[jaybar]

If anyone can bring their Omega II's to the meet on Sunday (early, if possible). I will be getting there about 11:30. This would be my only chance to audition them against my SR 404's which I will be bringing.

Thanks so much.

Jay

 

[MD1032]

Dude, that meet kicked ass. Sorry I can't see you guys tomorrow! It was nice meeting you. My foremost impressions are as follows:

1) New Grados are the ultimate power in the universe. Period. I literally had goosebumps running down my whole body as I heard the first few measures flow through its gigantic bowls into my ears.
2) DT880's do an extremely good job with organ music, otherwise mediocre.
3) Headroom Micro is a really excellent portable amp, beating the Portaphile and my custom Meta42 that I brought. Really solid amp in every respect. Has to be heard.
4) HD650 is a nice headphone in every single respect except for the rounded-off attacks to the notes. Overall does a very credible job with non-impactful music (like classical, my organ stuff, clapton unplugged).
5) Slappa's $10 40 CD case is the best deal ever.
6) Westone UM2's are flat-out amazing. Better than the new Shure E500's in terms of the high-end detail IMHO.

The big guy in the yellow John Williams marching band shirt,
MD1032

 

[Purgatos]

I don't know what's happening but I can post and it's awesome.

GoRedWings19 and Philodox are here and the headphones are the best in meet and everything is amazing and life is better than you non-national people can imagine.

 

[The Monkey]

What time do things start on Sunday (er, later today)?

 

[Purgatos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purgatos I don't know what's happening but I can post and it's awesome. GoRedWings19 and Philodox are here and the headphones are the best in meet and everything is amazing and life is better than you non-national people can imagine.

LOL, this is Jay [Philodox]. Purgatos is so drunk. He just put on Aesop Rock and then jumped on to his bed and fell asleep. I think I might try to get some of that... sleep stuff.

PS: I think the meet starts at 11pm... it was mentioned in the meet thread recently, I'll have a look.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purgatos LOL, this is Jay [Philodox]. Purgatos is so drunk. He just put on Aesop Rock and then jumped on to his bed and fell asleep. I think I might try to get some of that... sleep stuff. PS: I think the meet starts at 11pm... it was mentioned in the meet thread recently, I'll have a look.

lol

, you're right Jay. I looked back, looks like 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

I'm going to try to make it for at least a little bit.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purgatos I think the meet starts at 11pm

11 AM!!

 

[Purgatos]

oh yeah, definately AM... oops.

 

[giovanni]

guys, it's been great fun, just too short and I have no way to make it today, too bad. I have heard super stuff and I confirm the Senn's (580 -->650) are not good to my ears (!) and particularly so for classical, contrary to popular belief !!!!!!!! Now, what is good for me I yet have to discover.

More later, but the most important thing, really, is that it was nice to meet a bunch of you guys, see a few faces, including the people on the business side of things. The headroom guy, very nice indeed as well as Rudy the italian guy from Trieste (even though he likes Prodi !!!) and many others.
A bunch of cool dudes !

gio

 

[bwooster]

I am visiting my family just two miles away. I am not on the list of attendees. Is there anyway I can come to the meet?

Thanks

 

[mjg]

im gonna head out at a quarter to 11... gonna eat something first.
see ya there.

 

[moj0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwooster I am visiting my family just two miles away. I am not on the list of attendees. Is there anyway I can come to the meet? Thanks

Could I drop in for the meet too?

 

[The Monkey]

I won't be making it today. Stupid work. Looking forward to Day 2 impressions.

 

[Porksoda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Ugh. TOo many WHite Castles. Time for a quick breakfast and setup time! -Ed

GAH!! I forgot to get White Castle while I was down there! They don't have it in the Albany area, and I miss it sooooo much from home!

I meant to get some while I was down there but the whole trip was pretty last minute for me so I didn't plan these things out! All of you who have seen "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" and got it know what I am going through.

As far as impressions, I had a great time at the meet. I got to listen to the vaunted HE90 for a bit, and was duely impressed with what I heard for the brief few minutes. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to play metal on it; it just didn't seem right.

One system that I was very impressed with was from one of the DIY'ers. Forgive me, I can't remember your name or handle. He had a modded (relatively no-name) CD player, an RA-1, and some (I think) Phillips headphones that go for like $60 with a stand. It was actually a really impressive system! The sound was really well balanced for my taste (read: a bit on the lean side for deep bass) but quick and punchy. The highs were very good aswell. My only complaint was that the mids seemed kind of muddled and had trouble with well recorded progressive metal, which can get very "busy", sonically. All in all, for a system that couldn't have cost more than $300 for source, amp, and cans (with a headphone stand!) I was extremely impressed.

Other than that, I have in the past year or so gotten very cynical of high end gear and whether or not it makes a difference, and how many of the differences people "hear" are actually there. I will say, though, that hearing all the flagship cans from all the manufacturers, I was able to pick out little differences among them that I did or didn't like. One that really surprised me was the Qualias. I heard them a year or go or so at a meet and unconditionally bashed them from my own listening. I popped in some acoustic guitar stuff and at low volume, WOW. The best of anything I heard at the meet for acoustic guitar. Mind you, I still hate them for everything else

So, I guess in some regard the meet did re-enforce my addiction to obscenely expensive gear in that I am convinced there is a perfect listening experience out there somewhere.



Oh yeah, I won a voucher for free Grado Street Styles!

The Vendors at the show were INCREDIBLY generous for the raffle. John Grado gave away an awesome set of reference gear (in addition to many vouchers for street styles), Tyll gave away a micro dac and amp, and all the headphone manufacturers gave away headphones and other paraphanalia. There was tons other stuff too, some of it drawing "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the crowd. I'll never remember all of it so I will leave it to an organizer or somebody who pays closer attention to list all of it. Suffice it to say, ALL of the vendors involved were unbelievably generous.

Oh yeah the food was really good, too!

Good times, see you next year, hopefully!

 

[mrdon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porksoda One system that I was very impressed with was from one of the DIY'ers. Forgive me, I can't remember your name or handle. He had a modded (relatively no-name) CD player, an RA-1, and some (I think) Phillips headphones that go for like $60 with a stand. It was actually a really impressive system! The sound was really well balanced for my taste (read: a bit on the lean side for deep bass) but quick and punchy. The highs were very good aswell. My only complaint was that the mids seemed kind of muddled and had trouble with well recorded progressive metal, which can get very "busy", sonically. All in all, for a system that couldn't have cost more than $300 for source, amp, and cans (with a headphone stand!) I was extremely impressed.

Hi Porksoda! It's me mrdon!

Thank you for the impressive and honest review of my set-up. Yes, I am an "extreme value" audiophile and I am glad to see that you agree that one does not have to dump $8K for a massive (but impressive) 300B tube system to have good sound. BTW, the CD player you mentioned was actually a modded Samsung HD-841 Universal DVD/SACD/CD player - cost $150. The cables were DIY Belden 89259 terminated with Redco RCA's - cost $10. The headphones were the $50 shipped from Hong Kong Philips SHP895. The amp was an RA-1 Clone on pcb - cost $25.

Now what were the names of those two speed metal bands we were both listening too?