2013 SF Bay Area (Changfest?) Meet Impressions Thread

[epocs]

Today we had yet another awesome head fi meet in the Bay Area. Great to see some familiar faces, and a big thanks to purrin for setting it all up!

2 years ago I started the impressions thread, so I thought I'd continue the tradition this time around as well. Will post my impressions soon, but go at it everyone!

Cheers,
epocs

 

[ironbut]

Many thanks to all the folks who organized this meet.
It continues the tradition of great Bay Area meets that are the envy of the rest of the headphone loving world.
 
This year I was lazy (and still a little weak from a bout with the flu), and didn't haul my rig with me, but it was nice to relax, listen to some fantastic systems and chat.
I aways have a great time talking with Craig from Eddie Current and it was a pleasure to see his wife again and meet his daughter.
 
Speaking of Eddie Current, I spent a good bit of time listening to the Electra with a few different 'stats. I've been hounding Craig for years to develop a electrostatic amp and the wait was well worth it.
When it comes to fine detail and letting all the ambient info that's contained in the recording through, the Electra is tops IMHO. Well, there are some solid state amps that come close but I'm a tube guy and will always miss what an all tube design brings to the table.

 

[TMoney]

Congrats to our hosts on throwing another great Bay Area meet. Thank you all on behalf of the rest of us.
 
Also thanks to the MOTs and vendors who showed up and helped make the meet possible. I had a lot of fun talking with both Dan of Mr. Speakers and the UE crew.
 
We've got a great community of head-fi'ers in the Bay Area and I always look forward to these get-togethers. It was great to see that the Stax and DIY mafias were particularly well represented. About the only prominent 'stat that didn't make an appearance was the HE90.
 
I'll chime in later with impressions.

 

[Gumy]

First meet ever attended, but it was a very nice experience. Had some great talks with fellow head-fiers, learned alot, and most important of all, had the chance to listen to some serious gears XD
 
Thank you for organizing the meet!

 

[aamefford]

I had a blast! I met some great friends, had some great conversation and listened to some great headphones. Random notes:

I now get the whole electrostatic experience.
I know know how good my Mr. Speakers Mad Dogs are (great!)
I know where I need to go to step up (LCD 3 territory for me).
I need a pair of HD650's. I really like them. I don't feel the same about the HD800...
I finally listened to Amb's beta22 - very, very good.
I finally listened to Amb's mini3 - Wow! I am impressed!
The Burson soloist is wonderful.
The Schiit Lyr is also wonderful.
The Schit modi / magni stack is good.
The sunrise project tube hybrid is also quite good.
Craig (Eddie Current) has a DIY board/BOM/instruction kit amp that is really nice.

Thank you all - I had a grand time!

 

[TheWuss]

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[SanJoseCanJunkie]

I finally had a chance to hear some less common headphones that I had wanted to hear for a while - the Edition 8 and GS1000i, and I enjoyed them both.  However, the best of the day for me was Viktor's HE-6 on tiberiuspv's Leben 600 from the speaker taps.  I really was 100% content with my setup until I heard that setup today...oh well.
 
The phone of the year appears to be the HD-800.  Am I the only one who didn't know this?  I swear at least 40% of the meet had one at their station.

 

[Maxvla]

The phone of the year appears to be the HD-800.  Am I the only one who didn't know this?  I swear at least 40% of the meet had one at their station.

Well it is the best one short of Jades or HE90 (IMO).

 

[eucariote]

That was really fun.  I got to meet some great folks and manhandled a *lot* of amazing gear.  The highlight of the meet for me was rocking out to Mozart while switching between vitok33's HE-6 and SanJoseCanJunkie's HE-500 on tiberiuspv's Leben CS600 for a good looong listening session.  They easily knocked my LCD-2 out of the running.  Thanks guys!

 

[daigo]

Quote:

I finally had a chance to hear some less common headphones that I had wanted to hear for a while - the Edition 8 and GS1000i, and I enjoyed them both.  However, the best of the day for me was Viktor's HE-6 on tiberiuspv's Leben 600 from the speaker taps.  I really was 100% content with my setup until I heard that setup today...oh well.
 
The phone of the year appears to be the HD-800.  Am I the only one who didn't know this?  I swear at least 40% of the meet had one at their station.

 
It's been like that the past couple of meets.  HD800 has been the most popular flagship headphone.  
 
Thanks to purrin, CEETEE, and questhate for stepping up to organize everything despite all the hard work.  Thanks to everyone who also brought their gear and set it up to share.  The bay area community definitely appreciates it.  
 
I had a great time listening to everyone's gear, and spent some quality time checking out a couple of amps I was interested in possibly purchasing to go with my W3000ANV's.  Looks like I was less lazy than I thought I was.  Photos uploaded here.  
 
http://www.head-fi.org/g/a/743085/california-headphone-audio-n-gear-fest-chang-fest-2013/
 
A couple of my favorites:
CEETEE proudly lording over his domain.  Went back multiple times to listen to the Balancing Act, a wonderful amp with anything I threw at it.

 
Eddie Current's electrostat setup and headphones.  Forget the name of the amp.  
 

 
 
DNA Stratus, tempting me with its spacious and detailed presentation.
 

 
 
These were everywhere.
 

 
LCD3 with the Schitt Mjollnir/Gungnir was quite good.
 

 
 
K1000's are always fun to try out, thanks Horio for bringing his.  Really wanted to try his EHHA next to it, but needed a balanced headphone or an adapter for it.
 

 
 
Enjoyed listening to Coheed and Cambria from raif's set up (which was for sale?), since I'm going to their concert later this week.
 

 
 
MrSpeaker's Mad Dog T50 mods are excellent and Dan was a great guy to chat with.  The Burson Conductor was also a very nice DAC/AMP.  
 

 

[Bill-P]

Quote:

Pics or it didn't happen.

 
Other window is reporting 20/55 now... so... they'll come.
 
And previously uploaded photos are here: (sorry, too lazy to reupload)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/644426/sf-bay-area-meet-on-sunday-february-17-2013-the-one-which-is-really-going-to-happen/465

 

[Bill-P]

Finally! The rest of my photos are now all uploaded. Here are all of the gears I was able to capture:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rubenpp]

Excellent pictures , well done !

 

[LiuTim]

Very nice pics, I saw mself

 

[kramer5150]

Thanks Purrin for organizing a great meet!!  Met some new folks and really got to hear some great rigs.
 
Theres something about the K1000, I always leave meets wanting one.