NorCal 6/28/08 Impressions

[jp11801]

The307a sounded amazing, I listened to it with ps1s, hp2s and ed9s. While it sounded great with all three the hp2s sang through this amp. Normally I prefer the ps1 but out of the 307a the hp2 was the winner. This amp is clearly a top performer and should be considered by anyone purchasing a top of the line amp. Personally at 6k I would like to see a better case but my EC hd2 is not going to win a beauty contest. I am actually suprised to see this amp not steal some thunder from the b52 or rudi balanced amps.

[Voltron]

As Dusty points out, there aren't any real impressions of the NorCal meet over here. I did just post in the TTVJ 307A thread so there are some thoughts perking over there too.

For now, I am going to port over my posts and pics from the other place. I still have some more thoughts that I hope to get out, but haven't had the time to sit and type. Here's a start:

Well, as many heard yesterday, I was running from the meet to a friend's wedding and had to bolt the scene [late] at 4:45 or so. I hate leaving meets early, and usually enjoy the after-meet at least as much or more than the meet itself. We did go out for a little In-N-Out Burger birthday celebration with Justin on Friday night, and hung out in Guzziguy/Iron_Dreamer's room, which was fun but that didn't substitute for the traditional after-party. I hope some of the crew managed to hang out after, and that you all did not get oyster poisoning like JP!

Anyway, JP put on a great meet where 50-60 local Head-Fiers and Bay Area Audiophile Society members were treated to the true cream of the headphone crop. Many of the active Bay Area crew were present and it was great to see everybody. As usual, we had some traveling members present, and it is nice to see people make that extra effort. Guzziguy, Iron_Dreamer, Craig (Eddie Current) and ldj325 all made the journey from the south/east of California, Amphead made it down from Sacramento, Asr and Mikhail both came in from Colorado, and Justin of course flew from Virginia. I was impressed by the number of new members who I have not seen at meets before. Some were new to Head-Fi and some have lurked or been active for awhile without attending meets. It was good to see new faces and meet some new folks.

I was also impressed by how many BAAS members showed up and think that we have a good opportunity to expand each others' horizons by participating in more events. BAAS is working on a very cool event at a club where musicians will perform exact renditions of recorded music and they will be compared live to recording to hear how they are similar and different. That sounds really interesting and I hope to attend.

In addition to the usual headphone rigsn, we also had a short speaker session with Ti's own Beta24 and home-brew speakers and a little Stratocaster wailing by Amphead, which were fun too. Ti's setup was really nice and clearly would have been far better in a smaller more suitable room. The Beta24 is a work of art and audio magic, for sure. Congrats on yet another achievement, Ti/AMB Labs!

As for impressions, these stand out.

TTVJ 307A:

As JP mentioned, Todd kindly agreed to rhythmdevils' initial suggestion to send out the new TOTL amp designed and built by Pete Millett and sold exclusively by Todd and TTVJ. I heard it first at CanJam and was equally impressed here even with the Meridian 808 as a source. I tried it with my own PS-1, Ed. 9, and HD650/Equinox (all balanced), with Guzzi's balanced HP-2, and with Icarium's balanced Sony Qualia 010 with the SinglePower headband. The PS-1 cannot have had more bass response and power. It is amazing if you like the sound of the PS-1, and the entire spectrum is presented well not just the bass. The HP-2 sounded even better, and it is consistent with my thought at CanJam hearing the RS-1 -- this amp does great things for Grado cans. Amped not as well, the great HP-2 can sound too neutral the the level of being boring. Not so with the 307A. It has life and flesh and texture beyond most any other amp I have heard it with. The Eddie Current and SinglePower amps are my other favorites with the headphone, but the 307A just too top honors no question. The Ed. 9 and HD650 both sounded excellent, but I did not spend as much time listening to them. The true shock was how GREAT the Qualia's sounded on this amp! The sound was rich and full but fast and dynamic and very lifelike. It was a great match and really made the Qualia sound better than they ever have. I liked them on Ray's B52 in Florida one other time, but this was certainly better and made them a much more accessible can.

Not only does this amp do balanced amazingly well, but it has single-ended covered from IEMs to full size of high and low ohms. It makes so many cans sound their best, that Pete and Todd have the high-end Swiss ARmy knife of all time, in my opinion. Great stuff.

Life is interrupting, so I am going to continue this later. Cheers.

[Voltron]

Carrying on with the photos.

Here is the new look of the Zana Deux:

Here are a couple action shots of people. New Guy and new guy Aaron313

bigguy and wife Becky checking out the Stax 4070, but I missed the grimace on her face as she said they were too heavy:

Guzziguy rocking the HP-2 on TTVJ 307A, while Aaron and bigguy checking out some Stax action:

rhythmdevils and friend also checking out the Voltron/TTVJ table:

And here is the gear in question, Stax 007t, Onix CD-1 Reference, and TTVJ 307A:

JP#s rig, with Mac Min, Apogee Duet, and the unobtainium HD-2 from Eddie Current:

And JP speaking with Craig Uthus about the new stuff Craig couldn't get delivered in time for the meet (for example, a DAC with user-selectable and switchable DAC boards allowing one to choose an Analog Devices, Burr Brown, or other chip to be used). We were sorry to miss out on those, but he did bring the new Nautilus, the ZD with alternative 6c18 tubes in it, as well as his phono stage and the good old Moth DAC.

Here is the blessingx table, with another 007t amp along with three vintage Stax cans being powered at once. Sources were the Squeezebox and the Macbook, along with the Audio Magus MagiDac prototype on loan from the manufacturer. He also had the SinglePower Extreme powering some HD580s. I wonder what time it was when I was taking these pics?

Here is ironbut tuning up his awesome Tape Project-based rig and calaf giving it a listen with requisite lusting:

Speaking of calaf, here is his rig, with the Corda Opera and k340s that calaf recabled himself, and a Woo Audio 3 powering some HD25-1s.

[Voltron]

More pics for the history books. Let's start with a first for Head-Fi meets to my knowledge. Guitar Hero has had a place at a number of meets, but this is the first time Guitar Hero was rocked out on a GameBoy with PX100s. Looked like fun when Becky was picking away at it:

Before working on her riffs, Becky once again created some of the tastiest sweets ever to grace a Head-Fi meet. This time it was awesome chocolate chip cookies and the return of her incredible candied pecans. I was lucky enough to get the left-overs, and my wife and kids are as impressed as me. Thanks again Becky!

Here is Asr's rig that he shipped from Colorado to share with the faithful. I did not get a listen myself, which is a shame, but I did feign a clubbing with the remote to the Plinius. It is a hunk of metal to be respected, for sure. JP and I also thought the lack of any readout on the front of the CDP was refreshing. The namaanf-built balanced Beta22 is as great sounding as it is beautiful.

Here is Asr, listening to other people's gear, like any good Head-Fier. He's at AMB's table of delights, and as always, the acrylic tops for meets give everybody a good look at the works.

In addition to Asr and AMB, at least a couple other Beta22s were in attendance. First up, Fallen Angel and his customized signature B22:

Also present, was rockcod, some young roadies who walked the room with AT and Denon cans (iirc) sampling the offerings, and his great looking black-cased B22:

Last comes the rjkdivin Beta22, with due credit to the designer right on the front:

Here is Ti's Beta24 mentioned a few times already, along with a lame pic of the front of the AMB speaker.

And here is Justin talking a little business with Ti:

Here is Justin's Blue Hawaii Special Edition, which was paired with neilvg's NWO 3.0G

Here is jrossell's amp in an acrylic house that is an Alex Cavalli design. I thought this amp sounded great with single-ended HD600s, and Jeff himself said it was a champ on the mid-range but not the greatest on the bottom end. I thought it had decent body and had a very clear sound.

[Dusty Chalk]

Nice pics, thanks.

[Guest aaron313]

All I can say is that after the NorCal meet, I would fly across the country for a one day meet, like some of the guys who showed up did.

[Iron_Dreamer]

Getting the day warmed up with some K340's!

Then it's time to dive straight into the Millet monster!

BlessingX had a nice roundup of Stax present:

But I most liked the swanky SR5's:

One of the bevy of B22's on hand:

And the interior of another:

ASR's new CD player, and its' monstrous remote!

Gettin' 'em started young! Hopefully they each get a Pico for their next birthday!

The crowd intensifies around the Blue Hawaii once Neilvg landed with the APL:

BlessingX puts the numbers rig through its' paces:

Ti's latest landmark, the B24!

Amphead gets ready to boogie with his self-built guitar:

Numbers gives the florida gang a piece of our action:

One of the more striking Darth Beyers:

Time to inspect the Blue Hawaii:

[JBLoudG20]

I have to admit, when I saw your name and pictures associated, my stomach immediately got ready to turn over a few times.

This was different though. I liked your pics. Great job, and looks like it was a great meet.