[LFF]

 
On a more serious post, many thanks to the main man, Purrin, for setting this meet up and for graciously covering the cost of the venue. Despite some offers to take $$$, he refused. That's some major generosity! It's a privilege having you as friend and member of this community!
 
As always, it was great meeting the people of this fantastic community. I really enjoyed sharing my music and talking with many of the people who showed up.
 
Notable Impressions:
 
LCD-3: A nice headphone...it's what the LCD-2 should have been. I only listened to them briefly but the overall improvement in linearity is a most welcome treat! I would really need some extended listening time in a personal, intimate setting. At the moment though, my desire to purchase one has been quenched and I no longer have the desire to own one. Perhaps that might change with prolonged listening.
 
SR-009: Talk about refinement! Listening to it out of n3rdling's rig was the sonic highlight of the meet for me. I didn't find it bright or lean at all. Very fast, dynamic and neutral. It's a damn shame these headphones are so expensive as I would love to own a pair.  
 
Donald North Audio 2A3: Fantastic sounding tube amp. I wish I could have spent more time with this blue beauty. I have avoided jumping into the whole tube arena due to the cost of the tubes but this amp might just change that as the tubes used in this build are very affordable.
 
Quote:

LFF's modded T50RPs:  Highlight of the meet for me personally.  Best ortho I've ever heard, only ortho that has a good amount of air and a nice soundstage.  This sounded more like an open headphone really...it totally caught me off gaurd.  Tonal balance was fantastic, very similar to the SR009 but wasn't as refined/fast/open. 

Thanks! That is seriously quite a compliment, especially coming from you.

 
Quote:

Damn your edit.  Wrt your lost virginty, pics or it didn't happen!

LOL! Glad someone read it before the change.

 
As for the pics, I have "recreational" proof but there are minors here. The actual proof of the original event and all subsequent events until marriage were deleted by SWMBO.

 

[rhythmdevils]

NIce meet Purrin!  And great work on the T50rp's LFF I'd love to hear them sometime. 

 

[dyl1dyl]

Hey guys, great impressions and pics so far. However, one thing that I'm curious about that I believe has not been covered yet is how the LCD-3s compare to the Stax 007s, both driven by a good amp pairing. I feel that this is a fairer comparison as they are much closer in price, compared to the LCD-3s vs 009. Anyone care to share their impressions?

 

[santacore]

 
Quote:

--Honorable mention--
 
I have to chime in and express my deep respect and admiration for Donald North's 2A3 amp.  I have spent much time building synergies w/ the HD800 and his 2A3 waltzed in and knocked it out of the park.  Double the price of the Super7 though but good enough to make me consider it strongly.  Absolutely the most neutral, transparent, resolving, extended, yet lush and natural sounding amp I've heard yet from the HD800 in that combination.  Very few things in audio can nail that balance.  Great w/ the LCD2r.2 as well and just about anything that produces sound.  Great work Donald!

 
I'm glad Donald's amp got a serious listen. I've had the pleasure of having it in house during the beta testing phase, and have been very impressed by it's performance. The above quote seems right inline with my impressions.

 

[tupac0306]

Good reviews Purrin!. Very fair. Really hope Auzede can do something about the weight... I will go for it without a doubt if the weight is lighter by 100g.

 

[rroseperry]

Great pictures, it looks like an excellent meet and I am more than a little envious.

 

[n3rdling]

 
Quote:

Hey guys, great impressions and pics so far. However, one thing that I'm curious about that I believe has not been covered yet is how the LCD-3s compare to the Stax 007s, both driven by a good amp pairing. I feel that this is a fairer comparison as they are much closer in price, compared to the LCD-3s vs 009. Anyone care to share their impressions?

From the limited time I had with the LCD3 and my preferences, the 007 is easily the better headphone still.  I thought the same about the LCD2 as well.  The LCD3 sounds closer to the O2 than the LCD2 did though.

 

[Misterrogers]

Does anyone have any impressions of Bifrost?

 

[purrin]

Quote:

Hey guys, great impressions and pics so far. However, one thing that I'm curious about that I believe has not been covered yet is how the LCD-3s compare to the Stax 007s, both driven by a good amp pairing. I feel that this is a fairer comparison as they are much closer in price, compared to the LCD-3s vs 009. Anyone care to share their impressions?

I'm with n3rdling on this. But I'll approach it another way: If you've heard a good O2 rig and want to get something like that, the LCD-3 would not be a viable substitute or near equivalent. 
 
If you want a STAX O2, get a STAX O2. If you want an LCD2 that's improved in every way, get the LCD3.

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

Does anyone have any impressions of Bifrost?

 
Quick impressions under meet conditions, but with my headphone and the Super7 (which I am familiar with since Anax has stolen this several times from Craig already.) You may also want to confirm with Anax since he studied the DAC more intensely than me:
 

1. Transients and attacks are a little blunted
2. Bass extends decently well, is powerful, but is rounded
3. Maybe lacks that last half-octave down low
4. Good detail
5. Little bit sharp in the treble when volume is turned up.

 
Overall it's good for the money.
 
My reference is the PS Audio PerfectWave.

 

[Misterrogers]

Good impressions Purrin - thanks!
 
Quote:

 
 
Quick impressions under meet conditions, but with my headphone and the Super7 (which I am familiar with since Anax has stolen this several times from Craig already.) You may also want to confirm with Anax since he studied the DAC more intensely than me:
 

1. Transients and attacks are a little blunted
2. Bass extends decently well, is powerful, but is rounded
3. Maybe lacks that last half-octave down low
4. Good detail
5. Little bit sharp in the treble when volume is turned up.

 
Overall it's good for the money.
 
My reference is the PS Audio PerfectWave.

 

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

What did people think of DNA's 2A3 amp with the LCD3?

I didn't hear the LCD3 on the 2A3, but I did spend quite some time listening to it with my modded HD800s and HP1000s. I may as well post some impressions. This is one of those amps where a lot of headphones sound good with it. The HD800s were an excellent match - as were the HP1000s. 
 
It's a neutral sounding and euphonic amp with the chinese 2A3 tubes. I spoke with Donald and he mentioned that he used a variety of different headphones and easily obtainable tubes to voice it. His philosophy was to allow a buyer to get something good out of without having to spending another chunk of change on expensive tubes.
 
One nifty feature is dual function switch and let's the user do one of the following:
 

• Cut gain by 6db on the single-ended headphone output. This can be useful for headphones of high sensitivity or IEMs.
• Change between common ground or isolated ground on the balanced headphone output.

 
As expected, the 2A3 does share certain traits with the Sonett - similar tone - but with more authority and control in the bass. I know I loved this amp with the HD800. It definitely took the treble nastiness off the HD800. The amp sounds lush, romantic, but not overly warm amp, while being able to maintain a good level of detail extraction. It's got quite a bit of the classic tube sound, but it's definitely not bloated, bloomy, rolled-off, etc.
 
Since the Eddie Current 2A3 was there too, someone put it best: "The Eddie Current 2A3 is solid-state sounding with the inner detail* of tubes. The DNA 2A3 has that tube lushness that I've been looking for."  *This statement is for poetic illustrative purposes only and not to start an argument
 
Now this is not to say that you can't swap in some old stock or KR/EML tubes into the 2A3. I don't remember what the input tube was, a 6N1P? 
 
 
EDIT: The 2A3 was fed by a Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1 - so that needs to be taken into account.

 

[jude]

 
Quote:

I'm with n3rdling on this. But I'll approach it another way: If you've heard a good O2 rig and want to get something like that, the LCD-3 would not be a viable substitute or near equivalent. 
 
If you want a STAX O2, get a STAX O2. If you want an LCD2 that's improved in every way, get the LCD3.

 
You guys had some awesome gear present at your meet!
 
While the SR-009 remains (in this one man's opinion) the best headphone--probably ever--there is not a Stax 007 setup I've yet heard that I'd prefer to the LCD-3 well-driven.  Of the current production headphones of any type (that I've heard), the SR-009 is the only one I would choose over the LCD-3.

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

On a more serious post, many thanks to the main man, Purrin, for setting this meet up and for graciously covering the cost of the venue. Despite some offers to take $$$, he refused. That's some major generosity! It's a privilege having you as friend and member of this community!

 
Audeze was kind enough to reimburse a significant amount of the costs. It wasn't expected but much appreciated.
 
I didn't think it would be fair to ask for money since when I originally planned this meet, it was supposed to be at the clubhouse of my apartment complex. I purposely waited until just a few weeks before to announce this meet, but things just sort of took off. I had to turn down quite a few people at the last minute. Having this meet at the hotel was definitely a good thing and it made it much easier and less stressful for me.
 
Maybe next year we'll plan a big one. Who's up for that?

 

[LFF]

 
Quote:

I'm with n3rdling on this. But I'll approach it another way: If you've heard a good O2 rig and want to get something like that, the LCD-3 would not be a viable substitute or near equivalent. 
 
If you want a STAX O2, get a STAX O2. If you want an LCD2 that's improved in every way, get the LCD3.

Completely agree.
 
 

 
Quote:

 
 
Audeze was kind enough to reimburse a significant amount of the costs. It wasn't expected but much appreciated.
 
I didn't think it would be fair to ask for money since when I originally planned this meet, it was supposed to be at the clubhouse of my apartment complex. I purposely waited until just a few weeks before to announce this meet, but things just sort of took off. I had to turn down quite a few people at the last minute. Having this meet at the hotel was definitely a good thing and it made it much easier and less stressful for me.
 
Maybe next year we'll plan a big one. Who's up for that?

Cool! Many thanks to Audeze!!!
 
We need to plan mega-regional meet. Needless to say...I'm up for that!