cmk

Excellent piece of work. It would be better if you have the option of more than one input. Are you going to sell this commercially?

Source to pre : JPS Superconductor FX Pre to power : Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref

Who brings in the Neotech?

W1000 make me green with envy.

Why not both? Neutrality/transparency + warmth/musical reproduction? Actually I think the AT cans are more transparent than Sennheisers. Also I think your generalisation stems from the fact that AT cans are more readily available in the East, while Senns are more present in the West - also something to do with Stereophile's recommendation I think.

to the club.

Is that the W2002 or the W1000?

You can use Belden 8461 or 8471, about $2-3/m from LHS.

The DVDA you guys heard at the meet.

Nice and easy classical music played by Symphonic Orchestra of Montreal/Charles Dutoit.

The other Diana Krall SACD worth getting, nice contemporary songs.

This is compilation of songs from her previous albums : The Raven, New York Girls' Club, & Four Marys.

This old album has been reissued on hybrid SACD, excellent recording and performance.

Happy New Year to you guys & gals! This has been a real nice NY for me, so hope its the same for you too.

You sort of confirmed my suspicion that hp impedence is not so critical an issue, as compared to spk impedences for hifi.

You can PM Firefox for the BB amp, may be up for sale. What are you waiting for N@z, go for it!

DIYer, most of the switching around was done with the cans, ie we rotated cans but the source and amp remained through the day. Comparisons were done by the amps ability to drive various cans and their respective tonal qualities. There wasn't a proper comparison of amps, cos' nobody switched the amps around - they were tied to their sources. It would be an interesting exercise to try this out during the next meet. There are amps which allow for different impedence matching, but most don't. Corda is an example. There are also impedence plugs, which allow one to add loading to the cans, thereby allowing for better impedence matching. Cabling was a mixed bunch, as were source equipment. There were portable sources and hifi sources. IMO the hifi sources were capable of delivering the goods. I think the dedicated hiend headamps that I listened to were the Consonance, Firefox BB, Sudgen Headmaster, and the Melos. There were others around which I didn't listen to, Emmerline, Corda, Grado, etc... sorry if I missed any, still not familar with all the gear. So to answer your question, the opinions expressed were in the context of the source>amp combination driving different cans. It was more a question of amp>can combination sounded good.

Its his latest design with the ripple remover and silver wires. I only got it late last year. The only thing it doesn't have is the blackgate caps($$$).

Rameish, no worries, I understand. We all look for that mystical beast that can transport us to audio nirvana. Don't get me wrong, I do accept that the L3000 is special. I think HPC should look to AT for their own dedicated headamp to drive it. Dunno the model, but I know it exist. BTW, it was great meeting you guys for the first time.

Some pics of my setup... Serious Listening (music cum study 15'x12'x9' pentagon shape) Digital CEC TL2 + Meridien DAC566 20bit dual differential Pure digital DRX-701ES + Magnum Dynalab ST-2 antenna Analogue Kuzma Stabi TT + Schroeder Model 2 (Cardas wires) + Dynavector Te Kaitora mc 0.25mv Herron Audio VTPH-1MC phono stage (Tesla ECC803 gold pin & RCA 12AT7) Amplification http://www.divaaudio.com/ Diva Classic One (Sylvannia 6SN7GT, NOS 5Z4GY CV1863) Melos SHA-1 (EH ECC88) [x2]) driving Audio Technica ATH-W100 headphones Beyerdynamics DT990 headphones Diva Blue Sky Signature(Sylvania 6SL7GT VT229, GE 6SN7[x2], Svetlana EL34[x4]) Speakers Vandersteen 2CE Signatures on dedicated stands Cables & tweaks JPS Digital AC powercord Mystic Mat on the Kuzma platter Apogee XLR Digital (transport to DAC) JPS Superconductor FX (source to pre) Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference (pre to power) Belden M8179 8' pair (power to spks in biwire configuration) PS Audio Powerplant300 (to source components) Cardas Golden Powercords (Diva pre, Herron) Unicones (CEC & Diva pre) DH Super Cones/Squares (Meridien/CEC & Kuzma) Audio Selection Cones (Herron) Feet of Silence (Diva Blue Sky) JPS Inwall powercord (to Powerplant & Diva Blue Sky) VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine Audio Visual (living room) Epson TW100 WXGA with Faroudja chipset Stewartfilmscreen Studiotek 130 90" diagonal 4:3 ratio Crystal Technology VPS-1 digital comb filter Sources Denon DVD-A11 Universal Disc Player Toshiba SD5300 DVP progressive scan HDCD chip Pioneer CLD D790 LDP Rotel RT-990BX tuner Starhub cable TV Samsung DVD HDD Recorder H40S Processor/Amplification Yamaha RX-V1400 Adcom GFA 5500 (front main) Adcom GFA 5503 (centre & rear) Speakers Cabasse Farella 400 (front main) Cabasse Fastnet (centre) Cabasse Fregate (rear) Monitor Audio Radius (front presence/rear back surround) REL Stadium II AV Accessories PS Audio Ultimate Outlet Cardas Golden powercord (x2 for power amps) Belden M8461 (spk cables) Klotz GY107 (DVD to AVR 5.1 connection) Synergy 1000 (DVD to AVR stereo connection) IXOS 104 (AVR to power amps) Canare V5 3C component video cables Cardas Lightning Digital 2m (for cable TV) Unicord (for sub) On the GO iRiver SlimX IMP400 PCDP Sennheiser PX200 headphones Total cost - don't ask.

So far... Beyer DT990Pro $340 Senn PX200 $90 AT W100 $450 Melos SHA-1 $550 Total $1,430 not counting sources or interconnects or accessories.

The L3000 is very good with the vocals. I think I was hogging the W100, that's why.

Hi nice report, honest opinions. Thanks for the nice comments. I'd like to add a couple of comments about the gear I brought. I actually took the Toshiba just to show what a good DVDP can do if properly setup. Not every DVDP will sound good, there are some bad ones too, but I won't mention brands. The Toshiba=Melos combo is fairly reveiling but still could be improved upon. Perhaps with the next meet, I'll bring down my other source and interconnects, but that would be a major exercise. The thing to pay attention to is the power supply. I don't know how many of you saw the little white box on the table - the PS Audio Ultimate Outlet. I needed it to connect the US plug equipment I had, also to lower the noise floor and let the equipment operate with a lowered noise floor. The reason why I didn't quite like the L3000 but prefered the W100 was because the L3000's sound was centered on the mids. Don't know if it was run in yet. The W100 was more balanced, highs, mids and bass, but more importantly, the emotion in the music was communicated. Quite a rare thing. IMO the Consonance CDP and amp are a pair made for each other. Fast detailed CDP paired with a warm tubey transparent amp = I don't know why no one mentioned this, but its really worth looking at. Also Firefox's One-of-a-kind headamp is something you guys should consider getting him to build. One last comment, I notice some of you use CDRs. If you use such high resolution gear and use a copy, I think you're not getting the best sound out of your gear.

Consonance amp, ah...one special Mullard input tube, driving 2 x 2A3s. Build and finish are exemplary. There's a very nice wood piece on top, with the Cosonance brand carved out, yummy. Heard it driven by the CDP transport>Muse 2 DAC>Air2>Consonance>DT990. If you are familar with single ended tube sound, this is it. Very smooth, detailed, and yet with a fast tight bass line. The mids were especially fleshed out. The one area which it didn't have was probably rock n roll bass. If you're no basshead, enjoy classical music and female vocals, this could be your ticket to audio nirvana. BTW, headphonecraz, looks like some of your craziness rubbed off on me, I was soooo smitten by the AT W100 sound that I just went out and bought it. All I can say now is its TRANSPARENT. [ed: need to color it brown).

Oh ok, I didn't get to hear the W2002 a lot then. Was there a W1000 there? I liked the W100 best.