Had a blast at the show yesterday! Thanks to everyone who made it possible, Jude, Ethan, exhibitors and attendees. A lot of time and effort has gone into making CanJam London such a success and it is greatly appreciated. Am happy so share my impressions with you, though please bear in mind that my impressions are just that, my impressions. No measurements, limited technical jargon, just what I felt when listening to my choice of music through some quite amazing gear. No pictures I’m afraid as I forgot my camera but loads of people were taking photos and videos on some serious-looking gear, which I see are beginning to appear on this thread.
First stop, of course, was Meze, having listened to the prototype Empyreans last year. Meze had decided to partner their Empyreans with the dCS Bartok which was a great pairing. The sound was warm, smooth and non-fatiguing. If you are looking for a simple (but expensive!) set-up comprising one box and a pair of headphones, for listening late into the night this is perfect. Apparently, Meze are selling the Empyrean as fast as they can manufacture them, the demand is so great.
Warwick Acoustics had the great idea of exhibiting their Aperio and Sonoma Acoustics Model One in a listening booth, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the main hall. Once inside and plugged into the Model One, I understood immediately the love for electrostatic headphones! I have never heard Bob Dylan’s voice so well-realised. There was clarity and detail in the mids and highs, yet without being sibilant or fatiguing, whilst the bass - something I thought might be lacking - was well defined and controlled. No, I wasn’t listening to EDM, so that might be something to explore for those who need to feel the bass coursing through their body but for me it was perfect.
Next up was a stop at Innuos, where they had hooked up their ZENith Statement to a Chord Dave connected to the HiFiMan Shangri-La Jr. Over £25,000 worth of gear and, boy, did it sound good too. Sublime imaging, clarity and detail with the smoothness and warmth of the Jr’s tubes combining to great effect. Sheer musicality and another combination I could listen to for hours on end.
Focal had a major presence in the main hall, where they had all several examples of all their headphones hooked up to many different amps and dacs covering most combinations you would choose to listen to at home. Spotting a free space, I homed in on the Focal Clear connected to a Novafidelity HA500H digital-to-analog converter, preamp and asynchronous USB DAC in turn hooked up to a Novafidelity X50D music server / network streamer. Another great combination, particularly for critical listening, although I did feel it would become fatiguing quite quickly. To my ears, I felt it unsuitable for relaxed, late night listening but ideal for hearing into the music, bringing out detail and nuance.
I then listened to a pair of Focal Clears hooked up to a Feliks Audio Euphoria amp and Benchmark DAC3. This was much more to my taste, a warmer, smoother sound yet not lacking in detail or clarity. I could listen to this combination for hours, one thoughtfully put together by Focal.
My last Focal combination was, likely, one that a lot of people outside our hobby will choose, that of the Focal Utopias (or Focal Stelias) hooked up to their own Arche dac/amplifier. A neat solution that produced sonic bliss: great musicality, detail and drive. Simple, effective and relatively affordable, for the career professional who I suspect is the target audience, at £6,000 for a neat one stop solution.
Having read and heard so much love for ZMF headphones, I wanted to visit their stand. Greeted warmly by Bevin, I listened firstly to the Verite which was a little too bright for my taste. A happy and proud owner of the Verite sitting next to me, better described them as having a W signature. I then had a listen to the Aeolus which, to me, sounded a little warmer without losing any detail, resolution or presence. This, I could quite happily live with but then their UK Distributor, Aamer, suggested taking a listen to the Auteur with leather pads fitted to reduce the highs. This made for a delightful listen, hugely musical, perfectly weighted highs and lows, detail and, above all, the musicality I craved. But, I am getting ahead of myself. What really blew my mind was the beautifully crafted headphones arrayed all around me. Gorgeous woods, lovingly chosen and polished to perfection. If ever a headphone brand inspired pride of ownership, it has to be ZMF.
Next up was the HEDDphone. Great name, only surprised it has taken so long for someone to come up with it! Amazing headphones, great speed and dynamic range allowing you to hear into the music. Great price too, given that I expected it to be more expensive than it actually is, coming in at around 1,700 Euros. The pre-production pair I listened to, though, was very heavy, very heavy indeed. I couldn’t see me wearing this for more than an hour at a time, if that. That said, it is pre-production and HEDDphone are looking to reduce the weight as well as improve on the look and finish of the headphone before it hits the shelves of specialised headphone dealers around October/November later this year.
Being the happy owner of an original Hugo TT, I was interested in stopping by the Chord Electronics stand to take a listen to the TT2 and M-Scaler. The chatter on Head-Fi had piqued my interest to say the least! Chatting to the guys there, Rob having left to speak at the seminar which I missed unfortunately, they explained that the original TT had been based on the Hugo, whereas the TT2 had been designed from the ground up. Listening to the TT2/M-Scaler through, I think from memory, HiFiMan Susvara headphones, was hugely enjoyable, with copious amounts of detail and resolution making the gorgeous Susvaras sing.
Another great combination was found at HeadAmp, where the Stax SR 009 ear speakers were being driven by the Headamp Blue Hawaii SE. Comfortable, resolving, fluid, spacious, musical and magical. I could have listened to this pairing all day and all night but I time was against me and I wanted to visit the Plaza Suite where dCS had their main display.
Walking into the Suite, I was greeted warmly but it was the sight of at least six dCS Bartok’s arrayed atop huge roadie transportation cases that grabbed my attention! Each Bartok was paired with different headphones, Meze, Focal, Abyss and HIFiMan included. I chose to listen to the Abyss 1266 Phi edition……. and was left feeling disappointed. I really wanted to like them but felt they were nothing special and uncomfortable to boot. In fairness, the settings of the Abyss were fixed, there was no opportunity to adjust them, so this may well be the reason. I then chose to listen to the Focal Utopia with the Bartok. Wow! Absolutely amazing combination, for me the most striking I’d heard all day. Obviously a price tag to match but if I had £15,500 going spare that’s where my money would go! Allow me to dream! And it is a neat one box solution, DAC, headphone amplifier and streamer combined with no apparent weakness in any area. The Bartok has a selection of filters, mainly for use with a pre-amplifier but there is one filter especially for headphone listening, although that does not preclude the use of the other filters should you so choose. Listening to this pairing did not disappoint, the Bartok bringing out the best in the Utopias: detail, clarity, space, speed, resolution and outright musicality. Difficult to see this being bettered for critical listening for some time.
I’ve banged on for long enough, so will end by saying how lucky we are to have such wonderful gear through which to hear our music, even if it is only once a year!
Both were ultra fast, incredibly incisive-not harsh though- but under show conditions didnt involve me emotionally so much.
