next owston ?

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simon
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#136

Post by simon »

Ali was next with an extensive table full of kit. NVA streamer, DAC built by Nick, WD pre, digital amps (?) to large baffles with 2 15" bass helpers. A very full sound
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simon
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#137

Post by simon »

System descriptions are to the best of my knowledge, but the next system I do know about as it's mine! I remember when these meets used to be about breadboards, exposed voltages, mad hairshirt designs. So I thought it important to keep the spirit alive amongst all the professional looking boxes! 3 stages of DHT - 26 cap coupled to 10Y IT KR300BXLS, speakers are Lowther EX4s in a Metronome cabinet (with an occasional rustle). I didn't have any space left in the car so I used my phone as a source.
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simon
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#138

Post by simon »

Mike followed me with his Germanium amp and Colin's latest "bookshelf" speakers, as well as his mini-Edingdales.
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simon
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#139

Post by simon »

Last but by no means least Richard with his baffles, air powered linear tracking arm and Naim-clone power amp.
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simon
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#140

Post by simon »

A few close-ups of the Wand. It's from New Zealand apparently, looks (and sounds) very interesting.
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A Northwest Analogue replacement bearing for a Garrard... Looks very nice and I might have to try one, one day
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simon
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#141

Post by simon »

After lunch we started to mix things up, starting with Steve The Shadow's OTL through Steve S' baffles (are they still baffles???)
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simon
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#142

Post by simon »

We had a bit of a DAC comparison, and concluded that differences were small. We started with Ali's, then went with Greg's (I think?)
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Then Domenic's
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Then Nick's
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Then Richard's
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simon
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#143

Post by simon »

Differences were so small we wondered whether the DACs in Ali's crossover was influencing things. So we tried with Steve's OTL and Steve's baffles. But there seemed to be a problem with phase somewhere - spot the phase-spotters!
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And the fix-it crew
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In the end we went with Nick's Pass F5 through his 2A3 pre and Mark's phono
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That's all folks. After this we descended into speaker cable testing and near madness. Fortunately the bar and food saved our sanity.
Cressy Snr
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#144

Post by Cressy Snr »

Fantastic pices as usual Simon.
You're a gentleman and a scholar ?
Sgt. Baker started talkin’ with a Bullhorn in his hand.
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IslandPink
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#145

Post by IslandPink »

Great work Simon . Comprehensive, and some nice angles !
Nice shot of 'old faithful' there at the end :wink:
"Once you find out ... the Circumstances ; then you can go out"
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Toppsy
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#146

Post by Toppsy »

Great photos as usual Simon.

A good day out again, shame some the usual suspects were missing. Perhaps next time, hey guys?

I must say I was quite pleased how the MarkAudio A12P standmount speakers performed in he room especially so as these were designed for me by Scott as a test bed for running in the drivers. The design detail for this small vented box can be found on DiyAudio in the 'Manufacturers' MarkAudio pages for any one interested. So good they sounded at home I decided to finish them off for my personal use though I still as yet have to veneer the second speaker. In the pipeline for the A12P driver are a couple of floorstander designs; a MLTL and a 2-chamber design with small BR box on top a active bass helper. Both designs by Scott.

On the systems at Owston I thought all very good though I thought Richard's set up was let down (again) by his 3-way speakers. My personal favourite on the day was Ali's baffles. They performed much better firing across the room than last time when Ali had them firing down the room. We all know how bad the room is especially on speakers and baffles tend to perform best over most other designs.

Glad Steve sorted the distotion issues with his OTL. When it was playing with SteveS speakers one could hear the potential, though it faired poorly on my 92dB efficient A12P speakers. But I put that down to the room.
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Nick
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#147

Post by Nick »

Richards speakers were much better on Sunday once we sorted a (another) phasing issue.
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richardcooper2k
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#148

Post by richardcooper2k »

Yes it turned out i had got the red and black banana plugs the wrong way round on one of my lengths of Cat 5 speaker cable. So what everyone heard on Saturday and what i have been listening to at home for some time has been out of phase ! :oops:

So things did sound better after this was noticed but in my opinion Ali's speakers were still a far more pleasing listen in the room at Owston (and likely elsewhere)

At least i know which bit of my system needs the most urgent attention (my head ?) :)
Thoughts are just little stories that our brains tell us !
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planet10
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#149

Post by planet10 »

simon wrote: large baffles with 2 15" bass helpers.
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Nice to see that i had some token representation with the phase plugs in Ali's B200s.

Did Scott and the uFonkenSET make an appearance?

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Colin TQ
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#150

Post by Colin TQ »

Hey guys, that was so impressive bloody fantastic, I thought the whole spirit of self build had gone years ago.
Thank you all for sharing.
Best Col
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