SF Bay Area X-mas Meet End of Year

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by purr1n, Oct 21, 2015.

?

What day

  1. 1/2

    50.0%
  2. 1/3

    50.0%
  1. Bourne Perfect

    Bourne Perfect Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    166
    Trophy Points:
    43
    I need some AD2Ks again-certain vocals and guitars were especially breathtaking on the right amp with those. Excellent overall bass response to, and an extreme value imo. Can sound pretty crappy with the wrong amp though.
     
  2. TMoney

    TMoney Shits on SBAF over at Head-Case to be cool

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    760
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Sausalito, CA
    ZD, you've been around long enough and heard enough gear that I very much value and respect your opinions. You don't like shitty gear, and I can respect that. You also have very strong opinions and I respect that as well even if I do not always agree. You are one of the most knowledgeable voices in this community.

    What has been getting under my skin is that some of your recent posts read to me as disrespectful towards those who do not share your views. I had actually hoped to have a conversation with you about this at the mini-meet but we ended up going on separate days.

    Stuff like this:
    this:
    and this:
    just to pick out a few recent examples aren't something I'd expect from someone of your experience level, intelligence and standing on SBAF/Chang.

    I realize I may be missing the point and giving different meaning to these quotes that what you intended.
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Mine are for sale for super cheap.
     
  4. TMoney

    TMoney Shits on SBAF over at Head-Case to be cool

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    760
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Sausalito, CA
    I also want to apologize publicly for questioning ZD's objectivity with regards to EC products. It was late, and I was tired after a long frustrating day. I know better than to let my frustrations get the better of me. I'll try and improve upon that in the future.
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    LOL, just ignore Ravi. His tone is hard to get over the keyboard, but really; he's just screwing with you. Think of how frat boy housemates will mess with you. I do strongly feel that @drfindley's turntable rig is probably the best source I've heard yet at meets big and small.

    I'll be bringing a "lite" version of the table to the SoCal meet. They should be close after I add an SDS or Falcon.
     
  6. Bourne Perfect

    Bourne Perfect Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    166
    Trophy Points:
    43
    It's all tongue-in-cheek, or hard love around here. It's the interpretation that fails sometimes.

    If it's something else: permaban. :p
     
  7. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2015
    Likes Received:
    781
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Roswell, GA
    I'm super jealous of all of the awesome gear on the west coast, this really makes me want to grab a VPI Classic Signature SE and start expanding my vinyl collection...

    I couldn't agree more with your impressions on the Torpedo III CEE TEE. With the stock tubes it's an amazing pairing with my stock HD650 IMO, but doesn't seem to work great with any planars I've tried (Vibro, HE400s, or Ether).
     
  8. Ringingears

    Ringingears Honorary BFF

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,659
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northern Californium Valley
    Young Jedi's. I have been listening to headphones since 1972. The best one I have ever heard hasn't been invented yet. But the advances in the last decade have been impressive. Most impressive. And I must agree that digital still isn't there yet as a source. But I find it difficult to go back to vinyl. I love listening to other people's TT gear. I still have my old TT from the 1970's and hook it up to my main speaker rig from time to time, but I guess I spent to many years trying to filter out the surface noise and pops and clicks to go back. Still, vinyl has a emotional quality that can't really be quantified. For example, MJ's Thriller on a first pressing beats any digital version I have heard.

    As to Ravi.....an incredibly generous person. Passionate about the hobby. And yes, sometimes is just screwing with you. ;)
    Oh, I don't romanticize about gear from the old days. Most of it sucked compared to today. A lot of stuff still sucks, and is way overpriced.

    That's why forums like this one are essential if we want to force manufacturers to make better stuff.

    Excuse me. I have to kick my ass for not making it to the meet last weekend. |\/|
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2016
  9. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14,051
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Don't be ridiculous, no apology is necessary! If the people I interact with here don't question my motivations and opinions I won't challenge them myself periodically. I am opinionated but know I can be wrong (probably quite often). Feel free to vent at me on the internets, I'm a big boy and won't internalize it :).

    Apologies for offense :). That being said, I suspect we might have a context mismatch on some of this stuff. I am speaking from experience for all three:
    1. E-peens: Based off the dozens of PMs I get asking for "the best amp" and "the best headphones" and "the best DAC," a lot of people in the hobby who I've encountered are trying to put together some objectively "bestest" rig and swing it around rather than trying to find an awesome system for them. I haven't seen many around here, though. I much prefer guys like you, Milos, Jason (ogre army) and others who are confident in what you have and build systems you enjoy your music on.

    2. Technicalities: most people don't know how to judge these since you don't even hear the differences unless you're on pretty resolving gear. I didn't know how to listen for these until I owned a bunch of my own bad and good high end gear, revisited crappy gear, went through moulton and a few other training series on high and low end gear, THEN revisited my own music and some of Marv's speshul "listen for the differences" albums as well as LFF masters on uber gear. I still struggle unless I'm in the right mindset and I've been listening and comparing for a long time. I am not the best at this by far. Marv and others are quite a bit better than me.

    3. Looking at the past through rose tinted glasses: This is a healthy psychological reaction to positive experiences from your past. I do it, @CEE TEE does it, heck most everyone does it. I remember thinking my gamma 2 > balanced beta 22 > HD600 was the best rig ever in the world. Fast forward a few years with the HD800 I felt like I would never get sound that good ever again. As luck would have it, the person I sold the rig to to fund my HD800 and DIY amp still worked at my company. I took a listen and realized it was missing a bunch of information that I had gotten used to since owning the rig. This is super natural for all of us. When I take a step back and listen to the music and realize how much more new information I'm hearing and how much more holographic and correct the music sounds, I realize that there have been some really bonkers improvements in gear at the high end over even the last couple of years.
    I'll try to tone it down a bit (there was a request for Ravi to come in full jerk for a bit but that's not needed anymore). I will probably mellow a bit more soon now that we've gotten a bit of a purge of the noisier elements. As Marv mentioned, I'm a little too much of a "bro" for the hobby sometimes.
     
  10. shaizada

    shaizada Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,796
    Trophy Points:
    93
    VPI is completely out of Rosewood stock so that's the end of it. They can't buy anymore either as the Brazilian Rosewood is now on the endangered species list...
    If you guys see the Piano Gloss black finish, you will fall in love. It is beautifully executed! Must be 5 to 10 coats of lacquer on that thing! Yes, it isn't Rosewood, but no less beautiful :)

    I have both at this moment, the VPI SDS (which I have been using for a few years now) and the Phoenix Eagle with Roadrunner (with my HRX dual motor, I had to use the Eagle as the Falcon is rated for less powerful motors). Go with whatever you come across for a better price. I took a chance and frankly, they are both pretty much the same. The VPI SDS is probably a better choice in that (1) the whole VPI package carries a better resale value (2) The VPI SDS can be run at a very low voltage which results in even lower motor noise. The second point is actually a bigger advantage when I think of it. The less noise you get in the analog source, the better the final result.

    Honestly, once you setup the platter speed with the SDS, you are pretty much spot on with little to no speed variance. I mean direct drive turntables have spot on speed (something the roadrunner unit attempts), but how come the belt drive turntables have that extra magic? I enjoy both these approaches, but if I had to pick one, I'd go with a solid belt drive based table. This is based on listening experience rather than engineering principles, which are very important, but I let my ears and heart guide me rather than the technical specs/knowledge.

    Then there are idler drives that bring their own persona to the game, but let's not veer off topic too much! ;)
     
  11. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,790
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    In the wind, so to speak
    Home Page:
    This is the first time I've ever heard the Crack described as unresolving.

    As someone who is seriously considering a Crack (not the Crack 2) and wants an amp that resolves well, is there something I should know about the Crack line's technicalities before buying? Others have described the speedballed Crack as quite resolving, dynamic, and well behaved.

    I know it's not in the same class as any EC amp, but still, I'd love some more detail on why this Crack 2 fared so poorly.
     
  12. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,533
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin
    Having heard a Crack with speedball and the Crack 2, I can't say that I've heard one that's very resolving at all. I'd say most (all?) Schiit stuff would out resolve it as well. Maybe people aren't buying the right tubes? I was wholly unimpressed though.
     
  13. Bourne Perfect

    Bourne Perfect Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    166
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Because relativity.
     
  14. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,790
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    In the wind, so to speak
    Home Page:
    :boom: Just pre-ordered a BW. :)
     
  15. TMoney

    TMoney Shits on SBAF over at Head-Case to be cool

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    760
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Sausalito, CA
    Why don't you go to the HF meet in San Jose at the end of January, listen to both, then make up your own mind?
     
  16. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,533
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin
    While you'll obviously find out I'm the most correct, this is a solid suggestion. I find that while some amps completely outperform others in several ways, sometimes you have to figure out what you like.
     
  17. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,790
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    In the wind, so to speak
    Home Page:
    Love that idea.
     
  18. Kappa

    Kappa New

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    8
    [​IMG]
     
  19. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,533
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin
  20. JK47

    JK47 Guest

Share This Page