NYC Area -- Stereo Exchange Event - Best of Both Worlds - 10/15/15

For those in NYC, it looks like Stereo Exchange will be having an open house event next Thursday focusing on digital on the one hand, and analog on the other (featuring their new "turntable bar" or something or other). Of interest to me and possibly others here is that they will have the Audeze LCD-4, HiFiman Ed X, as well as a bunch of other stuff including the Chord Dave I believe. See link below:

http://stereoexchange.com/latest-news/best-of-both-worlds-event-october-15th-2015/

Anyway, I will report back what I hear next week. If any SBAF'ers plan to go please let me know and maybe we can meet up.

 

Sorry I don't really have much impressions from the event. Unfortunately my Surface Pro had some driver problems so my geek out wasn't working properly.

HE-X - Pretty decent from what I remember. They're not as technically capable as the HE-1000, driven by the Neo 230HAD as a amp/dac. They remind a lot of the he-400i in that they they're a bit closed sounding (in comparison to the he-100), and have a V-shaped sound signature.

Chord Mojo + LCD-4 - I'm not really sure what to make of this. The combo sounded okay? They didn't really have much music that I was too familiar with, and I was distracted.

It was my second or third time at Stereo Exchange and this time really made me feel like I was unwanted there. If you've read reviews on Stereo Exchange, you'll know what I mean. They have some of the worst customer service that I've ever experienced in my life. The hifiman rep there (I forgot his name) was really nice, and he has been to a few of the NY meets as well. Most of us were gathered in the headphone lounge and the rep told me that he didn't mind us all being there since he has met us all before at meets. However, he told me that the store manager or owner didn't want people lounging around for there for too long since we're probably not likely to buy anything from the store. Later, I believe the owner's wife(?) was talking to an employee by the lounge's door and saying how someone brought in their own LCD-XC. The way that she said it sounded really rude to me, as if she was telling the employee to make sure that no one is going to steal anything.

Lastly, when I was listening to the LCD-4 and Chord Mojo, the Chord rep and the press guy he was talking to were extremely rude to me. While I was listening, they were talking next to me so I had to turn the volume up a little. Those who know me can attest that I don't listen to music very loud but the press guy was telling me to turn the volume down to protect my hearing. How rude!!! I felt like I was interrupting their conversation. Once the press guy left and Steve Guttenburg came in, I stopped listening to the lcd-4. The rep asked me if I had any questions, to which I replied "nope". Didn't bother to ask for my opinions or anything, and proceeded to talk to Guttenburg.

It was a pretty horrible experience overall and I hope I dont ever have to go back there again. Just wanted to warn any new yorkers who were thinking of visiting Stereo Exchange or even buying anything from them. /rant over.

 

I thought I would offer my slightly different perspective on this event before the pile-on on Stereo Exchange gets too far along. Before I get to that, here are some brief impressions.

HE-X. I only had a brief listen with some very brief time spent on the Moon Simaudio 230 HAD and the rest on my Iphone 5s. My hope was that this would be a less technically proficient version of the HE1K, which at one level it is, for less money. However, I agree with gunner’s assessment as to these cans having a V-shaped or “fun” tuning. I don’t have a per se objection to that. However, at the price point of approximately $1,700 (which I think the HiFiMan rep, Eric I believe, suggested as likely), I expect a more neutral can. I did think it was technically a good can and fairly spacious sounding, with the same comfort as the HE1K. And it has the benefit of being more easily driven. But either the price point should be lower if this is to have a fun sound signature or it should be more neutral SS if it is going to be greater than $1,500. All IMHO, of course.

HE-1K. I still love these cans. I just wish they were cheaper. At $2K I would probably just spring for them even though I have a hard time in good conscience spending that much on any headphone.

I listened to the Audeze LCD-4 through Hugo TT with the reps’ or store’s selections and then using the Chord Mojo with music from my own Iphone. My brief impressions were: attractive, particularly if you like the Audeze look as I happen to do; still very heavy, but new headband helps a bit; more open sounding than prior models, but a little less engaging to me perhaps due to less bass emphasis; would need more time to decide whether or not an improvement over the LCD-3, but moot point since in no way would it be worth $4K to me. My impression on the Mojo was that it could effectively drive the Audezes. The rep insisted that I try it with my V-Moda M-80. I would say it might have made them sound marginally better but the difference was slight and I wouldn’t use this in a portable setting for those cans. But it could be a nice transportable option for some.

As to the event itself and Stereo Exchange, let me give you my perspective. Before I do though let me make clear that my perspective is my own and my experience is my own. The gunner100 may have had a different experience and I am not contesting his subjective feelings as to how he was made to feel and I think it unfortunate if the store was less welcoming than it could have been. But I have some idea as to why this may have been in this case.

By way of background, I know Stereo Exchange well having bought my first stereo system there (speakers, amp and CD player) back in the early ‘90s. I also live in the neighborhood and stop in there from time to time. But while I know the store, it is not as if I am buddies with their sales people or owners (and the turnover in the sales staff is great from what I can tell) and most people working there have no idea who I am or that I have bought gear there (unless they look me up in their system). Even living in a big city like NYC, there are frankly not a lot of places to hear headphones (at least the ones we like to discuss here). Most of my listening has been at formal meets or audio shows (like the upcoming NY Audio Show). Thus, it was heartening when Stereo Exchange expanded in a significant way into headphones. For those not familiar with the store let me describe the basic setup with respect to headphones. There is a headphone bar up front with probably about 8 sets of cans give or take, including things like V-Moda M100, HifiMan 400i, NAD Viso, some Grados, some Beyers. These are all driven by a pro amp and hooked up to a streaming service. So, you have an incredibly wide range of music to select from. From my experience, you can walk in any time and knock yourself out listening to these cans and sales staff will leave you alone. There are a number of locked rooms with different stereo setups, some with very expensive equipment in it. One of the smaller of these rooms is now dedicated to headphones and head amps. Typically, to listen in there you need a sale person to open up the room and then to unlock the case that holds most of the high end headphones. Again, in my experience the store has been pretty gracious about providing access to this room and letting me listen. But at this point you get into the whole game of getting sized up by the salesperson and that person not wanting to spend a lot of time if they don’t think you are going to buy what is actually quite expensive equipment. Same thing with speakers. And same thing if you went to a high-end car dealer or any other high-end shop for that matter. It would be awesome if these places were happy to have enthusiasts hang out with no sales pressure, and there may be (or may have once been) such places, but in my experience stores have an agenda of making sales and don’t have much patience if they think you are likely not a buyer. Of course, nobody should be treated rudely and sales people can make terrible judgments as to who are real buyers versus tire kickers, but that is just the way it goes. I am late ‘40s and wear decent suits and still get this treatment, so it is not just a prejudice against younger people IME. I wish the world were different but I accept this is the way it is and as long as a shop isn’t outright rude I accept how they choose to run their business.

I say all this to point out why I appreciate the events like the one thegunner100 and I went to. At these events Stereo Exchange throws open their doors and lets you try out these latest offerings with no sales pressure. Of course, they would love for you to buy, but I think they get that they have blasted out invites to a broad range of people and not everyone is in the market for $4,000 headphones. I believe they are more promoting their store and brands than focusing on same-day sales. I have never felt any pressure at one of these events, have been welcomed and stayed as long as I cared to. To me, this event was potentially great. Where else could I hear the Mojo, Audeze LCD-4 and HE-X mere days after their respective announcements. I was very excited about this event.

So, given what I am saying, why did thegunner100 have the bad experience he did. After a short while at the event, I said to myself “Well, this is the last headphone event SE is ever going to have”. If SE opens its doors to people then it should be a gracious host. If they failed in this manner, and to some extent they may well have given gunner’s feelings, bad on them. But when invited to such an event we have to remember where we are and act accordingly. It is a store trying to promote its merchandise. It is not a meet. I want to be clear that the things I am referring to had nothing to do with thegunner100, his friend who I also know or any other SBAF’er. But there were some other Head-Fi people who were acting like this was a meet and it was not. I saw people bring in their own equipment and just set up shop in the headphone room without (as far as I could tell) asking the store if that was OK. Now, if you called in advance and they said OK then fine (or even asked on arrival then fine). But my impression was that was not the case. Yes, I get that such a direct comparison would help make a purchasing decision. But again, this is not a meet. I was having trouble listening to some of the gear the store had invited us in to hear and which they were trying to promote because one Head-Fi’er in particular was monopolizing the table and laying out all his own gear. Not cool IMO and I could understand why the store would not have patience for this. In fact, they seemed more patient than I would have expected as I did not see them actually ask anyone to stop. Now, I have brought my own cans to SE when auditioning amps. But I asked in advance if it was OK and scheduled a time to do so.

I think it is certainly possible that the store was less welcoming to some than it could have been (in particular, the store manager, who is the owner’s wife, is just plain unfriendly to all and I just ignore her). But I think people have to manage expectations and understand this wasn’t a meet. I suspect the store would have been just fine having Headfi’ers and SBAF’ers hang out all afternoon and listen to the gear on display. But that is different than ceding part of their store to people bringing their own gear when they are hosting a promotional event. Again, if they did say that was OK but then were ungracious about it that is one thing. But if people just started plugging in their own gear without asking, that is another matter.

I know I may be sounding like an apologist, but that was my honest reaction. The gunner100 and his other friend there are both great guys and gentlemen, acted accordingly at the event and deserved the best treatment from the store. But I saw other behavior not at that level and I can see it having generated a reaction from the staff and owner. Just my two cents before people put Stereo Exchange on their personal ban list.