Chicago DIY 2011

[jcpahman77]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

So now I gotta ask, what are the felt dots for?

[dlneubec]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

There was a tremendous amount of experimentation in getting the dome tweeter to work in that orientation. Reflections are the major issue here. There is a V-shaped piece of plastic running vertically up the tube opposite the dome. On each side of it, is a 1/4" strip of felt and then outside along the walls of the tube are the dots of felt.

The dome tweeter fits inside a 1-1/2" horizontal pvc tube, so the tweeter could slide in and out during testing. The position of it in and out of that tube (how close it is to the mouth in that tube) was also experimented with, as well as the exact spacing between the two main vertical tubes. Everything but the dots were critical components. The dots were final tweaks that did give measurable improvement toward smoothing the response, though they may or may not be audible.

I've edited this response to add a couple photo's that should make it more clear. You can how the pieces were assembled and in the last photo the the vertical plastic piece (black) and the felt strip and dots. The tweeter edge is barely visable on the right tube:

[Ron_E]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

This is just a quick post to thank Paul and the gang for putting this together and to put up a link to the pictures I took. It's late and I'm more than a little road weary. DIY Chicago 2011 was a good time. Enjoy the pics.

http://imageshack.us/g/232/pa291620.jpg/

Ron

[Paul Carmody]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

That's a wrap. I had a great time, and I hope everyone else did as well.

I think the event turned out very nicely. I have never hosted anything in my life, nor had any desire to. But I always wanted to see one of these events happen here in the Chicago suburbs (and LOTS and LOTS of people have asked me about it over the years). With the help of Chris (cjd) and Brian it just snapped together! I would not have done it without them.

Thanks very much to our sponsors for the very cool schwag: Meniscus, Madisound, Solen, Parts Express, Cross-Spectrum Labs, HDTracks, and even our own D,Rose donating a pair of waveguides.

Thanks most of all to all the attendees who made the trip, from near and far. It's the people who make these events so much fun.

The turnout was good. My goal for the day was at least 40 people, and that's just what we had. I wish we had had a few more speakers, however as Dan said, the upside to this was that each speaker had more time for listening and experimentation. As for the quality of the entries, well I'm really impressed. It's cliche to say it, but the standard gets ratcheted up every year. There were NO stinkers at this show. And I'm not just saying that to be nice.

The hotel was hit and miss. The room was a good fit for the number of people, and was a snazzy place to boot. Unfortunately, it was so upscale that they thought they had the right to nickel and dime everyone. So I apologize for the rip-off breakfast and the internet woes. AND, in the future, even if they give us a "group discount rate" be sure and ask for AAA or internet rates, just in case--because it turns out they're lower .

I could definitely see doing another Chicago DIY next year, and hopefully we'd see even more people and their creations.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

I tease Paul C. about his woodworking, but he has a great ear, has a knack of putting together just what folks want to build and just gets great results.

It's OK, I find it funny. I know where my strengths are. I call myself a "hack woodworker" for a reason.

[bkeane1259]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

I could definitely see doing another Chicago DIY next year, and hopefully we'd see even more people and their creations.

Count me in to help. :D

P.S. I guess it was only a matter of time before the raaaaal tagger made an appearance. Wonder if he/she was at the show and actually heard the Breeze?? I have to say he/she now because I think there were what.... six women at the event??

[iLovPieNCake]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

I am happy to report that Chicago DIY was amazing. Although I was there for a short time(10-1:45), I enjoyed every minute of it. I got to meet Wolf, and I got to see the rest of you guys. I'm not good with names so we should all meet a couple more times a year so I can learn them. ;) This is what I have to say about my first DIY speaker meet experience

As I walked in I got to enjoy Wolf's Trichotomy, a very nice speaker. The enclosure required for the D5G is so ridiculously small extra enclosure had to be added to fit the crossovers. After hearing the next competitor I realized this is a competition of micro detail. I enjoyed every speaker, there are a few I want to metion

MiniByzy - These were my favorites. The enclosures were simply amazing but they did weigh a bit. Other than the weight, the Vifa 8" woofer dug deep (Corrected) in their ported enclosure.

Glucinium Amor by Wolf - I found that these speakers were very detailed and have a major cool factor but I did find them at the brink between harshness for my taste.

The Ochocinco MTM - I thought these speakers were very nice for their price.They did lack the microdetail of the other top of the line speakers but I enjoyed how "warm"(Not Harsh) they were. Although when he introduced them he told us they are in a sealed cabinet and that they are meant to be used with a huge sub, I found that these had a nice notch in the lower end frequency curve and that the ND140s can dig really deep.

I though the whole meet setup was great but I was sad that I didn't get to hear my speedsters or the larger boxes. I wanted to compare my interpretation to Paul's and I've also been conjuring up a floorstander design and would really want to get some inspiration. I was also supprized by how kind the sponsors were, they offered everything from a nice ribbon tweeter to a huge 8 or 10 inch sub. Sadly I didn't stay for the prizes, I could really use a calibrated mic for my designs.

Here are a couple of my pictures.












The rest can be found here

[isaeagle4031]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

A pic with Ben smiling! I knew there had to be one somewhere! I am really hoping this event will be repeated next year. I am sure I will be attending that one!

Now to start getting ready for InDIYana 2012!!!

[cjd]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

Those MiniBizy's are ported

[D, Rose]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

First I wanted to thank Paul and Chris. The laid back peaceful vibe was truly a reflection of you guys; things felt organized and critical but fun and informative. How'd you do that? I enjoyed talking with everyone. I've been inspired to learn more about how speakers actually work. Chris, you have a great ear! Thanks, everyone, for all the positive feedback on the Aurora(mini-byzie). I feel like that speaker is my "baby", and everyone seemed to like how it sounded. I can't wait for InDIYana in the spring!:D

[JeffG.]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

And I had mentioned to one of the guys there that if they needed to break down some sheet goods or dimension something feel free to ask. It depends on what is going on in the shop and if I am in the U.S., but if I can knock it out for you I will. My shop/house is in Bloomingdale.

[Chris Roemer]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

Some pictures I took...



Later,
Wolf

Hey Wolf, what was the Artist/Album/Cut of the acapella group you used?
Seemed like a really nice recording.

chris

[bkeane1259]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

Hey Wolf, what was the Artist/Album/Cut of the acapella group you used?
Seemed like a really nice recording.

chris

The King's Singers / Good Vibrations / And So It Goes

The song was written by Billy Joel.

[jcpahman77]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

Billy Joel = Epic.

I found 10 of his opuses (that looks spelled wrong by my spellcheck says it's right) on Grooveshark and they are fantastic. If you like the grand piano, I'm not sure you can do any better. He's easily one of the best pianists of our lifetime.

[evilskillit]

Re: Chicago DIY 2011

Billy Joel = Epic.

I found 10 of his opuses (that looks spelled wrong by my spellcheck says it's right) on Grooveshark and they are fantastic. If you like the grand piano, I'm not sure you can do any better. He's easily one of the best pianists of our lifetime.

+1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUNOmN3YVL0