Aura

~ 56K Nightmare Lies Ahead ~


Let's dig right in.


Thursday night packing:




- I have shown this already, but this is the result of over an hour packing up my cdp, dac, amp, all necessary cables, headphones, etc. I take pride in my abilities to pack gear like a madman .


Friday night - final listening before the meet:










- I decided to unpack everything when I arrived home on Friday, to get in some listening and solidify my familiarity with a few reference songs that I would be using during the meet. Should you ever attend an audio meet, I highly recommend getting in an intimate understanding/sense of 3-4 songs which you feel serve as reference for comparing gear. It helps a lot.

The night shots are of my tubes, including the faint blue glow from my 2A3 output tubes and the bright 5AR4 rectifier.


Saturday - the meet has arrived:




- Let the gear hit the floor, along with a few jaws .

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- My rig all set up. It turned out to be pretty popular I think, getting heavy use all day long. I would estimate that over a dozen different headphones were used on my rig that day, and from the select few that I listened to, the rig was handling each and every one with ease. Including one odd-looking pair that I will discuss in a second...

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- This was the first rig I listened to, which belonged to Audio Addict of Head-Fi. It was a PS Audio Power Conditioner > Oppo 980 CDP > RSA Stealth amp w/ psu > AKG K701 Balanced or Joe Grado HP1000 Balanced.

I have heard both of these headphones before and enjoyed both, but this time around the K701 did not sound nearly as good as I thought it did previously. The bass was non-existent, the treble was overpowering, and the rest of the presentation felt un-engaging. The HP1000 was, again, an absolute beast of a headphone and seems to do everything right. This is one of the two best headphones ever created by Grado imo.

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- This is Absorbine Sr.'s rig, which consisted of Resolution Audio Opus 21 DAC + CDP > Zana Deux > Grado RS-1 or AKG K340 or Sennheiser HD600.

I was very interested to hear this rig, because the Zana Deux shares an inherit quality of design with my Moth amp (both were made by the same man, Craig Uthus). Indeed, the Zana and the Moth sounded similar, close enough that I will need to spend more time in the future listening to the Eddie Current to really sense any major differences (if they exist at all). I believe the 2A3 tubes add layering and texture to the music that could no be matched by the Zana.

I listened to the RS-1, and once again felt underwhelmed. It is simply not the right Grado for me. I ran my HD580 for reference listening as well.

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- This was Ray Samuels' rig, which was Meridian 508 CDP > RSA Mustang P-51 > Sony R10 (bass heavy version).

Sigh, I really wish Ray had brought a desktop amp. I am no fan of portables and, having heard Ray's R10 at two previous meets, felt this was the worst his headphone had sounded. The P-51, while impressive in size, was simply not allowing the R10 to scale up to its magical potential which I have heard myself in the past (off of my old Singlepower for example). The Meridian is a great source, but it could not carry the weight that was slacking from the amp.

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- This was Todd R's Marantz SA11S1 CDP > BottleHead SEX > Grado RS-2 or Sennheiser HD650.

The Marantz is a gorgeous source and sounded great, I wish I could have listened to some SACD with it. The Bottlehead SEX amp was very solid and surprised me a little bit - for DIY you don't hear a lot about this amp but it performed very well and I know that Ray had fun with it.

The Grado RS-2 was the main piece of Todd's gear that I used, which I took over to my rig and did about 20 minutes of listening with. Unlike the RS-1, which has never captured my sentiment, the RS-2 was warmer with excellent pace and energy. If I were to own a woody Grado (not one of my wood mods :P) it would be an RS-2. For the price, I think it is an excellent can and carries much more value than standard Head Fi thought would lead you to believe.

I also borrowed the HD650 for use on my rig, and determined once and for all that the HD580/600 is my favorite Sennheiser. It has a boatload more value than the 650, with better detail (from what I could tell), better highs, better balance. The HD650 offers a bloated, garbage low end with little resolve. I'm not a fan.

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- This was Recstar's Meridian 508 CDP > Moth Audio Si2A3/H/45 > Grado PS-1. Ryan is using an HP1000 in the first pic; the third pic is the PS-1.

Well... this was one of the two best rigs at the meet. Yes, I'm a Moth fanboy, but this amp was awesome. It had much of the same qualities as my amp, but just more of it. More impact, more transparency, and better tubes as well.

The PS-1 was the shocker of the meet for me. I had no idea it would present, much like my first meet when I had no clue that Ray would bring his R10. This is the ideal Grado sound, the presentation that I believe all other Grado headphones attempt to recreate but fall short of in various areas. The low end, midrange, and treble are all great. The bass is probably the most impressive aspect of the headphone from first listen, as not even my old JVC DX1000 could match the bottom notes that I was hearing from this headphone. I used the PS-1 on both this rig and my own.

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- This was Todd's (of TTVJ) rig consisting of Meridian G08 CDP > Luxman P-1 or TTVJ Millet 307A > Grado RS-1 or Grado GS1000 balanced or Sennheiser HD600.

The best rig of the meet. Both amps were stellar, and while the 307A was the best and most expensive amp at this gathering, the Luxman left a bigger impression on me. I haven't heard a solid state amp like this before. It sounded more like a tube amp than some actual tube models I have heard . I used my HD580 on it, and truthfully I believe it is the best I have heard a Sennheiser sound, even better than my own rig. It was just as balanced, but with a better sense of depth in bass and in overall presentation. If I was looking at buying another dynamic amp, the Luxman would be at the top of the list.

I listened to the 307A with the balanced GS1000. The combination was incredible, the rock song I was listening to (a fairly well-known one with female vocals, I can't think of the name right now) sounded about as accurate as it ever will in terms of reproduction. Everything was great about the sound, I could hardly focus on the details of analytical listening.

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- This was RDK's laptop-sourced + Squeezbox > Yamamoto amp > Audio Technica W1000 rig.

I cannot recall a lot about this rig, but the amp (can't think of the full name right now) was the real star. It sounded very good with the jazz piece that was playing.

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- This was HE Audio's rig, which was Meridian 508 CDP > unknown electrostatic amp > HE Audio Jade.

My first experience with higher-end stats. It sounded excellent - one of the most natural presentations of the entire meet. The Jade is quite a headphone in both aesthetic design and sound, and for current production I think it will give people considering Stax Omega rigs an alternate choice. Detail, PRaT, well-rounded freq. range, the Jade had it all. I ought to have spent more time with this rig seeing as it was no more than three feet away from my setup. Oh well.

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- This is my rig paired with an AKG K1000 headphone, and this is hopefully my future can.

Including myself, four different guys listened to this combination and it was exceptionally enjoyable. There is nothing quite like the K1000. It's in between a near-field set of speakers and headphones, but seems to get the best of both worlds wrapped up in one package. Well-recorded live music is something special with this headphone, as I found out using Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live At Radio City for reference.

Basically, I can't wait to have the money to buy the AKG.

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- I did a direct comparison between a Markl-modded, recabled Denon D5000 and a stock Denon D7000. The D7000 easily won this showdown, as the D5000 sounded very unnatural in comparison. As I mentioned on Head Fi, I believe the D7000 captures the sound that Denon has been aiming for since the inception of this closed-headphone lineup. It is very smooth, very warm, and rounded. It is certainly not balanced, but I enjoyed the sound nonetheless. I will say that the D7000 is not worth the price tag, and not as good as the JVC DX1000.

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- Ultrasone Edition 9.

Eh, it's alright. I cannot imagine paying over $4-500 for this headphone though, let alone $1,000. The bass was similar to the PS-1, but overpowering in the presentation. Neither treble nor mids impressed me. This headphone did not sound completely wierd or unnatural though, which is better than the last Ultrasone experience I had.

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- Sennheiser cable showdown. We had a Moon Audio Silver Dragon, Moon Audio Blue Dragon, Moon Audio Black Dragon, Enigma Audio Oracle, and APureSound V3.

Honestly, this was a really poor experience. I listened to two of the cables and neither sounded superior enough to the stock HD650 cable to justify the prices at all. The APS cable sounded exactly like the 650 cable from what I could tell with the time I spend listening. Just a waste of time, and I remain a non-believer for cables (at least recables).

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- Sony R10 (bass light version). The PS-1 is on the the right.

Well, well, we had two R10's at this meet . I quickly ran Akabeth's R10 on my rig and could tell immediately that I prefer the bass-heavy version to the bass-light. This R10 really did not have a lot of bass, which in turn seemed to exaggerate the treble and make the sound not nearly as full. The R10 needs a low-end to give you that all-encompassing, dramatic presentation that has glorified it.

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Video:


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Well, I have a bit more I would like to discuss, hopefully I'll get around to it at a later time. For now anyway, this was a very enjoyable meet that was very much worthwhile.

Hope you enjoyed the e-tour. Peace out.

~ Bryan

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phospholipid

oh recable, never getting any love.

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Aura

Not from me, at least not until I have been given adequate time to truly get a sense of what I am hearing from the cable. They just don't have value at all.

I will remind others that this is simply my personal feeling, and that you should listen for yourself and make your own judgments.

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a1161979

Great photo's Aura Now wheres that rep button...

Looked like great fun, im hoping to attend the next Sydney meet!

Thanks for your opinions and overview of the meet

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Asus Xonar D2 - Denon DVD700 - G&W TW-J1 Headphone Amplifier -AKG K240 Studio

Christmas = Marantz CD5003 & Audio Technica ATH AD1000

jtypin

Holy crap, how much more retro can you get

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NFF

now that is some audiophile pr0n there aura do i spy a HE90's ????

btw did you put more into this thead then the one in head-fi?

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portable ipod>x33 kramer mod.

Namrac

Nope, those are HE Audio Jades.

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Aura

Sean beat me, but yeah it's the new HE Audio Jade .

Yes, I put a lot more into this thread than I did for Head-Fi. Some groups are worth more effort .

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a1161979

Awww shucks Makes me feel all special

Great photos Aura and once again thanks for sharing here

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Asus Xonar D2 - Denon DVD700 - G&W TW-J1 Headphone Amplifier -AKG K240 Studio

Christmas = Marantz CD5003 & Audio Technica ATH AD1000

NFF

yea thanks for the extra info.

so is the jade a clone of the HE series? or is it actualy made by senn?

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onboard>ATH-A700
portable ipod>x33 kramer mod.