Socal Meetup Sunday Nov 12

My brief thoughts about it is that despite being a hybrid tube amp, it felt more of a very refined and well controlled solid state sound to me. The notes have a certain solid-state wetness to it where the decays a bit more nuanced without imposing itself. The sound overall leans to refinement, a hint faster in the initial transients relative to DNA Supernaut, but both amps share a relaxed presentation at least with the headphones I’ve tried it with (Susvara, ZMF Bokeh and Utopia 2022). I felt Supernaut extracted a bit more plankton than the KA though it could be that Supernaut has a hair more imposing presence of notes making it easier for me to hear plankton more than the KA

 

Had a good time at the meet. Was nice to see everyone at catch up. The meet itself was a good mix of hearing about audio happenings + ideas from other members, general hanging out, and trying well thought out and curated audio chains. This post will sound a bit like "EVERYTHING WAS GREAT" but that's kind of why I like listening at these meets - everything is already curated and less "I need to fill the table / store".

Not to toot my own horn, but I also liked the meet format. If we have enough interest next year, I may try to organize something similar again next year but with some changes based on lessons learned organizing this. And, to the surprise of many, the power here was actually "not bad" unlike a lot of hotel based events.

Also, many thanks to the manufacturers who brought or sent gear! Apologies to them for the bad hastily taken photos.

I'm going to go over things by table, somewhat alphabetically. Impressions are not super in depth because meet conditions and because I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted on everything - completely agree that with just the stuff in the room, I would need at least 1 week of straight listening to form good detailed thoughts. Also, knowing how SBAF generally works, I'm going to say first that a lack of comments here by me is not a "lack of good", it's a lack of listening time. I didn't want to that 1 guy I complain about at most big audio shows that will hog 1 piece of gear for way too long like no one else is there before saying nothing and abruptly walking away... and probably had 0 intent of buying to begin with.

Clemmasters table - Vinnie Rossi stack + LTA Z10 + Susvara + Atrium with IIRC universe pads + JAR 660s. I think I heard the Susvara with the wrong gear before because with this stuff it was actually really good vs before "only good". The 660s, JAR or not, is still not for me. Both Clemmaster and I agree that the Atrium is also more reactive to a pad change than other ZMF headphones. Also, the gear here was also "energetic sounding", but it didn't add extra slam, hammer, or have that boom effect on the Atrium or really any other headphones. Otherwise, I had not heard much about the Z10 or Vinnie Rossi stack before this and the little I did hear was mixed feedback. After hearing it in person, I have to say I liked all of it, and I'm definitely going to want to revisit the gear I heard here at some point.


DNA Table - New DNA prototype named "Supernaut" fed by a SFD CD Player. Donald mentioned it, but I forget right now how close or not the prototype we heard is to a final version. I agree with chacha above in saying it sounds more like a "bigger" Starlett rather than a Stratus or Stellaris - which I guess makes some sense given that this is also running pentodes as triodes. However, to me, it's also different from the Starlett, more so than a Stratus is different from a Stellaris, in that it had a different (read: not better per se) sort of energy + clarity + clean-ness on the transients and edges of notes. Almost reminiscent of a few a hybrid amps I've heard. Also, it didn't have as much of the typical wet and lush sound present in the Stellaris and it had less tube bloom vs every DNA amp I can remember hearing. Also, I don't know enough about 90's era headphones, but the times I've heard Donald's stuff with vintage headphones, it always works really well.
I also really enjoyed hearing some of Donald's thoughts on tubes, including why he moved away from the 2A3 for this particular amp, some of his amp design philosophy in general, and some of the general happenings and challenges that go into making DNA amps.


EC 445 and EC UL comparison was fun + EC BW. Fed by Gungnir A2 IIRC + Auteur Classic. 445 and UL are both really good and after hearing both side by side, I prefer the UL for about 75% of music vs the 445. As I've stated before, the UL is not what I consider peak technical performance, but it has such an special and enjoyable sound in every other way. A real treasure of an amp - too bad there's literally 1 of them. Auteur classic was really good on all the stuff here as well as other HP we moved around.



ETA Table - 2 ETA prototype headphones (one "purple" and one "inefficient") + Yggdrasil MIB + Ragnarok + a+s forge + other member gear I don't remember right now. I agree with JK47 that "purple" was very good with Donald's prototype amp. "inefficient" was good on Ragnarok. Wanted to try on the EC UL, Clemmaster's stack, MJ3, etc. but they were not available at the moment I tried it.


Netforce's table - Utopia 2022 + netforce 's custom HE6 + DM Convert 2 + BHA1 and Kallyste Amethyste. I can't say anything really specific about the Amethyste as I didn't spend enough time with it and my memory of the nuances of the DM Convert 2 is vague, but I can say that based on what I heard, if I wanted something closer to, but not exact, actually good "wire with gain sound", I would want something like this. It did sound much more like good SS than hybrid as theveterans mentions above. I also still prefer the original Utopia over the 2022 version but having heard it on the Amethyste, I do think I will eventually give it another listen from me whereas before I kind of wrote it off.


Schiit + Zampotech table + ZMF (these floated, but were placed on this table initially) -
Schiit MJ3 + Yggdrasil LIM, MMB2 + V2++, SW51 + Marv modded MMB1, ZMF Atrium Closed, Bokeh, Caldera. I have posted about the MJ3 a bit in the other thread and had it a few days before the meet as well. I will post more thoughts about it there. Same with the V2++ and MMB2 - I did like this combo a lot though and think it represents a great value.
SW51 (stock tubes) with the modded MMB1 is still a favorite combo of mine. There's something about the sound that's magical in it's own way to me. It has a sort of rich romantic magical sound to me with this DAC without devolving into warm dark mushy unclarity or many other common criticisms against inexpensive tube amps. It's also a great value with the MMB or MMB2.
ZMF - I need to spend more time with the Bokeh before commenting more, but initially, it seemed "more clear" than some other ZMFs. I will want to revisit this headphone. Also, idk how much it actually weighs, but it also felt very light on the head. Atrium closed - I still prefer the open, but in some ways the closed was actually easier to listen to for me - I can't accurately describe why without more listening time. I didn't listen to the Caldera as it was being used the times I wanted to listen to it. (Sorry, no ZMF pictures as they were floating around the room when I took pictures).
https://i.ibb.co/5jwnngc/mj3-and-Yggdrasil-lim.jpg



Lastly, one thing that concerns me more after this meet - what are we going to do about tubes in 10-15 years??
EDIT: Pictures keep disappearing.

 

Question for those who may want to attend if I choose to do one (and only one) next year in 2024 - would you prefer sometime in the Spring or Fall?

EDIT: It would be at either the same place or somewhere very close by at a different hotel, still close to the freeway + Disneyland.

 

Start hoarding your favorites.

Down for a meet either spring or fall, maybe add a poll.

 

I’m also down either spring or fall. I’m good with the last place but open for other locations depending on the turnout

 

I'm down for either. The location was good, too!

 

No preference although March may be tricky for me. The venue was fine.