Canjam 2013 was a memorable and interesting event.The experience of meeting like minded headphone ehtusiasts and getting to try out such diverse gear at one place was priceless.The organizer’s had a special VIP lounge for enthusiasts to bring their own gear and share with fellow headphone audiophiles.

The Inear One IEM from Germany, the first I have ever heard of! Did not spend much time with it but initial impressions were good, the flat cable is a bit annoying! If I do get the chance, I would love to spend some more time with them to provide a better opinion. Hopefully a review may ensue, thanks to Ultrazino. Edit: Previously wrongly mentioned as an IEM from India!

I started out with the STAX booth, with top of line Stax 009 Earspeaker! Popular opinion amongst audiophile circles places the 009 as one of the best headphones ever made and I was quickly enamored in an entirely “divine” sound. Such effortlessness and transparency from a headphone (though the official term is Earspeaker) is something that I never thought would be possible.Once you start listening, the headphone totally disappears and you are left with an intimate but open concert for one. The Stax setup driven by the Malvalve amps were so unreal with their presentation and dynamics that I would hardly believe that these were a relatively compact personal music listening setup.That is also when I met a fellow headphone enthusiast who introduced me to his Stax music listening setup (thanks Wolfgang), the earspeaker showed some age but the sound was only just behind the new releases from stax. The kicker was when he told me that his setup is over 20 years old!…I am now a believer in the Stax line!

The B&O H6 was a in an enclosure and was just calling out to me with its understated but lovely color scheme. Upon holding the H6 in my hands I could feel a solid build and yet luxurious appeal that it held. The earpads were wonderfully comfortable and provided more than expected isolation. My first impressions of the sound was, well balanced with good bass, clear mids and treble. The build and looks put them in close competition with the Sennheiser Momentums, the H6 felt more comfortable than the On ear momentums. The sound was smooth, a nice presentation for a portable headphone.

 I have been eager to try the Grados for a long time now and my wish came true during this Canjam.After extensive reading about the pros/cons & sound of the Grados you think I wouldn’t be surprised by them but I was! They lovely and I intend pickup the SR80i at the earliest possible opportunity. Grados have  very little presence here (in Germany) and as such more expensive! The Grados were driven by Fosgate Signature Tube amps. The higher end models like the RS1i and PS1000 sounded fabulous (a presentation that I have personally never heard before), though driving the lower end Grados like the SR60i, 80i and 225i with a $1500 amplifier was great but impractical.A cheaper tube amplifier alternative could do the job (though not as well) with good sound and value for the money.

Note: I expected to share this post a while back but never managed to get around to it.There may be some more impressions that I may add to this post later! I do however recommend the Headfonia post for a more or less complete coverage of the event.

Related articles

• Canjam Europe Picture Report (Headfonia.com)