[MusiCol]

Hi folks, it is with great pleasure that I can announce that our sponsor AmpCity has booked and paid for the venue for the 2011 UK National Head Fi Meet!!! The date is 2nd April 2011 - as requested by the majority of people in the Date Poll we held.

 
As the title says, this thread is now closed. You can ask questions, make suggestions, join the discussion, and find all the details we have so far, on the New Thread which you will find here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/540416/head-fi-uk-meet-02-04-2011-london 
 
A preliminary list of likely attendees and their gear is as follows, but this will be updated in due course in the new thread, together with all other news, discussion and comment.
 
Attendees:
 
29029
3029174
alvin sawdust
anoobis
Binkobonko
Bizzel
EddiE
fault151
FrankZ
gavinfabl
Germs
hardtarget666
imademymark
JoetheArachnid
jr41
mark2410
MrQ
Musicdiddy
MusiCol
Nuwidol
Parrots
paulb09
Severanth
Somnambulist
tws1
Type35
vkvedam
Zenpunk
zychan1
 
Kit:
 
Source
5.5G iMod 80GB with ALO 18g SXC LOD
Cambridge Audio 740C
Edirol R-09
Imod ipod with ALO wooden V-Dock
iPod Classic (New Generation)
ipod touch 4G + Onkyo NSD1
Laptop
Macbook
Macbook Air
MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro 17" Optical
Onkyo ND-S1
S:Flo2
Sony D-EJ785/715 Optical
Squeezebox v3 (Classic)
 
DAC
AMB gamma1
Apogee Duet
Benchmark DAC1
Buffalo 2 DAC
Cary Xciter Dac
db audiolabs Tranquility usb dac
Fiio E9
Little Dot DAC_I
Meier Stagedac
Nuforce UDAC II
Yulong D100
 
Amplification
ALO RX mk1
AudioGD NFB-10ES
Chiara K2100
Creative DD/DTS DAC
Darkvoice 336SE
Darkvoice 337SE
Decware Zen Mini Tori
Fiio E7
Graham Slee Solo SRG
Graham Slee Voyager
Headamp Pico Slim
HiFiDIY.net Panda
iBasso D10
iBasso D10 with HiFlight's Topkit
iBasso D4
iBasso P4
iBasso PB2
Little Dot MK I
Little Dot MK IV SE
Meier Audio CORDA STEPDANCE
Meier Concerto
Neco V2
Oatley K272A
Panda Headphone amp
Panda Headphone amp
Ray Samuels Audio SR-71B
Ray Samuels SR-71b
SPL Phonitor
 
Headphone
ACS T1 Customs
ACS T2 Customs
AKG K270 Playback
AKG K518LE
AKG K601
AKG K702
Alessandro MS1000
Beats tour control talk
Beyerdynamic DT 770 80 ohms
Beyerdynamic ET1000
Beyerdynamic T1
Custom IEM cables
Denon AH-A100
Denon ah-c751
Denon D7000
Earsonic SM3
Earsonics SM3
Fischer Audio FA-003
Fostex T50RP (Modded)
Grado HF-2
Grado SR225i
Hifiman HE-6
HiFiMan RE-ZERO
Jecklin Float Model Two
JH13 Pro
JH16 Pro
JVC FX500
Klipsch Custom 3
Klipsch Image x10i
Miles Davis tribute
Sennheiser 650 (Zynsonix Xev Balanced re-cable)
Sennheiser HD 25-1 II
Sennheiser HD 595
Sennheiser HD 600
Sennheiser HD 650
Sennheiser HD 650 (APS re-cable)
Sennheiser HD 650 (SAA Endorphin re-cable)
Sennheiser HD800 (Whiplash V2 Recabled)
Sennheiser IE8
Shure SRH-840
Sony mdr-xb700
Sony mdr-xb700
Stax 2050A
Stax SR-303
Superlux HD681
TF10
Triple Fi 10
Turbine coppers
Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10
Ultrasone HFI 780
Ultrasone Pro 900
Westone 3
Westone 3
Westone ES5 (ordered)
Westone UM3X
Yamaha HP-1
 
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, and especially to my fellow organising committee members EddieE, jr41, and Nuwidol, who have done the lions share of the work. And of course our heartfelt thanks go to Zain and the guys at AmpCity for the long hours they have put into finding a suitable venue - and for paying for it!
 
Other companies including Graham Slee are keen to show you their wares, so head over to the new thread to find out the latest info and make your requests!
 
 
Please can everyone who's interested help to spread the word by including a link to the new thread (Not this one) in your signature - the more the merrier!
 
I hope to meet you at the UK National Head-Fi meet 2011 !

 

[Nuwidol]

I'm in. I went to the 2007 meet & was happy with the venue. We had 2 reasonably sized rooms (& if I remember Duggeh almost filled one of the rooms alone!).
 
Manchester is pretty far for me being down south but I made it before & will again. Spring sounds good but maybe a list of proposed dates could be set out & picked from?

 

[MusiCol]

Thanks Nuwidol. Ok, I will start by suggesting we meet just after the start of British Summer Time for a longer, more pleasant evening for people to either get back home or stay over and enjoy a meal and chat. The clocks change on Sunday 27th March (according to my Google Calendar - please let us know if that's incorrect!), so the first weekend in April would be my first suggestion - that's saturday 2nd April 2011. Subsequent saturdays would be the obvious next choices, which are the 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th of April.
 
If you have college studies / exams or family commitments such as school holidays - or anything else which clashes with any of those dates - please post the dates you can and can't attend and we'll find a mutually agreeable weekend. Obviously at this stage the dates are fully flexible, so we could meet sooner or later, depending on peoples' commitments and preferences.
 
On the subject of location, please can anyone send me the name and phone number of the venue / hotel used for the previous meets so I can check their availability. As soon as I ascertain that I'll post a revised set of available dates.
 
Hifi Headphones sponsored the 2009 meet and from what I've read they appear to have been very happy with the event and keen to attend future meets. So on monday I will make an initial enquiry as to whether they would be interested in coming on board the 2011 event - and whether they can help bring manufacturers and other Head-Fi related businesses into the picture. Now is obviously one of the busiest times of the year for traders, but they will be in regular contact with each other and the sooner we ask, the greater the likelihood of success.
 
There seems to be a consensus of opinion that we need regular national meets, and I agree fully, that's why I'm happy to use this long period of free time I have to "further the cause".

  With a bit of luck this could become the starting point for a proper annual CanJam for the UK, so don't hesitate to post your ideas here and / or mail me.

 

[EddieE]

Do you mean the Manchester meet as last years? If so could this one be somewhere south of the country instead? If this is aimed to be a yearly thing, rotating from north to south would seem like a good plan.

 

[MusiCol]

Hi EddieE. My personal opinion is that we should stick to a central location, such as Manchester which has already hosted successful national Head-fi meets - "if it ain't broke, don't mend it" as the saying goes. My main thought is that most folks can get there within half a days travel time, regardless of where in the UK they live (exceptions being Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands).
 
There are threads relating to meets in London and other locations in the South of England, so perhaps a Southern meet could be organised to cater for anyone in the south, bringing London based sponsors on board. And perhaps a Scottish get-together as well? I'm just reluctant to have the national meet in a location which would take some people a full day to reach, making it effectively a southern-only meet, if you see what I mean?
 
However, these are just my personal opinions and I want this to happen wherever most people want it to.
 
So, ideas please. Should we alternate between Manchester and somewhere more southern? What do you think?

 

[paulb09]

Well whilst I live relatively close to London I'd still be looking at a 4 hour train ride to Manchester, which isn't short but could be worse really. However, for anyone in Cornwall and even Devon it would be much more of a trip than anyone from Glasgow or Edinburgh. By train the shortest journey from Plymouth, for example, would be 5 and a half hours, whereas from Glasgow or Edinburgh there are several train journeys at around 3 and a half.
 
Of course, that's generalising that most Head-Fi'ers in Scotland would be from either of those two cities, which of course I don't know (taking Aberdeen into consideration, to Manchester you've got a train journey that's at least half an hour more than even Plymouth, not that either are at the complete ends of the country anyway). Perhaps there are more Head-Fi'ers in Scotland than Cornwall and Devon, so then it might make more sense for it to be as far up as Manchester.
 
Assuming that most people would be traveling by train, it actually looks like Birmingham isn't too bad a location. Plymouth would be 3 and a half hours, and Glasgow and Edinburgh look to be around 4 hours at the shortest. I looked at Derby too, but it actually seems that has a longer (in varying degrees) train journey for all of those locations mentioned. All of this is without looking up prices either; a shorter journey doesn't always mean a cheaper journey with our train service. Again, this is assuming most people would come by train; perhaps Birmingham isn't so good a location driving-wise.
 
In the end, I think it may be worth waiting for more interest, and seeing where everyone is located to get the most suitable middle point, but I agree that London is rather too far south (and even east) when you take the whole of the UK into account.

 

[EddieE]

+1 on Paul b's suggestions.
 
Doing a poll of what region interested parties are from and then working out what is central by population and not just geography makes the most sense.

 

[suicidal_orange]

I'm from Somerset and Manchester was a painless train trip for me in 2009. I'd happily go there again but if there are more Southerners interested I'd not object to a shorter trip

 

[EddieE]

Hey I don't want to be a typical southerner and want everything to be around here, so would still do my best to make it if it did end up in Manchester, just think a tally of the locations of UKs headfiers might be a good start.

 

[MusiCol]

Thanks to paulb09 for checking the actual journey times, and to everyone for sharing your thoughts. It feels like we're gaining some momentum here!

  But I agree that we should wait for more interest so we can see where the mid-point will be.
 
So, as well as posting your ideas, please can everyone who's interested in coming, also include which part of the country you would be travelling from? If you know which dates you can and can't make, please include that info too.
 
I've started working on the question of sponsorship and will give you any news as soon as I get it. If anyone has connections inside the industry, please ask if they can contribute in any way. The more the merrier!

 
Please keep the ideas coming!

 

[EddieE]

I'm from London and have no holiday booked next year yet so potentially any time is fine. Obviously plenty of notice would help me plan for it and make it there.
 
I don't drive so would be getting a train probably (although a helicopter ride with champagne may be cheaper by then if train fares go up any further).

 

[binkobonko]

I'm near London, but would be happy to travel to Manchester if that's where the majority of people are nearest.  Obviously, London would be preferable, but Manchester isn't a massive imposition, is it?

 

[03029174]

Seems to be alot of people near London and the South. Im in Wales and will attend with my rig. I enjoyed Manchester in 2009 but im sure Birmingham will be just as good and closer to the majority of early addopters.

 

[zenpunk]

Count me in. That's from another Londoner....

 

[MusiCol]

Well, I was expecting quite a few people from London, but not quite such a large majority! So, the idea of holding the meet "down south" is making a lot more sense with every post. Please can everyone continue to include the area you would be coming from and any dates you can or can't come - in case broadband speeds are such that it's taking several weeks for the message to reach northerners! At this point the date and location are yet to be set, so feel free to include alternative suggestions.
 
I've just followed the example set by paulb09 and checked the train times to London from wales and Somerset (Cardiff and Bath respectively, just for example) and the journey times are around 2hours from Cardiff and about 90minutes from Bath, which are both fairly painless - unlike the ticket prices! Obviously if we find that some people are coming from similar directions and one or more are driving, then car sharing would be an obvious solution - unless the drivers among us will have cars already over-loaded with gear!

 
So, do any of you Londoners know of any quiet venues with hotel accomodation nearby or preferably attached? And what does everyone else think about meeting in or near London? Please keep the ideas coming!
 
I hope you are all having a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to a new year full of promise for we UK Head-Fi'ers! Best wishes to you all.