[KR...]

Quote:

Originally posted by gpalmer Don't even think about it, go buy it! The combination is very, very good! I think I could live with it forever...

the Carlo-modded Sugden Headmaster was the only amp that I have ever heard that really made the AT woodies sound great. I would say it's a must have if you want to go the AT wood route.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by KR... the Carlo-modded Sugden Headmaster was the only amp that I have ever heard that really made the AT woodies sound great. I would say it's a must have if you want to go the AT wood route.

The EAR HP4 and the Singlepower amps are two options for the W2002 that sound excellent. At the meet, the W2002's started off with the Supra, and found their way to the PPX-3 at one point. These amps seem to bring out their best.

 

[Wmcmanus]

I've really enjoyed these meet impressions, and almost have a feeling that I was there! Could someone please put some names to the faces that were posted in the pics earlier in this thread? Which one is Hirsch, for instance? I assume that he's one of the more 'distinguished' gentlemen! I do recongnize Canman from the NY meet. Good to see you again - well, sort of...

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Could someone please put some names to the faces that were posted in the pics earlier in this thread?

Hey Wayne, good to see...or hear from...you again. You are invited to come up to the Philly meet next month. BTW, the Cayman Islands Meet is long overdue

From left to right, is Hirsch, Juan (CD44hi), and myself

 

[Canman]

Here is mkmelt (Mark) telling us about the history of reel to reel and various vintage products

Here's rhizome (Alex) chillin with his Senn's

 

[Wmcmanus]

Thanks, Canman. Keep those name / face association pics coming!

I'd love to make the Philly meet, but it looks like the next chance I'll have will be the May meet in NY (I'm dying to get my ears on the Blue Hawaii amp that Mikhail is making for Bozebuttons and to compare it to Grinch's KGSS which I liked so much).

Once the amazing amp formerly known as "Nik's Angstrom Two Box" arrives, I'll be nestled in here in Cayman for a while. If I can make the NY trip (and I definitely plan to), I'll bring it along.

I'd love to host a Cayman head-fi meet some day. immtbiker (Aaron, and his wife) who I met at the October NY meet will be staying with me for a week in the beginning of March, and Sewer Guy (Bill) who I met at the Florida meet in December will be passing through with his wife on a cruise in March. I'm also planning a trip to visit Doug (ServingInEcuador) some time this summer.

 

[SuperMario]

Hey, guys!

This meeting at Hirsch's place was, definitely, my first one since I joined this forum (I'm the guy wearing a turtle neck in two of the pictures).

Hirsch was a kind host. I received a warm welcome and was granted an instructive tour throughout all the gear set up for this meeting. I was amazed by the variety of equipment put at our disposal!

For the first time I could meet in loco great brands that I had only known from the reading of these boards. There I found the Stax's, the R10's, several Grados, AT's, Beyer's, the "baby Orpheus" and a pile of HD600's; amps from Mikail (Singlepower), Jan Meier (Corda), Joseph Grado, Ray Samuels (XP-7), etc., etc.; players like Creek, Arcam or Wadia were also available... a paraphernalia of nice "toys" for us to play with!

I will not post any technical considerations - I leave that to the experts -, but I must say that the Stax's sound very different from what I was expecting and, conversely, the Creek/Supra/R10's (and associated tweaking) combo, although not perfect to my ears, was something I could easily live with. Congratulations, Hirsch!

This was a very enjoyable meeting with a great host and a bunch of nice guys. And I am glad I contributed with a pair of HD600's and the Corda Prehead; I only regret the nasty scratch my amp was "awarded" (it can be easily seen in one of the pictures posted!). It was a shock for me when I spotted it. Well,

it's definitely a (bitter) souvenir of my first meet...

Thank you, Hirsch, for some good moments.

See you, guys, next time... perhaps here in Philadelphia!

 

[stevieo]

yeah baby!! this was one hot ticket.

the meet was an awesome audio visual experience. so much wire.

it was a great pleasure meeting all you other sound heads for the 1st time.

hirsch is one hell of a gracious host.

the hd600/radii combo stands out for me as the big surprise. well, it was just that i never expected to hear hd600's sound so good.

i heard the hd600 on lots of amps prior to & at the meet. i can say i never found them pleasant to hear until i heard them on hirsch's radii. the senn/radii combo was magical & was the biggest surprise for me at the meet because i did not expect to be so moved by a pair of senns. all you senn heads can blame my tinitus for my prior aversion. i just gotta clone that radii. the other setups were not as surprising to me as i had already expected them to sound great. no dispointments there i am happy to report.

the guy who looks stoned with the akg-1000 on his head seemed pretty much oblivious to anything except for what was going into his head. in fact there were a lot of us fitting that discription from the fotos. it seemd like i waited an eternity for him to give up the akg-1000. the long wait to hear them & the fisher 400 they were hooked up to was well worth it. gotta get me a pair somehow. no surpirise here. i thought they might sound as good as they did.

then, what can i say? .... there was the baby orpheus & the 2 staxes & wadia on the banquet table setup & it was better than sex.

there was the senn 600/radii on the kitchen counter setup & the akg-100/fisher in with the command central setup. that's pretty much all i could digest in my head for one short meet. i regretably never made it far enough into the r10 den. but i did sneak back the next night under false pretense & was allowed a quick listen to hirsch's r10 rig. i need to spend some more time with that baby.

i briefly listened to a lot of other fine gear, & i mean fine, but i kept going back to the baby orpheus, staxii & wadia. i have read the wadia was outstanding but i finally heard it myself. the wadia gave new meaning to cd listening. a true digital wow!

what a damn good time. thanks again hirsch & to everyone who brought all the great ear machines. i look forward to the next time.

 

[Hirsch]

If you've looked at the pictures, there are two Supra's there. One is the "Supra Classic", which was the first one built (it has feedback switches in front). The second was an experimental variant of the circuit (Supra-X). This is actually voiced differently than the classic Supra. The tubes used, Sylvania 6SN7W's actually tend to minimize the differences in voicing between the two amps IMO. Both have a very smooth frequency response, with a bit of rolloff at the bottom end of the R10 (more the headphone than the amp). However, put a Tung Sol in front of VT-231's and the sound of the Supra-X changes a lot. The R10 develops some serious high-impact bass. However, it also develops some discontinuity in the frequency response, so that the bass is not as well integrated with the rest of the frequency spectrum. I elected to leave the 6SN7W's in place for the meet, but perhaps I should have left it the other way, for a real contrast in voicing. My own bias in what I like played a role here. The Supra-X also has a slight edge in transparency, IMO. Might be worth a mini-meet just to focus on the differences between these amps while they're both here. They are subtle, but real.

 

[tom hankins]

Hirsch, Can you tell the difference in the voicing of the amp when you add one of the KenRads to the mix? How much more bass does the X model have?

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by tom hankins Hirsch, Can you tell the difference in the voicing of the amp when you add one of the KenRads to the mix? How much more bass does the X model have?

I can try a Ken-Rad. However, with the Tung Sol/Sylvania combo in the Supra-X, the R10 becomes an earth-shattering bass monster that can scare away Beyers.

That's a LOT of bass.

 

[00940]

I'm kinda interested in this vintage Denon 1500...

Could someone elaborate a bit ? It's warm and ... what else ?

Against which modern cdp would you think it's a fair comparaison ?

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Snake I was just about to post about that, that apparently nobody else caught the pair of copper-tweetered (original version) Nextelled SL600's but apparently you did!! Nice call.

Yep. The original SL600. I've had those a long time. The Fisher 400 almost has enough power to drive them, but they really want more than twenty or so watts. A lot more.

 

[Ticky]

Waahh!!! I live in DC but had to be away this past weekend... <sob> I missed out on a little piece of Hi-Fi heaven.

And what's this I hear about the Perreaux beating the XP-7?! I just got the XP-7 from Todd. <Sob>

Ok... enough melodrama. I must say the XP-7 is one neat little amp though.

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ticky And what's this I hear about the Perreaux beating the XP-7?! I just got the XP-7 from Todd. <Sob>

The XP-7 is not a bad amp by any means! It's just that for home use the Perreaux is a better amp. What will be a very interesting test is to compare it to the upcoming Larrocco pocket reference.