[Svperstar]

Getting ready to drive over in just a minute. Can you believe I've been on this forum for 19 years and never been to a meetup? I was going to go to the NYC one earlier this year but PTO didn't kick in at my new job yet.

 

[JML]

Regrettably, I won't be able to make it today. Have a great time, everyone!

 

[Svperstar]

Had three people listening on my setup at once a bit earlier I'm still here. Took a few more pictures and videos.

 

[Svperstar]

Modded Stax amp + Shangrila Jr. Funny, I was thinking of buying the same Stax amp a couple months ago

 

[Evshrug]

Finally got to hear these headphones and this setup, a nice way for me to cap off the event (before the speakers let us know we had stayed past event time ).

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Finally got to hear these headphones and this setup, a nice way for me to cap off the event (before the speakers let us know we had stayed past event time ).

Hope you liked it! I would be interested to hear what people thought of this setup, it's not often I get to hear what people think of the stuff I build.

For me, the big surprises were the Verrum 1 and the modded Hifiman R9. Quick listens, but really great sound from these headphones for not all that much money.

Also really enjoyed @toobuzz impressive tape rig, both the HEDDphone and the Caldera sounded excellent with it out of the Bottlehead S.E.X. If only I had a second residence to fill only with audio nonsense...

 

[SolarCetacean]

I didn't listen to the Caldera for that long unfortunately, but during my listening, I thought that the Caldera on the DIY DAC+amp had a surprising degree of stereo separation. It sort of presented two hemispheres of sound to me, one on the left and one on the right, and sounds didn't mesh in the middle as much as I am used to. Like singers sometimes felt like they were two clones sitting right next to each other and singing rather than a single singer. On other sounds that are panned more to one side, I had the feeling that I could identify where the headphone's driver sits relative to my ear, not merely the sound in the track, but that the sound was being produced by a driver that is sitting X cm from my ear.

I think a way to describe what I heard is that it's like I was listening to a really good 2-channel speaker setup, but sitting too close to be in the sweet spot, so the illusion of soundstage between the speakers wasn't as convincing, but I could identify two really good speakers each outputting sound. Sort of an odd sensation, but very distinctive. Maybe I need to shift the earcups and have my ears towards the back of the earcup to get the correct amount of separation.

I tried my Sony Z7M2 on the DAC/amp and I didn't get that same sense of left/right separation there, so I don't think it's the chain imparting that characteristic on the headphones.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I didn't listen to the Caldera for that long unfortunately, but during my listening, I thought that the Caldera on the DIY DAC+amp had a surprising degree of stereo separation. It sort of presented two hemispheres of sound to me, one on the left and one on the right, and sounds didn't mesh in the middle as much as I am used to. Like singers sometimes felt like they were two clones sitting right next to each other and singing rather than a single singer. On other sounds that are panned more to one side, I had the feeling that I could identify where the headphone's driver sits relative to my ear, not merely the sound in the track, but that the sound was being produced by a driver that is sitting X cm from my ear.

I think a way to describe what I heard is that it's like I was listening to a really good 2-channel speaker setup, but sitting too close to be in the sweet spot, so the illusion of soundstage between the speakers wasn't as convincing, but I could identify two really good speakers each outputting sound. Sort of an odd sensation, but very distinctive. Maybe I need to shift the earcups and have my ears towards the back of the earcup to get the correct amount of separation.

I tried my Sony Z7M2 on the DAC/amp and I didn't get that same sense of left/right separation there, so I don't think it's the chain imparting that characteristic on the headphones.

Interesting, thanks for the feedback!

 

[bevanc]

Would just like to say that I had a blast today. Last time I spent too much time stressed that everyone was having a good time, this time, having done it before, I was able to really appreciate this time. Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did, thanks to those who helped make it possible.

 

[lord_tris]

Like the last time this was a grand little event, Right amount of people, Great Peeps, and pretty huge selection of gear.

L0rdGwyn - Man I gotta say it again you did great building that amp and dac. I really enjoyed my R9 on that amp as well.​

SolarCetacean - Appreciate that you have such a great Stat setup. Between the JR and L700 I would take the L700 every day all day. To me it is just far more musical and sounds so much better then the JR. Great seeing you again btw.​

bevanc - Glad you liked the R9 on the the Jot, I did not get a chance to hear that combo though. Also thank you for setting this up and thank Mike again for letting us come take over his store for a few hours, Great host.​

​

Svperstar - Man you have an amazing selection of gear, That Smsl amp was not bad at all. And though I do not think i am fully on board with a Stats at this time the x95 was not bad at all for the price they are some good sounding super light stats. (still would snag an L700 though )​

​

toobuzz - Thank you for letting me test the HEDD on my amp, that thing wants some power and I thought that my F22 would push it, It does but I have to run that thing HOT to get the best out that headphone. Still a contender for my next headphone Between the Aeon 2 closed And HEDD its hard lol.​

Musically I like the HEDD better but the Aeon is about 90% of that but does not need me to crank the amp up as much as I did with the HEDD, hard discissions.

 

[First Gen Hun]

This was a very fun meet and I love the plethora of different options that were there ESPECIALLY the reel-to-reel tape and how the process for making tapes is being preserved and carried on to this day.

If anyone lurking just reads through and thinks their setup may not be up to snuff I say don't worry! Come out and get a full aural immersion. The price ranges for even a basic, decent setup isn't too expensive and if you don't have any or are looking but don't know what to pick up, these meets are the perfect transition since the in person experience and demonstrations are very worth it. The more people you get to listen to what they have, have the opportunity to ask questions and test various gear will help get you closer to what you are looking for.

 

[Svperstar]

Svperstar - Man you have an amazing selection of gear, That Smsl amp was not bad at all. And though I do not think i am fully on board with a Stats at this time the x95 was not bad at all for the price they are some good sounding super light stats. (still would snag an L700 though )​

On my way out the door so don't have a lot of time to type this big long thing but I'm glad I brought it. I almost didn't bring my setup because I thought "nobody wants to listen to my crappy little setup they are here for Stax and the other $3,000+ headphone setups" but I'm glad I did.

I had multiple people spend 30+ minutes listening to my headphones and other peoples headphones on my setup which was very cool

Someone in one of the two threads asked me to bring my Gilmore Lite mk2 + Golden Reference Power Supply, nobody really asked about it at the meet.

I'm really surprised I am the only person who brought a laptop. I never messed with Roon before the meet and I don't own a streamer makes me feel a bit behind the times, my setup had less network congestion I guess lol.

 

[Svperstar]

I listened to the Focal Utopia in the back with my favorite test track and it sounded so wrong and off. I asked "Do you have some kind of 3d processing turned on?" Sure enough they did, soon as they turned it off sounded amazing. The Utopia forms like a box for the music around your head. Anyway off to the gym type more later lol

 

[SolarCetacean]

During this meet, I discovered that my apartment has crap wiring. I connected my amp to the Shunyata cable they had in the room, and after it powered up, I immediately thought, "where's the buzz?". At home, the moment the relay clicks and the amp output turns on, I hear a distinctive sawtooth buzz coming from the amp itself. I never figured out where exactly it was coming from, the tubes or something else, but it's always there. And it wasn't there at the meet. If I put my ear right up against the amp, I could hear the faintest buzz, but from the couch, I couldn't hear it at all. At home, I can hear it 8 feet away. So you guys really heard the best that my amp has to offer. I've always been a cable skeptic, but I'm seriously considering getting a Shunyata cable now, because the amp buzz at home is something that always slightly irritated me, but I thought it was inherent to the amp.

I'm glad that a lot of people really liked the L700. I was talking to one of the guys (the one who came along with @lord_tris I think) about the Jr vs L700, and we agreed that the Jr is an electrostatic Hifiman while the Stax does something different and distinctive. I think at the last meet, since there was also the Audeze CRBN and only one amp, the L700 kind of fell by the wayside compared to the expensive estats, but at this meet, people were able to give it proper listening time.

Speaking of estats, the Koss unit is good. Thanks @Svperstar for bringing it. I didn't sense the same staging qualities as on my L700, nor did it have the same bass texture as either the L700 or the Jr, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper, and it isn't as bright or nasally as the Stax. It's well balanced and affordable, which is a good combination of traits. I wish the amp's knob wasn't as finicky though.

I'm not sure why I had such a scowl on my face in that photo above. There must have been some noise coming from the tape corner while I was listening to the Caldera. I swear I'm not an angry, irritable curmudgeon.

 

[JML]

There are several reasons why you could hear that buzz in your apartment from the AC. First, turn off your refrigerator and see if that's the cause! Turn off the other circuits if you can to see if it's some other appliance in your apartment. If that all fails, then try a filtering AC power strip (like a Furman) before you invest in something even more expensive like the Shunyata power cable.