Denver, NC meet Impressions, January 20, 2013........AKA Charlotte area meet - Page 2  

Thanks all - from the newb.

I got to listen to some great gear before I got called out early.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Defiant00 


There contact info is here: http://verdictridge.com/contact/

Many thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevtt 

I knew I'd forgotten to do something. I forgot to run the HE-6's off the speaker taps.

Everything I listened to in that room sounded good. I think in this case it just came down to equipment match ups and personal preferences.

My man goal yesterday was to test a few select headphones on the Rogue Audio Tempest III integrated amp.

Thanks to everyone who let me dominate their headphones for that length of time. And thanks to everyone who let me corral them into sitting and comparing with me. I know it probably got to be a test of patience putting up with my switching music back and forth.

First thing is this amp can handle everything we threw at it even the HE-6's. Hd 800's, D7000's, LCD 2's and LCD 3's all sounded great.

However my preference went back to the LCD's and there is the problem. The difference in the two are so slight and so genre specific that at times it was like splitting hairs. Even after giving it a few hours of thinking I can't put my finger on it (maybe some else can describe it) or decide if the LCD 3's are worth the extra cost.

What is certain is that I don't need another headphone amp. Kudos to Rogue Audio. Check them out sometime.

Danny's corner looked like one big freakin candy store.

Alex, huge pat on the back. By the way after a couple hours that mannequin started talking to me...

Danny I was wrong, blue is your color.

While it's a night and day difference to me that the LCD-3 are superior to the LCD-2, I don't think it justifies their cost.

They're a great pair of headphones, but I'd never pay $2K for a pair.

I might pay something like $1.3K tops.

Alex did a great job in organizing the Meet which was a wonderful way to spend a day. 

I brought a bunch of stuff to the Meet which was a pain in the butt given all the lifting and carrying especially for an old dud....I mean dude like me. Fortunately, several people pitched in and helped and that was greatly appreciated.

While it was a lot more work to bring everything it was well worth it when I see feedback about the various pieces of equipment suggesting to me that people enjoyed checking out the equipment. For me, it is very satisfying to see others enjoy this hobby and to see their passion when it comes to audio, especially when I can be a part in facilitating that effort. 

All in all, it was a great day and I look forward to additional Meets. 

Alex, thanks for putting the meet together.  It was very enjoyable.

Although it was fantastic to have so much gear and so many pairings to sample in a day, I have to say that meeting everyone and getting the chance to discuss this silly hobby was the highlight of my afternoon.  So thanks to all who showed up.

Stevtt,  the half hour or so I spent comparing the 2s and 3s on your Rogue was great.  I'm just glad we were trying to spend your money and not my wife's.  Just remember that after you make your choice and you have those nagging little doubts whether you made the right one or not, that you had a beast of a time deciding.  So there were obviously multiple things about each that were enjoyable.  I'd be willing to bet that everyone you sat down with on Sunday said the same thing I did:  You're gonna be happy with either of of these.

Vernon, thanks for giving me a few minutes with the Bottlehead as you were trying to pack up and leave.  That thing was incredible with the HD650s, and rockets to the top of my build next list.  Very nice.  I'm interested to hear your impressions of the upgrade when they decide to send it to you.

I would like to echo the Thank You to Alex for putting this together.  It was wonderful to meet everyone and to listen to all the different equipment floating around the room.  Thanks so much to Ardgedee for letting me dominate his portable amps for most of the day.  From that I was able to experience first hand what everyone means when they say that each headphone has different synergy with different amps.

Here are some of my impressions.

Neco Soundlabs Portable-V3 & Grado RS1i.  I got this amp and my Grado RS1i in October.  I have been breaking them in the old fashioned way - by listening to them.  I am probably between 100 and 150 hours by now.  The thing that I have been concerned with is that I felt like I was experiencing a collapsed sound stage with this setup.  The Neco V3 and the Grados are extremely clear, clean, and in your face.  I do like the sound, but find myself turning up the volume more than I probably should.  I talked to Ardgedee and he tried out the Neco V3 with his IEM and he nailed what I was hearing.  (Paraphrasing now, so correct me if needed) - He said that the soundstage was wide enough, but it seemed extremely linear.  So that is what I think I was missing.  Depth of the sound stage.

My primary objective for the day was to try out the RSA SR71-B with the Grados.

RSA SR71-B & Grado RS1i.  When I tried out this setup, I regained the soundstage that I was looking for.  It was wider, and deeper than the Neco V3 with deep bass and just ever so slightly curtailing the brightness of the Grados without impacting the clarity.  This made me extremely happy because I was afraid that I had err'd in my choice of headphones and amp.  Now I know that I like the headphones immensely, and that I just need a new amp to help it out.

Meier Porta Corda III & Grado RS1i.  This combo sounded very similar to the RSA SR71-B.  Again, I found soundstage depth, deep bass, and warm, clear, but not overly bright highs.  Both sounded good with the Grados.

The changes came when I tried the Ultimate Ears TF-10s with the 3 amps.  The Neco sounds good.  But with the SR71 and Corda, one of them sounded completely off.  (Unfortunately I don't remember which one, so I'm not going to guess.)  That was the second ah-ha moment for me where it drove home the synergy point.  Some amps can sound wonderful with your headphones, and some not so much.

Neco Soundlabs V3 & Senn HD-800.  I only got a few minutes with this setup, but it was enough to really show how much of a quality amp the Neco V3 is.  With the HD800, the soundstage was deep and wide.  Neco had plenty of power to drive it.  And I think it sounded wonderful.  Next time I would like to spend a little more time on that combo.

Art.  Thanks again for all the help and discussion.  I would definitely be interested in an RDU mini meet or get together.  And thank you for the "Welcome to Head-fi, and sorry for your wallet."

I will wrap up this impression for now and maybe post some other things later.  I figure this is long enough, and I need more posts to my name so I can eventually edit my profile and stuff.  (I think there is a minimum number of posts before that can happen.  Or something like that.  I'm still learning.)

So, I got a chance to compare the HE 500 and my HD 600. Would you believe a preferred the HD600? I found the HE500 just didn't have the extension in the highs of the HD600. It gave me the impression the the 500 was a bit more on the warm side than the 600. 

Now the HE-6...something about the vocals and highs (cymbal work especially) was simply astounding. They have such a feeling of realism about them without losing their musicality. 

But for me, the highlight of the show was the HD800. I'm in love. The sound stage, the detail, the ....wow. From a guy who loves the HD600, the 800 is like a 600 on steroids.

I got a listen to the M 50. I prefer my 840. The 50 just felt kinda cheap build quality wise. I also didn't like the bass. It just seemed to lack a bit of control. 

I also tried the SR80i my first experience with a Grado (...don't judge ). I have to say it was quite nice. It reminded me a lot of my Phiaton MS 300. Both fantastic can for rock. 

All in all it was a great time. I wish i could have stayed for the whole thing. But mothers....can't live without them, can't be a headphone addict with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thecansmancan 

So, I got a chance to compare the HE 500 and my HD 600. Would you believe a preferred the HD600? I found the HE500 just didn't have the extension in the highs of the HD600. It gave me the impression the the 500 was a bit more on the warm side than the 600. 

 

Now the HE-6...something about the vocals and highs (cymbal work especially) was simply astounding. They have such a feeling of realism about them without losing their musicality. 

 

But for me, the highlight of the show was the HD800. I'm in love. The sound stage, the detail, the ....wow. From a guy who loves the HD600, the 800 is like a 600 on steroids.

 

I got a listen to the M 50. I prefer my 840. The 50 just felt kinda cheap build quality wise. I also didn't like the bass. It just seemed to lack a bit of control. 

 

I also tried the SR80i my first experience with a Grado (...don't judge ). I have to say it was quite nice. It reminded me a lot of my Phiaton MS 300. Both fantastic can for rock. 

 

All in all it was a great time. I wish i could have stayed for the whole thing. But mothers....can't live without them, can't be a headphone addict with them.

Did you try the HE-500 on the La Figaro 339 or the V200/V800 pairing (or something else)?  If you tried them on the LF339 pairing, they're going to sound more laid back than you're used to... however, I found that the V200/V800 pairing connected via balanced cable in the back made the HE-500 sound like a 98-99% well driven HE-6.  If it is connected RCA with the exact same combo, then I think the LF339 and HE-500 pairing sounds better... weird how that works right?

Also, what did you pair the HD800 with at the meet?  Some pairings only allow the HD800 to sound exceptionally good for slower stuff and really good recordings, but other pairings allow it to actually be rather fast, while still retaining its vast soundstage and detail retrieval.

Ahaha, Patrick, you've made the front page!