Had a wonderful time at CanJam this year, as expected. Made sure I got there bright and early to cram in as much listening as I possibly could.
For the sake of brevity, I'll condense my impressions into as close to a paragraph as I can on each (tough for me lol). As such, I'll touch on about ten of my experiences on the day (although I certainly had more).
Woo/Abyss Room:
Abyss 1266 TC (on WA33): The most impressive low-end display of the entire show; if bass slam/impact is your thing, look no further than the 1266 TC on a high-powered tube set-up. Overall, out of these, you get a fast, tight signature, wide soundstage, and THAT BASS. Drawbacks are the mids are a bit recessed, tonality isn't the most "accurate" (natural) and you're losing out on some of the transparency/"detail" you might get from some others (see Stax impressions). But, with that said, one of the absolute highlights of the show. Surprisingly more comfortable than you might expect, as well.
Stax X9000 (on WES): Another absolute highlight of the show. Transparency and detail seemed unmatched by any other set-up. Everything just sounded so natural and alive. Fast, fast, fast. Probably the most balanced of the Stax options. The only notable con was the bass isn't going to do it for you if you're used to the impact and depth of the best dynamics or planars.
Audeze CRBN (on WES): For an e-stat, it's very well balanced. If I can only own one headphone and it had to be an estat, I'd take this over any of the Stax options because there was more bass impact. But if I can own two headphones.....I'd take any of the 009S or X9000 over this. I liked how balanced it was, but there was no single element of it that really impressed me over any other headphones in this price point.
Abyss Diana TC (on the brand-new WA23 "Baby Elite"): You can certainly hear some similarities to the 1266 TC here (with respect to the treble presentation and detail retrieval), but the Mids are much more present/forward here, the soundstage is smaller and while the bass is still very fast and tight, not as much impact/slam. If you don't listen to the Diana TC and the 1266 TC back-to-back, I think you'd come away more impressed by the Diana TC than I did, but comparing directly to its big-brother didn't have it coming out as desirable. Still, a very good headphone; although I'm not sure I prefer it over the Diana V2. The WA23 didn't seem like the best amp match for it, had to get quite up near the top of the volume knob to get it loud.
DCA/HeadAmp Room:
DCA Stealth (on GS-X Mk. II): I think DCA did a good job here of avoiding a lot of the pitfalls for me with many closed-backs (which is odd tonality/lack of naturalness), it does indeed sound somewhat like an open-back (certainly more so than the ZMF VC or Focal Stellia do). Sound signature is incredibly clean, with no overemphasized frequencies of material note. Perhaps that's it's downfall, as well, as it just didn't move me much. I was impressed by its technicalities and it's comfort/weight, but couldn't see myself reaching for them much.
DCA Voce (on Blue Hawaii): This reminded me more of the Audeze CRBN than the Stax line; you could tell they went for balance and more depth than you get from the typical Estat. They achieved that to some degree as they seemed more lush and less thin than other Estats, at the expense of not coming away with the exceptional transparency and speed of the top Stax offerings. I can see it as a worthy contender to the Stax 007 perhaps, but it didn't do it for me like the X9000 did.
Stax 009S (on Blue Hawaii): This was another highlight for me; definitely comparable to the X9000 in speed and detail. 009S seems a touch brighter and a little less effortless/natural than the X9000, perhaps a little thinner, as well. Not a sizable overall difference between the two, though, although I slightly preferred the X9000. Overall, worthy of its place towards the top.
Stax X9000 (on Blue Hawaii): Nothing materially different than what I experienced from my impressions of the X9000 off the Woo Amp.
Abyss Diana TC (on GSX Mini): This was a more preferable pairing for the DIana TC than the Woo WA23, certainly more headroom here and just a bit cleaner presentation of the same items I noted with the Diana TC above.
Eksonic Room:
Stax 007 Mk I (on the brand-new Eksonik Aeras): If you want some of that effortless-ness and speed of a Stax but crave more warmth and body, the Mk I is likely your ticket. I prefer the 009S and X9000 signature, but I can see how the 007 Mk I could be a better long-term listening option if one is worried about listening fatigue. I was very impressed by the Eksonik Aeras; a ton of clean juice to power the 007, and the amp's form factor is much preferable to me over the behemoth chassis of the WES or Blue Hawaii. This was another highlight.
Audio46 Booth:
T&A Solitaire P (on T&A HA200): From a visual aaesthetic perspective, one of my favorites from the show. It's a very classy looking combo. The Solitaire P had a lush presentation and a lot of depth, as well as a delivery I can see working with a wide selection of genres and be pleasing to most's listening tastes. It does border on dark, though, and the soundstage was a bit narrow. No particular element stood out to me but I can see how this would work as a primary driver for many/many styles. Clamping pressure was too weak, and overall build quality didn't scream $6k+. Overall, I'd take a Final D8000 (Non-Pro) over these any day but if you disregard price point, they would be a crowd-pleaser.
T&A Solitaire P-SE (on A&K ACRO CA1000): Sound signature of these is immediately more noticeably neutral than the dark Solitaire P. The treble is less muted here with the P-SE than the P, mids more forward, but bass less thick. Overall, I preferred the sound of the P-SE over the P, and didn't notice any drop in technicalities at all. They seem fairly easy to drive, as well. Build quality of these is a shock for this price point; had a comparable build to a $200 Sennheiser.
Audeze Booth:
Audeze LCD-5 (on a Nagra and Burson Stack): For my tastes, this is the best headphone Audeze has made yet. By far the most balanced headphone I've heard from them; sound signature moves away from the usual Audeze darkness and takes on a more neutral approach. Bass was tight and impactful without being too much, and the overall transparency has increased here (I find Audeze to have a bit of a veil sometimes across their lineup). Another notable improvement was comfort; manageable weight and clamp on these. Overall, well-done to Audeze here for making a fine headphone with no glaring faults.
Dcs Room:
Focal Utopia (on dcs Bartok): Not my first rodeo with the Utopia, but any chance to spend some time with a Bartok is a good time to take lol. The Utopia has a bit of a narrow soundstage, aggressive, in-your-face sound signature and a bit of a "wall of sound" approach. Not exactly my cup of tea, although build quality and comfort are nice and the street/used price of a Utopia makes them a better value than some others.
Abyss 1266 TC (on dcs Bartok): While not materially different than my experience on the Woo, I did get a sense that the bass slam was toned-down a bit on the Bartok, and the treble was a bit smoother here. I felt that the WA33 drove the 1266 better than the Bartok did.
Sennheiser HD800 (on dcs Bartok): Not my first rodeo with these either; going from Utopia to HD800, you really do get hit in the face by the sizable difference in soundstage presentation between the two. While the HD800 or HD800s were never quite near my favorites, it's an undeniably capable headphone, with that impressive soundstage trick and quality comfort, and one of (if not the best) option you can get at a $1k street price.
Bartok certainly does seem to just smooth out anything connected to it. It's an impressive piece of gear, for sure, should one disregard the price point.
I also listened to other notables such as the Meze Elite, Mysphere and the Raal Sr1a. The Mysphere and Raal were tough to judge in this setting, even in the "quiet rooms" I tested them in; the complete lack of isolation made background noise distracting even with relative quiet of those rooms. With that being said, I disliked both; Mysphere was uncomfortable to wear and the bass distortion was comically bad at volume, and while the Raal SR1a was a clear step up, I also got bass distortion at volume. This format just might not be my thing.
Thank you to Head-Fi for organizing this, and for all the volunteers and exhibitors. All of the exhibitors were polite, helpful and knowledgeable; I especially want to thank Audio46 and Eksonik for being exceptionally friendly.
, I was able to hit 100% and the volume was just OK. However, as I kept listening, a bit after we reached cruising height, the volume got louder and I was able to comfortably use it with my android player at 64% for the rest of the flight. I also started watching Dune on the return flight, and I had plenty of volume headroom then as well.
