[mastercheif]

The second room was pretty cool acutaly. It was basicly the quiet room for this meet. We had some iModing going on; as well as some DIY stuff. Also,I got to spend some qulity time with a tomahawk and a cryo dock, instead of the madness that was Ray's table in the other room.

 

[pingong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn /img/forum/go_quote.gif "Mr. N_Maher, I presume." Thanks for coming all the way up here and rocking these DIY rigs! Yes, the big solid state amp might not have shone with the Tushi as transport, but when we put your Monica DAC with Bozebutton's Theta transport and fed it to this amp, WHOA. Source First! This was warm with speed and impact and great extension- and usually I only say that about hybrid amps! You must have a beefy PSU in there, I could sense that this thing wasn't breaking a sweat! And thanks for bringing the Headroom Balanced Desktop amp - the K701s still aren't my cup of tea (where's the bass?) but the balanced GS1000s with this rig and Stevie Ray Vaughan playing Little Wing? One of the few times I got into Obnoxious mode and grabbed random people and said "you gotta HEAR this!" great unit!

you can tell that it is class-A. quit, warm and live. one other post has inside pictures. layout is clean and logic. nicely done. ping

 

[jinp6301]

ok I guess its time for me to write some stuff up. I was the one with the cream hoodie on with the concert pic on the front. For some reason, I thought hydrocity would be much taller in person.

First I want to thank the people who made this meet possible. I hope you made all the money back for the rooms!

Best rig at the meet - Ray's meridian - B-52's - Balanced GS1000s
Nothing I heard ever came close to this rig. The insane low end bass and the super clarity and soundstage was so great, and the circumaural pads were a lot more comfortable then I thought. I put on one of my cds and ZOMG I let out an audible gasp. How can any headphones sound this good???

(flame suit on!)
Worst disappointment for me was the HE90's
It had so much clarity that it showed all the flaws with the recordings with my albums that I brought (Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and The Royal Tenebaums OST). I guess there CAN be too much of a good thing. But with another jazz album, they sounded fantastic. Definately the best elctrostatic in the room.

The headphone I liked the most was the nikongod's HP-2 (I think they were HP-2s) from his amp (I forgot what amp it was

). The Joe Grado phones didnt sound like any of the current grado line up at all. It had more soundstage and deeper bass compared to any other John Grado heaphone I tried except the GS1000s. and the SR-200 was a suprise, the low end was much better then the 225s and there was slightly more soundstage then the current grado phones. It was like a mix from the Joe Grado sound with the John Grado sound. Just want to say thanks to nikongod for bringing so much gear!

The K1000s. I know now why people are so obsessed with this phone. The clarity and the focus of the sound was unlike anything I ever tried. The room was way too loud for me to have a real good listen but I could tell, these were special. I especially liked the natural crossfeed.

Rays portable amps. I could easily discern the differences between the SR-71 and the Hornet but it was a lot harder to hear the differences between the hornet and the tomahawk (which is friggin TINY!!! How do you carry around that tiny thing?). The hornet brought out the low end bass with my SR-225s (which was what was missing) and opened up everything with the KSC75, basically made my ksc75 into another more expensive headphone.

Hydrocity's K501 was great. Actually, it was the most comfortable headphone I ever heard. Its just floats on top of your head, theres almost no pressure on it at all. It has a huge soundstage which I didnt really like that much but it sounded real good with non rock music. I will try to pick one up asap.

laxx's K701 was pretty nice. It wasnt really that amazing as I thought it would be. It had great detail, good bass and good highs. I dont really know what was missing but I wasnt really enjoying them. Weird

Audio-Technica ATH-W5000s. Not for me at all. I dont remember who's setup it was but wow, way way way too bright. The cymbal crashes were basically slapping my face. That said, they were the most beautiful headphones ever. The woodgrain was so nice.

laxx was the lucky bum who won a pair of PK1s for $40 from the auction and then proceeded to win a pair of PK2s for free from the draw. Next meet, we should all jump him and steal his stuff for being so damn lucky.

and Ray, thanks for the piece of advice you gave laxx and me at the end of the meet. You know the one I'm talking about!

I'll post some more in a while

EDIT: funniest part of the meet, when there was 5 minutes left on the silent auction so everybody crowded around the auction table so they can try to snipe the GLite for $150 (it ended up going for $260 to vcoheda, who is an awesome guy btw)

 

[agile_one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pingong /img/forum/go_quote.gif <myedit>ping's comment on nate's amp</myedit> layout is clean and logic. nicely done. ping

Ok, a general comment on the meet as seen in this thread - yet another great meet from the NY Head-Fi faithful. Just keeps getting better and better.

Jahn - brotha, your pics and captions slay me. Felt like I was there through them. Thanks to everyone else who posted pics, too, because we all know TTIWWP, and you and others have come through ...

Reason for quoting Ping is that besides being a true gentleman and supporter of Head-Fi, he is an obvious expert in recognizing quality. Congrats to Nate for another amazing creation.

Sorry I couldn't make it up, but one of these years ....

 

[jinp6301]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn /img/forum/go_quote.gif "Didja guys catch that episode of Gilmore Girls where that indie guy wore his Grados on a date and...well, I don't follow the show, I just flipped by it and..."

that was me! and I WAS only flipping the channels!!!

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LDMES /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really was looking forward to going...but alas I had to stay here and tend to my sick Fiancee. Well, That's life. Hopefully I'll get to go to the next one.

sorry to hear that. hope she's on the road to recovery. this was a great meet but there's another great meet coming up next month. it's called the national, and it's out in sunny california. go a little early and take your sweety for a romantic trip to san fran, then head over and check out some really cool gear in san jose!

 

[Carl]

I'm considering buying one of those Chinese electrostats, so sonic impressions are welcome. No need to compare it to the HE90, just tell it like you heard it.

 

[Dimitris]

Very nice meet!Thanks to Aaron for organizing everything. As for headphone impressions.

1. I have confirmed that the Omega II's are by far my favourite headphone. Airy, detailed, dark. Thats the way I like it.
2. I really liked the balanced GS1000. They dont sound like any other Grados and i think thats a good thing.

On the other hand I want really impressed by the PS-1 or HP-1. I guess they are a bit too bright for my tastes.
3. Blue hawaii and Gilmore balanced sounded amazing. They are huge too!They look so much smaller in pictures.

Thats a lot to Jim for bringing all this amazing equipment to share.
4. I was really impressed by the Singlepower Extreme. It sounded amazing especially the platinum version. I compared it with my HD650 and a balanced version of the HD650 at a balanced Supra next to it and in the loud room we used I couldnt tell a difference.

Thats all for the moment I will come back with more soon.

 

[mrarroyo]

Very nice meet guys, it seems you all had a blast. May seem silly but the one thing I would like to listen to next would be the HeadRoom Millet. Hopefully with a home module and home dac, and of course w/ the dedicated PSU.

I need more $$$ to afford this hobby!

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very nice meet guys, it seems you all had a blast. May seem silly but the one thing I would like to listen to next would be the HeadRoom Millet. Hopefully with a home module and home dac, and of course w/ the dedicated PSU. I need more $$$ to afford this hobby!

I brought the HR Millett with DPS, but I was one of the frontiersmen, along with Danofsteel and a few others who were in the other room hoping it didn't burn down due to a combustible mix of solder, electricity, and rum.

I love my (DACless) HR Millett through my DAC1. Good synergy there. I hope others were able to hear them at the meet and may be able to chime in.

 

[88Sound]

Quote:

Originally posted by Iron_Dreamer: Awesome! Who there owns the duo of awesome Headamps? Almost makes me want an e-stat rig

Those are mine, Dimitris was kind enough to bring his Cary source to pair up with them..Thanks! After about six years in this hobby I have discovered that I am an unappologetic Stax O2 fanboy.

This was my first meet and I had a great time meeting people and putting some faces with head-fi names. The amount of Great people in this hobby and on Head-Fi is amazing.

Big thanks to Aaron for setting this up, and Ray & Mikhail for bringing their audio 'works of art'.

Highlights and ear openers for me was.......a phone I used to own years ago, didn't like and sold, completely transformed into something wonderful by balancing and amplifying with Ray's B-52....The HD600. The O2 and Mikhail's ES1, Wow, one more time....Wow. I liked this quite a bit better than the HE90 in the setup at the meet, but I already confessed to being an O2 fanboy. The L3000 sounds great in some setups, good in others, in one setup the bottom end became very loose and uncontrolled, but yet the Zune/EarMax Anniversary combo sounds incredible with them. How can a Zune with a RatShack interconnect sound this good???? No clue.

By the way......Telefunken tubes in the Blue Hawaii, EarMax Anniversary, and EarMax Pro.......Makes a BIG difference IMO.

That's it for now....Thanks everyone!

 

[bozebuttons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm considering buying one of those Chinese electrostats, so sonic impressions are welcome. No need to compare it to the HE90, just tell it like you heard it.

I listened to a couple of songs with it on the Blue Hawaii,initial impressions pretty clean sounding as all electrostatics,soundstage seemed pretty horizontal not much depth,bass was alittle light,but the OmegaIIs on that system also felt a little light on the bass as well,but the omegas also where very loose fitting.
At a projected price of $1000 & a amp being built just for the Phone they have a prototype built but it wasn't at the meet.
Work in progress with potential that needs alittle more refinement.

 

[Ice Max]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88Sound /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those are mine, Dimitris was kind enough to bring his Cary source to pair up with them..Thanks! After about six years in this hobby I have discovered that I am an unappologetic Stax O2 fanboy. This was my first meet and I had a great time meeting people and putting some faces with head-fi names. The amount of Great people in this hobby and on Head-Fi is amazing. Big thanks to Aaron for setting this up, and Ray & Mikhail for bringing their audio 'works of art'. Highlights and ear openers for me was.......a phone I used to own years ago, didn't like and sold, completely transformed into something wonderful by balancing and amplifying with Ray's B-52....The HD600. The O2 and Mikhail's ES1, Wow, one more time....Wow. I liked this quite a bit better than the HE90 in the setup at the meet, but I already confessed to being an O2 fanboy. The L3000 sounds great in some setups, good in others, in one setup the bottom end became very loose and uncontrolled, but yet the Zune/EarMax Anniversary combo sounds incredible with them. How can a Zune with a RatShack interconnect sound this good???? No clue. By the way......Telefunken tubes in the Blue Hawaii, EarMax Anniversary, and EarMax Pro.......Makes a BIG difference IMO. That's it for now....Thanks everyone!

ah yes, i remember your setup, one of my favs from the meet, i was blown away by your earmax and zune setup, very powerful, yet so small. everything sounded so clean to me through ur ATs. I didnt spend much time with your other gear (which was also very impressive form the short time listened to it), but i really enjoyed your Balanced Grado GS1000's, they have a great sound to them, and they are the most comfy Grados IMO

 

[bozebuttons]

I got to the meet late as I worked in the morning.Sizeable amount of gear & members going full force when I got there.
Sorry I didn't get to meet so many newcomers.

What a diverse amount of gear,with the Diy gear,computer gear,portable,home something for everyones side of the hobby.

SINGLEPOWER Had a full range of amps,I listed to the Bling amp first with the balanced 650s & was blown away with the impact ,detail & expansive soundstage the 650s had,I had heard this amp the first time Mikhail debuted the amp in NY.
I turned to Mikhail & asked him If he made any upgrades to the amp,his answer was no.The amp has 2c51s as drivers with adapters & 6bl7 as outputs as well as more breakin time,boy this amp hit the sweet spot.

Tried the Balanced Supra extreme with AKg340s another winner,later vpiviynlspinner had my GS1000s on the amp playing some classical & called me over,this amp had total control over the my Grados which are not balanced.

Tried a balanced Extreme & I can see whats all the fuss is over this amp,
gives you a pretty good taste of the more expenseive siblings for a lot less money.

I call Mikhail the Mad scientist of the amp world with all his adapters & tube combinations & configurations that are possible with his amps .

I listened to eriksons RSA Tomahawk,Nano Ultrasone 2500 combo,Man is this combo small,much smaller then my PRII/H120 combo.
Lively punchy sound,I had a SR71 & enjoyed it ,I liked the tomahawk,nano combo so small yet so big sounding,If i did a lot of traveling this would be the combo to own,I may pick the combo up for My e500s even tough I don't
really use iems much.

Nates B22 DIY amp is something special,very nicely made .This amp just sounds harmonically right & would fit into a High end system.
Kudos to Nate on the build, Nate You know what you need to do next

.

Upstate guy had some Video clips of a KT tunstall concert,watched it on his computer listening to Beyer dt880s I believe & a woo audio amp was great,eye candy as well as audio made a great combo.

Finally got to hear a Blue Hawaii,Very close to the KGSS I had in sound from my memory,I would have to listen to them side by side to hear the differance.

Thanks Aaron for setting this meet up.The Adria is a great location, For me these meets are more about hanging around with the great Headfiers,the gear is secoundary.Had a blast ,looking forward to the National meet in San Jose.

 

[swt61]

WOW! Nice gear! You guys must have had a blast.

Yep Warrior I picked your system out right away, second pic far right. How did I know, I must be psychic.

Is that Aaron's Macassar Ebony amp between his and vpivinylspinner's stands? Nice piece! It looks awesome next to Jeff's Macassar Ebony stand.

Speaking of Jeff (vpivinylspinner) Nice to see you back in the game buddy!

I really wanted to see Aaron's R-1's on his stand though.

Jahn thanks for the new signature!

Slacker, Great air guitar!

My pick for sexiest gear is the 2 Original CDPs and the Silver B52. Wouldn't those look great together?

Warrior you have definitely expanded your system! Remember the old days when the Docs were your system? Do I sense modded K340's in your future?

Wish I could've been there guys.