NorCal 8/8/2009 Meet Impressions

[Voltron]

Thanks for asking after my knee health, Doc Spaniel, but Ken was either not paying attention or giving me too much credit. I was limping although way less than in the first couple days after the injury. I moved way too many boxes on Saturday and Sunday, however, and my knee is killing me again today. MRI results later today, I hope....

Sorry for copying from the other place, but here is the first I have had time to write up:

I haven't had the time or the strength to do up my show impressions and I did not take any pictures at all, but Craig's table was very impressive indeed:

*The new Laconic $500 (pretty sure that is the price he mentioned) is a great sounding tube amp at a fantastic price. It was completely quiet at zero volume with HD800s and with AD2000s. It has a nice sound signature and is VERY good for the money. I would think this amp will do very well at that price point, or even the $600 that JP mentioned before.

*The Balancing Act and the TTVJ 307A are the top tube amps in production in my opinion. The BA has an effortless way of reproducing extraordinary music on every headphone I have tried it with. The BA has a wonderful body and richness to it without sounding syrupy or any of the other words that people use for tube amps that have a lot of body. The low end was incredible. It made the HD800s sound amazing, and I handed them over to ironbut and said he should give a listen to the cans that many people say have lacking low end. He agreed that such a statement is nuts. The AD2K always sound great from the BA, and still did, but comparing back and forth with the HD800 the A-Ts sounded thin and bright relative to the Senns. I also tried a test at Craig's suggestion with my balanced HD800s plugged in. I plugged in a 1/4 jack, which unbalances the balanced output, and and went back and forth a few times to see if balancing makes a big difference. It is there, but it is not as huge a difference on the BA as it is with HD650s. I will try comparing with my SDS-XLR (which I can do only because my hero ironbut resurrected it!), but it was interesting.

*Eddie Current phono stage (name?). This was still a prototype model in an unfinished case, so Craig had it hiding under the tablecloth. Anyway, it should have been in a spotlight because this is a killer phono stage. It is clear and clean and has tons of body. When coupled with the BA it was practically visceral. As JP pointed out, it is pretty amazing how good the decent but humble TT/cartridge combo sounded. Craig is trying to decide some things about the final version's power supply but the price range is supposed to be something between $900-1200.

*The ZDT got the least attention because JP is borrowing it and I plan to get more listening time later. It sounded good, but I mostly heard the Audeze orthos on it with music that was not well suited to the cans and was a bit boring. I wanted to try the Audeze again with some fast rocking stuff and that didn't happen. The ZDT seems like a winner for all types of cans as well, but the BA is a strong preference for me at least on the short listen.

So, Justin said I was the biggest shill at the meet (other than himself and the other MOTs, I assume), because I had the Woo Audio WES prototype on loan from Jack, the TTVJ portable amp/dac on loan from Todd, the Berkeley Audio Alpha Dac on loan from dealer Tim Marutani, and my own Amarra software/Model 4 hardware combo with, again, dealer Tim Marutani present to discuss it. I see it as providing a valuable service to the community by getting some cool new products to the meet, but to each his own! :allteeth: I am also a terrible shill because I just went on so much about Eddie Current that I don't have time to do any more gear impressions at the moment. Suffice to say that the WES is a great new entrant in the stats world, the TTVJ portable is cutting edge and sounds great, the Alpha DAC is wonderful (even though I am happy to find I like the Amarra Model 4 at least as much), and that anyone who is serious about computer audio should invest in Amarra software. More later.

Oh, yeah, and SR-0MEGAS ROCK!!! I really like these cans, although I hate to say that the perfect amp for them might be the ES-1. I liked them much more from the Woo WES than the BHSE, although I bet different tubes might make a difference. The BHSE sounded best with the O2 once again, but those were the only two cans I tried on Justin's table. Sadly, as I mentioned, the best the Omegas sounded all day was on Mikeymad's ES-1. Given that he loves my SRD-7 Pro so much in combination with his WA5, maybe I should buy his ES-1. Is that the craziest thing you have heard today?

Edited August 10, 2009 by Voltron

[Torpedo]

I'm sorry for your knee -perhaps it's worse today for all this weekend abuse-, and for this new love of yours for the ES-1 About the craziest thing I've heard today

Ken, I've got that disc. I'll look at it later

[Voltron]

Well, to be honest, I have always liked the ES-1/2 sound so that is not new. The idea of buying one at this point in time is the truly insane element.

[Torpedo]

Yep, I can imagine the ES-1's sound must be kind of engaging, but knowing how's that amp inside... Maybe you can make a rebuild to have it working safely. At this point I think Birgir could be very helpful hehehehe

[Voltron]

Mikey's is very nice and Birgir apparently even gave the internals a decent grade when Mikey sent pics.

[blessingx]

I think the problem with the DNA amp is that it doesn't put out enough power for hard to drive headphones like the HD800. I borrowed the LCD-1 to see how it sounded out of my Platinum Extreme. However, somebody was listening to it so I plugged it into the (single-ended) DNA. It produced OK volume if I turned it up all the way. Still the sound was very flat. The LCD-1 is a hard headphone to drive as it has low impedance and, apparently, low sensitivity. When I was able to plug the LCD-1 into my Extreme, it was able to easily drive it to acceptable volumes and the LCD-1 came alive. The DNA amps are for people with easy to drive headphones.

The amount of power with the HD800s was not an issue from my experience, though sounds like it was for the LCD-1. Did you get a chance to give your HD800s a listen too? I suspect as we both like the Platinum sound more, we wanted increased impact (though earlier meant 'flat' as even, not boring - though obviously less engaging then we're both used to). However I'm not sure that's because of lack of power by the DNA. From my previous experiences and generalizing, blindfolded I'd probably have thought the DNA was a controlled SS amp. Not my preference when going tubes (and with the HD800), and certainly far from the Extreme Platinum with either of our tube combos. Interesting another member (forget name) told me at the meet how much the DNA and SPs sounded similar.

I have to admit not being a fan of Beyers, and like JP mentioned on the other site, it would have been interesting to hear the DNA with a HD580/6X0.

[Hopstretch]

*Eddie Current phono stage (name?). This was still a prototype model in an unfinished case, so Craig had it hiding under the tablecloth. Anyway, it should have been in a spotlight because this is a killer phono stage. It is clear and clean and has tons of body. When coupled with the BA it was practically visceral. As JP pointed out, it is pretty amazing how good the decent but humble TT/cartridge combo sounded. Craig is trying to decide some things about the final version's power supply but the price range is supposed to be something between $900-1200.

I emailed Craig about this when I heard about it a little while ago. He said it'll be called the ECPP and will be a two-stage passive pre using three 12AX7 tubes. Cinemag trafos for MC and selectable loading for MM. Final version will apparently have a separate tube-rectified power supply. Sounds like it'll be priced toward the top of that range -- which will still likely be a stone bargain for what you're getting.

[spritzer]

How large is the HE90 driver? Aside from the Jecklin driver it's the only one I can think of that might be larger.

The HE90 driver is quite big but according to the pics from Senn, the diaphragm isn't that big. I did measure the drivers once but can't for the life of me find the measurements... The Jecklin drivers are bigger at roughly 100mm square.

Mikey's is very nice and Birgir apparently even gave the internals a decent grade when Mikey sent pics.

His unit had all the usual issues, a single filament supply, outputs at 100v and iffy build quality but far from the worst I've seen. As for buying an ES-1, are you nuts!!!!??!!?? ... The T2 and KGBH would both be excellent matches and I preferred my old BH with the Omega over the 007 (which liked moar powahh!!!). Never got a chance to try the hybrid with it though...

[Torpedo]

The knee injury has affected Al in unexpected ways Well, if you love its sound with the Omegas... take your chances hehehe

[Voltron]

For tree fiddy and a cookie, how bad could it be? Actually, I don't think I would ever buy the ES-1 because I am not prone to buying into known problems.

I am in the excellent position of having Naaman's BH, the WES, and my own 007t and SRD-7 Pro to check out with the Omega/4070/Lambda Sigs, so I will be happily comparing them once I reconstruct the rig. I am guessing the BH will be great, but other than listening for a minute just to make sure the Omegas worked I have not heard that combo. The BH was great with the 4070s and Lambdas, so that is two checks in the yes column.

And I am very much looking forward to a full report. The KG comments I saw before were pretty minimal and mostly said that they tested very similarly. I need a more emotional review than that.

[guzziguy]

This may explain why Al preferred the sound from the Woo over the BHSE. Of course, maybe it doesn't matter.

[cclragnarok]

This may explain why Al preferred the sound from the Woo over the BHSE. Of course, maybe it doesn't matter.

The source for the BHSE was Justin's XA5400ES. The playback software issues should only affect the Pico that was connected to the computer.

[spritzer]

We really need some BH vs. WES comparisons.

[Voltron]

We really need some BH vs. WES comparisons.

Soon, my friend, soon.

[guzziguy]

The source for the BHSE was Justin's XA5400ES. The playback software issues should only affect the Pico that was connected to the computer.

Doh! You are correct. I should've thought more before posting.

[zippy2001]

Sounds like an awesome meet! I'll have to ditch the family and drag my butt up there for the next one

[recstar24]

If anyone has comments about how the EC BA compares to the ZDT I would thoroughly appreciate them.

[Voltron]

ZDT not as good. That's all I've got.

[recstar24]

ZDT not as good. That's all I've got.

Going for the BA will about deplete anything I have in the budget, especially something for a power amp, which may have to wait awhile to recover. My issue with the ZDT is that after talking to Craig about it, may be at best a lateral movement from my moth, though the 8 watts would sure sound extra nice on a set of cornwalls or my hornshoppe horns.

[Icarium]

Zdt is damn good. Probably best dynamic amp ive heard short of the BA. BA > Zdt > ttvj 307a > dynahi w/ sigma22 > gilmore balanced ref > everything else for me. Gotta hear a dynamight and dynafet tho. Can go in detail on the few impressions i have when not on phone

[guzziguy]

Hey Dan. I saw you there but never got the chance to come talk. Sorry about that. I'll catch you (or vice versa) next time.

[penger]

I'm not sure if that one was for sale, but he is working on one to sell. He said ~800 for non custom panels... ~900 for custom panels (Pretty insane deal).

Also a balanced ckkiii for 600 non custom panels and 700 for custom panels.. I think. Maybe 700/800 I forget.

So fallenangel is now a builder that takes commissions?

[Icarium]

I dunno about that.. you can talk to him about it. It seems like his modus operandi is that he just builds stuff for the sake of building it for fun and then sells it at ~parts cost. I didn't really query him too much about it because there isn't much I'm looking for right now. I mostly overheard him chatting with someone about it while waiting for the raffle to go down.

[Icarium]

Hey Dan. I saw you there but never got the chance to come talk. Sorry about that. I'll catch you (or vice versa) next time.

Haha its cool I think we waved at each other a few times. I was keeping my semi-head-fi buddy (Just bought a CTH/Audeze rig) and my not very head-fi buddy (Recipient of the random IEMs I keep winning in raffles/handouts) entertained most of the time anyways. They had fun somewhat.. hanging out with matt fury was a highlight

[Asr]

Pics! I also created this Web page for Head-Fi, if someone would do the honors of linking from the meet thread yonder: 2009 NorCal Head-Fi August Meet

AMB's stack of Gamma2 (y2) DACs

blessingx intensely checking out the JH13

jpnum's Stacker II hybrid

Icarium's: Slim Devices Transporter, HeadAmp Gimore Balanced Reference, & Spectral SDR-2000

Icarium's Dynahi and Assemblage DAC-3.1

Bottlehead customer's SEX amp

mikeymad's: Singlepower ES1, Marantz SA7S1, & Woo Audio 5

The fine folks behind Bottlehead ("Doc" on left)

Bottlehead custom amp - front

Bottlehead custom amp - top

Eddie Current's Softone Model 3 CD player

ironbut's Technics reel tape player

Eddie Current's Laconic ZD Micro

Donald North

HeadAmp Gilmore Lite & Cambridge Audio DacMagic

FallenAngel's Balanced B22

foo_me on Grado HP1000/HP2

Woo Audio WES

FallenAngel's Balanced Dynalo (Dynamid)

my HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE (sourced by my Pico USB DAC)