Bottlehead Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Doc B. on October 24, 2011, 09:40:51 AM
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We haven't had a party here at HQ in several months. For this one I would like to combine a couple of themes:
First I think it's very overdue that we get the local crew together. I kinda miss the old days when everyone would come over to our place with their latest projects and hook 'em up. Let's do that!
Secondly, for a specific theme for this get together I would like to extend an offer to help folks with kits that may be needing troubleshooting. If you have one, bring it along and I'll sit down with you and figure out what's going on.
We'll have the big multiway system up and running, as well as all the headphone rigs. I'll also figure to have a non-multiway system that we can easily plug a pair of amps into to run them through the paces. (Clark, you listenin' bud?). Bring whatever you'd like to try out, amps, speakers, headphones, you name it.
And of course everyone is welcome to bring some nosh and adult beverages. There's a brewery going in next door that will be open in spring, but for now we'll have to supply our own brew...
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Count me in! I'll bring the HD-800's and the AC powered Quickie for laughs.
A 20 watt 6550 SE amp being completed by then isn't out the question either.
-PB
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A 20 watt 6550 SE amp
-PB
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And a forklift to move it!
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I just moved one of these, plus two speaker cabinets, from my garage to my basement yesterday.
(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nycfarmboy.com%2FhammondE%2Fe.jpg&hash=0323582561d3f5d8ae9f263c42ae06af8c8541a9)
About 800 lbs. total, 440 of which was the organ itself. Only took four people. I'm sure we can handle it at this end if you can find some patsies, uh, I mean, friends, at your end.
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I will check with the patsies. Some custom tube amps may have been made in trade for moving help last year...
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This sounds like an excellent opportunity to check out the SMACK and the Bottlehead DAC!!
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I just got the headphone listening station in the lobby back together yesterday (we took most of it to RMAF). And for now the music server/DAC is the source for the station. So the timing would be very good indeed to listen to them together.
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Just a bump to remind everyone of the meet here at Bottleheadquarters this Saturday. Bring your project, your ears and maybe an adult beverage or nosh. We have been slowly and steadily tuning up the main system since the last time we had an open house, and it's sounding pretty good, with a lot better imaging and bass. And we have the headphone listening station fully operational.
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I'll be driving down from Vancouver Canada. Any other Canucks out there interested in car pooling? I've got room for 2. I live in Surrey and will be leaving ~ 8am on Saturday morning, going via the Aldergrove crossing and then down the I5.
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I had a recent top cap failure on one of my 816s but managed to dig through the many still packed boxes and press my spare into service. In light of this happy news I will be bringing my 76 Soulsister to the party. I've never had the opportunity to listen to it on a well voiced system, and welcome the opportunity to hear both it and any impressions of it's character from those of you not afflicted with proud papa syndrome. I'll also see about bringing some "Olde Frothingslosh".
Scott
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I'll have a few items for sale at the meet this Saturday -
The last pair of Straight 8s. These are my own, with the kit cabinets in a sort of light walnut finish, Aurum Cantus G2si tweeters and external passive crossovers on breadboards. Biampable, ready to play, 8 ohms, 96dB sensitivity. This would have been about $1400 worth of kit and upgrade tweeters, the best sounding version of the S8s that I came up with. I'm asking $650. We'll help you load them up and I'll include a pair of replacement ribbons for the tweeters.
A handful of built up C4S and shunt reg boards. These are from various prototypes and such, sold as parts. $5 each.
A Dynaco Stereo 70. No tubes, has cage and manual, all iron tests good. $250
A Dynaco PAS 2 and FM-1, brass faces, missing knobs, definite projects. $40 each
A single Heath W5M, no tubes, does have cage, all iron tests good. $250
Proceeds from these Dynas and Heath help a friend to pay for care of her elderly parent.
Uher 4200 tape recorder - not running. I had this crazy idea that I was going to put this in my Mercedes. Like I don't have enough silly projects. $20
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I am super excited to finally be able to attend a Bottle-meet. Having just moved to Seattle and most of my stuff still being in boxes, I figured I would just be bringing beer, but then I remembered: my wife found my AKG K340s. I think they were packed with her shoes (professional movers make some weird choices...). So I'll be bringing those along for anyone who wants a Smack or Crack at the Electrostats. Oh, and I'll still bring beer!
Also, do people convene on the ferry? From the discussions here, I'm figuring most people will be found near the bar. I'm aiming for the 11:25 from Seattle, and I'll be a walk-on if someone would be so kind as to let me thumb a ride to the HQ.
Looking forward to putting faces to screen-names,
Josh
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So I'll be bringing those along for anyone who wants a Smack or Crack at the Electrostats.
Awesome, would really love to hear them.
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As mentioned in another thread, we hope to have a proof of concept 300B preamp running by Saturday. We have one channel complete, and it rocks.
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Dan, Clark tells me that you're reading my mind :-). The answer is an enthusiastic "yes!".
Good timing, eh?
Hope you can try the FP III+ and/or new preamp and the Paramount 1.1s with them too. Just curious how that will sound.
Have fun,
Jim
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Hey Jim,
I figured you wouldn't mind a little review from the peanut gallery before your Nagas ship.
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Don't mind at all -- glad to help you and Clark out hoever I can. Of course my room wiill be a small fraction the size of yours, but no matter, just hope you all have fun with them.
-- Jim
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So I'll be bringing those along for anyone who wants a Smack or Crack at the Electrostats.
Awesome, would really love to hear them.
Those 340's are pretty power hungry. Maybe a good candidate for driving with the Paramounts. They can sound awful good (I keep meaning to pick up a pair).
Wish I could be there for this one but it's just not in the cards this time.
Have fun you guys!
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This was my first Bottlehead event. Very fun. Enjoyed meeting everybody and listening to some great music. For me the best music was, without a doubt, David Oistrakh on the big reel to reel. Just awesome. I was sitting center stage listing with the group. There was a bit of chatter. People visiting and commenting on the music. But, When Maestro Oistrakh and his violin took the stage, all the chatter stopped. We all were focused on the music. It was very magical. Thanks Dan and Eileen and all the Bottlehead crew for hosting the event. O, by the way, those Blumenstein Naga's are very impressive. Hard to believe you can get a sound so rich out of such a small driver. Thanks Clark for the demo.
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Toby,
Yes, those tape setups are pretty special, aren't they? Thanks for the thoughts on thhe Nagas -- that's my pair and hopefully they'll soon be playing here in my listening room.
-- Jim
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Wow, what a fine time! I think that was one of the most fun meets we've done. Thanks to everyone who stopped by yesterday, and thanks to everyone for being so generous with their offerings. My head count was about 17. The Nagas and the Orcas were sounding really great with Stereomour and S.E.X. 2.1 respectively, and they look gorgeous to boot. And I have to say I think the big system was sounding about the best it has yet in the new space. Hopefully everyone got to hear the 300B preamp. There is no going back now, and PJ and I are discussing the construction of active crossovers using the same circuit. I thought the Tang Bands on open baffles that Ed brought showed promise too, particularly with the BSCs installed. Would like to hear them again after some break in of the cones. We had some ground loop/equipment interaction issue which precluded us from listening to Scott's very cool looking Soul Sister variant. But what I could glean thru the noise issue was a very nice sound, and we plan to schedule a rematch.
Dr. Shawn was cranking out repairs all afternoon, and ended up three for three, with a crippled Paramount and two S.E.X. amps leaving healthy and happy with their happy owners. Unfortunately we were having so much fun with the big system that there wasn't a lot of quiet time for headphone listening. I did get a chance to listen briefly to Josh's AKG K340s and they are very interesting. They really seemed to like the S.E.X. 2.1. Josh graciously left them for me to listen to a bit more under quieter circumstances. I think we will have to do a separate headphone event in the near future, maybe we'll host another Head Fi meet.
Speaking of meets, Clark and I are planning a get together at the brewery near his woodshop in SODO. This will be a "party in the front room, listen in the back room" kind of a meet and greet thing featuring Blumenstein Ultra-Fi speakers and Bottlehead amps, and we're tentatively shooting for the weekend December 10th. Might even be free beer for the first few folks who show up...
And there will be a Head Fi meet at Front Panel Express on January 21st. Hopefully we can keep up this head of steam and have a lot more local audio related events in the coming year.
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Man, I want to move! Seattle area was one of my short-list cities to settle in, and this just makes it even that more tempting :-). Let's see, lots of cool, homegrown auio, navigable water and fairly consistent wind, not too hot, not too cold, ok, a bit on the damp side, but who cares...
My Nagas will start out life with a Shindo Apetite driving them, but as soon as the Stereomour is done, that will go in the system, and by that time the Nagas should have some time on them as well, and maybe even the Eros will be done for some LP spinning.
Sounds like a great time, and sure wish I could be there for the 10th, but I know it won't happen.
Still thinking on how I can find a wa to get a pair of Orcas, the new s.e.x. amp and the BUF sub setup in my living room one of these days.
Thanks for the update, Dan!
-- Jim
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Dan,
Just noticing something else here... what is it about the s.e.x. 2.1 at only 2 watts that is making it do so well with all these power hungry cans? First the AKG 1000s, then the LCD-2s, and now these AKG electrostats?
Kind of makes me wish I had tried the HD-800s on it as well, though I realize that isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison.
-- Jim
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Well, 2 watts is a lot of power for a headphone. The typical headphone output power level is about 1/10 of that. And of course the new output transformers on the S.E.X. have a 32 ohm tap so more voltage swing is available than on the older version.
As to the HD800 I find it quite efficient compared to other high impedance cans, and my taste in headphones is more towards high resolution with tight punchy bass rather than a very full midrange and abundant bass like the S.E.X. can do. So for me the HD800s go with Smack. But I think they may be one set of cans that will work great with all three headphone amps - a case where a person need not worry about any particular amp falling short in power or tonality - and can simply choose their favorite flavor.
Oh yeah, and as for that fairly consistent wind, I wouldn't count on that. The Sound is a notorious place for going alee of an island and the skipper yelling "Start the Yamaha!"
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Yes, that's why godgave us those sweet little Saab 6 HP diesels with the variable pitch props :-). Wonder if Chip Stulen of Faering Designs is still building those beautiful Iain Oughtred designed small -- 22 foot -- sailboats. I like tube amps, real wood speakers, and real wood sailboats as well. I think Bainbridge Island was at least once home to a really great rigger,Brion Toss, and his wife, Robin Lincoln, a sailmaker who I knew from Maine. The whole wooden boat scene was another draw to the area for me, with a fairly well known wooden boat show in Port Townsend, at least back in the 80s.
Sorry, yes, it was the tonality thing I meant when I was talking about the HD-800s and the new s.e.x. amp -- not the power per se. Also wish I had heard the 800s on the smack -- but I suppose I'll have to rectify that someday :-).
-- Jim
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Wonder if Chip Stulen of Faering Designs is still building those beautiful Iain Oughtred designed small -- 22 foot -- sailboats. I think Bainbridge Island was at least once home to a really great rigger,Brion Toss, and his wife, Robin Lincoln, a sailmaker who I knew from Maine. The whole wooden boat scene was another draw to the area for me, with a fairly well known wooden boat show in Port Townsend, at least back in the 80s.
-- Jim
Looks like Chip Stulen is making lapstrake canoes these days. Wow, $3300! Very nice looking. And Brion Toss is up at the Sail Loft in Port Townsend, where the Wooden Boat Festival is going stronger than ever since they built a new Center for Wooden Boats a couple years ago.
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I like tube amps, real wood speakers, and real wood sailboats as well.
one of my favorite posters:
If god had wanted us to have fiberglass boats, He would have planted fiberglass trees.
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"PJ and I are discussing the construction of active crossovers using the same circuit"
That was the only missing component for my Quad/Ionovacs project (a 12 to 15 watt SET amp would help too but right now I think the 8 watts from a Paramount would suffice).
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Just use two Paramounts per channel and wire the secondaries in series.
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Funny that I read this thread today. I'm a sailmaker in Seattle - I had an old salt come up to my workplace today and came up with a good one: "People will work to keep a wood boat going until they are out of funds, lack physical health, or lose their emotional capability to own one."
Sorry I missed the meet last weekend, I think I'll try to make the next one and check out the bottleheadquarters!
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I like tube amps, real wood speakers, and real wood sailboats as well.
You know, I think the same thing can be said for old British Motor cars, or Cycles. I know, I've been a slave to both...John
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Is that's still what you're using (I know it was four on your case)?
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Sail Doc,
Yes, that would desribe me -- no funds for a wood boat and definitely nowhere near healthy enough to even consider owning a boat of any kind.
John, yes, was a big triumph/MG fan in the day. A friend had inherited a early 50s MG-TC that we were going to restor back in the 70s. Not sure what he ever did with it, but we took it compltely apart, cataloged eevery part, rebuuilt the engine to a class 4 racing engine )and I don't even remember what that eans anymore :-) ), and then lifee happened, we lost touch, and well, that was a thousand years ago.
Also briefly owned a BSA and a royal enfield, but never a vincent.
-- Jim