[bg4533]

Well, I just got back from the Cincinnati meet and I am quite exhausted. This was my first meet and I really enjoyed it. It was a nice long day of talking and listening to headphones. Some pretty cool headphone stuff too

People there were me, sacd lover, digitalbill, acs236, Mikey01, EdipisReks, Rempert and a few others I don't think were Head-Fi members before the meet. After hearing sacd lover's 12SN7 MPX3 and HD650s I think they will be joining soon

I will be posting pictures of the meet in this post tomorrow sometime. I will also be sure to post what I thought of all the gear. Right now I am too tired and I am going to sleep. For everyone else that was there, feel free to post what you thought of the meet. Be sure to let us know what you really liked and didn't care so much for.

I had a lot of fun, so thanks again to everyone there!
************************************************** **
edit:
I got all of the pictures uploaded. Below are a few. The rest can be found at: http://brian.osupages.com/audio/pictures/cincimeet/

A little bit of everything.

The Moth/Eddie Current 2A3

X Ray/ X Can. Woody CD3000s. Grado SR-325s. Beyer DT770s. Corda HA-1 . and more.

Singlepower MPX3 12SN7

 

[acs236]

Thank you, Mikey01, for your hospitality. I'm sure everyone had as much fun as I did.

Some impressions...

First, some surprises:

Sennheiser PX100 - I remember reading a bit about these headphones, but I didn't know too much about them. They really sounded nice -- the best I've heard in the $50 or under category. And perhaps the $100 or under category. Yes, this includes the MS-1s. I only listened for a couple of minutes, but all the praise lavished at these is justified, in my opinion.

Beyer 880s - I had always wanted to hear these and finally I was able to. They're very comfortable, very balanced. I would certainly put them in the same category as the CD3000 and HD650. I think I'll get a pair eventually. Some people might say that they're a tad bass shy, but not me.

And not so surprising:

I listened more to the PS-1s. They're almost perfect. I compared them a lot to my RS-2s. While I think the RS-2s held their own, the PS-1s had a bit more bass and a lot more detail.

I am also now convinced that I don't like flats on Grados. I listened to the MS-2s with flats and bowls and felt that the flats just congested the midrange unacceptably.

More later...

 

[Mikey01]

The attendee's were Adam. ACS236; Bill, Digitalbill; Brian, BG4533; Jacob, EdipusRex; Brian, Rempart; Paul; Vern; Earl, SACDlover; myself, Mikey01; and of course ABBY, the wonder dog. I enjoyed having all the great people very much. I was surprised to see all that came even though there was an ice storm going on followed by snow. I hope everybody had a great time and got home safely. I gave all the pictures I took to Brian (BG4533). He will host them along with the pictures he took. I personally want to apologize to some of the members when I accidently unpluged a main line causing equiptment problems.

I also want to thank my neighbors for not calling and being patient, during that problem time, as the lights all dimmed in the neighborhood. And Cincinnati Gas and Electric would like to thank us all for useing up that much electricity. The extra staff they put on at the plant enjoyed a good bit of overtime running the extra generators today.

Iv'e never seen so much cableing in one place before. The house was toasty warm from all the tube heat. It was nice to see a large Cincinnati meet for a change. Each time one comes up it gets bigger. Were a growin.

To the people who said Michail can't build any two amps alike with his methods are wrong along with the people who said 12SN7 tubes don't sound as good as 6SN7's. Two MPX3's were there. SACDlovers and mine. They both have the same internal mods. The only exception is with Earls, which has the 12 volt option. We set them up so you could A/B between the two. The 12SN7's and the 6SN7's both sounded good of equal quality. The amps sounded the same. Nuff said. Just some of the equiptment I remember: X-can Ver3, Music Fidelity source, Sony ES555 modded source, Denon 2910, Pioneer 563A, Moth/EddieCurrent 2A3 prototype, (2) SinglePower MPX3's, Meier Cordia MK2, Ray's Emerline SR71, Gilmore V2, PPA, Beyer DT880's, several Senn's 650's, Senn 595's, Grado 225's PS1's RS2's 325's, Alisandros MS1 MS2's, in ear candy, AT900's, several modded and unmodded Sony CD3000's, and many many other pieces of equipment. Also a large assortment of music. Surprises for me were the SR 71 (great sound/small package), Senn 595's (so so, I expected more), synergy between the Sony CD 3000's and the Moth (was excellent), and a re-evaluation of the Senn 650's ( gotta get me a pair). Equipment was bought and sold. A thanks to Digitalbill for my great deal. A personal thanks to Earl for his generosity toward me. Gotta love that guy. He also taught us all quite a bit about tubes and other stuff. I diden't know "Ken Rad" stood for "Kentucky Radio". More thoughts to come. TTFN

 

[Rempert]

This was my first meet, and it was really a good time. To be honest, I was wondering on the way there whether everything would just sound the same to me. But in this setting, the flavor differences between the various cans were very obvious. Quality difference is another story, as there are way too many factors involved (source, amp, what song is playing, etc.). Besides, I spent too much time listening to the HD650 to properly judge anything else.

That Sony -> MPX3 -> HD650 combo worked very well together, and seemed to be making a lot of us sit and listen a while instead of moving on to the next thing.

I really liked all of the open headphones I listened to. That would be the HD650, the DT880, and the PS1. The CD3000 (which I also enjoyed) may as well fall into this category too, because they are pretty useless in terms of isolation. My wallet is safe for now, because I spend most of my free time in front of this noisy computer, and I think it would really hurt the effectiveness of the cans I just mentioned. I only listened to the DT770 and HD25-1 very, very briefly, but neither of them made a big first impression like the HD650 and PS1 did.

My headphones, the A900, sounded a bit colored compared to the previously mentioned open phones. They aren't as bright as the CD3000 or as dark as the HD650, but something just sounded strange. On a more positive note, the A900 sound stage really seemed deep after listening to the HD650 and PS1 for a while. That is something that I would have expected based on head-fi posts, but took me by surprise when I heard it.

Some other random thoughts: In addition to sounding very nice, the tube amps make great conversation pieces! The HD25-1 is even smaller than I thought and isolates well. Grado flats were not as comfortable as the circumaural phones, but not too bad either. DT880 is now my "reference phone", but I've only heard it for about 5 minutes

I bet it matches really well with that Denon->Moth rig, though.

Over all, I really enjoyed the meet. Thanks, Mikey01, for the hospitality.

 

[sacd lover]

First, I want to thank Mikey for the hospitlaity and the food. I was sending thanks last night and my internet went down. I had a great time and I always like to see you.

The highlight of the meet for me was meeting so many truely nice people. I spent far more time talking than listening than I usually do. This meeting had a nice mix of socilaizing and seriousness.

I got a kick out of the surgical precision of Jacob/ Edipisreks comparing op amps in Brians/bg4533 pimeta. Here is someone who took full advantage of the meet to determine his amp preferances. Jacob is a very intellectual guy who tests and retests everything. If I ever have a question on portable gear he and digitalbill would be the first ones I would contact.

I had never met digitalbill before and he is the type of personable fellow who makes you feel like you have known them all your life. I very much enjoyed my ongoing conversation with Bill throughout the meet. I could talk to Bill all day. Actually I think I did.

I hope the ears arent to tired Bill.

You have got to come up to my house for a meet. I insist.

Brian/ rempert arrived later and battled snow and freezing rain to come; talk about dedication to the hobby. I am glad you did Brian, your quiet, polite manner was a welcome addition. Since you and bg4533 live close to me, I want to have you two over for a mini-meet; sometime in the near future.

Brian/ bg4533 had to listen to me for 2.5 hours down and back.

If Bills ears are tired Brian ears must be on the blink.

Brians one of those creative DIY guys and I especially enjoyed our conversations. His knowledgeable advice on cable building during our drive was especially interesting. He brought his very cool Pimeta that everyone(especially Jacob) enjoyed hearing too. Thanks Brian, you can ride with me anytime.

Adam/ acs236 is an old timer from the first Ohio mini-meet. I always like to talk to Adam and it was nice to see my old gilmore v1 has a good home.

I was glad you to see you enjoyed the grado ps-1 so well. Its so much fun when you come away from a meet with good information that will lead to even more enjoyment down the road. To bad that information is so costly though.

You need to come up to my place too; and make sure you bring go_vtec. I missed having Mike at the meet.

I didnt get to talk much with the two friends that accompanied Jacob. These guys were the calm, quiet types and very serious about auditioning the gear. It was clear they enjoyed the 650's and the tube amps. I wager we have a couple new head-fi members soon.

THANKS TO EVERYONE!

Well now on to the gear... I was most interested in hearing Mikey's Moth amp. This amp was just as rich toned and musical as I expected. The only critcism might be the amp is to smooth. But I will take smooth and musical anyday. Using the senn 650's, Allison Kraus sacd on this amp was some of the best sound I heard at the meet. This amp is very heavily built and I probably liked the look more than most. I like seeing all those transformers. The denon source hooked up to the Moth amp certainly did nothing to detract from the presentation and its versatility was extremely useful.

I was surprised to see the Musical Fidelity x-can v3 and x-ray cd player at the meet. This combo had a clean, clear neutral sound more reminiscent of solid state than tubes; but without the fatigue. For the price this v3 is a nice amp. These components have a nice apperance too.

Surprise, the emmeline sr-71 was here too. This unit made a nice setup with an ipod. Personally, I found the sound to be to bright and thin for my taste. I switched to my 650's and this helped. But in the end I dont think I could live with the highs of this amp.

As for headphones.. I listened to the sony cd3000, woodied cd3000, beyer dt880, allesandro ms-2, grado ps-1, senn hd25 and 650, but didnt get to revisit the grado rs-2:

I just dont like the cd3000. I thought it sounded very good(briefly) on Mikeys mpx3, but once the music had some treble energy I was turned off. The woodied cd3000's didnt fare any better witn me. This headphone is not for me. Neither is the senn hd25; I put it on and I didnt like the sound at all.

The dt880 is one of my favorite headphones and today I liked the 880 with the Moth and mpx3. From experience, this headphone sounds very good with the solid state gilmore amp. But I thought these particular tube amps we had made the dt880 less dry sounding and more musical overall. The smooth, neutral character of this headphone was enhanced even further with the tube amps.

The grado ps-1 I tried to avoid

; to expensive. This headphone has the typical grado strenghts and lots and lots of bass. I heard them on the tube amps and they seemed to bloated and slow. I didnt get to hear the ps-1's in a solid state amp but I bet I would prefer them on solid state. The dynamics and bass control were lacking with the tube Moth. The musical fidelity v3 sounded ok with the ps-1 but a little to thin. I would go with some kind of gilmore amp for this headphone myself. From my limited auditions, I actually preferred the better balanced Allessandro ms-2 to the ps-1.

The ms-2's had a nice smooth sound that didnt have the usual grado treble bite. I liked this headphone a lot. I still prefer my senn 650's but I preferred the ms-2 over the excellent dt880. The ms-2 seemed to move easily between the tube and solid state amps and I especially liked the ms-2 on my own mpx3-12sn7. What I liked best about this headphone was its speed and balanced response. The midrange was excellent on the tube amps too.

I set up the two singlepower mpx3's to run off the same source and cables; with one additional cable to Mikey's mpx3-6sn7 through my mpx3-12sn7's loop out. I wanted to hear how close these two amps were in sound quality. Both aamps have the paper-in-oil caps and solen 1 upgrades. To be brief, they sounded nearly identical despite different tube compliments and different build dates that were many months removed from one another. This is noteworthy as the 12sn7 tubes clearly sound as good as 6sn7's; but cost penies on the dollar vs the 6sn7 tubes. Furthermore, despite vague claims or questions regarding the quality control of P2P wired tube amps in general, these amps sound alike. The sound of the mpx3's with the senn 650 headphones was the best here IMO. I brought some good tubes to get the best out of the Moth amp and I still liked the mpx3's better overall.

I had some fun tuberolling the mpx3-12sn7 for the guys to show them how much tube choice can effect a tube amp. The singlepowers in particular react very positively to any tube upgrade. Personal taste is well served if you can audition many different types of tubes in these amps. With the inexpensive prices of 12sn7 tubes this is a joy.

Finally, kudos to digitalbill for the deal he gave Jacob on the Corda amp. That was really nice of you. You could definitley have sold the amp for more.

I hope to have a large meet sometime in June and your ALL invited.

Thanks again everyone. I had a blast.

 

[acs236]

More about the MS-2s. They're a great deal at $300. When switching between my RS-2s and the MS-2s, I wasn't sure which I preferred. But considering you can get new MS-2s for the price of used RS-2s -- that's a deal. I think the RS-2s were a touch warmer, but not that much.

Thanks to everyone who showed up.

 

[bg4533]

Pictures of the meet are now up. A few are above, but the rest are at: http://brian.osupages.com/audio/pictures/cincimeet/

I had a great time at the meet and although I was exhuasted and planned on sleeping when I go back I couldn't. I spent a few hours after I got home listening to my stuff and comparing it to what I heard earlier. After hearing those awesome tube amps my Pimeta just doesn't sound the same. It is some what fatiguing and has no emotion in comparison to the MPX3. I am tempted to say the Pimeta presents more detail and articulation, but under the less that ideal meet conditions I don't think it is fair to say this. Regardless, the depth and emotion the MPX3 shows is amazing. It is so much easier to just sink into the music and enjoy it rather than focusing on the gear.

After a decent amount of comparison between the MPX3 12SN7 and MPX3 6SN7 I could detect little to no difference between the two. Considering the cost difference between the two I think the 12SN7 is definately the way to go. I have decided that one of my next projects will be building myself a tube amp around the 12SN7. If I decide not to build it I will be giving Singlepower a call.

The Moth 2A3 was an interesting amp, but it just wasn't for me. It is an incredibly smooth amp that I could probably listen to for days straight. The problem is that it just doesn't seem to have the edge necessary for rock. This could really be a great amp for some music though.

I spent a little time listening to the X Can and X Ray rig with various headphones. I didn't know anything about them before I came and I was surprised when I was told I was listening to a tube amp. The X Can seems to be a respectable amp for the price.

Like sacd lover I really wasn't a big fan of the SR-71. It is an attractive little amp, but I always detected a little bit of sibilance with it.

The beyerdynamic DT-880 is a nice headphone and is extremely comfortable. I didn't like it when I first listened, but I listened a little more later in the day and it really grew on me. I would like to hear it again sometime soon.

I was a little disappointed by the PS-1. I listened to it a few times with various amps and sources and it never sounded much better than the MS-2. Since it is very open I could always hear talking in the background. It is a nice headphone, but from what I heard I couldn't say it is better than the MS-2. I would like to hear it again under more ideal conditions.

I learned that the CD3000 just isn't for me. The highs are just 2 much and I could hear background noise in some recordings that I felt I didn't need to hear. On a tube amp I could bear them, but on solid state I dont know...

The A900s sound a lot like my old A500s. My opinion is that they don't do a particularly great nor particularly poor job with anything. The build quality is nice for the price, but there is nothing about the sound that really stands out. They are kind of boring, but besides for that I don't think there is anything bad about them.

The Etymotic ER4P is better that I expected. It is a bit fuller and sounds a lot better than my ER6. I wasn't really considering it, but I now need to decide between the ER4P and UM2.

Two of the headphones that surprised me were the Koss PortaPro and Grado SR-60. After listening to lots of very expensive and nice things all day I thought these headphones sounded great straight out of my Ipod.

I really enjoyed hearing everything, but it was sacd lovers modded Sony ES555, MPX3 12SN7 and HD650 that is really stuck in my head after the meet.

Hopefully we can all get together for another meet sometime soon. I had a great time. Thanks again to everyone there.

 

[digitalbill]

Many thanks to Mickey01 and his family for not only letting us take over their house on Saturday but feeding us all to boot. It was nice to see sacd lover and bg4533 made the trip all the way from Newark/Columbus to join us. I've read many of sacd lover's posts and it was great to finally meet him. Earl has an encyclopedic knowledge of tubes and arrived with an amazing assortment of tasty valves for us to sample. Thanks to everyone who attended for being so friendly and generous in sharing their equipment. This is a great group of folks. Now on to the equipment... I really enjoyed hearing the 12-volt Singlepower. The sound is identical to the standard MPX3, but it allows us Head-fier's on a budget to purchase lots of classic tubes at dirt cheap prices, what a great concept. Better yet, it looks like anyone with a Singlepower can have their amp retrofitted with the required 12v heater. I also enjoyed Mike's Moth 2A3. This is a big, heavy amp with a classic tubey sound. I had the chance to sample Adam's RS-2's and really liked their sound. I'd love to compare them with the RS-1's someday. I also heard the DT880's again and continue to be impressed with these cans. They seem to handle any kind of music you throw at them equally well, with a nicely balanced sound. The 880's also sounded great with every amp there from the SR-71 to the Moth.

 

[bg4533]

sacd lover,
I look forward to coming over for a mini meet sometime soon. I would like to hear your stuff in a little more ideal environment.

 

[Jahn]

I want my old MS-2s back!!

Kidding aside, I'm glad the MS-2 brought the proper Alessandro mojo to the meet and all my ranting and raving about the supposed FOTM was justified. I'm extremely interested in checking out the new MS-2s, and hope they pop up in the Spring NYC meet (hopefully not popping out of my wallet!)

 

[Mikey01]

I had always revered the sound of Earl's (SACD lover) equiptment and wondered why mine diden't sound as good. I know I don't have a high end modded source or 1 inch thich cableing, but I allowed for that. Still in all, his setup had a much more sophisticated sound than mine. After A/B ing the two MPX3's I found out that it wasn't the source. And no it wasn't the 1 inch thick interconects and power cords. And not that the items aren't nessessary or good or did help in transfering good music. But now my MPX3 was hooked to all of Earl's components and they still don't sound the same. Oh, wait a minuet. When I listen to his MPX3 I am doing it through the Senn 650's. THATS IT! I put on the Senn 650's and plugged into my MPX3 and ZOWIE. I liked those Senn 650's. Gonna get me some too. I think the DT 880's are flat and neutral and the Senn 650's are pretty much the same. But the overall gain in the treble of the 650's is down a few notches. The 650's have all the frequency spectrum of the DT 880 as well as the detail, but the gain in that area is smoother. Some my not like that with fast music or Rock N Roll, but for a lot of people it is great. And for the bulk of the music I listen to, it would be ideal.

Grado's of any numbering/style just don't quite hit it off with me. I will try the new "Goldie Fatboy's" when they come to town. 325i I think they call them. The "Woodie" Sony cd3000's did not sound as good as the stock cd3000's. The Domino's pizza was alright but I should have gone for Skyline cheese coney's. The synergy was right for them. Still thinking of the PPA and my thoughts still haven't changed, (so so) average solid state. Again I still feel impressed by the Gillmore V1, but I am just not a solid state kind of guy. As far as asthetics go: the MPX3 is the most handsome and the X Can 3 is second, in the bohemouth industrial looking catagory you have the Moth, in the nifty catagory you have the SR71, and standard looking catagory are the PPA, Gilmore V1, Pimetta and with the Porta corda being a tad better looking. All cover and facia's, in this years awards, were by the original designers. None of whom are from Hollywood or associated with the Emie's.

 

[bg4533]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn I want my old MS-2s back!! Kidding aside, I'm glad the MS-2 brought the proper Alessandro mojo to the meet and all my ranting and raving about the supposed FOTM was justified. I'm extremely interested in checking out the new MS-2s, and hope they pop up in the Spring NYC meet (hopefully not popping out of my wallet!)

New MS-2? Haven't heard about that...

I am actually considering selling your old MS-2. I want a nicer portable rig and can't afford it unless I sell something. The MS-2 is nice, but I listen to the HD650 more. In my rig the HD650 never awes me, but it never irritates me either. The MS-2 awes me at times, but can also be a bit much if I am not in the mood for it. On the other hand I was really impressed with the MS-2 with the MPX3. If I had an MPX3 I think the MS-2 would get a lot more use. So would the 650 though. Damn...I want an MPX3 now...

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bg4533 Singlepower MPX3 12SN7

What happened to the transformer cover?

No R10's at this meet?

coughdigitalbillcough.

-Ed

 

[sacd lover]

Edwood, the transformer cover was removed so the amp would fit in my rack. I actually like the look better wthout the transformer cover anyway.

 

[bg4533]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood What happened to the transformer cover? No R10's at this meet? coughdigitalbillcough. -Ed

No R10s there

If I had known digitalbill had them I might have tried to persuade him to bring them.