[lmswjm]

Quote:

Thank you Tom for hosting another great meet.
 
 I did enjoy doing a comparison of the Stax 007/009 vs LCD-3 at Justin's table.  

 
 
What did you think?

 

[kenman345]

Quote:

Thanks to Tom and everyone. Loved talking to Dale Lott and Dimitri, Justin was very nice, too. It was fun hanging out a bit with and chatting with Rawrster, Ken and asking Sunny at the Hifiman table about her contact lenses.
 
I think the Kingsound electrostat will be a hit at $800 amp included, the Aurisonics AS-2 and ASG-2 should be very popular as well.

I have to agree with pretty much all your statements right here besides the Hifiman table thing, I didn't do that myself. Getting to meet you was fun. I hope you enjoy your gear, I know I love mine. 
 
Dale and Dimitri were lots of fun to talk to. I gave Dimitri a ride from his hotel to the meet and I do not regret it one bit. Nothing better than helping out someone that appreciates the Head-Fi community and makes a living from in the audio world. Two years I've given rides to people and two years I have made friends I hope to keep for many years to come. 
 
I listened to almost every portable DAP at the meet. I missed listening to the iBasso DX100 this year and the Colorfly C4. Otherwise it was an interesting match up against the other players. 
 
Rankings of DAPs based my needs as a on the go listener with only CIEM's and practicality:
1. Altmann Tera Player
2. RWAK100
3. AK100
4. HiFiMan HM-901
 
The AK100 and the RWAK100 both sounded amazing but if I was gonna get one I'd go for the modded one just because I wouldn't worry much about impedance mismatch being an issue as my collection of IEM's and headphones grow in the future. It also is really nice and small. The HiFiMan HM-901 was great but the lack of EQ makes it like my Tera Player in terms of why I wouldn't get one. I already have a device without EQ so this device as a whole is less appealing as a secondary device, wheres the AK's could complement my Tera Player quite well in terms of having two devices. The HM-901 does have something going for it though which is the modularized amp section. If I was thinking of getting another high-end player and felt I would need an amp, I would go for the HM-901 because it would all be under one nice form factor. I think will have a lot of appeal to people and I wish them great success with it. 
 
Vinnie Rossi from Red Wine Audio was a joy to chat with. He took a listen to the Tera Player and I believe he enjoyed it, but hopefully he might shed some light on his feelings on it. I don't wanna speak for him. I enjoyed very much listening to his RWAK100 and seeing a familiar face from last year and how much I know I've grown since then was fun (knowledge and preference wise growth).
 
Dan from Mr Speakers.......Just damn man, you make some killer headphones. I loved meeting you last year and seeing you again was a lot of fun. If the meet up had a best in show, yours just might take the cake for performance and excellence at a solid price point. Watch out for my name coming through your emails when I graduate and start getting a regular paycheck. Keep up the good work and I wish you lots of future success. If you judge people's gear by the percentage of the auction price to the full price, your headphones go unmatched. 
 
Justin from HeadAmp, I am so glad to have seen you again this year. We talked briefly and I didn't make it to your booth, but I did get another Pico Slim. I missed mine and I got a sick deal on this one. Thanks for your commitment to the community and while I didn't stop by, you can take pride that someone liked your product enough that they wanted to buy one again. Keep up the good work, I look forward to see what you come out with next.
 
Cable Company, I didnt listen to your stuff but I did come around and heard you saying people can try out expensive headphones at home before they buy them. This is a great idea and I absolutely love it. A meet up won't tell you if a headphone is right for you, it'll only tell you if you should consider getting one at some point. Now people can listen at a meet up or trade show and demo a unit before they buy. I like companies doing things that just make sense, I will be sure to be checking out your site more.
 
Dale and Josh, from Aurisonics, Thanks for making the drive and bringing a lovely set up. It was great meeting you two. I love your products and I think now a lot of other people understand that too. 
 
I'll probably post about more things at a later point. 

 

[bozebuttons]

I would like to thank all that attended the meet, The Vendor showing was Great.
The Vendor donations to the not so silent auction as well as David Mahler donation of Cds  & Decurs Digital cable , Yikes Digital cable was over the top..
The total from the auction was $2265.00  this covered the room & cost of the meet pack of extension cords & power strips for future meets which totaled $900
remainder of the funds will go towards  the cost of future  Ny meets.Members got some Really Really good deals.
 
Also thanks to Yikes who Handled the Bidding, The man could make a living being a auctioneer!
 
Big ThanKs to Vertical & the young man( didn't Catch your user name Hoped you won your Hockey Game) that also helped with Running the power strips & extension cords
Kenman345 thanks for remembering to bring the auction bid sheets.
 
Vinnie thanks for Lunch,Jude also thanks Thanks for Dinner great breaking Bread with every one  & hanging out .Always a pleasure.
 
The meet started slowly but really picked up in the afternoon,I quess Headfiers are not early risers.If I do the next spring meet I will see about starting it later & ending it later
Cost will be a lot more for  the hall due to they rent it out in the evening for parties.
 
Skinnypuppy sorry to hear what you felt about Dan,But to me with my dealings with Dan he is the total opposite easy  helpfull going guy to deal with.
I am not disputing your feelings ,maybe you should Pm Dan & tell him how you felt about your interaction with him.
 
The big thing for me after all these years on Head-fi over 10 is all the interesting people I have met from all over the world that have become friends that I would never have met.
 
I rarely listen to gear at meets anymore ,more yacking & making sure things are running smoothly being the organizer.
 
 
But I did get some quick listens to a few things.All of my impressions are meet impressions with a short listen .
 
.Bang for the buck are 2 items that stood out for me.
The maddog Headphones .Dan has refined them from the last meet & i have to tell you they are well Balanced now & just sound Right
Dan is also offering owners of older units the option to upgrade their phone for a very very reasonable price,Its worth it.Contact Dan.
 
The Other Bang for the buck setup was the prototype King Sound electrostatic setup that Moon Audio had on display priced around $800 for amp & phones.
 
 
I also listened to Donald Norths Stratus with the HD800s,nice centerfill which with the wrong amp isn't there with some amps using the 800s very Nice I can see why this amp is gaining such a following.
 
YIkes had  some nice highend amps on hand to try.Yikes only had single ended phones on hand.
 
The Cavalli liguid gold which I believe is a prototype using the Grado ps1000s single ended & they where sounding mighty fine,I am a grado guy but don't own the PS1000s
Very nice sounding combo,my only complaint about the amp which could be because it was a prototype is you couldn't tell what amp it was because it was all black with looked like black engraved front panel ,needs some contrast in lettering on the panel,White maybe.
 
Next up was the Luxman p700u with the HD800 Cardas clear cable again single ended
Clean sounding is the one word I would give this combo,it was like looking through a window after it was cleaned & the sun was shinning through,Not bright
build quality was top notch.
 
Next up was the Exemplar prototype tube amp with the LCD2.2  Vocals on this setup where more holographic the the other 2 amps but it is tube based.
This amp was one that you just sit back & forget about the gear.  Hope this one goes into production..
 
Any one of these amps could be a end game amp,I didn't switch headphones on the amps to see how they sounded with the other 2 or try a balanced phone with the cavalli or luxman due to none being on the table.
 
 
I also got to listen to Justins GsX Mk2 with the He6s & at the price he is asking for the amp its  a steal if I didn't have my Krell I would  have bought one.
 
 
 Dimitri from Musica Acoustics gets the longest Travel Award having come in from Japan,we also had a member stop by from Ireland.

 

[Frank I]

 Thanks to Tom for organizing a wonderful meet. It was nice to see some old friends as well as make new ones. I enjoyed my time with everyone and the day flew by so fast.  I listened to  Justin Blue Hawaii with the stax 009 and 007 and it sounded excellent. Drew Baird had the fantastic King Sound Electrostat headphone priced at 800.00 with the amplifier  and it  was sounding  fantastic. I predict this will be a huge success. I  also want to thank George Lentz from EML for spending the day with Donald North and myself with his EML 2A3 solid plate tube, 5U4G tube and they were making excellent music with the Stratus. I received many compliments on the Decware Taboo Mk111 as well.
 
 Dan Clark's Mad dogs were making excellent music and he was busy all day. Excellent value for the money and truly a nice closed headphone as well.  Jack Wu WA7 was a big hit as well. The sound was fantastic. Special shout out to Dave Derek as he has been asking me to go for four years and we have finally had the opportunity to meet. Ethan did a wonderful job with the auction as always. The Luxman amplifier sounded excellent. It was great to see Larry,Ari and kerry as well as the many other who I knew from the North jersey meets. There was so much gear I want to hear but the day.  I wanted to say thank to Vinnie Rossi for lunch as well.   Thanks Jude for attending and for dinner with a great group of guys. I sure I forgot some things but will post more as I remember and thanks to everyone who stopped by and listened to my gear and to Donald North's amp as well. I look forward to the fall meet.
 
I also liked the Fostex TH900 and the TH600 that were at the meet. Both headphones sounded more refined than the Denon D7000 that I once owned.  I heard the Bryston as well as other products  and listened to the T90 from Beyer and am looking forward to more time with the T90 in the next several weeks as Pete is sending me one for a review. All the vendors were  fantastic and added to the meed. Mike Dias is one cool dude and was taking video of the meet as well.  Thanks to Steve Guttenberg for some insight and attending.
 
Thanks to everyone I met and for making this a truly special headphone meet. This was one of the best events I have attended. Special thanks to everyone who drove long distances and flew thousands of miles to make this a wonderful event. The dedication from the community members is what make this the best online community in the world. Headfi is truly blessed with special people.

 

[skullguise]

Back home in MA now, had a great time during and after.
 
Many thanks to Tom and all the vendors; I'm not a portable guy so I didn't listen at several tables, but meeting them and going to dinner was still great.
 
Really really great to put some faces to names, and get to meet and chat in person.
 
Standout for me was easily Justin's Blue Hawaii with the 009.  Some other new things I tried and enjoyed were Alan and his Bakoun amp (driving HD-800's when I had them on right!),  Maybe not worth the money they are asking, but I liked them a good amount.
 
Also listened some to Yikes' setups, including the Cavalli driving my balanced HD-600's (liked a lot but didn't love, I don't think the HD-600's showed all it can do).  I was bummed I didn't get to hook up my phones to the Luxman amp, that was a beautiful and I'm sure very well-built & sounding piece!
 
Also liked the LCD-3's out of the GS-X v2, but it was a pretty briefy listen.
 
Like Tom, I also enjoyed the Maddog phones, and Dan is a real pleasure.  The phones showed some very nice balance top to bottom, and Dan's music selection was just top notch.  Robert Fripp, Richard Tompson, and a nice piece that he introduced me to by Ry Cooder.
 
But best of all was really the people, chatting away during the meet, meeting new folks (GREAT time chatting and listening, Vertical), tipping up a few dixie cups, and the Terrace for dinner (big thank you to Jude as well).
 
PS - Frank, you get my vote for best stories of youth!

 

[Kunlun]

I've started a thread in Headphones for the King Sound Electrostat.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/660754/kingsound-electrostat-headphones-800-total-including-amp#post_9373108
 
Please feel free to comment if you had a chance to listen to them at the NY meet! Also, please post some pics of it from the meet.

 

[Kerry]

Quote:

 
 
What did you think?

 
I love the Stax stuff always, but I liked the LCD-3's for rock a bit more.

 

[olegausany]

I also want to thank Tom for organizing this great meet which I also really enjoyed as usual. I also want to thank Mullet whose Cavali CTH amp clearly showed me that I definitely should switch to tube amp. I also want to thank Woo Audio rep whose WA7 DAC/Amp sounds so great with many different headphones so I feel in love with so much that ended up buying one. This meet also helped me to understand that i shouldn't upgrade to T1 and that the way to go is electrostat headphones/amp combo shown by Moon Audio since it's sounds so great.  Yes I know I will not be able to use WA7's amp to drive them but for $800 this combo is a steal for such poor man like me and I think for many others. After trying AK100 i understand it's time to upgrade my portable player. Unfortunately I didn't try modified version of it but it definitely should be on short list of any audiophile who wants to enjoy his music at it's best on the go. I also was happy to find out that Dan from Mr. Speakers finally achieved the balanced overall sound  and bass I was looking for from Mad Dogs with new Alpha pads so I think now Mad Dogs should be on the short list of anyone looking for closed cans. And I really think that Mad Dogs and AK100 are made for each other so great this combo sounds. I also was surprised to find out that FOR ME  not longer needed DragonFly clearly sounds better than Gamma2 when driving Cavali CTH especially with the Russian tube

 

[DavidMahler]

This was a fantastic meet.  I was only able to stick around for a short while, but it was great to see so many friends.  I also finally got to hear Ari's amp which sounded unbelievable with the HD800
 
Donald North's amp sounded superb with Frank I's LCD-2 rev 2.  I didn't get a chance to hear everything, but from what I did hear those two rigs were the clear standouts for me.  I didn't spend any time with the electrostatics unfortunately

 

[m8o]

Killer meet.  Thanx Tom and all who played a role.
 
It didn't go as expected for me tho.  I had the highest hopes to determine which '$1000-ish' ortho or electrostatic headphone I'd finally purchase.  But I listened to almost none in that price range of the many that were there to audition and it seems I missed something important with that prototype $800-ish electrostat that was shown .  
 
Some -- errr, "one" -- decided to liberate a CD out of the collection I brought along for people to listen to on the brand new Little Dot CDP_II David sent me, as he had no CDP_I's left.  As he never released the CDP_II I was pretty happy to have a prototype or one of the few preview devices with the upgraded CDP_I circuitry.  And as IMO it produced the best playback results I wanted to use it as my primary music source.  Though the cost of one liberated CD is near nil to me and easily replaceable, after the event I no longer felt all my gear was 'safe' left alone as I normally would think I could.  I buried all my CDs in my travel containers, and I felt compelled to keep an eye on my stuff lest the perpetrator return and decide to liberate something that was more valuable to me off my headphone display or lift the E17 I had there in its  dock serving DAC duties to all my amps.  

 

[mrspeakers]

I had a great time seeing so many of the people I met last year, as well as meeting so many new people. As always, I got atuck manning my booth so I didnt get mich time to hear the cool gear.

Thanks, Tom and everyone for putting together such a great event!

 

[vertical]

Hey, what a great time I had at this, my 1^st meet!
 
I’m at a fencing tournament with my daughter. Between bouts, I have a little time, and good news is the club has Wi-Fi.
 
1^st, big thanks to Tom (Bozebuttons) for organizing the meet and reserving the hall.
 
Meet Highlights I can recall at this point:
 
Vendors:
I was impressed with the Mad Dog phones at MrSpeakers, and the WA6 hybrid amp from Woo Audio.
 
Lots of members brought cool stuff:
·        Thx to SpiderNhan for giving me the chance to listen to his M-100s…really fun sounding headphone (and functional design too). He even took the time to find me after his lunch break knowing I had expressed interest in listening to his V-Modas.
·        I liked the sound of DutchGFX modded Q701s through his updated Schiit Lyr; and later at the meet, through his new (meet-acquired) Woo Audio WA6.
·        Mullet’s array of DIY gear was impressive. It’s clear he’s put in a lot of effort.
[size=10pt]·        [/size][size=10pt]Skullguise’s setup, a Matrix X-Sabre DAC into a Mjolnir amp driving his HD-600 sounded really good. I especially liked his large portfolio of high-quality audio files, and his taste in music [/size]
 
It was also great to meet the founder, Jude. Very cool that he took the time to travel to the meet!
 
Jude asked a number of attendees to comment (while being recorded) as to what the Head-Fi community meant to us. So, I thought about that some more since yesterday, and beyond the usual good stuff like learning from other’s experience and expertise; a big value for me is that it’s good to feel part of something. It can be isolating being the only one of everyone I know outside of Head-Fi that is really into headphones and related components. No else I know listens to their music and headphones the way I do. It’s cool to be able to interact live (and in the on-line forums) with like-minded people. Just wish I had more funds...
 
Anyway, thanks for creating this community, Jude!

 

[skullguise]

m8o, sorry to hear of the loss of the CD.  Happened to me as well, but a reach out to the attendees at the Boston-area event where it happened resulted in getting it back, and the person who accidentally grabbed it (he had a pile with him, too, and was swapping out CD's on my system) and I met up several times afterwards for good food, good beer, and good chats.
 
Maybe that can happen.  Even if someone took it on purpose, ask if they'd just make a copy if they REALLY want it and return yours anonymously somehow.

 

[gHeadphone]

Hey guys
 
I am the member from Ireland who attended. I was a little apprehensive as Ireland doesn't have a great deal of Audiophile equipment so i probably know less than almost everybody on this site.
 
However people couldn't have been nicer. From Tom the organizer who was incredibly welcoming, Dimitri who spent ages with me letting me try all types of IEMs and generally being a great guy, Dale who also had me jacked up with some great IEMs, The Beyer guys who took me through most of their range, Dan from MrSpeakers who was also very accommodating.
 
Particular thanks to the HiFiMan rep, i had an almost religious experience listening to the HE6 headphones through the $1600 amp. He spent time with me near the end of the meet when he should have been packing up, and i am now planning on saving for a set of HE6s.
 
Lastly thanks to Scott who explained loads about Amps ad gave me a whole new understanding about how to select a good rig.
 
After all of the fun yesterday i added a set of Grado SR 255s today, my first open cans and I'm sitting in the airport ready to fly back to Ireland listening to them right now.
 
Thanks for being so welcoming and I'm looking forward to trying to co-ordinate a trip when the next meet is on.

 

[mink70]

Thanks to Mullet for the ride to my first meet—it was great fun. And thanks to Bozebuttons for organizing. It was so fun to meet everyone. What a lovely group of people.
 
A lot of impressions. The Sony R10 is the most beguiling headphone I've ever heard. I sat there slack-jawed. In terms of enjoyment and tone, I've never heard anything even approaching these. Ari's Silver Ghost was majestic with the HD800. I only wish someone could make them commercially. The King Sound headphone sounded silly-good, and was the first electrostat I've heard that's really fun—not to mention the welcoming price. And Donald North of DNA is a just a ridiculously modest, generous, and appealing person. His Stratus sounded excellent, too. I'm hoping that one of his smaller amps could be the solution for my HD800. 
 
And again, so many open, generous people: Mullet, Jude, Dmitri, Ari, Frank, Tom, Paulo, Alan, and many whose names I forgot or didn't get a chance to talk to. Looking forward to the next one—this fall in Queens, right Mullet?