Voltron

Although HeadFest was my idea in an attempt to give the international meet an identity, it is true that juvenile minds couldn't handle that one. I think CanJam has stuck and branding it is the right thing to do.

You bought 3 catapults? I have not heard of the backyard version. Have a pic?

JP's post reminds me of one of the key gear experiences that stood out from my limited listening time. The newest and final incarnation of the Eddie Current Balancing Act is extraordinary. The one at the show had the 307A tubes, which I think is Craig's preferred setup. Man, it sounded amazing with balanced AD2Ks and then even better with balanced RS-1s. The tone is killer and the detail, clarity and seeming purity of the signal was fantastic. The rig with Craig's phono pre was being hogged while I was there so I never got to hear it. The BA is another one and done kind of amp like the TTVJ 307A, which I also spent a little time with at CanJam. The Grado PS-1000s sounded very cool from the 307A on my first ever listen to those cans. I want to hear the PS-1000s some more, but they did have a sweet sound in the short time I heard them. The HD800s were awesome from the 307A as I knew they would be. Killer amp. One thing I wish I could have done was set up the head-to-head between Craig's 307A BA and Pete/Todd's 307A because that would be a very interesting comparo because these are to my ears at the very top of headphone amp design. Speaking of the best headamps around, I also checked out the Woo Audio offerings although with less time than I had hoped. The WA5 with those Chinese Treasure tubes was really amazing as it always is, and that amp remains one of my favorites of all time. I think I prefer the Western Electric 300B sound, but that is just from memory because there weren't any there to compare (should have run over to Mikeymad's table and tried his). Anyway, the new offerings from Woo were equally cool. The WA22 balanced amp sounded very nice with Senns but there was a crowd around it and I didn't get enough time. Very nice new entrant into the balanced arena. Another cool new item was the Woo DAC and music server, which were not yet in their planned single chassis. That is going to be a wonderful product and a very sleek solution. The sound already was excellent into the WA5 -- a very revealing amp -- so I have high hopes for that unit. The prototype Woo Audio WES electrostatic amp was one of the main things I wanted to hear at the meet. It was even better looking in person than the gorgeous photos I had seen. The amp was set up with O2 Mk. IIs and I tried those first. The amp drove them with serious authority and woke them up like the BHSE does. I did not get a listen with the O2 or with my new love the SR-Omega but I think this amp would even perk up the O2s. I listened with my 4070s and Lambda Sigs and both sounded nice. The 4070s are brutally honest cans and also closed so as to block out the meet traffic, so I noticed a little distortion on the top end like a static crackle. I pointed it out to Jack and he took a listen. He agreed and said that the prototype is just that, and was the best they could do to get it ready for the meet. I trust Jack and know that this amp will be a killer in its final production version. I never got to Ray's room, or Tyll's room (except to BS), and I didn't get to the Lavry table to hear the DA11, and I talked to Rudi but never got to hear the new balanced amp which is beautifully cased, and I didn't do the Smyth demo or hear the JH13s like EVERYBODY ELSE in the damn world, and I missed the vast majority of member and vendor rigs, all of which makes me sad now. I was having fun all of that time but one more day might have made it possible to get around to more of the offerings.

Time to finish up the CanJam Travelogue. The activities of Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 6pm were the sole reason many people came to CanJam. They wanted to check out each others' gear, they wanted to sample the vendors' wares, and maybe they wanted to listen to Steve Hoffman and Joe Harley tell some great inside-music stories and play some fantastic music on a world-class system. And that's cool, of course, but it is just one piece of the CanJam puzzle for the initiated. The first part of this installment is geared toward gear, even though I failed miserably at hearing, let alone photographing, much of what was on offer. The second part contains the few pics I was able to snap in between the frivolity going on around the meet rooms, before during, and after the prescribed hours. Saturday morning is a funny time because many people show up on Friday to set up, to start rummaging through vendor tables early, and generally to get oriented to the oncoming madness. The organizers were sweating bullets until Friday night that everything they worked so hard on for months would actually come off but Friday of this meet is THE moment of truth when it either works or doesn't. Obviously, they sweat it out all weekend but they are on auto-pilot and trying to keep their heads above water while drowning in requests and questions and demands from all directions. This Saturday morning was smooth as silk from what I saw, and with record numbers of vendors and attendees no less. One of the first events of the day was the unveiling of the new Grado HF-2 in Todd's room. I missed it, like most things, but here is Naaman proudly showing off his pair that was one of the first delivered. I got mine later in the morning, and not only are they stunning in looks but a fantastic bargain for such a sophisticated and great-sounding can. Thanks John Grado and Todd for another winner. Another debut came in the form of a planar magnetic headphone from an unknown company called Audeze (rhymes with odyssey). Here is Ti sporting a pair that was making the rounds, usually accompanied by their creators, Sankar and Alex, along with a couple of shots of his amb audio wares. I heard the Audezes on Ti's B22 and we both thought they were very clean, fast and detailed. Might be a bit tipped up and edgy to my ears, but who knows in the short listen on only one amp. They are a cool addition in any event. My table is where I spent a lot of my meet time, which is odd for me. It was due in part to the ever-changing range of digital sources on the table and the shoot-outs that we were doing between gear. The other reason was the fact that I ended up introducing Steve Hoffman and Joe Harley and serving as Steve's CD jockey for both of their talks on Saturday. That took 5+ hours out of my listening and wandering time but it was worth it because both talks were wonderful. Anyway, I brought the brand new Amarra Model 4 DA/AD as mentioned earlier in the travelogue and people were able to try iTunes with and without the Amarra software through this unit. That just takes a push of a button because Amarra can be bypassed completely for a quick and direct comparison. I know what my preference is -- I am buying the Model 4 and software that were on loan from Amarra -- and most agreed on the benefits. Some people liked iTunes without Amarra but there is no accounting for taste. The other Amarra comparison we set up was assisted by Meier Shadi of the Audio Salon in Beverly Hills who represents both Amarra and Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC. Meier brought an Alpha DAC that is almost as new and hot as the Amarra and has already sold many units and we put it into the mix fed with AES/EBU digital output from the Amarra Model 4. Going balanced into the SDS-XLR we were able to switch inputs between Amarra and Alpha for some really interesting results. There were differences but given that the inputs were labeled one way early on but then later they were clearly backwards. Who knows, but until I borrow an Alpha DAC I cannot really say which is "better" or my own preference. They both sounded fantastic, I know that much. In these pics, Meier is checking out the Amarra, bottom of the stack directly in front of him (in black with many dials for the 8 channels of in/out), as against the Alpha DAC (in silver second from the top). Meier actually brought a new black Alpha DAC on Sunday and it is bitchin' looking. I could see buying one just because of the looks. OK, maybe not for list price, but it is seriously cool. Next up on the challenge list was the stock Transporter supplied by Grahame up against the Transporter with Modwright Truth Mods sent by Dan Wright himself for our enjoyment. This was a cool comparison because the ultimate mod is a tube output stage, although there are also some very heavy transformers in that beast! It is quite easy to tell the difference between stock and modded in a blind comparison, again done through the XLR inputs on the SDS-XLR. The Modwright has a wonderful presence and the tubes shine through in both weight and bloom. This is a very cool mod if you like tubes but have a digital/ss rig otherwise. It also looks cool. Here is Augsburger -- who arranged the loan with Modwright -- getting a listen in his very sparse free time during the meet. Sadly enough, that is all I got for gear shots this time. Oh well, the story doesn't end there, of course. Both Saturday and Sunday nights we ended up back at the pool with cigars, cigarettes, beverages, and various parlor tricks (I kid you not). Here are a few shots annotated as appropriate even if the content is not. Iron_Dreamer has done an amazing job of capturing the nightlife so these are just for color. This is my favorite shot, which I think of as HighLife living up to his name and fame. Dom is the bomb. I like this one too, and I always seem to catch NightWoundsTime in this kind of pose. Tyll and Gene feeling the moment. Tyll again with the result of his Adam and Eve story with a Marlboro box. He was sad it was a light box instead of the red one but I added some missing elements in pen. Tyll supplied the other parts. Looking at his creation (so to speak), I would say it should be changed to Elephas and Eve. Well, that's it for the pics. To round out the weekend, Sunday I tried my best to hear gear and see people, but first a few of us had to experience something unique for ourselves. Tyrion, grawk, Agile_One and I braved a long and frustrating cab ride at breakfast time over the West LA for some chicken and waffles at Roscoes. The trip was more than worth it because who knew that fried chicken, gravy, waffles and maple syrup combined into an incredible breakfast. Roscoe apparently knew it and the four of us were happy to be in on the secret. Dan says he is going to try it home -- not always safe, you know -- and I am looking forward to hearing about his attempts to match it. Good stuff if you ever get the opportunity. Luckily we got in just before the rush and our long-suffering cabbie even waited for us (so he could get $30 or $40 more from us). We got back to the meet and transitioned to gear and shmooze modes. I heard some good stuff and could probably remember some of it, but right now I need to close out the travelogue. The meet came to a close officially with the final raffle and comments from JP and the organizers who worked their butts off before and during the meet. With much assistance, I managed to box up all of my stuff, and piled it into the van along with gear from Naaman who is moving and Neilvg who had to leave for NYC directly from LA. Dedication is a good thing folks. I was glad to lock up the hold until departure and the hotel was kind enough to house our beastly steed in the entrance way, mostly because there wasn't anywhere else to put it. Of course, there were still plenty of people left around Sunday night and the organizers needed to let off some steam. 909 gathered the crowd and we all piled into the van and a couple other cars. Father's Office was a very nice spot to unwind with some beers, ryes and lots and lots of food, largely compliments of VPI who overwhelmed all of the tables with sides and apps. It was quite a spread and there were many stories and funny impressions and much rejoicing. Toasts were made to the successful meet and to the crew who have stepped up for next year (suckers!), and then we made our way back to the hotel for the final hours of frivolity together. Naaman somehow made an Olde English 800 sound tasty so I joined him in one of those golden bullets, well mortar rounds is more like it but who's counting the ounces at that point.... One last time at the poolside gathering spot and then lots of goodbyes. In fact, Gene called Vicki at 2:30am because she had disappeared earlier in the evening and we had not said goodbye. She had been asleep at her keyboard for awhile apparently, but there she was in our room and then all of the sudden so were Matt and Dom and David and who else I don't know. After getting them out at 3:30 or so, CanJam '09 was pretty much done. Good stuff all around. Well, the Return of VanJam story is another whole subject, but I have told it already elsewhere. Suffice to say that we were smokin' again until we found the smoldering problem and resolved it with a stick and a wrench. We all survived and made our way back up to the Bay Area intact. I guess that is it until next year. See you all in Chicago!

Awesome pics as always Peter. Beautiful.

CanJam Thank You M'am. Ultimately, the excuse for this band of crazies to get together is the gear, the music and the meet itself. Of course, JP and his crew did not just put on a meet, they held a trade show. The scope was epic, the hotel was top-notch, the vendors came in record numbers, and as it turns out thankfully so did the members. I have not yet seen the tallies but the prior national meets have not exceeded 200 members to my understanding and I think this one came close to doubling that number. If you add in the huge number of vendors, we are talking major numbers of moving parts -- some on two wheels no less -- and the organizers really pulled off the image of a well-oiled machine. The masses didn't need to know that "oil" really means beer, whisk(e)y and tobacco, but what they didn't know didn't hurt them. This crew kicked it up such a huge notch that I pity the fools that take up the mantle. Oops, sorry there Morphsci and Billy and co., but you're committed and there ain't no backing out [twice]! So after driving 400 miles, drinking some beers, tasting some scotch and seeing lots of people I rarely see but thoroughly enjoy, the first thing I wanted to do was set up a massive table of gear! Not. Oh well, JP was counting on us to be ready for Saturday so with Gene, Stephen, Mike, Grahame and who knows how many people, we unloaded the smoldering van and set to work. There was a lot to be done, and I had the amazing new Amarra Model 4 and software on my new Mac Mini to showcase, so I wanted to get it right. That plus two major amps, the EMM Labs stack, 7 or 8 headphones and all the cables and bits that make them work take time to set up. Moar "oil" was required of course, and that helped, of course, and ee got 'er done thanks to many helping hands. Ta da: As usual, the voltage regulator tubes on my SDS-XLR did not ignite in the relatively dark and windowless room. As I did on several occasions -- notably after the power went out a few times on Saturday -- I was once again able to amaze and amuse by igniting the tubes with the flash on my camera: Nope Not yet Come on, dammit! Success! Fiat lux! The amp performed admirably all weekend through thick and thin, so it is true that some SinglePower products live up to their old rep. in the meantime, I was checking out the other rooms and saying hi to my vendor buddies who were setting up or already set up, and generally slacking off while others did my work. Importantly, I took delivery of my very own HD800s from Todd. What an exciting moment! And HighLife almost stole it away from me! Just kidding, Dom demurred and let me get the first listen before he glommed on and rocked out. Note on this one how Dom's slacker style cap expands the soundstage by spreading the pads that extra half inch. The rest of Summit Fi was also busy setting up, so there were many awesome rigs in that room, like all the rest. blubliss was next to me and it was great to meet and hang out with him. Andy even allowed a head-to-head shootout attempt with asr's BHSE but technical difficulties prevented a good comparo. Plenty of 'stats, my friends, and that was not nearly all of them in the Summit Fi room. Deadneddz and his girlfriend Trisha joined in and one of those O2s is his pair. Thankfully, 909 took some of the VanJam crew and others to a killer taco shop and more thankfully Stephen brought me back a trio. OK, so I had to find him long after he had returned to the hotel and found the beer room, but he did not let me down. Very simple, with meat and cheese in a crisped corn tortilla, but it sure hit the spot. Mikeymad even got one of the trio and that helped apply a base for the rest of the evenings' activities. Another crowd altogether order mass quantities of Thai food and ate heartily in the hotel. The party crowd gravitated to the Summit Fi room somehow (maybe JP told us to do that? ) Somehow I decided to open a very rare bottle of bourbon in that melee and of all people to make off with it? Boomana!? The non-drinking Vicki was trying to lure grawk into the Summit room and was then drawn into Todd and Pete's evil plot to drink all my whiskey in their room! After several attempts, I retrieved the booze and carried on. After the hotel gently kicked us out of that room, we gravitated to the pool area which was one floor up. The story has been told elsewhere but the infamous shelleylh meeting transpired in the wee hours of Friday as the small crowd threw out a lot of noise. The combination of Reks, Naaman and Matt Fury were a new and unknown force that swirled well past 3am and who knows when it stopped. When I left, there was a smaller crowd huddled in Shelley's room and there was much rejoicing. Gene and I toddled off to our room and chatted late into the night/morning. Moar later.

Justin is a man of few words to begin with, but no words were needed here.

Ran out of batteries on plane and no adapter. Moar later.

VanJam! What a great idea, whoever it was that started it (JP?), and we were all set to make our way to CanJam in style by Friday morning. Well, the van was not all it was cracked up to be, but it sure was smokin' nonetheless. We managed to assemble the full crew at Grahame's apartment, although neilvg did his best to get us a shovel for being late, and we posed for a couple of quick pics. Just to set the record for posterity, I have annotated the full crew pic. Gathering steam, or in Matt's case apparently, rage. Stephen and Gene planning their In-N-Out orders. Ric's essentials Mostly loaded, just like the driver! Just kidding out there kids. The drinking didn't start before the first rest stop. Oddly enough. L>R Gene, Matt, Joanne, Grahame, Neil, Stephen and Colin (Stephen is holding Grahame's plastic-encased In-n-Out "secret menu") A shady bunch, if ever there was one. L>R Grahame, Colin, Al, Matt, Ric, Gene, Stephen, Neil After logging some miles, we stopped for a little bio break and I quaffed a nice Sierra Nevada Torpedo Ale in the parking lot of McD's. Nobody was ready to break for lunch until we reached sacred ground. Stephen might be the most excited of all, proudly displaying his receipt for double-double animal style, animal fries, and vanilla shake. Anticipayaytion, it's making you wait... Luckily the wait wasn't long and the central valley heat wasn't too intense, so most sat outside. Behold, in all its glory! We got back on the road, now half way to CanJam. Captain Grahame took the wheel and I retreated to the back benches for some R&R with the boys. Grahame did the research and we learned that a high occupancy vehicle can have open containers if the driver cannot reach them from his or her seat. Given that Grahame doesn't drink anyway, this was perfect! Matt enjoying a tasty beverage. Here's Matt still smarting from one of my killer "your mom" retorts. You started it, bro, so if you can't take the heat get out of the VanJam! Speaking of heat... Just 10 miles from CanJam HQ, we were stuck in traffic on the 405 freeway. Although we were in the HOV lane, we and all the other lanes full of traffic were barely moving. Grahame was driving, Joanne was in the co-captain/navigator chair with white buds in () and Neil was sitting behind Joanne rockin' the Etys like he was in a trance. Well, most of this day he seemed to be in a trance, but especially now. All of the sudden, I looked forward and saw a LOT of SMOKE pouring out from under Joanne's seat. Neither she nor trance-boy noticed anything (not to mention Ric who was opposite Neil). There were two power inverters for AC power on the back of the seat and a battery underneath it. We assumed the battery was either smoking or burning but the reaction times were very slow and the piles of clothes and papers and crap around the floor made us even more worried that flames would follow the smoke. The one item plugged into the inverter was unplugged and the turned off. I shouted that Joanne should jump the heck out of that seat and she eventually did with her English decorum intact (mostly). Grahame managed to get across four lanes of slow-moving traffic and one very fast-moving exit lane to get us to the shoulder. We all bailed out and after reaching the shoulder in a dicey maneuver and the smoke dissipated after the van was turned off. The whole crew looked shell-shocked and I believe Ric has photographic proof of those harrowing moments. Undaunted, we piled back into the beast and Grahame fought back into traffic and we made it to CanJam intact. After checking in and changing undies , the chosen few scotch mavens made our way to the wonderful Glenrothes scotch tasting and talk that had been arranged by Augsburger and JP. We caused quite a ruckus upon entering -- sorry Glenrothes dude -- but slotted in after meeting making some long-anticipated acquaintances with Jacob, Stretch, 909 and many others, as well as seeing some other old friends. The scotch was great and the company was even better, as always. Good times. I guess this is the place to move on to the CanJam chapter covering the rest of the trip. From what I can remember, it was fun times but I didn't take that many pics. Some are posted, others are not, and for good reason.

Trying to consolidate meet pics and travelogue into one place, so excuse the few repeats at the beginning. First up, MOAR. Mayberry On Acid Revisited began Weds. when cetoole, Agile_One, NightWoundsTime and thrice arrived from various locations at various points throughout the day. I took no pics, but Gene posted some somewhere. Colin arrived first and tooled () around the city while I finished up some work, then we picked up Gene at SFO. We met JP at City Beer for some nice brews and then went to the Giants game at AT&T Park. Not a great game, but what the heck it is a beautiful park. We then went to Toronado for moar beers before picking up Stephen at SFO. Colin decided he didn't need some of the beer and food he consumed, so he returned it to the porcelain gods at Toronado. Because of some bitch-slap diet bet he was on, there was no In-N-Out stop Weds. night. We arrived at Mayberry around 12:30, so I guess that brings us to Thursday. Here is how the MOAR team was greeted on arrival: There was one more round of beers and then off to bed for the crew. I had to wake up at 5:30 for a work call and wasn't feeling my freshest on 4 hours sleep but it is all in the line of duty. While I was on a 4-hour conference call, Gene was clawing away at his laptop and then Stephen came down to join him for some coffee shandies: Ah, the breakfast of champions: Actually, Stephen and Gene whipped up a beautiful egg scramble for the three of us while the call was ongoing. They enjoyed the sunshine on the porch while I yammered on. Thursday really got going when we were all awake and the full MOAR team ran some last-minute pre-Jam errands and had a fantastic Thai lunch at my favorite Thai spot in Marin. Sated, we all returned to Mayberry for a quick change into city clothes and got ready to pick up The Van. Instead of the gleaming Sprinters gracing the rental site's pages, we were stuck with a steaming turd of a beat up old war horse. We knew it was trouble when the agent said he really preferred these older models because they have moar powr. Undaunted, we piled into the old beast and roared off for my house. The gang met my wife and daughter briefly and when they left, we set about to tasting some of my scotch. Somebody has pics of that moment but who knows where that is? We then picked up blessingx and headed to Toronado again for a little dinner and beers, of course. This time, my camera made it out of the bag, so here are the few shots I can offer. We had sausages from the fantastic place next door that does brisk beer-drinker business and is fabulous to boot. Note Colin's new favorite beer, Consecration from Russian River Brewing. Good stuff if you can find it. Although we were late, we met up with my wife, Grahame and his wife at the famous Fillmore Theater for The Sadies and Jenny Lewis. All of us but Colin, that is, who couldn't be bothered with going as a non-fan of Jenny and everything she represents. Instead, Colin wandered the streets again and spent an hour talking to a homeless guy who knew more about Colin's college than he did. Only in SF, baby. The concert was great and the Sadies really rocked way more than I had ever expected. Jenny was on her game in a big way and put on a great show. Where to afterward? Toronado, of course. Actually just got some Pliny to go and ate a slice of pizza but who's counting? Dropped Ric and headed back to Mayberry for a *little* sleep. Next installment will be the VanJam Chronicles, so stay tuned.

I really have to needledrop that one...

You are the shizz.

Ray Charles - Genius + Soul = Jazz (Original Impulse! issue via Rain Man Records needledrop sitting on an airplane)

I just remembered where doucheL got his inspiration for Point No. 1 on his shilling review: Plagiarist fucktard.

"I swear baby, that's just not my bag..." Your mom said she didn't mind being the penis pump at all. Already post-count whoring over here? We do have multi-quote here bitch!

Welcome Julian, aka TheCool, and have fun here. Not sure yet how you got the d-bag moniker but you're Cool in my book. See you at some more meets I hope. Cheers

Welcome to the madhouse, Wayne!

Shoot, I almost forgot to post this! Thanks 909!

Hell, I ended up with a Blue Hawaii, a balanced B22, an ES-2, Jades, and HE90s in addition to my own gear. People just get generous when the alternative is packing it onto an airplane.

Sonny Rollins -- Reel Life

That was a mere human who represented you. We are Voltronus, Decimator Of The Universe. Wow, I feel weak with geekness right now.

Slappa Newsletter deal on BulkHead 2:1 Laptop Trolley Bag for $39 instead of $119: The BulkHead PRO is a 2 in 1 laptop trolley bag, meaning it is 1 bag that can easily be separated to 2 very spacious bags. With a total of 3 storage areas, there is plenty of room for a laptop (up to 17") and DJ gear (Serato, small mixer, headphones, cords). Each compartment features foam padding, shoulder strap clips and industrial strength zippers. The bag is made from SLAPPA's pro-grade BuckBlast suede which is rainproof, puncture proof and extremely durable. Additional features include a telescopic trolley, 2 SLAPPA combination locks, a removable phone/MP3 case with stainless steel belt clip and a 3D molded rubber luggage I.D. tag. And don't forget the free gadget bag with each purchase!

Didn't hear it. Ask cetoole, he won all of it I think.

No.