NY area meet Nov 14, 2009 impressions
Nov 17, 2009 at 4:30 PM Post #121 of 181
HD800's = $1399
HE-5's =$600

Every headphone has it's pros and cons, and 2 different people can hear completely different things from the same headphone.
But, if anyone thinks they are close, with just one thing separating them, the choice is clear with an occasional passing cloud.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romanee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I don't own either one and have had just a tiny bit of exposure -- unlike you who have (I think) lived with both (hmmmm.....).


"I'm not only the president of the Hair Club for Men, I'm also a client!"
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I sold my HE-60's and own both the HE-5's and the HD800's. Yeah, I've spent some time with them. If I had to sell one, which might happen if the missus doesn't gain employment, I'm pretty sure that it would be the 800's (and that's not because of a higher financial gain).

Putting some thought into it, I like the Jades and SR-Lambda Pros over the Omega II's and I like the HE-5's over the HD6XX/800, so it appears that I like my headstage to be aggressive and decongested. I'm starting to see a pattern here. Maybe that's also why I like 5 channel SACD and DVD-Audio over 2 channel (unless it's old school Jazz).
 
Nov 17, 2009 at 6:54 PM Post #122 of 181
Just to pass the split-seconds between jobs:

Shadow-Tomahawk-Hornet cellphone verite pics (self-explanatory) ... disappearing act ... pink-ring amp next?

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I would REALLY prefer to have the volume control on the same side as the input (switch places with the USB jack). The input must be the "front" for short player/dock-to-mini IC and placing volume rocker on that same side as the input make for much easier access and control. The rocker is a wonderful in-transit ergonomic feature, but having it end up on the "back" defeats some of the ease-of-use.

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Shadow UAV

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Nov 17, 2009 at 7:09 PM Post #123 of 181
Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The R-10's bass is probably the best I have ever heard (and I'm not talking quantity because Yikes Denon 7000's with the Siltech wiring, won hands down in the bass department). They may not be the truest bass performers, but the 7000's beat out the 2000's and even the MarkL modded 5000's.

The amazing thing is, that when I compared the Audio G-d Phoenix with Yikes DAC and the 7000's, and then put on the HeAudio Jades into Ethan's modded Siltech GES, the Jades/GES won by a large margin, IIMHO. I told this to Yikes, and I thought we were going to get into a fisticuffs, but he just smiled, and said, "of course". At least I'm not alone. It must be the medication that he's been taking.
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The comparison was not entirely fair. The Phoenix was being fed by the OP-AMP based balanced outs from the Music Hall 25.2, whereas the GES was being driven by the SE Tube output (6922 Cryoset treated tube). Although overall I do like the GES/Jade setup a bit more than the Phoenix/7000's setup. I'm very happy with both systems.
 
Nov 17, 2009 at 7:20 PM Post #124 of 181
i couldn't believe how small the shadow was. ray had one attached to a nano. you put the two in your pocket and don't even feel it. yet the sound was tremendous. makes me rethink portables.
 
Nov 17, 2009 at 7:58 PM Post #125 of 181
While I didn't love the Shadow/R10 combo (probably not a likely real world pairing anyway), I also was surprised and impressed by the small size of the amp. It is hard to convey via photos just how tiny it is. Again, I liked the rocker volume control a lot more than I thought I would.
 
Nov 17, 2009 at 9:36 PM Post #126 of 181
Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif
While I didn't love the Shadow/R10 combo (probably not a likely real world pairing anyway), I also was surprised and impressed by the small size of the amp. It is hard to convey via photos just how tiny it is. Again, I liked the rocker volume control a lot more than I thought I would.


I too prefer the B52 with R10 over the Shadow driving them.
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Nov 17, 2009 at 11:24 PM Post #127 of 181
It was a great meet - thanks again for this and the great photos!. The one thing that surprised me, I have to admit, was just how many HD800s I saw, and nary a single PS1000 (though I did see a stray GS1000 lying around!) It makes me kinda wonder why the PS1000s appear to be getting so little attention -I believe there must be a few hundred out there already by now (last I saw, they were up to serial number 447 or so).

Any thoughts?
 
Nov 18, 2009 at 12:12 AM Post #128 of 181
Quote:

Originally Posted by 563 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Any thoughts?


Yes, sometimes I dream of taking relaxing walks on warm sunny summer afternoons.


...oohhh, you mean about the ratio of PS1000's to HD800's. I would say that it is because of early distribution issues (waiting around for parts...vendor issues that were not his fault), but most definitely, launching them around the same time as the HF-2's which created large amounts of energy to be pushed around our part of the world. Think about how many people were involved with obtaining a Head-F1 product. I think that it stifled John's sales of PS1000's.

If the PS1000's were the only new thing that Grado Labs started selling in May '09, more people would have gotten them, and less 800's would have been sold.
 
Nov 18, 2009 at 12:19 AM Post #129 of 181
Quote:

Originally Posted by erikzen /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm open for a bigger, better place. My only concern is having enough time to find a location that can accomodate quarter of a million dollars worth of audio equipment and 50 headphone geeks.


Earlier this year, a table-top strategy game club that I belong to had our normal hang-out go out of business, and instead of becoming homeless we started looking around for places to rent to use as our meet place. First, once we started looking around, we were surprised at how many "clubs" there are out there with meeting rooms that sit empty 99% of the time. Second, we were shocked at how much almost all of them wanted for us to rent for one night, let alone on a regular basis.

By pure luck, we stumbled upon one in the greater Boston area that had a very large meeting space (2-3x as big as KoC) that hadn't been rented in years. Once we explained our situation (a bunch of nerds in a room, not causing any trouble, not serving food/using kitchen, etc...) and they realized they could get $$$ from us at the bar that was open for their members (i.e. we walk downstairs to their bar), they let us pretty much take over the meeting room full time for a very cheap monthly rate.

There are definitely gems out there; it's just a matter of sifting through all the expensive options to find them, which takes a fair amount of time and effort.

Another option is to find someone who's a member of a club that's willing to co-sponsor; members usually get significant discounts...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Towert7
...the 2 tiny Tim albums.

You know, I'm kicking myself that I didn't bid for those 2 albums!



Me too... When I walked through the door and proclaimed "Look what I bought!", the smile on her face and look in her eyes declared unequivocally what she was thinking: "I'm glad his new hobby is headphones and not speakers..."
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Nov 18, 2009 at 2:46 AM Post #131 of 181
Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif
If the PS1000's were the only new thing that Grado Labs started selling in May '09, more people would have gotten them, and less 800's would have been sold.


I'm sure that's part of it, but also Sennheiser is a huge company compared to Grado. I'm sure there is a much bigger marketing budget for HD800s that PS1000s. And when I say marketing that includes the much larger network of distributors out there selling Sennheiser products.

Just go to Google/Shopping and try entering each product. See which one comes up with more vendors. That might not give you an accurate depiction of how man vendors sell either headphone but it does indicate that Sennheiser has done a better job of 'search engine optimization". I'm sure, with all their resources, they've done a better job all the way around.

Now that doesn't explain it all, because Head-Fiers are a different breed and we don't buy based on search results or impulse (generally speaking). But I'm sure it has something to do with it.

Another factor is the nature of the product. Grado caters to a small, elite group of aficionados and enthusiasts. Now granted only aficionados are going to spent $1400 on a pair of headphones, but of that universe, a larger number are probably more experienced and knowledgable about Sennheiser products.
 
Nov 18, 2009 at 4:55 AM Post #134 of 181
Anyone find a black grado end cap? cant find it and maybe i lost it somewhere at the meet. I know its unlikely that any one would find it since its so small though. If anyone has an extra, or knows where to get one let me know please.(other than through grado cuz im already e-mailing them about it.)
 
Nov 18, 2009 at 7:26 AM Post #135 of 181
I did want to mention a couple of other things about the meet.

When I was listening to Yikes's system, I didn't get to hear the balanced Denons so it's hard to give it a fair assessment. I love the way the Phoenix looks. Very classy. I can't really say I was overly impressed with the sound. While $1000 (I belive that's about the cost) is a middle of the road price by our standards, it's still a nice chunka change. I was expecting to be more wowed. Actually, the sound was excellent except that I didn't like the high end. It's hard to describe the sound. The only word that comes to mind is "glossy". If Aaron hadn't been hogging up the Siltech Balacned Denons, I may have actually been blown away.

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Right next to Yikes was The Monkey (could Tweeter be far behind?). With his two-DAC-Skipjack Nugget of a rig. I have to admit, I had a very difficult time telling the DACs apart but in my defense, it was late in the day, my ears probably weren't at their sharpest, and the noise level was probably a bit high. Next meet we're going to have some serious quiet time and we're really going to do that DAC shootout

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In any event, your amp drove the HD800s with authority. Your set were the first ones I heard and they were powerful yet smooth. I thought they sounded excellent.

As I alluded to before, I had a chance to spend some time with Drew's rig also. It really was amazing how good the Koss KSC75 sounded. Of course if you feed them a steady diet of Havana DAC and Headamp GS-1 they're bound to grow up big and strong. Still, it is amazing how well they scale up. Of course, Drew also had his HD800 on hand and they sounded even more excellent. I think Drew has a good balance in his rig. Tube NOS DAC feeding a clean, perhaps a touch dry, neutral amp. The HD800 rounds it out nicely.

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I had a chance to hear the Shadow driving the R10s. I agree this is probably not a practical application, but I was amazed at the sound. The headphones sounded excellent. Oh and did I say the Shadow was really tiny? Amazing!

The last rig I spent any significant amount of time with was the A10. It was the first time I heard the Jade and I was impressed. Most bass I've ever heard out of an electrostatic. Compared to the Sennheisers, I much preferred the Jade. I tried my Lamda Pros from the amp and liked what I heard also; it was somewhere between the two in terms of bass quality and slam.

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I'll have a few more pictures over the next few days but that's about it for my impressions. Thanks again to everyone for making it a great meet.
 

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