[monoglycer]

Good times and a pretty good turn out to the meet, thanks Jeff for organizing (hope you were close to breaking even on the donations).
 
Although we were missing the nice scotch and a certain russian (pavel...) but good times to be had by all.

 

[ambchang]

Thanks Jeff for the organization, and thanks to everyone for bringing their gear.
 
The HE-500, and the HD600s were just fantastic headphones.
 
The HD800 really showed what great soundstaging is.
 
I kick myself for not trying the Anedio, Woo, T1 and LCD2 setups though.  I have always wondered about the Anedio, and would love to try the LCD2s one more time.

 

[MickeyVee]

First of all.. thanks Jeff!! Amazing job organizing and the pages with everyone's setup was a really nice touch.

I had my M-100's there and they did get a little bit of love.
Man, having one down from TOTL, I thought I was doing well until I heard the HE6 and HD800 out of my Schiit stack. Upgraditis is going to hit again but not soon. I was actually looking at the Colorware HD800 in Black & Cranberry.. some day..
Like many, I was impressed with a lot of the great equipment there so I won't repeat. What caught me by surprise were the Q701's out of the Schiit stack and the insane Headroom/HD600 setup. Wow!
It was great to see everyone and am already looking forward to the next meet. I can't believe how fast the time went by. Sign of an awesome meet!

As man I wish life didn't have to happen all at once. Excuse inactivity and absence from here at headfi lately as well as at the meet. I wish I could have brought my M-100 for you guys to try. From the impressions here it seems like I'd have been the only one to bring one.

 

[jrprana]

I was actually looking at the Colorware HD800 in Black & Cranberry.. some day..

Funny that.
I have been playing with different colour combinations on colorware site, and one of my favourites is black and cranberry.

Maybe you should get one first Mark, so I can be sure I like it before I place an order

 

[joebobbilly]

How do you gentlemen deal with customs, and brokerage fees?  with an MRSP of $1500 the duties and whatnot could really hurt.  How do you all get around it? or do you just take the hit?
 

 

[Stapsy]

Nah you won't get charged duty if you are ordering from the states.  The worst that you could do is get charged tax (i.e 13%).  Just have them send it through USPS and the brokerage fee is a flat rate, I think itt is about $10 bucks.  Never use Fed Ex or UPS to ship across the border...they are the ones who kill you with the brokerage fees.
 

 

[zyxwvutsr]

A big thanks to Jeff for organizing this meet and to everyone for bringing in your gear to share. There were lots of great setups at this meet and I wish I had more time to try them all. In particular, I would have liked to spend more time with the Koss ESP 950s as I have been bit by the electrostatic upgrade bug. Most surprising about the ESP 950 was the amount of bass slam. I almost thought that I was listening to a pair of dynamic headphones.
 
It was also interesting to see so many Hifiman headphones at this meet. I stopped keeping up with the latest and greatest kind of flavours on head-fi right around the time when hifiman products started getting introduced so I came to this meet without any preconceptions on how orthodynamics sound. After giving them a listen, I can understand why they are so popular - warm and smooth, reminiscent of the hd650 but less veiled. (at all the previous meets I've been to, around 1/3rd of the people all had either the hd580, 600, or 650).
 
Jeff's CD3000 setup was really fun to listen to - great PRAT. It's a shame that they've been discontinued though my wallet is quite relieved.
 
The Edition 8 was also a pleasant surprise. I was expecting them to sound bright and harsh like the typical ultrasone or beyerdynamic but instead the sound was quite neutral and smooth.
 
No surprises with the Beyerdynamic T1. It needs a very warm tube amp to help tame the beyerdynamic penchant for sibilance.

 

[FallenAngel]

That looks great guys. Really wish I could have been there, but unfortunately I had some things I couldn't avoid come up last minute.
 
Looking forward to the next ones!

 

[charliex]

Quote:

That looks great guys. Really wish I could have been there, but unfortunately I had some things I couldn't avoid come up last minute.
 
Looking forward to the next ones!

 
    Ditto - I really hate missing these meets and can only hope that we can get another one organized over the summer at the latest!
    Looks like a very successful meet with a good headphone selection overall.
Quote:

Nah you won't get charged duty if you are ordering from the states.  The worst that you could do is get charged tax (i.e 13%).  Just have them send it through USPS and the brokerage fee is a flat rate, I think itt is about $10 bucks.  Never use Fed Ex or UPS to ship across the border...they are the ones who kill you with the brokerage fees.
 

 
    NEVER ever use UPS  as they are the biggest brokerage SCAM of them all 

 
http://www.classaction.ca/actions/Consumer-Protection/Current-Actions/United-Parcel-Service-Canada-Ltd-%28-UPS-%29.aspx
http://trueler.com/2010/09/13/ups-brokerage-fees-total-scam-fraud-cheating-avoid-it/
 
They lost the class action lawsuit, yet continue to play the same game since they are appealing the judgement!

 
I just recently got badly burned - UPS tried to hit me with $105 brokerage fees on top of taxes and shipping costs for a $200 pair of phones ($158.00 all in).  I refused the order and had it returned to the sender (who I had clearly told at the outset NOT to use UPS), only to have the seller rip me off for over $100.00 himself!.

 
ALWAYS use USPS, I rarely (if ever) get hit with brokerage fees and if so very very minor, and you don't have to drive ridiculous distances to some UPS office to claim your package since UPS only drops off during the day when most of us are working, unless you're willing to take a day off work (right).  You can also ask the seller (if they are willing) to claim a much smaller value on the package.  If you ask for less than $100 the package pretty well always comes through quick and clean of any duties or fees.
 
Looking forward to the next meeting - be sure to keep me posted

 

[Zida]

FedEX charges a brokerage as well, though I hear not as bad as UPS. Also FedEX has a policy of a one-time brokerage exemption if you call their customer service. I don't yet know if that "one time" can be repeated.

 

[ambchang]

I had a problem with UPS before.  They charged me $50+ for a $104 headphone.  I called them and asked if it was reasonable, and the customer service rep kept repeating the same lines over and over and over again.
 
Knowing how these call centers work (they can't close a ticket if it is an on going problem, and they get hit for the number of outstanding issues), I said I will call you every single day, costing your call center $ to take my call, and opening up all these tickets until I feel I got my $50+ worth of service.
 
She relented, and gave me a refund on the brokerage charge.  I never used UPS again.

 

[greyhorse]

 
Tanner (tdunks) was the first to arrive.  If I ever host another meet there is no way I am showing up over an hour early.  The most you guys need is 15 minutes.
 

 
Somewhere near the beginning of the meet Kenny (HappyWater) showed up with his HeadRoom Blockhead setup.  This was my WTH moment of the meet.  He had an impressive DAC next to it, but my eyes kept getting pulled back to the Blockhead.  Dual mono without compromise down to the stepped volume controls.  These drove the balanced HD600s with absolute control.
 

 
Stapsy's HD800s playing through a CypherLabs AlgoRythm Solo/ALO Audio Continental V3 setup.  I don't believe I missed hearing this one...
 

 
All eyes here on Clsmooth391's custom Woo Audio amplifier and Anedio D2 DAC combo.  This amp was a real eye openner for me.  Never have I heard a tubed setup sound so clean and balanced.  The Beyerdynamic T1's were also one of the most intriguing headphones of the meet.  The overall frequency balance was the closest I've heard to my MDR-CD3000s.  If my Sony's ever die, I might have to get the Beyers to replace them with.  I think this setup was the best sound of the meet for me.
 

 
This was the one shot I had planned from before the meet.  You guys have to move around more at a meet!  How else I am supposed to do a proper long exposure shot?  So inconsiderate, I swear...
 

 
Mark (MickeyVee) trying out the LCD 2's on his Schiit Lyr / Bifrost stack.  Both his and danielghofrani's stacks seemed to get a lot of play time.  Having heard it, I have to say the attention was warranted.
 

 
ChrisJ's Wadia iDevice dock and Fiio E09/E17 setup.  Now there's a iDevice dock for taking to meets.  No breaking on the drive from Guelph to Toronto for this one I bet.  Yeah, I have iDevice dock envy.
 

 
All said and done...
 
I really needed to spend more time listening to gear and taking pictures.  The next meet I go to, that's SO what I'm doing.  I'll leave hosting duties to the next guy.  Anyone up?

 

[NightFlight]

Not me I'm a total newbie, but I really wish I could have been there. When is the next one? Are the Toronto meets quarterly?

 

[Chris J]

Not me I'm a total newbie, but I really wish I could have been there. When is the next one? Are the Toronto meets quarterly?

I guess you could say that they are every now and then!

Tanner (tdunks) was the first to arrive.  If I ever host another meet there is no way I am showing up over an hour early.  The most you guys need is 15 minutes.




Somewhere near the beginning of the meet Kenny (HappyWater) showed up with his HeadRoom Blockhead setup.  This was my WTH moment of the meet.  He had an impressive DAC next to it, but my eyes kept getting pulled back to the Blockhead.  Dual mono without compromise down to the stepped volume controls.  These drove the balanced HD600s with absolute control.




Stapsy's HD800s playing through a CypherLabs AlgoRythm Solo/ALO Audio Continental V3 setup.  I don't believe I missed hearing this one...




All eyes here on Clsmooth391's custom Woo Audio amplifier and Anedio D2 DAC combo.  This amp was a real eye openner for me.  Never have I heard a tubed setup sound so clean and balanced.  The Beyerdynamic T1's were also one of the most intriguing headphones of the meet.  The overall frequency balance was the closest I've heard to my MDR-CD3000s.  If my Sony's ever die, I might have to get the Beyers to replace them with.  I think this setup was the best sound of the meet for me.




This was the one shot I had planned from before the meet.  You guys have to move around more at a meet!  How else I am supposed to do a proper long exposure shot?  So inconsiderate, I swear...




Mark (MickeyVee) trying out the LCD 2's on his Schiit Lyr / Bifrost stack.  Both his and danielghofrani's stacks seemed to get a lot of play time.  Having heard it, I have to say the attention was warranted.




ChrisJ's Wadia iDevice dock and Fiio E09/E17 setup.  Now there's a iDevice dock for taking to meets.  No breaking on the drive from Guelph to Toronto for this one I bet.  Yeah, I have iDevice dock envy.




All said and done...

I really needed to spend more time listening to gear and taking pictures.  The next meet I go to, that's SO what I'm doing.  I'll leave hosting duties to the next guy.  Anyone up?

Maybe I'll give it a shot.
I'll send you a PM and ask you about your experience dealing with all those unruly, violent, delinquent Head Fi guys! LOL!

 

[joebobbilly]

Question for those of you who ordered Schiit gear. Did you guys get it direct from the Schiit website? Did you guys get hit for customs? How much did it run you guys? Considering the A2 and Uber BF. Thanks for any info!