[kugino]

had a fun time at terry's (justhavingfun) place and it was great to meet him, ichiro, and refault. thanks again to terry for his wonderful hospitality and for providing the food as well. but perhaps the highlight of the evening was watching/listening to his amazing home theater system and his home-made 1000-watt subwoofer!

i'll post pictures later this week, but for just four of us, we had a nice collection of gear - you don't normally see this kind of variety and quality of equipment in hawaii.

couple of quick impressions:
- i really liked terry's microamp with the 2005 module. it sounded really good with every can i tried it with - hp2, a900 ltd., various flavors of senns. surprised me, it did.

- the gilmore lite w/dedicated PSU and the GS-1 sound very very similar. perhaps the GS-1 had a little more punch and slam, but otherwise i liked the G-lite quite a bit...and the new black ones look mighty sexy, although i don't like the matte finish.

- i didn't have my IEMs with me so couldn't gauge how well ichiro's tomahawk mates with an IEM...but i did try it with the HD580 and i thought the tomahawk did okay driving them to a comfortable level. i certainly understand that they are meant for IEMs and i think people will be disappointed if they try to use it as a dual portable/home amp, like the hornet or sr-71 can do. just my 2 cents.

- lastly, i finally got to listen to a pair of hp-2...refault's. although i don't think they're worth the c. $1000 asking price, i was quite impressed with their smooth sound and substantive feel to them. they are solidly built and they feel like expensive headphones, unlike most of the john grado line of headphones. now to find me a pair in some garage sale...

p.s. what a fantastic day in hawaii today...spent the morning at the beach with my wife and then spent the afternoon listening to music and auditioning gear.

 

[krmathis]

Sounds like you had a great time!
Can't wait to see some of the pictures you have taken...

 

[ichiro]

I want to thank Terry for opening up his home and providing food and drink. I had a great time meeting everyone and auditioning some nice gear. I'll post some impressions soon.

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif - the gilmore lite w/dedicated PSU and the GS-1 sound very very similar. perhaps the GS-1 had a little more punch and slam, but otherwise i liked the G-lite quite a bit...and the new black ones look mighty sexy, although i don't like the matte finish. - i didn't have my IEMs with me so couldn't gauge how well ichiro's tomahawk mates with an IEM...but i did try it with the HD580 and i thought the tomahawk did okay driving them to a comfortable level. i certainly understand that they are meant for IEMs and i think people will be disappointed if they try to use it as a dual portable/home amp, like the hornet or sr-71 can do. just my 2 cents.

hmm... I need more than a little slam to justify going from GLite+DPS to a GS-1. Any more body or fullness to the GS-1 sound than GLite?

Can you confirm that you set the Tomahawk gain to high?

And lastly, guys, where are the photos??? You're in HAWAII!! I demand photos.

Forget about the gear, I want photos to help me deal with the grey dreary Northwest winter.

 

[ichiro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif hmm... I need more than a little slam to justify going from GLite+DPS to a GS-1. Any more body or fullness to the GS-1 sound than GLite? Can you confirm that you set the Tomahawk gain to high? And lastly, guys, where are the photos??? You're in HAWAII!! I demand photos. Forget about the gear, I want photos to help me deal with the grey dreary Northwest winter.

Just for reference the lite+dps is one of the limited black models and only has about 100hrs on it. I had a very difficult time hearing a difference between the lite+dps and the gs-1. I was listening using a900ltd (something I'm very familiar with) from a stello da-100 (something I'm not familiar with). To me the sonic differences are not enough to warrant the difference in price. However, if I needed multiple inputs, a gain switch, and a preamp the GS-1 would definitely be worthwhile.

My tomahawk has about 180hrs on it now and I tested it out with my HD650's last night. To my ears there is more than enough volume but it doesn't seem to have enough power to properly drive it. Of course this could be due to the fact that I enjoy the way the 650's sound out of the glite and the tomahawk has a different sound signature. The glite just sounds cleaner with slightly better detail and a tighter bottom end. The tomahawk does give the 650's a wider soundstage compared to the lite but that's the only advantage it has.

Kugino was the designated photographer for this event. I only took one picture of all the portable amps stacked on top of each other. I'll try to post it when I have a chance.

 

[justhavingfun]

I posted my impression on the wrong forum section as ichiro was kind enough to let me know so here it is again.


This was my first Head-fi meet anywhere. So this was very exciting for me and we had a great time listening to so many equipments in very short period of time. I wish I had more time with some of the equipments but nevertheless enjoyed tremendously. Unfortunately I didn’t take pictures but kugino took several photos of the meet so hopefully he will post some pictures later date. I am just going to highlight some of the impressions that I had with some equipments.

Headphones: I had extensive listening to my Senn HD580 and HD600 but I was curious about its flagship HD650. This phone had standard stock cable and its sound signature was different from its predecessors. Although it has very meaty and full sound, it was a bit too bassy for my taste with almost all the amps in the meet. Perhaps with right high-end amp, it will shine better than previous models but for my ears, I will stick with HD600, it has better balanced sound with just right amount of bass. And it confirms again how much is the high-end bargain for HD580. It will remain with me for a very long time to come.
I had owned couple of Grado phones but they are very uncomfortable for me so I sold them. However, we had a chance to listen to Grado HP1000(?) at this meet and it was lot more comfortable this time than I remembered. Although it was very nice sound but it didn’t really click for me until I tried with maxed out Millett Hybrid amp. And oh boy, it was sweet full sound that I love so much with right amount of Grado forward sound signature. However, I was really surprised to find out how much I like Audio Technica ATH-A900LTD headphone. I was looking for full size closed phone and this will certainly a contender in the future purchase for me. It was very comfortable as well as very open soundstage for a closed phone. I liked its sound signature with just about every amps I tried.
One headphone that I didn’t particular care for was AKG K81DJ. For some reason, it has hollow empty sound with too much bass emphasis. For noise isolation on the go, I will stick with my ER4S.

Amps: The most “fun” amp among others was MisterX’s Pint amp. Since Pint amp is very difficult to get anymore, I might try MisterX’s XP amp sometime in the future to bring that “fun” factor back. I tried to compare Gilmore Lite w/DPS and Gilmore GS1 but I honestly couldn’t tell the difference much. GS1 has perhaps tad better soundstage and instrument separation but it was only due to back-to-back comparison. I doubt I will be able to pass in blind test. My favorite headphone with these amps was HD580/600. And now for my long time favorite ER4S, I might have found the new amp to match and it is RSA Tomahawk. This amp gives my ER4S to next level perhaps. It is so detailed with wide open soundstage, it reminds me of Go-Vibe V5 sound signature but just more of everything that I like about ER4S. Maybe I need to sell some of my amps to finance purchasing Tomahawk. I also enjoyed listening to Supermini III, it is different sound than Tomahawk but nevertheless very punch and lively sound but different. If it didn’t take so long to purchase Xin’s amp, it will definitely in my list to audition for purchase in the future along with Tomahawk.
When I first listen to Headfive several months ago, it wasn’t a love at first sight but I was beginning to enjoy more as time passed by. But when I paired it with ATH-A900LTD along with Stello DA100, it was clearly match made in heaven to my ears, such a smooth mellow sound which clearly I enjoyed.

Cables: I am usually don’t care much about those super expensive cables. My philosophy in cable is as long as they are well made above the usual cheap “give away” freebies in the box, I am ok with them using in my system. If I can afford to purchase several thousand dollar amps and headphones, I will certainly purchase appropriately matched quality cables since saving money is not my priority at that moment. Unfortunately, I have to assemble my audio system most cost effective as possible (most bang for the buck). That means buying those high-end super expensive cables are not my priority. Over the years I too collected decent quality cables but nothing too fancy.
Fortunately for this meet, ichiro has nice collection of super nice quality cables for us to try. One member at the meet was surprised to find very noticeable difference among the cables; he was skeptical about difference in the cables as well previously. But for me, I certainly can differentiate from very cheap cables and audiophile quality cables but against the solidly built no-frill design cables, they don’t make enough of difference to my ears for me to worry about those super expensive cables for my setup. Of course, if I win the multi-million dollar lottery and can afford just about anything, I would love to purchase those pretty cables myself. But it was certainly nice to be able to audition nice cables brought by ichiro.

Well that’s it for me. As I writing this review, I am listening to Shellbrook Ascent Signature amp with recabled KSC 75 which I just received in the mail yesterday. I got to go find some more CDs for me to listen to this excellent sounding amp. Hopefully kugino can post some meet pictures. I should have took some pictures as well but I was too busy listening.

Edit: Identified wrong Gilmore amp changed to GS1 from V2SE. Thanks kugino

 

[kugino]

sorry for the delay in posting pictures...i just got back to cold northern cali late last night and i'm unpacking, catching up on mail, waiting for the NFL playoffs to start...hopefully i'll get to it later today.

just a simple correction in justhavingfun's post above - it was a GS-1, NOT a V2SE at the meet. it would have been nice to hear choomanchoo's V2SE, but unfortunately he couldn't make it.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif hmm... I need more than a little slam to justify going from GLite+DPS to a GS-1. Any more body or fullness to the GS-1 sound than GLite Can you confirm that you set the Tomahawk gain to high? And lastly, guys, where are the photos??? You're in HAWAII!! I demand photos. Forget about the gear, I want photos to help me deal with the grey dreary Northwest winter.

i honestly had a hard time hearing any differences between the GS-1 and g-lite+DPS...however, i was listening with unfamiliar headphones (i didn't bring any of my own). i think the g-lite+DPS is a fantastic performer at that price. however, the GS-1 has the module upgradability as well as a very good pre-amp, dual headphones, and dual inputs. maybe not worth the price increase, but i really like the GS-1.

yes, the tomahawk was set to high and i did not like how it drove the HD580.

and yes, pictures will be posted soon...

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif however, the GS-1 has the module upgradability as well as a very good pre-amp, dual headphones, and dual inputs.

yeah, I know... that's why I keep thinking about one

Thanks for the impressions. I originally put my name on the Tomahawk pre-order, but never paid for it. It seems like I made the right decision for me.

I thought the almond farm was in Hawaii but you're in Cali?

 

[kugino]

alright, here are some pictures...quality isn't great (forgot my flash so had to turn up the ISO), but you get the idea.

i was here in the morning:

then had the meet in the afternoon:

here's dustin (ichiro) getting comfortable

rob (refault) on left and dustin (ichiro) looking over the mess of wires:

rob (refault)

dustin (ichiro) and our host, terry (justhavingfun)

stello da100, head-five, sr-71, and hp-2

beautiful black g-lite+DPS. nice, but the matte finish picks up all kinds of crap...

g-lite next to a misterX pint (w/treads) and alien DAC combo. we weren't able to listen to the alien DAC, but the PINT is fantastic! punchy and fun with the AD8397 op-amp. on the far right you can partially see the headsave classic, which i thought sounded great.

head-five, little dot, and koss E90 electrostat. that little dot puts out some serious heat! it was quite a feat trying to change cables on it without getting burned. i spent quite a bit of time with the koss and for a 14-year old pair of electrostats, i thought it sounded quite nice with the classical music i listened to...

refault's hp-2 with bent headband. this was actually my first experience with the vaunted hp-2 and was impressed with how substantial this headphone is compared to the newer grado stuff. it's solid, heavy, and feels like an expensive headphone. worth the $1000 people are asking for? not a chance. but certainly a good performer.

a basic millet hybrid on top with a maxxed out millet on the bottom. the millet on the bottom was really nice...loved the hp-2s with this amp. but i was most surprised with how nice the micro-amp sounded. it has the 2005 module. i never gave the micro-amp much thought because it's a bit too bulky to be truly portable and the batteries don't last very long. but it sounds great and at $300, sounds way better than its asking price.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I thought the almond farm was in Hawaii but you're in Cali?

yes, almonds don't grow in hawaii...i went home to visit family for the holidays.

 

[justhavingfun]

Thanks for the pictures, kugino. They look great!

 

[ichiro]

Thanks for the pics kugino!

The suprise of the meet for me was the micro amp with 2005 micro module. It sounded suprisingly good with A900LTD's and UM2's. The sound was dynamic with a fun presentation. I owned a microstack with a 2006 desktop module and it was nice but Terry's micro did something magical with both of those headphones.

I didn't have a chance to listen to the koss electrostats and now after reading kugino's impressions I wish I did. Hopefully I'll get a chance at the next meet.

Terry's maxed millett hybrid was very nice. The build quality was top notch and the multiple inputs and preamp were nice additions. It's been a while since I had my basic millett, from what I can remember Terry's amp had much better detail but might have lost some of the fun that my old basic millett had. I remember monstrous bass that made for a bass lovers dream when paired with my HF-1's and flat pads. Terry's amp had bass but it was far more balanced.

The little dot II just didn't do it for me. I didn't feel like it did anything really wrong it's just that it didn't do anything really right.

I finally had a chance to sit down with an sr-71. As expected with all Ray Samuel's amps the build quality was superb. I tried to compare this with my tomahawk and I found the sound much more similar than different. I'm sure with a longer private listening session in a quiet environment I would be able to hear more differences. Given the meet conditions and my brief time with the amp my conclusion is that there isn't enough of a gain in sound quality with the sr-71 to warrant the added cost and bulk.

The z-audio lambda was an interesting amp. I think the case is hideous and from what I was told, changing the battery in the amp is a very tedious task. The sound was nice for the first 10 seconds until the bass kicked in. The low end of this amp sounded boomy and unrefined.

Refault's HP-2's were very nice. I especially liked the build quality of these headphones. Before this, the highest I had experience in the Grado line was a sr-325i. Compared the to the 325i the HP-2 felt much more substantial. The sound was great as expected. When paired with the gs-1 and my iMod iPod I had a out-of-head experience. This is the first time a grado has given me a soundstage wide enough to almost trick me into thinking that I didn't have headphones on. Overall, this is a very nice can but I personally wouldn't spend over $1k on a pair.

I also had a chance to revisit the HD600 and HD580. My HD650 hasn't seen much action recently and listening to the other two in the series reconfirmed that my current tastes just don't agree with sennheiser headphones. The highs are too rolled off and while I can appreciate the laid back sound of these headphones they just don't do "it" for me.

Thanks again Terry for your hospitality. I'm already looking forward to the next meet.

 

[justhavingfun]

With my fondness of everything about Senn HD580/600 sound signature, I thought about purchasing GS1 to complement home amp department even before this meet. But after comparing ichiro's special edition GLite and kugino's GS1, I am not so sure about purchasing GS1 anymore. Sonically they are so close each other for my ears, unless I need additional features that GS1 provide, I am incline to purchase GLite/DPS on my next amp purchase.

I also finally had a chance to listen to Ray's SR71. Since it is suppose to be good with classical/jazz genre which is my favorite music, I thought this amp will be my ultimate portable solution. Maybe my expectation was little bit too much for this amp but I wasn't overly impressed when I first listen with ER4S. From initial brief comparison, I like Tomahawk's sound signature than SR71. But I definitely need more time with SR71 amp before I make any judgement though. However, I was pleasantly surprised how fun it is to listen to MisterX's PINT amp brought by ichiro. So much that I ordered very similar XP amp by MisterX and its matching Alien DAC. I should have them soon. Now depending on the performance of this XP amp, I might hold off on my next portable amp purchase (Tomahawk, SR71 or Hornet) and concentrate on my next home amp purchase.

Hey ichiro, didn't you had Headamp AE1/Portaphile V2^2 portable amp before? If you did or had a chance to hear one, how do they compare to your Tomahawk?

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justhavingfun /img/forum/go_quote.gif With my fondness of everything about Senn HD580/600 sound signature, I thought about purchasing GS1 to complement home amp department even before this meet. But after comparing ichiro's special edition GLite and kugino's GS1, I am not so sure about purchasing GS1 anymore. Sonically they are so close each other for my ears, unless I need additional features that GS1 provide, I am incline to purchase GLite/DPS on my next amp purchase. I also finally had a chance to listen to Ray's SR71. Since it is suppose to be good with classical/jazz genre which is my favorite music, I thought this amp will be my ultimate portable solution. Maybe my expectation was little bit too much for this amp but I wasn't overly impressed when I first listen with ER4S. From initial brief comparison, I like Tomahawk's sound signature than SR71. But I definitely need more time with SR71 amp before I make any judgement though. However, I was pleasantly surprised how fun it is to listen to MisterX's PINT amp brought by ichiro. So much that I ordered very similar XP amp by MisterX and its matching Alien DAC. I should have them soon. Now depending on the performance of this XP amp, I might hold off on my next portable amp purchase (Tomahawk, SR71 or Hornet) and concentrate on my next home amp purchase. Hey ichiro, didn't you had Headamp AE1/Portaphile V2^2 portable amp before? If you did or had a chance to hear one, how do they compare to your Tomahawk?

hey terry, so you got a "poor man's microstack" from misterX? let us know how you like it. i'd like to compare my PINT with the AD8397 XP. i listened to an earlier version of the LM6172 XP and it wasn't as fun or dynamic as the PINT...