Audio Shows / Demos / Festivals / Meetups

No clue about the price, I didn’t ask. As for specs the had nothing, I remember only the weight, the cable material and also the driver type - I don’t remember how they called the 3000s drivers but it wasn’t an orthodynamic like for the 4000s (and 5000s).

Yes indeed, speakers are Lu Kang Audio Spoey 230 FS. The DAC unfortunately I don’t remember but I’ll have to ask since this is one of the setups and that I will cover more in my upcoming article. Amplifier is a pre-production model from a company called ARRIBA, if I remember correctly it’s a 180W KT88 push-pull based amplifier.

I really liked this setup, one thing that really struck me was the height and the imaging, as well as how their performance doesn’t vary a whole lot bewteen simple and busy passages, this to say, that they have great speed and separation and when more instruments come in they occupy their respective space and all remain very precise in the soundscape, the speakers don’t lag behind. I think the amplifier is very very good, at my first listening session I didn’t really notice the fact that it had tubes and if the guy there from audioware hadn’t told me that it was a tube amp I would have believed that it was solid state - a good indicator that the amp is indeed very well made.

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Hi and thank you.

Amp: Arriba Titan 100PP (KT150x4)

Filter cable: EAhibrid EAL-2000, EAU-2000
Battery power supply: EAhibrid PureDC-B1, PureDC-B1H
Speakers: Lu Kang Audio Spoey 230 FS
DAC: Metronome

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November 14-16, Bethesda Md. CAF show. Room booked, @dB_Cooper and I will be staying at the Marriott Bethesda Convention center hotel. We very much look forward to seeing and getting together with folks from SONUS that decide to visit and attend.

Both Johnny and I agree we are doing it more for the companionship, seeing friends and enjoyment of getting out, the show is a plus but we have no intention of beating ourselves up trying to squeeze as many rooms as possible and fighting the crowd. We very much look forward and hope to talk folks into visiting for the weekend, getting together and also enjoying the show!

@Souldriver, if you can manage to escape from work it would be great to see you!

@PaisleyUnderground and the crew, I always forget your screen names :grimacing: , we are keeping fingers crossed you guys fly in again.

@Camus , we know you have foozball going on that weekend but still hoping to get a few hours with you :crossed_fingers:

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not that there’s anything wrong with it. :flushed_face:

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I’m hoping to be there. I agree with you, the main reason I go is to hang out with friends, and the convention itself is an added bonus.

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Came back from my second CanJam!

So…ZMF had a booth!!! And man am i glad i took my time with them.

On paper, I would have thought the Caldera-Open is my go-to… NOPE!

They had an Aegis amplifier over there and the two headphones i loved with it were the Caldera-closed, and the Ori 3.0.

By the way, the Aegis amp is one high-class posh looking amp!

And then, i ran into this:

YEAH…

I always wanted to try an Allnic amp!

This was at the Raal booth, and i was listening to the RAAL 1995 Immanis on them. Very first time hearing a ribbon headphone. Also Danny Mckinney was there! Real nice guy! Very fascinating individual!

So on the Immanis… you guys would hate me for explaining the sound this way, but I don’t know how else to convey it… it sounds realistic.

I don’t know how else to quantify it. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is very live show-esque.”

BUT… it depended on the song.

Van Halen and Tool gave me that feeling, and that makes sense, but the moment i played Deftones - RX Queen… not so much.

Now on to Danny McKinney. We got into the topic of Allnic and electrostats. Apparently Danny does some work with Allnic to the point where they just send him stuff. He gives them a recommendation on what to change, if any. They implement it.

Out of all the amps he’s tried, he’s very much in favor of Allnic. His personal two-channel setup? ALL Allnic. A part of me wonders if he gets a nice deal from all the work he does with them.

So now electrostats… he was talking about how much he loved the Stax X9000s, but then… he brought up Soltanus Audio.

Soltanus is apparently a one man operation. It takes so long to make one of those headphones that the guy averages about $10 an hour. That’s why he stopped selling them.

BUT… Danny liked the Soltanus headphones over the X9000s and he’s working with the company to help streamline. Somewhere next year Soltanus could make them again.

Another notable headphone was the Austrian Audio Composers. The low sub-bass on that thing, and then the seperation… it took me for a shock. Maybe it’s me, but it’s a very unassuming looking headphone. (I mean, compared to ZMF or RAAL.) This is actually a headphone I would love to hear again. A very balanced and technical headphone from what i heard.

There is something else. Planet Venus Audio - Spectral Coherence Control. I was at their booth. I’m wondering if you guys have heard of the software before.

I’ll update with more stuff as i remember it!

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I think saying it sounds realistic is a good description to describe a ribbon headphone. I never heard the immanis before, but if it’s a step up of the SR1A, I imagine it has this ultra resolution and insane clarity to the point where it just sounds really real. I only experienced that on the SR1a, Mysphere 3.2, Shang Sr, and Susvara Unveiled. Also, it’s cool to know Danny is a Allnic fan as well, make sense on why the newer Allnic amp is getting more ribbon headphone friendly

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So it’s funny you say that! Danny himself told me that he’ll tell Allnic to make adjustments to the amps so that his headphones sound better. Like for example, maybe a voltage change here, or a bias adjustment there.

As for the clarity of the Immanis, I wish I could give you a reference. I did listen to the Warwick Aperio system, but it was so loud in the room at the time.

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Can Jam NYC has a date, early March.

I will probably do 1 day again as it is close to me and its nice to see people in person.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/canjam-new-york-2026-march-7-8-2026.978701/

In the meantime i think people still need to give their reports from CAF last month.

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We had the whole show to ourselves, it almost felt as if there were more vendors than attendee’s :thinking: There is a huge population of Federal employees in the surrounding area and i assume that many weeks without a paycheck, the disbanding of several agencies, and the buyouts for so many Federal workers may have impacted show attendance. :man_shrugging:

The manufacturers really went all out and the display of cables, speakers and electronics in excess of $100,000+++ :gem_stone: :gem_stone: price tags was mind boggling :exploding_head: On the opposite side of the spectrum it was also great to see a handful of rooms with equipment geared towards Blue Collar worker’s which kept things in the low tens of thousands :+1: There was also an excellent turn out of DIY manufacturers who had some really great sounding offerings in the sub $10,000 range :flexed_biceps:

On a personal note I got to speak to several manufacturers and designers of equipment I own and was easily able to get upwards of 45 minutes uninterrupted time with each of them. I’m personally saturated with gear, and in a generally foul mood for various personal reasons so I spent very little time on anything but my own eclectic and niche desires. I am also at a point in the hobby where i don’t much care for anything that goes beyond my personal tastes, and shy of a product bringing tears to my eyes little impresses me anymore so I have nothing to report of any interest to anyone.

The only things I found interesting enough to take photos of attached:

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My sisters friend is a teacher in the DC area. They tried selling their house but at this time there are few buyers and they would loose their shirt if they did sell. As you said the government layoffs has riddled more than just those employees.

Getting a manufacturers ear for any amount of time seems pretty nice. You tend to get all the nitty gritty.

What is that last pic?

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@Souldriver

La Dolce Audio, DIY speakers.

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Anyone know speakers shows happening in/around NYC in the next like 3-4 months? Got the speaker itch and want to go propperly demo some stuff

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There are a few show rooms out on the island. Not sure if theyll be worth your trip though.

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I bought a ticket to Can Jam NYC Sunday March 8. Hopefully i see a few people there.

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I’ll be there both days for sure.

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I’ll be there from 3/5 - 3/9

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Hi, if someone is at this swiss event, let me know. I’ll be there for the weekend: KLANGSCHLOSS I 27.-29. März 2026

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We will present the Titan 100PP at High End Vienna in an enhanced version featuring a glass cover for the tubes. We love it.

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Spent a solid 5+ hours at CanJam today and had a nice time. I spent most of that in the ZMF room and ill probably do a seperate post in the ZMF thread breaking that down more.

I know people say they do both days and feel they dont have enough time to “hear it all”. Well im not huge into iems so that cuts down like 50% of the show, and i just hit a limit at the 4-5 hour mark so i left satisfied but acknowledging there was a booth or two i wish i hit.

ZMF: Lots of amps, lots of headphones, some gorgeous woods and sneak peeks into the custom shop. Everyone there was so lovely and attentive, even much more than the normal show courtesy.

Abyss + Woo: They shared a smaller room than last year but these two pair so well. There is a world where a Dianna DZ and a Woo WA24 or WA33 gen 2 is all i need. The new yet-to-be-released Dianna TC signature sounded like a half step up from the DZ. The TC Sig had a bit more bass kick and a but more high end presence. I know they say the chassis was redesigned but the dianna series always felt good to me. The Joal still feels the most “melt into your head” to me and i think i prefer the J’s click headband vs the magnetic of the higher ends as it is more resistant to sliding out of place. I think they may have only had Norm there as i didnt see others of the abyss crew.

I spoke to some of the Woo team as well. Very nice guys and local in Queens, NY. I rrally like their sound, and although the WA23 was too noisy for me the WA24/33 make strong cases. The WA24 is their quietest tube amp and probably would be great with the Utopia OG, i am just not the biggest fan of the tube loadout as they are a specific type of tubes that are really only made by Stradi. Woo said theyre rated for 10,000 hours but that are $1500+ for a quad. Its an interesting amp how it does it’s rectification and splits each channel. The WA33 gen 2 had a little noise on the Utopia if the volume was really turned up but at real listening volumes it was quiet. Both the 24 & 33 had that great expansive black soundstage. They also had their WA12 Zircon SS head amp, which sounded very similar to the WA24. The stage was smaller, the upper mids were more pushed forward, and it was a few drops less natural than the tube amps. Woo’s best is still their tube amps but the SS was slick, and the first amp in a long time sporting the whole battery powered thing.

Dekoni: Not much to say here. They had 30% off so i grabbed a set of the vegan pads they manufactured to replicate the OG Audeze prefazor vegans. Mine still have plenty of padding but the surrounds decay over time. I wish someone could capture the lcd-2.2pf sound and liquidity and reproduce that but better clarity and detail. Yes the lcd-3pf exists but the frequency response is also different enough for them to not be for me. They also gave me some felt rings to help avoid the driver crinkle you get when putting the headphone on. Apparently that taxes the driver and can lead to issues.

Synergistic Research: Yes, the (previously) purple fuse people. I didnt know about any of their products outside of fuses but apparently they have a ton. They had 3 racks set up all with the same MM Audeze headphone McIntosh headamp: A) About $1500 of source gear built around a bluenode and furman pc with stock or badeline cables B) A rack of their more entry level gear, server pc, cables C) Their high-end stuff. Bigger, beefier, isolation footers and platforms. The booth was set up to have listeners go through all 3 and rate different aspects that you think were better/worse that the base A setup. The B rack had a nice step up presenting more relaxed and free flowing music. The C rack was just not my type of sound, very aggressive and up front in your face. Tbh, i wasnt impressed by the SR stuff. Could it have been the headphones were not the most representative? Maybe a house sound i just didnt like? @Christof I may have seen you briefly here too and I wonder about your impressions.

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