[Tyll Hertsens]

Just got back last night very late; burried in catch-up here at work; so, I'm going to make this short and sweet:

A big thanks to JMT! I must say that I find it encouraging to the point of awe that this community is peopled both by folks willing to open their home to essentially unknown persons, and by unknown persons of such integrity that its worth taking the risk.

From my point of view the biggest lesson I walked away with is the need to continue to grow and perform better or I won't be keeping up with the powerfull nature of this community. Case in point: I spent quite a bit of time listening to the PPA and talking with Morsel. It's my opinion that the new amp that she, PPL, Kurt, and Tangent have been working on is a world class headphone amp. I spent some time comparing it to a Max and it was comparable. The PPA is articulate, clean, and without overt coloration of any kind. We're going to have to keep working or we'll fall behind.

I was pleased that Pete's low voltage tube amp did so well at the meet; many folks really liked it. I do to, of course, and I can't wait to get it into a product.

What a pleasure it is to find myself doing business in a market that has so many delightfully interesting folks. When you make your hooby your profession, you loose a hobby. What a wonderfull surprise to find that in loosing audio equipment as a hobby I would find such wonderfull hobbyists to work with.

Thanks!

 

[Andrew Pielet]

This is a far reach.......Anybody have words on the Ikemi vs. Meridian? Which Meridian was it? Did anybody really take time and check out the Ikemi? I imagine it is one sweet CDP.

 

[KurtW]

I also thought the DT880 was a little on the bright side, although not nearly as much as I remember the DT831 being, for example. I was expecting to like it more than I did. It's not a HD600 killer.

It was interesting to see the Meier-Audio gear all together. I was also expecting most of them to be in the same size box as its difficult to tell from pictures of each unit individually, but they actually are different sizes. I spend some time comparing the HA2 and the PreHead. In a fairly noisy atmosphere like a headphone meet you can't tell much about how low the noise floor is, but both amps sounded idential most of the time, clean and fast. There was a difference in the bass with certain program material, however. The PreHead had better, more powerful bass impact. I didn't get a chance to try the little Corda Cross-1 but it looked nice. I didn't get to hear the new HA1-II either.

I liked the Stax Omega system very much, although I always wonder if it doesn't have too much detail. It is much more detailed than any live performance I've ever heard. Maybe if you were able to walk up and put your ear next to each instrument you would hear the kind of detail that comes from the Stax. Perhaps this is a function of so many recordings being close mic'd, and maybe there are are recordings that sound more natural with the Stax. Its an amazing sound anyway. I had gone to the Stereophile show in SF the day before and heard a comparison between the Stax SR404 Signature and the SR007 Omega headphones driven from the same tube amp. They both sounded really nice but I thought the Omega was clearly better.

I didn't get a chance to hear the BlockHead this time, although I have heard it before at the travelling HeadRoom show. I was glad to see they have headphone cables that don't feel like they weigh a ton and have you chained to them like the ones I tried earlier.

I thought the Singlepower tube amps sounded real nice, although they both seemed a little bass heavy to me. The flex of the sheetmetal when you plug the headphone in and out was a little bothersome to me though. The little MAD Ear+ was a nice sounding amp.

I was very impressed with the AKG K1000. I'm not sure how good it is for rock music but it was great with what I heard it with. Too bad it is not easy to drive.

On the Portable table I checked out the Senn. PX100 and PX200 and compared them to the Koss KSC35. I have the Koss and use them alot, although this particular pair seemed slightly more bassy than mine for some reason. I liked the sound of the PX100 better than the PX200 except for the bass, where I thought the PX200 had better balance and control. I liked the Koss better than either one, but I'll probably get the PX200 since it's closed and I can use it places where I wouldn't use the Koss.

Unfortunately there was a lot that I didn't hear too, but it was great to meet and talk to everyone there.

 

[nanahachi]

Tyll, again, it was great meeting you, and your jovial attitude, helpful remarks, and explicit passion for this niche market/hobby are really quite encouraging and led me to respect HR even more than I already do. Thanks so much for toting all the gear over, esp that GREAT poserboard with all of HR's amps' guts hung upon it. If you can, take a pic of it that we can post here, just so other headfiers can see what a cool display you made.

I'll try and type up some brief impressions later. I'm left feeling somewhat empty however. There are too many things I did not get a chance to really listen to, and regret that quite a bit. Those include:
* Emmeline HR-2
* ALL of the Meier's other than the Prehead, which I heard for only a moment.
* the Pete Millet Hybrid

* PPA - only heard for a sec in a A/B with the Prehead...the two went toe to toe, with some obvious differences though.
* not enough time with the Scout

My highest accolades go to:
* the Blockhead with balanced RS-1s (I did not get to try the Senns)
* the Stax Omegas...what a sound...so smooooooooth, yet detailed. I could spend the rest of my life with those babies
* Jon's HP-1s
* the absolute beauty and grandeur of Drewski's Scout

hey guys, where are the impressions of the POWER CORD SHOOTOUT? and we need pics of Drew's cords...scary scary scary.

until later...

 

[drewski]

Sorry, I've been reassembling all my systems and haven't had time to post. Plus, I have much more time at work than I do at home!

Let me start also saying that Jon and Tyll are a couple of top notch guys. They definitely made it a special meet. Also, all those that sent equipment to the meet, thank you so much. Thanks to Jon's wife for the wonderful cookies! And Tyll's poor daughter that had to sit around for 5 hours even though she had no interest in headphones! She kept a smile on her face through it all- she's a much better person than I! Also, thanks to Stressnot, Cinchy, and Nately for paying for the eggrolls (you guys gave me way too much money!)

Now about the meet... I think I'll use a different analogy than Bob Jew used because people go to jail for that kind of stuff

! So a fat, married, old guy like me would compare it more to an all you can eat buffet! Wow, the amount of great gear at this meet was overwelming!

These meets can be somewhat confusing because there is just so much gear. To help me, I used my RS-1's to audition when possible. I know the sound properties of this can and it gives me some point of reference.

The Tube Table- I listened to the Singlepower amps- I found both of them to be very warm and rich sounding. It's not an amp that I couldn't live with because it was very polite, but I would like a bit more detail and a little less bass. Of the two, I preferred the smaller unit over the Supra. I could hear that there was potential for this unit, so I really wish I had some tubes to roll on this unit. I know with my Melos amp, I never liked it until I paired it with Siemens CCa's.

I really liked Joey's MAD amp. It was well balanced, detailed, and controled the bass very well. Except for the low gain issue (that Joey said that he knew of the problem), I came away with a really good impression of this little guy. For the price, I definitely think it's a winner.

The Prototype tube amp. I heard several people rave about this amp when they auditioned. They were listening with Senns and the Beyer DT880's. I listened to this right after the MAD, and I preferred the MAD. I just thought this unit could have used a little more warmth when paired with my RS-1's- maybe a pair of Mullards would do it for this little guy. I would have a much stronger opinion if this weren't a prototype and I knew what the retail price is going to be.

The SS table-
I didn't listen to much except for the Blockhead and the Stax system. I took a quick listen to all of the other amps, but none long enough to get a really good impression or to write an opinion about it.

The Stax was my favorite. It was one of those things that you go to evaluate, and you forget that you're evaluating it and just stop to enjoy it. There's not much else I can say about it because there wasn't anything I didn't like about it.

The Blockhead with the Senns were my second favorite. I heard a few people talk about how great cymbals and drums sounded on the Blockhead- unfortunately, I couldn't get this out of my mind and it was difficult to not draw my attention to the speed and attack of drums and cymbals. It definitely did a great job of handling transients and dynamics. I preferred the mids and vocals of the Stax, but the Blockhead definitely was a great amp. I didn't spend too much time evaluating this amp because I figured that I wouldn't be hearing another for a long time to come, so I just sat and enjoyed it as well!

Drewski's Island Wow! JMT's kitchen island named after me... who would have thought a small time guy like me would go so far in life! No, I'm not going to review my own equipment, but Bobjew's Philips 863SA SACD player was there and I got to hear it for the first time. I was very impressed with it. Usually, DVD players are soft and boring sounding when playing CD's- not this unit. I listened to both redbook CD's and SACD's, and both were fast, dynamic, but never bright or harsh. It had decent bass control and was able to extract every last detail off of the media. I don't know if this will sound as good with a two channel speaker system, but with the Melos and the RS-1's, I definitely recommend this player. I can definitely see (I guess "hear" would be more appropriate) what all the hype is about this player.

I never made it to the portable section and Joey hogged up JMT's rig, so I didn't listen to that either

. It really was great to hear all the gear, from the inexpensive stuff to the megabuck stuff. I'd really like to hear the new Gilmore and the RKV, but other than that, this meet had it all covered!

Thanks again to everyone for making this so much fun!

 

[bobjew]

Hey Drewski:

I should be working too! One aside to your comments about the 963sa; it's excellent in a speaker system! At my place, it normally lives in a 5.1 situation with Thiels and Paradigms and its as coherent and accurate as I have ever heard on any system. It fact, if you have the inclination and time, stop by when Joey P and I get together and we can do some watching and listening. It also does a great job with Dolby DVD sound. And the picture is out of this world!

Bob

P.S: You can meet the neighbors!

 

[drewski]

Quote:

Originally posted by nanahachi hey guys, where are the impressions of the POWER CORD SHOOTOUT? and we need pics of Drew's cords...scary scary scary. until later...

It's in this thread: http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=36265

 

[drewski]

Quote:

Originally posted by tangent The small box looks like one of PinkFloyd's crossfeed boxes. I'm not sure what the larger box to its right is. Looks like a DIY amp of some sort.

Nately has already answered, but it's just a Dact stepped attenuator with an input and output. I use it sometimes as a volume control for an amp to drive my AKG K-1000's. It can be built for about $175 and I'd say it will be as good as any sub $1000 preamp out there. It doesn't sound thin like many passive preamps out there.

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tyll Hertsens From my point of view the biggest lesson I walked away with is the need to continue to grow and perform better or I won't be keeping up with the powerfull nature of this community. Case in point: I spent quite a bit of time listening to the PPA and talking with Morsel. It's my opinion that the new amp that she, PPL, Kurt, and Tangent have been working on is a world class headphone amp. I spent some time comparing it to a Max and it was comparable. The PPA is articulate, clean, and without overt coloration of any kind. We're going to have to keep working or we'll fall behind.

Wow!, that is high praise indeed.
I have some reading to do.

It looks like everyone had a blast.
I really need to hear more impressions about the headroom tube amp.
Sounds like you have a winner there.
Any ideas about pricing?

If anyone has any more pics or impressions keep them coming.

 

[drewski]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tyll Hertsens From my point of view the biggest lesson I walked away with is the need to continue to grow and perform better or I won't be keeping up with the powerfull nature of this community. Case in point: I spent quite a bit of time listening to the PPA and talking with Morsel. It's my opinion that the new amp that she, PPL, Kurt, and Tangent have been working on is a world class headphone amp. I spent some time comparing it to a Max and it was comparable. The PPA is articulate, clean, and without overt coloration of any kind. We're going to have to keep working or we'll fall behind.

For those that weren't there- Tyll sat for hours listening to opinions, feedback, and even some criticism. Rather than push his opinions, he sat, listened, and observed. Coming from one of, if not the leader, of headphone amplification technology, this really shows that Headroom cares about customer satisfaction.

Tyll- I know you think we're all kissing your ass so we can get a discount on a blockhead, but I think we all sincerely think that you're a pretty good guy.

Thanks!

 

[Andrew Pielet]

Soooo, which meridian was it???????

 

[nanahachi]

andrew, I think only Tyll knows. maybe PM him nicely and he'll fill us all in. I didnt see a model number on the front, and personally have never seen or heard a Meridian before.

 

[KR...]

Say what you want about Headroom, they are not perfect but they really are the type of company that you can belive in.

 

[tangent]

Quote:

Is the PPA amplifier OP-amp based? If so, what OP-amp does it employ?

The AD8610 is the reference op-amp for this design, but it should be able to accept many different types of op-amps. Right now we're not going too far afield, since we have too many other things going on to be rolling op-amps.

Quote:

The other thing that puts [the PPA] over the top is the battery requirement. Morsel says it takes something like 28 volts to drive it so there will be a battery compartment in the amp under the board holding something like 18 AA batteries! Playtime: 6-8 hours.

Too many generalizations...

We only recommend rechargeables for this amp. Aside from the ecological disaster that would be caused by using alkalines, rechargeables will actually give better sound, and allow you to avoid opening the case frequently to change the batteries. Therefore, it will be set up so you put the batteries in and just leave them in; we've got a working battery charging circuit right now which we're tweaking to be able to cope with the load. (See the DIY forum -- I posted about our progress recently.)

18xAAA is the high end design goal, but the circuit will certainly allow you to use fewer batteries if you want. Fewer batteries will let you get away with a less insane wall power supply, it will lighten the amp a bit, and of course it will require fewer parts.

I'm not sure where "28V" came from. Morsel may be thinking that it's the minimum power supply voltage to charge the batteries. Personally, I think 29 or 30V is more likely. We'll be nailing that number down fairly soon.

18xAAA rechargeables will start off at about 24-25V, then drop quickly to about 22V, where they'll stay for most of their run time. Depending on the op-amp you choose, this will allow plenty of voltage to the headphones, possibly even enough for monsters like the 600 ohm Beyer DT-990s.

Run time is also quite variable, and it depends on the configuration of the amp. Maximum is probably about 15 hours. Making the amp hungry enough to drain the batteries in 6 hours is certainly within reach, however.

Quote:

You three are fearless! Keep going!

Four.

 

[bobjew]

Tangent, Morsel:

Thanks for setting the record straight!

Bob