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"InDIYana 2012" Virtual Walkaround....
Well, now that it's all over and done for another year, it's time to reflect on what happened, who got some 'mentions', and how things sounded or went.
I'd like to thank Rory for the front end, Matt for the Crowns, Bryan for the pictures/tweeting/video conferencing, Mark and Joel at Meniscus and all the other sponsors for the support of this little shindig, as well as everyone who attended.
As a round out of people, it came to 39 total, of which 4 were women. It seems as though they're starting to hear what we hear doesn't it? ;) 17 no-shows. But- 300+ people joined in on the web via the video-conferencing Bryan set up, even asking for song requests.
I'll base my viewpoint from the outside door to the back of the building that was open for a good majority of the event....
Unfortunately I'm having issues getting connection to Bryan's photobucket pages, so I'll update later with photos of mine or someone else's.
The table immediately to my left upon entry is the door prize table, chock full of enticing promo-schwag. (I ended up with a DTA-100a amp, BTW.) The next table had the front end on it, consisting of the CD player, preamp, and a Majik Buss Rev 2 door prize from Pi Audio.
In the front left corner was Bryan Keane's Not-so-Rat's, and one of Dan's 'TBD' creations.
The NSR's were evenly balanced, and sounded quite good. Due to the nicely done poplar cabs, I didn't let them enter the Rat-Rocker arena. For the $240 Bryan had in these, I would be picking nits to say what was a bit off. I was quite surprised.
Dan's 'TBD', IMO, stole this show with something that could easily sell commercially. Aesthetic content was up there with Marten, Coltrane, and the Kharma Exquisites. The clear-acrylic Pellegrene waveguides really made them stand out. The Transducer Labs tweeters I feel sounded very clean and articulate, the BG Neo10 had resolution that needs to be heard at the $170 price, and the TC woofers were obviously capable. The mid was in an open-back scenario, but I didn't feel it was as inaccurate as some other open-back mids in terms of pinpoint definition. When the MTMW version of this hits- lookout! I propose 'Echelon' and 'Echelon Fortissimo' for names.
My wooferless 'Stances' set on the table first along the front wall, awaiting freshly ordered replacements due to a released spider/former glue-joint at the mercy of Genesis' 'In the Air Tonight' in an uncompressed Mobile-Fidelity release before 9am Friday morning. We received the replacements Saturday and about 3pm installed the new units for demo. Jeff said it's "one of the best little speakers I've heard in a long long time.", and others were pleasantly surprised or happy with the sound of them as well. It uses the RS125-4 and the Beston RT003C in a very-dead kitty-litter filled box.
Matt brought his 'Wolfimus 7' pair in late Saturday, but unfortunately they were not auditioned. Highly modded xover, TB 25-302S tweeter, and added damping make these what they are.
Next on the floor in front was the Gator case Matt had his Crowns and a Furman in for the show. That's a difficult piece to move around!
Dan's 'TBD' right channel set on the front right corner along with the table for nametags and box of door-prize 'hat'.
On the tables on the right wall were lots of projects. First one had my 'Trichotomys', 'Francium' MT, Mark65's 'Deullati', Bryan Keane's PC 'Speedster', and George's 'Stomy 2.1'.
I think this is a better sounding Trike than heard prior, as I fiddled with the xover a smidge. However- I may have a small rub on one of the D5G woofers at higher output levels. I'll have to investigate- maybe rotate the mounting if the suspension is giving a little. Still a bizarre cabinet from yours truly.
Francium MT's did not play on Saturday due to time constraints, but those that heard it Friday thought it was one of the best that day. Just a hunch-xover on the woofer, a maligned vented cabinet, and an adapted Dayton 3kHz xover at this point. These will eventually be a TMWW floorstander. Focal 416J/Visaton MHT12.
Mark's 'Deullati' (by Soundslike Construction firms) were as usual- a great sound at a miniscule price. DA115/BC25 MTM that measures quite flat and sounds balanced. The woofers do bass well, but tend to sound a tad rubbery, likely into the upper 40's; while the tweeter is smooth and silky though seemingly without total top-end extension or air. I wouldn't hesitate to build a pair if the price is right, as the integration is good. Nicely done.
'PC Speedster', as the third time I've heard these, I still think they are a bit thick in the midbass and a little bloated down low. That said- they boogie for a small monitor, and have enough crystalline treble to satisfy.
Unfortunately George's 'Stormy 2.1' had to forfeit their spot due to a misconnection issue, and I'm blaming Kenny. That said- when I heard these in KY, they had the most stellar 3D imaging of anything I've experienced.
Paul Carmody had his 2 raw speakers sitting on floor to the right of this table. His 'Boombox' and 'Boom Stick', both consisting of ND90's. Boombox was DTA-1 powered with a Lucy Carmody artistic finish, and the Boom Stick was a passive 1.5-way per end and to be used as a shelf in his garage. Neither were very objectionable.
On the rear-right table, Chuck had his 'Domo', 'Decades', and 'Karma Indignia'. Avoiding discussion of finish on all three here, the Domo had bang/buck and WAF factor was high; the Decades will be discussed later; and the KI I found to be a little sssibilant in this rendition where it was not when I heard it before. The lacker on the Domo was the tweeter, IMO. The piezo on the Decade was almost nonexistant, but it was a Rat-Rocker entry.
Mike had his 'Pipedream' speakers with RS28F/Silver Flute 7" in a big pipe and brake rotor for a base. I think these still need some work.
DanP brought his skinny-Stix, which did quite well, and had a basic poly'd MDF finish except for the baffles. Looked good too! I like the FR88 now that I've heard it, the tweeter was decent, and the woofers seemed to rolloff a bit early- but gradually so. The MCM4"/DQ25 MTM and W5-704/ND20 were also his. Though I strongly dislike the DQ, that design was good except for the lower treble glare. The W5/ND20 had an apparent misconnection/hole in the xover area, or at least it sounded that way to me. They also rolled off early in the bass.
Mike Jennens brought his 'XR Florians' which had the same sweet treble as the Deullati with the BC25, and solid bass from the W5-704 below. Apparently I helped in the formulation of these, but how eludes me at this moment. I liked them.
Phil Bamberg brought his professionally made piano-black cabs with specially developed OEM drivers that resembled an Aluminum HDS and a DX25. He used Bryan's NSR bass section to augment them. I was standing next to Dave Pellegrene, and he said 'there's something not right with these'. I listened a bit, and noticed multiple harmonizing vocals just smeared together into a slurry mess. He agreed. I just totally found them unengaging, and so benign/neutral that they didn't sound realistic to me.
Dave's 'Dragsters' revved up some nice sound from their small block 350 enclosures. Non-fatiguing, great bass, and substantial output potential really made these shine. A blown OX20 (visually, not mechanically) and a DA115 made a great blend for this in/as-piring builder.
Matt P brought his 'Apaches' in their final form. D5G/9950/D8.8+ complemented each other well, even though the plate was up a tad too much and making them wubba-wubba a touch, and the tweeter seemed a bit hot in that room. Matt said they don't sound hot at home in his bedroom. I really liked the finish.
On the table in the rear of the room, or on the floor adjacent...
E Biddy (Eric Best) brought his Fostex FR's, and I was impressed! Contour network provided BSC and flatness, even though the bass and air were rolled off. I thought they were quite pleasant. Drivers are NLA, IIRC.
Rory's 'Firestorms' in their final rendition I liked the most of them, and had everything to offer I hoped they would- even in the oily-painted cabs. W6-789/25-1719. There is a slight cabinet resonance, but it's minimal.
Eric L (brkitup)'s 'RetroPassives' were considerably more sensitive than expected, but gave a very easy sound. Intended for the Garage, I think these are Living Room worthy, and worth a look. Even though the phenolic tweeter was a touch hot, they were still pleasant. I don't know what the woofer was.
Jeff B brought the CSS XBL 'Triton' kit, and I liked it. The LD25X tweeter is a gem, and the VWR125 midbasses are extremely capable. The system is very cohesive, and nothing stood out as offensive. Up close, there was some midrange leakage from the slot, but further back it went away. Cost of entry here is not low, but it's well worth the ride.
He also had the TP-Kairos that was exceptionally clean. Satori drivers utilized herein, They were just splendid. To give some comparison though- I like the Continuums more. ;)
Don Bunce brought these cardboard box horns called 'Movers and Shakers', and I thought they sounded very good considering the looks and ingenuity. The Karlson flare was something I'd not experienced before, so it was neat to see how that actually worked.
Back around the room and across the sales tables sit Paul K's 'Cavatina'. While I still think the mids are a bit congested, I have no other complaints about them. Fountek CD1.0/SS 10G/Usher 8945. Mini towers that are easy to carry.
I don't think I missed any, but if I did I apologize.
That's all for now- soon to come are the 'Mentions'....
Wolf
I'd like to thank Rory for the front end, Matt for the Crowns, Bryan for the pictures/tweeting/video conferencing, Mark and Joel at Meniscus and all the other sponsors for the support of this little shindig, as well as everyone who attended.
As a round out of people, it came to 39 total, of which 4 were women. It seems as though they're starting to hear what we hear doesn't it? ;) 17 no-shows. But- 300+ people joined in on the web via the video-conferencing Bryan set up, even asking for song requests.
I'll base my viewpoint from the outside door to the back of the building that was open for a good majority of the event....
Unfortunately I'm having issues getting connection to Bryan's photobucket pages, so I'll update later with photos of mine or someone else's.
The table immediately to my left upon entry is the door prize table, chock full of enticing promo-schwag. (I ended up with a DTA-100a amp, BTW.) The next table had the front end on it, consisting of the CD player, preamp, and a Majik Buss Rev 2 door prize from Pi Audio.
In the front left corner was Bryan Keane's Not-so-Rat's, and one of Dan's 'TBD' creations.
The NSR's were evenly balanced, and sounded quite good. Due to the nicely done poplar cabs, I didn't let them enter the Rat-Rocker arena. For the $240 Bryan had in these, I would be picking nits to say what was a bit off. I was quite surprised.
Dan's 'TBD', IMO, stole this show with something that could easily sell commercially. Aesthetic content was up there with Marten, Coltrane, and the Kharma Exquisites. The clear-acrylic Pellegrene waveguides really made them stand out. The Transducer Labs tweeters I feel sounded very clean and articulate, the BG Neo10 had resolution that needs to be heard at the $170 price, and the TC woofers were obviously capable. The mid was in an open-back scenario, but I didn't feel it was as inaccurate as some other open-back mids in terms of pinpoint definition. When the MTMW version of this hits- lookout! I propose 'Echelon' and 'Echelon Fortissimo' for names.
My wooferless 'Stances' set on the table first along the front wall, awaiting freshly ordered replacements due to a released spider/former glue-joint at the mercy of Genesis' 'In the Air Tonight' in an uncompressed Mobile-Fidelity release before 9am Friday morning. We received the replacements Saturday and about 3pm installed the new units for demo. Jeff said it's "one of the best little speakers I've heard in a long long time.", and others were pleasantly surprised or happy with the sound of them as well. It uses the RS125-4 and the Beston RT003C in a very-dead kitty-litter filled box.
Matt brought his 'Wolfimus 7' pair in late Saturday, but unfortunately they were not auditioned. Highly modded xover, TB 25-302S tweeter, and added damping make these what they are.
Next on the floor in front was the Gator case Matt had his Crowns and a Furman in for the show. That's a difficult piece to move around!
Dan's 'TBD' right channel set on the front right corner along with the table for nametags and box of door-prize 'hat'.
On the tables on the right wall were lots of projects. First one had my 'Trichotomys', 'Francium' MT, Mark65's 'Deullati', Bryan Keane's PC 'Speedster', and George's 'Stomy 2.1'.
I think this is a better sounding Trike than heard prior, as I fiddled with the xover a smidge. However- I may have a small rub on one of the D5G woofers at higher output levels. I'll have to investigate- maybe rotate the mounting if the suspension is giving a little. Still a bizarre cabinet from yours truly.
Francium MT's did not play on Saturday due to time constraints, but those that heard it Friday thought it was one of the best that day. Just a hunch-xover on the woofer, a maligned vented cabinet, and an adapted Dayton 3kHz xover at this point. These will eventually be a TMWW floorstander. Focal 416J/Visaton MHT12.
Mark's 'Deullati' (by Soundslike Construction firms) were as usual- a great sound at a miniscule price. DA115/BC25 MTM that measures quite flat and sounds balanced. The woofers do bass well, but tend to sound a tad rubbery, likely into the upper 40's; while the tweeter is smooth and silky though seemingly without total top-end extension or air. I wouldn't hesitate to build a pair if the price is right, as the integration is good. Nicely done.
'PC Speedster', as the third time I've heard these, I still think they are a bit thick in the midbass and a little bloated down low. That said- they boogie for a small monitor, and have enough crystalline treble to satisfy.
Unfortunately George's 'Stormy 2.1' had to forfeit their spot due to a misconnection issue, and I'm blaming Kenny. That said- when I heard these in KY, they had the most stellar 3D imaging of anything I've experienced.
Paul Carmody had his 2 raw speakers sitting on floor to the right of this table. His 'Boombox' and 'Boom Stick', both consisting of ND90's. Boombox was DTA-1 powered with a Lucy Carmody artistic finish, and the Boom Stick was a passive 1.5-way per end and to be used as a shelf in his garage. Neither were very objectionable.
On the rear-right table, Chuck had his 'Domo', 'Decades', and 'Karma Indignia'. Avoiding discussion of finish on all three here, the Domo had bang/buck and WAF factor was high; the Decades will be discussed later; and the KI I found to be a little sssibilant in this rendition where it was not when I heard it before. The lacker on the Domo was the tweeter, IMO. The piezo on the Decade was almost nonexistant, but it was a Rat-Rocker entry.
Mike had his 'Pipedream' speakers with RS28F/Silver Flute 7" in a big pipe and brake rotor for a base. I think these still need some work.
DanP brought his skinny-Stix, which did quite well, and had a basic poly'd MDF finish except for the baffles. Looked good too! I like the FR88 now that I've heard it, the tweeter was decent, and the woofers seemed to rolloff a bit early- but gradually so. The MCM4"/DQ25 MTM and W5-704/ND20 were also his. Though I strongly dislike the DQ, that design was good except for the lower treble glare. The W5/ND20 had an apparent misconnection/hole in the xover area, or at least it sounded that way to me. They also rolled off early in the bass.
Mike Jennens brought his 'XR Florians' which had the same sweet treble as the Deullati with the BC25, and solid bass from the W5-704 below. Apparently I helped in the formulation of these, but how eludes me at this moment. I liked them.
Phil Bamberg brought his professionally made piano-black cabs with specially developed OEM drivers that resembled an Aluminum HDS and a DX25. He used Bryan's NSR bass section to augment them. I was standing next to Dave Pellegrene, and he said 'there's something not right with these'. I listened a bit, and noticed multiple harmonizing vocals just smeared together into a slurry mess. He agreed. I just totally found them unengaging, and so benign/neutral that they didn't sound realistic to me.
Dave's 'Dragsters' revved up some nice sound from their small block 350 enclosures. Non-fatiguing, great bass, and substantial output potential really made these shine. A blown OX20 (visually, not mechanically) and a DA115 made a great blend for this in/as-piring builder.
Matt P brought his 'Apaches' in their final form. D5G/9950/D8.8+ complemented each other well, even though the plate was up a tad too much and making them wubba-wubba a touch, and the tweeter seemed a bit hot in that room. Matt said they don't sound hot at home in his bedroom. I really liked the finish.
On the table in the rear of the room, or on the floor adjacent...
E Biddy (Eric Best) brought his Fostex FR's, and I was impressed! Contour network provided BSC and flatness, even though the bass and air were rolled off. I thought they were quite pleasant. Drivers are NLA, IIRC.
Rory's 'Firestorms' in their final rendition I liked the most of them, and had everything to offer I hoped they would- even in the oily-painted cabs. W6-789/25-1719. There is a slight cabinet resonance, but it's minimal.
Eric L (brkitup)'s 'RetroPassives' were considerably more sensitive than expected, but gave a very easy sound. Intended for the Garage, I think these are Living Room worthy, and worth a look. Even though the phenolic tweeter was a touch hot, they were still pleasant. I don't know what the woofer was.
Jeff B brought the CSS XBL 'Triton' kit, and I liked it. The LD25X tweeter is a gem, and the VWR125 midbasses are extremely capable. The system is very cohesive, and nothing stood out as offensive. Up close, there was some midrange leakage from the slot, but further back it went away. Cost of entry here is not low, but it's well worth the ride.
He also had the TP-Kairos that was exceptionally clean. Satori drivers utilized herein, They were just splendid. To give some comparison though- I like the Continuums more. ;)
Don Bunce brought these cardboard box horns called 'Movers and Shakers', and I thought they sounded very good considering the looks and ingenuity. The Karlson flare was something I'd not experienced before, so it was neat to see how that actually worked.
Back around the room and across the sales tables sit Paul K's 'Cavatina'. While I still think the mids are a bit congested, I have no other complaints about them. Fountek CD1.0/SS 10G/Usher 8945. Mini towers that are easy to carry.
I don't think I missed any, but if I did I apologize.
That's all for now- soon to come are the 'Mentions'....
Wolf
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