Not to sound like a skipping record but...

[shawn_a]

Damn if it wasn't a great Midwest Audio Fest today. Rich was fighting his way through feeling not-so-great but he kept things going quite well. The rest of the PE crew was beyond superlatives and was more like superbalative. This had to be one of the most solid shows I've ever attended in that there were no speakers that really didn't give it a good go. There were no dogs in the room other than the honest-to-goodness canine named Molly. She was a real sweetie and I didn't hear a peep out of her all day.

I'm betting that the >$200 class was the most hotly contested. I doubt more than a point separated the top three in class. And I don't say this to slight the other three classes and their respective winners because, folks, there were some seriously great sounding and looking projects.

A more important thought goes out to Bogdan who had to go to the hospital after feeling some chest pains. I don't know his exact condition as of right now but my thoughts go out to him and his awesome family. I wish you could have been there to collect your prize for the class win. Get well soon and start churning out more great speakers. Your work is beautiful.

I'll leave it up to others to add their opinions and thoughts as I'm tired as a rented donkey. It was a great time and I can't wait to see y'all again.

shawn

[MusicForMatt]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Shawn said it good!! Gotta add my $.02, though. SO MANY great speakers, Genius Don Keele's presentation and AWESOME arrays-- "I am not worthy!", sweet deals for all and smooth shopping at the "Candy Store", and last but not least, great employees!

My first Midwest Audio Fest will NOT be my last... now if I could only sleep the night before and not nod off during the judging! :o

[absolootbs]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

i couldn't agree more. my first time will definitely not be my last. what a great time and great experience. my girlfriend didn't even hate it, and she has pretty much no interest in speakers what so ever. got to talk with wolf, dan n., paul k., eric levenchuck, jim g., ed froste and his buddy who helps him design (btw - who is that? great guy, but i never caught his name), and probably a few others i'm forgetting. thanks to all of you for giving me some of your time. liked everyone i met and enjoyed every conversation i had.

with only two hours of sleep friday night, i was amazed that i managed not to get tired at all through the whole day of judging. guess the speakers were all just that good . (we did, however, fall asleep for the night at 8:30, after getting home and filling our bellies with food-coma-inducing chipotle). can't wait to see all the results, and the comments the judges had on my builds.

[Wolf]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Pretty much agree with everything stated here.

I hope Bogdan Petrescu is doing better, and it was cool that his daughter did his presentation for him.

There were 2 audio incidenets over the course of the day-
Ed Froste, even though he won the Dayton Class, had a fault in one cabinet and thoroughly diagnosed and nuked the problem to salvage his run.

Another couple of guys brought some Morel WTMW's, and seemed like a woofer was out of phase on the left-channel so the image was really shifted to the right. I hope they were able to straighten that out.

I'll give my thoughts in my usual writeup later this evening with the pics that I took. I didn't get all of them photographed, as the later entries came in, but most of them are there.

Later,
Wolf

[richt@daytonaudio.com]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

I'm glad number 12 made it home safely!

[Paul K.]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

It was a very good event even though the actual speaker judging ran almost 2 hours beyond the allotted time and I'm sure, wearing out the judges' ears if not their desire a bit. Rich and Amy and all of the other PE Staff did a bang-up job arranging and hosting this event. The best part about any of these events is the socializing with everyone else. Hey, Rich, if I had realized you were under the weather I would not have asked you to help me load my speakers at the end of the day!:o
Paul

[dlneubec]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Ditto, everyone.

The quality of the speaker entries continues to amaze me. Top to bottom these were probably the best group I remember hearing. In any category, I'd say that any of the top 6 (or more) were easily interchangeable. The over $200 class was especially tight. It would have been neat to have some 3-4k and up OEM speakers there to compare, because I think just about any of the speakers in the over $200, Dayton and Unlimited class might have embarrassed them.

I was happy to see a huge variety of designs, with some omni's, a flat panel (Open baffle dipole?), single drivers, 2-ways, 3-ways, 4-ways, bipoles, transmission lines, Pro woofer/compression tweeter-in-waveguide 2-ways, and Don's amazing CBT line arrays that were simply astounding in their dynamic range and soundfield consistency. I think his approach to controlled directivity speakers is the way to go.

Great job by all the designers! It was nice meeting some new faces. I wish we'd had more time to chat, but there were so many speakers to get through that things had to be expedited.

The PE staff was awesome. They work their behinds off to support this hobby and genuinely enjoy doing so. I suspect we will see a new, larger venue next year. This could take the event to another level and it might make it a little easier for the PE staff to manage.

[howard]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Hi Guys,
I just got home. The trip was 960 miles but worth every mile to me. I had a great time and even found a few bargains. One of the boxes that I thought was an RS270 turned out to be a Reference series sub. I am so tired I don't even mind. Although I am sure when I go to use them it would be nice to have pairs. I want to thank Rich, Amy, Vivian and everyone from PE for working so hard to put on a great event. Mr Keele reminded me a bit of Paul Klipsch. I got to meet him at college back in the good ole days and I mean that as a compliment. He has his hz together. It was wonderful to meet everyone and I appreciate your kindness and how friendly everyone was. I am sorry Pete was not there. I knew I should have got in touch with him and offered him a ride.
The speakers were great and did not hear one that I would not be proud to own. I am going to redouble my efforts to get something going in the crossover department but I have a long way to go to catch up with you youngsters.
Howard

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Hi Guys,
I just got home. The trip was 960 miles but worth every mile to me. I had a great time and even found a few bargains. One of the boxes that I thought was an RS270 turned out to be a Reference series sub. I am so tired I don't even mind. Although I am sure when I go to use them it would be nice to have pairs. I want to thank Rich, Amy, Vivian and everyone from PE for working so hard to put on a great event. Mr Keele reminded me a bit of Paul Klipsch. I got to meet him at college back in the good ole days and I mean that as a compliment. He has his hz together. It was wonderful to meet everyone and I appreciate your kindness and how friendly everyone was. I am sorry Pete was not there. I knew I should have got in touch with him and offered him a ride.
The speakers were great and did not hear one that I would not be proud to own. I am going to redouble my efforts to get something going in the crossover department but I have a long way to go to catch up with you youngsters.
Howard

Thanks for the sentiments Howard. Wish I could have been there with something to show off. BTW, I could hardly be considered a youngster!!

You plan on attending Iowa this fall?

[howard]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Hi Pete,
I would sure like to go to Iowa. Any chance you might have room for a rider? I know you are going to be bringing so large speakers. We are expecting our first grandson in October and that will take priority over anything else. Has the date been set? I had such a great time. Meeting Wolf, Paul K, Brian Powers, Matt, Aaron, Shawn A, Tom Bond and Jim Griffin was the greatest experience I have had since I met Paul Klipsch at UMR in 197?. Great guys that love music and speaker building. I am inspired. I am going to try to get one of my computer set up with PCD or Soundeasy and start cranking out crossovers. I wish. I had a wonderful time.
Howard

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Hi Pete,
I would sure like to go to Iowa. Any chance you might have room for a rider? I know you are going to be bringing so large speakers. We are expecting our first grandson in October and that will take priority over anything else. Has the date been set? I had such a great time. Meeting Wolf, Paul K, Brian Powers, Matt, Aaron, Shawn A, Tom Bond and Jim Griffin was the greatest experience I have had since I met Paul Klipsch at UMR in 197?. Great guys that love music and speaker building. I am inspired. I am going to try to get one of my computer set up with PCD or Soundeasy and start cranking out crossovers. I wish. I had a wonderful time.
Howard

October 16 in Grinnell. I'll be renting a little U-Haul to get the Byzantiums to the show. Maybe even have one more set ready by then. There would likely be plenty of room in the car for another passenger.

Congrats on the grandson!!!

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

its a good thing we have a large venue in grinell. sounds like dayton may have to limit entries in the future.

[Wolf]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Heh! :p:p:D:D

Wolf

[Wolf]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

Yeah- Petey's old... :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I hope to see you both out there.
Later,
Wolf

[robwest]

Re: Not to sound like a skipping record but...

In these kind of comparisons, how much separation between speakers is typical? I mean, you wouldn't expect a pair of computer monitors to have the same distance from each other as you would a pair of floor-standers, would you?