[buke9]

I thought I would go ahead and start the Impressions thread for the https://www.head-fi.org/threads/nas...e-whiskey-fi-head-fi-meet-apr-30-2022.961442/ meet.
Just another good time was had by all. I’ll let @Makiah S post the pics as he always does a much better job . I will say are super gracious host Tom @kilkil hit it out of the park once again with such a great venue and also probably the best BBQ brisket I have had it was great (probably going to buy a Recteq grill) .

The pulled pork was also very good.

 

[kilkil]

Thanks everyone. I loved the meet, they end way too fast, I think I need to have a 2 day meet just so I can have enough time to talk to everyone.
I'm glad you loved the brisket.

Impressions:
I didn't listen to a lot of equipment. As I'm fairly satisfied with my audio journey and where I am. The only thing I have a desire to change is to upgrade my DAC to a Bricasti M21, I just have to convince myself to spend 5 figures for a DAC.
I'll preface my review, that I value detail and a magical midrange above all else. My first headphone love is the AKG K501.

AKG K1000 on Sonnare, The EMOTION tube Amp:
The headphone I most wanted to hear is the AKG K1000. Part of me wished I bought it when it was still in production, though in that part of my life, I couldn't afford it. Pretty much everything I love about the K501 is in the K1000, great detail, amazing midrange. In addition to a beautiful open sound, its biggest disadvantage is that it isn't a portable headphone, like the K501 can be. I've used my K501 as a portable many times.

RAAL Requisite Sr1a with the VM-1a Amp:
I've been wanting to hear the Sr1a since I first heard about it. The closest headphone I've heard to this, is the K1000. I personally prefer the K1000 due to a more magical midrange, though I'm positive I'm in the minority. I love how open it is and such a beautiful soundstage. This may be my favorite currently produced headphone.

Audeze CRBN on HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE:
I didn't spend much time on the CRBN. It is a nice detailed electrostatic headphone. Though as soon as I didn't hear the midrange magic, I didn't give it a chance.

Meze Elite on HeadAmp GSX mk2:
I really liked this headphone. A nice overall well balanced headphone. I didn't notice any flaws in it. I just enjoyed listening to it.

ZMF Atrium on Amps and Sounds Kenzie:
I directly compared to ZMF Verite Open. I heard the Verite last meet and wasn't that impressed with it since it doesn't do what I love in audio. The new Atrium is more detailed with some midrange magic. I think this is the first ZMF that I've enjoyed.

Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1 speakers with nRT tweeters on Pass XA160.8:
These speakers were my main speakers, then my office speakers and has now spent 2 years in storage. They were pulled out and put in my main speaker system. I forgot how great they sounded. Nice detail and midrange, I almost think I could be happy bringing them out of retirement. Though they couldn't fill the room and they didn't have the same detail, openness, soundstage that I love with my electrostatic speakers.

 

[DelsFan]

Thom, thanks for great hospitality and even greater food (by definition, since the food is a subset, perhaps food cannot be greater than hospitality; I'll have to think about that). Barbeque and home-made bread never disappoints. Tons of great stuff to listen to and people with whom to visit. @Makiah S brought several interesting headphones and amps, but of particular interest to me (since I wasn't going to upgrade anymore, but now maybe I will) were the Audeze CRBN headphones paired with the Blue Hawaii amplifier, and the Raal headphones paired with their TOTL tube-based headphone amplifier. @buke9 had two pair of ZMF headphones which I'd never heard, on my setup at least - both were really nice and a change (being dynamic) from my normal planer magnetic listening. @Cool Jazz brought some more music, which I didn't get to fully appreciate; maybe (certainly) I should have taken a photo of the list when it was displayed on my tablet (while used as a remote) so I could check it out.

I was tied up Sunday due to a thankfully short-lived illness (not mine), but Monday was keen to sit down with my system and (although two days later) listen to a few songs and see what I thought about (how I felt, while listening), compared to what I heard/felt Saturday. Sadly I was careless, or it was just a failure, I pushed in the center pin of one of my interconnects so I didn't get to listen; now it must get mailed back to the "factory" for repair. I've done it once before, and Ron at insound audio is good about getting it turned around quickly!

My conclusion: Well, I really wanted to sit down Monday, for just 20 minutes or so, and see if I was still satisfied with what I have - a system which is a few levels above tolerable and "should" be sufficient... Upgrading to the Meze Elite would be a simple solution, but the Raals and the CRBNs are pretty spectacular. So, I'll have to wait until my interconnect is repaired, to see if I'm going to resist the upgrade bug! Not ruling out the MySphere headphones either, if I'm going to think about a serious upgrade; when I demoed them with my old Pass Labs headphone amplifier they were terrific; maybe I'll have to try a pair again now that I have the LTA MZ10e. Before I do anything rash (like change out my Empyreans for something "better"), maybe I don't need to forget, there's something amazing that happens with an open, "winged", headphone.

Again, thanks Thom for another enjoyable musical day; it was great to see everyone, including some new people from near, and the far coast, also!