[Zanth]

I will begin this thread and add to my post here when I have more time (after dinner, unpacking etc) but before I do all of that I would like to say a [size=small]BIG THANK YOU[/size] to Omer of OZ Enterprises for hosting the meet and bringing all sorts of wonderful gear as well as Distinctive Audio (Rene and Rheal) for joining the second Head-fi meet. The gear was wonderful, the people, always nice! (would one expect anything less of Head-fiers?) and the listening? Oh so good.


Thanks to all who showed up. Comments and pics to follow.

 

[omer]

I was a genuine pleasure to meet all the local Head-Fi'ers and introduce OZ as another source for audio gear. I'm looking forward to the next show/meet!

 

[DesBen]

Well folks, it's over. The meet was a lot of fun I thought. It was great to be able to hear all those products everybody is talking about. Big thanks to Oz Enterprises and Distinctive Audio for bringing nice gear (very nice sources from Roksan, Shangling, Cary, Sherwood, HIT/Cayenne? and Project).

I think everyone at the meet will agree: Stax rules! Who said electrostatics have no bass? Those entry-level stax were absolutely kicking. I could feel the whole headphone shake with Crystal Method. And even with badly recorded NuNRG (trashy techno), they didn't sound bad at all. They let you know the recording is distorted, but not in an unpleasant way. And with good recordings, they are very detailed and transparent. Wow. All I need is CDN$1K, right?

Talking about bass. AKG K501 do have it, and it goes deep. I guess the folks who were complaining don't give them enough juice or they must like honda civic subwoofers cranked to 11.

Still on the subject of bass: Beyer DT770. These have pretty powerful bass too. The midrange seems a little recessed (vocals are distant, muted a bit). With the Corda amp, they were absolutely terrible: treble that would drill trough diamonds. I thought it was much better driven by tubes (MG Head OTL mkII).

I also enjoyed the Melos/HP-1 combo. A little lean, but very transparent and fluid. I bet you would discover a lot of new notes on your albums with those. The Grado RS-1 were not bad either: compared to the HP-1, a bit more extended.

There were a lot of HD600 (picture to come). I can see why a lot of people like those. I think I'd be pretty happy with a pair myself. With a tube amp, I think you could listen to those for hours without fatigue. Smooth. The 590 were nice too. They sounded a bit like the 570, but with bass. The treble can be a bit bright with the wrong equipment tho.

Rega EAR. Great sound for what, under CDN$300? Sounded warm/smooth and it had plenty of power to drive tough loads. Looking for a headamp on the cheap? This is a great choice I think.

What am I forgetting?

 

[Beagle]

I will post comments and impressions in due course. I wanted to thank Omer and OZ Enterprises, Zanth, Rene and Rheal for all the great gear and special thanks to Omer and Zanth for great work in organizing the whole thing.

 

[omer]

Thanks! This was great for us, and it's whet our appetite to organize a bigger and better show in the fall.

 

[Dwagun]

I would like to also thank Omer from OZ Enterprises for hosting and providing some excellent gear and music for the meet. I would also like to thank Rheal and Rene from Distinctive Audio for joining us as well and providing some excellent gear for us to play with.

I must say everyone had a wonderful time and all were impressed by the amount and quality of gear that was on hand at the meet.

I will try to compile a list of all the gear that was there. (There was just so much that I dont think I can remember it all)

Headphones:
Grados - SR200, SR325, RS-1, HP-1s (there may have been others but I have decided that I can never wear grados for more than 5 minutes at a time no matter how nice they sound

the listed ones are the ones that I had an opportunity to listen to.
Sennheisers - HD580, HD590s, at least 3 pairs of HD600s w/ cardas, clou red, and equinox cables...
AKG - 340, 401, 501
Beyerdynamic - 431, 770pro
Stax - SRS2020 Basic System II
Some Etys, Koss and Apex, Sony V6

Sources:
Cary 308 CD, Stock Shanling CD T-100, Cayin HDCD (modded by HIT audio), Roksan Kandy, Sherwood 980T, Project 1.2 and RM-4 turntables, Sony MDRZ-50

Amps:
HeadAmp Gilmore V2, ASL MG Head OTL Mark 2, Corda HA-1, Melos SHA-X, RS-1, Musical Fidelity X-Cans V2, Rega Ear, Porta Corda, CHA-47, CMOY, Apex,

Cables and Power:
nearly full Audioquest interconnect and power line
Panamax AC regenerator and other great power products
Clarity labs ICs
Maple Audio ICs
and many others....

Music:
Everyone brought CDs, Omer brought boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of CDs and LPs...did I mention we had LPs?

Vinyl rocks dudes

Thoughts and Impressions:

1. Aftermarket cables for HD 580/HD600

If anyone is thinking about sticking with the stock cable...let me tell you - you're not hearing half of what you should be hearing. I did some A-B-C of the stock, cardas and clou red cables on my 580s through the ASL MG Head OTL Mk2 and the Shanling CDT100 - man o man...what a difference...night and day...the midrange and the treble were so much clearer, crisper and more pronounced with the aftermarket cables...the sound was boomy and heavy - almost slow coming through the stock cables...That has got to be one of the most distinctive difference in sound between cables that I have ever heard. Of course now that I listen to my HD580s through the stock cable, my CMOY and the SB Live in my computer while I type this, it doesnt sound that bad which shows how important the source is...

However - since I will be upgrading to some better sources and amps in the future, the cables will definitely be in my upgrade list unless of course I go with....item #2

2. Stax SRS2020
OMG!!! who said stax have no bass??? these "entry" level electrostatics were hooked up to a "Cayin" CD player heavily modified by HIT audio...The Cayin from Distinctive Audio had a clear plastic chassis that showed off the philips transport and the crazy amount of Elna caps, and other high quality parts that were in this player - It does HDCD and it has a tube output!

I cant remember what the interconnects where, but they looked expensive

Anyhow, I saved listening to the stax until near the end because I knew that they would blow me away - and they DID! OMG...I was listening to Crystal Method, House Dance, Anime, and soundtracks - GEEZ...that was an amazing ride - the bass on those were at least equal to the DT770pros with a soundstage and response to match the AKG401s/501s...amazing...and the price! $1K canadian - or the same cost as HD 600s and MG Head...and in terms of comfort - I think they were probably one of the comfiest if not the most comfy headphones there. It was like putting on an old hat and then finding out that someone strapped some speakers and subwoofers to your head...Im counting my pennies now....(1,2,3....)


The only drawbacks to the Stax were :
a) they felt "cheap" - they didnt look or feel like $1000 CDN headphones - the plastic looks cheap and the drivers are held by thin plastic wishbones but I guess all the money went into the sound/drivers and not the packaging which at this price is a good thing...

b) quick head movements tended to "collapse" the sound in one ear...

3. Melos SHA-X and HP-1
These were being fed by a very sweet Cary 308 HDCD player...for the few minutes that I had them on - WOW! sounded excellent and impressive - very transparent - but they're heavy and im not partial to the grado fit...(big head, big ears)

4. Project turntables
Had some Sarah Vaughn on both Project turntables - The 1.2 was playing through a Apex phono preamp, to a Rega Ear or XCAN or Gilmore (more on gilmore later) and I was listening using my HD580s, 401s and some HD600s - this table is the ultimate plug and play turntable - it comes with an arm, cartridge and dust cover and its 500 bucks canadian! - Sarah Vaughn sounded rich and warm - there was no hiss, no noise - excellent value - as stated by DesBen - the Rega Ear at first looks like its just an ordinary opamp based headphone amp but it sounded excellent - very transparent and powerful enough to power my 401s and HD580s without missing a beat. I must admit that it even held its own against the vaunted gilmore V2 that antness sent Zanth for the meet (more on gilmore later). The Rega ear has my vote as the budget amp of the meet ($330 CDN taxes in @ Oz)

I listened to the RA-1/RS-1 combo using the RM-4 turntable, and the project phono preamp and I believe the RM-4 had a sumiko cartridge - this oval base turntable looks impressive and sounds great - however, I noticed more hiss, noise and it didnt really make sarah's melodious voice as rich as it was on the 1.2. I then switched over to the XCAN V2 driving AKG 401s and HD580s and well let me say that I am not impressed with the stock XCANS...in terms of sound, the Ear was more transparent and smoother, for tubes, the ASL MG Head sounds much warmer and much smoother than the XCANs as well... As for the RS1/RA1 combo - I found that the RS-1s are about the only grados that I can listen to for any extended length of time (under 30 minutes

) well matched - a tad bright for my taste but that's the grado sound.

5. Roksan Kandy
While everyone was oohing and aahing over the looks (and sounds) of the shanling, cayin and cary audio players, the kandy was also a very impressive player - it did everything right - clean crisp sound as expected from a well built cd player - this thing was well built too - it was one of the heaviest of the three CD players that OZ brought. I listened to it through the gilmore and HD 580/600s 401/501s and 340s - using Audioquest Copperhead interconnects and NRG power cord. A very excellent sounding CD player - not as warm (obviously) as the tubed players but it did everything right with no glaring flaws - a great "entry level" high end CD player.

side note: I listened to the DT770s through the corda HA-1, and Maple Audio (I think) interconnects to the Kandy and while the bass was truely kicking - the sssibilanssse made my ear's bleed...it was the same with the Rega Ear - However a dose of the Shanling through the solid state out to the MG head cured that immensely - a great match for someone looking for some closed phones who isnt shy of some kicking bass.

6. Headamp - Antness built Gilmore
Zanth had Antness send up a Gilmore V2 (non SE) for our meet. It was a highly anticipated audition piece. I listened to it sourced from the Kandy, and the Project 1.2. I may get flamed to hell for this but: I expected to be blown away by the sound stage - the dynamics and quality of sound coming from such a vaunted amplifier. However, I was a little disappointed. Granted, it did nothing wrong and there were no glaring faults, but after listening to the MG Head and the Rega Ear, I had a bit of trouble justifiying the cost - considering the exchange rate and all - it cost almost as much as the Stax System that truely blew me away (see #2). Maybe it was the source - or maybe it wasnt burned in yet since it arrived on friday and Zanth had left it on for most of the weekend...but my wallet is happy that it didnt tickle my fancy...of course - this was done using an unfamiliar source and interconnects and a high level of background noise - so a more at home sit down type audition with my equipment may change my mind.

aside: I find that this was relatively true - in that in this meet you really could not do any truly analytical in depth listening - it was similar to skimming the top of the soup to taste it but unable to bury the spoon and get to the meat and goodies at the bottom of the bowl. DONT get me wrong - this meet was a wonderful way of sampling many flavours of soup (headphones) that I could never afford to buy and sample on my own only to find that I dont like turtle or alligator soup

. My advice for any one new to meets like this is to try to get a taste of the sound and either add it to your short list of headphones to try/buy or put it on the they sound nice but... category.

Ok I think I'm spent. I will try to post some more thoughts tomorrow as they come to me.

cheers

Dwagun

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Wow, thanks for the impressions guys! Keep 'em coming, eh.

Sounds like two more votes for the Stax being the flavor of the month and the next big upswing in headphone sales. I had no idea that the 2020 system was so good for its comparatively miniscule price tag. I guess that it should and will get more recomendation in the future.

Come on Jason, how's about some comments????

 

[JMedeiros]

Thanks for the report guys...looks like you had a ball and got to audition some great stuff. Pics please....

 

[bootman]

I really liked the 2020 at the NYC meet, but man were they cheap looking. (and fragile!)
Good sound though and that is what really counts.

Where there any other Stax gear at the meet?
I plugged in the 202 (the 2020 is the system name the 202 is the cans)
into the Stax 007t amp and they sounded much better.
I know that no one would ever have a system like this but I couldn't resist.

Keep those impressions coming.

 

[KR...]

It seems that the Gilmore has been taking a beating in these meets as of late.

I suggest that people from this meet go back a read again the impressions from the New York and see how people reacted to the same gear. Fun stuff.

Can't wait to read more and see those pics!

 

[Tuberoller]

I really wanted to try to make this meet but it was so close to the NYC and Bay Area meets that I couldn't swing it.Maybe next time?


It sounds like you guys had a blast and I hate to miss out on a great time.I would love to see some pics of the gear and people.


I know it's hard to get a lot of time with gear you really want to hear but the idea is to get a brief listen to maybe establish an idea of how things sound.These meets are a great resource and I hope people can understand the impressions that come out of these meets are just that.The impressions I formed at the NYC,Chicago and Detroit meets has lead me to aquire gear for full auditions.


That said,I'm not suprised at some of the impressions, especially those of the Gimore V2 and Stax gear.I have always known the Stax gear to be very good.I'm also glad to see you guys had some vinyl to play with.Did I say I really wish I could have been there?

 

[Beagle]

I was just thinking how nice it would be to have a weekly club meet like the one that took place yesterday. How sweet it would be to do this once a week! Of course it would also be a form of self-torture as one became accustomed to marvelous gear they could not afford!

What I enjoyed most about the meet yesterday was that it was set up as not only a headphone event but a music even, which is why we are here in the first place right? I got to discover new equipment and music and when the two meet, it is a true joy.

My purpose in attending was more to bring some of my stuff that people may have not had a chance to listen to, as opposed to bringing duplicate Grados and Senns that many were already familiar with, or which were already represented. The Rega Ear had received very sparce comment on Head-Fi up to now, and some had not yet had a chance to hear the Beyerdynamic DT-431, AKG K501 or HD590. Another attendee brought along the DT770, which was great in that we had two distinctly different sounding Beyers to sample.

After seeing all the fine expensive amplification on offer, I figured the Rega Ear would be a bit of an afterthought and only brought it out for curiosity sake. Interestingly, the Ear turned a few heads and more than a few were impressed with it's clear, fast, open and powerful sound. It stood its ground or outgunned some of the more lavish or expensive amps.

Now for my own observations. Due to time constraints, I stuck with listening to new stuff, or what I had not had any experience with...

Stax SRS2020: The headphone equivalent of a pair of Martin-Logan speakers driven by heavy duty tube amplification and much expensivo cable. The Stax made you basically just sit back and relax and let the music work into your soul. The words 'coloration' 'bass' 'treble' never enter your mind because you don't really sense a part of the spectrum or something sticking out. It's just the music. You could hear artifacts like tape hiss, yet the phones were in no way bright. They were remarkably balanced and detailed. I think I could easily live with this system and forsake all the others. But the operative work is "think". Like anything else, it is possible that I might find something troubling or lacking in the Stax system after a period of time. I'm not sure how well they might portray the energy of rock music over the long term. I say this because it has happened before with other headphones.

Beyerdynamic DT770: A very musical if somewhat colored candidate. I think the elevated bass would get to me after a time, but the midrange is very smooth and musical. Nice vocals. Joni Mitchell sounded very human and believable. Hate the coiled cord though. Never had one that didn't break or cut out after a bit.

Sennheiser HD600 (w/Cardas and Clou cables): The usual...

Next?

HeHe..just kiddin'..

I own the stock HD600 and have owned the Cardas cable. Cardas provides a smooth, mellow (quite mellow actually) sound with not a hint of grain or roughness in the mids and highs. Very polite. Clou opens up the top a bit more but I'm not sure I could pick up dynamics and clarity in the bottom registers. I would really need to spend more time. I think these aftermarket cables weight more than the phones themselves! I hold the HD600 in very high respect, although after four years experience with two different pairs, I'm still not certain that I am a big fan. It's probably the most perplexing headphone I've ever used. Kind of like a date who's a beautiful girl, very polite, prim and proper, honest to a fault, but not very adventurous, daring, alluring or funny. Still, for all the things that they do not do wrong, they have to be considered as one of the top headphones, and the choice of cables allows you to 'EQ' them the way you like to hear them.

GRADO SR200: A bit of nostalgia for me, as I had not seen a pair of these since 1993, when I demo'd a pair at Distinctive Audio. This pair had the bowl pads and had a clear open sound a la the SR80 and SR125. I did note a kind of confidence and clarity that the 200 seemed to have. They felt and sounded like a nice pair of well broken-in headphones. I liked them a lot.

GRADO HP-1 via MELOS SHA-X (Zanth's baby!): I saved the best for last. I had listened to the HP-1 directly out of the Shanling CD player at the previous Ottawa meet. Yesterday I spent a bit more with them using the Melos and came more to terms with them. The HP-1 has no sound that I could really label. There's nothing really there, just the recording you are listening to. I didn't notice any excess bass weight (I thought I did last meet) and there was no sonic coloration going on from the midrange to the top. I made the rounds through the other headphones and kept coming back to the HP-1 and being confident that this is the way it should be. Always. No worrying about what a headphone is or isn't doing.

Sumiko Pearl MM Phono cartridge/Pro-Ject The Phono Box preamp: Now that the Blue Point is no longer a budget cart, you can go for Sumiko's Pearl, which sounds pretty close tonally. It goes deep, does not shout or screech, and tracks well. Matched with the Phono Box phono preamp, it sings nice music.

Some of my observations and comments are based on what I heard through equipment I was not familiar with, so I'm just trying to describe what I heard and trying not to make too many comparisons with headphones I have heard through other (my own) equipment. One thing I did pin down; the HD590 has a mid/upper bass bloat spot that appears no matter what amp they're plugged into. I mean, when the bass on Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y" (What a Beautiful World) sounds boomy, something is terribly wrong.

It's difficult to get a real fix on what is really happening and reaching a verdict when you are listening to different unfamiliar phones on different unfamiliar amps. It's kind of like playing darts on a moving sidewalk or surveying in quicksand.

Aside from listening to the great gear, it was sooo fun going through the CD's and vinyl Omer brought along. I left with 180gm LP copies of Norah Jones and Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot".
All in all, I spend a great couple of hours with fine people and fine equipment. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

 

[Guyferd]

beagle, I noticed that you quite like the dt770 sound
how does it compare to sr-225?
I am thinking of getting 225 . I already have 770. SHould I do it or not?
My listening mainly: pop, alternative, some rock

 

[john_jcb]

Glad a good time was had by all. Next year if the Sens make the finals it would be a good time for the meet. I have a friend that promised me a good seat this year but that fell through. Would be a good road trip. Come on Zanth post those pictures.

 

[rickcr42]

I get soo much more out of "meet" reviews than any single person subjective review

many different tastes but under the same circumstances for me conveys a more realistic viewpoint

keep it coming

as to the gilmore amp taking a beating ,I suggest you build the Gilmore All Class-A Triode Amp . It sounds great with my stats