[Kauai]

As a first time RMAF/ canjam attendee, I thought I would share some quick thoughts:

• Thanks to everyone for encouragement to go.  The event was really fun on so many levels: cool people with lots of experience, cool gear (that I expected to see), even cooler gear (that I didn't know existed...), and I found lots of new music that is getting added to the collection
• This event is too big for one man and one weekend.  I mean that in a good way.  There are so many booths, rooms, vendors, combinations of gear that you would be hard pressed to see it all if you were there for all three days.  Come with a game plan to get the best out of the event.  My main focus was finding a CIEM (continuation of a journey that runs from JBuds J2 to Bose QC to ER6i to TripleFi10, and now UERM inbound)
• Trust your ears.  I expected to walk away with UM PP6, JH16/JH-3A, or UE18's.  And why not?  They are the most expensive, the latest and greatest, etc. However, I decided to trust seasoned members of the forum who have many times suggested thinking about how you will use yours earphone and listen before you buy.  Much to my surprise none of the high end CIEMs worked for me.  I listen at low levels and even the minimum PP6/ JH-3A settings were a bit on the loud side for me.  I also could not get comfortable with the coloration/ acoustic signature of the high end phones.  Also helps to come early or late when it is a bit quieter to really listen for a bit without feeling like you are hogging equipment.
• Ask and you shall receive.  All the companies there were so great to work with.  Many let me borrow equipment to test different IEM, amp, DAC combinations.  I even got to take a rig overnight back to my room to really listen.  I look trustworthy YMMV
• Deals, deals and more deals.  Indeed there are conference specials, discounts, give-aways, raffles, etc.  The discounts across my various purchases more than paid for my trip.  If you are planning to buy, this is the place to do it.  Unless you see something in the headfi for sale forum...
• If you want to save $, go home immediately after you get what you need...  I got my awesome portable setup, but somehow I spent to much time listening to high end headfi setups and $100K+ speaker systems.  Now I have to explain to the wife why I have LCD-3s, a Liquid Fire amp, and a PWD II in bound.  Ooops....

 
Seriously the next time you get a chance to go, just do it!

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

As a first time RMAF/ canjam attendee, I thought I would share some quick thoughts:

• Thanks to everyone for encouragement to go.  The event was really fun on so many levels: cool people with lots of experience, cool gear (that I expected to see), even cooler gear (that I didn't know existed...), and I found lots of new music that is getting added to the collection
• This event is too big for one man and one weekend.  I mean that in a good way.  There are so many booths, rooms, vendors, combinations of gear that you would be hard pressed to see it all if you were there for all three days.  Come with a game plan to get the best out of the event.  My main focus was finding a CIEM (continuation of a journey that runs from JBuds J2 to Bose QC to ER6i to TripleFi10, and now UERM inbound)
• Trust your ears.  I expected to walk away with UM PP6, JH16/JH-3A, or UE18's.  And why not?  They are the most expensive, the latest and greatest, etc. However, I decided to trust seasoned members of the forum who have many times suggested thinking about how you will use yours earphone and listen before you buy.  Much to my surprise none of the high end CIEMs worked for me.  I listen at low levels and even the minimum PP6/ JH-3A settings were a bit on the loud side for me.  I also could not get comfortable with the coloration/ acoustic signature of the high end phones.  Also helps to come early or late when it is a bit quieter to really listen for a bit without feeling like you are hogging equipment.
• Ask and you shall receive.  All the companies there were so great to work with.  Many let me borrow equipment to test different IEM, amp, DAC combinations.  I even got to take a rig overnight back to my room to really listen.  I look trustworthy YMMV
• Deals, deals and more deals.  Indeed there are conference specials, discounts, give-aways, raffles, etc.  The discounts across my various purchases more than paid for my trip.  If you are planning to buy, this is the place to do it.  Unless you see something in the headfi for sale forum...
• If you want to save $, go home immediately after you get what you need...  I got my awesome portable setup, but somehow I spent to much time listening to high end headfi sertups and $100K+ speaker systems.  Now I have to explain to the wife why I have LCD-3s, a Liquid Fire amp, and a PWD II in bound.  Ooops....

 
Seriously the next time you get a chance to go, just do it!

 
Damn.  I was able to control myself for the most part at the show.  Now I've ordered the Liquid Glass and probably ~ $1,000 worth of tubes (if not more).  At least I didn't go for even more like you.  Congrats on the setup though.

 

[TigreNegrito]

Quote:

For the past 3 years that I have been attending RMAF, Hsu's room has always been one of the best sounding rooms of the show.  And Dr. Hsu does it with only an Onkyo A/V Receiver, bargain patch cords and speaker wire and his speakers and subwoofers.  Dr. Hsu puts many high dollar rooms to shame.    

Yes, I know this is off-topic, but since it was all in the same building....
 
Hsu's was one of the top 3 rooms I visited, and we are definitely ordering set-ups from him.  It was uncanny to enter his room and hear the amazing quality of sound that was equal to or better than many of the 6-figure set-ups we heard.  No fancy sources... no cables as thick as your arm or twice the cost of your car... just perfect engineering.  He and his wife are some of the nicest, most humble souls you'll ever meet, too, and he will work with you to get you what you need.  For some reason the link keeps redirecting to this thread, so just type hsuresearch into your browser.
 
Another mind-blowing room was the DEXQ HDP-4, a processor that corrects all the distortion inherent in loudspeaker design.  They had a pair of high-end speakers sitting at the front of the room (Guillotines?) and most everyone assumed that's what we were listening to.  But after awhile, you notice a set of $45 RadioShack PA horns sticking out from between the backdrops and you come to learn that all that great sound filling the room is coming from those - after being processed by the HDP-4, or course.  The vendors would switch the processor on and off so you could hear the difference the unit was making and it was simply astonishing.  Another must-have item.  www.deqx.com
 
Silverline Audio was down the hall from Dr. Hsu's room, I think.  They had some fabulous floor standing speakers, the Prelude, and surprisingly enough, the smaller bookshelf version, the Minuet Supreme, sounded almost as nice, sacrificing a bit of the low-end in its moderate size reduction.  I was seated next to a guy there who owns the Minuets (for 3 years now) and was profoundly pleased with the quality, and while they did sound great, all of those speakers were being driven by high-end sources, amps and cables, so to me it wasn't quite as impressive as Dr. Hsu's room.  www.silverlineaudio.com
 
We never made it above the 5th floor, and I think there was stuff all the way to the 10th.  They must have rented out the entire hotel for this one - there was just too much to see.  Guess I'll have to go back next year and catch the other half!
 
P.S. I took my wife with me, which kept me from spending too much!

 

[Maxvla]

Glad to hear so many enjoyed the show. The Hsu products are on my radar as well as the interesting sounding Deqx piece.

Grats to Kauai on the UERM. I had the same situation. Went to RMAF last year expecting JHAudio or UM or Westone top of the line. The UERM was just something to cross off the list, but it turned out to be the best I heard.

 

[Kauai]

Quote:

 
Damn.  I was able to control myself for the most part at the show.  Now I've ordered the Liquid Glass and probably ~ $1,000 worth of tubes (if not more).  At least I didn't go for even more like you.  Congrats on the setup though.

I am terrified that I will one day "need" the Liquid Glass and so begin the quest for the GRAIL tubes that create the ultimate sound.  In the meantime,  I trust you will be burning in your new rig and setting about the serious business of posting ever more superlative reviews of LG + tube combinations that make the case for dual amp ownership a no brainer...

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

I am terrified that I will one day "need" the Liquid Glass and so begin the quest for the GRAIL tubes that create the ultimate sound.  In the meantime,  I trust you will be burning in your new rig and setting about the serious business of posting ever more superlative reviews of LG + tube combinations that make the case for dual amp ownership a no brainer...

 
Yes, well.  I'm still in the preorder phase.  I'll get the amp sometime in early December I believe.  In the meantime, I'm just hunting for tubes.

 

[Cableguy]

Is there anyone else who had the opportunity to listen to the Cavalli LG?  I have a bunch of tubes that I could roll into that amp and am very close to pulling the trigger on one, but there seems to be a dearth of comments about the it, other that it is a tube rollers dream.  Thanks.

 

[paradoxper]

It's one of the best amps out right now. A tube rollers dream, but it's also a fantastic match with either HE-6 or LCD-2/3.
I haven't heard it with HD800, but I'd imagine it being just as superb.
 
For headamp gear the LG was the best of show for me.

 

[dBel84]

Quote:

Is there anyone else who had the opportunity to listen to the Cavalli LG?  I have a bunch of tubes that I could roll into that amp and am very close to pulling the trigger on one, but there seems to be a dearth of comments about the it, other that it is a tube rollers dream.  Thanks.

I am extremely biased but it is the best I have heard the LCD3 and HD800 sound ever. However, I don't think I am alone. An example from RMAF was a guy who was looking for a high end system, after listening to the HD800 on a different setup he had concluded that nothing in the high end dynamic offering could meet his expectations and thus had settled on getting a stax SR009. His friend happened to be tagging along and was killing some time while he was auditioning the Abyss headphones and literally dragged him over to the HD800 - LG setup at Cavalli's table and 10 minutes later the guy had his credit card out wanting to buy the amp. A not too dissimilar thing happened at ChiUniFi earlier this year where I had an early prototype of the amp. I feel that this amp is going to be somewhat of a gamechanger for a lot of people who take the time to listen to it.  ..dB 

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

I am extremely biased but it is the best I have heard the LCD3 and HD800 sound ever. However, I don't think I am alone. An example from RMAF was a guy who was looking for a high end system, after listening to the HD800 on a different setup he had concluded that nothing in the high end dynamic offering could meet his expectations and thus had settled on getting a stax SR009. His friend happened to be tagging along and was killing some time while he was auditioning the Abyss headphones and literally dragged him over to the HD800 - LG setup at Cavalli's table and 10 minutes later the guy had his credit card out wanting to buy the amp. A not too dissimilar thing happened at ChiUniFi earlier this year where I had an early prototype of the amp. I feel that this amp is going to be somewhat of a gamechanger for a lot of people who take the time to listen to it.  ..dB 

 
Quote:

Is there anyone else who had the opportunity to listen to the Cavalli LG?  I have a bunch of tubes that I could roll into that amp and am very close to pulling the trigger on one, but there seems to be a dearth of comments about the it, other that it is a tube rollers dream.  Thanks.

 
I've already given some brief impressions, but heard this with the HE-6, HD800, and Mad Dog modified T50RP.  It had plenty of headroom for the HE-6 and was easily my favorite amp for the HE-6 at the show (same for the HD800 and Mad Dog, but making the HE-6 sound good is probably the more difficult task).  I just sounded right to my ears.  I guess that I could say there was an outstanding clarity with excellent dynamic range.  The timbre/tonal balance was spot on. 
 
If I had the budget for a SR009 + Amp - Liquid Lightning, Woo WES, Blue Hawaii, etc - (about $10,000), I'd just go out and get the Liquid Glass, HD800, HE-6, Mad Dog, LCD-3, and a bunch of tube options.  I personally like variety and while I enjoy a nice set of Stax, the LG sound is definitely more of my cup of tea.

 

[Cableguy]

Thanks much for all the info everyone.  My wallet is now going to be quite a bit lighter, but at least alot of the tubes sitting idly in my cablnets will sonn get a workout.  Can't wait to wrap my ears around the LG!!

 

[MorbidToaster]

Might not be RMAF impressions but I'll be posting mine next week after hearing the LG in my home for a few days.

Finally gonna get my hands on it. Alex has been a hard guy to get a hold of as of late.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Is there anyone else who had the opportunity to listen to the Cavalli LG?  I have a bunch of tubes that I could roll into that amp and am very close to pulling the trigger on one, but there seems to be a dearth of comments about the it, other that it is a tube rollers dream.  Thanks.

 
I thought it was very good, but since I'm not in the market for a high end amp right now, I didn't give the Liquid Glass, Pinnacle, or StudioSix as much attention as they deserved.  They were all very good, but I think I preferred the Pinnacle followed closely by the LG.  It was noisy at RMAF and it's hard to assess the differences between two amps, resulting in more of a gut feeling from the enjoyment you get from each amp rather than an intellectual analysis of their raw performance.

 

[mikemercer]

Alex has lost alot of weight, and I'm so proud of him for this.
That man's like a brother to me, and he's one of the very best friends I have ever come across.
 
He's been through some **** this year, and still carries on like a PRO.
There's a reason Grammy-Award winning producer Frank Filipetti loved the LCD3's!  I haven't
heard him that excited since we worked together when I was at Atlantic!!  He and his partners
and their team have worked their asses off.
 
That said, I also wish the headphones were lighter!
But, I would NEVER want them to sacrifice the sonic integrity they've achieved.  Actually, 
**** that - these cans have soul like some of the best loudspeakers I've ever owned...
 
My thing is, w/ this shot - when did Shankar have a stache????
when was that shot taken??

 

[MorbidToaster]

http://www.head-fi.org/t/634762/3-musketeer-mini-meet-impressions-11-3-12-austin-texas
 
Forgot to post this in this thread. Here you go guys. LG impressions.
 
In short, it's great. I'm really looking forward to seeing these new improvements on Liquid Fire next run. Going to be killer.
 
Quote:

Might not be RMAF impressions but I'll be posting mine next week after hearing the LG in my home for a few days.
Finally gonna get my hands on it. Alex has been a hard guy to get a hold of as of late.