[HiFiGuy528]

 

[GarageBoy]

Highlights for me were finally getting to hear the Nautilus and the Red October, these were like magic... even headphones I generally don't agree with sounded pretty good off these to me ha! Another big surprise in a smaller package was the Kenzie! Man, what a solid headphone tube amp, perfect for desktop realty lol with some big sounds!

What was your favorite pairing with those two amps?

 

[dougms3]

Did anyone else notice that an overwhelming majority of headphones at canjam had Moon Audio cables on them?

 

[warrenpchi]

The plot thickens...

 

[fattycheesebeef]

Did anyone else notice that an overwhelming majority of headphones at canjam had Moon Audio cables on them?

Interesting

 

[musicman59]

Probably it is because they are very good at price/performance ratio.

 

[PointyFox]

I highly doubt that.

 

[dougms3]

Probably it is because they are very good at price/performance ratio.

I agree, I recently acquired a silver dragon cable and the difference is really surprising, so it makes me wonder how much of the sound is the cable lol.

I can't remember where exactly I saw them but I specifically remember every headphone in the DCS room had moon audio black or silver dragon cables except for the He1000se.

 

[goldwerger]

Are there any more impressions of the T+A Solitaire P?

I tried both the Solitaire SE and Solitaire P, and tried them first directly off my A&K (sp1000m), and then off my A&K DAC fed into the T+A HA 200 amp.

The Solitaire SE is good, neutral, and (to me) nover memorable. It doesn't scale with better amplification.

The Solitaire P was excellent, but its over tunning was warm across the board. It definitely scale with good amplificaiton, and switching tot he matchin HA 200 was (unsurprisingly) an improvement. It's a super smooth listening but the resolution (or more likely the perception of resolution that comes with a slightly brighter tuning) likely won't compete for most people with current competing headphones in the $3-4k range. The Solitaire P is a whopping $6k, and the SE is about $3k (I think). The HA 200 DAC/Amp is baout $10k (I think).

They are all very well built, and esthetically, the DAC/Amp is beautiful. I enjoyed testing them, but I wouldn't buy them.

Had a chance to try the X9000 of the BHSE. Wow. If I didn't love bass-centric music so much I would absolutely plunk down the coin for a pair and a DIY T2.

A 009 was plugged into the same amp and in a rare moment where no one was waiting in line I did a very quick AB between it and the X9000. The test track was Kat Eaton - Barricade -- a modern motown-style uptempo track with warm, intimate vocals.

The 009 was brighter and had harsher treble to my ears. The volume was probably higher than I would normally prefer (10 oclock pot). I had demoed this can before on Woo's rig in 2020 and my impression was similar. I was totally amazed by how smooth and more full-bodied the X9000's sounded in comparison. Resolving capability and stereo imaging is better than anything I've ever heard. Especially the sense of stage height and width. I would be willing to say the width approaches the HD 800's but more realistically executed. It's also comfortable to wear so that really contributes to the overall feeling of transparency, which I interpret as the sense of the transducer vanishing and the music just existing all around you. It's like the scenes in the x-men movies where Professor X puts Cerebro on his head and a holographic globe materializes and shows the exact locations of the mutants on Earth.

E-stat bass isn't really my thing but I can see chamber music, acoustic, and jazz being knockouts. That being said, I found CRBN (At Audeze's booth, not in the quiet rooms) to be only mildly better than X9000 in the bass. The CRBN's bass is outperformed by even the DCA Stealth's bass (driven by Formula S), but perhaps that is an unfair comparison.

Now I don't know if the 009 and x9000 have the same sensitivity. Under show conditions I made no attempt to volume match, obviously.
Overall the X9000 impressed me a lot. The total time I've spent with e-stats has been about 20 minutes in my entire lifetime, but I can say the X9000 presents an ultra-refined, simply luxurious sound. It's really something special.

I listened to the Thieaudio monarch MK2 and compared to my Mk1 and found the mids to be fuller, and the bass to have richer tonality and texture, but ever-so-slightly less sub-bass. It definitely justifies its right to exist alongside the MK1. I was about to buy one on the spot, but then I demoed the U12T (M20 module). Whoa. I knew I had to have one. Insane spaciousness, detail and resolution, balanced tonality, nice punchy bass and treble done just right. I never thought an IEM could convey spaciousness so well. Definitely a modern classic. I'm a headphone guy, but between U12T and EE Odin (it puts a subwoofer in your ear!), I can see why these things command crazy prices and are so coveted.

Meze Liric had fun, rowdy tuning but the treble had a little too much bite for me. It's not as open-feeling as the Stealth, IMO. I drove it off my DX160 single ended but if it's anything like the 99classics, then running it balanced 4.4mm/2.5mm would probably help the stage open up a bit. Just a hunch though. Something to consider.

I didn't think the LCD-5 (off the Burson GT) had as shouty a midrange as folks have complained about, IMO. The treble didn't sparkle as much as expected. The bass could have been a little more voluminous. But the entire experience was defined by smoothness. I just kept thinking about scraping a wooden spoon across the top of a cup of Luigi's Italian Ice.

Last thing I heard was the Susvara driven by HFM's big amp (I forget the name). The thing was huge and looked like a hospital's autoclave machine for sterilizing surgical instruments. The volume dial was infuriating. It seemed like the steps had intervals of 5 dB and nothing smaller. I'm exaggerating but truly I couldn't get anywhere close to the intended listening volume. By that point my ears were pretty fatigued so I'll reserve my full judgment. Susvara has more than adequate punch/slam. I don't own a Susvara so I don't know if this amp was making it do anything special. I was expecting a wider soundstage, actually. I recall the HE-400i that first got me into the headphone game had a slightly wider stage than this Susvara. Please, no flames. You can blame these impressions on listening fatigue.

Anyway. I enjoyed the show, listened to gear I would probably never own myself, and walked away without buying anything. Mission accomplished.

(Does Noble's Dr Moulton introduce himself to anyone as Dr. Moulton or Wizard? Not sure how I feel about asking people to call yourself Wizard. There is always a kid in highschool who wants to nickname himself "Knife," and he just keeps trying to make it stick but it just won't. Also ain't feeling that W scribbled all over the Noble promotional material. I may remove this part of the post later once I sober up)

I had the same chance as you to A/B the X9000 vs. the 009s on the BHSE and came away with the same impression - in direct compairson the X9000 is so much better, clearer, and very well-balanced. I loved its understated character, somewhat laid back across the entire FR giving a sense of space, while making all instruments clearly delineated and positined within that wider space. For me, the X9000 was the headphone highlight of the show. I also got to listen to it on the Woo WES, the (underwhelming) t8000, and the (utterly, shockingly, marverlous) Eksonic T2 - and had the same impressions across the board. I know it got a lot of mixed reviews, but my subjective take was that it's a real step up and not mere evolution.

We had an awesome time at CanJam New York 2022 this year. Part one of our show report is a more detailed look at each of the various systems that were on display for everyone to listen to.

Words can't quite convey just how excited we were to have had the chance to demo the brand new RAAL-requisite VM-1A Vacuum Tube Amplifier for their SR1a Ribbon Headphone. Pre-orders are now available for this new flagship amplifier and orders will begin shipping later this month.

We ran the VM-1A along with the Chord Hugo TT2 as our DAC with an iFi Audio ZEN Stream connected to ROON for lossless streaming of both Qobuz and local files with our HeadAmp GS-X Mini Balanced Headphone Amplifier paired with both the Hifiman Susvara and Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC headphones.

For electrostatic headphones, we had our HeadAmp Blue Hawaii Special Edition and NAIM Uniti Atom Music Player serving as the DAC for the:

• Audeze CRBN Electrostatic
• STAX SR-009S
• STAX SR-007 MK2
• STAX SR-X9000

We also had a secondary system, hosted by our room partners, the Dan Clark Audio team. We would like to give them a big thanks for sharing the space with us! They had a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC feeding our HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE and HeadAmp GS-X MK2 Balanced Headphone Amplifier, which served the following headphones:

• Dan Clark Audio VOCE Open-Back Electrostatic Headphones
• Dan Clark Audio Stealth
• Dan Clark Audio Ether 2
• Dan Clark Audio ETHER C Flow 1.1
• Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire Closed Back Planar Magnetic Headphone

On the far left of the table, hooked into the NAIM Uniti Atom Music Player, we had the new RAAL-requisite PDT-1a Tube Amplifier for planar magnetic and dynamic headphones with the Meze Elite and Sennheiser HD800S open back headphones.

Finally, on the right side of the table, we had the Bricasti Design M3h DAC with Integrated Differential Headphone Amp paired with the:

• DCA Stealth
• Abyss Diana TC
• Audeze LCD-5
• & the recently redesigned Hifiman HE-R10P

On the showroom floor, we had the following two systems:

• Our HeadAmp GS-X Mini with the Border Patrol Tube DAC alongside two headphones, the DCA Stealth and Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Closed Back.
• Plus, we had the new desktop stack from Mytek Audio, consisting of their Mytek Liberty DAC II going balanced out into the Liberty THX AAA™ Headphone Amp and single ended into our HeadAmp Gilmore Lite mk2 with the DCA Stealth and Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire Closed Back Planar headphones.

The Mytek team were present once again, as well, with the Mytek Empire Streamer alongside their entire lineup of products, including the: Mytek Liberty DAC II, Liberty THX AAA™ Headphone Amp, and Mytek Manhattan II DAC.

Be sure to share your thoughts of the show and our gear here on Head-Fi’s official CanJam 2022 impressions thread!

Lastly, to wrap up part one of our show report, we’d like to extend a special thank you to the world renowned composer, Mr. David Chesky, for taking a moment to stop by and listen! We hope that he enjoys his music on our systems as much as we do!

Thanks again for your hospitality. You had some wonderful gear

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Did anyone else notice that an overwhelming majority of headphones at canjam had Moon Audio cables on them?

That I didn't notice but I did notice that the overwhelming majority of headphones were not dynamic, in other words there were plenty of planar magnetic and electrostatic headphones with a few Focals here and there and even the odd Sennheiser HD 800. Other than the Spirit Torino booth, where were all the great dynamic driver headphones?

This is not meant to knock planar magnetic and electrostatic headphones especially when, to my ears at least, the DCA Stealth was the star of the show.

 

[Niyologist]

I bought the Soundcore Frames. I couldn't resist.

 

[mrtim6]

Thanks everyone for your impressions, let’s hope everyone is also wishing for peace at this time

 

[THGM]

Yes, thanks to all those who have taken the time to post their impressions, photographs and videos. I seem to have missed a great show...
Very much looking forward to CanJam London which, I am sure, will be spectacular!

 

[John Buchanan]

I don't understand why so many like Burson - aren't they just an op amp-based headphone amp? Their rise in amp ranking baffles me. I have never heard them and don't particularly have any desire to listen to one.

You've written Burson off because you think they produce op-amp based amps? The V5 and V6 op-amps they use are manufactured from discrete components and are able to be owner changed. They don't use off-the-shelf op-amps. Try listening, maybe, or have a look at their web site.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

It was wonderful seeing so many of you.

It was my second CanJam in what I hope to be many, many more.

Meaningful late night conversations with people like @Evshrug (sorry to keep you all to myself for so late, lol), and being able to see so many of my Head-fi heroes like @jude, @AxelCloris, @warrenpchi , and so many more.

Thanks to everyone who visited my little corner at the Audeze booth! Always wonderful to be able to just geek out with other like-minded people.