[mikeymad]

Wow what a great get together.

Here are some pics first I will write up some impressions later:

Cheers,

 

[mikeymad]

Oh, and there is one more with me and my O2's from my phone. This was listening to the KGSS DX....

Cheers,

 

[Bigguy]

Yeah, the meet was HOT. Like in no air conditioning. Tons of great equipment to test drive though. Great job done by ASR. He looked a little overwhelmed at times but I think it was a success. Thanks again to the hotel and staff.

 

[manhattanproj]

this was my first meet and it was a great one, all thanks to asr. got a chance to listen to a bunch of phones and bunch of gears. also got a chance to meet some fellow head-fiers. didnt get a chance to listen to the l3000 tho, because it wasn't set up when i went there. oh well, next time.

i really enjoyed ironbut's setup. it was like a live performance right in front of you. so smooth and liquidy. it was a joy. if you didnt listen to it, you missed out.

i also like amb's amps. they are just so pretty. if anyone has pics of them, must show. i think i want a m3 after listening to it.

blessingx setup is kinda cool. it's like an ipod on a macbook. pretty cool.

much thanks to asr for coordinating the meet. it was great. looking forward to what you all have to say.

 

[boomana]

Dang you guys are slow with impressions. Must be that laid-back California thing I keep hearing about.

I see Foo_me's cage modded K1000s next to the Zanden. Please tell me about that! Comparos to the straight Equinox hardwired if you can.

 

[vcoheda]

i was wondering when this thread would start. nice pics so far. never get tired of seeing the b52 or mikhail's monster amps. is that ed.9 balanced? haven't seen any ASL gear for a while. i also appreciate the picture of the rear of the setup (first pic). lately, i have become very interested in what cables/power units people use, something which most don't really mention when commenting on particular setups.

looking forward to more pics/impressions.

 

[granodemostasa]

what's totally getting me is Ultimate ears attending two shows in Nor Cal on the same day.... they must have a big team or something.

that and Justin attending both meets (tomorrow's NE meet as well)... wow

 

[uraflit]

thats it! im getting myself a LISA III and a d2000!

 

[Icarium]

Yeah that was awesome. Sorry you guys missed out on Mikhail showing out. It was insanely sick when he did though. Thanks super much to Sleestack for letting us chill in that room past meet end. I just got back from hanging out there til ~2 am.

Updates for people who might have a personal stake in what went on in that room.

Voltron's amp was foobared in one channel not working. Apparently a wire became loose in transit or something? We saw him(Mikhail) working on it when we got back from dinner and not it works fine and sounds amazing. Mikhail said it was literally a 2 minute fix. Did I mention it sounds amazinggggg? And looks Satanic.

Why my ES-1 sucked. 2 things. Bias was totally out of whack as I probably actually messed up the bias dials moving it around. Mikhail biased it up when he got there. Other thing was tubes were mega crappy. I picked up some Hytron 3D21As (I think, what Hirsch uses) with adapters in place of crap current production Sovteks that were going bad... Put in various NOS Sylvania types in the other stages, etc. And... well LDJ can attest to the goodness after that. He says along with Neil's HE60 through an HE90 adapter it was one of the best Singlepower rigs he'd ever heard. Of course he didn't get a chance to hear HE60s out of Neil's amp.

This was sourced by Voltron's balanced Onix player.

Neil's amp was present. Looked amazing. Best looking Singlepower amp ever.... I'm sure you'll all see soon when the people who stayed later drops some pics of it and Voltron's amp in action. As for how it sounds? Probably smokes the crap out of my ES-1 ;p Sadly it needed to be biased and some things needed to be screwed in and we really couldn't hear it to its full potential as some super low gain tubes were plugged in or somesuch so the volume even turned up to the max was pretty soft. Ohwell, hopefully Neil gets it fully completed tomorrow! Or I fear for Mikhails life.

Oh, and SS-1. Yeah the "fun" aka tunable section had a channel imbalance. Turned out this was merely because we hadn't tuned it correctly after Mikhail listened to it for a few minutes and turned a few dials the sound was $$ and balanced.

Okay, enough Singlepower talk.

Rest of my impressions:

Craig from Eddie Current is awesome. Totally savvy/focused and on the ball kind of guy. I didn't get a chance to hear his new Red Top solid state amp (~600 dollars and ready to roll in a couple of months and will be available in some balanced form possibly dedicated head amp and a version with a pre amp for ~1100-1200 dollars or something. Nothing final though so don't hold me or him to this), but it was said to be very good sounding with Sennheisers and Grados (Almost unheard of in one amp!). I didn't hear whether it was fully discrete or not but someone mentioned it is.

Also heard that he will have a transformer coupled I believe... EL34 based amp that will be available soon for ~1200? With balanced version ~1300? (Supposedly very easy to balance due to the transformer coupling or what not...) He said probably in the next month or two after the next batch of Zan Deuxs are available he'll finalize and roll that out as well.

So reasonably priced balanced options for everyone by Eddie Current and a sweet single ended SS amp that is capable of powering a K1000! Coming soon.

I sadly missed out on hearing JP's balanced HD-2 (2800? 2700? I forget) but supposedly a bit punchier and less smooth than the Zana Deux sound.

Was also super glad Justin from Headamp could make it. Heard his KGSS DX with O2s and it sounded pretty impressive. Not even close to a match for a properly working ES-1... at all. But for 1500 bucks? With that footprint? A great value. I'm not sure it smokes the hell out of the Woo GES or if its "separate but equal" or whatever but I'd have to have them side by side to really say....

As for his up coming mini dac/headamp? The size of it blew my mind. And the sound? Man... talk about the PERFECT work rig esp with those with little desk space. He quoted me a rough price estimate of 300 for just the amp (So tiny!!! Makes the Tomahawk look GINORMOUS) and 500 for the amp/dac. The dac only accepts usb input but also has a line in for amp only use. He mentioned that he will be building a bigger version that will accept coax/optical and take batteries so you can run it without needing USB power. I'm sure most of this info has been covered... but meh.

Best two sounding (And working rigs) that I heard at the meet.. by far. Number one... naturally Foo_me's EMM labs/Zanden/hard-wired cage-modded late model K1000 with PS Audio Power Plant Premier power conditioning and Oritek X-2 interconnects. Really... I don't know how someone can't be impressed by this rig. It may not be perfectly suited to their taste, but still its strengths are obvious. Perfect decay. Perfect tone. Amazing soundstage. Lifelike. Transparent. Syclone who recently bought foo_me's he90/es-1 rig who had SCOFFED at me when I told him that the K1000 easily matched if not beat out (As it obviously did for foo_me) most HE90 rigs listened to it in full force for an hr or so while we went to dinner in a quiet environment since everyone had left and FINALLY understood. Didn't make him want to sell his HE90 rig or anything but he recognized. Even Neilvg who has already sold his soul to the Electrostatic world agreed that foo_me's rig was I paraphrase "Soo real and lifelike and amazing." He was impressed ;p Ori who in his Ori-style manner mentioned that the ONLY fault he can possibly find in the rig was that the bass is ever so slightly uncontrolled/unfocused, but Neil mentioned that that was the fault of the EMM labs and not the source. Hell, even Craig from Eddie Current was impressed by the Zanden and asked foo_me if he'd ever opened it up and looked at what the transformers were... he seemed pretty curious and frankly if he could I be the would have opened that thing up ;p Anyways, clearly in my mind best in show. Functioning show anyways. Perhaps others would disagree ;p I think though, if Al's amp was functioning and Neil's amp was present and working then... they might have at least equal'd it. Oh yeah, Boomana... the cage mod definitely makes a different and sounds better. Pretty much everyone agreed with this that I interacted with.

The master tape -> Zana Deux -> Ed9/W5000/AD2000 whatever rig by Ironbut with headphones from various other people. Any and every headphone sounded amazing with this rig. That Zana Deux amp... really top notch and sourced by the Master Reel? To die for. Really opens your eyes as to what is theoretically possible. Definitely one of the top rigs I heard anyways.

Oh yeah, my SS-1/Qualia sourced by Voltron's EMM labs was decent too. Although the tunable section was hey-wire the reference section soudned good!

I did not hear 909's rig or Ray Samuels stuff though I heard Ray Samuel's rigs at the national. Both are supposed to be very good.

Didn't listen to the Ti's Beta22 again, but I heard it at the last Asr meet and it was quite good. Couldn't really compare it to the SS-1 per se but I wouldn't say the SS-1 relentlessly crushes it, but I also wouldn't say the Beta22 is equal to it either... I dunno maybe some people who heard both can comment. Shrug. I did however make sure I heard the Mini^3 this time and yeah it's a damned good sounding portable amp. Precise/powerful and fast and quite resolving. The battery life for the performance specced one (Performance as in sound quality) is a little be wanting at 8-9 hrs... but of course that's why there's the extended battery life version as well!

Oh yeah, a question in a lot of peoples' minds was as to how the Ed9 stacks against the GS1k and the L3000. Blessingx seemed to think the Ed9 is starting to edge out the GS1K in his mind and he is a biggg GS1K proponent. LDJ seemed to feel that his fully and completely burned in Ed9 beat out the L3000 in bass on 909's rig! Is he a madman? I don't know. I didn't really listen myself because I suck or something.

Yeah anyways, I posted a lot of what I heard people say or think. If I misrespresented someone, I'm sorry. If its especially bad shoot me a pm and I'll fix things. Frankly, I go to these things to socialize so I did some cursory listening and I've heard most things before in other meets in other situations... the only really new things were the Red Top which I missed. 909's rig which I missed. The mini^3 which I hit. Justin's KGSS DX and his dac/amp thing which I hit. The master tape which I also hit.

 

[n4k33n]

Did anyone pick up a pair of sunglasses? I think I left mine there.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

Looks like you guys had a great time!

Time for me to start getting ready for today's meet!

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomana /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dang you guys are slow with impressions. Must be that laid-back California thing I keep hearing about. I see Foo_me's cage modded K1000s next to the Zanden. Please tell me about that! Comparos to the straight Equinox hardwired if you can.

I went straight from the meet to the Beastie Boys show in Berkeley even before my amp was functional and I am just now checking out the meager posts here. I am not sure when Johnny Numbers left but I have to say he was pretty laid back for his first Left Coast meet as a resident. I think crossing the country twice in 2 weks and just getting back the night before might have influenced him, but he came close to joining me for the Beasties but I think he preferred sleep.

I didn't have a camera and don't have time for multiple impressions right now, but I can start to answer your question Vicki.

We had the EMM/Zanden/K1000 rig set up with Min's and my late-edition K1000s that are both hard-wired with Equinox cable with silvered bare wire terminations and both fully, fully burned in as far as cans and cables go. Indded, we had both cans connected to the same binding posts and the Zanden drove both of them simultaneously with ease.

The only difference is the cage mod that Vinnie had performed on these cans back when he would take on hard-wiring projects. The inner cage was removed, the bulk of was cut out, and then replaced so that only the electronics at the bottom are covered.

So, in my mind there are no variables of note other than the cage mod. Also to my mind, there is no doubt that the cage mod makes a BIG difference for the better in the sound. The way I heard it was a cleaner, clearer image, that is more intimate and more natural than with the cage in place. The tracks I heard were vocals and acoustic instruments and also a more electronic song that I cannot recall. Anyway, the vocals/acoustic song sounded so much better that I had to go through the comparo twice to believe it. The is nothing between you and the music and the Zanden/EMM paint such a nice image that I was very happy to hear it in all of its glory. Min borrowed a phrase from the Sennheiser world and says that it has a veil lifting feel to it. I would agree wholeheartedly.

James Serdechny first told me about this and I think he might actually take off both sides with the mod he propose, but he talked about taking away the vibration and the reflection/rebounding of the sound inside the cage. I was skeptical, but he was right. I think we should encourage him to come up with a mod package that he had previously considered involving some kind of speaker cloth sock to cover the driver and electronics.

Thanks very much to Min for bringing his very heavy, very pricey rig and delicate, delicate cans to a big meet like this. I think it all went smoothly but there were worries about those drivers during the day.

Thanks also to Icarium for the SinglePower Report and the news of my amp's resurrection (is it appropriate to use that term in the context of something referred to as Satanic?

).

It was great to see Craig Uthus and Justin Wilson and Ray Samuels all showing their wares, with some cool new stuff on display.

Lastly, and most importantly, massive thanks to Asr for his work putting together a large and very smooth meet. Everything was arranged perfectly Steve and we all appreciate it.

More to follow...

 

[ironbut]

What a great meet! "From humble beginnings" as they say. ASR deserves a standing ovation for putting on what became a huge local meet single handed. I hope that he won't feel weird if I say that, if you didn't break even, set up a thread and pass the hat! You know how rich all us Nor-Cal members are. But seriously, this sort of thing is done all the time with non-profits.
I'm so glad that so many people got a chance to hear the http://tapeproject.com tapes and enjoy them. That's what it's all about! Have something as unusual as reel to reel is like having a dog at the beach. You meet lots of nice people and can talk about your "dog" all day long without feeling guilty.
I think my highlight was meeting and talking to Craig Uthus. I've loved his products since the Moth days. To find out what a cool guy he is just puts icing on the cake. His xformer output Zana was very nice. I could see someone (else) having both. Just as you might expect, it has more impact than the standard ZD and the trade-offs ( which are sure to be there) would be hard to find in a meet environment. I'm still super happy with mine BTW.
Super nice meeting 909 and his lovely wife. I didn't realize there were such nice people in So Cal ! Maybe I should try meeting some that aren't related to me. Got a chance to listen to 909's L3000's. Very nice. I hadn't really liked the W5000's but those,.. O2's are next,.. must focus!
Finally got a chance to listen to Ray's R10/B52 .Just loved it. Another set up trying to change my plans! It's amazing how comfy such huge cans are. The Apache was very nice but not my cup of tea. Man, you gotta love the look and feel of all of Ray's products. It really looks like Ray has a design team. Kinda mind blowing really.
Well, that's it for now. I wouldn't even be awake yet, but I had to get up @4:30am to watch the Turkish Grand Prix,..
nappy time

 

[foo_me]

Just another great head-fi meet like every other one before that.
Many thanks goes to Asr for setting this up and Richard for letting us graciously use his hotel. And as JP# had said...we can get equipment online...it's the people that makes these meets worthwhile.

Impressions:

The only thing I can say about the k1000 rig is that I'm completely satisfied with them...It provides the sound I looked for when I first seriously heard the k1000s in a quiet setting a last year at a mini-meet with Ferbose where we compared the He90s vs. the k1000. I still liked my he90s better at that time, but I could hear the potential of the k1000 and it's nice to know that I've reached that point. For me, the k1000s are the best at producing a balanced, lifelike sound with incredible dynamics, and tone. Impact is the biggest difference for me. He90s were incredibly smooth, detailed, airy, wonderfully tight bass, and delicate...but after a while, I missed feeling the music. You still can feel it, but I guess it's just the nature of electrostatic headphones that it still wasn't enough for me, especially in comparison to the k1000s. It's still not the perfect headphone, because I still believe there is none. Other headphones will provide a more intimate sound such as a grado that the k1000s cannot do and other cans may provide more, better bass if that's what you're looking for, but for the most part, they are the best sound that I've ever liked coming from a headphone.

That all being said, I was still wowed by many of the other rigs there.
That master tape project...just **** amazing way to hear music. I listened to the classical recording on the tape and everything was so completely 3 dimensional in terms of sound...texture, soundstage, incredible weight to the music.
Voltron's new SDS amp. Sadly, he had to leave before getting to listen to it, but it sounded supreme with the hd650s. Among the best I heard the sennheisers sound yesterday.

The ES2 looks great and if it sounds as good as it looks, then Neil has a winner on his hands. He should be called the saint the patience for the amount of waiting he's had to go through and still go through with other equipment that he's waiting for. As Icarium has written, we could look at it, but not listen to it. Can't wait for a mini-meet to hear them...perhaps I may at last regret my decision to get rid of the he90s???

Loved 909's Reimyo CDP, Moth amp combo. Plenty of tight bass with detailed and warmth. This combination tended to sound on the warm, lush but clear side of things. But never muddy as that sound can tend to get. Sounded great with both the L3000s and my hd600s.

Ori's k1000 amp is an incredible value. Not as much power or impact as I am used too but provides a truly wonderful balance of sound. Sometimes, I've heard more powerful, bigger, more pricey amps deliver a louder sound, but they were often too bright or harsh sounding and not as balanced as Ori's little creation. For someone curious about hearing the k1000s potential, this would be the perfect amp to try it out with.

SOme last thoughts...r10s do sound amazing as everyone says. I've somehow always skipped this headphone along my journey, but it sounded wonderful out of Ray's system. Perhaps I'll look for one in the future, but not so soon given the prices they are commanding these days. Eddie Current's red top is nice

Sounded really good with the hd600, but a little too warm for the rs1. I will most likely get one of his amps to power my hd600 and rs1, just have to figure out which one.

 

[blessingx]

Thanks to Asr for all the hard work. After missing the International Meet it was was great attending this one. My highlight was seeing faces I haven't for quite awhile and meeting a few for the first time. Next up was winning the Tomahawk raffle. Thanks Ray for donating that wonderful prize. After that was hearing the tapeproject in the conference room and that chrome statue in the K1K room.

Testing for future purchases, I was particularly impressed with Justin/Headamps proto-type portable DAC/amp box, Ori's future (yeah I'm still hoping for all in one box) DAC/amp combo, and the Edition 9 headphone with Ray's Raptor (and even not bad out of some lower amps like the Grado RA1). One correction on what Icarium wrote above, the Ed9s were never really in competition with the GS1Ks for me (well the GS1Ks with the right/wrong-by-most-standards unGrado reverse response-curve fixing amps & tubes) since I first A/Bed them. I am debating about picking them up as secondary phones. I do think the Ed9 bass is simply incredible (layered, focused, etc.), and yes, beats the L3000 there. They're just more genre specific and less all-arounders to me than the AT or the Grado. Still when the Ed9 is on, it's really on.

I want to thank Voltron for bringing in a couple rectifiers to test with the WA6.

My biggest regret was missing the Lisa III. It was there?

Thanks again everyone,
Ric