[CD44hi]

Hey guys,

It was a dark and stormy night....

First of all, Many thanks to Thrice for hosting us!!

Well great meet, tons of new faces, very friendly environment. Attendants came from NYC, Philly, NorthWestern PA, VA DC and MD and CO, and... well you get the idea, a lot of folks showed up. I am sure there will be plenty of pics and even a home made movie

I spent most of the time talking with friends, and making new ones. As of this time I am sure the meet is still going strong as when I left quite early around 4:15 pm, there were still folks showing up!

Great crowd, great gear!
I will continue shortly with impressions on gear

save this space!!

 

[CD44hi]

OK, few impressions,

Solid state amps:

The Headroom Max with the new (2004) Reference module: This amp really got me by surprise. I owned the MOH(reference) with the previous module for about 5 months thus I had a "sound" in mind when I hooked up a pair of HD650s in to the new Max. Well, I was welcomed with a refreshing sound, more dynamic than what my memory allows to recall from my MOH. The music coming out of the max (Miles Davis) prompted me to start tapping my feet! Not that their previous module was boring, but the new one makes "better" music to my ears. This was the first time I've heard the new module, Kudos to Headroom! Would it not have been for a miscommunication in their shipping department, I would be the proud owner of a Cosmic reference to replace my Premium amp that died. Hum maybe I should give them a call...

The M-cube amp (RockHopper Audio): By the way Thrice, I saw the penguin in the bathroom! One word, SMOOTH. Man is this a smooth amp with the AKG-K501 cans I got to listen. It was a Jazz CD playing. Big soundstage, relaxed presentation, lively music. The amplifier I got to hear had the steps PS on a separate enclosure.

The Headamp GS1: Well, this was another surprice for me. Two thoughts> Large soundstage, smoooth tube-like sound. This amp made the RS-1 sing smoothly like a silky road to good sound. It had the same level of detail or more than my old Gilmore V1 amp, yet it did soundstagging and had a warmth that just grabbed me.

**there were many more full size SS amps but I did not get a chance to listen to them....

Portable SS amps: I've got to compare a prototype that Headamp brought to the meet, internal battery that claims to run for 150hrs! It has RCA and mini-input ports. nice enclosure. I had the chance to compare it to the Portable amp by Samuels Audio. I thought that the presentation had a bigger stage in the headamp portable, yet the XP7 had an edge on detail and bass coherence. Dynamics were done very well by both. But they, to my ears were really close. It seems that the portable amp scene is getting interesting. I wish I had spent more time with these amps. I am looking forward to more listening here.... BTW, I used a IOPS F4 flash player for this comparison player VBR files EAC-LAME. I could not get to listen to the superMacro.

OK,... tubes next!

 

[ayt999]

so tom, when are we going to hear impressions about a Qualia 010 connected to a balanced SinglePower amp?

 

[CD44hi]

Actually, before I get into tubes, lets do cans first.

I've got to listen to the Qualia 010 in my rig (stevieo's pair in small, there were a total of 3 010 at the meet). Very detailed headphone, yet I can see why it not everyones cup of tea. Extremely analytical, and I guess this could get in the way of musical enjoyment. It offers more of a speaker-like presentation to my ears. As if music travels a bit farther from the driver than with the usual headphone.

MDR-SA5000: Tons of detail, bass is controlled. More so than in the CD3000s. Yet I am still devating whether the quality of the bass was superior... The reason I say this is because the bass in the CD3K headphones seems more "lively" to me. They can be bright headphones, and this would really be diagnostic in bad recordings that tend to distort the high frequencies. It could get overpowering... However, overall, I found that instrument separation was really remarkable in this headphones and that is well worthy of more careful listening from my part. They could be my headphone of preference for chamber music or jazz.

Ah, the mistery Headphones.... I am not going to reveal the name until either pictures are posted or the originator of the challenge goes ahead and reveals them. However, having said that I've actually got a couple of days with the little brother (Courtesy of stevieo, thanks!). In my most sincere words, the geek-factor is very strong on this headphones, yet, the sound that they bring to the table it's untouchable at their $200 cost. Huge soundstage, defined highs and potent low end for an open design. A very well balanced headphone. I have not spent much time with its bigger brother other than a couple of minutes, and it is a smoother headphone with more detail..... very promising.

MDR-R10, my favorite dynamic can. I got to listen briefly to Immtbiker's set and Canman's out of the G08 and the Esoteric DV-50, nice, nice. I prefered the sound in conjunction with the G08. Of course, there is huge caveat of a meet environment here....

AKG-K501, nice headphones, If I could ask for anything better would be a little bit more umph in the high frequencies. But dynamics are good and presentation is lively. They went well with the solid state amps. Very confortable cans

HD-650s with Cardas... sound seems more relaxed compared to the Mobius cable... this is an experiment in progress on my part. I am trying to combine more aggresive tubes in my rig with the Cardas. Let's see how that goes...

more to come as I will recall...

 

[tom hankins]

Keep the thoughts on the Qualias with any of the big Singlepower amps coming in. Also did anyone get to compare the 12sn7 tubes with there 6sn7 counter parts on the MPX3.

 

[thrice]

What just happened?

I'll post impressions later, but for now, the thanks:

A big thanks to everyone who attended the meet, you help make it a big success. We had a blast and the meet was a great mix of listening and chatting with fellow Head-Fiers. I am always happy to open up my home to you and will so in the future (in about 6 months or so

). The final count I had was ~28 people. I had a great time meeting and talking to all of you and feel free to call and stop by some time. It's alwasy fun to sit and chat with fellow Head-Fi dorks/nerds/geeks.

I want to thank the manufacturers who sent gear:

Singlepower: It was great meeting you Mikhail! Mikhail brought a number of amps and showed some of the PCBs for his PPX and MPX amps. There was also and older Supra and a Maestro. Thanks for coming Mikhail!

Headamp: This was Justin's second appearance at my house (the first was last fall). He brought a great new amp that I'm sure many will discuss in this thread. Thanks for coming!

Veda-Audio: gsferrari was there with two Dynahi amps. They sounded great. Thanks for coming and bringing your great gear.

Headroom: Sent a Coda/Overture combo, Max, and Cosmic amp. Thanks for loaning us your gear!

Shellbrook: Send and Ascent amp. Thanks for loaning us your gear!



Hirsch: Hirsch is a meet all by himself. He brought a whole table worth of gear and turned us all on to the mystery cans (We're going to need a new smiley for these I think). I can't thank him enough for the time and effort he invests in these meets. Thank you Hirsch.

Steveio: Brought some great gear, including the dedicated amp for the aformentioned mystery amp. He also brought some new Ack! Dack! and a number of other amps. Thansk for loaning the table for the meet as well. We were able to accommodate a lot more gear because of it.

My wife: Thanks sweetie for letting me hold the meet here and for you love and patience. I spent a lot of time on amps and I appreciate your love and support.

I'll post more impressions thoughts later, now to bed...(with my wife

)

 

[Edwood]

Yes yes, amps, sources, sounded great.....blah blah blah.

PICS!!!!!

And enoughof the suspense already. What are those "mystery" phones?

 

[sacd lover]

Forget the pics Ed.... we want impressions. What about the new headamp GS-1? What about the Singlepower SLAM? What did you tube experts think about the 6sn7 vs 12sn7's in the mpx3? Whats the mystery headphone?

Did Mikhail make a headphone? He had mentioned possibly doing a headphone to me. C'mon guys.....lets see some posts.

Then give Ed his pics.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

I second Ed, pics! Especially since I know what the mystey phones are.

 

[thrice]

LOST AND FOUND:



Found: One Beck--Sea Change CD

Lost: One Mobile Fidelity CD (left in a portable player)

Please contact me if you either lost these, or if you have the CD

 

[CD44hi]

I listened to the Hap-003 Amplifier that Immtbiker brought from NYC. Nice sounding amplifer with the senn HD650s. I believe this was driven by the Esoteric DV-50 during the listening session. I would have liked to compare it to the older version without the rectifier tube and the modded version that stevieo has, maybe next time!

I did not get a chance to listen to the 12V MPX3. I hope others will post what they heard. I saw the boards though, nice, thick.

I did listened to the SLAM-PPX3, driving no less than a pair of Stephan-Cabled AKG-K1000 headphones. It drove them very well, with authority. Rich sound. Listening to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, the cymbals sounded very natural and the decay of sound was well equilibrated. This is something that I've noticed with the AKG-k1000 under some circunstances, they tend to be really fast headphones to my ear, not congested but fast. This PPX did a nice complement in sound presentation taking care of elevating the tonal frequencies and presenting a coherent decay. I believe this setup was being driven by a Meridian G08.

I had the modded EMP with me, but we were short in space/outlets so I did not set this guy up. I know Hirsch had an EMP there, Canman brought his as well. Maybe we can set up a EMP comparo along with stevieo's anniversary edition EMP.

Boy, I have more stuff in my head, like the Electrostat system in the livin room, the nice set of modded CD3Ks, and more....

 

[johnmatrix]

This was my first meet and a fun one. Man, there was plenty of phones to listen to. So like a fat kid at a buffet, I sampled as much as I could. From a newbie's persective, here are the highlights of the phones I listened to. I mostly am writing up the highlights. However, I wasn't really paying attention to the sources and amps too much.

Er4p- a very nice phone. I own the er6's and these are definately a step above. They sound clearer and with better bass and I didn't even hear them out of an amp. Of course, they are detailed but they don't seem as bass deficient as the 6's.

e3- The treble was too recessed for me and I did not listen to them for long.

HD650-Too boring, I couldn't even finish one song them, definantly not for me.

SA5000-Very nice phones, one of my favorites of the meet. Detailed, but not too analytical. I tried them with both an ss and tube. The tube was warmer. If you think these phones are too analytical, try them with a tube amp.

R10-Magic! I listened to them with a creek and dynahai. There was little or no channel seperation. The sound in one channel seemed to bleed into the other.Great soundstage and fun, I could have listened to these all day!

Qualia- It has the characteristics of the SA5000 taken to the next level. Maybe a leaner in the bass.

RS-1 A very fun headphone with lots of bass, but the soundstage was too compacted to for my taste.

PS-1 Sound stage was too compact and these were not very fun.

HE60- My favorite of the meet. Rich sound with plenty of bass. I want one!

Stax404- An excellent phone and fun, but cheap looking.

Omega II- I heard them before they were fully charged, so they lacked bass.

That's all folks. I want to thank Thrice for hosting the meet. I got to meet a lot of great people and listen to a lot of great phones.

 

[tkam]

Thanks again Thrice for hosting it was a fun time.

Mikhail it was a nice surprise to see you at the meet it was nice to finally meet you.

I spent a decent amount of time listening to Steveio's Qualias and R10. Both are equally amazing but in completely different ways. The R10's have a very smooth rich sound while the Qualias have a precise and detailed sound. The Qualias had fuller bass than I thought they would if the SA5000's were even close in this regard I might have kept them. Just a note Steve's Qualias had a moon audio cable on them. By the way it was great to meet you Steve.

Mikhail's new amp the Slam is really a winner. It was my favorite Singlepower at the meet. It has the usual warm, full sound of the Singlepower lineup but it has a sense of speed and power that seperates it from other tube amps I've heard. I'll definetly be getting one.

 

[markmaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thrice LOST AND FOUND: Found: One Beck--Sea Change CD Lost: One Mobile Fidelity CD (left in a portable player) Please contact me if you either lost these, or if you have the CD

I have the CD. I forgot to check inside of my philips PCDP when I packed up.

PM, me with an address and I will send it home! Great Meet.

Next fall we need name tags like HiGHFLYiN9 had on!

 

[gsferrari]

Thrice -
Thank you for hosting this meet. I feel terrible because you were running around ALL day trying to keep people comfortable, happy and powered up

The M-Cubed proved to be a better amp than I expected. I thought the PPA was a letdown...the M-Cubed kicks some solid-state ass!! I'll have one soon

Rockhopper Audio and the Penguin are too cool to ignore

Justin -
From one manufacturer to another : Respect man! Respect! It was awesome to meet you in person (we have spoken on the phone and on IM). I am waiting for more details on your little portable...the stunning battery life, easy charging facility and sonics hold great promise.

Justin's Dad -
You must be proud of your boy and rightfully so. It was good to meet you and hear your opinion. I only wish my dad understood my hobby and my interests. I never had this kind of support...brilliant!

Mikhail -
Still in formals I see

It was a blast to meet you again...You seem a lot more subdued since we met at the FL meet and I dont see why - I hope you werent unwell ?!...with the new PCBs you have (which can be used as WMDs when thrown around) and the new SLAM! PPX3 which made it's debut yesterday.

Aron (imm - mity - biker in Ray speak

) -
Wow...It was AWESOME talking to you...someone who is also very dear to Wayne McManus...I am sure you will be pleased to note my "revised" impressions of the Sony Qualia (although mikeg in Florida could well be cursing me for making another attack on his wallet

)

Canman -
As bubbly in person as you are on the forums. It was nice to meet you and hear your take on the Qualia, R10, SA5000 triangle.

MarkMaxx -
I apologize for the rather "spaced" out look on my face when we spoke. Too many new faces and too much stress from the drive...and more stress thinking about the drive back

Will PM you and get talking soon

Bryan (HighFlying9) -

You ROCK! dude...it was totally over the top to see the king of modding in person! I thought Toby McGuire had made it to the meet (has anyone told you this before?

). I was hoping to see more of your modded stuff but the whole meet was whizbang! and I dont know if you had any modded headphones with you at the meet...

Juan -
I think you were the ONLY one at the meet who had some idea of what they were doing

HA HA HA!! I am glad you have decided to give the SA5000s a real chance to grow on you...I am glad I could help you arrive at that decision.

tkam -

Thanks for the ride and BIGGER thanks for letting me stay overnight at your place. The wheather was TERRIBLE and I was too sleepy to drive...the conditions were HORRIBLE in the morning as well and I went off the road twice but other than that I made it back in one piece. I dont think I would have been alive to make this post had I decided to drive back last night...

dcguy -

Hee hee hee

more like cdguy (Collateral Damage Guy)

HA HA HA!
YOU WERE AWESOME! I totally forgive you for sitting on your SA5000s and almost permanently attaching your coaxial cables to tkams Maverick!

I liked the Grace 901 and thanks to you I got to listen to the Grace 902. It looks slick and you have a nice bunch of gear around it. You did look plenty stressed out and I feel bad for interrupting your listening to let Stevio check out the Dynahi - I was trying to get him to do that since he got there so I couldnt miss the chance...please accept my apologies

dviswa -
not too many Indian's in this hobby so you can be proud to have achieved "Audio Enlightenment" while the rest of our countrymen are still flirting with BOSE

You were enthusiastic and totally going for it at this meet which is always a good thing. I am sure you had fun and it was great to meet you.

More coming up...I just had a NIGHTMARE return trip from Pittsburgh to Erie so let me gather my wits and post pics/vids