Asr

I don't plan to do any mods to my SR-007 MKII. If I end up not fully liking it with the BHSE in my system, I'm going to either swap it for an MKI or go with something else.

I temporarily traded my SRM-1 MKII for an SRM-T1 with another Head-Fier at RMAF. So far I definitely prefer the SRM-T1, it seems to push the somewhat forward presentation of the SR-007 MKII back out a bit. There's also a greater ease & smoothness to the sound.

For under $1K and on the solid-state side, I'm aware of the Audio Refinement Complete Integrated, and the related YBA YA201 for a bit over your budget. And if you have something you can use as a pre-amp, Parasound makes a couple <$1K power amps in the NewClassic line, or you could combine their Zpre2 & Zamp v3 (or alternately the 275) if you don't. The Parasound separates are pretty dang cheap.

Yeah it looks like the speakers at AV123 were the LS9.

Final Scattered Thoughts Not many speakers at RMAF "disappeared" very well. By this I mean the quality of the musical event to sound like it was in the room, but even more specifically, not sound as if it was coming from a particular point in space (as in the speaker drivers). I listened for this quality on every speaker I listened to - alternately with eyes open looking at the wall (and trying to sense the music coming from between the speakers), and with eyes closed, trying to "see" where the music was located. Speakers that disappeared to me included the Tidal Piano, TAD's mini-monitors in a Bel Canto room, Dynaudio Sapphire, Tyler Acoustics Decade D1, Classic Audio Reproductions T-1, Ascento C8, Kaiser Kawero (with the Tidal Piano disappearing the most). The Monitor Audio RS8 that I heard pre-show at a local dealer also disappeared very well. I also heard AV123's new massive towers. I forgot to ask for the model name (and forgot to photograph them as well...yes I accept the irresponsibility) but they were damn tall, at least 8 feet, and had a ton of drivers. These were awesome, I played Massive Attack's "Inertia Creeps" on them as well as the same Alison Krauss track as before, and they did both tracks justice. AV123 is local to me but they don't have a showroom, but they did say I could easily take up their 30-day guarantee anytime when I want to try out anything. I was also specifically interested in Balanced Power Technologies and Silver Circle Audio since I'm planning an eventual power conditioner and my visits to their rooms made my decision more complicated. Dave Stanard (Silver Circle) was a very nice guy and I liked him immediately, and he didn't have a snake-oil type sales pitch in regards to the Juice Box Jr that I asked about (and there was one on display). He was honest and he gave the appropriate amount of technical info that I felt he knew what he was talking about. BPT, on the other hand, was tied up by other people when I went over there so I didn't get a chance to talk to either Chris Hoff or Ryan Scott. I know they have a solid reputation though and both of them are smart guys. So I may end up buying both the Silver Circle Juice Box Jr and the BPT CPC and see which I like better. I saw two press members from Audiogon that were documenting on videocams and was half-tempted to heckle them about the increased ad-listing fees but decided against it. I also see I double-posted YG Acoustics in post #38 (oops), so if a moderator could delete the 2nd pic I'd appreciate it. Also two corrections there, the pictured speakers are the YG Acoustics Kipod (and if that could be moderator-edited too, I'd appreciate that also). And their "The best loudspeakers on Earth. Period." ad in Stereophile is actually for the Anat Reference II Studio. Thx for spritzer's correction on the Oracle CD transport as the front-end for the Von Schweikert VR-9SE. I was annotating my pics so fast the other night, I mistook that source as a turntable (and my closer-up pic clearly shows it's a CD transport). And thx for all the thanks, I do consider thorough reporting at events like these one of my civic duties. It was all a lot of fun anyway getting to see and hear so much stuff, and meet the companies who attended. Speaking of which, I also have to add that Tyll is one of the greatest guys in all of audio-dom, people like him are few and far between as many of us here know. And I met Ivy and Mike too, both of them were very nice. I hadn't met either before and it seemed like they both knew I was a Head-Fier when I walked in...

I did talk to Klaus, yup he was definitely a really cool guy. Very passionate about his speakers. He loved Porcupine Tree's In Absentia right away too, I suspect he'll be getting their CDs soon. Impressions and pics were also posted Saturday night. This reminds me, the Wadia room with the Dynaudio speakers was Wadia's and one of the guys kept ranting on and on about the 170iTransport and literally hawking it between CD tracks. I was like geez man, I understand Wadia is here to implicitly sell its products but the guy was so transparent it was outright eye-rolling. And he did not let anyone listen to an entire CD track either - he consistently interrupted playback after a couple minutes even if it was obvious there was more to a CD track. The CDP in the room was also the 781i SE, and I asked him about the DACs in it (because they're not mentioned on the site or on the Internet) and he just generically said they were "Burr Brown". The top panel was off so I took a closer look to see if I could spot the DACs but they weren't in plain sight (hidden by another top-level PCB). Yup I do like the Monitor Audio sound (if the RS8 is any indication), I'll be spending much more time with their speakers in the future. The GS20 or GS60 are the ones I'm setting long-term aspirations to. I saw this setup but it was crowded so I didn't bother hanging around long. I didn't stick around in rooms that I saw were crowded - if I saw I couldn't ask to hear one of my own CDs easily, I usually left quickly. I also tried a few pics in that room but none came out very well.

The PSB T55 was a definite let-down. For a floorstander - with 6.5" drivers especially - it had very weak low bass. The RS1 and Alpha B1 had an excuse being bookshelves, the T55 had none. I was also hoping the RS1 to sound good based on some reviews I read, but it didn't perform that great and seemed a bit hollow in the mid-range.

Didn't see this earlier, would've included it in my multi-quote. I neglected to ask about the price and it's not on the literature I took from the room. The new PS Audio transport & DAC weren't hooked up to any speakers - so no impressions on them. I was told they're expanding their facility though so they can start manufacturing these soon. I can get back on how they sound next year when they're in production, since PS Audio is only 10 minutes from where I work.

RMAF 2008 - Show Impressions Overall Whew. What a mad rush of listening to tons of speakers over 3 days. I actually started my speaker listening pre-RMAF at a local dealer to check out some Monitor Audio and PSB speakers (which did not have a presence at RMAF). I did this to set a personal benchmark - the Monitor Audio and PSB speakers were under $1.5K which, in the grand scheme of speakers, is on the extreme budget side - some models at RMAF ran over $100K. Having heard what I did over 3 days, I can say with certainty that there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. None of the speakers turned my audio perceptions upside down - there were some I thought were absolute crap, most were decent, and only a few actually impressed me enough that I could say "wow that sounds really good and I have no or very few complaints!" I think the people who think that mega-thousand speakers will actually add something to their listening experience are either mostly crazy or delusioned. I also think the people who buy or produce mega-thousand speakers and listen to that tired old slow jazz or blues need to be cast out from the audiophile world. I have nothing against those genres, but the people who listen to that, and the people who think that those genres are somehow "audiophiley" are just plain stupid. Some genre CDs may be better tests than the rest, but it was aggravating to keep going into room after room playing the same tired, sleepy music. Oh I heard some rock music here and there, but even then it was the softer laid-back stuff from the 60s or 70s. There was almost nothing remotely close to alive & energetic - of course the age demographic had a lot to do with this, but I found it completely stupid. If I buy speakers, I expect them to handle everything from medieval baroque to avant-garde & electronica, chronologically speaking. If speaker vendors are catering to the world market of audiophiles, then they need to develop with every genre in mind! If I could strangle the vendors who make speakers that have no low bass or high treble, I totally would. Wtf do they think they're contributing, and what kind of pathetic music do they listen to? And some of them somehow think charging more than $100K is acceptable for that kind of speaker? Maybe they're deaf. That said, at least RMAF was an eye-opening (and ear-opening) experience. I have a much better idea of what kind of price range is sensible for my application and probably most people's who have limited budgets. I think I'd say the sweet spot in speakers is up to $10K - the speakers beyond had average sonic gain at best, and that was with high-end sources and amplification. Personally I think it makes the most sense to buy speakers up to $5K. You can get damn good sound for up to that price and really not be missing much, if anything. On a final note, it was good to see HeadRoom and Tyll at RMAF. You've just gotta love it - if there's anyone to bring headphone audio to this show, it'd have to be Tyll. And he was great as always, herding people in to check out headphones. Kudos to him and HeadRoom for coming to the show. Double whew now. That concludes my independent show coverage, I think I've beaten Stereophile's and Enjoy The Music's and have posted better, larger pics as well. Boulder Amps didn't have their own room (their equipment was in a multi-vendor room run by a dealer), but I didn't get a chance to talk to anyone in there, sorry. There was so many rooms at RMAF and I wanted to see them all, was too strapped for time. Nope, there weren't any speakers smaller than the Decade D1 in that room.

RMAF 2008 - Sunday 10/12 - Equipment Impressions *** Corrections: Just wanted to correct myself on some statements I wrote in the previous posts. The balanced & single-ended Denons in HeadRoom's room were the D5000, not the D2000. Also the D7000 has a $1K MSRP in the USA, I incorrectly assumed it was cheaper than that. Sennheiser HE-90 w/ Singlepower ES-1 off Meridian 508.24: This was the 2nd time I've heard the HE-90, the first time was at a Head-Fi meet. Not sure what the tube complement on the ES-1 was. The setup did sound very good - there was bass, mid-range, and treble - but it didn't engage me. I prefer a relative treble tilt on my headphones which this setup did not deliver. AKG K701 balanced vs single-ended on HeadRoom's Max Balanced Amp & Wadia CDP: I brought in my own SAA Equinox-balanced K701 to do a personal comparison between balanced and single-ended, and to also check out the Max Balanced and Wadia. The balanced K701 seemed to be an improvement in most areas, but the "improvement" wasn't entirely positive, at least as far my preferences with the K701 go. I've always liked the K701's combo of open soundstage, overall clarity, and a relative treble spike. The balanced K701 compacted the soundstage a bit in the left/right direction but it was even MORE 3D than what it already was - left, center, right, up, and down. The balanced K701 also sounded faster and developed even more prodigious bass. Anyone who complains about the K701 lacking bass definitely hasn't heard a balanced K701 - it was amazing! I've never felt the K701's bass was a weak point against it (I've always liked its control) but for those who do think so, well those people should have nothing to complain about with the balanced K701 - it was punchy, hard, and visceral. It pounded. Well, at least with the Equinox re-cable. As far as the amp and Wadia CDP go, well obviously I can't leverage any complaints against the amp, since it's an amp and HeadRoom's best. I will however say that the Wadia was disappointing as a source - the resulting sound to my headphones wasn't very focused and was too soft-edged. It also lost some dynamic snap. Ascento C8 towers: very nice overall. It played deep bass notes nicely (audibly extending to at least 40 Hz) and projected a wide soundstage. MaxxHorn Lumination towers: also very nice overall. These however lacked a bit in the sub-50 Hz area, and didn't project outwards very well. The imaging was a bit on the flat side. Kaiser Kawero! towers: very good overall. These had strong bass that anchored very well - I kept using Alison Krauss' "Let Me Touch You For Awhile" as my reference and it played the track with ease. It didn't really bowl me over by anything though - it was fine, but didn't do anything special. YG Acoustics Kipod: YG Acoustics advertises this speaker [And their "The best loudspeakers on Earth. Period." ad in Stereophile is actually for the Anat Reference II Studio.] in every issue of Stereophile as "The best loudspeakers on the planet. Period.", so I went in with high expectations. Um, they were fine speakers, but that's mega-huge overhype. These speakers didn't do anything special either. They easily handled the acoustic music I was able to throw at it in a limited time span, but they didn't seem like they'd be able to throw down Massive Attack, The Crystal Method, or Porcupine Tree - they weren't dynamic enough (as in, not enough range or low-volume subtlety), the bass while plentiful didn't ooze authoritative power, and while it's a preference, I also expect a speaker that advertises itself as the best on the planet to have fully audible treble extension & attack, which it clearly did not. YG Acoustics has to be full of themselves to make this claim. RMAF 2008 - Sunday 10/12 - Pics Harbeth M40.1 stand-mount semi-tower Ascento C8 fed by Esoteric CDP and Nova Physics Memory Player Nova Physics Memory Player Escalante Uinta subwoofers (Juniper bookshelves in background) w/ Electrocompaniet PC-1, EC 4.8, AW 2x120-M MaxxHorn Audio Immersion towers fed by Ayon CD-1/Lector 0.6 CDP and Ayon Triton Escalante Design Fremont fed by Ayon CD-3 and Ayon Triton Escalante Design Pinyon bookshelves fed by Electrocompaniet source and amps MaxxHorn Lumination fed by Ayon CD-1 and Ayon Crossfire Ayon Triton power amp, KT88 tubes Acoustic Zen Maestro towers fed by DEQX processor and Halcro dm88 amps Legend Acoustics Tikandi towers Hyatt Regency Tech Center (2nd hotel) - Lobby to Mezzanine Kaiser Kawero! tower fed by CEC TL-51X, Lessloss DAC 2004, & Mastersound 845 CEC TL-51X transport, Lessloss DAC 2004, & Mastersound 845 monoblocks For The Record's vinyl stash Composite Products LLC's equipment rack Vendor Area - vendor unknown Virtual Dynamics...and the pictured guy is NOT Matt Carter, I asked him if he was Vendor Area - vendor unknown Acoustic Sounds' vinyl stash Singlepower Audio Harmony XLR Singlepower ES-1 w/ Sennheiser HE-90 and Stax Lambda Pro YG Acoustics Kipod fed by dCS Scarlatti stack

RMAF 2008 - Saturday 10/11, Part 2 - Equipment Impressions Avatar Acoustics Tango Another good speaker. Nice full mid-range, but a little slow on the attack, could've used more treble spark. Tyler Acoustics The Decade D1 These were downright amazing. There was some sort of crazy drum & percussion "music" going when I walked in. In quotes because it was more like a test disc than music. Crazy-fast articulation and tracking of concurrent layers, and it was so damn fast I decided I had to hear what it would do with Massive Attack's "Inertia Creeps" so I handed the CD to the man running the system. I think "Inertia Creeps" bowled over everyone in the room, it was glorious! The speakers were mad-phat on the bass and whacked away at the belly drums really well, while 3D's vocals floated around. Any speaker that can play Massive Attack without embarassing itself deserves kudos! Odyssey Audio Lorelei I returned to this room to give it Massive Attack and The Crystal Method to see if was as bad-ass as I remembered, and it did not disappoint. Very punchy, very powerful. However, my fave tracks also showed what it couldn't do. It didn't give sub-50 Hz bass very well, and it needed more treble extension. Classic Audio Reproductions T-1 These were awesome with Priscilla Ahn, her voice was projected very convincingly and it never broke the imaging. When I heard it was $50K, my jaw dropped. RMAF 2008 - Saturday 10/11, Part 2 - Pics Avatar Acoustics Tango fed by AMR CD-77 & Dr. Feickert Analogue Two table and AMR AM-77 PS Audio's NEW Perfect Wave transport & Ultralink DAC - fully discrete & dual-differential Ayre KX-R If awards could be handed out for ugliest speakers at RMAF, this is my #1 Classic Audio Reproductions T-3 ($33.5K) fed by Galibier Gavia ($10.5K), Atma-Sphere MP-1 MKIII pre & M-60 MKIII monoblocks Tyler Acoustics The Decade D1 fed by Meridian G08.2 or VPI Superscoutmaster and Parasound Halo amps, w/ power conditioning by Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One 3.0 Odyssey Audio Lorelei Odyseey Audio Kismet monoblocks Odyssey Audio Kismet pre-amp, phono stage, CD player, & turntable Sonist Concerto 2 (mini-monitor) and Concerto 3 (tower) Classic Audio Reproductions T-1 w/ Atma-Sphere monoblocks

RMAF 2008 - Saturday 10/11, Part 1 - Equipment Impressions Denon AH-D7000, again I returned to match this against my W5000 and give it an extended audition. It sounds fine, and for a closed headphone, it's very decent-sounding. It completely lacked the subtlety of the W5000 though, and didn't have the W5000's smoothness either. It also had more bass thump, and less soundstage air. I still think it's not worth the price. Audio-Technica W5000 balanced vs single-ended And since HeadRoom's setup was a true-differential balanced system, I also decided that I had to check if the W5000 benefits from balanced drive (I have an XLR-1/4" APureSound V3 cable adapter). The W5000 indeed benefits from balanced drive, but not really by much. The soundstage became more open, and it was easier to locate discrete points in it as well. Bass too became clearer. Xavian Mediterranea speakers Bad speakers, though not "awful" per se. Hollow, almost nasal quality. There was lots of enclosure and bass port reverb on heavy bass too. Lacked <50 Hz bass. Krell's speakers These were pretty cool and rocked out really well. Lots of bass and Porcupine Tree was a veritable smack-down. So much bass in fact, it was really awesome. Audioengine A2 and A5 The A2 wasn't really that great but it wasn't that bad either. For a small size it sounds ok. The A5 though was pretty nice and sounded better than its size would indicate - very good bass impact and a pretty large soundstage. They'd both be great computer speakers, but only the A5 can cross over to audio or A/V applications. Dynaudio Sapphire Pretty nice overall. No real nitpicks against it. Chario Sovran Also pretty nice, nothing really bad. RMAF 2008 - Saturday 10/11, Part 1 - Pics Xavian Mediterranea, fed by Bel Canto CD-2 & ASR Emitter II Exclusive Blue Krell Industries' speakers with Evolution 505 CDP and amps Reimyo digital transport, DAC, & amp stack to unknown speakers Usher Audio speakers Audioengine USA w/ A5 and A2 Esoteric w/ P-03, D-03, G-03 Dynaudio Sapphire fed by Wadia 781i SE or 170iTransport Luxman electronics (including very vintage turntable) w/ unknown speakers Audio Unlimited's dCS Scarlatti stack Hansen Audio Emperor fed by dCS Scarlatti stack & Balanced Audio Technology amps Boulder Amplifiers stack Clearaudio Master Reference Audio Unlimited's Focal Grande Utopia Em Von Schweikert VR-9SE fed by unknown turntable & Valve Amplification Company amps Chario Sovran fed by Accuphase DP-67 or Montegiro Lusso to Air-Tight amp B&W Signature Diamond fed by Classe Audio CDP-202 and SSP-880 B&W CM1 fed by Rotel RCD-1072 CDP and RCD-1070 amp unknown prototype horn speakers fed by Red Rock Audio Renaissance amp Red Rock Audio Renaissance MBL 101 MKII fed by MBL 1531 CDP, 1611F DAC, 6010D pre-amp, 9011 power amp EMM Labs CDSA SE Blue Circle Audio speakers and electronics

Geez, is there going to be enough space for all these people and their crazy headphone gear?

Visited a local dealer today to audition some speakers before heading off to RMAF. Source component: Marantz DV6001 (DVDP) Amplifier: Marantz SR5003 (A/V receiver) The dealer had a sweet setup, a bunch of speakers were all lined up against the wall and there was an electronic switch panel to switch among them at will. Speakers I listened to: - Monitor Audio RS1 (bookshelf) - Monitor Audio RS8 (tower) - PSB Alpha B1 (bookshelf) - PSB Image T55 (tower) - PSB Image T65 (tower) Scattered impressions: First I'll start by saying I vastly preferred the Monitor Audio RS8 among all the others. It took a while for me to develop the preference, there was a wow factor that got in the way with the PSB Image T65. The T65 was a whole lot of punchy bass, and it had a huge, direct mid-range that was like an assault on the ears. A very theatrical-sounding speaker and I immediately felt it's probably a great speaker for movies. I started out casually switching between all five speakers but shortly realized there was going to be a time black-hole if I didn't start eliminating some, so I spun a reference CD, Andrea Parker's Kiss My Arp, to eliminate the ones that sucked at low bass. These included the Monitor RS1, PSB Alpha B1, and PSB T55. I stopped listening to these speakers after I ran through some tracks off the CD. So it was between the RS8 and T65, and I certainly was knocked out by the T65's mid-range and bass - they were omnipresent and filled the room with authority. However, in comparison to the RS8, it had a really narrow soundstage, as if it was projecting a 20-30 degree radial off its axis. The bass also went out of hand on several occassions - it was punchy but it also seemed unnecessarily boomy, and there was a complete lack of control on it. I hate lack of bass control and this quickly got on my nerves. Oh it was fun, I gave it that, but I want more than just "fun" from Porcupine Tree (In Absentia) and The Crystal Method (Vegas). The RS8 took a significantly more laidback seat than the T65 and sounded downright conservative in comparison. It didn't "rock out" quite as well (and required more amp volume to rock), but it had a much larger soundstage that spread out radially very nicely. There was a much greater illusion of the speakers "disappearing" with the RS8 than any other speaker in the room - the music filling space, with absolutely no sense it was being pushed from somewhere. The RS8 also sounded clearer than the T65, with no muddying of mid-bass or lower-mids, while the T65 did sound muddy in that area. The RS8 also had a very balanced frequency response and very controlled bass - maybe a little too controlled, at times I wished it had more low bass. The RS8 impressed me but it didn't bowl me over. I suspect it would've bowled me over if it had been fed by a better source and amplifier... And now, post-first day of RMAF 2008, I can also say that all five speakers sounded better than two speakers that I heard at RMAF. Which is pretty sad, considering all five are under $1.5K MSRP, and the two I heard at RMAF cost thousands. And I can also say that while I can hear the benefit of very expensive speakers, the difference can range from slim to land-slide (as in, you'd have to be tone-deaf to not hear the difference). There's definitely a cost-benefit ratio somewhere...

RMAF - Friday, 10/10 - Equipment Impressions: Denon AH-D2000 single-ended vs balanced on HeadRoom Max Balanced: HeadRoom's setup made it easy to compare the D2000 balanced vs single-ended and I found that the balanced model did sound better than the single-ended. The soundstage increased maybe 150% in overall air and span, and the bass got noticeably clearer. Denon AH-D7000: it could be said that this sounds great for a closed can. I don't personally like closed-can bass, which the D7000 has in spades - deep, punchy mid-bass. Clear, fluid mid-range, with good treble. I didn't listen very long but it seemed very decent, a step up from the D2000 that I previously owned. Worth ~$800 though? I'd have to spend more time with it to find out, but as it is, I didn't really think it's in the same sonic arena as Audio-Technica's W5000. Monarchy Audio's speakers: these were abysmal. I listened to Alison Krauss' "Let Me Touch You For Awhile," which has never seemed that much of a stress-test to me, and these speakers literally distorted under the pressure of the bass, and the resulting sound was extremely boxy. I felt very embarassed for the guy running the room. Odyssey Audio Lorelei speakers (un-pictured, room was very dark): these were so awesomely fun to listen to with Porcupine Tree's In Absentia. From an audiophile point of view these may not have been very good, but the bass and mid-bass were awesomely punchy and there was an aggressive streak to the treble that made it snarl. These speakers definitely rocked out, they were bad-ass! TAD mini-monitors in Bel Canto: these were very theatrical-sounding speakers. Full, bold mid-range and surprisingly deep bass from a non-tower speaker. They played AK's "Let Me Touch You For Awhile" with ease and easily played the deep bass notes without breaking apart. Very fluid with a saturated mid-bass, and a large soundstage that gave a great sense of the performance in the room. Selah Audio's new 32-driver speakers in Moon Audio: I'm sorry but these were just as awful as the Monarchy Audio speakers, so awful that it was embarassing. I cued up the Alison Krauss track again and within 5 seconds, I was already gritting my teeth from a terrible lower-treble gnash in the nasal/bronzy area. The whole time the track played was so unpleasant, I grimaced all the way through. It couldn't convey the dynamic swing either, and distorted on the bass. These speakers were so bad, I honestly think they'll get a bunch of negative press from the critics who show up this weekend. EPIC FAIL. Note: this system was running in balanced mode. Tidal Piano in The Voice That Is: These speakers were absolutely stunning in person. Gorgeous, exquisite finish. I hoped the sound would match its looks and was only a little disappointed. Beautiful-sounding as well, at least for non-bassy music. So clear, so fluid, and so delicate. Excellent transients. I spun tracks from Alison Krauss, The Village [OST], Porcupine Tree, and Priscilla Ahn. The soundstage wasn't overly big but it was very convincing and very complete - it filled in the space between the speakers, behind them, and in front. I could swear every element of the orchestra was in the room if I closed my eyes. And it was superb at low-volume, and maintained dynamic integrity and clarity simultaneously. And on Porcupine Tree, it thrashed just as well and threw down the band with power. The only major disappointment was the sub-50 Hz bass, it was barely there. Aside from that, really an amazing speaker - it was a glory to behold how clear it was and how well it made treble sparkle without harshness. As soon as I heard it, it entered my dreams. Audio Epilog Issa speakers (Kubala-Sosna room): very good speakers overall. Handled the Alison Krauss well enough without doing anything wrong. But there was a lack of bass on this one too, to be expected from two drivers. I'd estimate the bass sinkhole started at maybe 50-60 Hz. Note: this system was running in balanced mode.

RMAF - Friday, 10/10 Kimber Kable panels McIntosh Labs Monarchy Audio HeadRoom's array including Denon AH-D7000 One of Bel Canto's rooms w/ CD-2 & TAD mini-monitors Moon Audio w/ Cary 306 SACD Pro & Selah Audio 32-driver speakers Moon Audio, various cables The Voice That Is w/ dCS Puccini, Lamm amplification, & Tidal Piano speakers ($32K) Kubala-Sosna w/ Bryston BCD-1 & Audio Epilog Issa speakers

Well I like the K701, they're good cans, I'm just seeking out the best cable to use with them. My favorite is still the AD2000 tho.

AKG K701, "NOS" style at serial #1399 (or thereabouts). Will complete my trifecta of first-batch K701s (no serial numbers past 3500) - stock cord, SAA Equinox, and APureSound V3. Oh you guys know I'm going to do a review since I'm collecting these... (and if anyone wants to call dibs on buying the Equinox and V3 ones later, feel free to send a PM)

Yeah yeah I know, the show doesn't start until Friday but I can't wait! I'm actually interested in speakers this year so I'm looking forward to listening to as many as I can! I've taken Friday off work so I can check out all 3 days! If there are any requests, post 'em here and I'll see if I can include them on my rounds. Exhibitor list here: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2008 And will any familiar Head-Casers/Fiers be there?

Great to see you finally got your ES-1, Elephas. I hope you find the sound is at least half worth the wait. And of course we demand impressions! (And not with Hilary Duff music.)

Amazing work swt, as always! One of these days I'll be putting in my own order for a stand like that.

Ok I have a few questions about using electrostatic gear: 1 - I understand you need to "charge" headphones, does this mean you just need to plug it in, turn on the amp, and leave it like that for a while? If so, at what point is the charge completed? 2 - Is it safe to use the Pro and Normal jacks on the SRM-1 MKII at the same time, or should they always be used separately? 3 - Is it ok to just unplug a headphone and then plug it back in while the amp is on? (Obviously turning down the volume all the way first.) On a similar note, is it safe to unplug one headphone from Normal and then plug in another into Pro? Lambda & SRM-1 MKII impressions Coming after the OII MKII, I had no idea what to expect. Well ok a little since I heard this at the 7/26 Colorado Head-Fi meet, but that was none of my own music. I love this headphone, it definitely has some qualities from both the K701 and AD2000 and spins them into a sound that's really up my alley. At first the treble response bothered me as it was a little too metallic but it seemed to smooth out as time passed. Great speed and great attack, especially in the treble area. Very quick, it got really addictive. It was a fantastic "merge" of my favorite qualities of the K701 and AD2000 and I think that I could easily dump both of those dynamics and live with this one electrostat alone. Quick, incisive, clear, and open-sounding, with a fantastic soundstage that was definitely more like the K701's, as opposed to the previous session with the OII MKII. The Lambda's so good at what it does I'm half-seriously contemplating dumping my dynamic gear. The only real complaint I have against it though is the bass. While decent, my favorite bass so far comes from the AD2000, so I hope I can find an electrostat with similar bass.

Well the first one I got was the LE which I gave away because it was black and not silver. Then I got a used silver unit which I sold primarily because I didn't need it much (had better HeadAmp amps at the time). It is a great amp though, could've easily been a permanent fixture if HeadAmp didn't make any other, better amps.

Sonos? Sounds like it must be a cool job, hope you get in.

used HeadAmp Gilmore Lite....again, and a new HeadAmp AE-2...also again. (Have bought both amps twice before.) I seem to have an incurable addiction to HeadAmp equipment. But I have to live up to my "HeadAmp dealer" tradition now.