Chicago Mini Meet 4/19 Impressions thread

[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.

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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

[recstar24]

Thanks for posting about the K340 - wow your headphile k340 was freaking fantastic! Actually I wish I spent more time with it. I heard that the zana drove it beautifully as well. The one thing that shocked me was your k340 had some great bass going, deep and full. I heard it on the B52 and I wish I gave it a shot on the zana for sure.

[Absorbine_Sr]

Headphiled K340 on my rig was killer. So much so that I'm looking for a pair to have modded. Nothing was better than anything else, just very balanced and fluid with good detail. But it takes a shitload to drive them. Normal volume on the Zana with Senns or RS1's is 9:00 - 10:00. With the K340's it was 12:00 - 1:00.

And my new RS1's had their ass handed to them by vintage RS1's. I mean the new ones aren't bad but there's so much more there with the older version. But I'll stay with mine for now.

Also of note (to me anyway) was GLF's Bottlehead S.E.X. amp. I've heard it evolve since last summer in Wisconsin and it is an excellent sounding amp. Maybe better with Senns than my Zana.

It was a good meet overall.

[Absorbine_Sr]

pics?

Maybe later if you behave yourself.

[swt61]

Headphiled K340 on my rig was killer. So much so that I'm looking for a pair to have modded. Nothing was better than anything else, just very balanced and fluid with good detail. But it takes a shitload to drive them.

Amen Brother, but once you give them all the juice they ask for they mezmerize.

[Absorbine_Sr]

Amen Brother, but once you give them all the juice they ask for they mezmerize.

That's putting it mildly. I really did not want to take them off my head. They seemed made for the Zana.

[Pars]

Kinda kicking myself for missing this one...

[Absorbine_Sr]

i don't know if i can wait that long!!!!!

Man, impatient youth these days.....

Here's just few crappy shots I snapped, there are a ton more on HF.

[swt61]

That's putting it mildly. I really did not want to take them off my head. They seemed made for the Zana.

Now I'm really bummed I didn't take the time to hook mine up to the Zana at the last Dallas meet. By the time I got around to it he had already loaded his gear up.

[Absorbine_Sr]

I listened to some Richard Thompson and the acoustic guitars were so clean and sweet. And Jimmy Webb singing Wichita Lineman with just piano with a little guitar was so wonderful. The most realistic I've heard a piano sound and you just slid into the middle of the vocal. I knew then I had to have a pair.

[foo_me]

And my new RS1's had their ass handed to them by vintage RS1's. I mean the new ones aren't bad but there's so much more there with the older version. But I'll stay with mine for now.

something about the brown headband that makes the RS1 sing!

couldn't believe it myself when i compared the two...

btw, there's one pair of vintage available on ebay though that's set to close by tomorrow.

[luvdunhill]

Now I'm really bummed I didn't take the time to hook mine up to the Zana at the last Dallas meet. By the time I got around to it he had already loaded his gear up.

I did I miss my K340 now

[recstar24]

something about the brown headband that makes the RS1 sing!

couldn't believe it myself when i compared the two...

btw, there's one pair of vintage available on ebay though that's set to close by tomorrow.

Yeah who woulda thunk it but after owning two vintage RS-1's and having 3 new stock ones the differences to me have been pretty apparent. I did hear the new buttonless one and I thought it sounded pretty good, didnt really hear the glare up top pretty smooth and typical full bodied colored lushness you'd expect from the RS-1.