Dusty Chalk

Actually, the Creek OBH-11SE is pretty high-end, as it surpasses that threshold for me. But that threshold is extremely subjective -- I will admit that most of you would not consider the Creek OBH11SE to be high end, and I wouldn't argue with you. Which brings me to my point -- it's not really high-end vs. not high-end, it's more like myriad shades of grey, and how amps are more or less high-end. Where, along that scale, you put your threshold, is up to you.

I already picked up the Rubinstein. It's not my favourite performance, but ... it's SACD!

Actually, it's not just a player, but it has a speaker amp built into it. Can you say K1000 system?

As well they should -- the thing was unbelievable.

I think I was the only one doing a comparison -- most people were pretty much spent by the time I got there, and were just gabbing. Todd's modded L3000 with his custom Singlepower -- perfection. My unmodded L3000 with his custom Singlepower -- still not quite perfect, it still had that little midrange swale, but it was more gone on that amp than on any other amp I've heard save the EarMax Pro, bizarrely enough. I didn't think to check the room to see if anyone had brought an EarMax Pro, so that's a comparison by memory, rather than a rapid-switching comparison. So yeah, I'm keeping my L3000's -- knowing what a difference a recabling makes -- and recabling them.

I also learned that I need to recable my L3000, as his sounded pretty good out of Todd's custom Singlepower amp -- better than mine, although mine sounded quite possibly the best it's ever sounded out of the same amp. What did you say it was wired with? I know you said silver, but you said something else that I don't remember. High gauge, low gauge? And I also want to echo everyone else's comments: thanks, Stephen! For organizing, etc. in what must be a very busy time for you. Oh, and I think I ended up in someone's wedding video. OMG, that is worse.

Highlight of the meet: Justin's tiny little thingy. That's USB thingy, you perverts. I don't think it sounded as good at Dave levels as it did at Dusty levels, but it sounded surprisingly good at Dusty levels. And it even drove K1000's pretty nice. I'll definitely be getting myself one of these. Justin, did you really populate that board yourself? That's inconceivable. Do you work under a magnifying glass? I totally forgot to listen to the EMM Labs player -- did anyone else? How was it? I got to meet Todd and Alex. I got to hang out with Dan and Brian (canman), as well as the usual DC crew. I don't hardly know anyone from head-fi any more. The few people that I actually did meet were pretty nice. That Consonance player is pretty much the ugliest player in all of audiophile-dom. I had to keep looking carefully to make sure I was pressing buttons, and the right ones, rather than just pushing my finger over one of the decorative squares. Alex will be posting pics later, I'm sure. I will be inviting myself over Juan's to hear his Qualia player, I forgot to listen to that, too. He's been on a small buying rampage, I didn't hardly recognize half his gear.

That's why you do it at her place, and leave before morning.

The point is not to lower the level of crazy, the point is to get laid. See? Brownian motion; vector. Entropy == crazy antics (that parts going to happen anyway); vector == get laid.

Hit it, then quit it.

They're called Granite Audio for a reason. Even their speakers are made out of granite. Alas, no, their interconnects are not made out of granite. They don't make everything of granite.

I have no idea, but at that price, it would probably have been worth it to find out.

Sold, alas.

Is the chick from the Otakon Or Bust banner from the Otakon website. It'll probably only last a day or two, as I'm not entirely happy with it, but I liked her expression: o^_^o I need to find one that looks more like O-o

this? How quiet is quiet -- how big is the fan?

Yeah, I realized I haven't said it yet -- really nice write-up! You reminded me of a couple I forgot, and added even more to my wish list. Even with all the gushing, you still managed to provide enough information to let me know which ones I would be interested in, even if they were outside my usual purview.

Why? Your ears are different distances from the drivers. Shouldn't the condition be: "...a way so that the SPL meter is the same distance from the drivers as your ears are (or rather, eardrums are) for accurate results..."?

Yeah, that's what I was going to say -- it's not so much that they fall off, they're just more laid back, which would imply to me a gradual roll-off in the highs. The L3000's just plain have more high-frequency extension, and therefore more air there. It's like the difference between tight accurate yet overblown bass and tight accurate yet understated bass. In both cases, the bass is there, and good. (As opposed to some headphones where they're just completely missing, or where it's there but not tight and accurate.) Oh, and: the formats (I presume you mean DVD and SACD) are not dead, they've just fallen back to a niche market, where they should have been from the beginning.

Are you sure about this? I don't find the high frequency extension of the headphones similar at all -- the L3000 just trounced the Senns. What amp are you using? What source? You should definitely compare them with a high-res source (high-rate PCM, DSD, or analog), and with an amp capable of reproducing those frequencies. I'm not saying you're not, but it would explain why we hear things differently, so I'm just grasping for an explanation.

Are you asking for volunteers? I'll be happy to, if there are still spots open.

On the other hand, I'd have to sell my car for the down payment on it. I would really like to win the lottery. Thanks for shooting out ideas.

Aw, hell yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!

Tag Heuer? Those are nice. A bit out of my league. I'll look at the Tissots, but on first glance, I only found two that were even remotely black, and most were too conservative looking. Look at this watch again: See how black it is? Just a hint on the hands and logo, the rest is varying shades of black. That's the direction I want to head. Some of these Nixons are really nice: Yeah, I know, it's not black...but it's gold and black, which might be a nice compromise if I can't get what I want, in terms of blackness. I also like some of the distressed leathers in there. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, keep 'em coming, I'm not going to be impatient and buy something right away, I'm going to wait until I see something that I have to have, because for now, I'm happy with my Guess watch. It has to be nicer than the Guess watch. And no, I can't find a picture of it right now. And yes, I'm looking at everyone's suggestions, I'll look more at the ones I mentioned and the geneves and invictas and...everything...

Yeah, after looking at those Nixons, I can see why you'd perceive the Fossils as "screaming 'cheap'", but I like the understatedness of the woodface one. I need someone to design me the ultimate black watch -- black chrome hands, no points whatsoever, black embellishments, black blacker blackest...none more black.

And banned Head-Fiers, too.