mrarroyo Posted March 6, 2010 Report Posted March 6, 2010 The first pic from the meet: Boston? I thought you were all going to the BeerFest in the Tampa area.
trevorlane Posted March 6, 2010 Report Posted March 6, 2010 News flash that no one really needed, the WES is effing nice. [sap] Nate, I was having a bromance moment with your BH, the WES, and JP's amp. You guys made me a believer in electrostat headphones today. [/sap]
Hopstretch Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Good meet and good party shaping up tonight, which I'm missing. But I've made my mark in HC history. No one has ever selected a shittier bar to adjourn to afterward, of this I am confident.
The Monkey Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 [sap] Nate, I was having a bromance moment with your BH, the WES, and JP's amp. You guys made me a believer in electrostat headphones today. [/sap] Ah, the 'stats have claimed another victim. Eggggsellent. Good meet and good party shaping up tonight, which I'm missing. But I've made my mark in HC history. No one has ever selected a shittier bar to adjourn to afterward, of this I am confident. Details!
n_maher Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 I cannot believe I didn't think to take a picture of this place - it was called The Auld Sod and was perhaps one of the more depressing bars I've ever been in. I'm pretty sure the whisky I ordered was a 12yr but had been sitting for at least 6 so really it was an 18. Too bad it tasted like a 2yr old something poopy. I think Stretch threw back his beer and opted for something in a bottle, the taps were not too be trusted.
jp11801 Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 What a great time, so glad I made the trek. Impressions to follow after my journey home.
Voltron Posted March 7, 2010 Author Report Posted March 7, 2010 The first pic from the meet: HaHaHa, you're all drinking water!
Salt Peanuts Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Good meet and good party shaping up tonight, which I'm missing. But I've made my mark in HC history. No one has ever selected a shittier bar to adjourn to afterward, of this I am confident. If it makes you feel any better, while going around in circles trying to find a parking spot at the next destination, I got lost. I had to turn into a side street to avoid getting crushed by another car and the stupid side street happens to be one-way and my GPS had already died at that point. Predictably, I proceeded to get lost after a series of one-way streets and other odd traffic quirks of Boston & its surrounding areas. I would've called the guys except only numbers I had on my phones were the folks who had already bailed at this point. I eventually found myself near highway that allowed me to get back home (but not to the drinking establishment). Methinks my already poor sense-of-direction has deteriorated since I started using a GPS.
Hopstretch Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 If it makes you feel any better, while going around in circles trying to find a parking spot at the next destination, I got lost. I had to turn into a side street to avoid getting crushed by another car and the stupid side street happens to be one-way and my GPS had already died at that point. Predictably, I proceeded to get lost after a series of one-way streets and other odd traffic quirks of Boston & its surrounding areas. I would've called the guys except only numbers I had on my phones were the folks who had already bailed at this point. I eventually found myself near highway that allowed me to get back home (but not to the drinking establishment). Methinks my already poor sense-of-direction has deteriorated since I started using a GPS. A likely story. Admit it, you bailed!
Voltron Posted March 7, 2010 Author Report Posted March 7, 2010 Only after YOU bailed, in any event. Sorry Salty. JP and I saw you missing the left turn the iPhone told us to take and you didn't see me waiving at you.
skullguise Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Wow, sorry I missed the after-fest. I got to rush home and see a Temple setup for a Bat-Mitzvah (our son's Bar-Mitzvah will eventually be there). But have to admit, the whine was better there. DID end up meeting up with some good friends for dinner, though, so that made up for it. Nice meeting you all in person, was a great time indeed!
en480c4 Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 (edited) Impressions... 1st off, I was very impressed with the room. When things were at their loudest, the room seemed to handle it well. Much better than some of the live rooms meets are often held in. The level of gear was impressive to say the least. By far the best gear I've seen at a Boston meet yet. Nate's Blue Hawaii - Quite good, though the combo with the Hersten's DAC and the Lamda Sigs was a little more forward than I like. Never harsh or anything, just a bit more treble energy than I prefer. Bass impact and weight, and mids, were all right on, though. I didn't get a chance to revisit it with the O2s, unfortunately. TrevorLane' TTVJ Millet 307A - I thought I heard a channel imbalance, and it turns out my concerns when listening were well-founded... At first the source was the suspect, but Nate tracked down the problem to Input 1 being the issue, and likely the result of some wiring problem. Once inputs were changed, the amp was everything that I expected. It sounded amazing with the woodied HF-1, the HF-2 and PS-1. My Portable Amp Shoot-Out - I grabbed the Pico Slim & a LOD to give it a spin with my iPhone and HF-2 (I didn't bring my Shures or any other portable phone), and a guy whose name I'm forgetting asked me to compare it to his RSA Shadow. Shortly after sitting down, Dave (drp) brought over the TTVJ Portable (Slim) for me to throw into the mix. It was no real surprise that I didn't care for the RSA... As expected from one of Ray's amps, the upper mids and treble were shouty and in-your-face, and when combined with some prominent bass, I found the lower mids to sound recessed. Male (and some female) vocals really suffered here. The tougher comparison was between the Pico Slim and the TTVJ Portable... I knew what I heard immediately, but trying to figure out how to verbalize it was a bit more difficult. Ultimately, the mid-range was the factor for me... The TTVJ amp had a bit thinner sound throughout, but most noticeably in mid-range. While it allowed for some great texture and detail retrieval, I was left wanting for a bit more mid-range magic. The Pico, on the other hand, had a fuller sound... It just struck me as better balanced. I was not left wanting for bass... Extension, punch, and bass detail were all excellent. The mids were really where the Pico shined, especially with the mid magic found in the HF-2. Male and female vocals and crunchy guitar all sounded spot-on. And as someone who is sensitive to treble energy (see BH above), the Pico had the perfect balance for me of detail, energy and smoothness. I found that despite the incredible range of gear at the meet, the only gear lust I left with was the Pico Slim. To my ears, it did everything "right" and without a second thought I could be very happy with my iPhone, a Pico Slim and my Grados at home and my Shures on the go. Thanks to the organizers, everyone who brought their gear (even if I didn't get to hear it) and as is always the case, seeing friends and talking about music is the real highlight of these for me. Thanks to Ari for making the trip up (from New Jersey!) and Al visiting from CA and JP from PA. It was great to see everyone. Edited March 7, 2010 by en480c4
n_maher Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Clearly this thread demands MOAR PICS! My meager meet rig (Hertsens + BHse) Al's jfet amp, which I unfortunately forgot to listen to fed by drp's opus CD player Pico Slim - actually what I spent the most time listening to Nums eXStata And Stacker Todd's new stat rig Young's 307A, which once sounding right sounded so goddamn right Fang from Head-Direct made an appearance One of these days I'll finally get to check one of these out... Meant to try these again as well to see how they compared to the ones I heard in NYC, ran out of time. The WES (more on this later) Stretch's dynamic rig - Nugget Audio's home for wayward sources is trying to negotiate adoption of this... Emooze's SS eXStata, I didn't get to hear this either as the line voltage was so low in the room it wouldn't run for a while (107VAC, wtf?!!?!) Ian's Millett Rig - which still after all this time sounds simply great Ari's Silver Ghost and Luxman - I got to check out the Luxman briefly and understand why others rave about it. As previously mentioned this was a great meet. It was superb that Al and Johnny #'s were able to make it and 5 guys for lunch rocked. I'll post a few detailed impression later most of which will contain precious little useful information to anyone around here.
luvdunhill Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Nugget Audio's home for wayward sources is trying to negotiate adoption of this... eh?
n_maher Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 eh? Just a little joke with the tall man. I think you'd have to pry the Ayre from his cold, dead fingers and I don't blame him for feeling that way.
Hopstretch Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 (edited) And here I was already picking out a new 27" iMac. What Nate isn't telling (his wife!) is that, under the influence of a Five Guys bacon cheeseburger, he agreed to relocate most of my basement home theater to Nugget Audio HQ. Edited March 7, 2010 by Hopstretch
n_maher Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 And here I was already picking out a new 27" iMac. Oh, I think we can still work on that but I'm sincerely hoping (for your sanity's sake) that the Ayre makes the flight with you. What Nate isn't telling (his wife!) is that, under the influence of a Five Guys bacon cheeseburger, he agreed to relocate most of my basement home theater to Nugget Audio HQ. I just wasn't going to hold you to it given how persuasive the 5 guys burger was. But of course what the wife doesn't know will, well, probably get me shot. Let it be known that the 5 guys Bacon Cheese Burger is fracken amazing. I skipped dinner last night as a direct result of it. Do not, I repeat, do not look at their "nutritional facts" sheet. The idea that they'd put the word nutrition anywhere near that information is laughable. But it was so good I just don't care.
jp11801 Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Ok just got back to the house a bit ago. First off I'm kicking back with the Melos Sha Gold Ref that Ari, rehabbed for me. This amp matched with the AT AD2ks is absolutely fantastic, started with the 6dj8 orage globe then went to the while label 6922 PQs, wow, just wow. Ari I can't thank you enough for the assist with this amp. Al's J-Fetastic amp liked up to it's name. Really great with the JH13s with the balanced cable from Whiplash. I am really glad I was able to get in on one of these as they appeared to really lock in well with the JH13s. Bass to die for, crazy soundstage particularly for an IEM and decay that went on and on. The build was very cool as well with a mini xlr, that I hope gets adopted as the standard for balanced cables for iems or smaller headphones. The volume implementation was cool although it could use an LED but I think that is in the works. This is a must have for jh13 fans that use them as there main HPs around the house. Spent some time with the pico slim after the meet and I prefer the sound of the ALO RX amp overall but the pico slim wins in the build quality, volume implementation and ability to fend of RF interference. I also had the chance to compare the Beyer T1 to the HD800 out of Stretch's rig and oh man what a rig it is. The Ear amp is wonderful sounding and paired with the Ayre QB-9 source you could easily just stop there and not want for anything more, strange words coming from me I know. I really liked what I heard out of the T1 and do think it is high end but the HD800 outclassed it in just about every way. Better separation, detail, wider stage but the T1 did have a tonal warmth that was appealing. Overall I would like to hear these two again on different amps. SR-007 mkl DAMN YOU!!!!! Well I brought my eXStata to the meet that Pabbi had sold me a few weeks back and after fighting with a set up issue I got the amp and the Sonic 302 rocking. Thanks goes to Salt Peanuts for the generous loan of his macbook for the day, thanks!! I got the chance to demo the 007s on the eXStata fully expecting them to suck balls as I thought the amp would not have enough to get them going. They sounded awesome and significantly better than the 404les. I hate you all now I am on the hunt for a pair of these. Don't know where the time went as I forgot to get a good listen to Nate's BH se build that looked great and everyone that heard it loved it sadly I stupidly missed plugging into this set up. Emooze the guy that set the meet up is a really good guy and did a good job as the room was dampened well and lent itself to socializing and listening. Always great to see old friends and meet new ones, the Auld Sod was frighteningly bad, I think the tap lines haven't been cleaned since they opened the beer was that nasty. After a trek though every side street in the greater Boston area we arrived at the Publik House. Solid beer selection and good food, I was bummed however that we lost SP on the way and half of the others while waiting for a table. Not sure but I think I took skullguise's 1/8 to 1/4 adapter, if this is yours or whoevers it is please pm me and I can get it in the mail to you. Great meet also the beer at Whole Foods was great the IPA from Berkshire Brewery was excellent.
Grahame Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Its the saturated fat that made him do it Saturated Fat 29.5g 148% (DRV) Calories in Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger and Nutrition Facts http://www.fiveguys.net/files/files/NutritionalInfo_2009.pdf
Hopstretch Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Pfft. Ian inhaled one of those and went back for a hot dog because he wasn't full.
en480c4 Posted March 7, 2010 Report Posted March 7, 2010 Pfft. Ian inhaled one of those and went back for a hot dog because he wasn't full.
justin Posted March 8, 2010 Report Posted March 8, 2010 nate, you need to make this your head-fi avatar:
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