There & Back Again: A Hobbi...Headphone Lover's Tale

[George Hincapie]

Off to CanJam London this morning. I am super excited! There is a lot to try. I am taking my Arya Stealth Edition and ZMF Atrium Open to assess various source chains. I am also hoping to hear HD800S (a classic pair that really ought to be in my collection), ZMF Caldera (TOTL Planars from Zach) and Susvara (super keen to assess the delta between those and my Arya SE which are £4000 cheaper!).

I shall try to take photos and write a report this evening or tomorrow.

[George Hincapie]

Just got home from CanJam. OMG...just incredible. Will have a brew then start on my write up. The kit I've listened to today!

Standby. Standby.

[Fretless]

[George Hincapie]

Today was my first CanJam experience, and my head is reeling. It was an incredible event. I met so many amazing people, shared so many experiences and stories, listened to so many components and headphones that I would never get to see, let alone hear, ordinarily.

Before I start describing the day, you should recognise that CanJam is similar to any other audio event, in so much as there were thousands of people there and background noise makes truly critical listening almost impossible. The sources varied wildly. Some stands required I use my own mobile, some provided iPads with locally cached files of varying quality, and a few provided what I would consider to be adequate streaming solutions. I have to say that trying to form a view of £11,000 headphones using a mobile telephone as a source (I'm looking at you, Spirit Torino) is completely mental. Please read my thoughts on the sound quality and presentation of the items I listened to in that context, as a flavour. I'm sure that, in the relative peace of my listening room, those perceptions may vary slightly, but not completely. I trust my ears and I know what I like and what I don't.

I have to say that there were some real surprises. Components that are often put on a pedestal really disappointed. Components that I expected to perform poorly actually really impressed me. It was an incredibly useful undertaking for a variety of reasons. In order to assess components fairly and have a reference, I took along my ZMF Atrium Ltd headphones (£3000) and Periapt cables.

So join me once again my friends, and I trust you will find what follows at least of interest...



The venue was the Plaza Hotel near Westminster Bridge, a really modern hotel. The event occupied two floors.





The Audeze stand was the first as you walked in, one I was to return to and spend quite some time as it offered a variety of really impressive DAC and amplification pairings. Attendees could listen to those pairings with the entire range of Audeze headphones. I was particularly interested in LCD-X (£1000) and LCD-5 (£4000).





Hifonix had a great showing also. A UK retailer with a comprehensive offering at a huge variety of price points.



The Ferrum Wandla was something I really wanted to experience. It is a DAC and preamp based around ESS, the output of which is routed through a number of user selectable filters created by Jussi of HQ Player fame. It was available at the show in conjunction with the Oor HPA and Hypsos LPSU. I had high hopes for this combination, particularly given the positive reviews of Golden Sound and others. I don't know if the source was the issue, but it was flat, dead and uninspiring. I was super disappointed.





I didn't get an opportunity to listen to this Primavera tube HPA paired with Chord DAVE and MScalar. The queue was just too long. I do love tubes and this was stunning in the flesh. I can't speak to its sonic prowess however.



The dCS Vivaldi DAC and clock was feeding a stupidly expensive tube HPA. I can't remember the make/model of the HPA as I type this, but am sure it costs north of £10,000. The Vivaldi is £38,500 and the clock is another £10,000 or so. This was the most expensive combination at the show and I didn't get close to it all day sadly.





I've always felt that HD800S were headphones that really ought to be in my collection. I have to say that they didn't really impress, but I would like to audition them at home where I feel sure they will give a better account of themselves. The Sennheiser DAC/HPA is a poor performer and the source and music was also poor.



The Cen Grand Silver Fox was paired with the Chord Hugo TT2, and was quite enjoyable. The Silver Fox apparently puts 22W into 8 ohms which is mental for a HPA. I enjoyed this combination, having read some hype around Cen Grand as a brand generally, and the Silver Fox specifically over at Head-Fi forums. The sharp definition of the Hugo TT2 was calmed just the right amount by the Silver Fox. The aesthetics don't work for me, but it was pleasant to listen to. The build quality of the Silver Fox is exceptional.









The Feliks Envy was a real treat. I've seen them online, but nothing prepares you for viewing one in reality. They are massive. The build quality is again, exceptional. A beautiful HPA. SQ was top notch; dynamics, stage depth/width and timbre all pretty much perfect. Almost on a par with my LTA MZ3. Neither the Full Music or PSVane tubes are particularly highly regarded; being competent but unexceptional choices. There are a number of rolling options which will elevate SQ significantly. The Feliks Envy is is now on my 'to buy' list.







I can't believe I am even typing this, but the Questyle stand provided the biggest surprise of the show. The CMA Fifteen DAC/HPA is based around ESS, which I dislike. I have never found any ESS based DAC (up to and including the £10,000 Weiss 501 Mk II) that has performed in a way that doesn't set my teeth on edge. Until today. The CMA Fifteen is incredible. Detail and resolution in spades, as you'd expect from an ESS based product. However, no brightness. No sibilance. Beautiful staging. Lots of power, poise and grip on the ZMF Atrium dynamic drivers from the headphone section. They take a different approach to amplification, using current rather than voltage, and I don't know if that's responsible for the SQ, or whether, for once, implementation really does matter.

The CMA Fifteen is the finest ESS based DAC I have heard and, together with the excellent HPA, offers a genuinely wonderful proposition. It receives my highest recommendation.

Please note that it is shortly to be replaced by the CMA Eighteen, featuring a new board offering an incredible 90% reduction in noise floor. If this claim holds true in reality it will be an exceptional product at a very affordable price point. The CMA Eighteen is now on my 'to buy' list.













The HiFiMan stand was a mixed bag. The problem was that the headphones were paired with HiFiMan DAC/HPA components which just suck compared to the competition. It was super hard to form any meaningful assessment of their products on that basis. I listened to Susvara, HE1000 and Arya Organic. Susvara sounded crap. I know. Crazy, but it's true. That is not how they are supposed to sound at all. So, like the HD800S, I need to get a pair home to audition in my own system. The delta between Susvara and HE1000 on the HiFiMan components was non-existent. I think there's almost a £3000 different in RRP between them, so again, that cannot be right. HE1000SE were there and I really wanted to try them, but they were simply in high demand and I had to move on. I did try Arya Organic. I found them to offer everything my Arya SE offers in terms of stage depth and width, but they did something special on top. A useless observation I know, but I can't quite wrap my head around their presentation yet. I've been reflecting on them since and think they could be really special, but the caveats above apply.



I walked right past the Spirit Torino stand when I saw that mobile telephones were being used as the source, and their flagship Valkyria headphones were £11,000. Zero interest.



The Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition was an interesting device. It combines power supply, streamer, DAC and HPA all into one beautiful unit. It has XLR out, so could act as the hub of a headphone system and a speaker system when paired with appropriate actives. I believe it uses a Burr Brown DAC implementation which was pleasant, if not earth shattering. A nice, mid-tier solution.





The Chord stand was disappointing. I met Rob Watts who was lovely and we chatted about DACs for a short time. Chord DACs aren't for me sadly. I listened to the Hugo TT2 in isolation and just didn't enjoy it. It wasn't as bad as ESS, but it was 'shouty' and just completely unimpressive. I'm sure things may have been different had I been able to listen to it with MScalar, but sadly another attendee took it to use with DAVE just as it was my turn. I know some of you like Chord and no offence is intended. Like all my my comments, it's purely my subjective assessment.



Yamaha brought along their own booth to listen to their headphones. Sadly I just didn't get a look in.





On the Audeze stand I listened to the LCD-X on a TOTL Holo Audio stack, consisting of May KTE and Bliss KTE. I've lusted over this combination for ages, but in the flesh it was just too much black and copper; the aesthetic didn't work. With respect to the synergy with LCD-X, there wasn't one. I didn't enjoy LCD-X at all. Rough, uncontrolled, shouty. A mess and not worth £1000 IMHO.





The LTA Z10e paired with Chord DAVE and Audeze CRBN estats was another highlight of the show. I love LTA HPAs. Love. With a capital 'take me baby!'. I didn't really care for DAVE if I'm honest, the Chord house sound was still there, albeit moderated slightly by LTA. The CRBN were excellent estats.





I later tried the Audeze LCD-5 with the Holo Audio stack. A completely different experience to the LCD-X. Incredible poise and agility. Speed. Definition. Slamming base. I almost ponied up the £4000 to take them home there and then. But I am glad I didn't, because I heard some other Audeze headphones later on that absolutely destroyed them. Not. Even. Close.



The dCS Lina stack was available on the Audeze stand. I didn't listen to it there, but I did visit the separate dCS room during the afternoon and that was a wonderful experience. I'll detail that below.





I visited the Meze stand, and while I have no real interest in their products, I did audition their 109 Pro. I think they are around £750. They were 'OK'. Quietly competent. I would rate them at a similar level to the cheaper Sundara.



















The real treat for me was visiting the ZMF room. I am an unapologetic ZMF groupie. I love their headphones. Meeting Zach was just great. He and his wife are truly lovely people and I enjoyed my time there very much. I listened to some stunning Olive Atrium Closed, which are now on my 'to buy' list. I also listened to the new ZMF Caldera, which are just incredible planars. OMG. The bass and speed again, just incredible. Punchy and fast! Zach had some stunning resin stabilised Caldera (images above, red and white) that I very nearly bought. I am a fussy sod though and I don't like the rose gold grilles; preferring steel or black. Caldera are on my 'to buy' list.

ZMF were running their headphones with a new solid state HPA being designed and built in collaboration with JPS Labs, A real vintage look (images above), which I actually really liked. The SQ was excellent and just brilliant synergy with all ZMF dynamic and planar options.

















The dCS room was amazing. Just brilliant. They are one of the few summit-fi brands that justify their RRP with exceptional design, build quality and performance IMHO. I listened to the Audeze LCD-4 (owned by a show attendee) which were just amazing. Much better headphones than LCD-5 by every metric. Much better base, definition, control and musicality. The Lina stack was good, but it didn't offer a level of performance that one might expect. I know it's the dCS dedicated headphone stack, but that isn't where the performance is in the dCS line in my experience. However, the LCD-4 actually were WTF amazing. They are now on my 'to buy' list.

I then listened to dCS Bartok Apex feeding the dCS Lina Clock and HPA stages. Unimpressed with that arrangement. I listened with the ZMF Caldera, and I'm not sure if there was a synergy or impedance issue, but the sound lacked definition and was distant. I tried the Caldera from the Bartok directly and it wasn't much better. Finally, I swapped Caldera for LCD-4 being fed directly from Bartok. OMG amazing. But not worth £20,000.





The Mjolnir is an interesting one box solution form LooToo I think. It has a DAP type screen built into the top and was heard paired with Focal Utopia. I wouldn't buy either, but they sounded decent.



To round out the show I heard the new iFi Phantom. It powers estats and planars/dynamics. It ha s a few neat features such as 'X-Space' which enhances soundstage width, and 'X-Bass' which enhances depth. Interesting, but not for me.

Please forgive any spelling or grammatical mistakes; it's been a long day and this has taken hours. I hope you've enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading.

[CN211276]

An informative report. But for the extortionate train fare and a clash with our wedding anniversary I might have gone as it is the most convenient show for me after Bristol. Although a totally different kettle of fish your impression of high end Chord is very similar to mine at Bristol. I do not do much headphone listening at home and the Mojo Grado combination has worked well for me for the past seven and a half years. On the main system the Qutest/Mscaler through NVA amps and Cubes completely blows away what I heard at Bristol through Chord amps and high end floor standers I can't remember the name of.

[George Hincapie]

It's a shame you couldn't make it, it would have been amazing to meet you. I didn't get a chance to listen to Qutest yesterday sadly. I think it probably offers a great performance/cost proposition, and lots of people regard it highly.

[George Hincapie]

The tube HPA paired with dCS Vivaldi and clock was the Viva Egoista 845. Here's another image.

[George Hincapie]

Really terrific report GH !

Almost like being there in the flesh. Clear to see how high-end headphones have taken off to become a genre of their own.

Can't say that I have ever really been impressed by Sennheisers, a brand I now avoid. The same applies to Meze.

Also, after long being suspicious of ESS DACs I find myself embracing them now, along with Class D amps.

The esoteric cans are way out of my reach but it must be fun to have a day when you get your hands on ALL of them !

Looks like you have a long shopping-list with some choices to make.

Have fun.

[George Hincapie]

Really terrific report GH !

Almost like being there in the flesh. Clear to see how high-end headphones have taken off to become a genre of their own.

Can't say that I have ever really been impressed by Sennheisers, a brand I now avoid. The same applies to Meze.

Also, after long being suspicious of ESS DACs I find myself embracing them now, along with Class D amps.

The esoteric cans are way out of my reach but it must be fun to have a day when you get your hands on ALL of them !

Looks like you have a long shopping-list with some choices to make.

Have fun.

Next year come over for the weekend. Bring your wife, stay with us as our guests. You'd love it mate.

[George Hincapie]

Who knows .... ?