NYC Spring 2011 Meet March 19th Impressions and Pictures - Page 2  

Ha!  I've used the nikkor 85mm F/1.8 in meets for a few years now, and looking at your photos leesure really look familiar.

Had a great time! First meet cherry has been broken. I listened to alot of cans that I have been considering buying, which has helped choices a bunch. Also hearing all the cans that I will not be buying anytime soon, to save my wallet from a heart attack. Thanks to all you meet vets for being so cool. SiBurning, Nikon, Sphinx, and everyone at my table in the diner, it was awesome getting to know all you guys and I can't wait to see you guys at the next one. I have a couple ideas for some projects to be done before the next meet so we'll see how it goes.

LiqTenExp,

 

Must be me. I really can't tell one room from the other--was mostly teasing, anyway. Thanks for the cool pictures.

It was good seeing you guys again. I lisened only to Ari's HD800 and they were amazing. Dinner was fun as usual and always the best part of any meet.
 

xtcriott, hope you got home OK.

Edited by MrSlacker - 3/19/11 at 8:47pm

You're in the 1st one!!

Leesure--really nice shots!

Thank you!
 

 

The meet was a lot of fun. Heard some amazing sounding setups, and got some great veteran to newbie audio advice, especially from Warp08 and El_Doug, so thanks guys.

 

I decided I liked the HiFiMan EF5 with my Denon 7000s so much that I bought it. You can't argue with discounts like $400 dropped to $280. Fang sold it to me from the trunk of his car (caught him just before he drove away) while I stood on the curb and paypaled the cash from my iphone. The modern world, huh?

 

Listening to my (first proper) setup now - iTunes, RME Babyface DAC, EF5, Denon 7000s - fantastic clarity and power, just what I wanted.

Photos:

 

 

This meet was an eye-opener for me, thanks to all who made it possible.  I've gained some serious perspective listening to all the different set-ups, demo'ing my own headphones on different gear and having some great conversations.  It was a blast.

 

I started my Head-fi journey with some HD650s not too long ago, and while I was satisfied with the sound I was getting from my Audio-GD entry level amp/DAC I wasn't exactly thrilled.  One of the main reasons I wanted to come to this meet was to get the 650s to really sing.  Oh yeah, and I brought the K701s I bought used last week along too, just for kicks.  

 

Well about five hours into the meet and after demo'ing the 650s with the Mieir Corda Concerto, Schit Lyr, Woo Audio WA6SE, and Woo Audio WA22 I was seriously underwhelmed.  I don't think I could have thrown much more at them, and they still underwhelmed with them.  Every can I heard today impressed me more than my 650s did.  One of them happened to be the K701s I'd brought along as an after thought.  My main gripe with the K701s isn't the usual one: lack of bass (I find it adequate on 95% of songs), it's a strange thin-ness to the vocals they have, finding an amp that solved that problem was something I wanted to accomplish.  

 

Well Leesure's WA6SE was up to the task and more, it was haunting with the K701s.  The Woo Audio WA22 was also upto the task, even more amazing with the K701s, the HD800s, and almost anything you plug into it.  Braswell and a few others agreed with my impressions.  While we were floored with how good the K701s were for the price, we also agreed the HD650s were probably the most disappointing (of all the cans on the table w/ the WA22 at the time: K701s / Stax MK I / T1 / HD800 / LCD2s / HE-6).  My HD650s will be on sale very soon.  I'll be using the funds towards a tube amp for the K701s.  Overall very helpful meet.

 

Here are my thoughts on some of the high ends I cannot afford anytime soon:

 

The most underwhelming of the bunch to me was the LCD-2s.  While they sounded best off Red Wine Audio's Isabellina, and pretty darn good out of the Lyr, I still prefer most of the other flagships over them.  The HD800s have very impressive technical prowess, I tried them with two of NikonGod's DIY amps and  Headroom's Balanced Desktop but I felt they sounded most magical off of the Woo WA22.  The T1 was a bit too bright for my tastes.  I also found the HE-6 a bit bright.  My first encounter with the K-1000s (bass heavy) was a positive one, I was taken aback.  The Sony MDR-R10s (bass heavy) just disappeared, this is all they did, they have a disappearing sound signature.  I don't think you can ask for much more from headphones.  The Sony Qualias are just as impressive, both were run off Warp08's RSA Apache.  Both these headphones are my benchmarks.  Audio nirvana is a very casual and frequent thing with them.  Unfortunately, didn't have a chance to listen to the MDR-R10s off of the Woo Audio WA22.

 

Thank you all.  Leesure, great pictures, thanks for lugging all your gear out from Pennsylvania, especially that Woo!  Warp08, thanks for taking the time out to take me through all your incredible headphones.  Everyone else, it was a pleasure hanging out with all.

Edited by sphinxvc - 3/20/11 at 9:49am

What's that silver amp with the lid off and about 6 transistors per side?  Dynahi?

It is nice headphone stand where can I buy it? Thanks

 

 

 

Edited by knopi - 4/6/11 at 7:35am

Thank you very much...I made it myself though.

 

Although the turn out was a bit lighter than the last few meets, it was still great, and the best part was just hanging out and chatting with many of the folks there.   I got there a little bit late, and because I was having so much fun talking (mainly, but not only) with some of the old vets I didn't spend too much time actually listening to many rigs.  I did spend some quality time listening to Tom's HP1's - and it was hard to pull myself away from them.  I did an A/B with the JH13 and JH16 (with universals) and reminded myself that I still much prefer the JH13s.  Had an interesting listen to the UE18 and UE References, and oddly preferred the UE18 for some reason (the reverse of the JH13 vs. JH16).  Loved listening, too, and simply admiring, Ari's original RS-1.    Also heard an interesting, but polite, point-counterpoint discussion regarding Ray Samuels gear.  Better to hear this stuff live than on-line.  Unfortunately, I spent most of my in the annex room, so didn't really see or hear much in the main room.

 

Bottom line:  With or without the gear, these meets are fantastic simply for the great folks who come out to them.  I had a ball - thanks for another great one!

Edited by 563 - 3/20/11 at 6:33am