CanJam New York 2022 - Show Report Part 1

We had an awesome time at CanJam New York 2022 this year. Part one of our show report is a more detailed look at each of the various systems that were on display for everyone to listen to.

Words can't quite convey just how excited we were to have had the chance to demo the brand new RAAL-requisite VM-1A Vacuum Tube Amplifier for their SR1a Ribbon Headphone. Pre-orders are now available for this new flagship amplifier and orders will begin shipping later this month.

We ran the VM-1A along with the Chord Hugo TT2 as our DAC with an iFi Audio ZEN Stream connected to ROON for lossless streaming of both Qobuz and local files with our HeadAmp GS-X Mini Balanced Headphone Amplifier paired with both the Hifiman Susvara and Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC headphones.

For electrostatic headphones, we had our HeadAmp Blue Hawaii Special Edition and NAIM Uniti Atom Music Player serving as the DAC for the:

• Audeze CRBN Electrostatic
• STAX SR-009S
• STAX SR-007 MK2
• STAX SR-X9000

We also had a secondary system, hosted by our room partners, the Dan Clark Audio team. We would like to give them a big thanks for sharing the space with us! They had a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC feeding our HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE and HeadAmp GS-X MK2 Balanced Headphone Amplifier, which served the following headphones:

• Dan Clark Audio VOCE Open-Back Electrostatic Headphones
• Dan Clark Audio Stealth
• Dan Clark Audio Ether 2
• Dan Clark Audio ETHER C Flow 1.1
• Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire Closed Back Planar Magnetic Headphone

On the far left of the table, hooked into the NAIM Uniti Atom Music Player, we had the new RAAL-requisite PDT-1a Tube Amplifier for planar magnetic and dynamic headphones with the Meze Elite and Sennheiser HD800S open back headphones.

Finally, on the right side of the table, we had the Bricasti Design M3h DAC with Integrated Differential Headphone Amp paired with the:

• DCA Stealth
• Abyss Diana TC
• Audeze LCD-5
• & the recently redesigned Hifiman HE-R10P

On the showroom floor, we had the following two systems:

• Our HeadAmp GS-X Mini with the Border Patrol Tube DAC alongside two headphones, the DCA Stealth and Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Closed Back.
• Plus, we had the new desktop stack from Mytek Audio, consisting of their Mytek Liberty DAC II going balanced out into the Liberty THX AAA™ Headphone Amp and single ended into our HeadAmp Gilmore Lite mk2 with the DCA Stealth and Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire Closed Back Planar headphones.

The Mytek team were present once again, as well, with the Mytek Empire Streamer alongside their entire lineup of products, including the: Mytek Liberty DAC II, Liberty THX AAA™ Headphone Amp, and Mytek Manhattan II DAC.

Be sure to share your thoughts of the show and our gear here on Head-Fi’s official CanJam 2022 impressions thread!

Lastly, to wrap up part one of our show report, we’d like to extend a special thank you to the world renowned composer, Mr. David Chesky, for taking a moment to stop by and listen! We hope that he enjoys his music on our systems as much as we do!