[socrates63]

Wow, what can I say? The meet was awesome! It was great meeting fellow Head-Fi'ers and enthusiasts -- people who don't give weird looks when I mention headphones and amps.

Some personal highlights and quick impressions:

1. Sergio (xtreme4099) unveiled a Lisa III prototype with the woody faceplate. I didn't get much time with it but many people were very impressed.
2. Gary's (smeggy) K1000 sounded AWESOME. I hate you, Gary
   
   . Anyone have a K1000 for sale?
3. Singlepower MPX3 Slam SE impressed quite a few people, most especially Kevin (AudioCats).
4. thomaspf was very impressed with my Rockhopper M^3 and W5000. He was also impressed with the VDA-2. We'll need to meet again to do a head to head with the VDA-2 and DA10.
5. Kevin was very surprised to learn that the AD2000 was cheaper than the W5000. He definitely liked the AD2000 and liked it more than the W5000.
6. Many members, including Sergio, were left very impressed by Raffinato, the ATH-W5000.
7. Josh (Joshatdot) has a lot of Altoid tins.
8. Kevin's woody KSC55 was very cool. Next time, we'll need time to listen to all 11 of Kevin's KSC55's and do a comparo.
9. I like Andy's (KobaltBlau) DT250-250. Very nice!
10. Too much gear and many great people attended. I didn't have enough time to chat with everyone.
11. I missed listening to Gil's (Big Poppa) Red Devil (RSA Tomahawk) which he had Ray ship overnight ($60
    
    ) for the meet. Way to bite the bullet for us, big guy.
12. Mike (iPatch), it was nice meeting you. I didn't get to try the Mylar. Good luck with your studies in MO.
13. microphage brought a friend. I believe his name is Wilson. I hope he had a good time and registers soon. Seems like a very nice guy.
14. Lou will plan his trips to Seattle around future Head-Fi meets. Right, Lou? Glad you could make it and too bad you missed the Big One in SJ.
15. Big thanks to Brian (bhjazz), Andy and Jason (mochimon) for helping me unload when I arrived and pack up at the end.
16. There are are a lot of great Head-Fi'ers in Seattle. We should have done this long ago. Better late than never, I guess. So, when's the next one?
    

Thank you for the donations ($70). It was enough covered all the expenses for food and drinks.

Attendees:
• AudioCats
• bhjazz
• BIG POPPA
• iPatcH + 1
• Joshatdot
• KobaltBlau
• ldarcy, a lurker who found out about the meet only yesterday or today and registered today
• Lou Erickson
• microphage + 1
• mochimon
• smeggy
• socrates63
• thomaspf
• xtreme4099


Did the following people attend?
• kuviaq (tentative)
• Steiner (tentative)

 

[smeggy]

It was a very enjoyable time and great to meet everyone. The room was filled to the gills with gear and not nearly enough time to try it all. It seemed like a waste having all those cool people there and not chatting to them

Big props to socrates for making this happen and bringing some amazing stuff, we'll be doing this again for sure.

Everyone was cool and entheusiastic, nice to see.

 

[socrates63]

some pics... I only managed five shots. I guess I talk too much

.

Lou Erickson (L) and Joshatdot (R) chillin' with smeggy's gear

xtreme4099 trying to look suave

AudioCats groovin' with the Raffinato and MPX3 Slam SE

iPatch (L) and mochimon (R) talking techie... notice iPatch's blue lego case amp

my big mess of gear... I didn't get to unpack everything I brought, save for the next time

 

[thomaspf]

I only had 2 hours family leave but the combination of the W5000and the M3 driven by the VDA-2 alone was worth the trip.

I had never heard the K1000 and that is definitely something special. Collecting two of them is testament of true devotion.

I also appreciated the chips ...

Thanks so much for setting this up.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[xtreme4099]

Pictures !!!!!!

 

[xtreme4099]

I've record almost 2hrs worth of Binaural audio with a mini disc and some make-shift Binaural Headphones. Which i will be putting up sometime later.

 

[iPatcH]

Oh man, I had so much fun there... I've previously only had experience with Grados... I didn't know the personalities of different brands were so obvious, especially when I got to test out both my RS-1s and bhjazz's HD600 back-to-back with some delicious ELO, oh, and I'm glad to see there is another Shpongle fan in the area... perhaps we'll meet at the show.

 

[microphage]

Thanks for organizing such a great event. Everybody who didn't go missed out on Socrates' "Ninja Guide to Buying Lots of Audio Equipment and Living to Tell About it."

Now I just gotta compile my shopping list... and apply guide as needed.

 

[bhjazz]

Coolness. I'm so glad we've finally got the Seattle group off the ground. Yay!

Young: you da man! Thanks for being so generous and sharing you gear, and thanks for the food. I still owe you some dollars for that.

I had a great time with Andy swapping out DACs. Pretty amazing listening to the personalities of them all in our dark little corner.

Smeggy: I have never heard K1000s sound that good. That combination with the Hafler is a keeper. I just hope that the screeching white noise I heard at 4:15 was NOT the last sound they made...


Mike: happy to help! Next time around I'll bring more gear and you can get an even better taste of Sennheisers.

Here are a few random photos. I would have taken more but my battery was nearly dead from the San Jose show (okay, I had to rub that in...)

Great job, guys! That was really fun! I'll be in touch with socrates and Smeggy and we'll work on another meet for maybe the fall. That'll give me time to build a few more amps and decide on who will modify an oppo player for me.

Young's Gear. My humble setup in the background.

The Poppa.

Sergio's Gear.

Sergio telling someone "NOT THAT BUTTON!!!"

Mochimon rockin.

Mike checkin out the Allessandros

Group shot.

Concentrating Cats.

Herr Blau.

Smeggy's Allessandros. Smeggy, do these really fit your head?

Joshatdot's PC setup.

 

[SK138]

That must been a great-fun meet. I like it when there are more gears than people

Socrates63, I am surprised you didn't have your analog (TT) gear there.

 

[BIG POPPA]

Count me in, I will bring the BBQ next time, I may have a bigger place available. I will look in to the details. Can't wait to hear all the new stuff everybody is going to get until then!

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by microphage /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for organizing such a great event. Everybody who didn't go missed out on Socrates' "Ninja Guide to Buying Lots of Audio Equipment and Living to Tell About it." Now I just gotta compile my shopping list... and apply guide as needed.

I take no responsibility in the event you are caught!

Just remember, vanity is a sin. Don't take photos of your gear and let them get cycled by the screen saver for your wife to see.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhjazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Coolness. I'm so glad we've finally got the Seattle group off the ground. Yay!

Finally is the word. We should squeeze in some mini-meets in between the main meets.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhjazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Young: you da man! Thanks for being so generous and sharing you gear, and thanks for the food. I still owe you some dollars for that.

Thanks. I'm glad everyone had a good time. Don't worry about the money. All the expenses were covered.

Thank you for packing my stuff. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it out of the library before it closed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhjazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great job, guys! That was really fun! I'll be in touch with Young and Smeggy and we'll work on another meet for maybe the fall.

With the entirety of summer ahead of us, fall seems so far off. Mini-meet!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhjazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Smeggy's Allessandros. Smeggy, do these really fit your head?

We should go camping together, and then shave smeggy's head while he's sleeping to see if the top of his head is really shaped like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SK138 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That must been a great-fun meet. I like it when there are more gears than people Socrates63, I am surprised you didn't have your analog (TT) gear there.

I did briefly think about bringing the TT gear, but I just had too much stuff. I didn't have enough space to setup what I did bring. I brought nearly all of my gear, and Big Poppa said it best when he asked, "So what didn't you bring?"

What I didn't bring to the meet:
- TT and phono
- Samsung universal
- Link DAC III (weighs a ton)
- ATH-EW9

I had 3 people help me unload all my stuff. It took me about 45 minutes to setup, and then the same three people helped me pack and load.

It was all about quantity today. Next time, I'll be more focused in my selection and bring fewer pieces. You're right. I need to give these analog newbies a taste of what they're missing

.

Did you read thomaspf's comments about the VDA-2 > M^3 > W5000 chain? Quite a few people were very impressed.

 

[BIG POPPA]

Just remember, vanity is a sin. Don't take photos of your gear and let them get cycled by the screen saver for your wife to see.

Young,

This is funny as hell when you told us the first time. Remember the 90 day rule? There were a few more tips around the campfire!!! Smeggy just said beg and cry until she gives in.

Great stuff.

If I could only find a smiley face with a raiders cap......

 

[smeggy]

the VDA-2 > M^3 > W5000 chain was one of my faves of the meet, extremely nice. Clarity, depth, dynamics, all there in abundance. Seems the ATs are better than in the days of old when I last heard a set. I finally managed a little time with the RS-1, also very nice. Yes my head really is that shape

I'm already looking forward to the next meet and hope it won't be too far off. I'd love to hear the K1K through a great source and DAC as I'm pretty sure they are the biggest limiting factors, though they still sound damn nice even with the cheap stuff I'm feeding them with. The hafler gives them good thunder and sweetens them nicely at the same time.

Thankfully that hideous loud noise they made at closing time didn't appear to do them any harm. It was a bad signal when the pc was shutting down

anyhow, it was a good get together and I was happy to meet everyone and play with all the toys

 

[Joshatdot]

Hey everyone! Awesome meet! I had a great time. I felt very humbled by everyone else's gear, I need to upgrade alot!

Smeggy, your K1000's blew me away, and your Stax, and I hope the rest of your MS1 mod goes well

Lou, that Squeeze Box is way cool, I need to look into one of those.

AudioCats's Woodie KSC55 were awesome & his DYI amp w/cordless drill battery!

Big Poppa, your Tomahawk (Red Devil) was outstanding, I want to get one of those.

I wish there was more time, I didnt get to try everyones gear, or get to talk much with everyone.

Hopefully by the next mini-meet my custom PCB CMoy boards will be ready and I'll have afew built for y'all to test.