NorCal 8/8/2009 Meet Impressions

[jp11801]

Not much to say as I am burnt out after a fun filled day with great freiends and great gear. More to come tomorrow after I recover.

[nor_spoon]

Hey, hope you had a great time all. Looking forward to impressions

[seacard]

I was only able to make it for a couple hours so here are my limited impressions. Keep in mind that I just don't have the ears that people like iPodPJ do, and am unable to judge a component within seconds, especially when I am unfamiliar with other pieces in the chain / music playing. But here are a few thoughts.

1) JH13 is an amazing headphone. I've never had an urge to get an IEM, and have always found them uncomfortable, but I may need to buy this one. As good as pretty much anything I've ever heard, although I'm not quite ready to take the plunge yet.

2) The ZDT and the BA are two amazing tube amps. Very rich and layered sound, lots of detail, lots of power. Not sure which one I preferred more, but I definitely wouldn't say that the ZDT sounds worse than the BA. EC has a winner on its hands.

3) WES/BHSA are really beautiful amps. The WES had an unfair advantage at the meet as it was running out of the Amarra/Berkeley DAC, but both sounded good. There were a lot of electrostats, but the original Omega and the HE Jade were probably my favorites.

4) I really liked the K1000 out of the Woo WA5. I've owned this headphone twice and sold it both times because it just didn't do it for me. With this amp, I could really see its appeal.

5) Although I would never buy a SP amp, I'll admit that the HD800 sounded spectacular out of the Extreme Platinum. After spending some time with the HD800 out of a few amps, I'm truly a believer that these are the best headphones available today.

6) Still don't like the L3000 much.

7) Still don't like Grado much, although I'll admit that the HP1000 out of FallenAngel's Melos sounded great.

8 ) The Beta22 is probably the best solid state amp I've ever heard. Better than the Luxman, better than the Phoenix, etc. Although there was a Bottlehead one-off (I believe his personal amp) that was just as good. Great amp; wish I could have one built for me.

[GPH]

Keep in mind that I just don't have the ears that people like iPodPJ do, and am unable to judge a component within seconds

I hope this is sarcasm.

[guzziguy]

I was only able to make it for a couple hours so here are my limited impressions. Keep in mind that I just don't have the ears that people like iPodPJ do, and am unable to judge a component within seconds, especially when I am unfamiliar with other pieces in the chain / music playing. But here are a few thoughts.

Sorry I didn't get to meet you. Maybe at the next CA meet.

1) JH13 is an amazing headphone. I've never had an urge to get an IEM, and have always found them uncomfortable, but I may need to buy this one. As good as pretty much anything I've ever heard, although I'm not quite ready to take the plunge yet.

I finally tried them too. They sounded great but are still IEMs. I won't be ordering one in the foreseeable future.

2) The ZDT and the BA are two amazing tube amps. Very rich and layered sound, lots of detail, lots of power. Not sure which one I preferred more, but I definitely wouldn't say that the ZDT sounds worse than the BA. EC has a winner on its hands.

The 2006 SoCal meet was my first meet. I was explicitly looking for an amp for my K340s. I really liked the Zana Deux but was "never going to spend $1600 for a headphone amp". I sure wish I had more foresight then, I'd be an EC owner instead of an SP owner.

3) WES/BHSA are really beautiful amps. The WES had an unfair advantage at the meet as it was running out of the Amarra/Berkeley DAC, but both sounded good. There were a lot of electrostats, but the original Omega and the HE Jade were probably my favorites.

I did my first listening of a WOO amp with the WES. It is gorgeous. I liked how the Omegas sounded from it. I didn't like the sound of the HE prototype (can't remember which it was).

5) Although I would never buy a SP amp, I'll admit that the HD800 sounded spectacular out of the Extreme Platinum. After spending some time with the HD800 out of a few amps, I'm truly a believer that these are the best headphones available today.

You listened to either Ric's (blessingx) or my setup. Mine was on the left side of the table and was sourced by the eXemplar Denon 2900. I really like the sound of both the HD800 and HF2 from this amp. Fortunately, the Platinum Extremes seem to be holding up. If you really like the Platinum Extreme, just wait until the price drops to almost nothing and pick up a used one. Needless to say, don't even consider trying to buy anything from Mikhail. I'll continue to use mine until it dies.

8 ) The Beta22 is probably the best solid state amp I've ever heard. Better than the Luxman, better than the Phoenix, etc. Although there was a Bottlehead one-off (I believe his personal amp) that was just as good. Great amp; wish I could have one built for me.

I listened to Ti's demo B22 for about 15 minutes. It sounds great and it is as pretty as any amp I've ever seen. The workmanship is absolutely first class and the casing is both well built and aesthetically pleasing. It's the ultimate "anti-SP" amp. I wonder how much it would it take to pry it away from Ti.

[jp11801]

Here are some of my thoughts regarding some of the gear I tried at the meet. One of my goals at the meet was to try a wide range of amps with the JH13s. As great as the JH13s sound out of my pico/netbook/flac rig I knew a lot more goodness could be squeezed out of these puppies. I made a choice to not eliminate any amp there no matter how bizarre it seemed to pair them with an iem. Well after listening to them with the GS-1, Gilmore Light, Balancing Act, ZDT, BottleHead battery amp (btw very cool $200 amp), DNA (Donald North), Luxman 200 and pico slim I settled on the GS-1 being the best choice for me although the Balancing Act had the absolute best sound with them. Most if not all the others sounded good with them but the GS-1 and Balacing Act really locked in with the JH13s, I know I know how crazy is it to use a huge tube amp with IEMs or the GS-1 for that matter but the JH13s are no ordinary IEM. Out of the BA the Decemberists song 'THe Perfect Crime #2' sounded the best I have heard it.
BlessingX's rig with the GS1 was equally stunning with the JH13s Roger Waters singing Paranoid Eyes from the FInal Cut cd was scary good as was Frank Sinatra belting out It Was a Very Good Year. Ric thanks for putting together a great demo song list for your rig , it is always a treat to see your set up.

Ok on to some of the gear

Audeze LCD-1 I really like these and had the opportunity to hear them out of the Eddie Current ZDT. Great imaging and tone out of them they remind me of Maggie speakers in the way they reproduce lifelike sound and have great speed. At $400 for the ones in the converted housing they are a steal.

DNA Sonnet nice amp and Donald is a great guy as well. I started out at his table with no cds of my own and the fist two cds were so poorly recorded that I thought it might be the gear, thankfully I switched to Radiohead (not the best recordings but decent). The amp sounded good, remember I was using them with the JH13s and also I used Donald's Beyer 880 which I really am not a fan of. Nice amp in the $1000 category not ultimately my favorite amp in this segment but a very nice amp non the less. At this end of the amp market there is not a whole lot out there and this is an option you should hear if you are in the market for an amp in the $1000 category.

HeadAmp Got a chance to hear the pico slim at Justin's table as well as check out the GS1 and Glite at other tables. The Pico Slim is a great little amp and was not outclassed while being fed by the Sony ES5400 sacd player. If I did not already have a pico amp/dac combo I would have handed over my money to Justin for one of these on the spot!
The GS1 yikes with the JH13s and the GS1 on the low setting it sounded really spectacular. This pretty much sealed the deal for me on a home amp for the JH13s. The sound was very textured and detailed and never sounded harsh or bright. I think the Glite would be a close second but was not bowled over by the sound which I attributed to the usb to optical converted that was used at that rig to get the digital audio out of the laptop source. In theory the Glite and GS1 should be very similar when applied to the JH13 other than the PS there is really no difference in low gain mode (gs1).

Eddie Current Craig is really the best guy in the amp market that has a handle on tube headphone design. His years as a partner in Moth Audio and his work prior to that in the electronics industry provide a knowledge of circuit design that remains unmatched in our hobby. The Balancing Act, what else is there to say wonder tone and texture sounds to me like music should. The BA more closely resembles the sounds I hear when I play music or when I go hear live music (probably 20+ shows a year). Now with the JH13s it's total overkill but still best in class and kicks major butt with every dynamic I have thrown at it in my multiple sessions over the past few moths with it.

I had a short time with the ZDT and was really impressed, it reminds me of my HD2 that Craig built for me, just scaled back slightly but improved in other ways. Craig was gracious to let me home audition the ZDT for a bit so a more detailed review to come but once again very impressive.

Unsung star of the show for me was Craig's new phono pre amp look for this to come out in the near future and it sounded great and was paired with the pedestrian technics 1200 and denon 103 which are not bad at all just not at the level of the electronics in Craig's arsenal.

Lastly the Laconic mini ZD, this is a Russian amp that Craig imports and does some tweaking and overhaul work to then sells. Based off his designs it sounds great in it's price class and would be tough to beat at $600 (I may be wrong on the price). Once to keep an eye out for as a second amp or a nice tube amp on a budget.

More to come just wanted to some initial thoughts out there.

[robm321]

Keep in mind that I just don't have the ears that people like iPodPJ do, and am unable to judge a component within seconds

The reason he's able to judge within seconds of hearing is because all he does is ask "do I own these?" if yes, then they are the best thing ever. "If no", then I don't understand how anyone could like them, they are horrible. - you're ears are much more evolved

Looked like an ideal meet (not too large). Wish I could have made it. Keep the impressions coming

[n_maher]

Lastly the Laconic mini ZD, this is a Russian amp that Craig imports and does some tweaking and overhaul work to then sells. Based off his designs it sounds great in it's price class and would be tough to beat at $600 (I may be wrong on the price). Once to keep an eye out for as a second amp or a nice tube amp on a budget.

Any pics of this thing? Sounds interesting.

[jp11801]

sadly my camera never emerged from my cargo pants hopefully Peter took a few shots. Nothing from a tube standpoint in common with the ZD it uses smaller russian tubes and is about the size of two or three bricks stacked on each other.

[Dusty Chalk]

Keep in mind that I just don't have the ears that people like iPodPJ do...

Even though I suspect this was not sarcasm, my opinion of you just went up a notch. Despite the pervasive "opinion" of him over there, you still have managed to make your mind up on your own -- keep it up!

Oh, and if it was sarcasm, very diplomatically stated. So either way, win.

[Iron_Dreamer]

sadly my camera never emerged from my cargo pants hopefully Peter took a few shots. Nothing from a tube standpoint in common with the ZD it uses smaller russian tubes and is about the size of two or three bricks stacked on each other.

I didn't end up at his table before they were packing things up somehow.

Here are the pics I did get


This doesn't smell like a Singlepower...


..because it's 10.2lbs of Woo Audio goodness!


How do I work this darn thing again?!?


Finally it was ready to rock...


...along with the rest of Al's rig


Justin unpacked a serious stash of cans:


And I set up my ode to JH Audio:


Donald North and his amps made the trek


Let the listening begin!


Just don't zap yourself in the process!


blessingx has a spirited conversation:


As things kept churning in the "cool" room...


...strungout1 and others sweated it out in the "hot" room


Others were content to chill out with some cards




(Yet another) great looking amp from Doc Cooter:




The JH13 claims another victim


Time to mix up some raffle tix!


And we have a winner of a PPAS!


Who came all the way from Nevada!


Meanwhile the listening pressed on at JP#'s table...


...and across the room at mikeymad's mad stash


The cable mess grew and grew


More vintage Stax came out to play...


...as did these unusual German headphones


They don't build 'em like this anymore


The first production Audeze headphones were a popular listening target


But not as popular as the treats whipped up by Mrs. Bigguy!


I think all the sugar went straight to his brain


Meanwhile, grahame is stupified


Fureshi takes his shot at the JH13 demo with a friend looking on


Amps and amps and amps, oh my!


The most wicked tape setup we've had the luck to hear yet!


Cooter's table, always busy!


As time wore on, the conversation heated up...


...and the liquid flowed!

[Hopstretch]

Looks like a great time!

What are these funky boxes? Battery-driven tube amps?

[robm321]

^ You are a master with the camera! Great pics.

[crappyjones123]

battery powered tube amps look cool. (is that what they are?)

[M3NTAL]

what is the amp on the bottom right of this photo?

[tyrion]

Fallen Angel B22?

[M3NTAL]

Fallen Angel B22?

Thank you - I think you are correct. I was on my other PC and couldn't see all the detail in the photo.

[Hopstretch]

The label on the amp says Balanced Dynalo, so I'm going to go with that.

[Augsburger]

My guess but only Al knows for sure.

[Duggeh]

The label on the amp says Balanced Dynalo, so I'm going to go with that.

Don't judge an amp by its case or a book by its cover.



I think that it's a DIY T2.