[jimmyjames8]

I feel compelled to comment on the comments and the "meet' even thought I could not attend. I was working behind the scenes a little to get some gear there from mfrs. and vendors.

1. It takes time and money to put one of these things on.
2. I will never take any of my personal gear to a meet again after the first one I ever attended. My personal SA5k's were dropped on the floor twice and the 2nd time the dropper just walked away without saying a word.
3. I would have gladly spent money with vendors had I been there because where else are you going to get to demo new cans and amps these days and be able to take what you like home.
4. Dannyb deserves a big pat on the back, an "atta boy" and a round of applause.
5. Anybody that wants to have a "meet" where fanboys can just get together and put their greasy fingers on each others gear, go right ahead. I know folks can and will but nobody else besides Drew and Danny have in NC that I know of.

Peace Out!

 

[ingwe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyjames8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I feel compelled to comment ...

thanks jethro

 

[manaox2]

I was listening to the recabled K702 on the ALO amplifier. I can't give clear impressions of it. It did sound better then I can remember a K701 sounding before for me and was the most expensive setup I've heard them on. All I can really say is that had more bass then I had imagined.

 

[Alwayswantmore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif How did you hookup the K1000's to the Amphora?

K 1000s were being powered by RWA Sig 30.2 amp. Amphora is a headphone amp, so it does not have enough power to drive Ks properly.

The Amphora also has a line out, so it could be used as a linestage connected to a poweramp driving Ks. This way a single source, connected to an Amphora, could be shared with headphones and a poweramp driving 2ch speakers or K1000s.

702s and GS1000s were ALO recable. The K1000s belonged to Danny. They were hardwired with Moon Black Dragon. I also tried stock K701s with the Amphora.

Amphora has the typical RWA sound. Detailed, dynamic, big soundstage, excellent low-end and yet warm & smooth. And with battery power, the background is pure black.

Stock 701s sounded different than recabled 702s. But I still preferred stock 701 over most of the other phones I heard that day. For example, I use to own HD 650 balanced, and think that this is phone that greatly benefits from balanced operation. But I've heard them a number of times on single-end amps, and they are always a little muted for my taste. Where both the stock 701 and ALO 702 were more detailed and had bigger soundstage. Also the bass was tight and had layers. The sound signature / tone for both AKGs was in line with my home speakers (which sound amazing).

The Ks on the other hand are more open than any can I've ever heard. Electrostats included. Just the nature of their off-ear design. Where the Ks lack is their limited low-frequency response. But several people commented that Ks on my setup had good bass (for Ks). I agree.

 

[jimmyjames8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ingwe /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks jethro

anytime...Kojack!

 

[cardude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by recstar24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Has anyone commented on the new amp from RWA/ALO? It actually does sound intriguing, and a bit unique and different from the typical headphone amp with the battery power (which I bet sounds awesome). I thought there would be tons of impressions flying around, with a new up and coming amp on the horizon...(I hope people actually took the time to listen to it )

I did get to listen to the Amphora, and was very impressed! I auditioned the GS-1000, K-702, K-1000 and my SR-325is. My first listen was with the K-702 and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had previously owned a 701 and sent it back within the 30 days for a refund. It was too tame and sterile for me, a Grado lover. I even burned it in for a little over 300 hours.

From what I've read here, the 702 supposedly sounds very much like the 701. I took them off and asked Kent if the awesome sounds were due to the ALO recable, the amp or the combination of the two. He couldn't really answer as he wasn't too familiar with the 701s.

But then I listened through the GS-1000s, then the K1000s and really liked what I was hearing. I had never heard the K-1000s before. So then I went and grabbed my SR325s and still had that silly grin on my face.

I really liked the bass and the punch that I was hearing, very clear too. As others have mentioned, it was very loud in the room, so not an ideal place to audition new equipment. But, based on what I heard, I e-mailed Ken at ALO and reserved one for myself. I don't think I will be disappointed.

 

[j24]

I put some impressions in this thread but with all the "side" discussions, I'm sure it got lost. So for all it's worth here it is:

AKG702 ALO recabled. Surprisingly I liked it with the new Amphora amp. I thought that the soundstage was pretty good and the highs very detailled with control bass. I used my own CD to listen to this combo and though I still didn't get the same overwhelming experience that a tube amp would bring, I thought that the combo was very nice (it takes away some ofthe brightness of the AKG). I pluged my own DT990 in this amp but didn't like it right immediately. Sound was boring.


Amphora: overall impression is very good though conditions in meets are not ideal for critical listening. Also, having listened to various tube amps
before listening to this one, I had to refocuse on SS amp qualities. Patricia Barber's voice was nuanced and full. Instruments were well separated and
sounded as they should. Bass was present but not overwhelming. Soundstage was good. Amp was nice looking though I personally was disapointed by its rather small presence. My problem during this meet was that my mind was immediately made up to go with tube amps. I had a hard up listening to SS amps after listening to the Woo amps.

 

[ingwe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyjames8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif anytime...Kojack!

Who loves ya baby?!

 

[manaox2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyjames8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anybody that wants to have a "meet" where fanboys can just get together and put their greasy fingers on each others gear, go right ahead. I know folks can and will but nobody else besides Drew and Danny have in NC that I know of.

You should have been at Thrice's meet in Chapel Hill last year. Very few vendors, but a relaxing time where people gave there best attempts at respecting gear that was owned by the people there and loved. This meet had more fanboys by far attending IMO to hear the new gear and meet Joe. You can tell that some people did not care for anything without a brand name.

Also IMO, If you do not trust head-fiers with your gear, you should not bring it into a meet at all.

 

[Alwayswantmore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by j24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I put some impressions in this thread but with all the "side" discussions, I'm sure it got lost. So for all it's worth here it is: AKG702 ALO recabled. Surprisingly I liked it with the new Amphora amp. I thought that the soundstage was pretty good and the highs very detailled with control bass. I used my own CD to listen to this combo and though I still didn't get the same overwhelming experience that a tube amp would bring, I thought that the combo was very nice (it takes away some ofthe brightness of the AKG). I pluged my own DT990 in this amp but didn't like it right immediately. Sound was boring. Amphora: overall impression is very good though conditions in meets are not ideal for critical listening. Also, having listened to various tube amps before listening to this one, I had to refocuse on SS amp qualities. Patricia Barber's voice was nuanced and full. Instruments were well separated and sounded as they should. Bass was present but not overwhelming. Soundstage was good. Amp was nice looking though I personally was disapointed by its rather small presence. My problem during this meet was that my mind was immediately made up to go with tube amps. I had a hard up listening to SS amps after listening to the Woo amps.

I'm pretty sure the Barber was coming straight from your CD. Just so others know, my main source is streaming bits via a Macbook. So I brought my Panasonic BD30 BluRay player to run CDs. So the transport was pretty inexpensive compared to the Cary's and others hight-end transports being used at many stations.

Not an excuse. Just a point of reference for others reading your comments.

Also, I have very little experience with headamps at the $1,000 price point. I felt that compared to the headamp stage in my Isabella, or even driving the Ks via the Sig 30.2 the Amphora was very musical and involving. But I am not in a position to tell where it stands compared to like priced amps.

Over time others who own amps in this class will hopefully add context as to how it performs compared to its direct competition.

Oh..... my other point of reference: My first real headphone amp was a Meier Aria (about $450???).

 

[ingwe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alwayswantmore /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm pretty sure the Barber was coming straight from your CD. Just so others know, my main source is streaming bits via a Macbook. So I brought my Panasonic BD30 BluRay player to run CDs. So the transport was pretty inexpensive compared to the Cary's and others hight-end transports being used at many stations.

Had I'd known, you could have used my Ayre.

 

[drubrew]

One of the loaner pieces we received for the meet was the Luxman P-200 which is the little brother to the LUXMAN high-end series P-1 and will be retailing for $1500 when it hits the US. I got to spend a couple of days with it after the show so I thought I would share my opinions about it.

It is well priced within the competition. I first found out about the P-200 while at CES. Jude introduced me to Philip O'Hanlon, who is the US importer at On A Higher Note. Jude owns the Big brother and has raved about it so I requested that we have the new unit at the Charlotte CanJam to get impressions from folks.

The Luxman P-200 is a compact high quality, high power pure A class amplifier, pumping out 2 watts per channel into 8Ω. Parallel Push-Pull structure. Connects are a 2 input switchable system.
CD player’s output can be passed through the P-200’s output to another pre-amplifier. P-200 is equipped with both a stereo mini plug socket and a ¼” high quality headphone socket. Beautiful aluminum front panel same as LUXMAN high-end series.

I used 2 pair of Headphones to evaluate the P-200. A pair of highly customized Grado PS-1s, where I have replaced the stock cable with our Black Dragon Cable and improved the resonance dampening inside the driver chamber. The second pair was a stock pair of Ultimate Ears UE10. Since the Luxman had a mini plug I thought what the heck. I used a Cary Audio SACD 306Pro as the source. I always want the best source I can use in an evaluation. This way I can hear how a unit can handle bad recordings and can rule out the source as the bad link in a negative review.

The overall sound is very smooth and not edgy sounding like a lot of it's competition in the solid state market under $1500. I used a headphone amplifier I built for myself as a comparison as I know it's sound very well and it has become a good reference point. It uses the Forssell Technologies JFET-993 Discrete Opamp, as the back bone of the unit as well as it has a Internal Dac, but we will ignore the dac section for this review. The 2 units are equal in sound quality but offer 2 flavors of sound.

With the UE10 I always do a noise level test. These phones are very sensitive to power supply noise and the Luxman did a great job of hiding any hash in the background. I had to crank the volume control up to it's limits to really hear residual PS Noise. Not many desktop amps can ward this off. If you use another phone that push the sensitivity threshhold you should be in good shape with this amp. Good job Luxman!

With music now added to the mix the Luxman gave a great deal of detail and good separation of instruments. I found the sound a little softer on the edges than my amp but this was not a negative in anyway, just a signature the amp has which enables you to listen to the amp for hours without listening fatigue. There are days where I will do computer work for 6-8hrs at a time. My headphones are always on while I'm in front of the screen so listening fatigue is very crucial to me. No worries with the Luxman. It passed with flying colors. I usually use Jazz as my reference to sound quality with a new piece of gear. Track 7 on Patricia Barber's Companion CD is very dynamic and has a lot going on. It can push an amp over the edge sonically. There are times where the horn section can distort out an amp as well. Miss Barber's voice as a result of her distance from the mic can sometimes add some high pitched ssssssssssssssssssss. Some amps handle this ok and some don't. On all accounts the Luxman did a wonderful job of passing the sound cleanly as possible to the phones. The Grado is a smoother sounding phone than the UE10, but there were never any times with the P-200 that I went "eeeech!!!" My amp had a little more low end or weigh to the sound but the Luxman low end was a little cleaner and crisper. It did a great job of controlling the bass. All and all I really like the amp and would recommend it to anyone. I am not a dealer for Luxman so my review is in no way biased. But who knows in the future I might be

Thank you Philip for letting us get the chance to hear this baby and I can't wait to here the big bother in the future.

 

[odigg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevtt /img/forum/go_quote.gif The only question I have is the young gentleman at Drew's table that spent the better part of the day comparing the two headphones, did he ever make up his mind?

I believe that was me comparing D5000 and D7000. I never did make up my mind. They are too similar to own both, but they are different enough to make me confused about which one was better. If I didn't already own the D5000 it probably would be easier to make up my mind.

It's hard to resist the D7000 with the low prices on it right now.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you had the long mustache right? That's you standing next to DannyB holding the RS1 or RS2 in one of the pictures on the first page?

Fitz - I might be the DIY person you talked to, but I know somebody else walked up when I was talking to you and asked what opamps you were using. I was the guy who asked you why you didn't use custom etched boards. I also asked you about the screw on the variable resistors.

Can somebody help put a name to a face. At one point I was standing with Stevtt at the Moon Audio table listening to the Denons, the HD650, and the W5000. There was another man there. He had a neatly trimmed grey beard and I believe he was wearing a small backpack. He said he didn't like Sennhesier and wasn't sure cables did anything.

Who is this person? I talked to him a little later about the electrostatics. He's not in any of the pictures.

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyjames8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif 2. I will never take any of my personal gear to a meet again after the first one I ever attended. My personal SA5k's were dropped on the floor twice and the 2nd time the dropper just walked away without saying a word.

That is certainly not representative of a typical Head-Fi meet... I've been to a dozen or so meets and mini-meets, and I've never seen this sort of behaviour anywhere. Except for being a little more casual with friends' gear, people usually treat other people's system with the utmost care and respect. Even just setting a pair of phones down too hard on the table would result in an embarassed look and apology. In the case of this event, other people showed more concern over the treatment of my own gear than I did myself (for example when I set my phones on top of the exposed workings of my amp, or when I intentionally powered up my tube amp with one of the sockets empty).



Quote:

Originally Posted by odigg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Fitz - I might be the DIY person you talked to, but I know somebody else walked up when I was talking to you and asked what opamps you were using. I was the guy who asked you why you didn't use custom etched boards. I also asked you about the screw on the variable resistors. Can somebody help put a name to a face. At one point I was standing with Stevtt at the Moon Audio table listening to the Denons, the HD650, and the W5000. There was another man there. He had a neatly trimmed grey beard and I believe he was wearing a small backpack. He said he didn't like Sennhesier and wasn't sure cables did anything. Who is this person? I talked to him a little later about the electrostatics. He's not in any of the pictures.

Yeeeah! I'm pretty sure it was you, I recognize the name now.

I'm real bad with remembering faces, but I think the guy you're talking about might've been ejmcgee.

 

[Voltron]

Nice review of the P-200, Drew! My P-1 is finally going home with me today after sitting in the box since I got it (out on vacation and then too busy to take it home). I am quite curious how the P-200 compares, but for right now I am just completely stoked to have the P-1. Now, if Senn could just make those HD800s appear soon, I will be really stoked! I guess I can make do with my current crop, including a Black Dragon k701 or my Blue Dragon HD600.