So this was the first time that I had the opportunity to go to an event like this. I was in doubts yesterday morning about attending but oh boy, did I make the right decision in going.
First of all, the venue and people. The Russell Hotel is beautiful, with great architecture and halls filled with light which in no small way contributed to the overall atmosphere of the event. The people were lovely and lively, with everyone being friendly, chatty and helpful even to someone like me, who is not extremely knowledgeable in the field. But that is another story.
And now, a couple of things that I appreciated most.
The Sennheiser Orpheus. Never in my life have I thought that I would see them in person, never mind listening to them. The whole setup is absolutely beautiful and it sounds fantastic for my ears. I had two rather long auditions (for a show) so apologies to everyone that waited after me. I do admit that I felt a bit self conscious about the time that I spent on some stands.
The HE1000 with and without the Headamp setup. Some people hate them, some love them. I personally fell in love at first sight. With the Headamp setup they sound (to me at least) absolutely brilliant. Great selection of music too at their stand. The look and fell of the cans is wow. Something about them just tickles my elmo.
The Audioquest Nighthawk left a very good impression. Listened to them at their own stand, on a Schiit Asgard and on a Hugo. While they may not be the most aerous, spacious headphones I did really enjoyed listening to them and I believe that they are well worth their asking price.
There are so many good, detailed impressions that one could post but next I will resume to making some recommendations if someone like me may: everything that I said before plus the Noble stand (savants are great), Viva stand (the mighty Odin and Abyss), the Chord stand (lovely people there, not to mention the gear), Audeze (had my first listen to the LCD3's, X and 2's with Fazor), Schiit stand (great lineup), RHA (amp looks great) and many many more. Oh and give yourself a treat and listen to the new Ethers. Basically you should visit everything
Apologies for the long post. It would have been much longer but I shall restrain myself
Yesterday was a blast. Thank you for the opportunity you have given me and congrats to all the people that made it happen.