[mackat]

It sure was fun!!!

A shout-out to Purrin- thanks again for reterminating the cable free of charge!

Post your pictures, opinions and thoughts here.

 

[darinf]

Again, thank you to everyone who came to the meet! I think everyone had a good time. People sure brought some amazing gear.
 
Just in case you missed it, you can see the whole 4 hours in 2.5 minutes:
 

 
(I guess watching people listen to headphones isn't the most exciting spectator's sport...

)
 
I will post some photos soon.
-Darin

 

[mackat]

Wow, that's REALLY cool!

 

[azynneo]

I really loved the realizer, makes me consider getting one!

 

[darinf]

Quote:

I really loved the realizer, makes me consider getting one!

Yes, I got the feeling that everyone who got a demo seemed to like it. I think it's pretty impressive.
 
The price is actually more than I thought. The Realiser retails for $2910.
 
(For as many people that I have demoed the Realiser, I should become a dealer!)
 
If anyone ever comes down to San Diego, I'd be happy to do a private demo for you.
 
Or, if anyone owns or know someone that has a high end speaker system, I'd be happy to drive up and do a demo if I can do a measurement for myself. That's how I have been finding systems to measure...
 
-Darin

 

[azynneo]

Quote:

Yes, I got the feeling that everyone who got a demo seemed to like it. I think it's pretty impressive.
 
The price is actually more than I thought. The Realiser retails for $2910.
 
(For as many people that I have demoed the Realiser, I should become a dealer!)
 
If anyone ever comes down to San Diego, I'd be happy to do a private demo for you.
 
Or, if anyone owns or know someone that has a high end speaker system, I'd be happy to drive up and do a demo if I can do a measurement for myself. That's how I have been finding systems to measure...
 
-Darin

Does it matter what kind of speakers you have to do the measurements in?

 

[burnspbesq]

First things first: a huge shout-out to Darrin for finding an absolutely great space.
 
Good to meet some new folks.  There was even one guy who wandered in off the street, approached me and asked "what kind of gathering is this," and when I told him, started quizzing me about how he could get his collection of radio transcriptions of Chruchill and Roosevelt speeches from the 1940s digitized.  That alone was worth the trip.
 
Thanks to the vendors for bringing us goodies to play with and goodies to munch on.  Got my first listen to Mr. Speakers' modded T50Ps.  Impressive in the abstratct, really impressive at the price point.  If there's a better $300 closed can out there, I wish someone would tell me what it is.
 
Where do I sign the petition for Fang to start making the Jade again?  Easily the single most impressive thing I heard all day.  Thanks to purrin for bringing them.
 
Thanks to Anax for letting me listen to the latest iteration of the HD 800 mods.  I'm one of the handful of people who isn't bothered by the things about the HD 800 that bug so many people, and it was hard to sort out the effect of the mods vs. hearing them on a completely different system than what I'm used to (PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC and the very impressive Eddie Current S7), but he got my attention.  I may have to try this.  One nit-pick, though: can you get that foam in black?
 
Was happy to see a number of people wander over to my table and check out my new, all-Canadian system (Concero and BHA-1).  Even happier to see that they mostly left smiling.
 
Same time next year?  Sounds like a great idea!
 

 

[mrspeakers]

Thanks to Darrin for putting this together! Thanks too for the time lapse video. Got a grin from that! Great venue, and as always its very nice to see so many head-fiers...

There was some very interesting gear was there, and as always I only got time to hear some of what I wanted. It's always so curious to me how much variation there is in the voicing of headphones, much more than in high end speakers.

I also had a trip down memory lane seeing that vintage AR turntable there, my dad used to have one to drive his McIntosh tube amp... Great old system.

Love to see some more impressions posted, there was a good sized group!

 

[Hiyono]

Thanks Darin for setting this meet up.  I had lots of fun trying things out.  I also want to thanks Alex Cavalli for lending us the Liquid Lighting and SR-009s.
 
I had fun trying out the realizer.  It was an interesting expierence to feel speakers on headphones. I was very wow by how it sounded with movies.
 
It was always good to meet new people and try things out.  Was good to see Purrin and Analixus again.
 
We tried some interesting combos.  Like EMM labs with Super 7.  Realizer with LL and SR009s.
 
Too bad no one went with us with Phil's BBQ.. it was really good .  Line was long though.
 
 
Darin if your ever coming to LA.  Would love to try the realizer with my speakers and LG(when i get it) + LCD-3s.

 

[darinf]

First of all, thanks for all the thanks! It was my first time going to a meet and my first time organizing anything...
 
One problem I did not take into account was doing the Realiser demos. I was really happy to be able to give Realiser demos since I think it's fantastic, however, I didn't realize how little time I would have to listen to everything else, which was ultimately my goal for putting on the meet to begin with! Oh well, I also love showing off the Realiser.
 
BTW, I just figured out tonight that the preset I was using to play back the 5.1 surround demo was set wrong! The headphone EQ was set for the Koss PortaPro headphones, NOT the Stax 407 headphones. So, the net result is the EQ of what you heard through the Stax 407 or 009's was too bright. Since the PortaPros have much less high end, the Realiser EQ the high frequencies higher. So when watching movies, the sound was probably too bright. Oh well, at least you get the idea.
 
I am listening to the Realiser right now with a loaner pair of LCD3's. Wow, these sound really good, even with the built-in Realiser HA. I wonder if using the Bryston or Luxman headphone amp I also have will make it sound even better... I still think the highs on my Stax-407's are pretty good compared to the LCD3, but no where near as much bass as on the LCD3's.
Quote:

Does it matter what kind of speakers you have to do the measurements in?

Yes, and no. The Realiser reproduces the sound fo whatever speakers you measure. If you measure cheap speakers, then you will hear the exact same sound as the cheap speakers. If you measure $250,000 speakers, then you will hear $250,000 speakers. It's not going to make the sound any better or worse than the actual speakers did.
 
Quote:

Darin if your ever coming to LA.  Would love to try the realizer with my speakers and LG(when i get it) + LCD-3s.

Yes, I will let you know if I plan on coming to LA! (If you contact Smyth Research, the rep, Lorr Kramer, is in LA and he might be able to set up a demo for you.) (Otherwise I'll let you know when I become Smyth dealer.

)
 
-Darin

 

[darinf]

Here's some photos:
 
 

 

 

Cavalli Liquid Lightning and Stax SR-009
 

 

Stax SR-009
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few pairs of Heir Audio 8.A's!
 

 

 

 

 

 

My Realiser "Demo Closet"...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dj nellie]

So what were the impressions of the Liquid Lightning?  Was anyone able to compare it to the BHSE with the SR-009 (or any other Stax model)?

 

[burnspbesq]

So what were the impressions of the Liquid Lightning?  Was anyone able to compare it to the BHSE with the SR-009 (or any other Stax model)?

I found the LL/009 combo, fed from the EMM Labs DAC, to be pretty sedate. Not what I was expecting, and a bit of a disappointment.

No BHSE on hand for comparison.

 

[azynneo]

Quote:

First of all, thanks for all the thanks! It was my first time going to a meet and my first time organizing anything...
 
One problem I did not take into account was doing the Realiser demos. I was really happy to be able to give Realiser demos since I think it's fantastic, however, I didn't realize how little time I would have to listen to everything else, which was ultimately my goal for putting on the meet to begin with! Oh well, I also love showing off the Realiser.
 
BTW, I just figured out tonight that the preset I was using to play back the 5.1 surround demo was set wrong! The headphone EQ was set for the Koss PortaPro headphones, NOT the Stax 407 headphones. So, the net result is the EQ of what you heard through the Stax 407 or 009's was too bright. Since the PortaPros have much less high end, the Realiser EQ the high frequencies higher. So when watching movies, the sound was probably too bright. Oh well, at least you get the idea.
 
I am listening to the Realiser right now with a loaner pair of LCD3's. Wow, these sound really good, even with the built-in Realiser HA. I wonder if using the Bryston or Luxman headphone amp I also have will make it sound even better... I still think the highs on my Stax-407's are pretty good compared to the LCD3, but no where near as much bass as on the LCD3's.
Yes, and no. The Realiser reproduces the sound fo whatever speakers you measure. If you measure cheap speakers, then you will hear the exact same sound as the cheap speakers. If you measure $250,000 speakers, then you will hear $250,000 speakers. It's not going to make the sound any better or worse than the actual speakers did.
 
Yes, I will let you know if I plan on coming to LA! (If you contact Smyth Research, the rep, Lorr Kramer, is in LA and he might be able to set up a demo for you.) (Otherwise I'll let you know when I become Smyth dealer.

)
 
-Darin

we have a dealer of focals in orange county which has the most expensive focal utopia setup 90k$ speakers, if you're willing to we can demo one up there.

 

[Hiyono]

Quote:

I found the LL/009 combo, fed from the EMM Labs DAC, to be pretty sedate. Not what I was expecting, and a bit of a disappointment.
No BHSE on hand for comparison.

 
Oh, You should of told me.  We could of tried with other dacs.