[krmathis]

Sounds like a fun meeting.
Limited amount of pictures this far, but from reading the impressions and the gear listed it seem like you had a great one. Quite a lot of electrostatic rigs, K1000, T1, ...

 

[skullguise]

Just got up.....didn't even have the chance to unpack my stuff, before the wife had me off to another event.

Thanks to Emooze from me, too. As I mentioned there, been on Head-Fi since later in 2003, lurked before, and this was the first time I've been able to make a meet!

Great to put faces with names, and chat in person. Thanks to Hopstretch for the Lamda Pro's; it was nice to compare them to the lended 404 LE's on my T1W....liked them both in different ways.

I liked the WES amp as well, a beautiful thing! Listened to several 80's songs that I never considered great-sounding, but in Hopstretch's system (Mac, Ayre USB DAC, WES, 007's) they were great listening, causing some serious toe-tapping.

I was impressed by the portable gear there, especially the Pico Slim; but knowing I would hardly if ever use it, I didn't listen. But lots to see, and getting smaller and smaller....

TrevorLane had the TTVJ Millet 307, it did some great things with the PS-1's and Senn 800's. Source was computer with Benchmark DAC (Pre version, IIRC).

Fang was there as well with some new protoypes for the HE-5's, I did some brief listening on his and another amp, and had a definite preference for which new driver I liked. Also liked his postable player, but again I don't use them often.

He also put his EF-5 amp in TrevorLane's system to compare to the TTVJ amp, driving the Senn 800 pretty easily. The TTVJ was preferred, definitely just made the music better in many aspects. But I was very pleasantly surprised at how good Fang's amp was for so little $.

As someone above mentioned, lots of good DIY stuff there. Emooze's gear was all DIY, though sadly I didn't get to hear his eXstata (did hear another, though, from JP#'s; very nice with the 404LE!). I liked his small USB DAC using TPA Module on a billet of aluminum. Didn't listen to Nate's BH, but hope to get that chance some day.

Ian's Millet was very nice in its wood case, and his selection of music was great. Props again for introducing many of us to Rykarda Parasol. Some nice chats about music towards the end of the meet as well.

Deepak's Take-T2 was an interesting listen. When I first heard it, on unfamiliar music, it sounded too bright, with drawbacks in the mids as well. But I briefly put on some music I was familiar with (Loreena McKennitt) later and it sounded better, very promising. Still not quite "natural," though.

Main regret, along with not hearing Nate's BH, was not hearing Ari's tube amp with the Senn 800's. Looked great, and likely sounded better!

It was great to meet Al and JP, and thanks to them for their great selection of alcohol. Enjoyed the Malt Liquor, a couple Peoples' Pints, and one of the other ales of which I forgot the name. A brief taste of scotch ended the show...

A great time, hope to make it to more!

 

[en480c4]

Impressions...

1st off, I was very impressed with the room. When things were at their loudest, the room seemed to handle it well. Much better than some of the live rooms meets are often held in.

The level of gear was impressive to say the least. By far the best gear I've seen at a Boston meet yet.

Nate's Blue Hawaii - Quite good, though the combo with the Hersten's DAC and the Lamda Sigs was a little more forward than I like. Never harsh or anything, just a bit more treble energy than I prefer. Bass impact and weight, and mids, were all right on, though. I didn't get a chance to revisit it with the O2s, unfortunately.

TrevorLane' TTVJ Millet 307A - I thought I heard a channel imbalance, and it turns out my concerns when listening were well-founded... At first the source was the suspect, but Nate tracked down the problem to Input 1 being the issue, and likely the result of some wiring problem. Once inputs were changed, the amp was everything that I expected. It sounded amazing with the woodied HF-1, the HF-2 and PS-1.

My Portable Amp Shoot-Out - I grabbed the Pico Slim & a LOD to give it a spin with my iPhone and HF-2 (I didn't bring my Shures or any other portable phone), and a guy whose name I'm forgetting asked me to compare it to his RSA Shadow. Shortly after sitting down, Dave (drp) brought over the TTVJ Portable (Slim) for me to throw into the mix. It was no real surprise that I didn't care for the RSA... As expected from one of Ray's amps, the upper mids and treble were shouty and in-your-face, and when combined with some prominent bass, I found the lower mids to sound recessed. Male (and some female) vocals really suffered here. The tougher comparison was between the Pico Slim and the TTVJ Portable... I knew what I heard immediately, but trying to figure out how to verbalize it was a bit more difficult. Ultimately, the mid-range was the factor for me... The TTVJ amp had a bit thinner sound throughout, but most noticeably in mid-range. While it allowed for some great texture and detail retrieval, I was left wanting for a bit more mid-range magic. The Pico, on the other hand, had a fuller sound... It just struck me as better balanced. I was not left wanting for bass... Extension, punch, and bass detail were all excellent. The mids were really where the Pico shined, especially with the mid magic found in the HF-2. Male and female vocals and crunchy guitar all sounded spot-on. And as someone who is sensitive to treble energy (see BH above), the Pico had the perfect balance for me of detail, energy and smoothness. I found that despite the incredible range of gear at the meet, the only gear lust I left with was the Pico Slim. To my ears, it did everything "right" and without a second thought I could be very happy with my iPhone, a Pico Slim and my Grados at home and my Shures on the go.

Thanks to the organizers, everyone who brought their gear (even if I didn't get to hear it) and as is always the case, seeing friends and talking about music is the real highlight of these for me.

 

[drp]

Great time; many thanks to Emooze for setting up a meet.

Voltron’s JFET amp sounded great with the balanced TWag cable; brought the JH13 to a new level. I could hear piano decay in familiar tracks that extended longer than in just about any other gear I’ve listened to; instrument separation/imaging was just about perfect. Pared with the RA Opus 21, this is a rig/setup I could be very happy with.

Nate’s revitalized BHSE along with the 404LE was all that I was expecting, and more. Great soundstage. One of my test tracks had me looking to see if there was another audible headphone nearby. Nope; the width-wise extension was all coming from this exceptional paring.

Was glad to finally get my hands on a Pico Slim. A lot of sound from such a small package. I sourced it through both an iMod Nano and a stock 1st gen Nano with a Twag mico LOD. Both resulted in a gear stack that easily fit in a pocket. Along with a TWag JH13 cable in single-ended mode, I heard what was (IMHO) the best size-to-performance rig to date. The TTVJ Slim also sounded exceptional with this combination. The Slims were both incredible sounding, with just a few differences in presentation; it really depends on what floats your boat. The TTVJ was a bit softer sounding, with perhaps a slightly wider soundstage; the Pico a little more forward and dynamic sounding. Bass on both was exceptional, irrespective of being portables, as was detail retrieval. Linearity (with JH13s) was about the same, they both remained frequency and channel balanced at any volume level. Was great fun to sit with Ian and compare these two winners with his great music collection and ever-impressive critical listening skills.

The bang-for-buck award goes to the Hifiman EF5. Sourced from the iMod line out or the Hifiman, I was floored by this little single-tube amp that currently sells for 400 bucks, which includes a separately boxed power supply. It drove the JH13s very well, and also made the HE-5 sing. Didn’t get a chance to try it out with the HF-2, but can only expect great things. Others commented on very surprising the OK-1 earbuds. I’ve had a pair for ~ a year, and still reach for them when I need great sound sans isolation and no headband hair. Perfect office cans. A big thanks to Fang for setting up a great (and only) vendor table with water and cookies (a class act), and also for letting me hang onto the older 01-DAC for a little longer, as I am ampless at the moment. Good sounding little amp/DAC, and his recent entries are a testimony to his continued efforts to provide great products at more than reasonable prices.

The beer table may have been the best table at the meet. Since I had a Guinness for brunch (coming from someone that rarely drinks), this made for a nice desert tray. Thanks to Al an JP; was great to finally meet you guys.

 

[LeeMark]

Ian and Dave really taught me a thing or two about analyzing sound and the quality of the amps. It was my shadow that Ian used, and to be honest, after hearing the Shadow compared to the TTVJ Slim and the Pico Slim, I have to agree with Ian's comments. However, Through my Imod/ALO female Imod LOD/TWag mini to mini to either of these amps and wearing my JH13s, I found both amps were excellent, but liked the TTVJ slightly more, a little more detail and soundstage and worked well with many genres of music, as I think Ian mainly listened to his favorite female vocals. I liked the TTVJ so much that I bought it that day and put up the Shadow for sale (already have a buyer). After taliking to Ian again I almost had buyers regret, but I also liked the form factor of the TTVJ slim over the Pico slim (and the Shadow) as it works really nicely with my 5.5 gen Imod.

Anyway, it was a great meet, people were open and honest about their opinions but NEVER dogmatic or self righteous, just there for the love of the hobby and music. I really wish there were people of this caliber in the other aspects of my my life (not counting my wife and kids of course!).

I do have to second that one of the my favorite tables was the beer table (who knew that Whole Foods sells beer!).

All the best to everyone I met, and look forward to our next meet. Special thanks to Voltron for his openness and generosity and to Dave (DRP) for the same.

Again, thanks emooze for organizing this, hope you had a good time too.

 

[nikongod]

I had a great time at this meet as always. It was quite nice meeting all the new folks and seeing some I have known for a while.

I would like to thank Emoze for running this meet, It was a great time.

Highlights for me were:
The ginger-brew. Although not really a beer I must say this was VERY good stuff. I almost certainly would not hae bought it for myself, but it was there so I had to try it. The ginger was very delicately present with the other flavors in the brew, but still peeked out for a nice finish.

The Whisky which came around for round 2 was also very good although Im not much a fan of such peety/smokey flavors.

I got to see & hear Grado SR-300. Quite the treat. I have only ever seen a few pairs sell, so seeing this rare beast was very nice. I didnt listen to them too long as they had HP-1000 drivers. I meant to bring my RS-1 and HP-1000 to compare to these, but forgot until I was about 45 miles (and 2 bridge tolls) from home.

Listening to the Beyer T1 on my own amp was quite nice. I tried BOTH the 0 & 120ohm outputs (which are more like 60 and 160 really) and the T1 performed EXCEPTIONALLY well off of both. I didnt compare them head to head against my HD800, but I think they have a sound I prefer although I tend to think the HD800 are a little analytical for my tastes.

I listened to the T1 on hopstretch's EAR HP4 amp, and this was a solid pairing! I had not heard the HP4 before, and was impressed with how the T1 and it ran together. Perhaps the STAX mafia will put a hit out on me for this, but in some ways I preffered them to the O2/WES pairing that was there.

The TTVJ/millet 307a amp was off in a corner, and that was VERY cool to listen to. I spent most of my time on that amp with the K1000 rather than the PS-1. The amp was exceptionally transparent, clearly showing the differences in various recordings that I played. Stuff ranging from really tinny sounding microphones to flat out grainy class AB gain stages to smoooooth and dull recordings. Whatever it was the 307a played them well. It threw a very realistic soundstage (as one would expect with the K1000) and had good placements and focus. I was impressed that some of the music I was playing got my toe tapping, which is a very good sign to me.

Some Pics:

Emooze's Extatta

PS-1

Worlds awesomest millet hybrid

Moar PS-1

Beyer T1

307a

Beer!

Happy Brifday!

BHSE prototype

 

[n_maher]

Clearly this thread demands MOAR PICS! I used less than an 18ga cable from my camera to down load the pictures so I apologize for the lighting in some of them.

My meager meet rig (Hertsens + BHse)

Al's jfet amp, which I unfortunately forgot to listen to fed by drp's opus CD player

Pico Slim - actually what I spent the most time listening to

Nums eXStata

And Stacker

Todd's (skullguise) stat rig

Young's (trevorlane) 307A, which once sounding right sounded so ******* right

Fang from Head-Direct made an appearance

One of these days I'll finally get to check one of these out...

Meant to try these again as well to see how they compared to the ones I heard in NYC, ran out of time.

The WES (more on this later)

Stretch's dynamic rig - Nugget Audio's home for wayward sources is trying to negotiate adoption of this...

Emooze's SS eXStata, I didn't get to hear this either as the line voltage was so low in the room it wouldn't run for a while (107VAC?!!?!)

Ian's (en480c4) Millett Rig - which still after all this time sounds simply great

Ari's (nikongod) Silver Ghost and Luxman - I got to check out the Luxman briefly and understand why others rave about it.

As previously mentioned this was a great meet. It was superb that Al and Johnny #'s were able to make it and 5 guys for lunch rocked. I'll post a few detailed impression later tonight.

 

[downsize]

Wow ! What a great event. Thank you so much Emooze, it was awesome !
I had the truly neat advantage of being a headfi virgin going to this meet. I've never heard ANYTHING that was at the show, besides my own humble rig ... Therefore I had NO EXPECTATIONS OR IDEAS what things were "supposed" to sound like. No preconceived notions AT ALL. Nor did I know what ANYTHING cost until after I listened to it. This made for perfectly subjective listening. I listened without bias, and here is what I thought :

To my ears, the T1 stole the show for best sound, when played through the INSANELY GOOD HP4 amplifier and Ayre DAC ... I got up from the table thinking I must have an amp like that ... until I found out exactly why it sounded so good .... $5000 amp, go figure. I thought the T1s just did literally everything right.

The HP4 and Ayre DAC that were amazing ...

Next up, I thought that Ari's own design, DIY tube amp was astonishing !! The only flaw with it, is he won't build me one LOL.

Ari's fabulous DIY amp :

What I left the show thinking I MUST HAVE now :

The Beyer DT 880 Pro cans. I went there wondering why these cans have such a divided opinion ... and I have NO CLUE. I will own a pair soon !

The Senn HD 580 ( modded ) played directly from the Hifiman 801 ... WOW, what a sound !!! I will own these cans soon also.

Luckily these two are inexpensive ( remember I picked them without knowing the price ) ... but the last thing i must have is not so inexpensive ... The Hifiman 801 was stunning, and I'm someone who listens to a $5000 Lexicon RT-20 player in my main home system.

I liked these cans better than any others I heard at the show, except thge T1s.

I thought the 800s were VERY, VERY good , but can see why some are put off by their distant sound. I did have to turn these up a lot more to enjoy them.

I learned I just do not like Grados so far. Too strident and edgy for me.

The biggest suprise of the day however, was hearing how my own VERY humble system compared to all the great, high end stuff that was there.
A little background if you please .... I went to the meet dis-satisfied with my newly acquired Rudistor NX-02 amp. I thought it had soft bass with my Pro900s. After carrying my 900s around listening to them on other SS amps, including M3, Beta22 , Gilmore GS1, ect ... I found out I had accidentally went overboard on the amount of cotton batting in the ear cups while doing the Kees mod !
After getting the correct amount of batting dialed in, my Rudistor came to life !! It shocked the hell out of me to find out I actually liked the Pro 900s on the Rudistor, more than ANY OTHER SS amp except the HP4 !!!! Yes, even over the Beta 22. I felt it has a VERY lifelike and present sound through the mids and highs that is more fleshed out than with other SS amps. I guess it's true about the Ultrasone/Rudistor synergy.
For the record, when trying most other cans with my Rudistor, I found I did not like the Rudi as well as I did the other SS amps I have already mentioned.
And as to my Pro 900s ... I honestly felt I liked them better than every other dynamic can besides the T1. I thought they were equal to my liking of the 880 Pros and the Senn 580s, but better than the rest. Here's why : To my ears, they come closest to the sound of an electrostatic than any other can i heard. They are VERY, VERY fast, open, and transparent. I'm really lucky, because going in to the meet i had NO IDEA what to expect as to how they would fare in my ears against the much more expensive cans that were there ! It also suprised me that exactly 4 people who listened to the 900s, told me they now wanted a pair after listening to mine !

As to all the Stax set ups that were there ... HEAVENLY ! But they should be with the price of the matching Stax amps !! LOL

Lastly, I want to say I REALLY enjoyed metting every one of you ! The synergy between fellow members was so very pleasent and fun.

Ari, thanks for letting me use your source and pair up with you.

PS : Who's Dead Can Dance CD did I accidentally end up with ? PM me with your address and i will get it right out to you.

 

[dBel84]

I have a few WOW's of my own

A belated Happy Birthday, a phenomenal build from said Birthday DIYr , not to mention Ari's Silver Ghost.

Looks like you all had much fun and the single malts would have closed the event perfectly.

..dB

 

[J-Pak]

Brief impressions- the Stax SR-404LE are probably the best Lambda that Stax has put out to date. I used to own a SR-404 and the SR-404LE is a very big step up from them. They must have done something to the 404LE drivers since the improvements weren't subtle. Tubed Exstata and 404LE was probably my favorite amp for them (I did not hear the solid state Exstata). The 404Le is a great value for under $1000.

 

[Hopstretch]

Thanks Downsize. Glad you enjoyed the rig. The HP4 actually ships out to a US Navy FPO tomorrow, so it will doubtless serve the nation tunefully in many ports of call. Godspeed etc.

I had a great time at the meet. Thanks again to Emooze for organizing and Voltron and JP for so ably foraging for liquor. The big takeaway for me was that the eXStatA appears to be the real deal. I spent a good while on JP's hybrid (off the excellent Sonic Studio 302) with the 404LEs and O2s and they were both a great listen. Then I had a shorter shot with Emooze's SS version hooked to my own system, which also impressed. Can't wait to get the Nugget Audio build in for long-term evaluation.

And I'm supposed to be out of the dynamic side altogether, but man everyone should hear the TTVJ 307A + PS-1 combo before they die. Of excess ear pleasure.

* I should mention, somewhat separate from the meet, that thanks to Jack Woo I got to listen to a WES at home for a few days before taking it along on Saturday for others to enjoy. Short impression, with the O2s it's the best sound I've ever heard out of headphones. I would sell my own mother to own one. The end.

 

[Emooze]

Yeah sorry about my eXStatA everyone. Gonna skip upgrading my source next and just get a power regulator.

 

[Towert7]

Going through my photos right now, getting rid of the ones that didn't come out.
They should be up soon.

 

[FrankCooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emooze /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah sorry about my eXStatA everyone. Gonna skip upgrading my source next and just get a power regulator.

I've had the same problem at meets before. Just get youself a cheap Ebay variac and set the line voltage at whatever is required to keep your regulators happy.

 

[Towert7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankCooter /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've had the same problem at meets before. Just get youself a cheap Ebay variac and set the line voltage at whatever is required to keep your regulators happy.

That may have worked out. There sure were considerably voltage swings. I would watch it go from 107 to 115 and then back to 105 all within a few seconds.

I'm not sure how sensitive to input voltage the exstat was, but if you used a variac simply as a voltage multiplier and normalized to 120V, you'd be getting swings of 114-125V, which would probably have been acceptable.

Ideally you'd have a voltage multiplier plus a regulator/buffer for that room.