Hey guys! What a blast that was! After a long drought that was a good way to fire up the coals again. Thanks to everyone for coming over. I hope the next meet won't so so delayed as this one was. Who's doing the next one? March sometime? With the AC Carolina Circle reopened, there may be more people interested in hosting.
I too liked Sol Samet's i30 last night. It normally sounds too bassy for me, but with all those warm bags of liquid absorbing so much bass (and oxygen) it sounded just right. It is always very smooth, detailed and communicative. I think it is a locked design now. Congrats Sol! We used it for a DAC comparison which was pretty fun and informative. The i60 didn't sound as nice, thin midrange a little harsh on the highs. But it had the best bass control and tone.
I liked all the digital sources in different ways, but the comparison helped me understand what aspects I like and don't like. I like my Altmann, but the rest of the system is starting to outperform it now. It is kinda hyper, a strong personality. The Nixon DAC was the most earthy and organic of all the sources, but didn't have any pressure behind the music, you have to go get it. The altmann was next most earthiest, but had some color on it making unconscious absorbtion easier. The oversampling players pressurize the music for totally vegged out enjoyment, but not as flesh and blood realistic, imo. The MW TP was the most pressurized, you can be in a coma and the music will get through to you with that player - a very direct, stimulating connection, a far cry from the stock TP. Raysonic is deceptive in that it sounds so smooth, but is also very active listener, but you don't feel the pressure, it's just an IV drip. The NOS DACs are like real life, you have to pay attenion and listen on purpose, which I love. But it's like reading vs watching a movie, more effort, and take some practice to learn to love it. Carl I think we can improve the Nixon tube even more. I want to hear that!!
Best sound of the night I think was the Raysonic 168 running direct into the Manley Snappers with Black Sands PCs, JPS Aluminata SCs, and JPS SC3 balanced interconnects, Equitech Q1.5 power conditioner, Usher Be-20. And of course lots of room treatments, liquid and solid. That was very, very nice. We tried the Transporter in the same rig, but it's digital volume control sounded bad. With Modwright mods the stock internal attentuator jumpers are disabled. We should build a -20dB attenuator for it next time. The Snappers LOVE their balanced inputs. Surprisingly the Snappers still hold their own among the ubergear that visited.
The ModWright Transporter with maximum fantasy upgrades and nice tubes was a hot performer. It is very revealling and clear. It is very musical and engaging. It is a HUGE upgrade from the stock (cryoed) TP which sounded dead to me. These new upgrades are a further significant improvement over the stock ModWright TP which did not have the refinement of Raysonic or bass control of Altmann at the last G2G several months ago. With the premium mods it is a truly great source now.
We had a second system running upstairs based on Carl's Era D5 speakers and Reality SCs. The room was live and ringy, but sidewall 1st reflection absorbers and front corner bass traps helped, as did socks in the speaker ports at first. But everyone preferred more bass volume with open ports. That system played a lot of different sources. With some well engineered acoustic treatment, it might be made to handle symphonic music with a smaller system. It's tempting and worth investigating, but I am still skeptical. Eventually a HT will go in there.
I set up a headfi with AKG K701 cans, Sol Samet's headphone amp, Altmann DAC and Sonos controller, and lazyboy. A couple people tried it. I will check it out today before returning the amp to Sol who had to leave early.
The Minimax phono sounded great, far better than my Bellari, as it should. But the stock Technics interconnect held back the TT. Thanks for bringing the preamp over Carl. We should do a vinyl meet.
Pictures coming!
Rich