[nabwong]

I posted this on the wrong forum.

Darkninja67 and Wang228 are coming over to my place this sunday evening, about 6pm. We have dt880, a900, k701, hd650, hd595 and others. You're welcome to come over, just PM me. It'll be nice if you have the Sony sa5k ( for you Mr Ninja ). My place is T accessible, Harvard Sq.

Najib

 

[darkninja67]

i can bring over my Grado SR225s if you want. Bill

 

[nabwong]

Great. The more gear the better.

Patman is bringing w5000 and ppx slam.

 

[darkninja67]

Looks like it's turning into a Nano Meet. That is some heavy firepower he is bringing. Should be fun.

 

[strid3r]

Ah, I would've came, but I have some big assignments and tests coming up for school. Maybe next time, have fun guys!

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strid3r Ah, I would've came, but I have some big assignments and tests coming up for school. Maybe next time, have fun guys!

Come for a couple of hours. That cannot hurt.

 

[wang228]

hmm... just saw the thread. i'm psyched. can't wait.

 

[darkninja67]

Wanted to post before going to bed. Thanks to Najib for hosting the mini meet. Thanks to Wang for the AKG cans. Finally heard the K701s and loved them. Thanks to Pat for the SInglepower and bringing the W5000s. Really nice amp and loved the mids of the ATs.

I will be buying K701s, HD650s and probably a Singlepower amp due to this meet. I wish we had some SA5Ks but I may grab them myself. All in all I had a great time. Bill

 

[skudmunky]

Wish I coulda made it, but had a conflict. Ah well, gunna hafta wait till summer.

 

[nabwong]

Wang, Pat and Bill, thanks for coming over guys. I had a wonderful time tonight. This meet cleared up a lot of my misconceptions.

HD650

The first time i listened to them, i couldn't stand them. But this time, i really liked them. I really don't know why. Maybe my taste has evolved. Maybe it just fits my current setup. Whatever it is, listening to jazz and classical on them was a very enjoyable experience. I don't feel the clamp on my head, fits perfectly. Wang has generously loaned me the hd650 for extended listening. Wang, be prepared for a fist fight when you come get it back.

A900

To me, this is the closed version of the hd595. They are really really balanced. I'm impressed.

New DT880

Not for me. I can't really describe why either. It's quite neutral. I feel they lack a little personality. Saved me some money...phew

W5000

Not for me either. A little too much highs for me without the bass to support it. The seperation is good and it is super comfy. Not enough for me though.

K701

Waited too long and i finally got to hear it. Popped it on my head. OH NO, it doesn't fit right...

The space..oh my god...the space... definitely beats the hd650 here. They're more neutral than the hd650 too. BUT, sadly and maybe fortunately for my wallet, i couldn't stand the fit on my head. So no K701 for me.

**************************************************

My new portable rig.....

Sony ce595 -> Singlepower PPX slam -> Ksc35

Poor pic quality with phone camera.

 

[wang228]

just got back from the mini meet. It was such a fun gathering. Bill's (the dark ninja's) A900 really impressed me. It didn't exhibit much of the closed can anormaly that always bothers me in HD280, DT250-250 and to some extent K340. I foresee them as my new office can when budget allows.

It's also a treat to have Pat's PPX Slam... love it driving K701. The slam makes K701 sound less stiff/damped, adds some fluidity to the sound, in comparision to when driven by M3. I love tubesssssss. Pat's W5000 is quite engaging, even though it didn't sound as accurate as either HD650 or K701, ihmo. Najib's sony scd-ce595 is also impressive... definitely on my of potential new sources to replace my aging cd player.

Lastly, thanks najib for hosting and giving us a ride (actually two rides for me). Wang

 

[patman657]

Thanks to Najib for hosting the meet at his place and providing transportation, and thanks to Bill and Wang for bringing so many headphones. It was a very fun meet (and for me a welcome break from three days of non-stop work), and for four people, there was quite a lot of gear present. My impressions:

Senn HD650: The first time I heard this can was in Lyric Hi-Fi in Manhattan. It was hooked up to some French player and an Antique Soundlabs OTL 32. I didn't like it at all, greatly preferring the HD600. Well, after this meet, I still don't like it. Hearing it out of my amp made it better, but the "veil" is very present to me and the headphones just weren't interesting to me. A real snoozer.

Senn HD595: Better than the HD650, IMO. Less veiled, more engaging, maybe even more musical. I would take this over the 650 in a heartbeat, but I wish there would have been a HD600 to compare it to.

AKG K701: Kicks the pants off of the HD650, IMO. Very comfy, expansive soundstage, wonderful for jazz and classical. I very much liked these cans, but not more than my W5000.

AKG K501: Wow, these really impressed me with their smoothness and liquidity when listening to jazz. For the price, these are very hard to beat. I might pick up a pair at some point.

AKG K340: Very interesting, but must be driven to high volumes for the midrange to show up. Looking back, I wish I had listened to them more.

I completely missed the DT880, also. I kept telling myself I would try them later but never got around to it.

So, I learned I'm definitely not a Sennheiser guy, and while I liked the AKGs, my W5000 are my favorite out of the bunch for an all-rounder. Now I just need a new source.

 

[nabwong]

Interesting things i forgot to mention

1. We swapped the pads on the K501 and K701. The K701 pads produced more bass on both the K701 and K501. So this led to the question as to how much the driver was actually improved upon.

2. Did a blind test on Patman with the zu pivot and black dragon mini-mini, on the Headamp AE-1. Black Dragon had more bass. The AE-1 is a sweet amp.

3. Unanimously voted Ksc35 as the best bargain in audio

Overall, i can't thank you guys enough for coming over. It was really fun debating yet still maintaining a high level of objectivity.