SuperBAF Can'tJam (Not CanJam / Changfest) 2016 Meet Impressions

Hehe, that's no modi.

Glad the meet was a success, wish I could've made it, but I was stuck here for the weekend.

 

That looks like it was a real fine time. I might need to fly out if you have one next year, or maybe If the Chicago guys organize something......

 

hello,

SF Bay Area, please, please, please!!!

 

See you this time next year.

 

2017 New York
2018 SF

let's alternate coast to coast

 

Damn, after reading the impressions I really feel like I've missed something special. Big props to those who traveled far to get there and I hope you guys enjoyed the schiit out of this get together. Maybe next time guys, I'd love to make it.

 

Thanks for setting up the meet. It was good to see many familiar face I havent seen in many years.

 

Kudos to everyone who made this wonderful event possible. Just looking at the pics makes me green with envy to those who were able to attend. Sadly, flying across the Pacific to attend such meets is currently out of the question for me, at least until my residency is over. Really wish I could bring my stuff and meet all of you friends in person someday.

Long live SBAF!

 

Had a great time, first time going to a SBAF event and I enjoyed seeing the locals and new faces. I packed some gear a bit last minute and when I arrived I put down my gear at Draxcer's table. Took a few pics but accidentally deleted them when transfering to my computer so I just have these to share.


The table with some of my gear





Geek Wave shell compared to my QP1R. Nice to see it coming along, the Geekout V2+ was what I believe I heard and did quite like what I was hearing. Keep up the good work LH and thanks for attending.


The Campfire IEMs were without a doubt my personal favorite headphones I heard at the meet. Good fit, deep and impactful subbass and a really nice sound for the Lyra 2, Dorado, Vega. Didn't hear the rest but if I remember correctly the Dorado had just a tad more forward treble and the Vega was a tad lax in comparison. I would probably grab the Vega.

Then I lost the rest of the pictures but the large DNA amp was my favorite amp at the meet, playing it balanced on my Ether was a treat, the Utopia and Elear were also quite nice to hear with it though I still kind of dislike their long stock cables.

I had quite a number of Audeze's at home but their carrying cases are rather cumbersome and I wasn't sure if there was interest in hearing Audeze so I didn't bring them which I kind of regret looking back.

Overall there was so much gear and the environment was wonderful to listen and to talk. Thanks to the guys who made this meet possible and I hope to make more events in the future!

 

"Really special" is definitely how I would describe them.
@Mikoss

 

Jason was talking to me (you can see my reflection in the laptop) and I like the HE-6 very much indeed.

 

Speaking of smooth, how does it compare to a modded HD650?

 

Here's just a quick mini impression.

Mind you, I've been up since 4am and have consumed 15 beers over the span of 3 flights, I like beer.

@struggles mentioned to me that he would like to maybe do an enclosure for the 6.5" Fostex Sigma driver. I already had the Madisound BK-16 which he had already heard. I asked him how much the material would cost for a plan I had saved on my computer ,and we came out with a $200 estimate.
Done deal, Sunday night a week ago from today I said let's get 'er done. Monday afternoon we were cutting 5x5 sheets of 18mm Baltic birch. The original plan called for 15mm, but I found a plan for the beefier 18mm. Usually the plan calls for you to just glue the pieces to each other, but @struggles being the perfectionist he is said we should do this right and carry the spirit of Nagaoka-san's original design of glue and wood only. Some other plans use screws and nails to hold the maze of baffles and walls together, but not ours. All glue and "biscuits."

Not only on the wide surfaces, but on the 18mm edges. Without question this build was made to spec and held there. Right angles remain square and true, zero slop period. Below are biscuits, I should have taken pics of he biscuits edges too, but f**k I was tired, I hope you get the idea. This wasn't a slap together, hope and pray build.

Early mockup below. You can see where I missed a board and we mocked it up.


We got very close to finished late Friday night, and came in Saturday morning of the meet to finish up.

Lessons learned : don't give me a belt sander

: don't give me an orbital sander

: don't give me a spray gun with shellac


We played a little with the bottom mouth as you can see with the pic above. It went from very boomy in the mid- bass to lean and light. We found a compromise and went with it. The mouth we used was a hybrid of the original Nagaoka D-37 enclosure and an updated mkIII version another fellow from Japan has come up with.

I would like to say @struggles isnt a craftsman, he's a Master Craftsman. No question about it, constantly striving for perfection. This was a great learning experience for me, and life lesson in perseverance.

I hardly spent any time in the headphone rooms at all. Even with the best of the best gear at SBAF meets disposal. Listening to @struggles horn system has turned me into a 2 channel convert, his horn system is a true beast.

I enjoyed each speaker system at the meet. Marv's rich warm, low end tilted powered by Schiit system, to the mid focused Marten analog rig. Man that was some awesome stuff. I wish we had brought some more caps/ crossovers parts etc, and had all 3 systems working together in a huge array powered by that VPI TT. That would have been epic...

Thanks guys for putting on the show, thanks @struggles for putting together the enclosure with me, transportation of the gear to and from, the amazing Fostex T500 mkII super tweeters that really brought the Sigma's to a higher level, building the lunch pail L-pads, along with the modded Nagaoka D-37 enclosure. Providing the amazing lean and clean Almarro SET amp. Thanks @shaizada for bringing the Almarro to our attention. Truly an underrated mighty might.

Materials approx $200. Master craftsman to help cut assemble and plan... PRICELESS !!!

What a truly great feeling of community. The pizza party in room 1678 hosted by the crazy analog Canucks (I'm a member as well), and the boys from NYC, Portland, Maryland, and local organizers, it was great, actually words can't describe. Too many thanks to go out, but I wish everybody that was there in body and spirit, a happy listening experience.

Rock on SBAF 2016 super meet !!!

 

Those supertweeters are $1000 each