Ok!
I will post some impressions,
As my main goal there was to hear top amps,
to get a guage at what level currently my modded LDmkviii se was, in comparison.
So I abondoned & left it lonely most of the meet lol, to hear all the others...
And like I said before, as a whole I was not dissapointed as everyones table was really really good sounding!
Ok
Warning: Raw impressions!:
WOO:
Jack Wu new woo portable tube amp was a real winner..
Sounded really amazing out of my portable Audio Technica esw9ltd, and in comparison, not so great with that Senn headphone plugged into it, I believe was the Senn700
I whish they had an hd800 or the small beyer t51 portables on it.
Both would also have crushed those Senns.
Also was surprised that I easily preferred Woo clear sounding WA22 over anything else in that that vicinity,
That means the wa5 & also the Crimson amp at Dans (Mr. Speakers) table (another favorite)
EHHA:
Mullet's table had an amp kit he made that I considered one of best, or "my favorites" amps at meet.
Way up at near the top of the heap of excellent amps there. (non-electrostat)
I believe it was the Cavali EHHA rev A amp,
yet I dont remember if Mullet tweaked or optimized it.
So many excellent amps I Couldn't really say wich amp was truley best as it was a meet environment.
I can say which gave me the BeSt
impressions at the meet.
Missed amps!:
Although Kerry's KGST looked amazing, I was afraid to listen to that level (stax) equipment lol.
In retrospect, could kick myself for not doing so!
Also of note is the beautiful Mcintosh amp in the back which I forgot(!)
And the GSX mk2 which I did not hear because I already heard this excellent amp in past.
ZANA DEUX:
Also, Iagree EXACTLY with DutchGFX impressions on THREE units:
1- the Ether(great)
2- zana deux( not so great),
3- Mullet's EHHA(great).
This gives added weight to DutchGFX impressions.
I believe he is 100% spot on with his detailed impressions on those units.
Yet I also do not believe there is any
conflict with Franks impressions of the Zana Deux, because it IS STILL a top-level amp.
Just that I had higher expectations of it being more liquid/cohesive, instead of that bright fatigueness (!)
It did have a quite large soundstaging...
Actually it had the largest soundstage of all the amps I tried at the meet(!)
So the "super" version should be a welcome upgrade.
Decware:
The Decware amp at the ZMF table was really very nice,
but not at the level of the woo22 or others I preferred,
Yet is was similar to the "339 figarro", a lush tube amp wich I heard.
LIO:
Vinny's LIO I thought edged out both the Ragnarok and the "Wells audio Headtrip" at the Lampizator table ...
In terms of sonics as a whole.
I already know the LIO amp from hearing it a few times at a friends house,
so I am fairly familiar of its sound already,
But, to me, the addition of that "AVC" (Autotransformer volume control) stage certainly brings it up another notch/level from the tubestage I herd before.
HEADPHONES COMPARO:
1-HE1000
2-HD800(moded)
3-Ether
4-Audio Zenith PMx2
"Left field" comments below:
Truth be told, I actually still prefer my HD800 over the two others (Ether & HE1000)...(!)
When switching between the HE1000 & my moded HD800,
the HE1000 bass advantage, was there and impressive, but I still prefered the HD800 mids, while the "air" of soundatage was actually close,
but not clearly discernable due to background "meet" ambiance.
As for Dan's Ether,
they were clearly sonically better than my moded HE560 I owned in past,
But didn't have a clear advantage over my HD800.
The Ether presentation was very very good, but ultimalely they had a more intimate presentation compared to the HD800
So I would definitely say its really in similar quality league,
and rank Ether above all other open planars with exception of the HE1000 (of course).
So ultimately, I would say the Ether is like at a moded HE6 level, plus more air.
So that leaves the "Audio Zenith PMx2"...
Personally, I would choose the them to compliment the hd800(as more portable solution).
They are not sonically similar of course,
but the level of sonic performance is definitely there.
I had owned an PM1 in past, but sadly returned it,
as I felt it was never good enough.
These PMx2 truely are what the
PM1 should have been,
and I would never have parted with them if they were this dam good(!).
I would chose these over any planar except the HE1000(of course).
Technically I would say almost similar level sound to Ether, with less soundstage of Ether.
That probably was why *FFRESPONSE* was not afraid to showcase them right alongside an LCD3 & HD800 for comparison (!)
The bass actually may have been more powerful than the Ether, as they clearly were on the Ragnarok.
The only problem I found was that with the Ragnarok, the PMx2 was not linear..
It was powerful,yes, but the Rag was adding(!) excessive thickness to the bass!
The Rag did the same to the others(lcd3&hd800) too!
In contrast, The Audio Zenith PM2 paired with my Little Dot amp next to it, sounded much more balanced with larger stage.
Thats how I knew this "PMx2" had a truley great signature.
Yet as you all know by now, with any good can, you must evaluate in better environment for extendid period to know anything for sure.
So as you can now assume,
I was actually quite a bit dissapointed by the Ragnarok performance(!)
Now bear in mind, it was a powerful sound, and the WA5 was actually thicker in this regard(bass).
To put things in perspective, the Rag(like the head case) definitely did have "powerful" signature, and "top tier" level sound...
The problem was that when you have
SO MANY tables with "top level" sound, such competition causes you to tend to nitpick between them, even if they are all very good!
So Rather than be impressed by a clean or dynamic amp, I chose to focus on soundstage coherence, musicality and realism.
Yet thats hard to do at any meet!
So overall impressions prevail
Well, That's all I could think of,
I hope I haven't offended everyone!
P.S.
wavoman (Larry)
Great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7hdB32_miw]video! Haha!
You are a very charasmatic person!
Nice I had the opportunity to sit with you & Kerry at dinner.
You guys very interesting