swiego
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2005
- Posts
- 156
- Likes
- 24
First, a huge thank to elrod-tom for designated driver duties from Detroit to Chicago and back. We had a few typical road-trip adventures, lots of conversation, and much discussion about disgusting movie moments. I had a great time!
Everyone is talking about the Ray Samuels Raptor and I must admit, it was fantastic. The only reason I'm not going to rave about it as much as others is due to a little box sitting next to it called the SR71. I also did the A/B testing between the tube amp and the SR71, and honestly I couldn't tell the difference once volume levels were adjusted. Yes, the SR71 needs batteries, and no you can't swap out tubes to adjust the sound like you can with the Raptor. The Raptor is an incredible value against just about anything else that was at the meet, but I felt that the SR71 quickly made it appear (for me) to be a bad value if it's true that the Raptor will cost around 2x the SR71. Which is too bad b/c the only thing I disliked about the SR71 was the 1/8" headphone adapter issue which the Raptor solves. Hmm.
I was blown away by the Meridian G08 / Blockhead / Cardas-cabled balanced SD600s. Wow. I have never heard anything sound so good. Wow. For me, this was the best single sound I heard at the show. Later I tried the SR71 in place of the blockhead, and my HD650s with Zu cables in place of tuberoller's balanced HD600. I concluded that the amazing sound is due mostly to the Meridian player. I walked away with a belief that Meridian analog --> SR71 --> Sennheiser is a very synergistic combination. Honestly even Ray's 508.24 sounded fantastic. Perhaps Meridian sound is just to my taste, or perhaps it just synergizes well with the Sennheisers?
I also finally got a chance to really sit down with the Benchmark DAC1. Yes, it rocks. Compared to the other setups, it felt a little dry... just unemotional... but I was prepared for that based on Benchmark's own technical material re: jitter harmonics adding to midrange response. No question, it felt as "detailed" as anything else at the meet, but somehow I walked away thinking that the DAC1 just doesn't have a top-tier headphone amp. I wonder what the DAC1/SR71 combo would be like. I should have tried it.
The most impressive thing about the Wadia was the remote control that could be used as an assault weapon. It felt very German... unbelievable build quality combined with inane ergonomics and button labeling. It sounded as good as the G08. But honestly (and maybe my opinions will differ from others here due to my untrained ear) I didn't think it was any better than the G08. It was bigger. It was heavier. It was more expensive than the car we drove to the meet in. But, I did not think it sounded any better. The Wadia was outputting to a Wadio preamp (I think) that was then going to a blockhead with stepped attenuators, then to another balanced HD600. Side-by-side against the Meridian/Blockhead combo, I'd choose the latter. Unless there were 40 six year old undead zombies chasing me, in which case the Wadia remote would be an asset.
I tried balanced (stock cable) vs. unbalanced (cardas I think) HD650s against the DAC1 and felt that balanced sounded a little more rich and open. There were two variables at play however so I can't be sure whether balanced is actually better.
One of my road trip companions brought an AOS Flute DAC/amp combo that I am very impressed with. There were better pieces of equipment at the show, but nothing that could compete on quality, features, size and price all at the same time. The Coda/overture didn't sound that much better, the SR71 doesn't include a DAC, the various tube amps / high-end transports cost waaaaay more. The Flute is a bargain no matter how you look at it. It doesn't get nearly the kind of attention it probably should.
Speaking of which, the Headroom Overture / Coda was pretty slick too. Small, compact, looks nice. The "limited edition" thing kind of turned me off, given that we're going to start seeing the same thing in a wide variety of products this year. Making it a "limited edition" deal seemed like one of those marketing things that I don't really take well to. The Overture has the same DAC as an Emu 1212m. The Coda was a nice sounding amp, although I definitely would choose the SR71 over it. No question, the packaging is very good. I just didn't feel as amazed. It offers the same kind of feature set as the Flute, and generally the same sort of sound you could get from a $200 Emu and a $400 SR71, for about the same price. It does provide portability, but I don't really consider it paradigm-shifting. Props to Headroom, though, for somehow being one of the few to actually push this in the direction it needs to get. I'd be more up on this if I hadn't known about the Flute prior to the meet.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Sennheiser HD6xx headphones kept up with every piece of equipment thrown at them. They truly are phenomenal headphones for any application, and I have no regrets about my purchase. My biggest disappointment was in not getting to try a pair of Qualias, that would have been awesome if one had been at the meet.
The Grace 902m was at the meet and a bit of a disappointment for me. I did not think it sounded particularly good. I don't know what it was, maybe a lack of synergy with Sennheisers or something else. It felt dull and not very detailed. Mushy. Muddy? Between the DAC1 to its right and the Meridian to its left, it just felt... blah.
Toward the end, a bunch of us congregated upstairs in Ray's house to listen to some LPs. He was driving it through his own preamps and some third party power amps (Carys or something). The sound was exquisite. However IMO one of the forgotten stars of the show are his loudspeakers, which I understand were not profitable, did not go into production but nevertheless sound very, very good. He has a Nakamichi tape deck that I'd kill for.
Ray's wife cooked up a storm, unfortunately I think I am the only vegetarian on head-fi so I ended up eating a whole lot of white rice
The hummus was almost as good as the SR71.
It was great to meet so many people; even though I'm a newbie here, I felt comfortable and I hope to get to know everyone better during the duration of this hobby. (Hopefully six months, otherwise I might run into financial issues.)
Huge thanks to Ray Samuel's family for hosting and accommodating, to Tom for driving us Detroiters and Canadians to and fro, and to everyone who brought and lent their equipment for the meet! This was my first one and I'm looking forward to the next!
As for me, I'm still as conflicted as before, but facing different choices. The DAC1 sounds honest but the Meridian sounds beautiful and I think I'm leaning towards beauty. I'm just not sure if I should buy into Meridian, which is not a playback device so much as it is a system all tied together via MLP. With the G08, what you're really paying for is the intellectual property of MLP, Trifield, active loudspeakers, etc. and I am not sure if I'm ready to take the step, or if the G08 is worth the added premium if I don't.
Everyone is talking about the Ray Samuels Raptor and I must admit, it was fantastic. The only reason I'm not going to rave about it as much as others is due to a little box sitting next to it called the SR71. I also did the A/B testing between the tube amp and the SR71, and honestly I couldn't tell the difference once volume levels were adjusted. Yes, the SR71 needs batteries, and no you can't swap out tubes to adjust the sound like you can with the Raptor. The Raptor is an incredible value against just about anything else that was at the meet, but I felt that the SR71 quickly made it appear (for me) to be a bad value if it's true that the Raptor will cost around 2x the SR71. Which is too bad b/c the only thing I disliked about the SR71 was the 1/8" headphone adapter issue which the Raptor solves. Hmm.
I was blown away by the Meridian G08 / Blockhead / Cardas-cabled balanced SD600s. Wow. I have never heard anything sound so good. Wow. For me, this was the best single sound I heard at the show. Later I tried the SR71 in place of the blockhead, and my HD650s with Zu cables in place of tuberoller's balanced HD600. I concluded that the amazing sound is due mostly to the Meridian player. I walked away with a belief that Meridian analog --> SR71 --> Sennheiser is a very synergistic combination. Honestly even Ray's 508.24 sounded fantastic. Perhaps Meridian sound is just to my taste, or perhaps it just synergizes well with the Sennheisers?
I also finally got a chance to really sit down with the Benchmark DAC1. Yes, it rocks. Compared to the other setups, it felt a little dry... just unemotional... but I was prepared for that based on Benchmark's own technical material re: jitter harmonics adding to midrange response. No question, it felt as "detailed" as anything else at the meet, but somehow I walked away thinking that the DAC1 just doesn't have a top-tier headphone amp. I wonder what the DAC1/SR71 combo would be like. I should have tried it.
The most impressive thing about the Wadia was the remote control that could be used as an assault weapon. It felt very German... unbelievable build quality combined with inane ergonomics and button labeling. It sounded as good as the G08. But honestly (and maybe my opinions will differ from others here due to my untrained ear) I didn't think it was any better than the G08. It was bigger. It was heavier. It was more expensive than the car we drove to the meet in. But, I did not think it sounded any better. The Wadia was outputting to a Wadio preamp (I think) that was then going to a blockhead with stepped attenuators, then to another balanced HD600. Side-by-side against the Meridian/Blockhead combo, I'd choose the latter. Unless there were 40 six year old undead zombies chasing me, in which case the Wadia remote would be an asset.
I tried balanced (stock cable) vs. unbalanced (cardas I think) HD650s against the DAC1 and felt that balanced sounded a little more rich and open. There were two variables at play however so I can't be sure whether balanced is actually better.
One of my road trip companions brought an AOS Flute DAC/amp combo that I am very impressed with. There were better pieces of equipment at the show, but nothing that could compete on quality, features, size and price all at the same time. The Coda/overture didn't sound that much better, the SR71 doesn't include a DAC, the various tube amps / high-end transports cost waaaaay more. The Flute is a bargain no matter how you look at it. It doesn't get nearly the kind of attention it probably should.
Speaking of which, the Headroom Overture / Coda was pretty slick too. Small, compact, looks nice. The "limited edition" thing kind of turned me off, given that we're going to start seeing the same thing in a wide variety of products this year. Making it a "limited edition" deal seemed like one of those marketing things that I don't really take well to. The Overture has the same DAC as an Emu 1212m. The Coda was a nice sounding amp, although I definitely would choose the SR71 over it. No question, the packaging is very good. I just didn't feel as amazed. It offers the same kind of feature set as the Flute, and generally the same sort of sound you could get from a $200 Emu and a $400 SR71, for about the same price. It does provide portability, but I don't really consider it paradigm-shifting. Props to Headroom, though, for somehow being one of the few to actually push this in the direction it needs to get. I'd be more up on this if I hadn't known about the Flute prior to the meet.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Sennheiser HD6xx headphones kept up with every piece of equipment thrown at them. They truly are phenomenal headphones for any application, and I have no regrets about my purchase. My biggest disappointment was in not getting to try a pair of Qualias, that would have been awesome if one had been at the meet.
The Grace 902m was at the meet and a bit of a disappointment for me. I did not think it sounded particularly good. I don't know what it was, maybe a lack of synergy with Sennheisers or something else. It felt dull and not very detailed. Mushy. Muddy? Between the DAC1 to its right and the Meridian to its left, it just felt... blah.
Toward the end, a bunch of us congregated upstairs in Ray's house to listen to some LPs. He was driving it through his own preamps and some third party power amps (Carys or something). The sound was exquisite. However IMO one of the forgotten stars of the show are his loudspeakers, which I understand were not profitable, did not go into production but nevertheless sound very, very good. He has a Nakamichi tape deck that I'd kill for.
Ray's wife cooked up a storm, unfortunately I think I am the only vegetarian on head-fi so I ended up eating a whole lot of white rice
It was great to meet so many people; even though I'm a newbie here, I felt comfortable and I hope to get to know everyone better during the duration of this hobby. (Hopefully six months, otherwise I might run into financial issues.)
Huge thanks to Ray Samuel's family for hosting and accommodating, to Tom for driving us Detroiters and Canadians to and fro, and to everyone who brought and lent their equipment for the meet! This was my first one and I'm looking forward to the next!
As for me, I'm still as conflicted as before, but facing different choices. The DAC1 sounds honest but the Meridian sounds beautiful and I think I'm leaning towards beauty. I'm just not sure if I should buy into Meridian, which is not a playback device so much as it is a system all tied together via MLP. With the G08, what you're really paying for is the intellectual property of MLP, Trifield, active loudspeakers, etc. and I am not sure if I'm ready to take the step, or if the G08 is worth the added premium if I don't.
