[pabbi1]

Ok, now where to start... easy.

Highlights

Singlepower ES-1 / Stax Omega II / Accoustic Arts CDP - Definitive PRAT. While the gain was set to Rob's exacting standards (and a bit low for my personal preference) it was, in a word perfect. The timing, pace, balance, rhythm, and esthetice are truly superior. Oy vey! My aching wallet - it hurts just to consider this - and yet, consider this dark path I must.

Audio Technica L3000 - how could I already forget? jez, I'd waited 6 months to hear this with the Wheatfield, VT-231 and 421A, and knew I'd love it. And I did. For $2000? Maybe, but 'stats first. Very nice, and in my top 5 of must buy next.

Alex's HD cable - sending PayPal for one tonight - kicked ass of the Moon SD AND the Moon BD. Sold, American. Look for a Silver Dragon on the FS forum like soon. I also listened to a couple of Alex's mini cables against another VERY well reviewed head-fi maker - I'm spending my $$$ with Alex. Oh, and it will keep me attached to the HD600 without feeling insane pressure to acquire some (ever appreciating) L3000.

Millett Hybrid with Diamond Buffers and STEPS - having built a maxed version myself (and possibly having sold Alex the board for this one), I'm biased. The signature is my personal favorite - hence I bought the Wheatfields (HA-1 & HA-2), also designed by Pete. This is a hybrid design that is just right, provided you don't need insane output power (raises hand).

Darkvoice 336 / Zhalou DAC - this had a NOS KenRad VT-231 (great choice, Steve), but with the ZhaLou (2?) DAC, this was quite a surprise for the money. Again, I caught additional artifacts the E-5 doesn't send through, making me consider a DAC (NOT considered since getting the Eastsound), but a clear price / performance winner. Again, a real contender

Laconic EC-01 - wow, talk about bang for the buck. No excuses, and no frills. It reminds me a lot of the EC HD300 (yes, I have owned one), and for the most part delivers much the same signature for half the price. And, I really admire it's use of cubic space (why do amp designs so often emphasize two dimensional thinking?) and small footprint. Not sure of the tube options, but in stock form, this is sweet.

Gilmore Something - this took me by surprise - quite good with a STEPS PS.

Alex's uncased CDP - pretty cool, and surprisingly good, for various components just laid out on bubblewrap - get a case already...

Neutral

HE60 / HEV70 - this is really an incomplete, as this was with the stock wart PS, and will reserve judgement until I hear it properly amped - though given my maniacal Sennheiser allegiance, I know it's to my liking - I just need to hear it - all proper. And will...

Grado RS-2 - Yeah, I get it, just wouldn't ever pay for it

K1000 through a PASS Labs monstrous amp - again, I get it, but just doesn't work for me - and it pinches the crap out of my temples - pain definitely outweighs the gain - and, I know, NOT for everyone. Just speaking for myself, but I won't be looking for any even if they come down in price. For K1000 faithful, it simply couldn't get any better, well except for some insanely expensive monoblocks, or somesuch.

Disappointment

Stax 0006t / 404 No way around this - I wanted desperately to like / love / have children with the Stax 0006t - nope, uh-huh. not now nor ever. Total bummer with the 404. I think the (regular) Lambda's sound better. Mark another perceived want OFF my list.


Conclusion
First, IF I forgot to mention something, it's not intentional (nor personal), and thanks to everyone for bringing what they have - while we have smaller meets than some, the variety is pretty solid. My memory isn't as reliable as it once was.

The real highlight was, of course, everyone who showed up, and how we do share this passion with others, equally passionate, regardless of the resources we have to throw at it. I want to especially thank Alex for making this possible, and for being a gracious, enlightened host.

Good to see the older guys, as well as meet new ones - and, let's do it again, eh guys? OK, we do really need to recruit some estrogen, but otherwise, it was a '...killer time'.

Al

 

[Zuerst]

Some pics...

EDIT: Yes the meet was held in the Budweiser building and everyone enjoyed an unlimited supply of beer and also a compliment case of 24 when the meet ended. And that is why Alex hoped everyone had a safe drive home.

 

[[AK]Zip]

I just want to thank everyone who attended and hope everyone has a safe drive home.

Impressions and pictures to come soon.

-Alex-

 

[MrFaust]

What are the white headphones in this picture? They sounded fantastic with the Darkvoice 336 / Zhalou DAC combo.

The recabled AKG 340's sounded awesome as well.

This was my favorite item of the show. I want to know everything this to know about this combo. What versions, what mods, where to buy, etc... The ambience these two paired was breath taking. I listened to a jazz cd passing through these to the paid was AKG K701's. It was like I was sitting in the middle of the band in the studio while they were recording.

 

[[AK]Zip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrFaust What are the white headphones in this picture? They sounded fantastic with the Darkvoice 336 / Zhalou DAC combo. The recabled AKG 340's sounded awesome as well.

AKG K701

 

[micaela]

I just wish El Paso wasn't so far....and that I hadn't just been through Dallas last weekend. Oh well.....maybe I'll get to give you guys that little bit of estrogen next time

 

[swt61]

Just walked in the door. Yeah, I had an 8 hour drive each way, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I'm burnt from the drive, so pics and impressions to follow tomorrow. I want to say thanks to Alex for hosting a great meet before I call it a night. What a great guy! I had a blast! More to follow after some sleep.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I love the CD player in parts on bubble wrap!

 

[kramer5150]

Was this actually playing??

 

[Carl]

Shame you didn't hook the HE60s and 404 up to the ES-1...

 

[bahamaman]

Carl - we would have hooked the HE60 to the ES-1, but Alex hasn't yet found an adapter. As soon as he does, we have resolved to do a quick mini-meet to post impressions.

And, speaking of Alex ([AK]Zip), thanks for your time and gracious hospitality in organizing this excellent meet and to all the great guys who attended. Alex does some beautiful work, with his ICs, power cords, and especially that insanely good cdp (yes, Iron_Dreamer, the one on the bubble wrap).

 

[Solitary1]

Dang, I hate I missed it. I had all my gear packed and ready to go, and then the 1:00 a.m. callout (the job). Definitely next time....

 

[swt61]

OK, I'm rested and ready to give some impressions. First off let me start with my one disappointment at the meet, and then everything else can be happy.





This is Rob's AKA bahamaman's system. Somehow I didn't get a pic of the Omega II's, just imagine them there. You're thinking what could be disappointing about this system. Well let me tell you. THE FACT THAT I COULDN'T DISTRACT ROB LONG ENOUGH TO GET IT OUT TO MY CAR!

Seriously though, I had some preconceived ideas about how the Omega's were going to sound, and I was wrong on half of my notions. The one word that describes Rob's system best is synergy. I expected a detailed, quick, somewhat analytical, but nice sounding pair of headphones with not much bass impact and a little bit on the cold side. WRONG! Detailed and quick? You betcha! As for the other notions I held, they're somewhere on the ground beside the Library (oops, I mean brewery, sorry Zuerst) where they landed when they flew out the window. This was the most involving, melodious and sultry system I've yet encountered in my years of headphone listening. Rob made a comment that he thought he may be done upgrading. If he does decide to change anything, I'm going to drive back up there and slap him! It just doesn't get any better, I can't imagine an amp or source that would pair any better with the Omegas. He's right, he's done. And talk about a dead sexy looking setup! A group of adult entertainment stars came through on a tour of the brewery while we were there, and half of the girls took their tops off I'm told. I have to take everyone’s word for that, as I couldn't pry my eyes away from Rob's incredible system.

Rob is also just about one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.

Now onto Alex's AKA [AK]Zip's setup.







Alex is the mad scientist of the audio world. You fully expect his homebuilt electronics to blow up in your face when you look at them. Then you listen. Not only did his CDP creation not blow up, it blew me away! And that was no easy task, as it was sitting just a few feet away from Rob's incredible Audio Arts CDP. Alex had a lot of cables there to audition as well. He also brought other well known cables for the sake of A-B ing. What can I say. I clearly found Alex's cables to surpass the others. His interconnects, mini-mini's and Senn. cables all outperformed some serious competition IMO. I'll be contacting Alex for all my future cable needs! Alex owns a pair of ATH-L3000’s that now take my top honors for a fully dynamic headphone. I can’t say enough about them, I loved ‘em! Especially through my Darkvoice. He also brought his baby Orpheus system, and what a treat! While having a different sound sig. than the Omega’s, I was equally engaged in them. I would have loved to hear them through Rob’s ES1. Alex is a very knowledgeable, easily approachable guy that I could spend hours talking to.

On to pabbi1’s system





What a fun guy! You just know there are tons of great stories filed away in his head.

His Senn. 600’s through his Wheatfield made me re-think my view of Senns. They sounded really nice without any hint of that wall of fog that I usually hear with Senns. I really liked his Lambdas as well. Nice guy, no nonsense approach to audio. Nice E-Sound CDP too.

vpivinylspinner AKA Jeff, brought some really interesting stuff.











I really liked the K1000’s through his Nelson Pass amp! This was my first audition of K1000’s and I feel like I got to hear them properly amped for sure. I didn’t find them uncomfortable, and I really liked the mix of speaker/headphone feel I got through them. I can’t see myself spending the money needed to do a K1000 system right, but I can see what people love about these headphones. Also I rather liked his Stax 4040 system. I thought the amp and phones had good synergy. We hooked up Rob’s Omega II’s to Jeff’s amp, and I didn’t like the Omega’s through that amp at all. But I did enjoy the 404’s with it. Jeff seems like the kid in the neighborhood who always had the cool toys. Except that kid usually never let you play with ‘em, and Jeff does.



This is a pic of 2 Jeffs (standing). vpivinylspinner in the white striped shirt, and the other Jeff who’s nick I can’t recall in the Black shirt. I think he’s looking at someone’s blood on his hand in the sunlight, probably the blood of a Bose owner who happened in. He took care of getting us all fed, and I thought for a bit we were going to have to pry Rob’s Omega’s off his head. Really cool guy, wish I could have talked to him more.



This is pabbi1 in the foreground and Mark AKA mach46 in the background. Another great guy that I wanted to spend more time with. He started at the first table and worked his way along methodically, taking notes all the while. He was as giddy as I was to hear all this great gear.




This pic may seem innocent enough, but in fact what is happening is Alex (Black T-shirt w/writing) is talking to Rob (Black T-shirt) about building an amp that will also function to take over the world, and he’s asking Rob to fund it. Rob’s very interested in the project as long as the world’s audio gear is distributed equally among the two.



There was some other nice gear there as well, and some really cool people.









Oh and BTW Rob was kind enough to give everyone that showed up a duplicate of his system as a parting gift. Sorry for those of you that couldn’t make it.

 

[pabbi1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl Shame you didn't hook the HE60s and 404 up to the ES-1...

Satan, get thee behind me...

I am on a supreme search with Alex (sorry to those I've been pinging begging for Stax plugs / adapters) since I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to buy one of Alex's HE60 (sorry, the number he owns is classified), BUT just won't until I hear them amped right (Sorry HEV70 fans). Ah, to trade my SRM-T1 (well, and cash) for one that has both Pro and non...

Yes, this really was my biggest disappointment - not getting to hear the HE60 through the ES-1 - but, here's to hoping that is but a short delay.

 

[akwok]

Aye. I too was looking forward to the HE60 + ES-1.. hope you guys do the mini-meet soon!

Good to hear the ES-1 is still kickin'.