What did you end up going with?
Nothing fancy actually, just one from Audio Envy as I’ve been buying some cables from them recently and have been happy with the results. I’m thinking about trying a chimera from DHC at some point so I might get that or just go for the Lazuli cables that are recommended for Utopia
3 Likes
Have you tried the Audio Envy speaker or interconnect cables? I returned some cables that I demo’d and I asked them to give me a credit instead of a refund, so I thought I’d try their speaker and/or interconnects.
I’ve used their xlr, power cables, and headphone cables. I also just got a speaker amp to headphone cable from them. I have some rcas on order and plan on trying some speaker cables from them at some point. Don’t have much to say from a sound perspective although their headphone cables lean bright and more present in the top end. I mostly just buy them for looks and low cost
1 Like
Speaking of speakers, how are the Omegas coming along? You’re looking at at least 100 hours before they start to settle, 150 to sound close to what they’ll be at the end and 200 or so to be fully broken in.
2 Likes
I really appreciate people’s efforts to do this stuff — and should really shut me up about my not-that-challenging logistics to go. Also, I’d really love to listen to an OG Utopia sometime.
2 Likes
I just started going to canjams this year and it’s been fun so far. Getting to meet people I’d been chatting online with for years is cool too. Definitely recommend it if there’s one close to you. Head-Fi also hosts local meets too, like there was one 30 minutes from my house earlier this year, before canjam nyc
1 Like
I’ll be at Chicago both days.
1 Like
oh awesome, send me a message if you want to meet up. You can try the utopia
2 Likes
I will be at CanJam Chicago Friday - Sunday. I will be bringing my 2 of my top 3 favorite headphones, the Onkyo A800 and Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee with my Cayin N7 DAP. If anyone is interested, DM me, love to spread the sound of my favorite headphone around.
9 Likes
Any feedback from Canjam yet?
I’ll add my curiosity to @Camus’
How crowded is it? Last year, it was not crowded at all, and I could try out whatever I wanted with very little (and often no) wait.
If it’s not crowded, I might head over tomorrow, since I live pretty close.
2 Likes
When push came to shove, I found it hard to justify driving down to Schaumburg and back today, when I’m going to be there all-day tomorrow. Lots to get done in interim, out of town next week. I’ll have my own little @ home CanJam Day 1.
4 Likes
I’m at canjam Chicago. For anyone that wants to say hi I’m helping out at the mimic audio booth wearing a white and brown shirt with olive pants
5 Likes
Day 1 was pretty fun. A lot of power issues throughout the day, but I at least managed to listen to most of them before it became too big of a deal.
I was also shock that it wasn’t crowded. Like it was still a lot of people, but I am just use to convention with like 1000+ people, so it was actually pretty comfy in there. I was expecting heat and body odor, but besides the power issues, there were free water and the vendor room temperature was good for me.
Biggest disappointment was the Sennheiser HE-1, but honestly 10 minutes isn’t a fair chance. Maybe because I also hype myself up too much, but it was still a good experience and I am glad I did it.
Test songs:
Isn’t It Romantic - Bill Evans Trio (Live version from Essential Standards) First 2:13
Windy Spring - WoongSan (The Best Woong San album) First 1:22
Movement 3 - Beethoven Pastoral (Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Bohm) 1:35 - 2:31
No God - Band-Maid Full song
Favorite vendor was Spirit Torino. I think it was the only headphones I like in the entire show, like actually enjoy and would consider purchasing. Only their planar headphone centauri. Their centauri have really good bass for acoustic instruments like the bass drums and cellos. But for rock music, the electric guitar sound didn’t sound to good for me, needed more crunch. Their valkyria was good, but I wouldn’t spend $10K plus on it. Really enjoy classical orchestras for those headphones. Only headphone I didn’t enjoy from that vendor was the grey one. My ears did not like those at all, something in those headphones sounded muffled to me, it might be the bass overpowering the other frequencies maybe, but I took them off instantly to find out.
Other favorite vendor was Fostex only because they have a vinyl setup and Rick Roll me in 2023 
Also met a lot of nice people including @Draaly . Meeting new people with similar interest is always a good time.
Link to the Pictures in CanJam via Imagur since I did not want to flood the thread with pics: CanJam Day 1 pics via SaberPunch - Album on Imgur
11 Likes
Canjam day 1 was great, quieter then New York so was able to spend more time with popular gear like the grand cayman, cfa3, viva amps, dcs stacks, and tube amps in the zmf room. I have a ton of pictures but probably won’t be able to post them until I get home. Some standouts though from day 1:
Utopia on viva 845
007 mk2 on viva stx
Utopia on cfa3
Utopia on Rossini apex with Lina amp
Utopia on da200 and jinx
Atticus on feliks envy
Atticus on decware otl
Zmf portable on dx320.
Tomorrow I will take the aurorus Borealis and Australis with me and see how those do on other amps
10 Likes
Anybody saw the Yamaha YH5000 headphone at the CanJam Chicago show? I want to try to cross that off my bucket list of headphones I want to try.
Also heads up for Day 2 of CanJam Chicago for Ray Samuels. If you wanted to hear their new dynamic/electro static amp, it will be there. Not to mention they will also bring the Sony MDR-R10 which is 1 headphone I want to make sure I listen to before CanJam ends.
2 Likes
Thanks for the reminder, I need to check that out. I have an he1 demo at 10:30 but will try and see it afterwards
2 Likes
HE1 was fun. No holes in signature, expectations are undeniably large. I mixed source gear at ZMF, played with the new amp. I’ll say, it’s stupid 6 minute show impressions, but I had a high preference for Atrium Open over the Caldera - and I really enjoyed Auteur Classic most of the lot. These are just like public notes for myself lol
4 Likes
Day 2 for CanJam Chicago.
I will probably make a separate post later on my entire impression of the event, currently going to eat dinner with family.
Also, shout out to a fellow audio enthusiast (he is from another forum) for letting use his Shangri-La Sr. That really started my morning with a smile and I was able to listen to the Sony MDR-R10 right after.
Favorite vendor of Day 2 was the Mimic Audio Vendor. Very few things blown me away at this audio show (probably less than 3 equipment and nothing from day 1 blew my mind), but that R2R DAC, SW1X DAC IV. That really was amazing. It reminded me of so much of the Mojo Audio Mystique Evo. It was so organic and sweet, the violen made my heart melt (just a little bit). The SW1X DAC IV may be my favorite experience in the show.
Test song for the day was mostly these 4:
Windy Spring - WoongSan (full song)
Movement 3 Allegro - Beethoven Pastoral (Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Bohm) (1st 3 minutes)
Movement 4 Marche au supplice - Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Les Siecles) (last 2 minutes)
Dove - Cymande (starting 2:00)
Day 2 highlights:
*Shangri-La Sr on the Grand Caymen
*Sony MDR-R10 on a CD transport
*Stax X9000 on the new Ray Samuel Amp
*SW1X DAC IV from the mimic audio booth
*Comparing to the K1000 (Bass neutral) to the Mysphere 3.2 on the Viva Amp
*Trying my Onkyo A800 on the Viva Amp and the custom headfier amps in ZMF
Link to the pics so I don’t flood the thread with pics: Day 2 CanJam Chicago via SaberPunch - Album on Imgur
7 Likes