Matt...Your captions of the pictures were priceless...you should be an editor that does front page Headlines, you would sell a lot of papers off the stands.
First and foremost I have to say, that the number 1 component that was brought to the meet, was the Cuban sandwiches, they were deliciou-so
Ray kept saying, "I gotta have just one more of these things".
I was having a good time with the Eastsound E-5 through the Dynahi with the Connelly Leatherheads. I still feel the l-3000's sound a little dull and uninspiring for the price (paying a lot for the leather), but the rig had synergy.
It's amazing how that VPI HRX passed me right by, and those Ray Samuel homemade speakers, too (they must have been hiding under Matt's mom's homemade cookies, which also were muy bueno). How did Ray get all that equipment in those 2 little boxes.
Gary (Guss2)(GVS)(Gus)(Guss1)- your soon-to-be wife (come on, admit it, you're dead meat {no pun intended}), was an absolute trooper. I thought she said her name was spelled Xena. She held her own with the guys, is beautiful, and it was a pleasure to hang out with you guys in Ybor City (Sin City), to celebrate her 21st birthday at midnight. Speaking from my own experience, to have a wife who loves my hobby, and is willing to cater to meets and members in her own house, makes up for those menopausal times, that all men will eventually have to go through
My wife was driving back and forth from the NYC meet with forgotten items, all the while, she had the brownies in the oven (for the after-meet scotchfest), and doing a load of laundry. Now if only she was rich! They're both keepers.
I enjoyed the Chinese amp of Mr. PsychoZX's (the Feel) with my new HF-1's (I was the lucky winner by the way), and you guys have me tossing and turning about the mod. In one way, it is a classic headphone made by John Grado in collaboration with Todd Junkie, that shouldn't be messed with, like a vintage car that de-values when parts and paint are swapped out. In another way, if the mods make it better sounding, why wouldn't I want to do it? I think I should leave it alone, because I have better sounding, pricier headphones, that offer the fidelity that we crave, and the HF-1's offer me the story that goes behind it, and the sound that is classic Grado.
I'm so torn. There goes that "thrill of the chase" feeling again.
Tyrion's borrwed Cyrus 2 box unit, borrowed from Oz, sounded fantastic (I'm not sure if it had any time on it...and sorry about the spilled coffee and hydrochloric acid accident part
), but the tray drawer seemed cheap to me and took away from it's glory. I feel the same way about my G08. I know it is a CD-Rom drive but Meridian really needed to put some more class in the mechanism...after all, that is the main point of interaction with the user.
Guss2's SCD-1 is as classy as classy gets, and was a good combo with the Orpheus and Justin's amp. That component match is what every Head-Fier can really enjoy. If only the Orpheus could have a little more visceral bass. I would have liked to have a HEV-90 amp to compare to Justin's.
MikeG, your Exemplar modded Denon is also a work of art. I listened to Yikes 3910 modded and Exemplar does some magical work...of course ypu gotta pay for it, though.
Flecom, your cardboard Dynahi work-in-progress reminded me of college, and I know that you are going to be in Ray's and Mikhail's and Justin's good company, one day.
I was so happy to hang out with my world traveler friends again, Ray, Stevieo, Wayne, and to finally meet my good Head-Fi friends, Mike and Gene.
I also feel that I have made some new Head-Fi friends, that I can put a face to the name, when we are arguing the merits and de-merits of the world of audio, and other Member Discussion topics.
Thanks for having me, and sharing your day. Gene thanks for the White Glove Limo service from the airport, and sharing a room.
