[first bit cross-posted from the original meet thread]
A few weeks ago I was concerned the meet would be a washout this year as there was very little activity on the meet thread and I had received only a handful of PMs about it...so concerned that I contacted the sponsors to tell them it may not be worth their while financially and they were welcome to have an honorable discharge from the meet if they wished.
Well, top respect to both @RHA and @V1pers (Paul & Wendy @ Highendheadphones.co.uk) because they were determined to stick with it, both explaining how they wanted to support the enthusiast scene and meet the people involved in it. So, I want to say a HUGE thanks to Paul, Wendy, Calum and also Mark @ElectroMod for their determined support of the enthusiast scene. THANK YOU!! I'm also happy to say that the feedback I've received from the sponsors is that, not only was it very enjoyable for them, but it was also excellent from an orders point of view, no doubt helped by the generous discounts provided. Thanks also to the attendees who supported the sponsors by placing orders with them, great to see people supporting the sponsors in return.
Finally on this topic, Paul, Wendy, Calum and Mark have all expressed a strong desire to be involved in future events, whatever shape they may take, which bodes well for the enthusiast scene in the UK and is something we should all celebrate! I think many of us will agree that, despite the plethora of commercial meets throughout the year with headphone sections attached (which can be a lot of fun as well), the real enthusiast meets like ours are a valuable thing that would be a great shame to lose.
So, in the end, I think this was probably my favourite meet of them all, despite the lower turnout from previous years. It felt like we had the core enthusiasts this year, a bunch of excellent geeks showing off a wide range of gear. Excellent!
On to impressions. A few things stuck out in my brain/ears...
As is now traditional, a few of us got together in the hotel the night before for dinner and a mini-meet, which resulted in some excellent tunes, banter and of course whisky.
[Apologies for my crappy camera!]
@dill3000 's wonderful sounding exotic amp build...
K1000 "deep love"...
K1000 "better than last time I heard one"...
Meet Day...
Unpacking the Angstrom Stella...
Stella internals. TWENTY tubes!!
Highendheadphones.co.uk table, jam packed with excellent gear...
Mark D and Callum having a chat...
The SJS Arcadia headamp...
A few weeks ago I was concerned the meet would be a washout this year as there was very little activity on the meet thread and I had received only a handful of PMs about it...so concerned that I contacted the sponsors to tell them it may not be worth their while financially and they were welcome to have an honorable discharge from the meet if they wished.
Well, top respect to both @RHA and @V1pers (Paul & Wendy @ Highendheadphones.co.uk) because they were determined to stick with it, both explaining how they wanted to support the enthusiast scene and meet the people involved in it. So, I want to say a HUGE thanks to Paul, Wendy, Calum and also Mark @ElectroMod for their determined support of the enthusiast scene. THANK YOU!! I'm also happy to say that the feedback I've received from the sponsors is that, not only was it very enjoyable for them, but it was also excellent from an orders point of view, no doubt helped by the generous discounts provided. Thanks also to the attendees who supported the sponsors by placing orders with them, great to see people supporting the sponsors in return.
Finally on this topic, Paul, Wendy, Calum and Mark have all expressed a strong desire to be involved in future events, whatever shape they may take, which bodes well for the enthusiast scene in the UK and is something we should all celebrate! I think many of us will agree that, despite the plethora of commercial meets throughout the year with headphone sections attached (which can be a lot of fun as well), the real enthusiast meets like ours are a valuable thing that would be a great shame to lose.
So, in the end, I think this was probably my favourite meet of them all, despite the lower turnout from previous years. It felt like we had the core enthusiasts this year, a bunch of excellent geeks showing off a wide range of gear. Excellent!
On to impressions. A few things stuck out in my brain/ears...
- The Hifiman HE1000 v2 is still my favourite headphone out there. It sounds great on most rigs with enough power, but absolutely shines on some special rigs....
- ...like @dill3000 's upgraded First Watt F7 build. Powerful, clean, impactful and the imaging was just stunning. The HEK v2 is silly expensive, but ticks most of my boxes for a headphone.
- The SJS Acoustics tube headamp was gorgeous. Definitely a tubey sound, paired well with my modded HD800 even without the usual EQ I insist on using with them.
- The MrSpeakers electrostatic prototype was the surprise of the day for me. Superb sound, very dynamic with excellent extension at both ends, without that overtly detailed sound of the 009 and frankly with tons more bass, although perhaps not the most nuanced of bass. I'm definitely keen to see how the production version turns out. It certainly kicks the Ether [all models] into touch...in another league.
- The Beyerdynamic T1.2 - I really disliked the T1 in the past, but the T1.2 sounds a lot more balanced to me (ie - no longer a treble cannon). Super comfortable too.
- The iFi pro iCAN seemed very capable. I enjoyed the Beyer T1.2 through it using the tube+ mode, which definitely colours the sound but then I like a bit of warmth so that worked for me. The other two settings were too harsh for me with those headphones. The iCAN looks and feels a bit cheap for the price though.
- The Beyerdynamic A2 amp was (unsurprisingly) an excellent pairing with the T1.2. I only had a brief listen, but I didn't hear any harshness that I heard with two of the settings on the iCAN.
- The Angstrom Stella was certainly impressive to behold, and beautifully built and wired inside. I did enjoy the amp with @smial1966's HD800S, but it ran out of steam with the HEK v2, generating a ton of bass distortion. For such an expensive amp I would hope it could drive more than a subset of popular headphones. Perhaps a tube change somewhere inside (20 of 'em!) may increase the power output.
As is now traditional, a few of us got together in the hotel the night before for dinner and a mini-meet, which resulted in some excellent tunes, banter and of course whisky.
[Apologies for my crappy camera!]
@dill3000 's wonderful sounding exotic amp build...
K1000 "deep love"...
K1000 "better than last time I heard one"...
Meet Day...
Unpacking the Angstrom Stella...
Stella internals. TWENTY tubes!!
Highendheadphones.co.uk table, jam packed with excellent gear...
Mark D and Callum having a chat...
The SJS Arcadia headamp...