[Syan25]

It looks like a real treat. I would have LOVED LOVED to be at Ray's to test that gear. You are all lucky dogs...and to meet the man - Ray Samuels - that would be sweet. I'm a fan!!!

 

[Audio Addict]

Quote:

Thanks to Adam for organizing this meet, Also would like to thank the man himself, JUDE, for providing his office & lots of great testing Pizza.
Would love to read some more impressions from other head-fiers.

How did you fit all that into your sports car, especially the Boulder as you need four people to move that since it is so solid? 

 

[Audio-Omega]

Did anyone try HD800 with Dark Star ?

 

[musicman59]

I did not see any HD800 other than mine and I did not try it since I like the sound of them out of my WA5-LE.

 

[Syan25]

What did the DT880 (600 ohms) sound like with the Dark Star? Anyone tried that?

 

[wotts]

I'm pretty sure I only saw the K1000s and the He-6s hooked to it the entire day.

 

[Syan25]

Ah....shame...

 

[ardgedee]

I tried somebody's LCD-2s with the Dark Star. The volume was borderline too-loud for me by the third click on the indexed volume knob. The sound was great, but there's too much gain to make it an optimal match with the LCD-2. I would imagine that results would be similar with other moderate-efficiency phones like the T1 or HD800 - great sound, too difficult to dial in a comfortable listening level.
 
The HE-6 and K1000 are extremely inefficient, and inefficient phones are what the Dark Star is designed for. It was easier to dial in a perfect listening level. I'd never heard any HE-6 sound as good as through this amp. And I'd never heard the K1000 at all before and it won me over on first listen. If cost was no object, this is the setup I would want. Well, either that or the Stax SR-009 and Ray's electrostatic amp. Then again, if cost was no object, I wouldn't have to choose, would I?

 

[Syan25]

no u wouldnt

 

[ardgedee]

I remember promising photos. Sorry for the wait. Here are photos.
 

elrod-tom displaying the facial expression many of us wore while trying the Stax SR-009 through Ray Samuels' A-10 amp: stunned amazement.
 

Ray's spread: HE-6, Dark Star, Boulder ??? CD player, and A-10. In front of the Dark Star is somebody's LCD-2, and off to the far right were some Sennheiser Orpheus phones that mostly stayed in their boxes while everybody was distracted by the SR-009/A-10 and HE-6/Dark Star combos.
 

musicman59 surveying his spread. Every square inch of it sounded wonderful.
 

(edited!) Dev Avidon's dad business partner in Frost Audio, watching Dev and wotts set up.
 

???, ???, ???, thread and kibblefat
 

Ray's A-10 electrostatic amp. Made the SR-009 sound its best.
 

 

??? trying the TakeT H2 headphones. 
 

??? trying the Stax SR-007, and some other guy.
In most rooms, the SR-007 would be world-class headphones. This afternoon, and especially with the Stax SR-009 around, it was outclassed.
 

wotts' Beta22/Theta22. Looked stunning, sounded amazing.
 

Some of Jude's recent arrivals. Check Head-Fi TV for his reviews.
 

The back room, with comfy couch and lots of listening gear and donuts and pizza oh my
 

 

 
Thanks to everybody for good company, great conversations, and wonderful listening. I'll edit this post to add the names of anybody I've missed; let me know.

 

[Syan25]

What - no Ray himself?? ah...the man --- the myth...

 

[Dev Avidon]

LOL Jim (the big dog) is not actually my dad, just my business partner.  Close friend of my father-in-law (God rest him), which is how we met and got to starting our little venture together.  My Dad is a lawyer

 
The SR-009/A-10 combo was just like that...you really had to hear it to believe it.  I have to say though, I really do think my K1000s with the Dark Star were a close second.  I've heard them out of a 4-board Beta22 before as well, but this really was just in a different league.  So much control, so much impact.  It actually makes me a little teary thinking about it (yes, I'm a big nerd...).

 

[ardgedee]

Whoops! Sorry about that one. Fixed.

 

[Syan25]

Still sad not to see Ray the man in these pics....after all - he is a legend...

 

[wotts]

He's in the first picture of the thread.

 
Quote:

Still sad not to see Ray the man in these pics....after all - he is a legend...