Source A/V Event in Torrance, CA

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by velvetx, Oct 6, 2015.

  1. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    [​IMG]
     
  2. knerian

    knerian Friend

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  3. bixby

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    purrin leaves just one day ago and we get this.........nice job :eek:
     
  4. abernardi

    abernardi Friend

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    Nice to see all you guys there! I'm in general agreement with the observations so far, but not entirely, so here are mine:

    Dharma: I can't really make up my mind on these. I like the soundstage, big and spacious. I like the dynamic driver punch. But I still felt a little disconnection between the drivers and that was distracting. I also felt like the low end would bump into something, I'm not sure how to describe it, it would suddenly dry out in an unpleasant way, if that makes any sense. I think I understand what OJ meant by fuzzy. It's hard to really judge, I only heard them on the Questyle DAP (1r). I listened to the Ether and HE1000 off the DAP as well and they also sounded a little smaller and closed than I remember them sounding. So I guess that takes me to the DAP

    QP1r: Aside from the above criticism and few others, I really like this DAP! I love the throwback to the old ipod design, but the wheel is too damn slippery and takes some getting used to. But as I acclimated to the interface, I saw it could work for me. I think they need to find a way to refine the resolution of that wheel though because I kept scrolling passed my menu choice. It almost seemed as if I'd find just the right amount of pressure to put on that wheel to compensate for the slickness, the thing would start to scroll, I'd get to where I wanted to go, I'd stop and it would go one further. But that may just be me and the need to get more used to it.
    Lol, as I write this, I'm actually feeling mixed about this DAP. What I like is the energy of the presentation. It's fast, clear and sparkling. It has a bounce to it. But it lacked a little body and was also a little brittle. Maybe someone can explain to this layman the difference between a current amp and a voltage amp, because that's what the guy was saying the difference was. I wish I had thought to ask his name!! :oops: BTW, the desktop amp sounded almost the same to me.

    RHA- T20: Questyle had these at the QP1 table, so I tried them. I listened to them with the reference tuning filter per Warren's advice. Once I got the fit right, they sounded really really good, except for two things: The bass is still to fat for me, but better than the T10's. and the drivers really didn't integrate well for me. It gave me the impression I was standing right next to the bass player with the rest of the band 10 feet away. That was unfortunate because aside from that, I liked them a lot.

    LCD4: I couldn't get excited over these. I own a pair of LCD-2.2's and I've never been real happy with them. They were very heavy and kind of dry (amp again?). I'm wondering if I'm just getting tired of the planar magnetic sound signature. At the last LAOCAS get together they had some Magnepans playing and I felt similar about them, missing the punch of a dynamic driver maybe? In all fairness, I'm not sure I was getting a fair listen because the Questyle DAC kept malfunctioning, it would intermittently cut out and throw out some white noise like changing the TV channels on an old TV. When I tried them on the Simaudio amp, it got pretty muffled comparatively, (but more body :D !)

    Kimber Headphone cable: I A/B's this with the LCD-X on the McIntosh headphone amp - WOW, what a GREAT amp!! Best sound of the day by far. All that space and body, and the tone was spot on. The Kimber cable cleaned the mud out of the midrange really well, not too lean. Again, a short audition, but I think it's probably a good cable and it's Gorgeous! Is it worth $700? Maybe it is.

    Focal Utopia: I took a quick listen to these. Fed by the Sony HAP-Z1ES and D'agostino amps and it sounding decidedly hi-fi to me. It was pretty neutral, but plastic to my ear. On the other hand...

    Enigma Acoustics M1 and super tweeter: WOW WOW WOW! These little bookshelves rock! At the end of the show Wayne from Enigma was setting up a pair in a room at the end of the hall with Questyle's wireless system and they were sounding... ok. But then we moved the listening position about 3 feet back, which really seemed too far by eye to work, but BAM, the room was completely engaged and the speakers disappeared and there was only music, massive space, excellent imaging, slam and detail. I could easily live with these.

    That's about all I can think of at the moment...
     
  5. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Just wanted to let everyone know I posted a table of contents to link directly to our impressions. Thanks and if anyone else wants to post their impressions by all means do so and I will add them to the table of contents.
     
  6. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    The guy you spoke with at the Questyle booth's name is Gary (works at Questyle with Bruce)
     
  7. n3rdling

    n3rdling Friend

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    I've been skipping meets lately but wanted to hear a few things at this one so I went for the second half of the meet. I was hoping the Stax L700 would be there since it's coming out soon but it looks like I'll have to hear that another day. Had fun, nice seeing you all.

    I spent 10-15 mins with each of these HPs:

    Ether (C): This was my first time hearing the closed Ether and second time hearing the open version. I think I actually preferred the closed version more which surprised me since I almost exclusively prefer open headphones. Comfort and FR are the strengths of the Ether. I felt the Ether C had more clarity than the Ether and maybe a bit more mid/upper bass emphasis. The open Ether sounded veiled, but I think it was that particular unit or the chain because the one at CanJam wasn't as veiled and sounded better than either Ether at this meet. Things seem to be on the up and up for Dan, was nice talking to him.

    Dharma: Pretty interesting headphone and I have to say I kinda like it. I think these will have a lot of fans for their unique timbre. They're very warm in the tube/analog sense - the most similar kind of sound I can think of is from bio cellulose HPs. There were some distortion issues with the sub bass I think. The electret element crosses over somewhere between 10k-12k (the employee was adamant about it not being 6k, despite what some are saying on HF) and I could hear its unique character as well. It doesn't really sound the same as electrostatic treble: it's not as clear sounding and has a somewhat spongy texture to it. The electret is positioned towards the front of the head and isn't angled towards the ears. It's also using a Teflon membrane as opposed to the typical Mylar. Overall I thought the integration was quite good in terms of balance but I could hear the difference in timbre between the two drivers. The employee was very cool and open. Easy guy to root for.

    LCD-4: I feel like this thing has been repeated so much that it's in syndication. It doesn't slam as hard as LCD2s, but isn't as soft sounding as HE1000. Sounded pretty veiled, strings lacked shimmer, not much air. Sounded closed, was heavy as hell. At $4000 it's a joke - it should probably be priced closer to $400. I'd probably take the LCD3 or possibly LCD2 over this. Also briefly heard the EL-8...wow.
     
  8. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    LOL! I was proly one of the randoms that said that the MLB I heard was bright. It was the MLB 101 at 2015 T.H.E. Show.

    Dunno. Maybe the room played nicer here, different model with different mid-range?

    Maybe these ones sounds awesome.

    Of the omnis I heard briefly at T.H.E Show, I liked the Muraudio PX1 better at the 2014 T.H.E. Show, but that one seemed to have a better room. Who knows. Brief impressions... Maybe it was the source or the recording. Hell, maybe I didn't give them a proper listen.

    I actually have some cheapo omnis (Mirage) that I kind of like (if not for the limited low frequency extension). They are quite good in terms of the sweet spot. However, the approach to produce omini sound is a bit different on the Mirage stuff.

    These ones I heard as well. In my notes from then I think they sounded meh. Probably these need a good size room like you said.
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2015
  9. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Your comments have been added to the Table of Contents. Thanks again for posting.
     
  10. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    That's weird, the LCD4 I heard was softer and less bassy than any HE1K I've heard. It was really lean and boring. Tight, but boring.
     
  11. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    It was that same sound to me at this meet as I heard at RMAF which is the reason why I asked clarification from Oj regarding what he defines as bass and what music he usually listens to.
     
  12. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    Yeah, not lean to me. Bass was slow and plodding.
     
  13. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    First, want to thank everyone for the warm hospitality. It was great to place a face to all these anonymous symbols.
    Shout out to: velvetx, OJneg, Insidious and the rest of the sbaf folks who's name I forget.

    Went primarily to audition nobles for the short blonde one. We walked away not wanting any of them.

    Noble Savant: Good middle of the road sound and can see why folks are buying these up. Ultimately, they were too neutral for me.

    QP1r: Really liked the black background of this dap. It's like the music was hiding in a dark alley waiting to jump in your face. Detail was amazing and it was able to extract more micro/macro dynamics than the X5 when playing some of my tracks. The soundstage is slightly narrow like the X5 but not as bad. The wheel was a bit wonky but once you get the hang of it, the motion is more akin to the ipod classic with more pressure. Still debating QP1r vs. AKGjr, haven't heard the latter.

    Dharma: Sounded like a better X2. I was able to hear some of the bass distortion that has been discussed but wasn't distracting enough to discount it's musical merits. Fun headphone to have your non audiophile friends audition their Dave Mathews collection. On the fence.

    Questyle D/A & Questyle Pre: Not good, didn't work on two stations. When it worked it was ok.

    LCD-4: Not bad but nothing spectacular. To beat a dead horse, quality/cost ratio is terrible.


    Ether-C: Heard them @ schiit show and my stance hasn't changed, great closed back headphone. Will be acquiring these soon.
     
  14. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Your impressions have been added neogeosnk. It was great meeting you and your wife (very rare to see an audiophile and his wife enjoying similar things). In regards to whether you decided to go with the QP1R or the AK Jr honestly you can't go wrong with either as they are both really good.
     
  15. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Crap. Are the Ether-C's as big as they look >here<?
     
  16. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    Ha ha ha... No. They're smaller than the Akg 7 series headphones, closer in size to the alpha dogs.
     

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