Why is it that we can never get enough listening in over a 6-hr period? To say that this crowd is gabby is an understatement. Well, I'm guilty too.
Most of my impressions come from last night when it was just John and I gabbing and listening.
The Extreme Platinum is an amazing amp. As I think I mentioned in another post, the little thing that most impressed me was how it drove the K340s. I have the Heed Canamp and had, until today, the Darkvoice 336i. Both amps drive the K340s extremely well and I have nothing but good to say. Yet with the Extreme, I had the volume so low it was barely audible, and I could still hear every detail with no loss of fullness...that was something new! I always had the volume turned up a bit (not seriously loud, but medium loud) to real get a sense of what these headphones can do. Not so now. Also listened with John's AD2000s. Not my favorite cans (a little too bright and airy for my tastes), but with the Extreme, the soundstage was huge, and in John's words, it felt like the music was walking around you. K1000s sound great, but I haven't yet spent too much time with them....just got the amp yesterday, and that will just happen later. Unfortunately, just how things go at meets, only John and Dominic (Highlife) had the chance to listen to it. We took it away, went on to other things, borrowed the tubes to put in Dominic's new Darkvoice, and that was that. We'll have to have another meet with fewer toys.
John's Signature 30 is a really impressive amp with the Omega speakers. As far as it's fame for driving K1000s, who knows? The gab fest in every corner prevented any quality listening. John's listening right now since everyone left, and he can post more later. I'd like to have a K1000, Sig 30, Extreme meet later on this or next month with duck tape on everyones' mouths.
Gary's HE90/Aristaeus is pretty impressive, but I can't say I got much listening time (too many amp hogs), nor do I have much experience with HE90s and amps to make comments other than, "When do I get to hear them again?" It's also gorgeous, better than in pics. The faceplate, though, came with a tiny scuff mark across it, that, in my opinion, now being a bit petty, really takes away from what is otherwise an impecable beauty. The most memorable listening here was with on Lou Rhodes title track on Beloved One. As Mike said, you could almost hear the spit going through the flute. Well, that doesn't sound too pretty, but it was (my new fav cd anyway).
Finally got to listen to Frank's dynamite and the modded micromega he'd been working on. Really nice. Listened to both balanced and unbalanced. Had his 880s, but the highs hurt my hears. It rocked my K340s. Real clean. I would love to spend more time with this amp/cdp when all those other pesky folk weren't around.
Finally, it's funny how the things you always plan on listening to never happen (comparing all those amazing sources AND with my Extreme), and the smallest thing ends up blowing you away. I'd always wondered why people posted about putting the HD650 cables on the 580s. I thought, why the hell not replace it with an Equinox or some such? Joe (Seabreeze...great guy...great wife too) actually thought to do it. Put my G52s on my 580s and ran it with my Larocco and ipod with John's ALO cryo dock. There was a night and day difference. I always thought that I wished for something sonically between the 580s and 650s (which is why I never got rid of either), but the cable switch may have done it for me. I suddenly couldn't believe the sound I was getting from this cheap little combo. Prior to the cable shift, it was just very nice. I'll have to give this more time before I reach any real conclusion, but the 650s may not be getting much time for awhile. The Darth Beyers also sounded great with the Larocco. The bass was not overpowering, but just right on Zeppelin's Black Dog.
Checked out Highlife's Zen/Go-Vibe. He'd picked up the amp for $40 and changed opamps. Though no where near the Larocco, the Hornet, or even the Tomahawk, I thought is was a great little amp for the price and can understand why so many people like it.
As usual, great people. And, thank you, again, John, for letting us all invade your home. Check your oven. Did I turn it off? Seriously. Check it. I don't remember.
That's it for now. I've gotta grade papers. BTW, I just got off the phone with Mikhail. My amp's gonna go back for a couple more tweaks...blackgate outputs this time and...then I'm done...really...I am...definitely kinda certain about that...a little sure....but I do want hear that Opus again...and Frank did a really nice job recabling John's K1000s...
Oh, one more thing. Need to hear the Esoteric again (source hogs this time). I only got to listen to one song from How The West Was Won (ended up a Zeppelin day). Super.
