Meet at Bottleheadquarters, Bainbridge Island, Saturday, November 19, noon to 4

[Jim R.]

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

[Doc B.]

Hey Jim,

I figured you wouldn't mind a little review from the peanut gallery before your Nagas ship.

[Jim R.]

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

[ironbut]

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!

[Thoburn]

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.

[Jim R.]

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

[Doc B.]

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.

[Jim R.]

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

[Jim R.]

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

[Doc B.]

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!"

[Jim R.]

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

[Doc B.]

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.

[Bodyslam]

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.

[xcortes]

"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).

[Doc B.]

Just use two Paramounts per channel and wire the secondaries in series.