AudioNervosa
Group Therapy => NC Triangulation => Topic started by: richidoo on January 01, 2009, 08:19:32 AM
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3pm til whenever. Food served, small donation requested. I will cater from Daniel's Italian Restaurant in Cary. RSVP here.
Any new toys to show and tell?
Thanks!
Rich
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I am IN :drool:!
Want me bring anything?...besides the VT100mkIII...for you to play with :lol:!
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Now if they just offered free airline tickets. ;)
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If you came Mike, that would be a party!! G2Gs would be a lot bigger if everyone came in from around the country, huh?
I think this will be a fun meet. I'm working on a lot of acoustic treatments and some other things, more info when/if any of it is ever finished - haha. Kids go back to school Monday, hopefully I can hit the ground running.
Steve, you and your AR electronics are always welcome! I'm dying to hear 6550s on my speakers.
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Hey Mike we could do a video conference with Skype and a webcam??? Audio would't be so hot but you could watch us drink beer and eat Italian and chat?? Just a thought. Anybody watch Oprah's Skype interviews? Works but sometimes the audio is a bit choppy. Just a krazy idea :shock:
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Hey Mike we could do a video conference with Skype and a webcam??? Audio would't be so hot but you could watch us drink beer and eat Italian and chat?? Just a thought. Anybody watch Oprah's Skype interviews? Works but sometimes the audio is a bit choppy. Just a krazy idea :shock:
That is damn funny but I suppose it's possible. :rofl:
Oddly enough I did see part of the Oprah Skype interviews, my wife had it on when I came home from work one day and asked what Skype was.
I'll get a web cam so you can watch me drink Scotch. :beer:
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I will hopefully be able to attend this one. Logan is settling in nicely and I should be able to get a few hours away :D
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Awesome Nick! Soon he will be tagging along.
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He does like his music, doesn't really matter what type at this point though. 8)
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Hello Rich:
Thanks for arranging another G2G. I have the date on my calendar!
My latest toys are the Turbo Upgrade and bybees to the ModWright Transporter. I have also added a metal base GZ-34 and an EML-5U4G Mesh to my stash of rectifier tubes for the unit. I also replaced my Candela with a Mapletree Line 2A SE. It was a major step-up in the sound quality from my system, IMHO.
Let me know if you would like for me to bring either or both of these units.
Ken
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Sounds great Ken. You are welcome to bring them.
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Just a bump to remind everybody this weekend is fast approaching. I think we will have about 10-15 people, and some new faces.
The system is sounding great thanks to Shane's Aluminata wires, Sols i60 amp, Carls equitech Q1.5, and some ugly but effective bass traps.
We should be able to setup a second small system too, using Sol's i30 and my Feastrex drivers in new small bookshelf cabinets.
A third system is possible using my new (used) AKG K701 headphones. We still need a headamp or preamp with headphone jack and a source to drive it. I have a SB3, but it will need a DAC and an amp - these cans are brutally revealling and SB3 is not enough gain.
Steve (stereofool) is bringing Raysonic again along with AR vt100mk3 tube amp, and Ken is bringing his retubed Transporter again. I have slimserver 6.5.4 running on the NAS. Sonos can attach directly to any media on the network, so bring your USB drives, flash drives, whatever can be shared. Of course we need CDs to feed the Raysonic. I may fire up the TT also, so bring some LPs if you want. My TT rig is good enough but not crazy. Maybe bring the EE phono preamp Carl? BTW, don't plan on leaving at 6pm like usual. You are going to be held hostage til 9pm minimum.
Please park on driveway or street with all four tires on pavement. There are sprinklers on the edges of driveway and street that are easily broken under a tire. Don't make me plant camoflage sharp tip rebars... :lol: Thanks.
I will get some catering for the dinner, please bring a donation for the cause. Danielson55.net is excellent. I will get a vegetarian dish too, PM if you have special diet. Thanks
After a long break, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again.
Rich
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If the old/new amp is cleaned up enough maybe I'll bring that too. Though it's only about 40 watts. 8)
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Cool. That's why we're starting early so there is time to swap things and compare and learn without going crazy and rushing. 40W will work fine Nick. Does it have phono too? Headphone?? From that era it probably does... We'll give it a good workout 8)
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Yup, phono or tuner then tape1 and tape2. Also has a headphone plug. Haven't tried it yet though.
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If you want to setup the upstairs room as a 'B' system, I can bring the Era Design 5's and stands... They're sitting in a corner unplayed at the moment.. along with the Sol-modded MF amp.
I can also bring the Nixon tube DAC that now has a better tube in it... So, I'll at least bring that and the phono pre.
-C
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I just got back from a wonderful visit to Carl's. The music room is almost ready for sheetrock, and it is very exciting to be in there. The future site of so much good listening and good times.
Carl sent me home with the Era speakers and a nice Focal sub, to make the upstairs system. I'll have it playing by tonight, but I have hear this a few times, it is really sweet. Sols i30 should make a perfect compliment, plus we have the infamous Altmann BYOB battery amplifier which is a fantastic match to the Eras.
Yes Carl, please do bring the DAC at least, and the phono too, if you feel like schlepping them both. DAC can convert Sonos to analog, and Minimax phono preamp can serve TT duty downstairs.
No replies on food preferences so I'm making my own choices. :-P
Still lookin for a nice headphone amp.
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Catering the Italian place has been nixed by the CFO. Sorry guys! So I am cooking again, but this time I will have three helpers, so it should be done before anyone gets here. Just fair warning for any of you who were only coming for Daniels Italian, you better stop there on the way... :D I will make richidoo's famous meatballs, spaghetto, and I think a vegetarian lasagne, insalata, sweets. I have a couple sixes of weird beer St Bridget's (thanks to LW!) and Newcastle, a couple Miller Lites. Bring whatever else you prefer.
The second system is running upstairs, sounds excellent. Thanks Carl! I had a question aboutthe setup today so I emailed signal Path. They called me back within 10 minutes and had a nice intelligent conversation with Dave, the principle. Impressive service! As are these little speakers.
I will have Squeezecenter 7.4 beta running on my XP P4 for Ken's transporter and my SB upstairs. I have a CDP to feed the Altman DAC upstairs, and stereofools Raysonic and Ken's Transporter downstairs. Sol is trying to get one of his headphone amps which can be powered by a Sonos and Carl's Nixon DAC. Of course all this can be shuffled around as desired.
Thanks to hometheaterdoc and stereofool , we should be able to listen to All Aluminata vs All SC3 ICs and SCs, fwiw....
I would like to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Equitech Q power conditioner with various amps.
Bring some music you like, grab a drink and head for the sweet spot!
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Would you still like me to bring the new/old Technics amp? It sound pretty darned good and is all cleaned up.
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Yeah, Nick! That's cool!
The menu is still evolving. God knows what it will be, but something good. :D
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What cartridge are you running on the turntable? MC or MM? If using a MC be sure to hook up to the Low MC Output in the back of the Mini.
Hopefully you have some nice 12AX7's.
Have a great day, wish I could be there.
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Mind if Corrie and Logan come too? I figure she could drop me off and if Logan gets too fussy just take him for a walk. Weather looks good so he may have fun riding around in the stroller outside.
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There is a chance I won't be there until a little later.... Maybe as late as 5... but hopefully sooner.
I've got a DAC, Integrated amp, and phono pre sitting in a stack waiting to go...
-C
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Hey guys! Today's the day. Homemade chili (meat and vegetarian pots), baked potatoes and sweets!
Nick, Corrie and Logan are welcome of course! I'll finally get to meet the little bugger. Be advised we don't have a microwave or high chair, but feel free to bring anything. My kids will be around too.
Bill, I wish you could be here too. We'll use my Shure MM cart today.
mdconnelly has a cold, won't be coming :cry: But it should be a full house, maybe 20 guys. :shock:
See you soon!
Rich
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I'm sitting home eating my heart out... Sure wish I could share the day with you guys.
I'll probably work on my taxes to get cheered up!
Have a great listen,
Edward
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I'm sitting home eating my heart out... Sure wish I could share the day with you guys.
Same here! I hate to miss another G2G.... but I trust you'll post pictures and such while I nurse this cold.
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I just arrived home from a really fun G2G at Rich's home this evening. Thank you Rich for the fantastic hospitality and excellent Chili! There was lots of great equipment and a fun social evening with a terrific bunch of guys! I will write more tomorrow.
Ken
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Rich...thanks again, for your awesome hospitality!!!
It was great to see everyone again, and well as meet a new face (Eric).
I stayed downstairs the whole time...so everything pretty much sounded great.
My eyelids are about to slam shut...so I'll see if I can gather my thoughts later...today :shock:!
I'm supposed to be in bed...long before now :lol:.
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What a great G2G! Thanks a million, Rich. Great hosting as always. You're a class act. 8)
To me the stars of the show were Sol's 30w amp, the Raysonic 128 cdp, and the Technics receiver that Nick brought. I connected to the music extremely well with those pieces in the chain... and of course, I liked my Scott Nixon DAC and was quite pleased at how well it faired with the new tube (Jolida 6DJ8). It was my favorite because it's the kind of sound I like... but I think it was 'in the ballpark' of the rest of the high-end digital sources we compared.
Fun times... Looking forward to having my own G2G this summer. :)
Thanks again!
-Carl
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Thanks Rich. It was great as always and it's always fun to go and hear some really nice equipment.
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Hey guys! What a blast that was! After a long drought that was a good way to fire up the coals again. Thanks to everyone for coming over. I hope the next meet won't so so delayed as this one was. Who's doing the next one? March sometime? With the AC Carolina Circle reopened, there may be more people interested in hosting.
I too liked Sol Samet's i30 last night. It normally sounds too bassy for me, but with all those warm bags of liquid absorbing so much bass (and oxygen) it sounded just right. It is always very smooth, detailed and communicative. I think it is a locked design now. Congrats Sol! We used it for a DAC comparison which was pretty fun and informative. The i60 didn't sound as nice, thin midrange a little harsh on the highs. But it had the best bass control and tone.
I liked all the digital sources in different ways, but the comparison helped me understand what aspects I like and don't like. I like my Altmann, but the rest of the system is starting to outperform it now. It is kinda hyper, a strong personality. The Nixon DAC was the most earthy and organic of all the sources, but didn't have any pressure behind the music, you have to go get it. The altmann was next most earthiest, but had some color on it making unconscious absorbtion easier. The oversampling players pressurize the music for totally vegged out enjoyment, but not as flesh and blood realistic, imo. The MW TP was the most pressurized, you can be in a coma and the music will get through to you with that player - a very direct, stimulating connection, a far cry from the stock TP. Raysonic is deceptive in that it sounds so smooth, but is also very active listener, but you don't feel the pressure, it's just an IV drip. The NOS DACs are like real life, you have to pay attenion and listen on purpose, which I love. But it's like reading vs watching a movie, more effort, and take some practice to learn to love it. Carl I think we can improve the Nixon tube even more. I want to hear that!!
Best sound of the night I think was the Raysonic 168 running direct into the Manley Snappers with Black Sands PCs, JPS Aluminata SCs, and JPS SC3 balanced interconnects, Equitech Q1.5 power conditioner, Usher Be-20. And of course lots of room treatments, liquid and solid. That was very, very nice. We tried the Transporter in the same rig, but it's digital volume control sounded bad. With Modwright mods the stock internal attentuator jumpers are disabled. We should build a -20dB attenuator for it next time. The Snappers LOVE their balanced inputs. Surprisingly the Snappers still hold their own among the ubergear that visited.
The ModWright Transporter with maximum fantasy upgrades and nice tubes was a hot performer. It is very revealling and clear. It is very musical and engaging. It is a HUGE upgrade from the stock (cryoed) TP which sounded dead to me. These new upgrades are a further significant improvement over the stock ModWright TP which did not have the refinement of Raysonic or bass control of Altmann at the last G2G several months ago. With the premium mods it is a truly great source now.
We had a second system running upstairs based on Carl's Era D5 speakers and Reality SCs. The room was live and ringy, but sidewall 1st reflection absorbers and front corner bass traps helped, as did socks in the speaker ports at first. But everyone preferred more bass volume with open ports. That system played a lot of different sources. With some well engineered acoustic treatment, it might be made to handle symphonic music with a smaller system. It's tempting and worth investigating, but I am still skeptical. Eventually a HT will go in there.
I set up a headfi with AKG K701 cans, Sol Samet's headphone amp, Altmann DAC and Sonos controller, and lazyboy. A couple people tried it. I will check it out today before returning the amp to Sol who had to leave early.
The Minimax phono sounded great, far better than my Bellari, as it should. But the stock Technics interconnect held back the TT. Thanks for bringing the preamp over Carl. We should do a vinyl meet.
Pictures coming!
Rich
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Rich:
Thank you again for hosting another terrific G2G.
My favorite gear of the evening:
The Usher Be - 20's -- I just love the full range of room filling sound as well as the unbelievable detail provided by these speakers.
The Raysonic CD-168 CD Player - I realize that streaming players are the wave of the future but this is one great sounding player, especially when direct coupled to the Manley Snappers via JPS balanced cables. Thank you Steve for bringing this player to the meet.
Sol's 30 watt/per channel integrated amp. This is not your average or wimpy 30 watt per channel amp. This little baby was packed with 30 watts per channel of Sol watts and sounded amazing driving the BE-20's. Yes, readers this little jewel drove the BE-20's with authority and with plenty of clear volume in Rich's large room. I am certain Sol will have great success when he takes these to market.
We connected my fully modded ModWright Transporter (including latest Turbo and Bybees) with EML-5U4G and croyed RCA 6CG7 signal tubes. It was also at the last meet but without the turbo upgrades and with different tubes. The Transporter sounded good in the system but I learned that it is really a tough piece of gear for G2G's because people tend to prefer to listen to their own music. Ripping/streaming is not as easy as simply installing a CD into a player. Oh well, the ModWright Transporter is great when I am home sitting on the couch with total access to my music library with only having to move my fingers! It has taken the TV remote control to a whole new level. :rofl:
There is one thing we clearly learned about the ModWright Transporter at this meet. We tried driving the Manley Snappers direct using the balanced connections and then controlling the volume with the Transporter. Guys, trust me when I say that an unmodified Squeezebox would sound equally as well direct connected to the amps! The ModWright Transporter needs a good preamp in the mix with the Transporter volume set to max to enable it to deliver the full range of music it is capable of providing.
Approximately three quarters through the evening we had what the guys affectionally named a "dac-off." Richard had a North Star Unit, Carl brought a Nixon and Rich had the Altmann. The Raysonic was the source, JPS Aluminata RCAs were in the chain and the amp was Sol's 30 watt/channel unit. All the units were connected to an Equi=tech balanced power unit. The three DACs were all very good and there were very slight sound differences between them. If I needed a DAC I could be happy with any of the three.
We had hoped to experiment with the impact of the Equi=tech and compare some cables but the evening passed all too quickly. I was really hoping to hear a comparison of those JPS Aluminatas and some of the other cables present. Guys, these babies definitely fit the category of audio jewelry! :rofl:
The evening ended for me when the guys connected Carl's Minimax phono amp to Rich's turntable to spin some vinyl. Yes, it brought back old memories but convinced me that I will leave my old Denon Turntable right where it has been for years, in the closet. The vinyl has a distinct, sort of romantic quality to this old music lover but I am pretty sure I will remain satisfied with my streaming digital music. It was fun though!
I made it upstairs to hear the second system briefly. Carl's bookshelf sized speakers were being driven at the time by an old early 70's vintage Technique Receiver. It was a very nice sounding system for a smaller room. I never did hear the new speakers Rich constructed with the Feastex Drivers.
The evening went by way to fast and I had a great time. It was great seeing everyone again and thank you again Rich for hosting.
Ken
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You're very welcome Ken!
Thanks to Shane (hometheaterdoc) for the loan of the JPS cables. Without comparison to other wires it is hard to imagine the contribution they made, but trust me, it is BIG. Shane was trying to make the g2g, but had a service call with one of his HT customers, which he prioritized above socializing. Day before the big game I can understand the urgency, but we missed you Shane! I too wanted to show off the incredible differences the Aluminata wires make, even over the Superconductors, and also the equitech. We will try to do those comparisons next time if possible. The JPS wires we played are all for sale because Shane is a JPS dealer. I'm sure he would be happy to allow AN members an in home audition, as he has so generously for me and others in the past.
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Somebody left some CDs here:
Eva Cassida Songbird
Billboard 1969 Hits
Aaron Neville The Grand Tour
Alison Kraus Now That I've Found You
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The CDs are Sol's.
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Be advised we don't have a microwave.....
I've been thinking about this Rich....why don't you have a microwave ??? :-k
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I like my food prepared the old fashioned way - with lots of TLC.
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Be advised we don't have a microwave.....
I've been thinking about this Rich....why don't you have a microwave ??? :-k
It's actually for audio reasons. We don't want the interference messing with the harmonics :duh
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Ok, Rich.... I'm volunteering you to host again next Jan. I'll mark my calendar and I'm headed your way.
Thanks for the tube amp advice.
Rob S.
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We'll be here whenever you can make it Rob!