1day DIY meet at eggborough power station 13 june

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Nick
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#76

Post by Nick »

Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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al newall
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#77

Post by al newall »

is someone able and willing to bring a TT
Turntable?
Yes i'll bring the Lenco/Bad tempered arm/XV15 combo with newly developed hum problem, and a few bits of wire to try and sort it out. :)

Not a Moving Coil though, so not much help. :(
Much to learn there is.
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cressy
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#78

Post by cressy »

well, had a great day again, thanks to steve for organising another one. again there was a jump in the quality of kit. eds speakers an amp were fantastic, (kept them close to the chest!) the statics were very impressive with the 813 amp and mikes rocky thorens and zingalis showed rocky can still do the business.
sachikos were a real kick to listen to and gave a big stupid grin to every person there when a bass note issued forth through max's 211pp.
steves system was again brilliant with a 10 quid! (yes really)dynavector cart on the thorens and new baffles. cant wait to see the dustbin lid sized drivers he has on order!
mi dads was lovely with its 1 watt, and lovelier still using alis audio note dac on the squeezebox.
wills new baffles were extremely engaging and a real treat to listen to with all the kit that went on the end of them
phils system was really nice, those big gcp things were really rather good. the amps were a treat but i didnt hear the mosfets due to being outside gabbing.
andrew I's system was a rather odd one, using some horn pa speakers ontop of a cabinet with a 207 in (sorry not sure on the details) thoresten amp and a little denon cd player. quite an engaging listen it was with classical, (last overture of the rite of spring if i remember?). he told us it was crap, no it werent.........
dave the bass's saburos were mighty fine, but unfortunately for me i missed colins fonkens..................was outside gabbing again
chopsaws acrylic deck was a work of art and had a very tight and well balanced sound to it that i found very appealing. hats off for such a good build, sounded brilliant.
just my 2d worth, but a very nice day out again with good company and great music (only had a tiny bit of prodigy :lol: ). one little speaker deserves a big round of applause though, heard a small selection through the vampyrs. these little buggers were really good and im quite taken with them! sound really was exceptional for such a tiny driver.
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#79

Post by SimonC »

Big thanks to Steve for organising another cracking meet.

Highlights for me were Ed's speakers, yet again Ed has pulled out another cracking speaker design that will only improve as the drivers break in.

The build and sound quality of the acrylic TT was very impressive, and Nick's 'freak show' amplifier (his words, not mine) showed great potential, I don't think that's the last we've heard of it by a long way.

I also liked what the F5 was doing with Will's OBs. This was a pairing that sounded right together.

It was great to meet up with you all and listen to a good and varied selection of music. To me it was nice to have a bit more variety in what was played than we sometimes have had in the past (thanks Mr I). Might not always be to everyone's tastes, but thats life. :wink:

Thanks everyone for a fantastic day.

Simon C
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#80

Post by simon »

Just about to turn in but I must say thanks to Steve for organising again, and also to everyone that brought stuff. There was a lot of new and different kit this time and everything sounded pretty good, which is an achievement in that barn of a room.

I've hardly listened to any music in the last three months but I came home with renewed enthusiasm and took the wedged-in EX4s from the horns so I could put the 208Esigmas back in. I bumped the supertwatter filter cap up to 2uF which has made a big difference, and then had a pleasant couple of hours listening :).

If I get chance tomorrow I'll look at the photos, but there's 162 to wade through so it's going to take a while :D.
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#81

Post by Max N »

Agreed, it was a really nice day in wonderful company as usual. Also good to see some new faces. The general standard was very high. I kept hearing things which made me re-think what I was doing. Andrew's new speakers, Will's open baffles, Steve's system, Ed's system, DTBs speakers, Philip's new amps and the Goodmans speakers, Mr I's 45PP, Nick's 211, the acrylic deck, Cressy and Steve's systems and loads of other stuff was all sounding very good. If I've missed anything, it doesn't mean it wasn't sounding good, just that I didn't keep any notes so I can't remember everything. I know we used to say that stuff couldn't sound good in that big room, but actually I think a lot of stuff did sound very good in both rooms. Maybe a sign of the general increase in the standard of stuff? Unfortunately I missed the direct drive electrostatic experiment and other stuff in the small room because I was doing a bit of soldering in the other room (thanks for the loan of the iron Al).

A quick note about the comparison between Nick's and Andrew's phono stages with the Queen track - I couldn't really draw any conclusions at the time, and I said 'I've heard them both sound better than that to be honest'. I think with hindsight it was maybe just the track we were using wasn't the best choice? Whatever the reason, I felt that at that moment neither phono stage was sounding as good as it usually does. Both normally sound very good (reference quality for me personally). Also it was pretty warm in the small room and I'd been up since 4.30 so I think I was close to nodding off at times...... So all in all it would be good to have another chance to make the comparison, maybe spending a bit more time on it to do them justice? Based on the way they normally sound, I would be very happy to have either.

Note to Neal, I know you're waiting to hear how the 211PPs fared - well, I was disappointed, they were a bit hard at the top end. Anyway its early days, I know they should sound better than they did, and it shouldn't be too hard to sort out hopefully. The bass seemed to be OK. Apologies to everyone for getting over-enthusiastic with the volume.

Thanks to Steve for organising again and to everyone for making it a great day.
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al newall
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#82

Post by al newall »

An immensely enjoyable and relaxing day out, helped by the fact that i wasn't taking part this time.
Everyone who did take part, seemed to have made good progress. Generally standards have got noticeably better and the result was that systems sounded much more balanced than in previous events.

I''ve never been to sure about electrostatics but it was difficult not to be impressed this time.

Ed's speakers were remarkable and gorgeous to look at. I hope he will comment on them and fill in some details at some point.

Chopsaws turntable raised the bar in terms of build quality. Though i never got to hear it, it was a feast for the eyes.

Anoither notable highlight was Andrew Ivemeys hugely entertaining introduction to his 17 minute Stravinski track, which i sadly missed due to feeling an urgent need for a mug of coffee.

Was nice to see some more new faces. I managed to chat to some of them and hope they will take part in future events.
Thanks to Steve for the organising.
Thanks to Will for the choke.
Thanks to Dave for the tuner.
Thanks to everyone else for bothering to take their stuff along.
Last edited by al newall on Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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#83

Post by simon »

A couple of teasers while I'm sorting the photos out.

First up, mystery shoe wearer competition. Who might have footwear like this? (Hint, this was taken just after their mobile phone went of during the quiet bit of Stravinski...)
Image

And now a caption competition, a massive Sachiko sharing some quality time with its designer, Scott:
Image
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pre65
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#84

Post by pre65 »

Well I know who was the brave owner of them snazzy plimpsoles (and the daring hairy legs :wink: ) but let others who wern't there try to guess !

Scott-bloody hell,surely you checked for mice BEFORE you put the grilles on ! :wink: :wink: :lol:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

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G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
Cressy Snr
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#85

Post by Cressy Snr »

al newall wrote:
Anoither notable highlight was Andrew Ivemeys hugely entertaining introduction to his 17 minute Stravinski track, which i sadly missed due to feeling an urgent need for a mug of coffee.
:D

Yes, Andrew's introduction reminded me of Sir Mark Elder's intro to the Nielsen Symphony No 5 in February at Sheffield City Hall, with the Hallé Orchestra.
He warned the audience that they might not like what the orchestra was about to play but to try and stay with it.

The thunderous applause at the end certainly proved him right.

Steve
Sgt. Baker started talkin’ with a Bullhorn in his hand.
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cressy
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#86

Post by cressy »

scotts caption, 'i love you honey bunny????' nice to see you there btw scott
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andrew Ivimey
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#87

Post by andrew Ivimey »

Thanks for the warm words my friends! I enjoyed the one day event enormously even though I'd tried hard to wipe myself out the night before. It is very good to see our motley crew, our happy band of brothers again. I think Eggborough is 'awesome' - a much overused word in this day and age, but a power station... phroaaaarrrrrr!

Now, to the music. Eggy and Owston are sources, for me, of new ideas. I have come home from a 'do' and gone out and bought 'Metallica' taken it home and played it and ...yeah it is awful, but it is a lot of fun. I have that Prodigy thing too - kinda visceral and exciting but it too is pretty bad on several levels.

I got home last night safe and sound. Dave and I stopped off for some very splendid and worthwhile heavy duty carbs at the Coddington service station OK Diner, which, not only provides sanitary relief for weary travellers on their way, but also soothes the savage breasts or something by playing 60s R&B while we gratefully munched our way through super veggie burgers and milk shakes to die for (we probably will). This helped.

But anyway, as I was saying before I interrupted myself!

I got home and eBayed out some Ornette Coleman that is necessary listening for all and that Leftfield stuff was so excrutiating to perhaps have something, so I bought that too - 99p plus p&p!

So I'll give it a go, wear out a few more hair cells, thrill the wife (NOT) and come to a much more resoned decision about why such music is so appalling.... or not. I put my money where my mouth is.

And so, finally for now, amplifiers; (I won't go into speakers even though Scott looked for a moment like he might disappear into one of his wonderful designs, rather not at all like Euan McGregor disappears in a relatively recent piece of screen cinematography that goes by the ambiguous title of Trainspotting.

Anyway, amplifiers, apples, aardvarjks and Andrew (me not T'other - though how he got home.... Andrew, you did get home didn't you?)

I have brought some Stinkers to our 'do's and they are gently received and I have brought some stunners, the praise and positive comments, are gratefully acknowledged. Yesterday the 45PP is a safe one. It is magical but it was so good to get your approval too.
How weak am I !?!

The Monkey is a solid competent amp, as were the Butterfly incarnations that preceded it. But they were only competent sounding, so like the original WAD300BPSE, which began this amplifer setup, which was abominable, they all get recycled and pretty pdq.

I'm off into more exotic devices!

Our 'do's are an opportunity to try out our creations and we do get pretty creative on the way, n'est-ce pas! and even if the room is acoustically the equivalent of soiled underwear, getting people's 'crits' on what's going on is very important. 'sfunny how much more intensely I listen to a piece of music, amp, speakers etc in public, where, I am also my own fiercest critic. Even if you don't see the purple blotchy face of frustration, the smoke of anger bellowing out of my ears and the tears of regret and embarrassment, they are there sometimes.

I wouldn't miss them for the world!

Marvellous.

On to the next!
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ed
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#88

Post by ed »

My attempt at a caption for Simon's fantastic piccy.....

'there's something in the woodshed, and I can hear it breathing......'

Many thanks for organising yesterday Steve, I for one had a fantastic time.
Many thanks for the kind words about scruffy and pipi, I'm certainly more than a bit pleased by the results.

I don't think I heard anything yesterday that I wouldn't be happy to own, it was all top notch and certainly Way above the level of stuff at my first eggy experience. Its all kind of grown up and got serious, in a positive/good kind of way.

memories that will take longer to fade include:

zingalis/svengalis had something that grabbed my attention but I coulodn't nail it down...chasing or identifying the 'thing' proved disappointing..

cressy had bag fulls of synergy, the whole thing sounded good and integrated to my ears....

The big room sounded better than I've ever heard it...all the baffles seemed to work fantastically well and I can't recall anything being overwhelmed by the room...can't diffentiate between Steve, Steve and Will, they all sounded terrific....begs the question 'what was wrong on previous occasions?'

the 211/sachiko combo was simply beyond comment/understanding, but I'm pretty sure we'll hear more from both in the future...I have to admit to not having a clear picture of what either really sounded like in isolation...but in the words of another here, phwooaaarrrr!

those little fostexes in both sabaru and vampyr just defy logic....both sounded absolutely fantastic to my ears..there is voodoo here!!

My apologies to Colin, I only got a couple of minutes with the fonkens as they coincided with the F5 in the other room, and I was very keen to hear that. What I did hear of the fonkens was very smooth though, and the finish as fantastic as ever. As it happens the F5 was a bit of a disappointment as it didn't seem to be demonstrated to its best....possibly needs a bias tweak, but that's just pure guesswork on my part.

and then there is our man in Bedford, what can I say...for me he revisited the original spirit of eggfest. The choice of music was inspired, the kit was esoteric, and the wit was engulfing...thank you, it worked for me.

Nick you've raised the bar again, I only have vitriolic words of envy. Most people will have missed the first tune up of the 813/acorn ensemble, but it was truly magical and took reproduction to another level in my experience. This was sadly not repeated for the later public demo.....

I've tried to remember everything/everybody, but my apologies if I've omitted anybody...if I have its the fault of my memory and not the kit.

later

edit: ahh i new something would get left out...deepest apologies Phil...I honestly didn't know what to make of the goodmans boxes...they certainly didn't move anything in me but I'm sure the drivers will be a force to be reckoned with in another setting......
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#89

Post by simon »

Right, for your delight and delectation I've thrown together the photos :). I've whittled them down to a mere 70 and you can find them here.

I'm afraid the commentary is beyond brief but as our friend Philip Ramsay would say it's "to get you going". It's probably littered with mistakes too but I want to get outside into the sunshine 8). I'll update the comments along the way, and I'd be most grateful for further details from the owners.

It's also the time when I have to apologise to those whose kit I missed: Swampy's F5 and I find I don't have much of Little Eddy's kit either.

Roll on Owston. Except I can't make it. :(
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#90

Post by Andrew »

andrew Ivimey wrote:
Anyway, amplifiers, apples, aardvarjks and Andrew (me not T'other - though how he got home.... Andrew, you did get home didn't you?)
Yes, thanks, home safe and sound, no more than an hour ago. What did you think of little spudski at t 'end?

-- Andrew
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