here's my impression
HE90's were so detailed and natural that it was unnatural
Gilmore reference is extremely impressive and can drive the K501's like none other
I honestly can't tell the diff between the old M3 and the new M3, but both blow away the PPA
HD650 + non-stock cable = dynamic and almost completely unveiled
SR71 is detailed... yeah
Supermacro isn't as detailed as the SR71, but it is much more dynamic and has a heck of a lot more features
Rotel and the DAC2 are godly... i never realized a rotel can output something so sweet
The qualia and r10 and cd3000 were really good with a great soundstage, but the extreme highs killed them all imo
The Sony F1's sounded incredibly good for such a small price, and it doesn't have the extreme highs like the other sony's
The Grado PS1's and the HP1000's are sometimes comparable, and sometimes not. but they're pretty upfront. i have a feeling i've been too accustomed to my k501's
There really isn't a big diff between the HD580 and HD650. well, sure it's there and it's in-your-face different, but the source will make a bigger diff
SR225's are still SR225's... ok, that doesn't really say anything
K1000 + modified T-amp + whatever it was plugged into on the left side of the room == godly. K1000 + modified T-amp + whatever it was plugged into on the right side of the room == bright and zero bass
The DHA-3000 is one of the best amps ever made. The tonal balance and the impedance controls were very very good. unfortunately, i never made any ab tests with it.
D77 eggos are decent for the price, but they can probably sound better
The hybrid amps were just impressive. It can neutrally drive pretty much anything thrown at it
The ipod shuffle is TINY!
I need a good dac... this computer doesn't cut it anymore
The K501's really does sound similar (signature-wise, of course) to the HE90... it was scary
The DT990 is an interesting specimen. i honestly don't think it's truly dark and murky. it might be a little... but not to the point people claim they are. the extreme bass of those things only give people that particular illusion
The 271's were... not too akg-like. the soundstage is narrower than the 501's, the detail doesn't seem to be quite all there, and the feel wasn't akg-like. But nonetheless, it sounded good.
The A900's have a really bad case of mid repressions. I take my a900-overly-bright comments back (my source/amp probably sucked at the time i originally used it), but i still say the A900's aren't worth the $200 price tag
L3000's sound suspiciously like the A900's for good reasons. although the mids aren't so sucked out, the cans still seem unbalanced. i takes a while to get used to them, so i'll stop commenting on it now
the Sensaphonics were awesome. they sound similar to the ER4's... almost the same, but then, the Sensaphonics didn't exactly fit in my ears, and the ER4's weren't all the way in my ear, so yeah.
Long kevlar tube + er4 != happiness. in fact, those two combined sounded like the detail and the excitement are gone. oh well
Alex needs to donate some money to me
Sorry if i left everything out. this is all i can remember off the top of my head in the last few minutes of typing this.
now onto some comments on my stuff that some of you may be wondering about:
some of you may have noticed a volume control problem. apparently, the ground line connection came off the volume control, and i didn't figure that out until i tugged at it just 20 minutes ago. it's all fixed now, but that means nothing since it was still broken during the meet
my amp is basically this:
http://s5electronics.com/gpage1.html
The mods i put on it are mainly 1) biased into triode mode, and 2) uses a stepped attenuator found here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5741866435
the EMU 0404 uses 2 opa627's
thanks to Frank and his family for hosting us.
Thanks, everyone, who made this a great, extremely fun meet. It was a big eye opening experience and a great intro into the world of audiophilia. I don't know how many of your realize this, but this is actually an inspiration for me to get through college... hehe, funky, but true
And finally, thank you, Xin, for giving me a ride to and from and also for a great dinner. I really really appreciate it.
So yeah... that's all i gotta say for now. cya's