE dates, I've just found out a close friend is marrying on 16/04/2011, so this is a date I cannot make unfortunately. Out of fairness, please add 09/04/2011 back in (thanks for orginally removing it though). I don't want my calendar to reduce options for people just because I'm involved in organising the event. Perhaps we could also include the first weekend in May to widen options for people?

 

Sorry for adding confusion . I'll ensure I block out the rest of April/beginning of May.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Awesome, thanks gavinfabl - I hope you can make it! I've heard good things about Fiio's gear so it'd be interesting to have a listen.  

Edited by jr41 - 1/3/11 at 3:29am

With the majority of attendees within an hour of London and the only large headfi meet in this country already having been in Manchester, I think London is the best location, if that proves impossible Birmingham would be the second choice.

 

If it is in London, we could also more conveniently extend the invite to European headfiers as well to increase numbers. If we don't cover all the costs with sponsorship then it will have to be split between attendees as a "ticket price" so the more the better.

 

In terms of what I could bring, I have the Stax SR-303, beyerdynamic ET1000, Yamaha HP-1, AKG K270 Playback, Alessandro MS1000, Jecklin Float Model Two and an Ultrasone HFI 780 on the way as well. 

 

If I've sold my Meier Audio Cantate.2 by then I may well try out the Hifiman HE-4 and if so would bring that too.

Thanks EddieE, sound like you've got some good kit to bring along. I'd love to try the Stax.

I also think it would be fairer to host this one in London providing the venue isn't significantly more expensive.

Birmingham is perfect for me, im luke warm on Manchester but London makes alot more sense.

Dates arn't important for me, havn't got anything penciled in that far in advance yet.

I'll bring my rig along which will include 

Laptop -> Cary Xciter Dac -> SPL Phonitor and Whiplash V2 Recabled HD800s

Some very nice gear you've got there 03029174, looking forward to having a listen!

Edited by jr41 - 1/3/11 at 6:57am

Ok, if i can dig out my passport i'm sure i can make it down to London . Would be good if venue has digs nearby.

 

Gear i will bring : Macbook - db audiolabs Tranquility usb dac - Darkvoice 337se amp - SAA Endorphin cabled HD650s

Ok, so here is what I hope is a fairly accurate indication of interest/preference so far: 

Dates

 

02/04/11	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y	5
09/04/11	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	6
16/04/11	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
23/04/11	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
30/04/11	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
07/05/11	Y					Y	Y	3
14/05/11	Y					Y	Y	3

 

Attendees

Nuwidol

MusiCol

JR41

EddiE

Binkobonko

03029174

Zenpunk

Bizzel

hardtarget666

JoetheArachnid

alvin sawdust

zychan1

seroxatmad

Location

 

London

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

10

Manchester

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

8

Birmingham

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

6

  

Equipment

Source

Macbook Air

Laptop

DAC

Fiio E9

Nuforce UDAC II

Little Dot DAC_I

Cary Xciter Dac

Amplification

Fiio E7

Little Dot MK I

Little Dot MK IV SE

Meier Audio CORDA STEPDANCE

SPL Phonitor

Headphone

Fischer Audio FA-003

Sony mdr-xb700

Denon ah-c751

Sennheiser HD 25-1 II

Sennheiser HD 650

Westone UM3X

Stax SR-303

Beyerdynamic ET1000

Yamaha HP-1

AKG K270 Playback

Alessandro MS1000

Jecklin Float Model Two

Ultrasone HFI 780

Sennheiser HD800 (Whiplash V2 Recabled)

 

I'll re-post this listing regularly with updates.

 

As soon as people are able to commit to particular dates and give a definite indication of location preference (if you haven't done so already) it will be possible to form a definitive view. A poll really would help with this

 

I like the earlier suggestion that if we go with London (which does appear to be the most popular choice), we can extend the invitation to our European (even international) friends. The trick will be choosing a venue which is easily accessible via public transport and road and isn't too expensive (i.e. somewhere accessible via tube but isn't central London).

Edited by jr41 - 1/3/11 at 5:33am