[HiGHFLYiN9]

This was the first Head-Fi meet I've been able to attend, and it was incredibly fun!

Since I'm an archival person I'm trying to recollect all that we had there...

Headphone Amps:
Earmax (pro?)
Gilmore Dynamic Reference
Gilmore Electrostat
Gilmore Electrostat w/Blue Hawaii output
Pimeta
PPA?
Ray Samuels whole line
Singlepower PPX3 6GC7 (old-style)
Singlepower PPX3 6SN7 (new-style)
Singlepower Supra with huge caps (new-style)
Singlepower Supra (old-style)
Sennheiser electrostat amp
Stax Amp

Headphones:
Audio Technica A900
Audio Technica W100
Audio Technica W1000
Beyer DT770/600
Beyer DT770/250
Beyer DT770/80
2x Grado RS-1
2x Grado PS-1
Koss Cheese Phones
Sennheiser electrostat
4x Sennheiser HD600s (most w/Cardas cables)
Sennheiser HD650 w/Silver Dragon
2x Sony R-10
Sony V6
Stax Omega
2x Stax 440s


The interconnects of choice seemed to be the Bogdan Silver Spirit, there were quite a few of them there.

 

[john_jcb]

Sounds like there was plenty to listen to. Hope someone took pictures. Did you get a chance to listen to most of the gear?

 

[purk]

Wow...impressive list of equipments. Sound like you are having a blast getting your degree in Maryland and listen to a very impressive gears. Those are very pricey equipments. 2xR10 is real impressive.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Did anyone get a chance to listen to all three versions of the DT770? If so I'd appreciate impressions.

 

[ayt999]

so... who went to the meet, and which Sennheiser electrostatic can are you talking about (HE60 or HE90)?

I want pictures!!

 

[taylor]

Arrived back around 1145, what a day.

I took a few pictures,

One of Hirschs several Supras, with the Ack Dack next to it.

Attempt at taking a picture of the HP-1000s. The're really shiney.

Brians G08 with KGSS, on top is gilmore lite and the Senn static amp.

Koss Cheesephones.

Meridian G08. What a fine piece of gear. I certainly wouldn't mind having one. Below it is a MSB dac, to the side are Blue Hawaii and GIlmore Balanced Reference. Attached to the Blue Hawaii is the SR-404, which were on my head at the time I took this picture.

Size comparison between the new Supra and the SR-71.

Toshiba SD-3950 and Stax SRS-3000. I thought it was a very good setup. (Good, as in, I'm checking out prices for this stuff)

 

[stryker]

Hirsch's SDS is an absolute beast. The thing was *huge* with even bigger caps than I could've imagined. Borderline obnoxious, imo. However, it was so transparent and fast, who cares? It was just gorgeous with the R10s. Clean and accurate yet beautiful. The bass response sounded like it could use just a little more kick for the R10s, but it was otherwise pure heaven coming from that Wadia 301. It made my 650s sing too. Just stunning.

Ahhh...I can only dream to have this setup one day.

 

[thrice]

Wow, hosting a meet is a production, but a very rewarding experience. I need to thank some people.

Stevieo: Steve couldn't make it to the meet, but he was incredibly nice enough to lend me some equipment. It just goes to show what a great community we have here. He trusted me with his Creek, Meridian, PPX, Corda, power cords and ICs. I thank Steve immensely for his contribution to the meet, it helped make the meet a great success!! Thanks Steve!!

Hirsch: Hirsch is a meet in and of himself. He brought tons of stuff: more headphones than you can shake a stick at, 2 Supras (new and old), a PPX, Melos, Earmax, Ack Dack, Wadia, Philips, Rotel, ...etc. see his profile

. I'd also like to thank him for all his advice and help organizing the meet. He helped distribute directions and info regarding the meet via his email list. Thank you Hirsch for all your contributions and help!!

It was great to have three manufacturors at the meet as well. Justin from Headamp was there with his Gilmore lite and his two electrostatic setups (gotta love that Blue Hawaii). That made for a lot of happy Head-fiers. Thanks Justin for coming and bringing your amps!

Ray Samuels was there with his full line of headphone amps. He set up an A/B switchbox and demonstrated all of his amps with it (and a few others

). He was a pleasure to talk with and I am grateful that he could make the trek from Chicago to attend the meet. I had the opportunity to "talk shop" with him and I am grateful for all the advice he gave me on my PPA. He is passionate about audio and it was refreshing to hear someone discuss his design/building philosophies.


Igor Kuznetsoff also attended the meet. Igor makes power cables and ICs as well as a host of other things I believe. I'm not terribly familiar with his business but I think Hirsch is. He had a commanding and impressive knowledge of electronics and audio...I do hope I have a chance to talk with him at another Head-fi meet. Thanks for coming Igor!!

You all have an open invitation at any meet I host in the future. Thank you for making this meet a truly educational exerience for me and others.


I'd also like to thank all the head-fiers who came out to the meet. I think there were about 25 people who attended the meet. It was great to see and talk with everyone. We have a nice group of people here. My wife came home around 7:00ish and finally saw what all this is about firsthand. Later that evening she commented on the sense of community you can feel with all of us. so thank you all for coming and contributing amps/phones and most importantly...yourselves! I look forward to hosting another meet!


I'll post more impressions and pics later.

thrice

 

[gaboo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar Did anyone get a chance to listen to all three versions of the DT770? If so I'd appreciate impressions.

I've only listened to one (dunno which) when I was comparing phones on the PPX3 6SN7 / Ack Dack / Creek setup. DT770 sounded shrill and distorting compared to anything else around (A900, HD-600, 650, CD3K), so I didn't bother with the other pairs.

 

[gaboo]

I was comparing various amps for my A900. I tend to agree that most amps do not help this phone much. It's main weaknesses as I perceive them are: (a) bass is not tight enough and (b) percussion instruments sound fake and powerless. I guess (b) is the reason why people say this phone is a good fit only for "slow" music.

Amps tested: Gilmore, SR-71, PPX3 6GC7, PPX3 6SN7.

In detail: For problem (a) most amps do provide improvement. I'd say the improvement is somewhat "linear" with the amp. Going from Gilmore to SR-71 bass got tighter. The 6GC7 sounded on par with SR-71, but 6SN7 was definitely better. For problem (b) however, the only amp that made a significant difference was the PPX3 6SN7.

I also used a HD-600 with these amps except the 6GC7. The difference between the HD-600 and A900 seemed least pronounced for (a)&(b) with the 6SN7.

Unfortunately I don't seem myself with glowing triodes on my office desk anytime soon.

 

[gaboo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayt999 so... who went to the meet, and which Sennheiser electrostatic can are you talking about (HE60 or HE90)? I want pictures!!

Senns were HD60. I didn't take pics, you'd have to wait for the others.

@taylor: The toshiba DVD players were 3960 as far as I can remember. You can get the COSTCOized version called K740 for ~70 and that one also has optical digital out.

 

[tom hankins]

Any one else get to hear the HD650 with Hirschs new SDS? Also any comparisons between the PPX3, and PPX3-6sn7 with the HD650?

 

[ayt999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaboo Senns were HD60. I didn't take pics, you'd have to wait for the others.

what is an HD60?

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayt999 what is an HD60?

An HE60 with a typo

Gaboo, Stevio's player was a 3950. Mine was a 3960.

I'm still in recovery from yesterday. In the past hosting a meet was plenty of work. This time, packing up most of my gear and transporting it somewhere else was even more work

Big thanks to all who helped me load and unload, especially Dusty Chalk who came by to help unload my car after the meet.

Pictures and impressions will come when I'm a bit more rested. However, I do want to give a special thanks to thrice for hosting us. The meet was a blast, with gear just about every place we could find place to put it. He's going to have to hide the electric bill from his wife this month...

 

[Dusty Chalk]

The Stax amp in this picture is the 310 -- it's the 3010 system, not the 3000 system. It comes with the 202's. I love this system, though I still want a pair of 4070's.

I should mention that Justin also brought a Gilmore Reference (dual monoblock pre-amp, headphone amp, and balanced headphone amp). It sounded quite good out of the just-plain headphone jacks. My favourite sound of the meet (driving HD650's, don't remember which cables), with the Blue Hawaii driving the Omega II's. The KGSS driving the Omega II's didn't sound bad, either. As a matter of fact, if I was sure of my income in the immediate future, I'd buy either one in a heartbeat. Or driving the HE60's (Sennheiser Baby Orpheus electrostatic headphones).

After Hirsch had spent what seemed like hours getting the Supra just right for the R10's, someone swapped in the W100's -- they actually ended up sounding really good.

I had a good time, thanks for hosting thrice, thanks to all the vendors for showing.