It was lots of fun. It had been a while since I tried such a variety of truly high end gear.
For starters I really enjoyed listening to electrostats again. Danny's electrostatics were very detailed and very easy to listen to as electrostatics always seem to be. They just have a special kind of smoothness to them is the only why I know to explain it.
For me the HE-6 stole the show. I was hoping to have the new Beyerdynamic T1s to listen to but the HE-6 filled that gap nicely. They were so good, in fact, that in my mind the HE-6 and T1 are now tied in the running for my next pair of cans. I would love to hear the two side by side. This was my first chance to really get a feel for the sound of the HE-6. At first I started off thinking these sound very nice but within about 10 seconds their was some new level of detail that caught me off guard. One of those moments where the sound is so awesome you can't believe what you just heard. I really liked these cans. The HE-6s highs were present but not exaggerated. I started by listening to them on the TTVJ Millett 307A which is very nice but not as warm as you would typically expect from a tube amp.
Next I tried them on the Woo Audio 22. This was again that same incredible sound. I even tried the Woo with two different balanced DACs and the results were the same.
To answer the previous posters question the HE-6 is harder to drive than the average can. If you look close you can see where the volume knob is on the Woo.
Once again there were K1000s at the meet. I didn't listen to them this time around.
The Ultrasone ED 10 (with new pads) hit it out of the park. These were hands down the most liked cans at the meet and for good reason. I will not comment on the sound because I don't think they were fully broken in at the time.
Look how well they go with this dummy's eyes. :)
The HD800s were fun to try again. I have only ever heard one amp that I thought made them sound better than their lower priced competition. That was the Apex Pinnacle which I later found out costs a cool $10,000.
This is the setup I brought this time around. Cans not pictured.
You'll notice the DAC isn't lit up. I managed to pull one of the RCA connectors out of the back while setting up. It was the left one if anyone cares. I guess its a balanced only DAC at the moment.
I don't have much more to contribute so the rest is just more pics from the meet.
Here's an action shot.
Look at this mess...
Did anyone tell Danny his CD logo is upside down?
