Philadelphia area mini-meet Impressions Thread
Sep 10, 2012 at 7:20 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 27

leesure

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Thanks go out to all my Head-Fi friends, both new and old, who came by my studio for the meet. It was great seeing and hearing much new gear. It's always gratifying to know people will travel so far to get together. People came from 2 hours north and 90 minutes south.

I really enjoyed hearing the F3 clone. Very nice with the LCD-2's. Also finally got to hear the V200...another nice pairing with the Audeze.

Also got to hear a few closed back designs that I was curious about. The Denon 7K's were great as we're the Ultrasone Pro900's.

This meet was also a haven for Grado fans! RS-1's, HP1000's and my lowly 125's were all available.

Fang was there in spirit too...HE-4's, HE-6's and an EF-5.

Ari (Nikongod) brought a pair of DIY gems for his HD800's...and oh those lovely Sony MD-10's.

A pair of Schiit Bifrost/Lyr combos were out as well, so we had fun frying eggs on them while simultaneously enjoying quality sound!

And the best part was that I still liked my balanced RWA Isabellina best of all! WooHoo...no need to go spend more $$$!

Lots of pics to follow!
 
Sep 10, 2012 at 7:24 AM Post #2 of 27
Almost forgot. Special thanks to wavoman & holomorph for the beer and to kazsud for the doughnuts!
 
Sep 10, 2012 at 9:22 AM Post #3 of 27
This should be good!  
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Sep 10, 2012 at 11:12 AM Post #4 of 27
The meet was pretty fun yesterday. There wasn't too many people so it was somewhat good for listening conditions at least compared to those huge meets they have where you can't hear much.
 
I got to hear Ari's HP-2 which was hands down the best Grado I've heard and also the most comfortable. This would be the only Grado I could use for longer than 5-10 minutes before my ears start hurting. It wasn't bright at all compared to the Grados you can buy in stores and much smoother. I would be really tempted to buy one if I could but luckily for me they are not available.
 
I didn't try everything but I did try most of what was there. The Lyr/Bifrost combo was nice however the Lyr runs way too hot. The knob should not be as hot as it is when it isn't even that close to the tubes. It's not the best combo with the AD2k since there was a low hum with music off but the AD2k is a pretty sensitive headphone. The LCD2 with the RWA sounded really good although a bit too warm.
 
The HD800 off the Silver Ghost sounded amazing as always as well as the HD800 off Prashant's F3 clone. Both amps were great with the Silver Ghost being smoother while the F3 was more detailed. 
 
 
Overall it was a good meet with many good setups and there wasnt anything that was bad there.
 
 
Thanks again lee for hosting the meet.
 
Sep 10, 2012 at 12:13 PM Post #5 of 27
I had a good time and everything sounded great! Many thanks to Lee for hosting and everyone for bringing gear, snacks, and drinks.
 
As usual, I was blown away by some of the very expensive equipment on display, but still happy with my modest setup.
 
Lunch was an adventure too - we drove 20 miles in search of a good Thai restaurant (both we found were closed) but eventually settled on what turned out to be some of the best Mexican food I've ever had. What was the name of that place again?
 
Sep 10, 2012 at 1:01 PM Post #6 of 27
Lee thanks for hosting a great meetup at your awesome studio.
 
My favorite setups were
  1. sphinxvc's Antelope Zodiac Silver > DIY First Watt F3 > HD800
  2. Lee's Schiit Bifrost > Schiit Lyr > Hifiman HE-4
  3. Lee's Redwine > LCD-2
  4. 1974's Denon AH-D7000 > my fiio E17
     
It was a pleasure and learning experience hearing equipment of this caliber which is what I've been wanting to do for such a long time.
 
It was also great meeting everyone and hope to see you all again.
 
Sep 10, 2012 at 5:44 PM Post #8 of 27
Copying this here from the other thread.
 
 
With so many fine photographers in attendance, the impression thread is going to be awesome!
 
In the meantime, let's thank leesure for being a superb host -- big comfy leather chairs, the Eagles game on a sports-bar-sized mega-screen when you wanted a break from headphones, lots of food and drink.
 
Great people, great fun, great rigs, great music, great cameras.
 
The Birds won, the weather was fantastic (Lee turned off the A/C and opened huge windows for the most amazing outdoor-feel you could get inside on a A+++ beautiful day), the Mexican food was super (especially when the take-out place refused to give us plastic silverware, nothing like re-fried beans eaten out of hand while putting on headphones to break-in the cosmetics of an HD800).
 
I got great tips on digital audio, heard some fine combos [D7000 with Fang's little hybird amp, who knew?], got introduced to terrific music (Lee has a knack for selecting the top tracks from any album) ... we're talking PERFECT Sunday here, and having nikongod to myself to pick his brain for 2 hours each way (as we flew first class in Air Lexus thanks to my wife's recent big score at the used car dealer) is just icing on the cake ... Ari being the only man alive who can drink a diet coke, eat M&M's, text his peeps, and repair a tonearm (well, walk me thru the steps) simultaneously while traveling 65 mph on the Pennsy T"Pike.
 

 
Sep 10, 2012 at 6:26 PM Post #9 of 27
Lee, thank you for hosting us at your studio.  This is one of the best venues I've been to for a head-fi meet.  I had a really good time w/ all the good people that made it.  And thanks to the guys that kept me awake for the drive to and fro, I made it in one piece myself.  Somehow I got lucky and the Silver Ghost was hooked up to my source, which provided me the rare opportunity to A/B against the F3.  It's always nice to compare your own gear to reference gear (...yes Paulo, this sentence is just for you 
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).  
 
Larry's contributions of beer and hilarity were thoroughly appreciated by me.  Brasewel managed to leave with pro-quality photos for the dating websites.  Godspeed to him.  Ari, even with a shot of 120 proof in you, you were schooling everyone with engineering knowledge.  I think everyone left a little smarter b/c of you.  Pete, thanks for sharing the albums w/ me.  Ross & Bras, good of you guys to come out just to hang w/ us.
 
I'm looking forward to the photos.
 
By the way Lee, let me know when you're ready to have me come down and hold the lights.  I do require at least a Pennsylvania 8 on site, or in other words, a New York 4.  =]
 
Sep 10, 2012 at 10:03 PM Post #11 of 27
Thanks to Lee for a nice meet. It was good to see Prashant again. Lunch was great. Sometimes the best things happen by accident. Glad to chat with the old usuals, Ari, Paul and Larry.

Man I miss the HD800. Maybe sometime I'll have to get back into the hobby. Thank you everyone.
 
Sep 11, 2012 at 9:21 AM Post #12 of 27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Sep 11, 2012 at 12:59 PM Post #15 of 27
Quote:
 
The HD800 off the Silver Ghost sounded amazing as always as well as the HD800 off Prashant's F3 clone. Both amps were great with the Silver Ghost being smoother while the F3 was more detailed. 
 

 
x2!  Exactly what I heard.  I do love the HD800's.
 
Lee says:
 
And the best part was that I still liked my balanced RWA Isabellina best of all!
 
This did sound great -- I know the sound, I have one for my K1K's.  And my HD800's at home are driven by a Beta 22, which is much closer to the F3 than Ari's tube amp.  The F3 might beat it for the HD800, who knows.
 
I have learned that it is all about amp-HP synergy.
 
One more time -- big thanks to Lee, best Sunday in a long time.  And Lee has the best playlist ever put on an iPad.
 

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