What a whirlwind weekend!
Head-Fi meet Saturday from 11-5, shooting football games Saturday night til 9 (man, was that cold) and a wedding to shoot Sunday. Finally catching by breath this morning.
First of all, like I said before, thank you to all the vendors and attendees. It's really great when we get a nice big crowd to hear lot of gear and share impressions. Another special thank you to those who contributed beer. Got to try lots of new things.
Second, to those of you who said 'Thank you' to me...you're all very welcome! It's a lot of work, but I really enjoy it. I'm happy to do this every year.
It's kinda funny, but as host, I never get to listen as much as I think I will, but here goes...
I REALLY enjoyed Frank's maxed out WA-5 setup with both the HE-6's and the LCD-3's. It was really eye-opening.
The Stax 009 through the Blue Hawaii was another highlight. Airy, light, fast beautiful. And the Blue Hawaii is pretty easy on the eyes too! Stunning workmanship.
The Woo 234's with the Abyss headphones was an truly out-of-head experience that we all look for in a headphone setup. Best imaging I've heard yet.
Dminches OTL amp sounded warm and sweet with LCD-3's, if maybe a little under-powered.
Colin's Denon 7000's reminded me of just how good those are. Closed back, but still nice and airy.
Really kept going back to the insane value of the Schiit Magni/Modi combo. It rove everything we threw at it. Loved it with he Alpha Dogs. For $800 total, it's a killer set up. Anyone who is looking for a whole system for sub-$1K should audition that combo.
I've owned HE-4's, HE-500's, and HE-400's, but oddly enough, this was the first time I spent any significant time with HE-6's. I now get what the hype is all about. They are definitely on another level from anything else in the HifiMan lineup. Super fast and clean...but SUPER power hungry.
Zheng's WA6-SE made me wonder why I ever sold mine. It sounded stellar with everything. Of course, those tubes might have had something to do with it!
I was pleasantly surprised with the LCD-XC's. They were outright better than my LCD-2.1's despite being closed back. They offered better isolation that what I remembered from RMAF...maybe that room was just THAT noisy. Good imaging, fast & clean treble. Liquid midrange. Extended bass. Great detail retrieval. Audez'e house sound...all in a closed back design. These are going to become the de facto standard in recording studios.
Two things I didn't listen to at the meet were the Schiit Vali and the LCD-X's. They were very popular at the meet and I knew I would have time with them after the meet so I waited. As I have been typing this, I've been listening to the LCD-X's through my Red Wine Audio balanced Isabellina connected to my iPad via the CCK...a truly off-the-grid experience. The LCD-X hype from previous posts is well deserved. I spent precious little time with the LCD-3's, but so far I think the X's might be better. They lack the beautiful wood finish that the rest of the lineup sports, but on pure sonics, they really impress. I have owned the LCD-2's from nearly the beginning and love them...I really never thought I would want for anything else. They were the headphones that got me into this hobby full speed ahead because the first time I heard then it was a duly transformative experience. I never thought headphones could sound like that. The X's are better in every way. They make the 2's sound congested. I have no idea how that's even possible! They have my toes tapping on tracks I've heard a zillion times.
I'll listen to the Vali in more detail later today to see it it lives up to what I remember from RMAF. My notes from RMAF say, "warm, lush, tubey. OTL type sound signature. Extended bass but a little loose, like you'd expect from tubes. Wonderful treble...not dark, but not bright. A great compliment to the Magni"
Sorry I didn't get to listen to everything! You'll just have to come back next year!
