Tweet
Re: DIYowa 2009 is in the books
This was probably the most enjoyable Iowa event I've been to (the last three). They get better every year due to the dedicated work of the volunteers who set them up and their faimiles and the outstanding work and welcoming attitude of all the participants. Special thanks to Doug, his wife and son for everything, including welcoming a bunch of speaker geeks into their home Friday night, and also to Jason and Maynard for their help with door prizes and music.
First off, the overall quality of the speakers seems to improve every year, not only in the sound, but in the looks of the entries. Each class was really excellent throughout and all the speakers were well done, but a few stood out to me as the best in their class. I will resrtict my comments to speakers I was not involved in the design of, so that takes out my entry and Paul's Marcatos.
In the superbudget class, I liked Dirk's O-Really? (is that how you spell it, or just how you say it?), followed by Rory Buzka's "Stones". Very nice job fellas. They were both very well balanced, with nice voicing and considerable bass for the driver and box sizes.
In the budget class there were some really excellent entries and for me, it was very close amongst about the top 5 or so. The top three in my book were Marty's Tandband 2way, Todd Premo's Cryolites and Wolf's "Max" (yup, Wolf, in that room I preferred them over the Vijon's!).
If pressed to pick a winner, I would give the nod to Todd's Matrix, due to a smidge better midrange balance and clarity, though I preferred Marty's bass impelmentation. Really great job by all three guys and I can tell you that none of them would disappoint you.
I thought the the budget class might be good enough to give the midrange a run for its money and it did, but the midrange entries did step the game up and satisfy with some outstanding entries and even closer competition. Not including Paul's Marcatos, my favorites were Curt's Mavericks (B version), Scott Sehlin's Matrix, Shawn's Arpeggios and Maynard's Ziron. I preffered the B version of the Mavericks because I thought the soundstage was more natural sounding, imaging was improved and the midrange seemed a little more open with improved woofer to mid balance. Fantastic job, Curt. Kudo's also to Wayne for creating a visually stunning and acoustically dead cabinet to go with the sound.
I agree with Dirk, Scott's neo8 midrange/neo3 tweeter implementation was really excellent and if that had been combined with a little more stout bass section they might have cleaned up.
Shawns Arpeggios are just flat out excellent all around, especially notable for competing with some excellent 3ways.
I know Maynard did not have the Ziron's at their best. He said he had overworked them and lost some of the "magic" he had about a month ago. I can really identify with this, since I went through the same thing with the BaSSlines over the last 9 months. Still, they were one of the best. I believe he has them close and if he can get that magic back, they will be great. A very nice job on the cabinets and finish.
Among these midrange entries, I'd have to give the nod to the Maverick-B as nudging out the rest. I can't imagine anyone not being thrilled to have any of them in their home. Great job guys!
Also, the designer's music selections were excellent as well. I hope you all post your music selections in the music thread. It would be really great to have a compilation cd out of what all was played!
This was probably the most enjoyable Iowa event I've been to (the last three). They get better every year due to the dedicated work of the volunteers who set them up and their faimiles and the outstanding work and welcoming attitude of all the participants. Special thanks to Doug, his wife and son for everything, including welcoming a bunch of speaker geeks into their home Friday night, and also to Jason and Maynard for their help with door prizes and music.
First off, the overall quality of the speakers seems to improve every year, not only in the sound, but in the looks of the entries. Each class was really excellent throughout and all the speakers were well done, but a few stood out to me as the best in their class. I will resrtict my comments to speakers I was not involved in the design of, so that takes out my entry and Paul's Marcatos.
In the superbudget class, I liked Dirk's O-Really? (is that how you spell it, or just how you say it?), followed by Rory Buzka's "Stones". Very nice job fellas. They were both very well balanced, with nice voicing and considerable bass for the driver and box sizes.
In the budget class there were some really excellent entries and for me, it was very close amongst about the top 5 or so. The top three in my book were Marty's Tandband 2way, Todd Premo's Cryolites and Wolf's "Max" (yup, Wolf, in that room I preferred them over the Vijon's!).
If pressed to pick a winner, I would give the nod to Todd's Matrix, due to a smidge better midrange balance and clarity, though I preferred Marty's bass impelmentation. Really great job by all three guys and I can tell you that none of them would disappoint you.
I thought the the budget class might be good enough to give the midrange a run for its money and it did, but the midrange entries did step the game up and satisfy with some outstanding entries and even closer competition. Not including Paul's Marcatos, my favorites were Curt's Mavericks (B version), Scott Sehlin's Matrix, Shawn's Arpeggios and Maynard's Ziron. I preffered the B version of the Mavericks because I thought the soundstage was more natural sounding, imaging was improved and the midrange seemed a little more open with improved woofer to mid balance. Fantastic job, Curt. Kudo's also to Wayne for creating a visually stunning and acoustically dead cabinet to go with the sound.
I agree with Dirk, Scott's neo8 midrange/neo3 tweeter implementation was really excellent and if that had been combined with a little more stout bass section they might have cleaned up.
Shawns Arpeggios are just flat out excellent all around, especially notable for competing with some excellent 3ways.
I know Maynard did not have the Ziron's at their best. He said he had overworked them and lost some of the "magic" he had about a month ago. I can really identify with this, since I went through the same thing with the BaSSlines over the last 9 months. Still, they were one of the best. I believe he has them close and if he can get that magic back, they will be great. A very nice job on the cabinets and finish.
Among these midrange entries, I'd have to give the nod to the Maverick-B as nudging out the rest. I can't imagine anyone not being thrilled to have any of them in their home. Great job guys!
Also, the designer's music selections were excellent as well. I hope you all post your music selections in the music thread. It would be really great to have a compilation cd out of what all was played!
Comment