[Jeff E]

More pics of the meet below.

Alwayswantmore checking out K701

Our gracious host, Fatcat, caught in midadjustment

DannyB brought his Beta 22 and Gilmore electrostatic amps, not to mention some ICs the diameter of a garden hose

Woo2 avec Cambridge DAC et Marantz 5001

DannyB's two Hp2s together

Hp2

a sighting of the rare Hp2i (Joe Grado modified)

Jeff_E contemplating Jade 'stats

The nongeezer Elk, getting Woo-ed by the music

AlwaysWantMore justifying his head-fi handle

gear galore

Fatcat multitasking (photographing while Denoning)

Fatcat and DannyB hunting through Fatcat's CDs

Elk with strawberry donuts (I know it sounds like a bizare recipe from epicurious but it is actually head-fier Kelly aka Elk with a S2 Audio woodied, recabled Yamaha YH100 orthodynamic headphone)

Acknowledgements
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the other attendees: Elk, Alwayswantmore, Fatcat28037, & DannyB. I want to give particular thanks to Fatcat who organized, hosted and provided food for the meet. By the way, he has an amazing pottery collection that might distract you from the headphone gear in the first set of pictures.

Impressions

#1: The Gilmore Electrostat amp/Stax O2 Mark II combination was spectacular. Clear but not artificially etched. It sounded to me as though recorded percussion revealed the room acoustics, I think due to quick brakes (lack of ringing). Loved the sound. I would have to sell a lot of my current gear to cover the cost but it is fun imagining how my music collection would sound with this setup. (as in fantasy)

#2 It is always fun to hear your phones with other gear. In this case my old K701s were very happy playing with Woo2. This pairing was sweet with female vocals, e.g. Merchant's Tiger Lily, Baylin's Fireglow, and Melua's Pictures. (Note: thanks to fatcat for the music recommendations)

#3 I had a chance to compare my SR200 (with hp1000 drivers) to newer, John Grado models (HF2, SR325i). I am impressed with how much more natural the old boy sounds. I guess I will keep it after all. (But what about impression #1?)

 

[noseallinit]

man did I miss out on some fun! q:O(

going home to see my momma! at the first of October so I needed to save me time and dollars. maybe Fatcat will invite me another time..

good that yawl enjoyed yourselves!

 

[Elk]

Yep! You missed out.

This was a great opportunity to listen to a lot of different cans in a good listening environment.
The Grado RS1 was the first pair of Grados that I thought had a really good sound.

It is even more clear to me now that Woo Audio makes some first class amps. I don't think anyone could ever go wrong with a Woo amp.

The S2 Audio woodied, recabled Yamaha YH100 orthodynamic headphone gave a very enjoyable sound. It seems they require some juice to drive properly.

You would think there would be some HD 800s there, but no. I guess that was my job.
All of Dannys gear is just next level stuff. I enjoyed seeing how the Woo 6 would compare to the RockHopper single ended. In the end on the HD 650s I could not pick a clear winner. I'm sure balanced would have put the rockhopper on top. It also seemed that the rockhopper was more powerful and likely better for hard to drive cans.

The Cambridge Audio 840c CDP made an incredible source. It has the added benefit of being able to be used as a stand alone DAC.

The company was good, the food was good, and overall it was a really great day!
Thanks Fatcat!

 

[fatcat28037]

Thanks Guys. I'm thinking we could do it again in late spring and attract a few new people, like Nosellinit. I know there a few Head-Fiers hanging out in the Rock Hil area, just got to find them and wake'm up. There were five of us this time, it would be nice to have eight to ten.

 

[Stevtt]

Wouldn't mind stopping by the next one myself

 

[fatcat28037]

Anyone who posts here with an interest in attending the next meet will be added to thre contact list for 2010.

 

[theyshookhands]

I am a newb and will be by far the youngest attendee, but I am very interested in attending the next meeting. I will try to catch up as much as possible before the next meet.

 

[fatcat28037]

OK, that's two new people for the next meet, great!

 

[jscottmsc]

Add me to your list please

 

[tosehee]

add me to the list as well please.

 

[fatcat28037]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif add me to the list as well please.

you're added!

 

[gates_2]

Add me as well, please

Sometime in the future it may be neat to have something kinda mid state, get the guys from Raliegh/Durham/Chapel Hill over aka thrice, drew from moonaudio

And because I live right in the middle now

 

[fatcat28037]

Hey Gates, you're added to the list however it looks like Dannyb is planning a much larger meet in Charlotte for the spring, April or early May. If that happens I'll hold off on the meet at my house until the fall. In any event there will be one, maybe two NC meets plus CanJam10 next year. Fun for us!

 

[daverich4]

I'd like to attend. Sorry I missed the last one, I also live in Denver.

 

[nathanv]

if you guys had one with more people i'd be in.