Here are some of my delayed impressions. I learned quite a bit.
The highlights for me were the Omega II, the PPX Slam, the W1000, and the Aspen 823. The Heed Monoblocks were dead sexy aswell, beautiful in appearance and sound. Of course, the balanced HD-650, the HE60, the JVC/Victor, and the Prolines were great as well, but I had heard these before.
BigEar brought a beautiful Omega II setup, and it was great. I could very well live with this headphone instead of the K-1000, if I could afford it. I'm not sure if I would give up the spaciousness that the K-1000 offers, but the extra thump in the bass was a welcome thing. A very nice setup, being run on a CEC top loading transport and Benchmark dac. Over all a very nice sounding setup, but the open presentation of the K-1000 still has something that the Omega II can't offer. If I was to need a more closed headphone, it would be either this or the HE60. I can't decide, because they both sound great and I'm having a hard time telling differences in the "high end" section.
The PPX3 Slam that Chimpie brought was brilliant. On a source that I wouldn't recommend with the RS-1, the Slam made the RS-1 sound awesome. I'd have a hard time choosing between this and the Mapletree that I have, but in the end I might just opt for the Slam. There's a fullness to the sound that the Mapletree doesn't provide. And that on a lean source! I think it might become too much for a warm source, but right there and then it was brilliant. Chimpie bought the RS-1's from me on the spot and I would've done the same in his position, a very synergistic setup!
The Audio Technica W1000. I heard some negative comments about them on the meet, much to my surprise. I don't recall what the comments were about, but to my ears they sounded very nice. Not lacking in detail, punch, or soundstage. This is the best closed headphone I have heard (ok, I haven't heard that many....).
The Aspen that Blackmore brought is a very unknown amp. I don't why, because it sounds great. Two headphone outputs mean two people with RS-1's on rocking off. Good times! Sergei, if you didn't like my music, sorry.
A very enjoyable amp that I would gladly use with any headphone.
The Heed monoblocks looked and sounded great. Combined with the 2 box preamplifier, it is a very nice combo. Driving the K-1000s, they did a fine job. Had a hard time picking differences between the Heed and my Aleph. Besides these goodies, Dex brought a very nice source, a Njoe Tjoeb modified Marantz. Great cd player.
The Hornet. I didn't hear it because I'm not in the market for a portable amp, but my god is it small. I had no idea, was expecting it to be atleast twice as big. Tiny tiny thing, can't imagine how small the Tomahawk is.
The things that I did not like:
The K-701. It just doesn't do anything for me, and apparently it's VERY hard to drive. Chimpies Slam had to be turned up very high, and the Aria needed allmost 3/4rd of the volume sweep to provide a nice volume for me. I don't listen loudly. I'm not sure what was wrong with the K-701's sound, but it just didn't work. I couldn't enjoy music on it. I'm not an HD-650 fan, but I'd take the HD-650 over the K-701.
Something that struck me as odd was that I heard an echo in allmost every headphone. Maybe this is just a trait that all headphones have since the drivers are closed in, and one adjusts to that. After 4 months of K-1000 though, it was annoying. The Ultrasones, while sounding good, had this the most.
I'm sure I'm forgetting things. Oh yeah, I am! The binaural cd that Ton had, I still haven't listened to it. Going to do that now.
