[chuckwheat]

  Any listening report on the new Eddie Curent "STUDIO" tube amp ? 

best amp there in my opinion.

 

[AmbientK]

More than a huge thanks to the gracious exhibitors and head-fi community. Letting us experience the gear you enjoy so much made the event a blast.
Hopefully, I won't repeat anything said thus far.
 
Noble Audio
Brannan was gracious enough to show his personal K10 Prestige. I would describe it as a burl base design, but I'm not quite sure of the contributing wood species. None the less, it was beautiful. The K10 universals were a joy to listen to off the portable players at the Noble table. I also got to listen to the universal K10 through the un-named Cavalli portable amp. As someone else stated, it sounded very close to the liquid carbon in terms of presentation of the of source media. Awesome advise from Brannan for anyone going the full custom design route; give Noble full creative control.
 
Music Lovers Audio & Video
Matthew demonstrated the Codex DAC/headphone amp. The Codex footprint on a desk is quite small and compact. The sound was amazing, and left nothing wanting. The amp can be disabled to allow for a dedicated amp to be connected to it. The Codex drove the LCD-X? and HD800 quite nicely.
 
Echobox
Definitely enjoyed listening to the Explore X1. George was able to go into details about the feedback and design of the build on display today. The Explore was apparently shaped like a flask, which creates a unique shape for easily handling. The demo unit was encased in wood (leather in the promotional material apparently didn't do to well with sweaty hands), which was pretty nice. The UI was snappy, and had the gestures you would expect from an android OS. The sound drove their Finder X1, which are ear buds also of their design, quite nicely. They allowed me to demo the Explore X1 using my own IEMs, which also sounded great through the Explore X1. The Explore X1 can also handle lossless streaming services for people who just "need" 1TB+ of music available on the go. The Explore X1 approximate release date is October.
 
Cavalli
Alex's table had an assortment of headphones and Cavalli amps. The new portable amp was being tested with the UE reference monitor as I was walking in. I got to try the portable amp with the universal K10 and my personal IEM, and they sounded amazing. The liquid carbon was tested with the Ethers and LCD-3, and both sounded great. The Ethers take things a step further in both detail in the mid/highs by a noticeable margin testing it myself and the ones who also compared. The liquid carbon pre-orders line is getting fairly long according to Alex, so time is of the essence for getting one.
 
MrSpeaker
As mentioned the MrSpeaker table had the Ragnarok/Yggdrasil going through the Ether. The sound was good, but they weren't able to warm the unit up early due to the room access being restricted till an hour before the show. The combo needs at least 48 hours apparently for peak operating temperature. The Ethos combination running through a auralic vega and liquid glass pair were stunning. The Ethos definitely pairs well with just about anything, given the price, is just about the strongest competitor in its price range.
 
Schiit Audio
Besides the Ragnarok/Yggdrasil being at the MrSpeaker table, the remaining line-up of their products were at this table. The sliver chassis of amp/dacs along with the headphones on display were nicely organized. Tested the mjolnir/gungnir combination on the LCD-XC and enjoyed the well driven sound. As also mentioned, the LCD-XC was the heaviest headphone at the show.
 
Xoxoa
Dp Deng of Xoxoa was displaying their Bluetooth headphone adapters, which is inserted directly into the headphone (which accept 3.5 connectors) turning them wireless. Dp also said in the works would be an adapter that would be able to accept IEM connectors.
 
HeadAmp
Probably the most diverse table in terms of headphone demo selection. HD800, LCD-3 (Phasor), HD1000, SR-007, and SR-009 to name the ones I can remember. The HeadAmp GS-X MKII playing through the HE1000 was definitely impressive. The SR-009 through the Blue Hawaii (custom black chassis on this one!) held it's own at $10k+ for the pair. In terms of all of the different amps heard through the HE1000 at the show, the GS-X MKII and liquid glass drive the HE1000 with authority. Justin was great at answering questions and displaying each headphone the best way possible.
 
Sercona Audio
Let's be clear, DIY is impressive. As someone who never really thought about it before, Bryan from Sercona Audio (one man team if you can believe it), built over the course of 6 months everything on his table. Apologies for not having pictures. Initially, my eyes glazed over at the thought of the technical aspect that went into it, but after speaking with Bryan, it's basically a connected set of devices that bring the internet of things to the masses. If all goes well, Bryan mentioned creating a Kickstart campaign for one of the more core units he built.
 
Vybeaudio
Vybeaudio creates just about any custom cable or interconnect. The build quality for the units on display were top notch. It was great speaking with them on the quality of parts they use, and the chance to demo them.
 
Oppo
Enjoyed listening to their PM-3 headphone through their portable amp/dac the HA-2. The thinness of the HA-2 was a welcome sight for pairing with a source on the go.
 
Master & Dynamic
The company has been around for about a year, and they recently released a new color option to their core headphone model. Their headphone blend aesthetics with sound quality to deliver a nice unit you wouldn't be concerned to show off at the workplace.
 
Questyle
An entire room was dedicated to Questyle's line of full sized units to portables. The portables were what I tried. The QP1 and their flagship QP1R are music players which use class A mode output, current mode amplification. The female vocals off the QP1 were beautiful off both the LCD-3 and my IEMs. The QP1 has the option of low/high gain through the settings menu. The IU was intuitive and shown quite a lot of polish with text, icons, and album art placement. According to the design of the QP1, it went through several revisions, and at times rebuilt from complete scratch. The owner patented a specific use of the current mode amplification while in college, which is now used throughout their range of products.
 
Mass Drop
Since I haven't heard anyone mention the prototype headphone they brought for demonstration, I'll reserve mentioning any more. Let's just say it impressed the heck out of a few that heard it.

 

[DecentLevi]

Hello all, sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, but here is what I want to ask from my hazy memory:
 
What amp was this? It was in one of the two larger rooms at the meet - the room with Schiit Audio and just about directly across from the Mjolnir amp which was at the east side of their table. It was a multi-thousand dollar tube amp with thick tubes across from Schiit, and it had an HD 650 or 600 paired with it. Although I didn't try all of the hefty price amps, that was my favorite of the day. 

 

[bmichels]

 

 
Looks really nice, but.... IMO it will be even nicer with the 2 driver tubes outside of the case  instead of inside under the 2 windows.

 

[Saraguie]

Does the Questyle have a blanced out?

 

[voicemaster]

Had a blast in the meeting and being able to try various different High-end headphones and amps is really a great experience. There were two things that really struck me, one is JH audio Layla and the other one is HE1000. I already have JH Roxanne and I think the Layla is a lot better sounding than it's predecessor. It is more balanced, the bass is tighter even at max unlike the roxanne where the boost is kinda sound boomy. The first HP that I tried at the meet was SR-009 and it does sound awesome, but then I tried other HPs like Audeze LCD 2, LCD-X, HE 560, HE400i, Mr.speaker Ether, HD650, Oppo pm2 and many more. But, what impressed me the most was the HE1000, it sounds so effortless, spacious, lush. I absolutely fall in love with its sound and presentation. So much so I decided to buy one. 

 

[DecentLevi]

Does the Questyle have a blanced out?

It depends on which Questyle amp you're talking about. The Questyle Q192 has unbalanced (SE) in & out. And they have many other pricier balanced amps.

  I felt there were far less people in this year's meet than last year's...I wonder why...

If you stayed the wole day, it got a LOT more crowded towards about 3pm, almost to what felt like near max. capacity.

  ...
 
Holy sh#t! The HD 600s sound AMAZING out of the Zana Deux. What a pairing! I was nearly ready walk away with one of these. The sound was lush, powerful and open. Just beautiful. The HD 600s scale beautifully. The Zana absolutely blew the Oppo HA-1 away.
 
On the downside, Zana ran very hot. Hot enough to give me pause about potentially keeping Zana on a desk as a cat owner.
 
I am seriously tempted to buy a Zana.
 

 
 
...

So this may have been my favorite amp of the day I was trying to recall which one it was. Was Eddie Current across the room from Schiit Audio? And was this the one that was more specifically across from the east end of the Schiit Audio table? If so this was the one.

 

[pdferguson]

the HD800's totally blew me away when driven by a the Ayre Codex. Wow, just wow.

My thoughts exactly. The Codex and HD800's sounded amazing, although I noticed the amp ran very hot.

 

[aamefford]

I had a blast.  Warren, Ian, anyone else involved in putting this together, my great thanks!  Stephanie, it was great to see you again, Jude, great to see you again as well, even if we only chatted for a couple of minutes.  I need to plan to hang out for dinner either the day before or the day of next time so I can visit my long distance head-fi pals a bit longer.
 
I came mostly to visit this year.  I brought my Alpha Primes.  I also had PM-3's and 1964 ears quads, but those went back in the car so I could just carry around one set of headphones.  Highlights for me - hearing the Liquid Carbon at essentially final configuration - I can't wait!  I also listened to the Cavalli portable prototype with my alphas - it did pretty decent with them, and then with Alex's K10 universals (wonderful) and a pair of ER4P or S's.  I've never heard the ety's sound so good.  I got a quick listen with the 009's and Alex's stax rig, but never got there when the Liquid Gold was available.  I missed the Eddy Current table again.  Kind of on purpose.  Craig is a really nice guy, and his amps are stunning, but even the Black Widow is out of my price range right now, so I just spared myself the heartache.  The Echobox player was really interesting.  If the UI and the volume knob get worked out, I'd consider it.  The flask idea seems weird, but it looks really nice.  Streaming Tidal over wifi and caching 64 gb would be perfect for me.  It's pretty much what I do with my iPhone.  The Noble Savant was really nice as a universal.  Odly, the sandblaster E7 or X7 or whatever was intriguing to me.  A decent enough headphone amp, rollable opamps and a ~100 wpc class D amp for speakers.  A pretty decent office rig that would get the big Yamaha box out of my office.  I also won one of the E5's.  It is an interesting unit.  Streams bluetooth from a phone or hooks up direct, has a 24 / 192 dac, interesting DSP of some sort that has surround and some other stuff.  It drives the Alphas acceptably.  An interesting unit.  It was nice to see Frank Cooter again - I missed hearing his amp (seriously beautiful audio sculpture), but got to chat for a minute.  He was one of the welcoming souls at my first meet 6 or 7 years ago.  I also reaffirmed my desire for the Ether.  That will happen this year.  I also really like the HE1000, but in the long run, I would like it in small doses only - I can;t justify it at its price point.  I FINALLY heard the Schiit Lyr2.  I like it, and I want one.  Maybe after I dig up enough $$ for the Ether, that will be next.  AMB's Gamma3.  Pretty awesome dac.  Not that this should surprise anyone....  The Questyle stuff was really pretty.  It does not fit a niche for me though.  The mono block stack requires watching 2 volume knobs, one on each amp, unless I missed something.  Weird and inconvenient.  The presentation was hyper detailed to me.  I know many love that.  I prefer a bit more laid back sound.  Member rigs - I tried a couple, and looked at all of them.  Thank you for bringing your gear!
 
Visiting with friends - THAT was the priceless part of the day!

 

[Saraguie]

[Quote:
Originally Posted by Saraguie View Post

Does the Questyle have a blanced out?

quote name="DecentLevi" url="/t/774984/official-2015-sf-head-fi-meet-impressions-thread/45#post_11773720"]It depends on which Questyle amp you're talking about. The Questyle Q192 has unbalanced (SE) in & out. And they have many other pricier balanced amps.
If you stayed the wole day, it got a LOT more crowded towards about 3pm, almost to what felt like near max. capacity.
[/quote]

In my head I knew I was asking about the DAPs. Couldn't you read my mind? Thanks oh noble priest for your answer.

 

[Hypnotic Rhythm]

I had a great time. I would like to thank everyone who made this meet possible. It was a pleasure to try out the HD800, Audeze, and the HiFiMAN HE-1000 for the first time. The Woo Audio WA7 really impressed me and I wish I could try out the rest of their products, but it was mostly busy. Quite impressed with the set-ups from the other Head-Fi members as well. Definitely would love to go to another meet and this time try out amps for my HD 650. 

 

[mikemercer]

  More than a huge thanks to the gracious exhibitors and head-fi community. Letting us experience the gear you enjoy so much made the event a blast.
Hopefully, I won't repeat anything said thus far.
 
Noble Audio
Brannan was gracious enough to show his personal K10 Prestige. I would describe it as a burl base design, but I'm not quite sure of the contributing wood species. None the less, it was beautiful. The K10 universals were a joy to listen to off the portable players at the Noble table. I also got to listen to the universal K10 through the un-named Cavalli portable amp. As someone else stated, it sounded very close to the liquid carbon in terms of presentation of the of source media. Awesome advise from Brannan for anyone going the full custom design route; give Noble full creative control.
 
Music Lovers Audio & Video
Matthew demonstrated the Codex DAC/headphone amp. The Codex footprint on a desk is quite small and compact. The sound was amazing, and left nothing wanting. The amp can be disabled to allow for a dedicated amp to be connected to it. The Codex drove the LCD-X? and HD800 quite nicely.
 
Echobox
Definitely enjoyed listening to the Explore X1. George was able to go into details about the feedback and design of the build on display today. The Explore was apparently shaped like a flask, which creates a unique shape for easily handling. The demo unit was encased in wood (leather in the promotional material apparently didn't do to well with sweaty hands), which was pretty nice. The UI was snappy, and had the gestures you would expect from an android OS. The sound drove their Finder X1, which are ear buds also of their design, quite nicely. They allowed me to demo the Explore X1 using my own IEMs, which also sounded great through the Explore X1. The Explore X1 can also handle lossless streaming services for people who just "need" 1TB+ of music available on the go. The Explore X1 approximate release date is October.
 
Cavalli
Alex's table had an assortment of headphones and Cavalli amps. The new portable amp was being tested with the UE reference monitor as I was walking in. I got to try the portable amp with the universal K10 and my personal IEM, and they sounded amazing. The liquid carbon was tested with the Ethers and LCD-3, and both sounded great. The Ethers take things a step further in both detail in the mid/highs by a noticeable margin testing it myself and the ones who also compared. The liquid carbon pre-orders line is getting fairly long according to Alex, so time is of the essence for getting one.
 
MrSpeaker
As mentioned the MrSpeaker table had the Ragnarok/Yggdrasil going through the Ether. The sound was good, but they weren't able to warm the unit up early due to the room access being restricted till an hour before the show. The combo needs at least 48 hours apparently for peak operating temperature. The Ethos combination running through a auralic vega and liquid glass pair were stunning. The Ethos definitely pairs well with just about anything, given the price, is just about the strongest competitor in its price range.
 
Schiit Audio
Besides the Ragnarok/Yggdrasil being at the MrSpeaker table, the remaining line-up of their products were at this table. The sliver chassis of amp/dacs along with the headphones on display were nicely organized. Tested the mjolnir/gungnir combination on the LCD-XC and enjoyed the well driven sound. As also mentioned, the LCD-XC was the heaviest headphone at the show.
 
Xoxoa
Dp Deng of Xoxoa was displaying their Bluetooth headphone adapters, which is inserted directly into the headphone (which accept 3.5 connectors) turning them wireless. Dp also said in the works would be an adapter that would be able to accept IEM connectors.
 
HeadAmp
Probably the most diverse table in terms of headphone demo selection. HD800, LCD-3 (Phasor), HD1000, SR-007, and SR-009 to name the ones I can remember. The HeadAmp GS-X MKII playing through the HE1000 was definitely impressive. The SR-009 through the Blue Hawaii (custom black chassis on this one!) held it's own at $10k+ for the pair. In terms of all of the different amps heard through the HE1000 at the show, the GS-X MKII and liquid glass drive the HE1000 with authority. Justin was great at answering questions and displaying each headphone the best way possible.
 
Sercona Audio
Let's be clear, DIY is impressive. As someone who never really thought about it before, Bryan from Sercona Audio (one man team if you can believe it), built over the course of 6 months everything on his table. Apologies for not having pictures. Initially, my eyes glazed over at the thought of the technical aspect that went into it, but after speaking with Bryan, it's basically a connected set of devices that bring the internet of things to the masses. If all goes well, Bryan mentioned creating a Kickstart campaign for one of the more core units he built.
 
Vybeaudio
Vybeaudio creates just about any custom cable or interconnect. The build quality for the units on display were top notch. It was great speaking with them on the quality of parts they use, and the chance to demo them.
 
Oppo
Enjoyed listening to their PM-3 headphone through their portable amp/dac the HA-2. The thinness of the HA-2 was a welcome sight for pairing with a source on the go.
 
Master & Dynamic
The company has been around for about a year, and they recently released a new color option to their core headphone model. Their headphone blend aesthetics with sound quality to deliver a nice unit you wouldn't be concerned to show off at the workplace.
 
Questyle
An entire room was dedicated to Questyle's line of full sized units to portables. The portables were what I tried. The QP1 and their flagship QP1R are music players which use class A mode output, current mode amplification. The female vocals off the QP1 were beautiful off both the LCD-3 and my IEMs. The QP1 has the option of low/high gain through the settings menu. The IU was intuitive and shown quite a lot of polish with text, icons, and album art placement. According to the design of the QP1, it went through several revisions, and at times rebuilt from complete scratch. The owner patented a specific use of the current mode amplification while in college, which is now used throughout their range of products.
 
Mass Drop
Since I haven't heard anyone mention the prototype headphone they brought for demonstration, I'll reserve mentioning any more. Let's just say it impressed the heck out of a few that heard it.

GREAT job boyz!
and it was great to get some time w/ Jude - been too long brotha, and thanks for listening - it meant alot...
 
 
"Xoxoa
Dp Deng of Xoxoa was displaying their Bluetooth headphone adapters, which is inserted directly into the headphone (which accept 3.5 connectors) turning them wireless. Dp also said in the works would be an adapter that would be able to accept IEM connectors."
 
I'm psyched about where Dp took this - was lucky enough to test some protos - and even the initial ones impressed me - psyched for the IEM connector!
 
Got TONS of stuff to do tonight -
we're spreading Harry Pearson's ashes in Big Sur tomorrow - 
 
so impressions coming - but wanted to just share a few pix - AND, say it was SO cool to have Bruce and Greg from Questyle, Moe ( @moedawg140 ) and Warren hear the difference my Double Helix Molecule cable made on Gregs B&O H6!!!! I heard the difference in one note, Bruce two...  LOL It was un-deniable!! 
 
and I l really dug the combo of my MrSpeakers ETHER + Audeze EL-8 open-backs (both wired w/ DHC) w/ the Questyle QPR1!!
Getting one SOON for review - might wanna put a lil' more power underneath - but strictly for more headroom - personal preference - but the the tactile feedback is dope too.

 
Me and my boy Warren sharin' the Head-Fi gang sign:

 
Greg and Bruce from Questyle - GOOD peeps! Bruce and I hooked up through our music biz experience, and then hifi - which is awesome.
I've dug whatever I've tried from Questyle - and Bruce is a true music lover

 
Moe diggin his new HiFiMans + the Questyle DAP he won at our Headphonium Show in Newport
 

(and don't we have somethin' in-store for next year - Headphonium -  - gotta keep quite for now,
but let's just say we were promised something and didn't get it...  But have NO fear - we're ON it)
 
and THE MEN behind the GREAT vibes and SOLID events!

 

[renlute]

  It depends on which Questyle amp you're talking about. The Questyle Q192 has unbalanced (SE) in & out. And they have many other pricier balanced amps.
If you stayed the wole day, it got a LOT more crowded towards about 3pm, almost to what felt like near max. capacity.
So this may have been my favorite amp of the day I was trying to recall which one it was. Was Eddie Current across the room from Schiit Audio? And was this the one that was more specifically across from the east end of the Schiit Audio table? If so this was the one.

Yes, Eddie's two-seat table was directly across from one end of the much longer Schiit table, the end closest to the egress door, and Eddie was perpendicularly just one two-seat table away from the Woo Audio table at that end of that room.At the other end of the Schiit table, I don't know which it was on the compass, were the mini-Fulla headphone amp and next to it the Magna amp and its counterpart DAC, each hooked up to a laptop computer for their music source. I think I got all that right, since I hung around that area for quite a while. Maybe try browsing some of the photo collections already on this thread (or soon to come) and you may find your answer.
 
I echo the compliments to all the organizers and vendors for putting on a great show. Shiit's selection of music was fantastic, it ran the whole gamut of genres of pop, rock, folk, classical and on and on so anybody could get an accurate read on the types they listen to most. The cigarette-lighter-sized Fulla amp is astonishingly good for its size and price. I was also very impressed with the Woo WA7 but should have tried other tube amps in the room if I were seriously scientific about it. Like other participants I tip my hat to Frank Cooter's aesthetic wooden design. If his amp sounds nearly as good as it looks, I have to save up for one.

 

[bangkokkid]

Last year's SF meet stood out from many of the others we attended and the turnout at this year's really bolsters my opinion of the SF crowd.
 
Thanks to everyone for an awesome time, we are looking forward to coming back next year!

 

[TwinFinnley]

I have something to admit: I am a neophyte when it comes to identifying the subtle nuances of any of the equipment I heard. The biggest problem for me is I really don't have a good reference to make any comparisons. I haven't completed my AMB B-22 that I started 6 years ago and I took apart my headphones for a second mod a while ago and... yup still not finished. Also, because everything was so new to me, I had a hard time going station to station knowing where the differences in the sound were coming from - was it the amp, DAC, cans - etc..? I simply couldn't pinpoint which component did what to the music. And on top of all that, I had a difficult time of tuning out all the commotion around me and just hear what was coming out of the headphones. I'm still developing my "ear", I suppose, and I really tried to approach the meet without bias as I want to find what sounds good to me still. That said, if I posted a picture of something here, it was because I was impressed enough to remember to come back to it. That does not mean that if I didn't post a picture, I didn't like it (though that was sometimes the case), rather, I ran out of time and I didn't sample everything there.
 
It is really hard to not like most of what I heard, though, and I will definitely want to attend more meets to hear more. I was told getting into this is a slippery slope - my wife is a little scared now (though she now has her eyes on some gear ).
 

 
 
The guy in the first picture is about to put on Ether headphones by Mr. Speakers.  Really comfortable and sounded great. To me, everything sounded tight and controlled - no sloppy bass and  great highs, mids seemed pretty neutral, but everything was so new to me and the room was pretty loud - lots of good energy in there. I think I had the hardest time with the open cans during the whole meet because of all the ambient noise.
 
That said, their closed cans, the Alpha Dog and Alpha Prime also sounded good and reminded me a lot of how I remember my Denons (which I really like, btw) sounded with the mods. 
 
 
 
 
AMB brought his B-22 amp and new γ3 DAC, still in development (sooo close to being ready). The γ3 was awesome. I mean awesome. I was really excited about the γ3 and I was not disappointed in the least; I was very impressed. Everything he let me listen to sounded great and I was really impressed with the whole rig. Definitely my next DIY (AFTER I finish my other 2 projects... sigh).
 
 
So... I don't remember actually getting a chance to listen to the Cavalli Audio Liquid Lightning 2T amp, but it was the very first tube amp I ever saw in person. I really want to listen to one - I've heard great things about it. Anyone willing to share their impressions?
 
 

 

 
So my wife and I were really impressed by the Master & Dynamic headphones. They sounded way better than I thought they would. I don't know why my expectations were low - it might be because I first saw them in an Apple store and I must have been thinking they were on par with Beats... . They are FAR better. The MH40's were a tiny bit bassy for me, but not bad at all and still very enjoyable. Actually, my wife likes them enough to seriously entertain the idea of getting a pair (for her, of course).
 
 
 
The Sonorous X from Final Audio (silver) were simply exquisite. My first thoughts were about how comfortable they fit on my head. The swivel mechanism behind the cups let them sit perfectly on my head. I felt like I could wear them for hours without any uncomfortable pressure spots forming. Michael (the rep) had me listen to When The Levee Breaks by C.C. Colletti on an AK Jr - fantastic representation - soundstage was incredible. When my wife put them on, she started looking around for the live musician. I was really impressed with how detailed the headphones were. With all the metal on your head (and they were a tad heavy) I was expecting them to sound a bit sterile - not the case at all. It was a fantastic experience and I'm glad I got to listen to them. Sadly, I will be left coveting for the rest of my life. Beyond my price range and the demand had been so high it is too hard to get in the US for a while (if I understood Michael correctly). Simply beautiful headphones.
 
 
This is one of the original Grado amps and cans. HA! I've wanted to try Grados for the longest time and they sounded great, especially for how old they were! The only thing I've discovered is that I prefer the around-ear headphones to on-ear. They just hurt after being on my ears for too long. My ears are sissy la-la's. It's not them, it's me.
 
 
This is the Blue Hawaii SE Electrostatic Headphone Amp paired with Stax headphones. It was quite dreamy and I wished I had more time to listen to it to get a more complete experience.
 
 
I had to go to the Schiit table. I was loosely introduced to the company when I heard some good things about their DACs a while ago, and since I don't have one yet, I really wanted to try a few out and I'm really glad I did. I didn't know they make a lot of their stuff here in the US - something I appreciate as I work for a US manufacturer myself (different industry). I was impressed with their performance and build quality and hated to leave the table, but I didn't want to be a sound hog. Actually, I am now seriously considering the Valhalla 2 after listening to it. You can imagine how thrilled I was to win a Schiit Stack during the raffle!
 
 
 
 
 
I spent a while at Woo Audio table. They have some great sounding equipment that looks awesome to boot. The WA22 sounded great, really great. I wouldn't mind owning one, haha. The WA5 300B set was just amazing though. I wish I could spend a few (hundred) hours listening to them. From what I just read on their website, however, only the LE (Light Edition, headphone only) version is available, which I didn't try but I'm sure it's the same (please correct me if I'm wrong).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Some shots of the lucky guys who won something at the raffle - congrats to all the winners and many, many thanks to the sponsors! 
 
 
 
Moe in all his glory. He is a stud and was extremely patient with me and everyone else I saw him interact with. Thanks man!
 
Great meet! I had a blast and for everyone who couldn't make it, I hope you can make it next time. For everyone else like me who is still coming into their own, it is perhaps the best way to experience a wide variety of options. If you are debating if you want to attend a meet or not, GO! I was really impressed with how kind and patient everyone was. It seemed like everyone liked being asked questions - I didn't feel out of place at all, even though I hardly know anything about the hobby. I can't wait to go again and hopefully I'll have a bit more experience under my belt next time.