Some more impressions.
I wish I could've spent more time with the "CoJo".
It really did get a lot "fuller" in sound after it warmed up. (Man , it really does put out alot of heat.) The K1000's were very smooth on them. I didn't get huge viseral bass that a lot of people talk about with tubes + K1000. I guess it's because I initially thought the Grace was going to be thin in the bass dept with the K1000's (I was wrong). I really should've of done a better side by side comparo with the CoJo. The Cary was getting alot of play time. Man, that's a nice CDP. One helluva remote. Even though Stuart says it sux, it's solid metal and weighs nearly 1 pound.
I really really liked the Cardas Neutral Refs. I did not find them harsh at all. Definitely more revealing, though. They do look to be pretty fragile compared to other IC's. But that makes me more excited to find an abused bargain pair in the future.
The Headroom Max. Man, that is one overkill beefy amp. (OK, the Sudgen is even bigger) I don't like it's ridiculously stiff stepped attenuator. Plus, I could hear pops between the steps. Much louder than the DACT's steps. The Max wasn't really a good match for my tastes with my Zu HD600's. Too muddy for me. But, the HP2's on the Max. Mmmm. Much better.
The HP2's were very nice, but they were a real pain to position on my head correctly and get the drivers lined up just right over my ear canals. The HP2's have a really narrow focus to the drivers. Highs were clear and mids were balanced. I like neutral sounding phones. But the bass was very thin. (I guess I didn't really have a good fit, I didn't want to bend the headband) But, I really like the industrial looks.
The Stax Lambda (the creaky one). I just couldn't get past the cheapness of it's construction. Could they have made it out of noisier plastic? One of the worst materials and finish in any headphone I've ever seen. But if you kept your head really still, it sounded quite nice.
The HE60/HEV70. Nice and flat sound, but I had a real problem with extreme RT and LT channel separation. It desperately needed a cross feed. I just sounded way off, IMO. Bass was quite thin.
The Stax Omega II. These were my favorite electrostats there. Very comfy, great materials and finish (although, I'm not a big fan of the $#!T brown color, although a black one is coming out apparently). They really felt like a big comfy leather couch. The kind you just sink into. The bass was amazing compared to the others. They have a really sweet faux carbon fiber box.
SACD and DVD-A. They really excite me. The cheaper "low" end players there sounded great. It raises the bar and gets better sound out of cheaper source. I really want to hear what higher end HiRes is like. I really wish that the RIAA will get it's head out of it's ass and put out more albums. Til then, I'm going to stick with Redbook. Plus, I really cannot deny the sheer convenience of a computer. Well, except for Iron_Dreamer's setup. Mr.IMemorizedAlltheKeyStrokes.
Did I mention how much fun this meet was?
-Ed
