Amazing Bay Area Meet 2/19/11 Impressions Thread!

Quote:

Originally Posted by epocs 

Hi guys,

 

I had joked with CEE TEE that he should start an impressions thread but he has clearly contributed enough to this awesome day. I'll post my impressions later but I thought I would at least start off the impressions thread.

 

 

Great meeting you all today!

My impressions....

It was very impressive. N3rdling is a legend.

I am sad because of all the things I don't have.

I had fun though! Great day!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdraluck23 

I am sad because of all the things I don't have.

Sad is having everything.  Luckily in this sport there is almost no such thing.  ;-)

Really... CEE TEE, this is like the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.  I feel sorry for the poor sucker who has to top this one.  Maybe that will be you!  =p

A few random pics- I put the rest on Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/21622716@N02/sets/72157626092373196/

Oh yeah- and it was super COOL meeting you all.  Some of you don't even look like your avatars. 

My first head-fi meet and it was pretty overwhelming for me, in a good way ;).  It was very cool to try out so many different setups(amps, cans sources) that you only read about on this site, Horio's vinyl rig with the phoenix was pretty awesome!!  Everything was really interesting, from Audez'e to the Stax.  Thank you all for coming down with your gear and giving us an opportunity to listen to some amazing gear.  I have learned a lot from this and it gave me some ideas and direction in my headphone setup :D.  Thank you CEE TEE for making such a great event!!

 CEE TEE outdid himself with this meet. Thanks my friend -- all participants and vendors are in your debt for your super organizing job!

Thanks also to the many MOTs who brought their products for us to sample and talk about. Very educational for those of us who are not veterans of many events like this.

There were something like 100 attendees and 3 rooms full of tables laden with gear  both familiar and exotic -- way more than anybody could sample without hustling. I made some good personal contacts to follow up on, and expect that many others did as well. There was a lot of merry conversation, a plus for contacts and information, but a bit of a minus as far as listening carefully to open cans is concerned.

I really enjoyed talking at length to both Mike and Jason from Schiit -- thanks a million for making the trip all the way from SoCal, gentlemen!!. I will turn to them soon for a purchase if I can't get my new DIY amp to work properly. I was not cut out to put together a complex amplifier.

In that regard, Ti Kan from amb was a great source of final-assembly advice -- thanks Ti!

I took along my K601 and K702 to compare them using my own music with other phones to see if I can identify units that are sufficiently superior to require upgrading. The LCD-2 and HD800 are contenders, but I was able to establish only that in that environment I could not establish anything definitively. I'd need more time in a quiet setting with a lot of different kinds of music.

However, on a Woo amp playing one piece of somebody else's music, a vintage K340 knocked out both my much newer cans -- they were distorting the bass grotesquely while the old-timer rendered it with ease. I didn't have much time by then to figure out why, nor did  I get a chance to try my own CD. More follow-up necessary.

I came away with the impression  that a big event like this is an extremely useful opportunity to see and/or sample a lot of gear for the purpose of identifying pieces to focus on in other ways.

....I REALLY wish I could drive to get to meets!!

Here are some pics I took at the event: http://www.amb.org/ti/audio/headfi20110219/

Check it out.

Thanks CEE TEE for your hard work to put this great event together.  Very much appreciated!

Thanks for the photos.  The gear looks incredible.  That Nagra Reel deck is off the charts cool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by renlute 

I really enjoyed talking at length to both Mike and Jason from Schiit -- thanks a million for making the trip all the way from SoCal, gentlemen!!. I will turn to them soon for a purchase if I can't get my new DIY amp to work properly. I was not cut out to put together a complex amplifier.

Those amps are even more gorgeous in person.  I don't need one but I want to get one anyway to use as a paper weight or something- maybe even something to keep my coffee warm. 

As for ideas for the next event, a few of us were saying that it might be nice to bring all of the IEM tips that we don't use (by the very nature of it, 2/3rds of them) and do a swap.  I know I have a bunch of 'S' and 'L' tips that will never ever be used and someone out there has 'M's that I would love to have.  Nothing big here- just remember to throw them in a baggie and bring 'em.

I wanted to wait until the meet...er, met expectations and it seemed as if everyone had a great experience...

The Bay Area Meet would like to Sincerely Thank:

Veterans whose spirit and advice made the meet possible and successful:

• jp11801 impetus/advice/paved the way
• Voltron paved the way...

Members and attendees:

• renlute- support/advice/maps to dinner/original interest thread
• mkubota- signs/raffle fishbowl/sleep deprivation to make signs so nice
• migsmack- Power Strip and Extension Kit!
• KevinBrown- my great friendship with him inspired me to organize
• Susan- my co-worker saved the day by checking everyone in

Couldn't make it to the meet but gave great moral support (better see you next time):

• mikemalter- hope you feel better!
• FLACvest- hope you feel better too!

Members

Vets

Vendors...

All showed up in FORCE.

In the rain & from as far as:

• Seattle
• New York
• Nevada
• SoCal

You packed your gear, you arranged time off with significant others, you braved the roads, the weather, the lack of hairnets...what can I say?

I only listened to a few things but some of them just had me laughing because I didn't know it was possible to hear that in a headphone.  And you were all so nice.  Thanks for that!

Thank you to Ultimate Ears...you brought FIVE raffle prizes (including a Squeezebox Touch), an Audiologist, and 25% off custom orders (with free impressions).

Thank you to Doc B. of Bottlehead who donated a Bottlehead Crack DIY Amp Kit...

Thank you to Fang of HeadDirect/HIFIMan who donated TWO RE262's to the raffle.

Thank you to my friend Robert Rich who donated (3) of his latest album, "Ylang" to the raffle.

Thank you to NuForce for loaning some gear.

Thank you to Schiit for the sneak peek at LYR.

So What's Next???

• Need a Fall Date for the next Bay Area Meet
• Need the next Organizer (I will help!)
• Don't need a Deposit!  (Paying it forward from this meet!!!)

                              ...and even contributing $150 to H.E.A.D.!!!

(Please post pictures, impressions, hints for the next meet, thoughts about the next date, and if you are game to be the Next Bay Area Meet Man.  I can tell you that it is TOTALLY rewarding.  I had no idea where Head-Fi was going to take me but I am so glad...we've got ourselves a fun hobby and a great community.)

Pleasure to meet you all and hope it is just the beginning!

CEE TEE

Got home more than an hour faster than Google thought I could 

Thank you CEETEE and Susan for putting this together and spending so much time making sure everybody was settled!  Great hosts.  

I drove up to the meet because it's been a while since I've gone to a big meet and I've never been to a NorCal meet before but always wished I had.  You guys are a great group; everybody was nice to talk to and handled gear with care. :)  I also wanted people to get a chance to hear some headphones that are kinda rare.  The responses were overwhelming, thanks so much for the compliments!  I'm glad that more people got exposed to electrostats as I really think they should be more popular than they are but they can be intimidating to research.  Maybe we have some new Stax converts in the making. 

I listened to almost nothing, but I did hear the HE6 and ATH-W11R briefly.  They both sounded nice.  The HE6 actually sounded pretty similar to the LCD2 in my system.  I would say the HE6 is brighter than the LCD2.  The HE6 has a better sense of air in recordings while the LCD2 has more bass.  The midranges sounded very similar.  The W11R I've never heard before and it caught me off guard.  Quite a nice headphone, though it seems it is extremely difficult to find.  If they were more common I think they would be extremely popular on this forum.  The midrange in particular was very nice.  I also listened to the HD800 in my system since I've always wondered what it'd sound like from the Menace.  I have to say that it was one of the few times I wasn't bothered by the treble peak.  I think HD800s may like OTL amps, but I'll have to listen more at a future time.  There were a few things I didn't get around to listening to that I regret not hearing now.  I was interested in hearing the Schiit Lyr and those reel to reel rigs, and am bummed that I forgot to listen to the Stax 507s. :(  Oh well, I'll hear them eventually.

It was nice to meet all of you, this was a great meet.  I don't remember anybody's username (I'm really bad with names) but I do remember a lot of faces, who's who? :p

n3rdling, you blew our minds (many of us said the very same thing)...thank you for that drive/share and we're glad that you are home safely!

Here are a few I was able to snap:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mkubota1 

 

 

That Stax on the stand... what is it supposed to be?