Ohio mini-meet

[sacd lover]

The Ohio mini-meet came of as scheduled and it turned out to be a three man meet. Go_vtec, acs 236 and myself got together and I personally had a great time. I had hoped a couple more people could make it but actually the small size allowed more critical listening and more conversation.

The gear auditioned is as follows:

sources- sony x3000es, sacdmods 963sa x2, sacdmods 555es

amps- asl otl 32, perreaux shx-1, corda ha-1, corad ha-1 mk II,
singlepower ppx3, singlepower supra 6cg7 prtotype, headroom max with stepped attenuator and headamp gilmore v1.

headphones: sony cd3000 x2, sennheiser hd 650 with oehlbach cable, sennheier hd 650 with bayley audio diamondback cable, JVC ha-d990 and sony v6.

miscellaneous: mit#2 interconnects, LAT ac-2 power cord, signalcable power cord, audioquest ac-12 power cord, ps audio ultimate outlet x4.

There will be pictures posted by Mike/ go_vtec.

Once the introductions were out of the way we set up. Mike was very serious and got right down to business along with Adam. These two were motivated and prepared to listen. The perreaux and corda amps were the first order of business and they compared them jointly. I didnt listen to them so they will be providing opinions on them. I focused on the ASL otl 32 and the max. I had always wanted to hear th otl 32 and here it was. I used my senns and tried out the cd3000's as well. They did lenghty comparisond of the ppx3, 6cg7 prototype and tried out the gilmore amp too. Mike made detailed notes and will undoubtedly give a well thought out assessment. Adam was the quiet one but he was just as focused and I will be interested in his opinions once he posts. Mike did leave the notes behind

but he will remember his impressions as passionate as he was about the audition. They both were very business like and you will be getting a much more accurate meet impression than usual IMO.

First up, the cd3000 and the max just didnt work for me. I dont like the cd3000's treble and I cant get past that. The sound was artificial and I listened to a couple songs and that was enough. I then tried the cd3000 in the otl 32. Surprisingly the cd3000 didnt sound to bad on this amp. The otl 32 seemed to take some of the treble edge off and give the cd3000 a warmer balance. Still something didnt sound quite right and I was soon ready to move on.

Next up was the senns with the max. Now this was a good combo. The senns are always offered as the perfect partner for the max and the sound didnt dissapoint. The mids were smooth and the resolution was very good. The bass was a strong point being very tight and controlled. I never use the processing so this was with the amp used with everything off. I spent quite a bit of time with the Clapton Unplugged cd and a Nirvana cd-r compilation. On well recorded material the max was excellent be it electric or acoustic. However, when I got to the less well recorded tracks the sound had quite a bit of edge and was to hard sounding. I have a gilmore v1 and to be honest I like the v1 better overall because its more forgiving. I owned a MOH and sold it once I got the v1; so I have done a similar and much lenghtier comparison before.The sound quality between the max and v1 two is quite close but the max does have the edge for resolution. The v1 is more musical though. The leaner more resolving nature of the max is just the ticket if you want a neutral sound that has high resolution.

Next I got my hands on the otl 32 and the senns. This was an even better combo to me than the max/ senns. The otl 32 has a very warm and smooth sound that draws you into the music. I listened to the entire Neil Young unplugged and switched back and forth with the max / senns. Both were being driven from the same sony cd player using splitters.The otl 32 has very good resolution but not as good as the max. I sometimes wonder about this though. Is there really less resolution or is the detail not pushed artificially forward? Do tube amps add harmonics or does solid state subtract them? All I can say is that the otl 32 isnt as fast or detailed but its sounds more natural. The lack of pace from the otl 32 is my only criticism and its a minor one. This slower pace was relaxing and inoffensive. Acoustic music had lifelike decay and harmoincs and the sound had beauty. I live to hear the woody goodness of acoustic guitar and the otl 32 produced this. If there were no singlepower ppx3 and prototype I would have one. The only other issue I had with the otl 32 is that it has 7 tubes and one of them can be costly. The build quality and the look are very good. I liked the tube cage too.

I concentrated on these two amps because these are the ones I know I could possibly decide to buy. Thats whats great about meets because I know the otl 32 is out there and its very good. If this amp can really drive the AKG 1000's I would give it strong consideration. The otl 32 definitely has a nice, relaxed treble that could potentially tame this frequently mentioned flaw in the AKG's.

I want to mention the sony x3000es cd player too. This was a very good sounding and absolutely beautiful player to look at. The operation was the smoothest of any cd player I have ever used. The transport is fantastic with a cd weight, a sliding cover and a fast acting exposed mechanism thats rock solid. This player was very impressive the surprise product of the meet fro me. Its small size, heavy duty build quality, excellent sound and flawless operation has me wanting one.

This was another head-fi good time and I want to do this again. Next time I hope everyone can stay longer and we can add a body or two. I learned some things I can do to prepare better and I would like to do some true head to head comparisons. I will be adding some comments on the new ppx3 later but I want to give the others a chance to comment first. Thanks again guys!

It was great meeting you and your welcome anytime. The best part of head-fi is making new friends and I made two good ones today.

 

[tom hankins]

Eight amps with three people. So many amps so little time! I liked the CD3000 with the OTL32 alot when I owned that system. I also used the HD600/cardas a bunch with that same amp. I look forward to hearing everyone elese thoughts on the amps.

 

[acs236]

Thanks to Earl for hosting the first, of what I hope will be many, Ohio meets. A good time was had by all, including his dogs -- I think. My dogs wouldn't have been as good! I liked only having the three of us and a manageable amount of gear, because I felt like I was able to get good impressions of everything I listened to. Earl's two setups used identical sources (I believe), modded Philips 963sa's -- so that made things even easier.

I had never heard any tube amps before this meet, so I thought I should talk a little bit about my initial impressions of Tube vs. Solid state. I was warned by Mike (go_vtec) on the ride up that the difference between tube and solid state amps is fairly subtle and that I shouldn't expect a huge difference. He was right. Still, I liked all three tube amps I listened to. The won that I thought was most unique (tubey?) was the Supra prototype. It gave an Ety-like smoothness to the music that I found very enjoyable. The majority of my tube-listening was done on the PPX3 with the CD3000 -- this combination sounded great -- I liked it better than the PPX3 +HD650 for some reason. The midrange detail was the best I've heard. Listening to one of my favorite CDs, I noticed details with details that I never noticed before. In one particular track that I listened to, there is fairly obvious sound of the guitar players fingers running down the strings of an acoustic guitar, but what I noticed with the PPX3 for the first time, was the not-so-subtle vibrato. I really love midrange and the PPX3 does it wonderfully. With the HD650s, I felt like I had to crank the volume up to get near the same level of detail. I didn't do much listening with the ASL, not because I didn't like it -- I did -- but it just worked out that way.

I'll post more impressions -- solid-state impressions in particular -- a bit later.

 

[sacd lover]

Actually he is being nice. He didnt get to listen to the otl 32 much because I was hogging it.

 

[tom hankins]

Don't hold out you guys. With 5-6 of the top 500.00 dollar range amps at your fingertips, tell us what you thought.

 

[sacd lover]

I am going to post more on the ppx3 but I want Mike/ go_vtec to post his impressions first. I am sure he is going to give some detailed impressions as well as pictures. Mike took notes and he and Adam/ acs236 both concentrated only on certain equipment. Furthermore, they had the chance to listen for a few hours so you will be getting a more thorough evaluation than you usually get from meet impressions. In addition, its probably good to wait as the meet at Hirsch's is the big news right now. Later on this week when posting is slow their reports will give everyone something interesting to read.

 

[go_vtec]

That was a great day to be in Ohio. Typical head-fi meetings are so crowded with people you will rarely get to spend a quality time with the amp/source/phone of your choice. Since I already owned three of the amps (Corda HA-1, OTL32 and Headroom Max), I really wanted to focus on the differences bewteen tube amps (PPX3, OTL32 and Prototype) and solid state amps (Corda HA-1, HA1 MKII, Pereaux and Max). All three of us already own HD650 (SACD Lover had two HD650) and Adam and I still own CD3Ks. Its really easy to A/B when you have two pairs of HD650 and CD3Ks between only three people. I made a two sets of test CDs so I can A/B (using two pairs of CD3Ks and HD650s) A/B is extremely easy and directed.

FYI, SACD Lover had two Phillips SACD players and Sony C555ES. I guess the first order of business was to use my own source (Sony CDP-X3000) to establish differences between original HA-1 and HA-1 MKII. Then the Pereaux, Gilmore V1 using both CD3Ks first then HD650 after lunch break (you need to allow adjusting time since CD3K and HD650 are sonically different). Anyways I got to spent good two to three hours listening to my test CDs usign PPX3, OTL32 (just briefly since I know how this sounds) then the Supra prototype. I used my own super detailed review chart. I filled out three review sheets, one with Phillips SACD players' oversampling on, oversampling off and using Sony C555ES.

Anyways, I will be posting a detailed full reviews (not impressions) in a day or two. Currently I'm on page three so bare with me. This will be sort of buyer's guide/review/comparison sub $500 amp (Corda HA-1/HA-1-MKII/Pereaux/Gilmore V1 and Max as reference), then sub $600 tube amps: PPX3 vs. OTL3 and Supra Prototype as a reference. Too bad that HD300/HD25 weren't available otherwise it would more complete tube amps review. Well back to typing reviews.

 

[tom hankins]

It should be very good reading. I'll be looking for it in the next couple days. Thanks.

 

[acs236]

What an annoying week. I'm constantly spinning my wheels for what ends up to be for nothing.

Here's how I rank the solid-state amps at the meet:

1. Headroom Max w/ Stepped
2. Gilmore V1
3. Corda Ha-1 MKII
4. Perreaux

I didn't listen to the original Corda.

I really liked the features of the Max -- the adjustable gain and stepped attenuator. I wish I tested the treble boost with the HD650, but I only listend with the CD3000. The overall differences between these amps was slight to my ears. The Max had the deepest and most defined bass. The Corda HA-1 was the closest to the overall analytical character of the Max. The Gilmore V1 was the most fun to listen to. Does anyone sell these used?

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by acs236 Does anyone sell these used?

Only if enticed by piles o' cash

 

[go_vtec]

Oh yeah, I forgot to post some pictures from the mini-meet. We had three stations set up. Station 1 contained Philips and Sony SACD players w/ Supra and Gilmore V1. Yes, those are two Sony MDR-CD3000s on the floor.

Station 2 was equipped with ASL MG Head OTL32, Sony CDP-X3000 (100V), lots of solid-states amps (Corda HA-1, HA-1 MKII, Pereaux, and Max). Here is a picture of Adam loading X3000.

Station 3 was equipped with PPX3 and Philips SACD player.

Finally, I have never seen so many power cables (some thicker than my wrist) in one person's house before. Here are some snap shots of cables including custom cable on HD650.

Let's see, that was 8 amps and four sources between three people. I just love the mini-meets!
-Mike

 

[sacd lover]

Does anybody see the pictures posted by go_vtec of the Ohio mini-meet; because I dont. He said they are showing up for him but I dont have his post from 11:21pm.

Just curious. Iron Dreamers post at 10:55pm is the last one I have.

 

[sacd lover]

Ok, do we have a mod with a sense of humor because now they are there.

Oh well you got me!

 

[purk]

Earl,
Do you think the X3000 sound better than the Sony SCD-C222ES sacdmods? I almost bought the X5000 but hold off and bought the C222ES instead. I remember reading that the X3000 equips with Digital filters, did you try it out? Very interesting meet. I hope the next Tom Hankins minimeet will come soon. BTW, I'll be bringing my PPA with Diamond Buffer for Tom to audition next week. The PPA pretty amazing now!!

 

[sacd lover]

I dont think I can reliably say. I did love to operate the x3000; its so classy. The unit is built like a little battleship. The sound was clearly very good but I was listening on unfamiliar equipment; the otl 32 and the MAX. The x3000 did have the different filters but I only listened with the steep roll off filter, if I remember correctly. Mike set the filter slope and I listened to whatever he had chosen. I know I would like have a x3000.