[sacd lover]

OK... people will begin arriving soon. I would expect people to have sampled some gear and be ready for some questions by 11:00-11:30. I invite anyone interested in the amps/ sources or headphones we have to post their questions.

The members will be mikey01, go_vtec, bg4533, rempert, EdipisReks and myself. I got a pm from woodcans and he may be able to make it too. If you wish to ask a question of someone in particular please identify the member. I will have them use my log in name but identify themselves when they post.

This is an experiment so I am not sure how this will go. If we get flooded with questions it may take awhile to answer them. But please feel free to ask questions... we will get to them eventually.

By the way, you can ask questions anytime its just that no one will probably be ready for any comments until later.

 

[Glod]

Do we have contact?

Netherlands calling Ohio; over.

Just want to whish you guy's a nice meet!

I will try following the developments from here. I am really curious about the MPX3 vs. GS-1.

Shame about the camera Earl...

 

[tom hankins]

SLAM vs. MPX3/12sn7 with HD650 (preferably with Zu cable) opinions??

 

[tom hankins]

Also, Earl did the slam version of the MPX3 get done and back in time for this meet?

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins Also, Earl did the slam version of the MPX3 get done and back in time for this meet?

We have a CB version of the mpx3 SLAM with a 6sn7 driver and the two 5687 outputs. The amp is sounding great out of the box.

 

[DrOctagon]

I'm wondering how the SLAM (PPX3) holds up against the other models in the Singlepower lineup. But more specifically, I'm looking at getting either a GS-1 (...today, since the intro price ends), or a PPX3 Slam, and I wonder what your guys' impressions of how the two might compare are. Namely with a Senn HD650/Zu combo.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrOctagon I'm wondering how the SLAM (PPX3) holds up against the other models in the Singlepower lineup. But more specifically, I'm looking at getting either a GS-1 (...today, since the intro price ends), or a PPX3 Slam, and I wonder what your guys' impressions of how the two might compare are. Namely with a Senn HD650/Zu combo.

I have had a problem with one channel in the GS-1. I have it working now but I am not sure what happened. It plays fine as a preamp but the left channel was dead. I am trying to figure this out right now.

 

[tom hankins]

Any more impressions by you guys at the meet? I didnt think anyone would stop listening long enough to answer our questions.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins Any more impressions by you guys at the meet? I didnt think anyone would stop listening long enough to answer our questions.

Your absolutely right ...so much for interactive.

 

[bg4533]

The pictures I took can be found at: http://brian.osupages.com/audio/pictures/meet0405/

Lots of interesting stuff. I don't want to kill this thread for those on dial up so I will only post 1 pic. I think this rack was the main attraction.

I am going to get food now. I will post impressions later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[bg4533]

There was also a lot of gear from go_vtec and acs236 that I did not get to photograph. Unfortunately go_vtec had to leave early. I velieve he took some photos as well.

 

[EdipisReks]

here are my predinner impressions. i'll write a longer post later. first, the SA5000's; i thought they were very similar to my CD3000's. they are a little warmer, the bass is a little tighter, and the highs were a little recessed (only in comparison to the CD3000's). the soundstage wasn't quote as wide, but it seemed to be a bit deeper and more focued i liked them, but i wouldn't go out of my way to sell my CD3000's for them unless i get a chance to really hear them long term. sorry, acs, but i didn't get a chance to listen to them out of the GS-1. they sounded nice out of the Moth and my PPX3, though.

the more i hear the HD650's, the more i like them. i wouldn't be surprised if i get a pair in the near future. the woody 650's that bg4533 owns are great; they are a little brighter and a little more diffuse than the regular 650's, and i liked it. i heard a difference between a set of 650's cabled with the zu mobius vs. a set cabled with oehlbach cables. while i can't be sure that the difference wasn't in the phones themselves (i would have to be able to do a blind a/b of just the cables to be sure), i'm willing to tentatively believe in cable changes. the zuified set was a bit brighter than the oehlbachs.

the PPX3 slam wasn't that different, in my opinion, than my PPX3 solen stage one, but it did have more bass snap and presence, and was a little warmer. i didn't get to a/b the MPX3 slam vs. the MPX3, but i liked both very much. the Singlepower amps all have a similar sound and performance and i'm very happy with my PPX3 vs. the MPX3 and PPX3 SLAM. if i had the money i would probably get the MPX3, but i don't think i'm giving all that much up.

source wise, i think that Mikey01's Denon 2910 is a little bit better than my Yamaha, but i think my Yamaha competed quite ably considering it only cost $360 shipped.

the big winners in my opinion were Mikey01's Moth and his DT990's. the Moth is amazingly seductive sounding, with great speed, detail and extension. it seems like an expensive amp to tube roll, though. i don't know why the DT990's don't get more attention. they have the bass of the DT770's, but also a great midrange, soundstage, detail and high end. the treble was slightly bright for my taste, but i'm sure tube rolling would fix that (i listened to an album and a half with them out of my PPX3/Yamaha). i don't know what the stock DT990's sound like, but they were very good with Mikey01's very professional recabling.

i came out like a bandit at the meet, with sacd_lover giving me some very, very nice 6CG7's and a pair of nice phono splitters. i knew that he was going to give me some tubes, but i didn't expect him to go all out (the dropped Sylvania works perfectly, btw)!

all in all, it was an absolute blast. sacd_lover is a great host, and i think everyone had a lot of fun. like i said, i'll write up a little more in depth meet impression later.

 

[woodcans]

First off, thanks to SACD for hosting the meet. He is a great guy and very accomodating to his guests. This was my first meet and I had a great time listening and chatting. Two points. First, I'm not nearly as good as many on the boards here at describing in detail what I hear. Second, I arrived late and spent a fair amount of time talking, so the most time I spent listening to any combination was 10-15 minutes or so; so these are initial impressions only.

While I of course enjoyed the 'Tower of Singlepower', my best of show award goes to the Moth Audio amplifier coupled to the custom recabled Beyer 990 combo. The bass was fantastic and deep, the mids were right on and the highs were detailed without being either dark or bright - a very nice balance. And the soundstage really opened up. While the Moth drove 650's excellently, the soundstage with the Beyers was more three dimensional. I think I'm going to contact Mikey01 soon for a pair of these phones.

Just to clarify, all of the amps I listened to sounded great, I'm just giving my personal preferences as to the differences. Kinda like when my wife asks my opinion on different dresses/outfits: they are all great, we're just talking different levels of greatness.

On to the Tower of Singlepower:

My 2nd favorite combo was sacd's tube rectified old-style chassis ppx. This amp was smooth with excellent full range and detailed sound. I definitely would like to spend more time with this amp.

The mpx3 SLAM was there. I really liked this one, too. I thought it sounded similar to my maxed out mpx3. Didn't listen long enough to this though to give any more detail.

The ppx SLAM actually disappointed me (sorry SACD!). While it definitely has the Singlepower bass 'slam' and liquid midrange, I found the highs slightly too accentuated. But the mids and lower ranges were definitely nice.

The regular ppx sounded great. It didn't have the low end extension and authority that the ppx slam had. The midrange was just as liquid as the slam, but the highs were more refined and to my liking. Listening to all these Singlepower amps definitely confirmed for me that the Singlepower line has a similar sonic signature. Qualification: haven't heard the supra or SDS...yet.

Unfortunately go_vtec had to leave shortly after I arrived so I didn't get enought time with his amp to comment, although I think everyone really liked it.

I briefly listened to the GS-1. While it sounded decent for a solid-stater, this only confirmed for me that I'm not going back to solid state anytime soon. While the mids were smooth, the bass extension and soundstage just didn't compare to any of the tube amps.


Overall, I had a great time at the meet, enjoyed all of the equipment and especially enjoyed talking with my fellow head-fiers. Can't wait for the next meet!

 

[sacd lover]

I just got back from taking the wife out to dinner. I had hoped to be more interactive but a few equipment troubles and just the desire to talk with everyone soon had me absorbed in what was happening here. This was a great meet and one of my better head-fi times ever.

I was very pleased I got to try out some of the gear I had never had the opportunity to audition. There was one big surprise for me and that was Mikey01's recabled beyer dt990. I thought this headphone was one of the better ones I have heard in some time. I still like my senn 650's better but the recabled beyer had a nice sweet, neutral sound with good detail. The beyer had an especially good synergy with the Moth amp. I didnt particularly like the Moth with the senn 650 last meet. But the Moth sounded much better teamed with the beyer headphone.

Next up is the RKV and another pleasant surprise. This is one beautiful looking amp. I liked the sound too. The RKV had a warm, smooth, full bodied sound and I didnt find the top end to rolled off. I have read many posts where members find the RKV to dark and rolled off... but a good match for the brightish AKG K 1000's. I liked the RKV just fine with my senns.

Another mild surprise was the sony sa 5000. I have had a hard time undestanding just what this headphone would sound like from the widely varied opinions I have read. Since I dislike the cd3000's I expected I wouldnt be to interested. But after spending some time with the s5000, I didnt think the sony headphone was as good as the recabled beyer, but I did like it ok. The sa5000 doesnt have as much treble aggression as the cd3000 and didnt do anything I found blatantly offensive. The sound didnt wow me but it didnt turn me off either. I thought the sa 5000 had good clarity and a generally clean and neutral presentation that wasnt to forward. However, I couldnt believe how uncomfortable the sa 5000 was. After having used the cd3000 which is like two pillows on your ears the sa5000 feels cheap and almost grado like in terms of comfort.

I tried out the Meier Prehead against the headamp GS-1. I lost a channel temporarily in the GS-1 for some reason. I still dont know why. The preamp outputs worked fine when I used them at the beginning of the meet, but then only the right channel worked from the headphone output when I went to the headphones. I thought it might have been the senn cable but it worked fine in the prehead. Once I finally unhooked the preamp outputs the amp worked ok.

Regardless, once I started comparing, the GS-1 sounded best to me. I thought the GS-1 was decidely more transparent, balanced and natural sounding. The prehead sounded as warm but was somewhat congested in the midrange and to cold in the treble to me. The prehead sounded more hi-fi while the GS-1 sounded more real. I continue to be impressed with the GS-1.

I got to listen to the mpx3 SLAM for awhile prior to the meet. The amp was brand new and so was the driver tube. This was an experimental version with a 6sn7 driver tube and the 5687 tubes manning the outputs. The sound was very good and very much like the regular mpx3 sound... except for the increased speed and dynamic punch from the 5687 output tubes. Conversely, the std mpx3-6sn7 has a more relaxed, dimensional and spacious sound, IMO. The mpx3 SLAM doesnt lack dimensionality and dynamic punch is a little more important to me... so I have the feeling the mpx3 SLAM may win out as my personal favorite.

The amp that really wowed me was woodcans maxed out mpx3-6/12sn7. His amp has the paper-in-oil caps/ solen 3/ blackgates and a stepped attenuator. This amp was so lifelike and musical. As smooth and liquid as my paper-in-oil mpx3-6/12sn7 is... this amp was clearly better. I had been wondering if upgrading the basic amps was worth it because the std singlepowers sound so good. Call me a believer now. I want those blackgates in my amp. Furthermore, the goldpoint attenuator gave a much broader range of operation than the stepped attenuators I have used before. I could find a comfortable level using this stepped. I might consider a stepped attenuator if I could get this sound quality and still be able to set a comfortable volume level.

Another not so pleasant findng for my wallet is I loved the Zu Mobius on the senn 650's.

I am one of those who has a hard time spending almost as much money for the headphone cable as the headphone. My wallet keeps telling me the oehlbach is plenty good and I kept believing my wallet until today. Well my wallet has been fibbing to me. The Zu clearly ups the sound quality a notch over what I am used to hearing with the stock or oehlbach senn cable.

I had a great time talking with everyone. I enjoy go_vtec/ Mike and EdipisReks/ Jacob's detailed analysis of what they hear and bg4533/ Brian's DIY perspective. I was especially intrigued by mikey01/ Mike's cable tinkering. That recabled beyer was very good. His mogami double run senn cable was good too, although that expensive Zu out classed any of of the senn cables I have tried. I was really glad woodcans could come at the last minute too. I like meeting and talking to quiet, polite people like woodcans/Judge... you to rempert/ Brian #2. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did.

 

[Mikey01]

[size=large]WOW![/size] [size=medium]What a very great time being with fellow HeadFi peeps. [/size] Ya gotta love em. Great bunch of people. Thanks to SACD for hoasting this meet. For rateing purposes I am leaving my own equiptment out of this. If I gotta choose a "best of meet", this is so unfair because of all the great equiptment that is there, it would have to go to Go-Vtek's "Audio Valve Ear" tube amp. An oldie but a goodie. Warm and lush sums it up. This was my pick for "best of show" in tube amps. Second was the SinglePower Prototype, wonderful as always. Third was tied between the MPX3 Slam, beefy sound, and the Maxed out MPX3, cultured and refined. Forth was the PPX3 Slam, sizzlin and sassy. The maxed out MPX3 would probably of had it but the Black Gates were nowhere near broken in yet. Best source went to the Music Hall CD25 of SACD's for accurate reproduction. Best headphone went to the ZuMobis 650's belonging to Woodcans. In solid state amps, I liked SACD's GS1 first. And the Corda Prehead for second. The GS1 seems to be the better bargain also. If I ever wanted another solid state the GS1 would be it so far. [size=xx-small]Wonder what the Dynahi sounds like?.....Hummmmmmm.[/size] But I'll stick to tubes, thank you very much. Even the dogs were very welcoming, warm and friendly.