SDC (not MWAF) 2022 fallout thread....

[Paul K.]

Bill, you're making me blush but your comments are very much appreciated. I didn't hear a lot of speakers in the jam room but of those I did hear, yours and Dan Neubecker's were not hampered by the room's poor acoustics and sounded very good.
Paul

[4thtry]

Paul K. took 1st place in the final category, under $300, with his "Duetta" speakers (SP01). These were relatively small tower speakers (about 40" high) using an RST28F-4 tweeter and RS180P-4 midwoofer. Per Paul's writeup, this was a tapered TL AND a ML-TL with two mass loading ports near the end of the line. Crossover was 1800Hz LR4. I did not hear these in the jam room, but I heard them play a few months earlier at InDIYana. They were one of the best sounding speakers at the show. Very detailed high frequencies and depth perception. The low frequency extension was exceptional for such a small enclosure (gross volume of only 0.94 cu. ft). Paul made the baffle, base, and tail from 3/4" Bamboo and the rest from walnut veneered Baltic birch plywood. The fit & finish was definitely furniture grade; the detailed work of a true craftsman.

[jhollander]

Heh...

jhollander Since that is the song I cranked in the lobby I am not sure if this comment is directed at my tapped horn sub or not (although I don't understand the Lockheed Martin part).

Sorry If it was a little loud, while we were tearing down I had two excited guys run up to me saying "We want to hear this sub LOUDER" so I let her rip.

Matt sorry this is a reference to the open unlimited contestant ??? who traveled from Georgia with a gigantic speaker and a mirror. His explanations had us rolling with laughter for quite awhile. Similar to the Minion pants, there are somethings worth seeing and hearing at the SDC.

[4thtry]

The 3rd place winner in Dayton was Keith E. with his "The Plum Dingers" speakers (SP41). This was a relatively small (6x11x8") two-way bass reflex in an MTM configuration. Drivers used were the Dayton ND20FB-4 tweeter and two Dayton PS95-8 full range per channel. Port tuning was 93Hz (FB) for an F3 of 75Hz. Crossover: 4930Hz. The MDF cabinet was painted with real milk paint "Plum" color (purple) with hemp oil finish.

[4thtry]

The 2nd place winner in the Dayton category was John H. with his "Mini LX521" speakers (SB08). The tweeter was a Dayton ND20FB, the midrange was a Dayton RS100P, and the woofers (two per cabinet) were Dayton ND91's. I can't remember if these were the 8 ohm or 4 ohm versions of these drivers. John told me which versions were used in a thread a while back, but now I cannot find the thread. I think the tweeter is the 4 ohm version. Not sure about the mid or woofer versions. I did not hear these in the jam room this year. These were the speakers that blew everyone away at the InDIYana competition a while back.

[Wolf]

Can I ask what you did to make the next revision?

[4thtry]

Now it's time for the Dayton category, and the 1st place winner simply blows my mind. Tom Z. took the prize with a pair of extremely small speakers, "The Bantams" (SP48). They have to be the smallest speakers that have ever won 1st place in ANY category! Drivers were the Dayton ND91-4 3.5" aluminum cone woofers and the Dayton AMTPOD-4 autosound tweeter (air motion transformer). The passive radiator on the back was a Peerless 830878 3.5". And all of these small parts were jammed, together with xover parts, into a pair of ultra small Denovo .04 cu. ft. knock down cabinets! Incredible!

[4thtry]

The Fan Favorite award was won by Nick S. for his "Carl & Stuart" speakers (SP40). The external driver was a DIY coax that Nick made using a Dayton RS100 woofer and a SB14 tweeter. The woofer was a Dayton DSA135 mounted internally in a bandpass configuration and vented out the rear end of the enclosure. Wish I could have heard these. I kept walking back and forth between the loudspeaker holding room and the jamming room and I completely missed the session for these. Beautiful cabinets and finishing work!!

EDIT: This speaker was also the 2nd place winner in the Under #300 category. See posts 51 and 65 below for additional details.

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[mattp]

How else would we know about how the devil went down to Georgia and built a giant speaker at Lockheed Martin?

Heh...

jhollander Since that is the song I cranked in the lobby I am not sure if this comment is directed at my tapped horn sub or not (although I don't understand the Lockheed Martin part).

Sorry If it was a little loud, while we were tearing down I had two excited guys run up to me saying "We want to hear this sub LOUDER" so I let her rip.

[dlneubec]

First, I'd like to thank all the PE folks who were there dealing with all us speaker geeks, for holding after a couple year hiatus and for trying some new approaches. I very much enjoyed the experience again this year. My more specific thoughts on the venue and setup are as follows:

I liked the separate speaker room. It was an improvement over having all the speakers in the same room where the judging and music playing was happening, in terms of the added ability to discuss the details and thoughts of the designers, or simply catching up with friends without competing with speaker auditioning. I think the speaker room could have been combined with the big outer room, rather than having two separate gathering spaces. At times in the past, where all it all took place in one room, some of the discussion at the back of the room tended to intrude on the judging and listening that was going on concurrently.

Coming in, I thought the separate judging room and jam room was a great idea, but in reality it seemed to be an overall negative. In the past, I would estimate that I heard almost every speaker that was judged/auditioned on a given day of the event. I ended up really missing the ability to hear what the judges heard when comparing all the speakers in each category. For whatever reason, I was just not drawn to the jam room and probably heard less than 25% of the speakers that played on Saturday.

Not having been in the judges shoes, all I can go by is what I heard and observed with my own speakers in the judging room. I thought the idea of a smaller room that was more like a normal listening space in a home would yield a sound more similar to what we all hear in our own homes. In my case, it was quite the opposite. The sound in the judging room was more different from what I hear in my listening space at home that I can recall at any other prior MWAF or InDIYana setting. My speculation is that perhaps that small room, with reflection damping turned out to be less than ideal for speakers that have significant side or rear (or both) output, like omni's and/or dipoles.

FWIW, I really ended up missing hearing all the speakers as they were judged and hearing from the designers all about the development of their designs. I'd probably prefer a two room event, one for speaker storage, hanging out, etc. and one that is for judging and auditioning, but where the room is large enough for a reasonable size audience could be accommodated, so we could all hear what the judges heard, not only the same pieces of music, but in the same setting for all speakers and also hear the designers thoughts and intentions. The big central room might be used for speaker storage and communal space and either the room that housed the speakers this year or the jam room could be used for judging and audience auditioning.

I wonder if it would work to combine judging and jam by doing 3 minutes of judge selected music, followed by maybe 3 minutes of designer selected music.

[4thtry]

3rd place in the over $300 category was me (Bill S.) The speaker name was "Diffractorama" (SP19). Drivers were the Morel TM4055-8 TweeMid's and Rival Acoustics R176P-08 seven inch woofers. Crossovers were 850Hz and 3700Hz 4th order acoustical. Woofer loading was a 47" long ML-TL tuned to 31Hz. The idea behind the big 17" red donuts was my attempt to replicate the on and off-axis diffraction signature of a large IEC test baffle (53 x 64" with standard IEC driver offset) in a much smaller package.

[tomzarbo]

I had a nice conversation with him for a bit about his creation, and he didn't actually even end up using the tweeter in the coax unit, just the large AMT. We were kidding that the unused tweeter in the coax unit could be marketed as a "Continuously Repositionable Driver Phase Plug" or something like that.

They're not my speakers, though, so I shouldn't tell his business as to why.

TomZ

[[email protected]]

Hello All, Josh Here.

Very good points about what you liked and what can be improved, I feel it too. We wanted to improve the judging experience so your speakers could be evaluated in optimal (as close as possible) conditions, but in doing so we reduced the communal cohesiveness of the event. We knew this would be a byproduct, which is why we created the jam room but there are elements that we'll need to adjust. Lots of good feedback on how to improve this, so we'll get to work on next year's plan while it's fresh. What did not change was the skill of the entries and the comradery; your unique skillsets are such a privilege to witness and I thank you for sharing your talents with each other and the staff at Parts Express.

Onward and upward,

Josh Wickersham

[4thtry]

2nd place in the over $300 category went to Adam M. for his "Nighthawk" speakers (SP30). These were black towers with an open back midrange and enclosed woofer. Drivers were the Fountek NECCD 3.5H ribbon tweeters, Tang Band W5-16115F 5" midranges, and Dayton RS 225-8 woofers. The baffle was constructed of oak and aluminum strips laminated together. The oak was painted black for improved contrast against the aluminum (this works well as you can see). The baffle edges were faceted and tapered toward the top.

[4thtry]

1st place for the > $300 category went to Dan N. for his "WGO - Waveguide Omni" (SP44). This was a large omnidirectional tower with the following drivers: AE TD 124, B&C 6MPX44, SPA 21RDC, and SB215DC. They cranked these speakers up fairly high in the jam room and they could really pack a punch. Very wide and diffused type soundstaging.