[robm321]

Thanks to all that put this together. I wasn’t able to stay too long; I mainly wanted to hear the markl modded Denon D5000 and was surprised by some other phones at the show.

The Denon D5000 seemed to do everything well. But I just didn’t get any warmth or the over the top feeling that I get with the best cans. I guess the house sound just isn’t for me, but it is a great sounding headphone in all areas and can see why someone looking for a single headphone to do it all would opt for it.

I was really impressed with the Eddie Current Nautilus. I liked it better than the Zana Duex, and I am a Zana fan. It just seemed to smooth the edges a bit better while having a bigger sound to it.

I was able to hear the old version of the RS-1 for the first time, and it did not have the high frequency spike that the new RS-1 has. And with flats the soundstage isn’t obliterated with treble roll off and sloppy bass like the new RS-1 w/flats. I was impressed with it and would prefer it to the new RS-1. Overall, I still prefer the GS-1000.

I heard the Qualias again. For the first time I was actually able to position these phones right. They sounded amazing in the detail department. They seem to do everything right as well, BUT they still have that sharp and hard sound to them. They wouldn’t be my can of choice.

Stax 4070
While these compete or better the O2s in my book, what really blew me away was the Lambdas. I was really surprised at how good these things sounded. They seem to nail everything, very resolved, detailed, etc. They only lack in the punch that you get with dynamics. If I didn’t have the K-1000s, I would be looking for a pair. For the price, they come very close, but nothing tops the K-1000 which has the best qualities of the e-stats and dynamics in one headphone. Needless to say, I was VERY impressed with the Lambdas.

Grado PS-1
It must have been the 10th + time I listened to the PS-1 trying to find out if I really like the HP-2s better. And like all the other times, I still do. The PS-1s give me an almost an instant headache with the thump of the bass in such a small headstage. It is more of a blunt object in it’s delivery with silky smooth highs that seem a bit lush to me. The HP-2 while boring for the short term (like the Senn HD600) gives that grain less, balanced, elegant, sound that seems to make the equipment melt away and leave nothing but the music. That fits my preference perfectly.

Regret not getting to hear the Millet 307A…

Thanks again all that made this happen.

 

[guzziguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeymad /img/forum/go_quote.gif Always sad to see beverages sealed.... Top notch beverages though...... Cheers,

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightWoundsTime /img/forum/go_quote.gif They didn't stay sealed long. That Van Winkle got passed around at the end of the evening for a while. Screw glasses, such a fine beverage tastes best straight from the original bottle .

Actually, those are refilled bottles with Cutty Sark and Rebel Yell. They photograph them for every meet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif Speaking from similar experience, there are some things that I've built that simply don't have a price. I suspect that Ti feels the same way about his.

One may have to offer absolutely silly money, but I'd be shocked if either you or Ti wouldn't sell. For example, I bet you'd even offer to gift wrap it if somebody offered to pay off your house for it.

 

[foo_me]

A big thanks to JP# for organizing the meet...as always, a fun time getting together.
It's nice to know there continues to be consistent, regular norcal attendance at these meets!
For me, a nice mix of talking to fellow head-fiers and listening to gear.
And thanks Dan for showing a new place for ramen...less WOW, more head-fi!

I can never do any critical listening at meets, but some impressions are:
Eddie Current Nautilus...as others have mentioned, think Craig offers the best value per dollar towards the higher end of the amp market. I mainly listened to them with the Vintage RS-1s and thought they improved over the zana in terms of control (more imaging and separation, tighter bass).
Moreover, this may not even be the finished version as well.
I think the idea is to develop a final version of the balancing act and then make whichever one is better.

Blue Hawaii SE + 02/HE90
I thought the blue hawaii se/02 would bring me back to the world of electrostatics, but my thoughts were wrong. As some others have mentioned, I think the 02s sounded a little dark, slightly congested.
I don't think the 02s are for me...everytime I've listened to them, I've liked them, but never really been wowed.
He90s continue to be the best electrostats for me and were amazing with the Blue Hawaii...perhaps even better than the stock ES1 when I owned the combination.

Ironically, it maybe the stax lambdas that actually brings me back to electostats. For the price, they sounded great out of the stax 007t...as others have mentioned, they do have a similar sound as to the he90s (very musical and balanced though a degree less than the he90s) and it might be worth investigating for those who can't/never plan on getting an he90.

Found some new love for the Qualias...for some reason, I didn't enjoy them as much previously, but they did sound smooth, detailed out of the few amps I tried them with (beta22, nautilus)

Regret not trying some other rigs (can't believe i missed out on the modded Denon D5000)...sometimes, more fun just talking with other head-fiers and sometimes, rigs always seemed to be occupied!
guess that means it was a good turnout and people had a good time talking and listening

Thanks again John and look forward to seeing everyone again.

 

[Asr]

Took 58 pics and deleted 38, since the subjects were already photographed earlier in the thread (and better too).

AMB Labs Beta 24

Filburt-modded Assemblage DAC-2.6

Filburt-modded Sonic Frontiers TransDAC

Eddie Current Zana Deux with new black faceplate

guzziguy's Exemplar 2900 and SP Extreme Platinum

guzziguy's custom HeadAmp AE-2

neilvg's APL NWO 3.0-GO

HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE prototype

power supply for BHSE, very high voltages inside

BHSE back panel including loop outputs

FallenAngel DIY creation

FallenAngel's Beta 22

 

[vcoheda]

the odyssey definitely wins for coolest looking piece of equipment.

 

[amphead]

A little trivia......We have reached 94 posts and 3,342 views. Mayberry cross-coastal meet was.........245 posts and 18,447 views.

 

[crappyjones123]

maybe because team florida was part of the mayberry trip? just a hunch

/runs away.

 

[neilvg]

First of all - thanks to #'s for providing us with yet another meet with which to meet with fellow headphone aficionados.

This was one of the few meets I have attended where I actually felt a bit freer so to speak. I mean, I was only carrying around one 70lb monster instead of a few monsters and some snakes.

Something strange always happens at meets which makes them unpredictable. Sometimes I end up talking the whole time, despite major equipment listening cravings all around me. Other times I listen a lot, but to only a very specific set or range of offerings. I rarely listen to a large variety since I always seem to get sidetracked. Then there are those meets where I listen to almost nothing. This meet falls into the latter category, and I believe I couldn't even fully listen to one song! (although I did get to listen to several smatterings here and there)...

...Well, I take that back, Amphead and I listened to two full songs on the BHSE/NWO combo - Dennis Wilson's excellent Pacific Ocean Blues - A great Re-Master of an album I have been waiting over 30 years for (amazingly enough this wait time exceeds my chronological age - but that's OK, I'm just that prolific of a desiring consumer). Anyway, for those who like the Beach Boys, but never knew of the middle Wilson, Dennis, check this album out. It rocks harder, and conveys greater panoramic beauty than most of the beach boys stuff (shameless plug for album I am otherwise unaffiliated with).

Alright, so on to some meet impressions and the like:

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Stax 4070 While these compete or better the O2s in my book, what really blew me away was the Lambdas. I was really surprised at how good these things sounded. They seem to nail everything, very resolved, detailed, etc. They only lack in the punch that you get with dynamics. If I didn’t have the K-1000s, I would be looking for a pair. For the price, they come very close, but nothing tops the K-1000 which has the best qualities of the e-stats and dynamics in one headphone. Needless to say, I was VERY impressed with the Lambdas.

AND

Quote:

Originally Posted by foo_me Ironically, it maybe the stax lambdas that actually brings me back to electostats. For the price, they sounded great out of the stax 007t...as others have mentioned, they do have a similar sound as to the he90s (very musical and balanced though a degree less than the he90s) and it might be worth investigating for those who can't/never plan on getting an he90. Found some new love for the Qualias...for some reason, I didn't enjoy them as much previously, but they did sound smooth, detailed out of the few amps I tried them with (beta22, nautilus)

You know, those Lamba Sigs were mine, bought from Spritzer long ago, but I had no amp and no place to live (those were hard times), so I gave them to Voltron (Al) and forgot about them. I never really listened to them much, but Al seemed to have a pretty positive opinion on them. Enough so that he soon purchased a 4070 himself (those are yours right Al?). So I heard the Lambdas through the Stax Amp and they sounded pretty nice! I moved them to the Blue Hawaii, and they were also very nice! They do remind me the most of the HE90 out of any of the Stax's I have heard thus far, and it was for this reason, I am sure, Spritzer had initially recommended them to me. Next I tried the 4070. They sounded alright out of the Stax Amp, but out of the Blue Hawaii they were horrible. So much so, they actually reminded me of that hollow brittle sound the Qualias can have with a bad fit (or otherwise). I definitely did not like them and was surprised at their signature. Anyway, I'm sure I'll eventually hear them in what others consider to be a proper setup at some point.

So later on, when I went home (with my Lambdas in tow), I plugged them into my ES2 to really hear how they compare to the HE90's. With a quiet and familiar environment, I listened.... and listened... and listened... and then I fell asleep briefly while rocking in my rocking chair (it was 12:00am). A good sign nonetheless! I cannot fall asleep to a troublesome headphone - and my sleep was not due to boredom but rather due to the rocking chair lull created by peace and quietude

Anyway, I digress (a bit) - so while they were nice... after plugging in my HE90's, I was truly home. Audio home-base that is. There is really no competition what-so-ever. Simply: HE90 = King. Labmda = Brooding adolescent Squire (ie: Darker Natured).

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 Regret not getting to hear the Millet 307A…

Me too. I didn't listen to as many things as I wanted to - I seemed to have immedietely developed Audiophilius Amnesius and then upon realization of this after going home, it became Audiophilius Regretfulius! But oh well, other days, others meets. I really want to hear that beta 22 everyone has been screaming, hooting, and stamping their feet about.
Quote:

Originally Posted by foo_me /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can never do any critical listening at meets, but some impressions are:

Word to that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by foo_me /img/forum/go_quote.gif Blue Hawaii SE + 02/HE90 I thought the blue hawaii se/02 would bring me back to the world of electrostatics, but my thoughts were wrong. As some others have mentioned, I think the 02s sounded a little dark, slightly congested. I don't think the 02s are for me...everytime I've listened to them, I've liked them, but never really been wowed. He90s continue to be the best electrostats for me and were amazing with the Blue Hawaii...perhaps even better than the stock ES1 when I owned the combination.

Yeah I've never preferred the O2's in comparison to the HE90's. I've liked them in some rigs, but I always prefer the Sennheiser and Sennheiser-like offerings. To me, and I dare say it here - I think what most headphone amps geared towards the O2 are doing is changing its nature too much! The O2 is dark, it is a little thick and gooey, and it is closed in. They are, to me, like an almost L3000-ish Electrostat (to be blasphemous on various levels, and also on no levels at all). Carrying on with MY OPINION here, any rig I have heard the O2 sound especially good in (and contrary to their 'original nature', has yielded less than stellar results from the other cans plugged into them (like the HE90). This occurred with the Blue Hawaii SE at the meet. As I confirmed with Justin, this amp was 'tuned' for the O2. Now this may be fine and dandy except that it made the HE90's sound bright, sibilant, and thin and unrefined on the top. This is not a natural characteristic unless you get your synergy all wrong. The HE90 does suffer from some other shortcomings (pushed forward satiny colored midrange, unresolved and impactful low end, blunted highs with a slightly strident upper mid)... but thats not what the issue was at the meet. It was just tweaked wrong for this and most other headphones which were not called Stax Omega II (I listened with HE1.2B, Lambda Sig (sounded okay actually), HE90 and the horrific (in that setup) sounding 4070). This all coming from the NWO source/and another DAC modded by Filburt (Sonic Frontiers?). We also had a Squeezbox Duet plugged in, and it sounded alright at times, but still, I am, I would like to believe, but I suspect is open to debate, quite familiar with how the NWO and HE90 sound at this point - meet conditions or otherwise. So as I was saying, let the O2 be the O2. Like it for its true nature, don't try to artificially brighten it up unless you want your amp to be a one trick pony. And I'm not saying the Blue Hawaii is necessarily this way. I still think the HE90's sounded better than the O2's! (sorry Justin - the amp looks nice though! Maybe some other tubes than those winged C's which at least with my pair at home, seems to actually have more bass for a modern day production EL34, but NOT a cleaner and extended high end - which is what you are after with the O2/BHSE combo no?).

Quote:

Originally Posted by amphead /img/forum/go_quote.gif A little trivia......We have reached 94 posts and 3,342 views. Mayberry cross-coastal meet was.........245 posts and 18,447 views.

I think this is also because of a general lack of posting enthusiasm in general. We gotta pick and choose which meets we blow up to epic proportions post wise

This though, doesn't take away from the actual meet at all, which, like usual, was a good time.

Lastly, I had some great conversations, among which I particularly enjoyed speaking with Craig from Eddie C and Ironbut during lunch.

Neil

 

[calaf]

a minority opinion about the Nautilus which I compared it to the Zana Deux using my music (classical, Joan Tower's wonderfully recorded "Made in America"), and the Denon CDP and the SE and balanced HD600 Craig had provided.

I liked the raw power and bass energy (Woo Audio style) of the Nautilus, but I felt the sound lacked air (as in treble extension, detail) compared to the Zana. This was particularly apparent with the array of percussions Joan Tower uses to great effect. Also I thought the soundstage was well defined but rather narrow when using the HD600 (again compared to the Zana). Soundstage wise I liked the Nautilus better when it was driving my SE K701.

I heard or read somewhere that the Nautilus and its tubes were brand new, so it may very well be that the sound will open up with time, but if I had to pick one (I would love to have either!) based on what I heard on Saturday I think I would go with the Zana.

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calaf /img/forum/go_quote.gif a minority opinion about the Nautilus which I compared it to the Zana Deux using my music (classical, Joan Tower's wonderfully recorded "Made in America"), and the Denon CDP and the SE and balanced HD600 Craig had provided. I liked the raw power and bass energy (Woo Audio style) of the Nautilus, but I felt the sound lacked air (as in treble extension, detail) compared to the Zana. This was particularly apparent with the array of percussions Joan Tower uses to great effect. Also I thought the soundstage was well defined but rather narrow when using the HD600 (again compared to the Zana). Soundstage wise I liked the Nautilus better when it was driving my SE K701. I heard or read somewhere that the Nautilus and its tubes were brand new, so it may very well be that the sound will open up with time, but if I had to pick one (I would love to have either!) based on what I heard on Saturday I think I would go with the Zana.

Min/Foo_Me is selling his Zana right here in SF. I'm just sayin' . . .

 

[Icarium]

At a very good price.. but nay.. SDS + Nautilus will be enough.

 

[calaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif Min/Foo_Me is selling his Zana right here in SF. I'm just sayin' . . .

You are the devil you know? I saw the post yesterday and was very tempted to PM him! But right now I can't: I am saving up for my next big purchase, which is supposed to float

...

 

[rhythmdevils]

Thanks JP or hosting this meet

I first want to say that I brought a friend to the meet, and she is a musician, so she appreciates music and sound, but has never had very good headphones until i got her the ksc-75's. She was a bit reluctant to come, but got excited about it. And she wound up having a great time. She was really impressed with the head-fi community, and thought the meet was a really beautiful thing, "all these nice people getting together to share their appreciation for beauty" or something like that. She was amazed by how kind everyone was, and she said that many people explained all kinds of things to her even though she knew nothing about amps or headphones. A lot of "techy" communities are pretty snobby (photography for example- i hate most camera stores) But I saw someone explaining how a tube amp works from the ground up! So thanks everyone. I am constantly impressed by this community.

I got there late, because I was having a dandy little time in the backyard garden and the weather was just so nice. But I dragged my lazy bones over there, and it was a great meet, and like usual, I wanted it to go on another few hours. I seem to always be the last person listening to gear

When everyone was packing up or just hanging out and talking, I got the chance to listen to almost a whole album on Eddie Current's new Nautilus, which was a great exerience! So I'll start with that beast

Eddie Current- Nautilus
This is maybe my new favorite amp. That is, with HD650's and the balanced Equinox cable. I don't think I have ever REALLY liked the 650's (except with Voltron's SDS

) I usually find sennheisers, although they fit the bill for the kind of signature I like, a bit dull, dry, and boaring. but this amp made them sound like everything I always wanted them to sound like. No joke, the amp made them shine. They were incredibly dynamic, each instrument seperated in space, without bleeding into any other sound, but not artificially so like some of the sony's, etc. They were incredibly detailed yet organic and rich, with a beautiful weight and body to the music. But also agile, and quick. So beautiful. Music sounded exactly as it should, I found myself for one of the first times in my life since getting into this head-fi madness, completely satisfied with the sound, and not yearning for anything more or less in any way. I listened to the new album by Fleet Foxes (a great album!) and I always thought it wasn't recorded very well. But it SHINED in this setup, simply mesmorizing. I just kept laughing and shaking my head, and I really wanted to cry. Really

Props to Eddie Current for this beautiful amp. I must say though, it sounds so good with the 650's for a reason- I think it was designed specifically for them. Because it didn't sound so great with my K240 Sextetts or the HP2's. It made them both sound a bit sharp. This was my friend's second favorite rig behind the Stax. She plugged a different pair of HD650's that was lying there, with the single ended Oelbach cable, into the Zana Deux, and she said it sounded "fuzzy". Ha ha. But she loved them balanced with equinox and the Nautilus.

I also had the opportunity to A/B balanced/unbalanced in a very easy way, because the nautilus's balanced output becomes UNbalanced when you plug something into the single ended jack. So I used a grado type 1/4"->1/8" adaptor and (thanks to Guzziguy's recomendation) with the HP2's plugged in, used the adaptor to go balanced/unbalanced immeditately without changing anything. And I was surprised by how much it changed the sound. I wasn't expecting HP2's to really benefit that much from balanced mode, but they really did. Balanced opened them up, sounded like screens were removed from the outside, and everything moved out and more freely. seperation between instruments increased, bass became a bit more detailed, and the most noticable change was a liquid quality added to the midrange. these cans already have a beatiful midrange, but in balanced mode, the midrange was sperated from the rest of the spectrum more, and smoothed and polished and refined. Quite stunning.

I actually noticed more difference with balanced mode on the HP2's than I did with the 650's! But the 650's sounded better as well of course.

I regretfully didn't really listen to anything else for very long

Even the 307A

which I was really excited about. When I was listening to it, it was right after the speaker audition, and the room was very loud, so I couldn't really tell waht I was listening to.

I was impressed with the Audio-Technica phones that Ironbut had with his tape rig - what were these again? [edit- Audio Technica AD2000 thanks Voltron

] Eddie Current listened to my Sextetts and immediately went and grabbed them. And to my surprise, they sounded similar. But more refined, more detailed and a bigger soundstage, except a certain sharpness to the sound, which may have been coming from the nautilus, because it did a similar thing to the HP2's and sextetts. But these headphones sounded great, I wish I had listened to them with another amp. Very magical. [take these thoughts "with a grain of salt", because I listened only briefly, and only with one song]

I spent some time with BlessingX's Stax phones, and I really like almost everything they do. Except there was just a bit of an echoey, etched sound to teh upper mids that realy bothered me, and didn't sound very organic like I prefer. But everything else was glorious, so ethereal, and the soundtage on these things kills dynamic phones. the music is so hollographic and sounds so detailed and fragile, in some ways better than it ever could in real life. If only this etched quality wasn't there, they would be such beauties. The HE Audio wannabe HE90's sounded better in this way, a bit more organic and smooth. They sounded great out of the tube stax amp. But I regretfully never got to the HE90's. But ive heard them before, and I always bow down to the king

That's all for now. You guys want to have another meet soon? My parent's have a big house in palo alto that would be a great spot for a meet...

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilvg /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...and it was for this reason, I am sure, Spritzer had initially recommended them to me...

You are correct there.

The Signatures are very good though not quite up the He90 level. You should also check out a recabled Koss ESP/950 for some more of that same sound signature but even better controlled.

 

[Voltron]

ironbut had his AT AD2000s, which sound great in many systems. I have a pair, Whitney, if you want to borrow them sometime.