Once again thanks to Aaron, Telicia and family for opening up their home to us. A wonderful time was had by all.
Thanks to all the Head-Fiers who dragged their equipment to Aaron's house, without which, there would have been no meet at all. It was great to hang out with all of you.
Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died and the backup was not fully charged so I was not able to take many pictures and of the ones I did take many were not very good. However, I will post a few just to give everyone a taste of the meet.
This is my fourth meet and I still can't get over the "kid in the candy store" feeling. I planned to try on concentrating on listening to a few things but as always happens, I got pulled in multiple directions. I will post a few impressions of things that stuck with me - nothing in too great detail.
I arrived at 1:00 and a few guys were there setting up. Here's meech and stevieo setting up meech's Dared MonoBlock/AKG 1000 setup.
As you can see, there was no shortage of quality cans, with the R10 and HD650 with Silver Dragons waiting on the bench.
I traveled light on Sunday, so as soon as there was a source, an amp and some headphones, I jumped right into listening. Bozebuttons brought his Theta, AckDack, Krell setup, which was conveniently located next to Aaron's comfy love seat.
Also nearby, were the R10s and the SA5000 (Baby Qualias). I popped a cd in the Theta and began listening. I had plenty of time to form an impression and I must say the R10s did not fail to impress. I noticed a full, warm, balanced sound with generous soundstage. Yummy! Certainly, no lack of bass here. It doesn't get any better than this. Well, figuratively speaking, anyway. I must say that I was a bit let down when I tried the SA5000 on this rig. All of a sudden the soundstage completely dropped out and I was left with a boxy, distant sound, although one with plenty of detail. This is an unfair comparison, R10 vs. SA5000, but I must say the SA5000 redeemed themselves later on when paired with the high gain SR71.
Next I got a good listen to the Qualias. While everyone was getting organized I took the opportunity to listen to one of Aaron's outstanding vinyl treasures - an all star Latin Jazz orchestra - through his Aires 2 and the SinglePower Maestro.
Qualias + Nice Vinyl Rig = rich, enveloping, musical tones. I can see why Aaron gave up his Omega IIs for the Qualias.
Also on that rack was Jahn's Solo plugged into a Pioneer player through some kind of $2000 interconnects. I can say that I finally "got" the Solo and when Jahn played me his Carpenters CD throught the Solo with the Qualias, I was greeted by sweet vocal saturation, oozing with detail. Of course, I'm not quite sure if I was listening to the Qualias, the amp or the high end interconnects, but nevertheless the combo worked.
After that, I moved into the kitchen, where the portables section was. I guess you could call it a "moveable feast" for the ears, set to a backdrop of Telica making some kind of sushi/salmon/california roll appetizer. (That's right folks, it wasn't just brownies!)
Romanee really went the extra mile on the portables. He contacted quite a few vendors, dedicating his own time and money to transporting literally dozens of amps, sources, cables, everything! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but this one doesn't do the setup justice. There are amps, Sonicas, CD players and whatnot, not even visible in the picture, hidden behind the frontline gear.
I came in on the tail end of the shootout between the Flute and the Overture. According to lan, Romanee and Jahn, the Overture won out. Then it was on to a comparison of the high and low gain SR71 and some more intense listening to the SA5000 and AKG 501. Also in the mix during my listening sessions were the SuperMacro and PortaPhile prototype amp. There were quite a few other amps on the table, but I personally didn't get a chance to hear them in any great detail.
Incidently, most of the portable listening was done with the Toshiba 3950 with full "Vinny Mods" from the digital out into the Overture.
- I enjoyed the AKG 501 - it's my cup of tea. I like the detail, clarity and soundstage. It may be a suitable replacement for my DT931, which does a lot of things well but doesn't get the high end right. Still not a good rock can, though.
- Even with low impedence cans, the high gain SR71 sounded better than the normal gain. This was most evident with the SA5000.
- The SA5000 needs a proper setup to get the most out of it. For example, with the low gain SR71, I found the sound disjointed with an unnatural separation between high and low frequencies. With the high gain SR71, Overture and modded 3950, it sounded full and detailed.
- The SR71 is a better portable amp than the SuperMacro and PortaCorda II - unfortunately for my wallet. The PortaPhile prototype gets honorable mention in the best portable amp category. It had a lot more in common with the SR71 than the SuperMacro. The SM is not a bad amp, it is just a bit upfront and bright.
- I don't need to hear "Back in Black" again for a long time
I was very impressed with Aaron's son's interest and aptitude in audio. He's a chip off the old block.
Fittingly, I ended my listening on Aaron's bedroom rig, the Final Tool
He turned me on to some rare vinyl pressing of some Japanese jazz artist, Yamamoto. At least I think it was the name of the artist. Anyway, it was sweet, warm and detailed. Someday, I will get myself a nice vinyl rig, probably when the kids finish college. Until then I'll have to be satisified with my modest equiment and meeting up with all of the great Head-Fiers out there when the opportunity presents itself.
Thanks again one and all!