I had a great time with the attendees. It was nice to hear Singlepower amps working as they should, brought up to spec, and this has settled my dilemma whether to have mine fixed or give up on it.
I was surprised to hear how much better the AKG 501 sounds compared to the 701. Usually, the higher models are supposed to trump the little brothers, but this was certainly not the case. The 701 sounded a bit airier, but that was about it. The 501 did everything else, literally better.
I was also expecting Miguel to include a certain controversial finding in his post, but since he did not, I will go ahead and post the assertion myself, not caring about what aftermath may ensue: the HD800 sounded well straight out of the little AMP3 portable DAP. I don't know how it managed to drive them, but it was! The quality of playback did not seem to suffer in the least bit. I will not argue about whether the HD800 was reaching its full potential or not, that's another topic, but as far as music quality, suffice it to say I was impressed by how the little thing outputs. More than satisfied with it. That combo was certainly the biggest surprise that day.
I also got to hear the Duet out of a MAC, but since I am unfamiliar with how to play with settings, I don't think I managed to make it as neutral a transport as possible.
Other than this, I mainly helped people set up their rigs and talked with the attendees. I spent most of my time listening to the music people brought, really, as I am quite happy with my rig and just wish to expand on my musical collection.
If I find a cheap 501 (Miguel stated they sell for around $125-ish), I will pick one up.
I'm glad everyone got a chance to listen to the HD800's as well as to both of the old school Grados. Hauling all my gear for people to have a chance to listen to was well worth it.
Also, lunch was damn good.