[SiBurning]

Only picture of mine that came out. Don't mind the wrong date.

 

[immtbiker]

 

[mastercheif]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiBurning /img/forum/go_quote.gif Only picture of mine that came out. Don't mind the wrong date.

Basicly describes Salon C all day, exept add some cracked open iPods on the table.

 

[immtbiker]

Special Edition Signature Bling Amp w/ Manufacturer's Face always looking at you, while you listen:

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif People were too afraid to take a pic of my ugly mug. Afraid I would crack their lens! I'm in 2 pics so far but only 1 shows off some of my radiant beauty. Here - eighth pic down, I'm talking to Thrice - red T, hand to my noggin', we're sitting in front of my rig. He just gave a listen to my DT990s through the Darkvoice. Queued up some Bonnie Raitt and enjoyed.

Yeah I wondered if that might be you. I definitely want to talk with you more about those DT-990s. I've been thinking about a balanced pair of 600 ohm since I'll have more than enough power to drive them soon. And they look fairly easy to woody.

 

[immtbiker]

 

[Asr]

Finally can post my pics+impressions! Ok first I just have to say, I am totally NOT photogenic. Cameras and me just don't mix (unless I'm the one behind the camera, heh).

With that out of the way, this was one awesome meet! Some of you guys are clearly crazier than me.

Everyone was cool, 'twas great to meet you all, just a great bunch of Head-Fiers. I want to single out these guys:

- upstateguy, for letting me hook my amps into his setup, thanks again! We had a total of 5 amps feeding out of his single computer-based source - his Woo Audio 3, Heed CanAmp, and M^3, along with my Gilmore Lite LE and Xenos 1HA-EPC. Big thanks also for enlightening me to new music, I discovered KT Tunstall and Koop (both amazing female singers!) thanks to you. I've found that meets are a great way to discover new music.

- laxx, hYdrociTy, and the other Asian guy (sorry, forgot your Head-Fi alias!) for being really cool and easygoing.

- vcoheda, who was also really cool, and who almost incited a war of words when it came to talking about the RS1 and AD2000.

- Also daveDerek, MD1032, MrSlacker, Jahn, Towert7, and finally nikongod (my icebreaker question for him was about his infamous pic).

- The eminent Ray Samuels was as entertaining as ever. No meet is complete without him!

- Would've liked to see you again Romanee, wanted to check out your little collection of portable amps. Oh well, maybe next time?

- Finally another thanks to Aaron/immtbiker for putting together the meet, this was definitely a great way to meet up with the NY gang again after the hectic (and personally, a bit unnerving) 2006 National, glad to see you got into the black on those donations!

- Oh and on another note, since I didn't get to see who won my contributions to the silent auction other than vcoheda, hope the winners enjoy them. I contributed my K501, the skyline889-made SPC interconnects I got just a few weeks ago, a Signal Cable Analog Mini 5', and a Gilmore Lite w/ Elpac. All four items were part of the "secret" stuff I brought. The fifth secret that I brought and said "even I was not expecting" was the Xenos 1HA-EPC. I don't know how many people got to listen to that, hopefully at least a couple.

Pics

112 pics - all available in my NY Regional 2007 Photobucket gallery.

And here are some bite-sized morsels from the gallery (pulled at random) to whet the appetites of the low-bandwidth users around here:

Impressions

- ATH-L3000 - Got to listen to these for the first time. Really nice headphones, nice and snug, and it was one of only THREE Audio-Technicas at the meet (the other two being a W5000 and my AD2000). Wasn't really impressed, the bass seemed overbalanced and something about the mids didn't grab me. I'll need to give these more listens at future meets to decide if I still want to add these to my collection.

- ATH-AD2000 (mine) - I'm just posting this one because I've gotta say, my current single favorite headphone ever still has not been dethroned. Everyone needs to own an AD2000! I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that I will never get rid of these, ever, nor will I pursue any more headphones. This is truly the end of the line for me. No more headphones for me ever! (With the possible exception of the L3000.)

- PS-1 - this was even better than I remembered it to be. It sounds like and doesn't like a Grado at the same time. I didn't notice any bass overbalance (though these were re-cabled), just an overall smooth Grado sound (if that can exist).

- RSA HR-2 - this amp was seriously impressive and had me doubting my intentions of staying away from RSA amps in general (nothing against Ray at all, it's just that my sonic preferences don't align with Ray's). It drilled into the AD2K's bass with the most surreal control I've ever heard, helping it push more power and force.

- RSA Stealth - not impressed by this one. It seemed to do nothing in particular for my AD2K.

- RSA XP-7 - wasn't impressed by this one either, as it also did nothing special with my AD2K. I wish I could've had my K701 along to really get a better idea of its abilities, oh well. The XP-7 is one of the most enigmatic RSA amps for me.

- K701 - I don't know who these belonged to, the cord was stock, and the serial # on them was 9xxx something. These totally did NOT sound like mine. No doubt about it. I used one of my reference CDs I'd brought along to give this a formal test, it did NOT pass, and mine does. Burn-in exists, naysayers!

- Original Master amplifier - I really wanted to like these having read so much about them (raving included). But it didn't do anything special with my AD2K either. This amp more than any other had me craving for my K701 to hear its virtues.

- Heed CanAmp - dude, this amp really does rock. The only thing I was able to notice against the meet noise was its expansion of the soundstage. DAMN! There was so much more space and air! It was amazing! Should have checked it out with the K601, forgot to. I've gotta trial this amp lots more at future meets (don't plan on buying it, don't like the form factor and limited features - dealbreakers for me regardless of sound quality).

- M^3 - this amp is a great partner for the AD2K. It just has unique sound-altering abilities when the AD2K is plugged into it, balances out the spectrum and helps clean up the somewhat-slodgy mid-bass. Would've spent more time on this if the CanAmp hadn't been there.

- DT770-80 - got to do my own personal match-up of this bad boy against the AD2K to hear how their bass responses differed. What you've all heard is true. The DT770's bass is fine if you want a OMG IT'S BASS-kinda bass. But it paled next to the AD2K's bass, which was just more shockingly awesome. The extensions were pretty close (not that I did a formal test, just estimating), and both were well able to deliver boom, but the AD2K had finesse where the DT770 just sounded lazy.

- HeadRoom Micro Stack - I didn't listen to this, but I do want to say that this was a LOT smaller than I thought it was! It was smaller than my Gilmore Lite and DPS together, which I thought was already compact.

Lessons Learned

Just a few things I came away with after the meet.

- Almost nothing has unseated the AD2000 as my premier, favorite headphone, so I doubt anything will. Having heard a bunch of higher-end headphones, all I can think about is that none of them grab me, and in this hobby, if something doesn't grab you, it's not worth owning.

- IMO, the differences that amps in general make is extremely overhyped. Yeah, there are differences, I'm not saying there aren't any. But trying to pick apart the Original Master, Stealth, HR-2, and XP-7 (and others like the CanAmp and M^3) was like a game in futility. These amps are all top-tier of course. But after all this time of training my ears I still couldn't discern their clear advantages - the meet noise was a factor of course, and my headphones (AD2K) weren't very receptive to changes, and most of the music unfamiliar, but even then, I found that the differences between these amps was a lot more minor than I thought they would be.

- Music, it's all about the music. This was the first time at a meet where I sat down and actually enjoyed listening to some music I hadn't heard before (the stuff on upstateguy's computer). There are lots of good reasons to go to meets, and this should be at the top for sure. Oh you can go for the gear, but make sure you check out NEW MUSIC!

- I'm no longer going to list something as a "secret" or "surprise."

I think if I'd announced the fact I was bringing the Xenos, more people probably would've listened to it. And if I'd announced my four-item contribution to the silent auction, I'm pretty sure they would've gone for more to give an even bigger final donation amount. So I'm going to unveil the reason for the "Team Arcam" pretty soon, and when my next (last) amplifier comes in, I'll announce that as well, because my entire system is going to be at the 2007 International.

- On a similar note, I'll just share now that the K81DJ that I won in saint.panda's giveaway is going to be one of the freebies available at my table at the 2007 International! I would've brought it to this meet but I didn't get it in time.

 

[immtbiker]

K501 - M8o

skyline889-made SPC interconnects - ???

Signal Cable Analog Mini 5' - LBMajdn (sorry...handwriting misunderstanding...help me out here)

Gilmore Lite w/ Elpac. - vcoheda

Steve...Thanks for all of your donations. You are a true Head-fier!

 

[Towert7]

swt61, I have to say I was really digging the headphone stands you made at this meet. That big one was HUGE!!! Almost looked like an alter of sacrifice. I'd definitely pay for one of those! Bravo!


Great pictures everyone. I should have mine up soon.

This was the setup that really took my by surprise:

Who's was this? I love it! (not the K1000, but the Stax)

 

[Jahn]

Oh, and Nikongod won my Truly Awful Vinyl Collection - for fifty cents. Make certain you get those 2 quarters from him, Immtbiker!

 

[Towert7]

The "big" room

You know, I actually liked the purple sleeving.

I have to admit, I think the Original CD players are gorgeous!

My setup.

 

[Towert7]

Again, I was floored by this setup with the STAX! Was this nikongod's?

These stax were nice, but the leather pads get hot after a while... not sure if I could live with that.

 

[Towert7]

Cool looking tubes!

Nice DIY case! Finish that wood up and it would look very sweet.

Asr, I thought you would have been older (It's a compliment!) Great meeting you, very impressed you made the cross country trip.

 

[Towert7]

Ha, same camera as mine.

Sweet stand!

Ok, I'm done. That's all the pictures that came out from me. Sorry for those I missed.

 

[erikzen]

...to the show that never ends", following immtbiker's ELP theme.

Long useless post alert!

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said or isn't completely obvious, but that's never stopped me before. First off, thanks to Aaron for initiating and organizing the meet. Thanks to SiBurning for doing all the web work. A big shout out to the MOTs that lugged all their equipment to the garden spot of New York City - The Adria. Thanks to my "crew" vcoheda, jahn, jpelg and the lovely Laura, for making my trip in and out a bit more friendly and enjoyable. And a really big thanks to all the members that came out and, as usual, were really friendly and generous with their gear. I even enjoyed getting pwned in Guitar Hero.

I'm something of a veteran at the NYC meets and each time I spend less and less time listening to gear and more time...I don't know what. I'd like to say meeting folks but then it always seems like I only vaguely got to meet a few new people. I did put a few new names with faces.

Despite the fact that I didn't spend too much time listening, I did have a couple of objectives and came away with a few impressions:

Electrostatics

For the past year I've had a pair of Stax Lambda Pros and have been really happy. I've been curious about what else they can do and what changes I can make to my system to get to the next level so to speak.

For the most part I stayed away from gear that was beyond my budget. I've heard a lot of the super high end gear before and I'm satisfied for now to stay out of the stratosphere. However, I have been really curious to hear how the Lambdas might sound out of the ES1. The sound was unbelievable. It's like this amp can tranform a 20 year old headphone into the HE90. It's really amazing how this amp can bring the Lambdas to a whole new level. Of course flying in space isn't cheap, and with an entry price at $4000, this isn't happening for me anytime soon.

I then spent a little time at 88sound's rig. Thinking that maybe a Blue Hawaii might be a cheaper way to scale up the Lambdas, I gave it a try. This was of course after trying out the O2s through the Blue Hawaii, which sounded detailed, lush and musical. This was a really great combination. However, plugging in the Lambdas was something of a disappointment. The sound got a little etchy and irritating in the highs. It was nowhere as smooth as it was with the O2s or with the Lambdas in the ES1. Oh well, that upgrade doesn't seem to be the way to go.


R10

The R10s were my first "wow, these are the best headphones ever" headphones. The first time I heard them I was in love. Mind you, I've only heard them at meets but in subsequent auditions they kind of lost their magic for me. This time I listened to them out of Ray's B52, which is a work of art, by the way, and I fell in love all over again. I could just feel myself being enveloped by the music and just wanted to lie down under the table listening for a couple of hours.

DT770

Zatara was making good use my Proline 750s because he is considering buying a pair for an office rig. He's currently using the DT770 but finds the bass to be a bit overwhelming. It seems he's found his perfect headphone for office use in the 750s, but I gotta tell ya. His DT770s were sounding sweet. Maybe it was just the ambient noise but in his rig, the Beyers sounded superior to the Ultrasones. They both sounded good, but his cans were sounding particularly sweet on Saturday. To each his own but I was just about ready to trade headphones with him. I've never heard the DT770s sound so good.

Gilmore Lite

I have been a fan of the Gilmore Lite from way back. I had a chance to give one an extended audition for about a week when helping to organize a meet, way back when. Justin was kind enough to let me borrow it for a while. However, since that time I have found other amps and systems that have yielded great synergy. So when I told Jahn I was looking for a new amp to use either in a bedside rig or to switch out with my PRII so I could use the PRII in the bedside rig, he suggested I try out the GL with DSP. Either my tastes have changed or this was not the amp for the Prolines (or perhaps the Zhalou DAC had something to do with it). It was a bit too thin and bright for my tastes on this particular day.

Romanee Memorial Portable Amp Shootout

If a Gilmore Lite wasn't the answer for the transportable/bedside rig then maybe another portable amp was the answer. I have always been drawn to the Ray Samuels sound and at most meets I seem to spend a fair amout of time at his table. This has something to do with his products - he does have 3 portable amps I would easily consider buying - but it has more to do with the man. Ray and I had a interesting little session putting my PRII and his portable amps through their paces.

At first, I was trying to compare the Hornet, Tomahawk and SR71 to the PRII using the UM2s. Honestly, I couldn't tell much difference. I could discern a fairly noticable difference between the Hornet, and the other Ray Samuels amps but I had a particularly difficult time telling the SR71from the Tomahawk and the PRII. If I were just going to listen to the UM2s with a portable, I think I would choose the Hornet. It has the gain switch for the lower impedence IEMs and it gives you an all enveloping sound. The size is just that much smaller than the PRII that it makes it more convenient for portable use. While the Tomahawk is smaller, with longer battery life, I found the Tomahawk sound to be a little bit more aggressive.

I had never thought of the PRII as a particularly bright amp but it came to my attention that some feel it is a bit on the bright side. I will say that it is an amp that might be a bit understated in the bass, but for me in a home rig with a fairly warm DAC it has not seemed bright at all. With the Proline 750s and my AckdAck! or my HF-1s, there is plenty of bass. However, there are times when the sound seems to lack that tiny bit of bass bloom that can add so much to the music. Luckily, the amp has a very nice bass contour knob for just such occaisions.

Anyway, after a period of me switching back and forth between amps using the UM2s and iPod Nano, and then the Prolines, I came to the conclusion that as a home amp I preferred the PRII but for portable use I would probably prefer the Hornet. Of course, this eventually attracted the attention of Ray and he came over to find out what I had discovered. I explained I had found very small differences between the amps but that if I were going portable with the UM2s I would probably prefer the Hornet or Tomahawk but in my current rig as a dedicated home amp I preferred the PRII. Ray was very interested in the PRII as he had never really seen one up close. I opened it up for him and he was quite impressed with the build quality.

We then decided to try comparing the amps through Ray's source. For those that say "source first", I would really have to agree. The differences in the amps became much more noticeable, at least between the RSA amps and PRII. Ray's amps seem to have more bass impact using his Meridian and HD650s as compared to the PRII, when the bass knob is completely defeated. On the other hand when the bass knob on the PRII was set to half way, the difference between the Hornet and the PRII again became almost indistinguishable. Sure there are differences but not ones that stand out under meet conditions especially with open phones like the Senns.

The bottom line is that Ray's amps are tiny - the Tomahawk is a quarter of the size of the PRII - and pack a huge punch for such a small package. They have tremendous battery life and will give you sound that is well worth the money. On the other hand, the PRII with its bass contour knob and dedicated power supply seems to be better suited as a dedicated home amp although will certainly work perfectly well as a portable, especially with a nice carry bag.

I'm still undecided on how I should proceed in creating a bedroom rig. I think I'm going to stick with the PR II as my main dynamic amp, as it is very synergistic with the AckdAck! I am definitely considering one of Ray's portables for the transportable/bedside rig, but I'm not exactly sure which one. Silly me, not really thinking I should have brought the Overture DAC with me that I'll probably use as a source but hindsight is 20:20. The search continues...as usual.


Housekeeping Note

I left behind a 50' extension cord although I don't believe this is the same one Aaron is referring to in his previous post. Mine was the one that was powering Ray's setup and I didn't want to literally pull the plug when I had to leave. It is the same cord, I expect all the duct tape to be removed before I get it back. Aaron, I will contact you during the week to figure out how to get it back.

Thanks again!