[MattTCG]

This is the first meet of this "scope" that I've played a role in organizing. I admit that I grossly underestimated the sheer volume of effort and money (just being honest) that it takes to make these bigger events happen. My hat is off to John at the Audio Video Club of Atlanta for the Herculean effort he put into this, and to everyone who pitched in. 
 
Here are a few highlights for me:
 
1. Getting to meet Warren. You are righteous dude and it was my pleasure to finally meet you. Thank you for letting me know that my friend Joe is holding a small stockpile of Liquid Golds. 

 
2. The ECP amp was breathtaking and I forget the model. It was the crazy expensive one with tubes. I'd never be able to afford it though. 
 
3. The Mr. Speakers stat prototype is sounding very, very good. Lightening fast decay and suprizingly good sub bass. This is one to watch. 
 
4. Speaking of Mr. Speakers, I was bummed that Dan did not get to make it to this one. But it was great to meet Peter and he shared some insiteful info with me especially about the stat. 
 
5. I enjoyed spending time with people who came down from the Nashville area. Those are a great group of guys. @Theogenes ...looking forward to the next meet brother. 
 
6. This will sound a little selfish (but I'm okay with that). I enjoyed showing off my own setup. My modded hd800's are actually warm and rich sounding. They have some of the best sub bass of anything I've owned. I loved seeing the looking on peoples faces when they put on my 800's and I cued up a few tracks with good deep bass. I think that I even got Tyll (by the way you owe me a dollar 

)
 
7. The vendor list for this event was amazing. It was nice to have the ear of the vendors and ask my own questions directly. 
 
8. And finally, to be honest, the best part of the meet had nothing to do with audio at all. While packing up to leave, I noticed a very sexy Porshe parked among all the more humble cars belonging to the attendees. When I discovered it belonged to someone I knew at the meet, I sheepishly asked for a ride around the block. Graciously he tossed me the keys and said that I could take it for a spin. Imagine now that the scene from Ferris Bueller where the two car attendants take off in Cameron's car...is playing in my head. If you have never driven a Porshe, you should really add it to your bucket list. It does not disappoint. @purk it was an epic drive brother!!!

 

[thomoz]

  This is the first meet of this "scope" that I've played a role in organizing. I admit that I grossly underestimated the sheer volume of effort and money (just being honest) that it takes to make these bigger events happen. My hat is off to John at the Audio Video Club of Atlanta for the Herculean effort he put into this, and to everyone who pitched in. 
 
Here are a few highlights for me:
 
1. Getting to meet Warren. You are righteous dude and it was my pleasure to finally meet you. Thank you for letting me know that my friend Joe is holding a small stockpile of Liquid Golds. 

 
2. The ECP amp was breathtaking and I forget the model. It was the crazy expensive one with tubes. I'd never be able to afford it though. 
 
3. The Mr. Speakers stat prototype is sounding very, very good. Lightening fast decay and suprizingly good sub bass. This is one to watch. 
 
4. Speaking of Mr. Speakers, I was bummed that Dan did not get to make it to this one. But it was great to meet Peter and he shared some insiteful info with me especially about the stat. 
 
5. I enjoyed spending time with people who came down from the Nashville area. Those are a great group of guys. @Theogenes ...looking forward to the next meet brother. 
 
6. This will sound a little selfish (but I'm okay with that). I enjoyed showing off my own setup. My modded hd800's are actually warm and rich sounding. They have some of the best sub bass of anything I've owned. I loved seeing the looking on peoples faces when they put on my 800's and I cued up a few tracks with good deep bass. I think that I even got Tyll (by the way you owe me a dollar 

)
 
7. The vendor list for this event was amazing. It was nice to have the ear of the vendors and ask my own questions directly. 
 
8. And finally, to be honest, the best part of the meet had nothing to do with audio at all. While packing up to leave, I noticed a very sexy Porshe parked among all the more humble cars belonging to the attendees. When I discovered it belonged to someone I knew at the meet, I sheepishly asked for a ride around the block. Graciously he tossed me the keys and said that I could take it for a spin. Imagine now that the scene from Ferris Bueller where the two car attendants take off in Cameron's car...is playing in my head. If you have never driven a Porshe, you should really add it to your bucket list. It does not disappoint. @purk it was an epic drive brother!!!

Matt, I got a kick out of your modded 800's, a nice surprise there at the show.
 
For me, the Ampsandsound single ended tube amps were THE sonic mind-blowers at the show - and
appropriately priced (circa $1600-1900) for their performance and construction.
They **really** showed me what my HifiMan cans are supposed to sound like!
 
Hey, if you wanted to play with a sportscar, you might have liked the spend a minute with my 2005 Crossfire. Admittedly not as exciting as that Porsche, it nevertheless has killer acceleration, steering and traction . . and one of the absolute best stock-audio systems I have ever heard.
AND you can pick one up for yourself for peanuts these days.

 

[MattTCG]

^^ I actually spend a good bit of time auditioning Anmpsandsound. I was impressed. I plan to post some more specifics for the Kensie (sp?) on the thread. 

 

[Chop-Top]

 
Matt, I got a kick out of your modded 800's, a nice surprise there at the show.
 
For me, the Ampsandsound single ended tube amps were THE sonic mind-blowers at the show - and
appropriately priced (circa $1600-1900) for their performance and construction.
They **really** showed me what my HifiMan cans are supposed to sound like!
 
Hey, if you wanted to play with a sportscar, you might have liked the spend a minute with my 2005 Crossfire. Admittedly not as exciting as that Porsche, it nevertheless has killer acceleration, steering and traction . . and one of the absolute best stock-audio systems I have ever heard.
AND you can pick one up for yourself for peanuts these days.

Thomoz,
Thanks for letting me audition your HiFiMan HE400S. IMO they produced the best sound out of my Pono Player compared with the Oppo PM-3, Meze 99 Classics, Audeze EL-8, Audeze SINE, Senn HD800 (hard to drive as expected), and B&W P5.
In fact, I ordered a pair and the balanced Surfcables for the Pono.  Hopefully this will take it to another level!

 

[Gowin]

Matt, John, and others involved in putting on this event are to be commended. Thank you all very much. It was very enjoyable and confusing at the same time. There was so much great gear to audition it had me going from booth to booth repeatedly auditioning and trying to narrow the field. Very informative and fun.

I also want to thank all of the vendors for participating. It was very helpful to discuss the products with those that have in-depth knowledge. The vendors were also very generous by donating some really cool raffle prizes and offering discounted show special pricing. Hopefully, the vendors sold enough stuff to make it worth their while and want to come back so this can become an annual event. I did my part and wanted to do a lot more. Time to start saving for the next show.

 

[fjrabon]

Really great event.  As a group we all worked very hard on this event and I think it showed.  I'd say the event was a success for sure, and we are certainly planning on doing it next year.  In fact, I expect next year to be even better as we will begin planning it literally within the next couple of months.  The crazy thing about this is that we only even started talking about this event in february, and it really only really came together in the last two months.  Pretty impressive given the short time frame, I think.  When I finally got home around 9 PM last night, I was dead to the world and was asleep within minutes, haha.  
 
Highlights for me were:
 
1) getting to know Chan from E-MU.  He was such a great guy, and is so very passionate on a personal level about his products.  After I picked him up from the airport Friday night we probably sat in his hotel room for about an hour and talked about different types of wood and his future plans for expanding his cup offerings.  
 
2) Catching up with the rest of the ATL crew.  I had been in decent contact with everybody over the last couple of months, but it was very good to see Purk, Matt, Joe, John, Lee and Frank, just to name a few.  
 
3) Meeting several new faces.  Some of which I think I were on here, but I maybe never got the name associated with the Head-FI handle.  Sheldaze in particular was a cool guy to meet, and his lovely wife as well.  I think I have his power cables, btw.  Need to PM him about that.
 
4) The lovely barbecue dinner at Hickory Smoke House after the event.  I cannot for the life of me remember the owner's name, but he was a member of AVCOA and he comped our entire meal, which was beyond generous.  Got to have some great conversations, especially with Tyll, as we swapped some ideas for next year's event and headphones in general.  
 
5) The Sennheiser HD800S, straight out the m9XX.  Man, I was floored.  To me, it fixed every issue I had with the HD800.  Right now I'm very happy to be able to drive every headphone I own straight out of a phone, if need be.  But if I were to consider owning a headphone that *required* an amp again, the move is decided.  I'll probably start looking as the used prices fall a bit.  My setup was iPhone > Tidal > m9XX (crossfeed on) powered with portable battery unit > HD800s and for such a simplistic setup it was marvelous.  Great pairing.  
 
6) The Mr. Speakers electrostats was a treat.  I still think I'd take Purk's SR009 / KGSSHV setup if that were ever a choice (ha, right), but the Mr. Speakers offering will certainly be a more than worthy contender and more competition in the elctrostat world is always needed.
 
7) I enjoyed getting to answer questions about my setup.  I took a relatively simple setup, with only two amps and two headphones: THX00 Ebony, HE400i, m9XX and HiFiMan EF2C fed with the Audioengine D1's DAC.  Also funny how split down the middle people were on them, with very close to a 50/50 split between the HE400i and THX00 Ebony.  Though the Ebony were most everybody's favorite in terms of looks.   

 

[dominiquejames]

For a first-timer and newcomer like me, Canlanta 2016 is a fantastic opportunity to listen to so many different amazing headphones and awesome set-up all in one room. And as a gathering of experts and enthusiasts, it's a great way to learn a whole lot more. A very big thank you and congratulations to the organizers, vendors, sponsors, and volunteers for the warm welcome and for your generosity of time, expertise, and knowledge.
 
And, on top of the incredible chance of being able to listen for the first time to some of the most admired and most loved headphones and setup, I got the awesome chance to snap a few macro shots with my little Leica while mostly listening (along with a few other things that caught my eye).
 
Here are my 'visual' impressions of the event:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cute]

  ^^ I actually spend a good bit of time auditioning Anmpsandsound. I was impressed. I plan to post some more specifics for the Kensie (sp?) on the thread. 

 You go guy!  I've had my Kenzie for more than a year, my review comments are on the Ampsandsound website.  Vintage NOS tubes are extremely reasonable, and sound great with both my HFM HE6, and my Sorrodje modded HD800.  Along with my Metrum Musette DAC, won't be buying any more headgear, maybe ever! 
 
My Kenzie was the second that Justin sold, love it, recommended with the right set of NOS tubes. 

 

[MattTCG]

 
 You go guy!  I've had my Kenzie for more than a year, my review comments are on the Ampsandsound website.  Vintage NOS tubes are extremely reasonable, and sound great with both my HFM HE6, and my Sorrodje modded HD800.  Along with my Metrum Musette DAC, won't be buying any more headgear, maybe ever! 
 
My Kenzie was the second that Justin sold, love it, recommended with the right set of NOS tubes. 

 
I appreciate your endorsement. This amp is on the shortlist for me. I liked the sound, a lot. And the amp is also beautiful looking. Wonderful tonality and very flexible with the dual impedance jacks. I'd like to spend some quality time with it and the hd800. 

 

[buke9]

Well back home in the Bluegrass now but had a great time at Canlanta 2016. Thanks for all that put this on and the many vendors that were there to show there goods. If it wasn't  for the trip down (8 hours with 2 hours to get thru Nashville) it could not have been better. I did make it back home in 5 hours and 50 mins though so that was nice. It was nice seeing some familiar faces and meeting some new ones ( hope not the last time). The venue was great and the staff at the hotel ( at which I stayed also) could not have been better. If you have it again next year I will be back.
 
The gear there was great. I know I didn't listen to everything as there was too much. The stand outs to me ( as I was looking for  a new amp) was the AmpsandSound Kenzie amp and Sheldons @sheldaze LTA Microzotl.  Boy were both of those great with my Ether-C's. The Kenzie I might have liked a little better as they have a $250 show discount as they are both around the same price but they are both superb amps. I think my wallet and I(from my wife) might take a hit soon. I still might opt for the Torpedo III as it was pretty nice and I was looking for a DIY project. The Torpedo is just lacking a little power as I had to turn it up to like 1 to 2 o'clock to get the power I needed and I don't listen at loud volume . I got the same level of volume on the HD-800's they had there also. It was still a nice sounding amp for the money it's hard to beat ( for a DIY option) for the price.
 
The Mr Speakers Ether Stats were again just great. I heard them at CanJam thru the Liquid Lighting but I have to say they were equally as good if not better( hard to say as time makes things sound different) thru the Blue Hawaii. None the less a great setup. I don't see a Ether Stat in my future as the cost of change is just way up there but it is so nice to hear it though.
 
Then on to Chan from E Mu. Damn is this man enthusiastic about what he does. I think I was the first person to sit at his booth and he gave me the full tour. The Headphones are vey nice and man I didn't realize how much different wood makes in the sound and thickness. I do now . The woods and the finishes on these headphones change the sound so much I think they are just getting started these could be something to watch . I just loved meeting Chan what a great guy.
 
Empire Ears. I think this is the same crew I meet at Canjam. They are a great crew and are willing to help anyway they can. There Zeus are  all that. I'm not a IEM guy but that is what I would get if I were. I was tempted at the 25% of for the meet but I like most of my body parts ( the wife was with me ). Great company and great earphones. The separation and image retrieval on the Zeus was just crazy good. Just like CanJam when I listened to the Zeus they asked me if I would like to listen to something else and I said Why? 
 
Questyle . I just love my QP1R. The new CMA 600i is equally as good. Matt's dual mono CMA 800 with his modded HD-800s was really nice. No ice pic like treble at all ( nor was there on the Torpedo III amp either with I guess unmodded) . Things have gotten so good it is hard to say one is better than the other. Still I'll keep my Yggdrasil for now and would love a Questyle amp only
product.There stuff is top notch.
 
I just love my QP1R I think it is one of the best sounding DAPs out there. With the Liquid Spark it is so much better. This is not to take anything away from the QP1R but that with the Liquid Spark is so much better. My order is in . Joe at Headphoneaudiophile.com  has three Liquid Golds i wish I had the cash for one of those that would be end game for me but I don't see it happening . 
 
There was too much stuff that sounded so good. My first time of hearing the HD-800S was at the meet and they are just really good. This was thru the Senn HDVD 800 amp. I still like my Ether C's better but they are really good. I wish that I had listened to Sheldons HD-800S's from the MicroZOTL but that will have to wait.
 
There was a lot of stuff I listened to and don't remembered there names so don't hate me because I didn't take notes.
 
One I do remember is a cassette tape of George Micheal's Faith out of a old tape deck and it was zero noise out of it it was really good. I just remember we had the same first name Brent.
 
Ok I'm done . There are too many I failed to mention . I just want to acknowledge my Nashville fiends that made it to the meet.  @Gowin @Theogenes Matt and Joe have being regulars in Nashville and hope they still make it too the next one. I just love this community. Can't forget to mention Warren of Cavalli and Ian with AmpsandSound.

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Glad you reminded me about the MicroZotl. Sheldon was gracious enough to let me listen to it a few times. In short, I'm impressed. It also made the short list. Thanks to Sheldon for you time and patience letting me listen with different headphones!! 

 

[cute]

 

 
 You go guy!  I've had my Kenzie for more than a year, my review comments are on the Ampsandsound website.  Vintage NOS tubes are extremely reasonable, and sound great with both my HFM HE6, and my Sorrodje modded HD800.  Along with my Metrum Musette DAC, won't be buying any more headgear, maybe ever! 
 
My Kenzie was the second that Justin sold, love it, recommended with the right set of NOS tubes. 

 
I appreciate your endorsement. This amp is on the shortlist for me. I liked the sound, a lot. And the amp is also beautiful looking. Wonderful tonality and very flexible with the dual impedance jacks. I'd like to spend some quality time with it and the hd800. 

I don't know what the demo unit had for NOS tubes, but tubes make a big difference.  The 1943 tubes sound different than more current tubes.  The 2C52 has more gain, and I like to use that for the HE6, Raytheon.  The 12SL7 I like are Tung Sol.  My power tubes are Hytron, 1943, currently! 

 

[buke9]

  ^^ Glad you reminded me about the MicroZotl. Sheldon was gracious enough to let me listen to it a few times. In short, I'm impressed. It also made the short list. Thanks to Sheldon for you time and patience letting me listen with different headphones!! 

Matt I'm stuck between the MicroZotl and the AmpsanSound Kenzie.

 

[Sonido]

I can't wait for those $300 Beats/Apple headphones Tyll mentioned that will truly end the argument on what is best sounding It'll be a savior on my wallet as well.

 

[MattTCG]

  Matt I'm stuck between the MicroZotl and the AmpsanSound Kenzie.

 
I think either would make a good choice. They both seem to pair well with planars and dynamics. I do wish they had balanced options.