My notes.
High Points:
Woo WES + Omega - Wonderful. Plenty of power from the WES. And the Omega is amazing. However, I do think it photographs a bit better than it appears in person. However, the lighting wasn't great in the room. HE-5 Ortho - Very very satisfying. In a way, I feel like this could be an HD800 killer if that makes sense. HiFiMan HM-801 - This player is extremely promising. I thought it sounded great. And it seems pretty modular. Definitely some quirkiness and size issues, but the first seriously high end portable I've heard. Nate's Menace Lite - That is what it's called, right? This thing just sounded (and looked) great. Nate's amps sound good with all phones, but as I've said before, they make most Grados punch way above their weight. John Grado meet Nate. PS Audio PerfectWave DAC - A/B'd with the ULN-2, but tough to volume match so hard to declare a "winner." But I really liked the PerfectWave. It has all kinds of bells and whistles, but it also can easily be a "set and forget" DAC. I'm a little wary of the LCD screen, but this DAC is cool, and more importantly, sounded rich and textured. Ari's vinyl setup & orange amp - Just a pleasure to listen to. I'm finally beginning to understand the differences between analog and digital. But I have a long way to go on that front, and don't have a preference yet. Apparently DACs don't work with turntables? Judd's bang-for-the buck rig - Koss 950, Wadia iPod dock, Assemblage 2.6, Stax SRM1/MK2 - shows that you don't have to spend $5000 to have a truly engaging listening experience. JH13 Universal - Sounds awesome, blahbitty blah blah. New music - Ian let me borrow a great mix, and I listened to some death metal that didn't make me want to not have ears. Luxman P-1 + HD800 - This combo is great. The Luxman gives the 800 the touch of warmth and bass that shows how great the 800 is. Amarra - Sounded good. I love that it will allow you to play hi rez on the fly instead of having to muck around with preferences, quitting iTunes, etc. Swapping impressions with the gang about the Dodson vs. the Bryston. It's cool when you compare notes and most of the ears you trust arrive at very similar conclusions. I thought the auction was fun and Yikes did a good job. Mixed Feelings: RSA Shadow - It's tiny, nice build quality, and I like the volume control much more than I expected. But I simply found it too shouty. ULN-2 - Obviously less than ideal conditions to judge a source. Looks good and seems to have a ton of functionality. Just sounded slightly dull.
Not so much:
[*] Audio-gd Phoenix - I'll admit that this amp had to overcome my bias against it. It did not succeed. I thought it sounded lifeless and dull with the Denons (not an ideal phone to audition with, but still...). And I absolutely hate the volume control.
[*] Denon headphones - These continue to suck.
[*] Meridian CD Players - I think they are a pain in the ass to use and I am not blown away by the sound, especially for the price.
[*] The guy who outbid Aaron's kid for the turntable.
