[jude]

Well, I decided to attend the show. I'm here right now. Unfortunately, my wireless modem isn't working, so I have to use their press computer to post. I'll try to post some early impressions later when I get on a friend's computer.

Great time so far!

More later.

 

[ponzio]

Jude - Yesterday I auditioned the McCormack headphone unit at the Music Direct Booth, they also have Ety's there - also, there is a booth in that area that has an Earmax, but at the time had no headphones to play with it - just FYI.

It's too bad I didn't know you were going to attend the show - If I had I would have invited you to lunch (I work three blocks away).


My quick thoughts
1. the McCormack has much more bass than my Corda (comparison done using HD600's with stock cable and S9000ES just like I have at home) even driving two 600's.

2. I don't hate Ety's anymore - I may actually buy a pair now

3. The Earmax may be the cutest piece of audio equipment I've ever seen - I can't imagine a woman not liking it. The fact that I would even consider what a girl thinks about a piece of equipment is shocking even to me.

4. Klaus at Odyssey Audio is very cool and my Stratos Dual Mono block amp will arrive in approximately 8 weeks.

 

[Tuberoller]

Hey,

I must have just missed you.I came and went yesterday.Lots of cool stuff.I took lots of pics that I will link a little later tonight.That Sennheiser setup was great wasn't it,an Orpheus,Blockhead and Max all in the same place.Not much in the way of new headphone stuff but lots of other cool stuff.be sure to stop by the Sound By Singer room on the seven floor with the new Musical Fidelity gear and Thiel speakers,this gets my vote for best sound of the show.Stereophile Show pics here is link to some of the pics i took.

I will ad captions and explanations of the pics later on tonight when I get time

 

[gloco]

Ohhh...I can't wait, i'm lugging my akg's and senns tomorrow, can you use your own cds?

 

[ponzio]

Tuberoller - I checked out your pictures - very nice - it seems that we visited many of the same places!

 

[Audio Addict]

Tuberoller, thanks for the great pictures. It is the next best thing to being there. It doesn't seem as many webzines are covering the show this year.

 

[KR...]

Quote:

Originally posted by Audio Addict Tuberoller, thanks for the great pictures. It is the next best thing to being there. It doesn't seem as many webzines are covering the show this year.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/hifi2002/

 

[Calanctus]

I just got back. Quick impressions:

-never having heard either the Grado RS1 or the Creek OBH-11SE, I was impressed by their sound. A little too forward for my tastes, but I see why people really like it.
-the Earmax Pro sounds really, really good, even with a Sony CD-2000--lots of bass, but not boomy, and a rich sound. (Mine should sound even better with my Beyers/AT-W100.)
-anybody who says that cables don't make a difference can't hear. I demo'd some lesser known brand with a Grado RS2, RA1 and Discman, and the difference between low-and high-end cables was very distinct--notably, less treble noise with the high-end cables.
-the ASL Twin Head amp was on display but I could not get the salespeople to demo it--they were too busy with their speakers and amps.

WRT regular (non-headphone) systems, very nice ones included
-the Odyssey (great sounding complete system for $5000)

-Konus Audio/47 Labs system--outstanding sound for single-driver speakers, very warm and rich with startling bass

-the new Viola products (apparently most of the folks there were at Cello previously, hence the name)

-the all-Naim system with their new SL2 speakers--very musical.

Best sound of the show, for me, was the Pipedream setup on the main floor. The sound was very natural (not like recorded sound, but like a live performance), where was absolutely no sense of digital fatigue with CDs (something I'm a bit prone to), and the soundstage was very good from many different positions across the floor.

 

[gloco]

Yeah, i came back a short while ago, i had a great time there!

Man, there were so many displays and rooms to hit my head was spinning for the first hour!

Creek: I tested out my Akg K501's with the OBH-11SE, very nice indeed, i had the volume up half way and it was nice (very smooth and detailed), even with their speaker setup blasting away. People seemed very curious about the shanling cdt-100 tube cd player, it looked sweet in person!

As for the rest, GamuT, HarmonixdarTZeel, FPS and especially Silverline Audio impressed hell out of me!

One of these setups involved these HUGE speakers that towered over six feet and each speaker had 15 drivers! Sounded awesome with Pink Floyd. You can tell everyone was thinking the same thing as i was...they all had a grin ear to ear!

One thing: It really annoyed me that most companies only had classical music to demo (plus, really plain classical music, not the kind of stuff that really shows off their equipment...bummer), the ones i mentioned above had a wide selection of music to demo and thats why they stood out over the rest (various rock, pop acts, like Pink Floyd, George Michael, etc), plus their gear was kick ass. I really regret not hauling my digicam to snap pics of everything, now i'm considering going tomorrow just for that. I also picked up a Doors LP from redtrumpet which was setup on the main floor witha bunch of vendors in a large room, many audiophile, SACD and DVD-A discs to choose from, in fact, i saw some recent pop acts on SACD, such as Destiny's Child. Also, in some cases, it was difficult to enjoy every setup as some companies were really blasting away as well the crowd chatter in the hall ways.

Lastly, the Yamaha guys were real snobs

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by ponzio My quick thoughts 1. the McCormack has much more bass than my Corda (comparison done using HD600's with stock cable and S9000ES just like I have at home) even driving two 600's.

*boggle* Send your Corda back to Jan. It's defective. (I own both amps.)

[edit:] It could be that there was a difference in bass response between the person demo'ing the McCormack's source and cables and your own if you didn't do a direct AB comparrison on the same source and cables.

Quote:

2. I don't hate Ety's anymore - I may actually buy a pair now

That's good. Now we know it's not your ears that are defective.

 

[acidtripwow]

Nice pics Tuberoller. Is that the next car you're going to pick up? I miss the Orpheus too. We will be together again on Wednesday!!

 

[ponzio]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly *boggle* Send your Corda back to Jan. It's defective. (I own both amps.) [edit:] It could be that there was a difference in bass response between the person demo'ing the McCormack's source and cables and your own if you didn't do a direct AB comparrison on the same source and cables.

Kelly, what do you think could have made the difference?

1. The McCormack was connected to the 9000 via reasonably pricey-looking interconnects and I'm using radioshack golds.

2. Both the McCormack and the 9000 used aftermarket powercords plugged into what appeared to be a PS Audio Ultimate Outlet.

3. I built my Corda, and somewhere during construction made a mistake (very possible - although I have no other Corda to use as a comparison).

4. The media : I don't have the SACD I auditioned at the show, maybe it just has a lot of bass

5. Subjective Human error:
Perhaps I didn't remember my Corda properly, but I thought I heard a more powerful amp with the McCormack - i.e. bass seemed deeper and more potent.



Quote:

That's good. Now we know it's not your ears that are defective.

I should rephrase "The sensation of having soft plastic drill bits inserted into my ear canal was less unpleasant than I remembered it to be. I was surprised at how, after a song or two, I became somewhat desensitized and didn't mind the feeling as much as I thought. The sound was very accurate and clean."

 

[Tuberoller]

I had to cut the trip short due to a death in the family but had a good time the one day I was able to stay.I ran into a few head-fiers and a few friends as well.I also learned a few things about audio journalists,NY audio dealers and the audio industry in general.these were not things that were made apparent when I went to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las vegas.

Audio journalists are a different breed altogether,they are so out of touch that they do not seem credible.I did talk to few really nice guys and had fun with them,others were very unfriendly and acted as if I and other "consumers" should not even be allowed at the show at the same time they were there.these guys also seem to think that they should get what they want from manufacturers when they want it.I witnessed a writer for an online magazine walk up to a cable maker and basically demand a set of each of his cables before the end of the day.He told that cable maker that if he didn't get them not to bother sending them later.A few other manufacturers and distributors told me stories of how they send gear for reviews and have to wait for very long periods for the review to be written and even longer to get the gear back.

NY dealers seem to be geared to do business with wealthy clients.There is a newer dealer who seems to be interested in the listener of more modest means,but in general the Ny scene is geared toward the rich.That seems to be the stark opposite of the way things are going in Chicago.this is made obvious to me when I was asked what is the most money I had ever spent on a component,what gear i had now,what was i prepared to spend today and other really stupid questions before I was invited back for an "after hours" audition.

I also see indications that there is strong pressure for price reductions in audio gear.I heard the statement"man that's rediculous"in reference to prices very often.Converstions i had with audio manufacturers backed up my suspicions that they were feeling this pressure.Most manufacturers had gear that was marketed at lower price points.a prime example was the VPI Scout table.this is a fully upgradeable table priced at $1500.00 the VPI rep said they sell every one that can make.He also said that the higher priced tables linger in the warehouses.I think this is good for all of us but I think it will be slow in coming to trend.at the same time I was seeing great gear at fantastic price points,I saw some stuff that was so stratispherically priced it almost seemed unreal.How could you look someone in the eye and tell them your speaker costs $85,000.00 with a ****in' straight face?I don't know but I saw it happen.There was a lot of great gear there and it was well worth the trip.i got some good info but I think I will wait to see if any of it comes to pass before I spread any rumors.

 

[gloco]

Tuberoller, i felt the same way regarding the atmosphere of the show, i really felt like an outcast amongst all these rich freaks, to be quite honest, i felt detached and at times, baffled by the whole show (read: yuppies). I doubt i'll hit another show again...











....If i do go next year, i'm bring some Radiohead cds along with me and blast em!

 

[DanG]

Yes, yuppies... boomers are leaving, it's yuppie time right now. It seems like they'll be short-lived before my generation starts taking over.

Anyway I didn't get to go this year -- what I had assumed would be the "scene" without Headroom is just confirmed by the postings here. I spent most of the time last year in the Headroom area because the Headroom guys were so inviting and helpful -- not the case with most others, with some notable exceptions. The Sony engineer in the Sony video room was great, explaining everything about Sony's new TVs and answering questions. If I remember correctly, the Naim room was pretty nice, if small.

But most others seemed to think of themselves as on a pedestal with a halo above their heads -- they would sit us down and wow us with the sound of the equipment -- as well as the price and the size of the systems. No flexibility in musical choice (almost always mainstream jazz) and almost no time to ask questions.

I'm just happy that I can go see Headroom this year without the trek to New York and without having to find a way to get free tickets.