Iowa DIY 2009 website is up!!!

[DougP]

The Iowa 2009 DIY website is up and running but far from complete. If you notice any glaring mistakes please let me know. One thing of note. I may not be having a reception at my house the night before the event. Long story short -- we our selling our house with the hopes of gutting and remodeling an old house. Other than that everything will stay about the same as last year.

Here is the link.

http://home.mchsi.com/~iowadiy2009/index.htm

Doug

[nordhaven]

Thanks for putting all this together Doug! As far as the night before reception you should recommend one of the hotels on the link you provided http://www.grinnell.edu/aboutinfo/lodgings/ that has a lounge or bar or something within walking distance and we could just do it there.

[DougP]

Thanks for putting all this together Doug! As far as the night before reception you should recommend one of the hotels on the link you provided http://www.grinnell.edu/aboutinfo/lodgings/ that has a lounge or bar or something within walking distance and we could just do it there.

I was thinking that we could all meet downtown. One place has a really cool basement bar. Of course I would rather have it at my place if at all possible. That way we control the tunes.
Doug

[martyh]

All right Doug! The scent of sawdust is in the air - the aroma of melting solder - I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.

For what it's worth, Casa Margarita's is amazing! Great 'Americanized' Mexican food and lots of it for the little they charge for it, looking forward to it already!

Oh, and the speaker stuff too!

[maynardg]

I'll be there! I gotta stop building speakers that are too big to ship though. It is a long drive.

[mikejennens]

I've never been to any of the DIY shows, so I hope you'll excuse my naivete.

Basically, how does this work if a guy has no speakers to bring, but would like to hear what others have built and take part in one of these shows?

Is there an admittance fee?

Whatever you can fill me in on would be great.

This would be over 700 miles for me, so I'll need some convincing .

Thanks,
Mike

[martyh]

I've never been to any of the DIY shows, so I hope you'll excuse my naivete.

Basically, how does this work if a guy has no speakers to bring, but would like to hear what others have built and take part in one of these shows?

Is there an admittance fee?

Whatever you can fill me in on would be great.

This would be over 700 miles for me, so I'll need some convincing .

Thanks,
Mike

Hey Mike,

It's a 'Just Show Up' event. You don't need to have speakers to demo, no this is just an opportunity for like-minded folks to get together and share ideas, and connect with a few friends.

700 miles is a haul, but lots of us make 8-10 hour drives and it's worth it!

See you there!

[tom_s]

I was at 2004 & 2005 and had a great time. The speakers I entered in '05 didn't even come close to anything else in the room though. But I would love to enter something I am working on this year. It might even have a shot Are there any spots still open? Even if I can't enter anything, It'll still be great to hear what others have cooked up. I might even understand some of the tech-talk a little better this time!

Tom

[DougP]

I've never been to any of the DIY shows, so I hope you'll excuse my naivete.

Basically, how does this work if a guy has no speakers to bring, but would like to hear what others have built and take part in one of these shows?

Is there an admittance fee?

Whatever you can fill me in on would be great.

This would be over 700 miles for me, so I'll need some convincing .

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,
Like Marty said you are more than welcome to just show up and listen. I really like these events because it's a great chance to talk shop. There are very few people as nice and fun to be around as this group. if you have any other questions feel free to ask. On a side note I spent a lot of time in SD as a kid in the Mobridge area.
Doug

I was at 2004 & 2005 and had a great time. The speakers I entered in '05 didn't even come close to anything else in the room though. But I would love to enter something I am working on this year. It might even have a shot Are there any spots still open? Even if I can't enter anything, It'll still be great to hear what others have cooked up. I might even understand some of the tech-talk a little better this time!

Tom

Tom,
As of now the event is full but I can put you on the alternate list and if someone drops out you can have a spot. I have to check but I think that there are two people on that list already. Let me know.
Doug

[tom_s]

I thought I had read earlier that the roster was full. But yes, please add me to the alternates list. Even if I don't end up with an official spot, I would still like to bring what I have been tinkering with to get some feedback from some of the masters. Heck, I don't mind being at the kiddie table!

[maynardg]

Mike, it is a 21 hour drive for me - gotta haul speakers..... would not miss it.

[Audio-itis]

im gonna mark the date, i would love to just hang and listen. maybe would bring BAMTM's in case someone wanted to see and get an eval from others. can't commit just now, but sure sounds fun!

[scottq]

Doug,

Thanks for hosting again! I look forward to seeing everyone this year.

Mike - it's worth the drive... I've been coming since 2002. The people are great - its amazing to me that there are other people that can rattle off speaker models like sports statistics.

I am definitely sad the list is full already. I'm debating bringing a setup for "the other room." What's involved there? Does everyone bring their own gear... or is there going to be another source/preamp/amp combo there that people can just hook up speakers to for "Group B" in that room?

Thanks,
Scott

[DougP]

Doug,

Thanks for hosting again! I look forward to seeing everyone this year.

Mike - it's worth the drive... I've been coming since 2002. The people are great - its amazing to me that there are other people that can rattle off speaker models like sports statistics.

I am definitely sad the list is full already. I'm debating bringing a setup for "the other room." What's involved there? Does everyone bring their own gear... or is there going to be another source/preamp/amp combo there that people can just hook up speakers to for "Group B" in that room?

Thanks,
Scott

Scott,
I am glad you can make it again this year. The second room is a very informal sort of thing with no structure. I don't have electronics for it so someone or a few people will have to bring the electronics for that room and it is not going to be part of the formal event.
Doug

[scottq]

Scott,
I am glad you can make it again this year. The second room is a very informal sort of thing with no structure. I don't have electronics for it so someone or a few people will have to bring the electronics for that room and it is not going to be part of the formal event.
Doug

Hi Doug,

I totally understand it's not part of the formal event and wouldn't expect you, in particular, to organize electronics issues. I guess it was more of a general question revolving around whether or not its going to be (A) a bunch of people in "booth" type setups, with each bringing their own equipment, or (B) one electronics setup (like the main room) with people just swapping out their speakers informally.

If it's one setup to share, I'm happy to bring some source gear to share.

Also, what's the source gear for the official judging setup going to be?

Thanks,
Scott

[DougP]

Hi Doug,

I totally understand it's not part of the formal event and wouldn't expect you, in particular, to organize electronics issues. I guess it was more of a general question revolving around whether or not its going to be (A) a bunch of people in "booth" type setups, with each bringing their own equipment, or (B) one electronics setup (like the main room) with people just swapping out their speakers informally.

If it's one setup to share, I'm happy to bring some source gear to share.

Also, what's the source gear for the official judging setup going to be?

Thanks,
Scott

I am leaving the set-up in the second room completely up to the people who are going to be using it (most like option B). You guys can swap out amps, speakers, test cables, what ever you want. It is a good size room also, will hold about 20 people I would guess.

For the main room again this year it will most likely be the Oppo player run through the QSC GX5 amp. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=245-652

Doug

[Wolf]

I am leaving the set-up in the second room completely up to the people who are going to be using it (most like option B). You guys can swap out amps, speakers, test cables, what ever you want. It is a good size room also, will hold about 20 people I would guess.

For the main room again this year it will most likely be the Oppo player run through the QSC GX5 amp. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=245-652

Doug

About that GX5...
HIJACK!
Does it have fans? No literature states yes or no.
I know you preferred a form of hookup, but I can't recall what or why.
I'm considering getting the GX3.

Thanks for any thoughts you can provide,
Wolf

[nordhaven]

I'm gonna bring my little Yaqin tube buffer to play around with. http://www.pacificvalve.us/YaqinTB.html

[DougP]

About that GX5...
HIJACK!
Does it have fans? No literature states yes or no.
I know you preferred a form of hookup, but I can't recall what or why.
I'm considering getting the GX3.

Thanks for any thoughts you can provide,
Wolf

The GX5 does have a fan. It is not very loud at all. I can hear it during soft passages in the music when I am listening at low levels but at normal levels, below what we use at the event, I can not hear it at all. Last year I set the amp back a little bit from the from of the stage and turned it sideways to minimize the fan noise.

I ran an unbalanced to balance converter in front of the amp. I needed it to get all the power out of it. My Oppo didn't have enough gain to pull all the power out of the amp.
Doug