Jazper
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2004
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Ok having recovered from the flight and lack of sleep I spose it's my turn to chime in.
The case for the m3 wasn't ready.. the builder for the case kept saying it'd be ready last week but at 3pm on friday he said he couldn't manage it. At that point I went to a local electronics store and bought a 2u rackmount cabinet just for the meet. I was livid. I worked straight through the night to six thirty in the morning on the damn thing just so I could have it ready for the meet, so I arrived in sydney with about 3 hours sleep. I admit it was a rush job(please no one judge my casework by the pictures! - if I had time it would look much better...), but it worked. When I arrived, on plugging in the m3 it blew a circuit breaker at cov's house.. glad I wired up the ac ground... one of the wires came off the ac switch and shorted to the case, easy fixed with a screwdriver but it gave us one hell of a surprise/shock, the thought of no M3 at the meet was just crushing after all that work..
Now my impressions:
SA5ks (with and without the recable): The recable to silver coated copper improved the midrange weight, but not significantly. I could barely tell the difference between the two pairs, but it was there. More of an issue was that the original cord was very thin and, I'd guess, prone to breaking.
PS-1s: These are THE bass kings, If I had a friend who loved bass more than they loved life itself, these would be the cans I'd recommend for them. I was overall pretty underwhelmed by them but their dynamics were what made them worth a listen.
RS-1s: If I were to go another grado type phone these would be it. I thought a HUGE contrast to the MS-Pros and PS-1s. I felt they were very lively in a soundstageous mosh pit sense. That said I felt that the depth of soundstage was a little too broad. The detail was all there but euphony was the flavor of the day for these, so I had mixed feelings overall. These are probably my favorite of the headphones out there at the meet(second to the SA5ks)
MS-Pros: Huge disappointment struck when I heard the MS Pros, I was expecting much, and got very little. The sound just seemed dark and lifeless to me, without verve, punch or imaging. I only tried them for a very short while because I just about balked when I first heard them. I was expecting an RS-1 type of headphone, but didn't get it..bit strange
SR325s: I found these were very very similar to the MS-2s I heard last week, In fact I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference if I was in a DBT with both. The treble and bass is really muddy in a mosh pit/concert kind of way, whereas the midrange retains its feel.
Beyer DT770: Sloppy, dark, coloured, unimpressive. Didn't get much of a listen because I simply didn't like them.
AT woodies: Jazz. If Jazz was the only genre you listened to, these would be the headphones I'd recommend. They do it in style and they do it perfectly. Anything else they're too coloured, the treble is too tinny, and they're darkish. But put Krall or such on and they just sing.
The short of my impressions is that I'm very happy with my sa5ks and think that nothing this side of $2000USD is more my style. I'd really hoped this wasn't going to be the case when I attended the meet but they are THE can for me. Guess upgraditis is staved off for a while.
Amps:
The Melos SHA-1: was an interesting amp, I got the impression that I was actually inside one of the tubes when I listened to it. Felt like a tunnelly sort of warmth was added to the sound. again, not my thing, but I can see how it could mate nicely with the RS-1s and such.
The EMP: If I were to buy a tube amp, this would be it. I loved it to bits out of all the amps on the table, this was the most versatile (Without modification to the m3 or ppa - opamp wise) of all. Simply sweet, fast alluring, enjoyable, friendly, bouncy, lively, and overall just damn nice. I didn't think that a tube amp could sound like that, but it has raised the bar when it comes to my thoughts on tubes in general.
Was good to hear different music styles for the first time too (I think kenny will agree there).
The most fascinating thing at the meet was the people. These guys (all of them) are really great people. But what struck me was that everyone had such different tastes toward music, sound and their gear preference. It was fantastic to see such diversity when it came to likes/dislikes and preferences.
I had an absolute blast being there, can't say enough good things about the guys though, you all ROCK
ps. Kenny please post more pics.... there were lots taken!
The case for the m3 wasn't ready.. the builder for the case kept saying it'd be ready last week but at 3pm on friday he said he couldn't manage it. At that point I went to a local electronics store and bought a 2u rackmount cabinet just for the meet. I was livid. I worked straight through the night to six thirty in the morning on the damn thing just so I could have it ready for the meet, so I arrived in sydney with about 3 hours sleep. I admit it was a rush job(please no one judge my casework by the pictures! - if I had time it would look much better...), but it worked. When I arrived, on plugging in the m3 it blew a circuit breaker at cov's house.. glad I wired up the ac ground... one of the wires came off the ac switch and shorted to the case, easy fixed with a screwdriver but it gave us one hell of a surprise/shock, the thought of no M3 at the meet was just crushing after all that work..
Now my impressions:
SA5ks (with and without the recable): The recable to silver coated copper improved the midrange weight, but not significantly. I could barely tell the difference between the two pairs, but it was there. More of an issue was that the original cord was very thin and, I'd guess, prone to breaking.
PS-1s: These are THE bass kings, If I had a friend who loved bass more than they loved life itself, these would be the cans I'd recommend for them. I was overall pretty underwhelmed by them but their dynamics were what made them worth a listen.
RS-1s: If I were to go another grado type phone these would be it. I thought a HUGE contrast to the MS-Pros and PS-1s. I felt they were very lively in a soundstageous mosh pit sense. That said I felt that the depth of soundstage was a little too broad. The detail was all there but euphony was the flavor of the day for these, so I had mixed feelings overall. These are probably my favorite of the headphones out there at the meet(second to the SA5ks)
MS-Pros: Huge disappointment struck when I heard the MS Pros, I was expecting much, and got very little. The sound just seemed dark and lifeless to me, without verve, punch or imaging. I only tried them for a very short while because I just about balked when I first heard them. I was expecting an RS-1 type of headphone, but didn't get it..bit strange
SR325s: I found these were very very similar to the MS-2s I heard last week, In fact I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference if I was in a DBT with both. The treble and bass is really muddy in a mosh pit/concert kind of way, whereas the midrange retains its feel.
Beyer DT770: Sloppy, dark, coloured, unimpressive. Didn't get much of a listen because I simply didn't like them.
AT woodies: Jazz. If Jazz was the only genre you listened to, these would be the headphones I'd recommend. They do it in style and they do it perfectly. Anything else they're too coloured, the treble is too tinny, and they're darkish. But put Krall or such on and they just sing.
The short of my impressions is that I'm very happy with my sa5ks and think that nothing this side of $2000USD is more my style. I'd really hoped this wasn't going to be the case when I attended the meet but they are THE can for me. Guess upgraditis is staved off for a while.
Amps:
The Melos SHA-1: was an interesting amp, I got the impression that I was actually inside one of the tubes when I listened to it. Felt like a tunnelly sort of warmth was added to the sound. again, not my thing, but I can see how it could mate nicely with the RS-1s and such.
The EMP: If I were to buy a tube amp, this would be it. I loved it to bits out of all the amps on the table, this was the most versatile (Without modification to the m3 or ppa - opamp wise) of all. Simply sweet, fast alluring, enjoyable, friendly, bouncy, lively, and overall just damn nice. I didn't think that a tube amp could sound like that, but it has raised the bar when it comes to my thoughts on tubes in general.
Was good to hear different music styles for the first time too (I think kenny will agree there).
The most fascinating thing at the meet was the people. These guys (all of them) are really great people. But what struck me was that everyone had such different tastes toward music, sound and their gear preference. It was fantastic to see such diversity when it came to likes/dislikes and preferences.
I had an absolute blast being there, can't say enough good things about the guys though, you all ROCK
ps. Kenny please post more pics.... there were lots taken!
and i think the ps-1s > dt770 in a big big way. 
![DaKi][er](https://cdn.head-fi.org/avatars/m/6/6700.jpg?1273083357){kind=avatar}
