First, thanks to both
@BIG POPPA,
@Doc B. and Queen Eileen for arranging and hosting this as well as for the excellent hospitality; couldn't ask for better hosts! I've been meaning to go to this event every year since I became aware of it and this is the first time I managed to make it. It was well worth the trip and it was a wonderful afternoon getting to reconnect with some old faces, meet some new ones and finally get a chance to explore the Bottlehead line-up in more depth!
Was a very welcome surprise to see
@atomicbob present and doing well, as well as listening to his dac1421/Lyr 3 (w/ a Western Electric 101d encapsulated 6SN7-SE) and HD650. It was a lovely sounding setup and definitely delivers results that are more than the simple sum of its parts. Great "system synergy" and the sort of thing one just gets lost in the music with. Fortunately it wasn't too busy when I got to listen to that so it was easier to hear it properly.
@Muziqboy's ever-evolving setup was even more impressive than the last time I got to hear it. Tweaked and modified to an extent that's well beyond my innate laziness, the results were incredibly impressive. It's one of the smoothest, most resolving, analog-like setups I've heard. Fortunately for all involved, it's much too big to sneak off with ...
@BIG POPPA showed a very interesting cable design that I'm going to have to experiment with myself. Extremely interested to see how that works out and what effects it realizes in my own system.
@Doc B. was very accommodating with my general chattiness and shared some fascinating insights and stories into his amp designs, about his history and "
The Tape Project". That provided a really nice contextual setup for going into comparing the full line-up of Bottlehead headphone amps back-to-back (and from a common source). And this was an excellent reminder of how much of the price/performance ratio gets eroded with pre-built/ready-to-run products (especially those sold through the traditional distributor/dealer model) ... with each of the amps on display comfortably performing at a higher level than anything I can think for anywhere near their respective prices.
I'd been wanting to actually build some of these amps and never gotten around to it, and after getting to compare them all I think it's safe to say that I'll wind up doing at least the Crack (I took advantage of the
current sale and ordered that with the Speedball upgrade immediately), Crack-a-two-a and the SEX 3.0 ... in order. I might do a Mainline as well, and my only reservations there are that I like to see my tubes exposed and the VHF tubes in use on that amp are shielded and not directly visible ... it was certainly an excellent listen!
I think the highlight for me, beyond connecting with old friends and meeting the new folks, was the "Neo Thorium" (I might be getting the name wrong ... still ...) which is the big, red, 845-based amp in the pictures above. That was being fed off a 1/4" 15 IPS tape deck and sounded absolutely staggering. Not only does it
sound amazing, it looks spectacular too and the use of IN13 tubes in there for some very cool "bar graph" style level-meter displays. If I can figure out a place to put it where I'll actually be able to use it (downsizing one's living space has some real drawbacks sometimes) then I fully intend on acquiring this thing. Despite a bit more ambient noise from the relative-mass of people in attendance it was still very clear that this is the best sounding 845-based amp I've heard, and easily in contention as one of the top three amps I've heard period (I'd have to hear them all together to be sure, and they're all using different tubes and have different presentations/renderings to boot). I have 300B, 2A3 and 45 series tube amplification covered, and 845 is, for me, the significant missing element there.
I'd have loved to have listened to more of the, very interesting, rigs (at all levels), but for me this event was more about the people and the Bottlehead amps (coupled with dashing over straight from opening day of boating season and having to dash off for an event in Seattle right after the meet). All around it was a wonderful afternoon and I'm already looking forward to next year!
) - very detailed, dynamic presentation with vivid mids and superb dynamics with good slam to the drums and great bass definition. Seems to pair well with many amps, and IMO better than any of the 3 Fostex TH-X00 series that I've carefully reviewed (more linear and less lush / overdone, larger soundstage). Of course not quite on the same level as the flagship closedbacks Mr. Speakers Ether C Flow.
