[boomana]

Wonderful meet! Great pics. Helpful impressions. Now I want my K1000s hardwired plus new ICs. Thanks a lot!

In defense of my crass Florida brother, he just gave me a sweet deal on his F1 and I'm hoping (if I ever get it back) that my Extreme Platinum with new pre-amp outs will help warm it up just a tad to do my K1000s justice. Hope to have this combo at Tampa.

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif A Tale of Two Floridas. The man from Miami, crass and self-centered. The man from Sarasota, a gentleman, friendly and supportive, and an afficianado of fine photography and fine gear. Truly sad that more Gene hasn't rubbed off on Mike in all their meets and pub crawls. Sad. Yes, Mike I will be heading to the post office early in the week to assure that you get your time with My Precious, er, I mean, Jack's beautiful amp. I will not be sending my WE 300Bs but I know you folks have some options over there. Thanks for checking in Gene. I know I will be watching the train wreck of the Tampa meet and will feel like I was hurtling toward the abyss with the rest of you.

Blah, Blah, Blah.

 

[ken36]

Gentlemen Thanks.

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyrion /img/forum/go_quote.gif Blah, Blah, Blah.

See what I mean?

You know I love you Mike, crassness and all. Not the same way I love Gene, of course, not that there's anything wrong with that . . .

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif See what I mean? You know I love you Mike, crassness and all. Not the same way I love Gene, of course, not that there's anything wrong with that . . .

Nothing wrong with that. Don't ever let anyone tell you different. I bet Gene gets jealous once jp moves out there. By the way, don't let jp talk himself out of the move. I get his Mapleshade rack if he moves. Now that's what I call selfish and self centered.

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grahame /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not just K1000's

It's great that Grahame got a pic of the artist wearing his own creation.

Sad to say that the pic of me "rocking out" actually was a rather subdued version of head-banging K1000-style during the metal break we took. Ori insisted that the Moth ruled for metal and I have to say "hell yeah it does!"

 

[neilvg]

It's like if you miss the train on impressions and postings right after the meet... it seems a little less revelant as time goes by. I sort of feel that way. Plus, I'm not that knowledgeable concerning K1000's and their amps. Now, having said, and qualified all that:

Firstly, thanks Al for the great meet! Even though the weather was foggy and cold outside, inside we were cooking with some awesome gear, good food, and a bunch of friends. I felt like this meet, more than many, allowed us to really listen to the headphones. Some meets, I don't listen to the 'headphones' much, but more to the music. Other meets I feel a lot less focused and while I do a lot of comparing, nothing is really here or there or truly tangible to me in the noisy, and uncontrolled meet environment. And most times, I don't really do much but talk and hang out =)

This meet was different, and we all felt pretty sync'd in, at least until the food coma hit

Even though I've owned the K1000's before, I feel as though I have never heard the headphone shine, until recently. I got a glimpse of this at the international meet with Foo_Me's Zanden, and then again at an undisclosed ultra-mini meet Voltron, Foo_Me and Myself carried out comparing the K1000's (with the Zanden and Moth and Woo) and the HE90/ES-1. I was truly surprised, especially out of the EMM Labs, how good, with *certain music the K1000's could be.

Coming into this meet, I wanted to see just how much of a range the K1000 could have in terms of how much the sound could be altered with component changes downstream from the source. I have to say that even more so than almost any other headphone I have heard, the K1000 is susceptible to cables and amps choices. I also noticed that the K1000's very in their ability to carry texture greatly. In fact the primary reason I would choose this headphone over the HE90 (if for any reason I would want to do this), is solely for the texture and immediacy it gives to the sound. It does make it sound like it is right there, live, but sometimes, to a detriment.

Moth w/Western Electric Tubes
The Hardwired Equinox sounded very very nice out of this combination. It was darker in tonality than most of the other setups, but it had a greater bass punch and general emphasis on the lower midrange. To me, this was great because I generally feel that while the K1000 can sound very nice with some recordings; But when things heat up musically, especially with loud guitars and drums and soaring vocals, it can be a little thin and strident. This thin and strident effect actually does sound quite similar to a lot of live rock performances. However, I don't consider these kind of rock performances to sound very good. At any rate, the Moth/WE combo lessened this tendency of the K1000 quite a bit.

Woo Audio
One thing that occured throughout the day was this sense of a channel imbalance or something slightly off with the right channel. I first noticed this with the Woo and then Al thought eh heard it with the Sig 30 as well. Ican't say I heard it outside the Woo, but to me, this amp sounded a little off. When I heard it previously at the ultra-mini meet, it sounded very fine although I think I still preferred either the Zanden or the Moth. To me this amp allows more texture, extension and detail to come through on the K1000. While these are all good traits, I believe that it can be overdone with this particular headphone, and to me, with certain tubes, it was unlistenable. Agin, I think the WE tubes were probably the best i heard of the bunch. Another great aspect to that it seemed to have a sense of finesse to the way it handled the sound, espcially in the upper registers. Even though with some music it was harsh to me, it does what it does well.

Aleph 30
We had this plugged in balanced directly from the EMM, bypassing Ori's switchbox. At least when I heard it. This amp sounds pretty great, especially since, unlike the above amps, it is solid state. To me it had the least texture of all the amps, and did not quite have the same level of finesse as the other amps w/their preferred tubes. However, what was great was the fact that it rocked and sat somewhere between the warm slightly darker nature of the Moth and the ultra textured and extended nature of the Woo. It didn't have as much texture as either of the tube amps, but it did have extension. It wasn't as as warm and easy in the upper mid range as the Moth, but it did have bass.

I noticed that between the Woo and the Aleph 30, they tended to emphasize different aspects of the bass. The Aleph to me actually didn't go as low, but emphasized the lower mids and upper bass. So I could hear versus feel the bass more in many cases. The Moth seemed to emphasize the upper mids all the way down to as low as I think the K1000 can go, probably around 40-45hz. This allowed me to feel more bass and feel more low bass like kick drum punch. But it obscured the subtle details of the low mid to a small degree (comparatively).

---

X-2 Cables
Ori has a real winner with these cables. They sound open, clean, and have a very balanced sound. I prefer them to my VD cables in many instances. They allow the micro-dynamics of a performance to come through better than I have heard from any cables in this price range, and compete with the best $$$$ I've heard.

Tails/Cables/etc...
I don't know too much about this stuff. But having said that =), I'll still say a few words. I like the hardwired cables the most. They seem to gell with the K1k quite well. The stock cable seems to be a wildcard to me, sometiems sounding pretty good, like out of the Sig 30 (smooth), and pretty bad, like out of the tube amps (esp. the Woo). It doesn't deliver enough texture and has a pretty energetic upper mid character.

The hardwired equinox was cool and I think as far as I've heard so far, this wins out for me. Good texture, and while it is bright, it is controlled and modifications to downstream components will be audible and discernible.

The Moon Audio cabe sounded nice but really bright to and clean to me. It'd really have to be your cup of tea, and if you listen to certain types of music.

---

*On certain types of music: I believe the k1000 sounds its best with certain types of music (esp. well recorded certain types). I feel that less complex mixes featuring solo instrumentation, or just a few instruments works the best. Rock in general, especially with a lot going on, doesn't sound quite right to me, it tends to get strident and 'confused'. The K1000 is very clear and detailed with the right music, and makes even my HE90's sound like there are cotton swabs stuffed inside of them. However, this is only when it gets the sound right. Jazz, Classical, Certain Audiophile Pop and Warmly Recorded non-complex (w/ a lot of instrumentation) Pop sounds good too.

That's it for me (I think). We had a fun day and I look forward to coming to another meet soon (sans my own gear! That was fun for a change!).

Neil

 

[robm321]

Really wish I could have been there - camping with girlfriend and daughter this weekend... Thanks for great impressions so far. Keep them coming.

I'm glad the Aleph 30 is getting represented.

 

[Alwayswantmore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilvg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sig 30 (Aleph?) We had this plugged in balanced directly from the EMM, bypassing Ori's switchbox. At least when I heard it. This amp sounds pretty great, especially since, unlike the above amps, it is solid state. To me it had the least texture of all the amps, and did not quite have the same level of finesse as the other amps w/their preferred tubes. However, what was great was the fact that it rocked and sat somewhere between the warm slightly darker nature of the Moth and the ultra textured and extended nature of the Woo. It didn't have as much texture as either of the tube amps, but it did have extension. It wasn't as as warm and easy in the upper mid range as the Moth, but it did have bass.

Neil, the Aleph 30 was directly connected (per Ori above). So your comments refer to the Aleph and not the Sig 30???

 

[neilvg]

yeah you are right, I was getting them confused. I didn't listen to the Sig 30 all that much, I edited my post and changed it all to Aleph 30. The black one down below the Moth, not the one to the right of the moth between the Woo and the Moth.

Neil

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bottom line: the linear PS allows a cleaner digital signal without unnecessary dropping of bits (even though the lowest level was still way over the minimum for lossless files). Good to know, and thanks Nate!

Wow, that's pretty cool! Looks like you folks had a great time with some seriously nice gear (love that Emm stuff, drool). Of course this does nothing for my K1000 envy.

 

[utep10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif Plus, I'm sure more will be forthcoming after you come over this afternoon . . .

Al,

Thanks for letting me come by this afternoon. It was nice to compare
my modest setup to all your great gear. Though my Electrocompaniet/Jungson combo couldn't hang with your EMM Labs/Moth/Woo combo, it gave a good frame of reference for me.

For the Moth/Woo comparison today, the Moth had the WE 300Bs while the
Woo had the stock tubes. I tend to like a warmer setup and for this reason I really liked the Moth/K1000/SDv2 setup. For most of the music we listened to, Al help me here, (female vocalist, jazz trio (Tom Sawyer), and CCR, I enjoyed this combo best. The Woo with either the SDv2 or Equinox hard-wire had more resolution and texture, but was not as dynamic and had a little less low end then the Moth. With the warmer sounding Nat King Cole we listened to, I did prefer the Woo/Equinox.

These differences were quite minor and I would be in heaven with either amp or hardwire. BTW, I do own a Equinox hard-wired K1000

.

I thing I did not realize was that the Woo 5 also has a 1/4" jack for regular single-ended dynamic headphones. I quickly plugged in a pair of Al's HD600s, and they sounded very clean.

Al, thanks for the opportunity to listen to the Moth and Woo amps. Both winners in my book!

 

[Icarium]

Yeah that PIzza was some of the best I've had thanks to that corn meal crust.

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by utep10 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Al, Thanks for letting me come by this afternoon. It was nice to compare my modest setup to all your great gear. Though my Electrocompaniet/Jungson combo couldn't hang with your EMM Labs/Moth/Woo combo, it gave a good frame of reference for me. For the Moth/Woo comparison today, the Moth had the WE 300Bs while the Woo had the stock tubes. I tend to like a warmer setup and for this reason I really liked the Moth/K1000/SDv2 setup. For most of the music we listened to, Al help me here, (female vocalist, jazz trio (Tom Sawyer), and CCR, I enjoyed this combo best. The Woo with either the SDv2 or Equinox hard-wire had more resolution and texture, but was not as dynamic and had a little less low end then the Moth. With the warmer sounding Nat King Cole we listened to, I did prefer the Woo/Equinox. These differences were quite minor and I would be in heaven with either amp or hardwire. BTW, I do own a Equinox hard-wired K1000 . I thing I did not realize was that the Woo 5 also has a 1/4" jack for regular single-ended dynamic headphones. I quickly plugged in a pair of Al's HD600s, and they sounded very clean. Al, thanks for the opportunity to listen to the Moth and Woo amps. Both winners in my book!

Always a pleasure to hang with you Bruce, and you are underselling your great system. The Jungson sounds great and the Electrocompaniet is a really nice DAC. I would like to hear them powering your speakers, so you'll have to return the favor of a visit sometime.

I was meaning to post some of the music from Saturday, so I will throw in the ones we listened to also:

Female vocalist -- Tierney Sutton, Blue In Green

[Punk] jazz trio -- The Bad Plus, Prog (thanks again to Clarke68 for turning me on to this wicked cool band!)

CCR -- Creedence Clearwater Revival, Green River (Steve Hoffman mastered SACD)

Allman Brothers, Eat a Peach (SACD)

Alison Krauss, A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection

Jacintha, Lush Life (XRCD)

In The Mood For Love, Soundtrack

Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

There was also some Bonnie Raitt, some metal, and I am sure other things I am forgetting.


Monday only, courtesy of utep10:

Nat King Cole, Love is the Thing (Steve Hoffman remastered)

Groove On! Vol. 1 (DCC/Hoffman again!)

 

[Dead Ghost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmilhan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very interesting. I am looking forward to impressions. It's a real shame that none of the budget K-1000 amps made an appearance (Trends TA-10.1, Big Joe, etc). I think you would have been thorouhgly impressed with what those mini-wonders are capable of.

Me too. I would like to know how much they compare to the more expensive amps.