Blumenstein Ultra Fi

[patm]

Talked to Clark last week, the stands are now available. I ordered a set of Orca's with stands and subs with bases. Be here in two weeks. Can't wait !!

Pat

[Grainger49]

Not to take anything away from Clark, but how tall are the stands?  I'm aiming at having the speakers at the height of my old and ailing ears.

[patm]

I honestly did not ask. If the drawings on his web site are to scale, the stands should be in the neighborhood of 30". Maybe Clark or Doc or someone who saw them at the last BH BSF gig can step in here.

Pat

[Doc B.]

Here's a link to a video of the presentation that Clark and I gave a few weeks ago. You can see the Orcas on the stands:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F9Odr1w80I7k&h=4AQFalDEJAQFS71gt9DpAXG6XL2bUYC2G8Y6vvQJBQfRMTw

[Clark B.]

Hi Y'all, sorry for the delay there.  Have been very busy in the shop catching up after some minor foot surgery last week (so happy to have a full recovery!) and Molly has been putting together a major website update which will give the stands their own page and own photo set.  Furthermore, I loaned out my Orcas on stands before I had a chance to get some photos of them a few weeks ago and I'm just now getting them back today.  Will have some shots tonight.

The stands we're making are 25" tall with the Orcas sitting on top of that.  This puts the driver height at 32" high.  These are $400/pr.  I know, not a cheap stand, but we realized during prototyping that the Orcas really needed to be done proper justice with our own stand model or we should just not make one at all.

The stands are a mass loading type - a several layer thick chunk of in house laminated bamboo panels - edge grain matched - something that we can easily offer because of our unique machining processes.  This hunka burnin love is much heavier than it looks, but not grossly overdone.  They are polished to the same 600 grit as the Orca.  The bases and tops of the stands are detachable and they physically screw into the bottom of the Orcas (also detachable if need be).  I tried alot of methods here, and as it turns out, a physical coupling gave the Orcas the best sound, and took the stand's sound out of the picture. They can also be fitted to existing Orcas via a drill bit, marking template, and instructions that we can include at no extra charge.  I can't wait to get some good pictures of them. 

Some more details to come soon (hopefully as soon as tonight), and thanks so much for everyone's support and patience!  It means so much to Molly and I that we are actually able to be kept just that little bit "beyond" busy in our woodshop   Its been really fun lately making so much dust.

-Clark

[GlenW]

FYI...picture of Orcas on stands now on the Blumenstain website. 
http://blumensteinultrafi.bigcartel.com/product/stands-for-orcas

[GlenW]

btw... they look GREAT!  Congrats Molly (and Clark too)!!!

[Natural Sound]

FYI...picture of Orcas on stands now on the Blumenstain website. 
http://blumensteinultrafi.bigcartel.com/product/stands-for-orcas

Very nice, thanks for the link. I notice that the "complete systems" page has been stripped down though.

[Jim R.]

Tom,

I think there is just some shuffling and web page redesign going on, plus now with the stands there may be another full system option -- thinking something along the lines of 1 sub and 2 orcas on stands, and probably more that I don't even know about.

It really is just Clark and now Molly too, and things have got pretty busy lately.

-- Jim

[Clark B.]

Not to take anything away from Clark, but how tall are the stands?  I'm aiming at having the tweeters at the height of my old and ailing ears.

Grainger, The Orca driver sits 32" of the ground which should generally do it for most people while they are relaxing back, eyes shut on most couches.  The Orcas also have excellent high frequency and bass dispersion characteristics, so they are not nearly as sensitive to room placement as is typical for full rangers.  It all works out well too because we are able to get 2 pair of them per cutting sequence with our saw method.  They are edge grain matched making it not a totally straightforward task to cut and align the 5 layers of the plywood, but we like the look alot and it lets us flex our muscle a bit with the capabilities of our equipment.  Its actually alot of bamboo that goes into them, and the stuff ain't cheap so we have made them just as big as they need to be without getting to a point of diminishing returns for unnecessary added weight/height.

Will have some photos of a natural set soon as Jim Rebman's get glued up today.

Cheers man!

-Clark

[Clark B.]

Not to take anything away from Clark, but how tall are the stands?  I'm aiming at having the tweeters at the height of my old and ailing ears.

Grainger, With the stand height of 25 inches, the Orca driver sits 32" of the ground which should do it for most people while they are relaxing back, eyes shut on most couches.  Of course there is some variance between different heights of people on their different couches... But I'm going for a middle of the road/balanced out  approach.  Another factor at play is that the Orcas have excellent high frequency and bass dispersion characteristics, so they are not nearly as sensitive to room placement as is typical for full rangers.  Meaning that a few inches up or down from driver at ear level doesn't make a huge difference sonically like the "High Frequency Laser Beam" drivers. 

This height works out well for us too because we are able to get 2 pair of the stands per cutting sequence with our saw method.  The edge grain matched rips make it not a totally straightforward task to cut and align the 5 layers of the plywood as well, but we like this look alot and so it lets us flex our muscle a bit with the capabilities of our equipment.  Its actually alot of bamboo that goes into them, more than is in the Orcas, actually and the stuff ain't cheap. so we made them just as big as they need to be without getting to a point of diminishing returns for unnecessary added weight/height.

Will have some photos of a natural set soon as Jim Rebman's get glued up today.

Cheers man!

-Clark

[Grainger49]

Grainger, The Orca driver sits 32" of the ground which should generally do it for most people while they are relaxing back, eyes shut on most couches.  The Orcas also have excellent high frequency and bass dispersion characteristics, so they are not nearly as sensitive to room placement as is typical for full rangers.  It all works out well too because we are able to get 2 pair of them per cutting sequence with our saw method.  They are edge grain matched making it not a totally straightforward task to cut and align the 5 layers of the plywood, but we like the look a lot and it lets us flex our muscle a bit with the capabilities of our equipment.  Its actually a lot of bamboo that goes into them, and the stuff ain't cheap so we have made them just as big as they need to be without getting to a point of diminishing returns for unnecessary added weight/height.

Will have some photos of a natural set soon as Jim Rebman's get glued up today.

Cheers man!

-Clark

Clark,

Thanks for the detailed reply.  In my "Maxell Man" position in my La-Z-Boy recliner, reclined, my ears are about 38" above the floor.  That is, just evenly spaced between the tweeter in my Zerius speakers and the super tweeter augmenting my hearing loss sitting on top of the Zerius speakers.

And this is, of course, the reason for asking.  I would need a 6" booster seat, I think.

BTW, since I have been accused of it so often the Maxell Man poster is framed on my listening room wall.

[porcupunctis]

Grainger, I'm also a big fan of the "Maxell Man".  I have the same poster framed above my bottlehead gear in my listening room.  That iconic poster has been the symbol for serious listening for as long as I can remember.  To me, it is not only nostalgic, but is sums up what the room is all about very nicely.

One of the best and most memorable ads I can think of and they didn't even place the product in the picture.  Instead, they placed the picture on the product.  I have several sealed Maxell cassette tapes that have the image prominently placed on the packaging.

I haven't yet been accused of actually being the Maxell man but it's probably just a matter of time.

You have great taste, Grainger.

[Sh7eleven]

Curious, What configuration are the stereomour/orca users using for the stereomour - 2a3 or 45?

The speakers look beautiful, bamboo is such a great choice - I was going to veneer some DIY PI-2 Towers in bamboo - a friend helping me build them had suggested a natural bamboo with a caramelized stripe, If i ever finish I'll post pictures . . . based on the reviews around here and their beautiful aesthetic, i might just pick these up instead The fiance might agree to have these just sitting out in the living room as oppose to the small coffins I'm currently building.

[Grainger49]

Randall,

Thanks, from one Maxell man to another.