morphsci

I guess I'll start this here with what I posted over at head-fi: Well, first things first, thanks to cryhavoc for a great job organizing this meet and GO SPURS. Second thanks to skylab and his wonderful family for allowing all us crazy headfiers to share their beautiful domicile. I must say Rob, I only hope my son grows up to be as well-behaved and charming as your children. O.K. now on to the real business. The highlight of the day for me was unfortunately not headphone related. It was Skylab's vinyl rig, the sound was glorious (as is Rob,s taste in music, eclectic is good!). The Denon turntable was not only glorious to behold but produced some great sounds, especially out of the B&W 800ds (I'm pretty sure that's what they were). Truly a great sound, I guess I know where I will be going next! Back to headphones. Zana Deux - I finally was able to listen to the headphiled K340's out of this and it was an great experience. My comment was that if I had heard the K340's out of the Zana earlier, I would have felt no need to go balanced. Yes Margaret, it is that good. B52 - I also got to spend some quality time with the K340's on this "little amp". Listening to Bella Sonus I was amazed not only by the quantity of bass but also by its quality. Although it did not thump quite as hard as Rays R10 I actually preferred the frequency presentation of the K340s compared to the R10 (good for my wallet). I may need to rethink my dynamic system as I am now convinced (I know I have already been told this) that the K340 does synergize better with some (but not all) tube amps. Maybe I'll wait for Uncle Ray to throw his monkey in the wrench K400 - Although I did not have much time it will definitely require my attention in the not too distant future. HFI 780 - meh. I'd rather listen to my 650 pro's. Seemed recessed and appeared to have gaps in the frequency response. DT 990 - Meh, yawn. It doesn't do anything better than the HD 650 or 701 can do, so I see no need for it in my stable. If you do not have either one of these, especially the 650, then I see where it might be attractive. I am pretty sure this was a custom manufacture 990. I feel better about my recabled custom 880 . Listened to a few other things including a Meier amp vberch brought along but I cannot remember what model it was. It sounded nice but less than dynamic, I will not comment further until I figure out exactly what model it was. As usual the best part was seeing old friends and meeting new ones, the forum is good but meets are what its all about. Thanks again to the organizers and hosts for an excellent meet. ------------------------------------ Two additional comments: For the K340 mafia: We should have two new converts gentlemen And I am a slacker and took exactly zero pictures so to get it out of the way Hopefully some of the more conscientious members here (HaHaHaHa) will post some pictures

And in honor of the Masters: Artist: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Album: American Dream Song: An American Dream Lyrics: I beg your pardon momma What did you say? My mind was drifted off on Martinique Bay It's not that I'm not interested you see Augusta Georgia is just no place to be

Artist: Barnes and Barnes Album: Yeah: The Essential Barnes & Barnes Song: Fish Heads Lyrics: <REFRAIN> Fish heads fish heads roly poly fish heads Fish heads fish heads eat them up yum In the morning laughing happy fish heads In the evening floating in the soup Ask a fish head anything you want to They won't answer they can't talk I took a fish head out to see a movie Didn't have to pay to get it in They can't play baseball they don't wear sweaters They're not good dancers they don't play drums Roly poly fish heads are never seen drinking cappuccino at Italian restaurants with oriental women yeah I actually like Grace Slick's version that she performed on SNL. Oops, showing my age...

I knew there was a reason I liked BJC, aside from the fact that they make cables for reasonable prices with no outlandish claims. I too await a reply that is unlikely to be forthcoming

Thanks for the welcome. I'm a little slow I guess See you on the 19th, Gotta hook those K340's up to your Zana then we can talk racks.

Thanks. I'll be more careful next time. I guess this will work as a flagulent icon

I used two of the big square Pelican cases (a 3070 with casters and a 3050 that sat on top of it) to bring my gear up to the first CHIUNIFI meet. They worked great as long as you're a bigass dude with muscles bulging out of your clothing. Otherwise, if you are like me they can get a little heavy and unwieldly. They did carry a ton of shit (SP ES1, Headamp GS-X, Eastsound E5, PS Audio P500, a broken down Sanus Rack, and all cables and accoutramonts) and they work well for me since they rode in the open back of my 94 Ranger (suitably locked down with padlocks). Maybe Billy will chime in, I looked like an itinerant MOT coming in off the street. It was November, and by the time I got them from the parking lot to the room I was sweating like the proverbial pig. At least it convinced me that I needed to get off my big duff and get some exercise (or was that just an excuse to spend money on a portable rig?). I also just bought THIS for transporting my desk laptop setup to a meet later this month. It just arrived but it looks like it will work well and is very well constructed.

I have to definitely say the Slappa cases and D2i sleeves are pretty cool and work extremely well. I just bought THIS to actually use to transport my laptop setup to a meet. It was a decent price, especially given the build quality. I was not really familiar with Slappa products but I am very impressed with their innovations and attention to detail. I may also use it (plus probably another) for storing my CD's since I mainly use my FLAC rips now. If so I may have some Boltz wall racks for sale, but they are heavy suckers and shipping would probably be more than the rack is worth. Since I am not local to anything or anybody they'll probably just end up in the garage. Anyway, if their other cases are as well constructed then you should definitely check them out.

Well I certainly like my 701's out of a Headamp GS-X. I agree that amps make a difference, but to me the biggest improvement comes from doing a dual entry recable (I don't even care what cable you use ... Oh no heresy ). I think the engineering genius who thought up the single entry system on the 701 should be forced to listen to a stock 701 out of an ipod shuffle until their internal auditory meatus falls into the nether regions of their arsehole. After the dual entry recable, balancing helps to deliver more power which certainly helps. Of course that raises the real price of the K701 to a somewhat higher level . Almost everyone at the Chicago meets have been favorably impressed with the balanced 701's out of the GS-X, including a few who sold their stock 701's because they couldn't stand them. I guess it's not really rocket science, do what you can to get a clean, powerful signal to those drivers. Oh and I think headphone burn-in is partially the drivers burning in as well as the owner acclimating to the sound. Sometimes the acclimation never comes (Can you say U-l-t-r-a-s-o-n-e? I thought you could, but that is another thread entirely )

I never noticed any burn-in with my stock 701's. They sounded shrill to these (at the time) 49 year-old ears, which is scary. They never lost that "edge" after some long burn-in sessions and a lot of painful listening sessions. I almost gave up on them until I read some threads on recabled 701's so I gave it a try and they are now my second favorite phone. They sounded immediately better in the top-end and also in the bottom end. They haven't changed much to these ears and I am sure (but I'm not anal enough to really keep track) they have 500+ hours since the recable, So I am as bemused as the rest of you by the burn-in bandwagon with the 701's. I have experienced burn-in (or acclimation or a combination thereof) with both of my recabled AKG K340's so I am not burn-in "non-believer".