Nor-Cal Feb 11/2012 Impressions Thread - Page 4  

Wish I could've stayed longer. Was an awesome meet. :(

Thanks to CeeTee and everybody for a very intresting "first meet".  

I brought the Manley 300b neo preamlifier which was used as both a Stax (with Spritzer mod SRD 7 pro and normal bias transformer) and a dynamic earphone amp.  This was also my first meet as an equipment displayer.  I can see why guys come in pairs, one to man the display and one to forage to the other rigs for listening.

Unfortunately, because I was hosting my own stuff, i did not get to hear nearly as much as I would have liked, didn't even go into any other rooms than the "quiet room."  Luckily, the "quiet room"  had most of the stuff I would have liked to see anyway.

I finally got to see Orpheus 90 and Stax 009 in the flesh, as well as hear a bit, but difficult to draw sweeping conclusions. Orpheus 90 is sweet and seductive, not as incisive as I thought it might be, but the standard amp does seem a little underpowered for the device.

Had enjoyable conversations with Frank Cooter as well as the opportunity to enjoy his works of art, a treat to the mind and eye as well the ear.

I apologize to member calaf for conveying the impression that I have four Manley 300b preamps, I have only one, which I use as a preamp, stax amp and dynamic headspeaker amp, but I do have a variety of other tube preamps that I use in various ways in my complex home audio system.

Was nice to hear the impressions of many younger ears and get to hear their headphones as they brought them by my spot.  The ultrasone Ed8 seemed to be a hit with all who listened to them through the Manley.

I start to regret that did not get a costomized UE4 on the meeting. I think the total might come to 280$ after discount, which even including a free impression. Maybe I get this done next meeting.   

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxvla 

Yeah UE discounts at the meets are nice. Free impression and in my case 20% off made my UERM $800 instead of $1000 + impressions ($50-100). Not sure who your main rep was there, but Jeanette Coffey was very helpful at RMAF and in contact via email regarding a refit. They fit perfectly now and sound great as well.

Yes, it was Jeanette. She is great.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by daigo 

Thanks to CEETEE for running a smooth meet again.  I know Christian put a lot of time and energy into organizing everything and I'm sure all attendees today really appreciated all of his efforts.  Also a big thanks to Susan for coming to welcome everyone with a big smile and helping with being the receptionist for the meet.  

 

It was great to chat with and see everyone again.  Had a good time chatting with my neighbors Clayton SF, particleman10, shipsupt, mkubota1, and shane55.  Also chatted with many others throughout the day, though my terrible memory betrays me again.  

 

Really enjoyed the big audio technica showing at the meet, W3000ANV (purrin), L3000 (mikeymad) and W5000 (head-fier who set up his gear in the lobby that I cannot remember the name of).  Really solidified my bias toward their cans and further pushing me toward picking up some W3000ANV's while they are still available new.  

 

Other highlights included Clayton SF's Leben CS300XS, n3rdling's everything, and the various AKG K1000 set up's (there were four of them, I think, and they were were all great).  

 

It is always a pleasure to spend a day listening to great music with great people.  

 

Edit:  Sorted through my bad pictures and posted a few of them here.

http://www.head-fi.org/gallery/album/view/id/564454/user_id/137491#

Totally agree with this. Didn't hear all the Audio Technica stuff, but heard the L3000s and they blew me away. Also, thanks to Mikey for selling me his K1Ks 

I had a great time at the meet. I'm still a newbie, so I couldn't really hear much difference between many of the headphones, but I still had a lot of fun. I loved Particleman14's Compact hybrid tube amp so much, I bought one from the Head-fi classifieds right away. His Beta 22 amp also sounded great; I could hear so much detail in the music, although I liked the bass sound from the Compact hybrid tube amp better. Sachu's Liquid Lightning was fantastic too. Thank you to everyone for making this a great meet!

It was also my first time to attend this kind of meetings, and I really had lots of fun. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to such a great meeting.

Special thanks to Clayton SE with his Leben CS300 (or CS300XS?). I've never imagined that DT990 can sound this good.

It seems that my wallet will be happily murdered by some beautiful toys that I tried today.

Cee Tee! You simply rock. Thank you so much. Eileen and I were agreeing that this was the best Head Fi event we've been to yet and that's quite a feat considering the amazing job jpnumbers has done at previous Bay Area meets and Can Jam. The room arrangement was great, the gear was diverse and the enthusiasm level was extreme. I even managed to sneak away and listen to some gear I hadn't had a chance to hear before. You're setting the bar very high. I know the Seattle group is watching with great interest, as we are hitting a level of participation up there that is just about where the Bay Area meets were a few years ago. There were lots of great ideas for local Head Fi groups around the world to emulate, like the vendor room and the quiet room.

My only request is a few more Orpheus setups at the next one. ;^)> Hard to get the guy ahead of you to stop listening so you could get a turn. I brought a pretty girl into the quiet room with me (mastering engineer Piper Payne) as a little bit of nerd intimidation, and even that couldn't nudge 'em. A very smooth "vintage state of the art" sound. Many thanks to n3rdling for sharing them. The surprise of the event for me was how nice the HE-6 sounded. There is a big LCD-2 following up north, and I think those guys should give the HE-6 a listen

Yes, major props to Cee Tee. This was only my second ever Head-Fi meet up; the other hosted by Bottlehead in Bainbridge, WA so thanks for another GREAT event. 

Tons of awesome setups and a wide collection of cans. Definitely was impressed with the upper-end of the Audio-Technica line up, especially MikeyMadd's L3000s on the Woo Wa5. The Eddie Current amps sounded great, and the new ECSS is a great bargain and was capable of powering my HE-6s. 

Bottlehead's S.E.X. 2.1 amp also sounded great on the HE-6s.

I don't know how I missed the Orpheus setup, but it was most likely due to the herd of people hovering around it 

Thanks for n3rdling for letting me hear his headphones for quite a while ( sorry, Doc B ). The Orpheus is still the ONE, the sound is just beautiful. This is not a 100% faithful rig, but the sound is just lush, smooth with something magic going on there. Time stops when putting these on. n3rdling told me the orpheus is still his go to system now even with 009 sitting aside. It is also great to know that O2 is still his favorite phone for Rock because of more bass and other quality. The comment quenched my desire for a 009 system and probably saved my marriage .

Bang for buck system in my opinion is the Lyr/HE6 combo for modern music, pop, hiphop, rock... the extension is superb to both high and low ends. The presentation is energitic at both ends too.

The LCD3 is another story, even less comfortable than already very bad LCD2. The sound might be over all a little bit more smooth than LCD2, but the difference is quite subtle. I think these headphones are just rushed out to compete at the high end price range without being competent. I choose HE6 with a Lyr any day over the LCD3.  

Wow, so much praise for the HE-6's. I don't think I had a chance to try them out. Maybe next year! I agree that the LCD2 and 3 were not very comfortable.