Less than 300:
1st place Todd K "Front Rowe" speakers. (GR Research T26SG, GR Research M130, and SB15SFCR39-8)
2nd place: Bill S. Plumbers Delight (Morel MDT-39, TEBM4SC20N-4B, TB W5-2053)
3rd place: Michael H. Bella Sonus 8
Norman C's "Singulier" speakers. The xovers were passive, but Norman used a 10wpc tube power amplifier to introduce the sonic "flavor" of tubes into the sound.
Below: Todd K "Front Rowe" speakers. (GR Research T26SG, GR Research M130, and SB15SFCR39-8)
Below: SP18 "Finale" Speakers by Paul K. Drivers: Tweeter: SB Satori TW29B-B berillium dome, Midrange: Purifi Audio PTT4.0M04-NAC-04, Woofer: Purifi Audio PTT8.0X04-NAB-01
Below: SP36 "Scramp" by Juan M. Drivers: HiVi Q1R 1" dome tweeter, HiVI L6-8R 6" woofer. Note: These were the "Fan Favorite" from the Peer voting tabulations. Plexi-glass front baffle and rear panel.
Below: "A-MKII" speakers by Aaron L. Drivers: Unique 1/2" dome tweeter, 2" dome midrange, and 5" woofer.
Below: SP06 "Redux" speakers by Brad E. Drivers: Tweeter: ScanSpeak D3004/6600 Air Cirl, Midrange: Purifi PTT6.5X04-NFA-01. Enclosure: 18.2L tuned to 33Hz. Xover: 2kHz, LR4
Below: SP21 Chris B. "Towers of Song" Speakers (Open Unlimited)
Below: SP39 "Bluze" speakers by Jeremy M. Drivers: MB Quart 95-7118 1" Titanium dome tweeter, Dayton RS100-4 midrange, Dayton RS225-4 woofer, Dayton DS270-PR passive radiator.
Below: SP10 "Nine Tower" by John H. $>300 category.
Below: SP14 Ivan K. "Excelsior" Speakers (Open Unlimited)
Below: SP45 "Bella Sonus 8" speakers by Michael H. 3rd place in <$300 category.
Got there kinda late, so didn't get to hear much. Did see some beautiful builds! Also great to see new names and a few old faces. Congratulations to all!
Thanks too Bill. The bar has certainly gotten higher - many of the speakers that placed look like high end commercial offerings. Way above my pay grade. I plan to go next year as I've never been. It will be a one and done, but would like to make it once.
Was MattP’s (from PE) towers there? The one with the B&W mid and SS buyout woofers. Interested to hear impressions on the mid. And that 3-way design by Paul K. Is like a $1500 design with Purifis and the Berrylium tweeter. Edit: $1500 for just one!
Yeah, Matt's towers were the reference for level setting, and actually ran last as they humored him with a set of feedback sheets. They sounded great to me.
As to who placed, I'm wondering how the Craftsmanship scores went, and how Andrew scored things since he was the unknown. Honestly, there were some that really distorted badly, like 6-7 entries had some minor/major issues. Even my Anomalies hiccupped minorly (dropped output a click or 2, and they were fine) on a couple bass notes of the Bonnie Raitt song, but since Matt's are so capable, smaller speakers were not considered at all in the setting. That also said, that track made a lot of entries bark in the midrange, some of which placed in the top 3s. There weren't very many all weekend that didn't have this occur. And further, the initial track listing got hozed and 3 songs were played on everything. Bonnie, These Bones, and Give Me a Reason were played on everything.
A few of the long term veteran builders placed; 4thtry, AaronL, BrianZ, JackP, Eggman, and A4E. Nick, JohnH, PaulK, and myself did not. I'm not complaining, just stating facts and occurences, as it was a lot of fun seeing and hearing everything.
I will say that Phuc (P-huke or fuke, not hook 'o' sound, no y as in puke, more like pooky w/o y on end) Dang's little gray 'Cloud Castle' towers with the Audax 5.25 carbon fiber and his home made cone tweeters were just outstanding!! He said he made over 100 tweeters before he got the sound he was looking for, all by hand. He spent for SS prior and they didn't sound like he wanted, so he set out to build his own. They were the best in under 300 in my opinion. My jaw was on the floor. He was also a very happy and excited fellow, and great to talk with.
Bill's Plumber's Delights are still an outstanding sounding little 3way. I love those little red and gold marvels.
Norm's Singulier were a surprise, and did quite well for a whizzer cone 8" full range- when on axis. Sounded good to me, but 1 and 2 seats to my left said no treble. Off to one side the treble was gone. Smooth and easy, just a hair of bark from Bonnie, and the Jadis tube amp really made them shine.
DavidH/A4E Calima towers were just stunning, and IMO, the best looking pair presented. Weighed in at 140# each. That is some major time and skill work to look like the old Vapor Derecho. Bass was taught and sensitive, the mid was good, and I liked the AMTHR tweeters. He was still working on dialing in the tonal balance (his thoughts, not mine) but they were not bad and only had them playing a day or 2. He said they should be dialed in by the CSS event.
MichaelH makes speakers that look like Sonus Faber, very obviously. These big ones were his most appealing so far looks wise, and he has learned enough to where they are starting to sound good too.
Something was bugging me about the Tracy Chapman track. When the drums kick in its like there was a brief dynamic lull. I never heard that before this weekend. Turns out it was the 2015 Greatest Hits Remaster that was used this weekend, not the original album cut. Just an FYI.
Did Todd K win 1st place in under 300 with his "Front Row" speakers? I forgot to ask him his name when group photos were taken. These were the white towers with T26SG, M130, and SB15SFCR39-8
@Colonel7 said:
And that 3-way design by Paul K. Is like a $1500 design with Purifis and the Berrylium tweeter. Edit: $1500 for just one!
With a name like "Finale" I would guess this is Paul's last entry. That would explain going all out on the drivers. If so, I'll miss his classic enclosures and craftmanship. Some begrudged him for using Dan N. to do his crossovers, but I never had a problem with that. AFAIK he always made it public that Dan did the crossover work. Anyway, this year it wasn't enough - you had to go beyond a classic looking speaker.
Comments
Less than 300:
1st place Todd K "Front Rowe" speakers. (GR Research T26SG, GR Research M130, and SB15SFCR39-8)
2nd place: Bill S. Plumbers Delight (Morel MDT-39, TEBM4SC20N-4B, TB W5-2053)
3rd place: Michael H. Bella Sonus 8
Greater than 300:
1st: Michael H. Bella Sonus 7
2nd: Jack P. "Tri-Tunes" SP28
3rd: Clay A . "Pentapath TL" speakers" SP17
Dayton category:
1st: David H. Calima
2nd: Aaron L. "A-MKII" SP42
3rd: Rich R. "Lenny's ATM" SP5
Fan Favorite: Juan M. Scramp
Corrections made to list of winners.
David's Calima Speakers:
Notice it took two people to set them up. These spkrs were stunning! 140lbs each!
Michael H's Bella Sonus 7 speakers:
Think mighty egg man got 3rd in >300
Think he got 3rd
Brian Z's Firecracker Speakers:
Clay A's Pentapath TL speakers:
Bill S's "Radiusaurus" speakers: Drivers: B&G Neo3W tweeter, Dayton ND-90 Mid (4), TB W6-1139SIF subwoofers (2). Xovers: 100Hz active approx 24dB/octave. 2.1kHz passive approx 24dB/octave.
While I was waiting for my turn, I snapped a few photos:
Bill S. "Plumber Delight" speakers: Drivers: Morel MDT-39 tweeter, TEBM46C20N-4B mid, TB W5-2053 woofer. Xover: 320 and 2.4kHz.
Norman C's "Singulier" speakers. The xovers were passive, but Norman used a 10wpc tube power amplifier to introduce the sonic "flavor" of tubes into the sound.
A few more pics. More later.
Below: Todd K "Front Rowe" speakers. (GR Research T26SG, GR Research M130, and SB15SFCR39-8)
Below: SP18 "Finale" Speakers by Paul K. Drivers: Tweeter: SB Satori TW29B-B berillium dome, Midrange: Purifi Audio PTT4.0M04-NAC-04, Woofer: Purifi Audio PTT8.0X04-NAB-01
Below: SP36 "Scramp" by Juan M. Drivers: HiVi Q1R 1" dome tweeter, HiVI L6-8R 6" woofer. Note: These were the "Fan Favorite" from the Peer voting tabulations. Plexi-glass front baffle and rear panel.
Below: "A-MKII" speakers by Aaron L. Drivers: Unique 1/2" dome tweeter, 2" dome midrange, and 5" woofer.
Below: SP06 "Redux" speakers by Brad E. Drivers: Tweeter: ScanSpeak D3004/6600 Air Cirl, Midrange: Purifi PTT6.5X04-NFA-01. Enclosure: 18.2L tuned to 33Hz. Xover: 2kHz, LR4
Below: SP21 Chris B. "Towers of Song" Speakers (Open Unlimited)
Below: SP39 "Bluze" speakers by Jeremy M. Drivers: MB Quart 95-7118 1" Titanium dome tweeter, Dayton RS100-4 midrange, Dayton RS225-4 woofer, Dayton DS270-PR passive radiator.
Below: SP10 "Nine Tower" by John H. $>300 category.
Below: SP14 Ivan K. "Excelsior" Speakers (Open Unlimited)
Below: SP45 "Bella Sonus 8" speakers by Michael H. 3rd place in <$300 category.
Great pictures! Thanks Bill.
Got there kinda late, so didn't get to hear much. Did see some beautiful builds! Also great to see new names and a few old faces. Congratulations to all!
Wow - what a diverse and awesome looking bunch of speakers! Congrats to the winners.
Thanks too Bill. The bar has certainly gotten higher - many of the speakers that placed look like high end commercial offerings. Way above my pay grade. I plan to go next year as I've never been. It will be a one and done, but would like to make it once.
Was MattP’s (from PE) towers there? The one with the B&W mid and SS buyout woofers. Interested to hear impressions on the mid. And that 3-way design by Paul K. Is like a $1500 design with Purifis and the Berrylium tweeter. Edit: $1500 for just one!
Yeah, Matt's towers were the reference for level setting, and actually ran last as they humored him with a set of feedback sheets. They sounded great to me.
As to who placed, I'm wondering how the Craftsmanship scores went, and how Andrew scored things since he was the unknown. Honestly, there were some that really distorted badly, like 6-7 entries had some minor/major issues. Even my Anomalies hiccupped minorly (dropped output a click or 2, and they were fine) on a couple bass notes of the Bonnie Raitt song, but since Matt's are so capable, smaller speakers were not considered at all in the setting. That also said, that track made a lot of entries bark in the midrange, some of which placed in the top 3s. There weren't very many all weekend that didn't have this occur. And further, the initial track listing got hozed and 3 songs were played on everything. Bonnie, These Bones, and Give Me a Reason were played on everything.
A few of the long term veteran builders placed; 4thtry, AaronL, BrianZ, JackP, Eggman, and A4E. Nick, JohnH, PaulK, and myself did not. I'm not complaining, just stating facts and occurences, as it was a lot of fun seeing and hearing everything.
I will say that Phuc (P-huke or fuke, not hook 'o' sound, no y as in puke, more like pooky w/o y on end) Dang's little gray 'Cloud Castle' towers with the Audax 5.25 carbon fiber and his home made cone tweeters were just outstanding!! He said he made over 100 tweeters before he got the sound he was looking for, all by hand. He spent for SS prior and they didn't sound like he wanted, so he set out to build his own. They were the best in under 300 in my opinion. My jaw was on the floor. He was also a very happy and excited fellow, and great to talk with.
Bill's Plumber's Delights are still an outstanding sounding little 3way. I love those little red and gold marvels.
Norm's Singulier were a surprise, and did quite well for a whizzer cone 8" full range- when on axis. Sounded good to me, but 1 and 2 seats to my left said no treble. Off to one side the treble was gone. Smooth and easy, just a hair of bark from Bonnie, and the Jadis tube amp really made them shine.
DavidH/A4E Calima towers were just stunning, and IMO, the best looking pair presented. Weighed in at 140# each. That is some major time and skill work to look like the old Vapor Derecho. Bass was taught and sensitive, the mid was good, and I liked the AMTHR tweeters. He was still working on dialing in the tonal balance (his thoughts, not mine) but they were not bad and only had them playing a day or 2. He said they should be dialed in by the CSS event.
MichaelH makes speakers that look like Sonus Faber, very obviously. These big ones were his most appealing so far looks wise, and he has learned enough to where they are starting to sound good too.
InDIYana Event Website
Something was bugging me about the Tracy Chapman track. When the drums kick in its like there was a brief dynamic lull. I never heard that before this weekend. Turns out it was the 2015 Greatest Hits Remaster that was used this weekend, not the original album cut. Just an FYI.
InDIYana Event Website
Yeah, that track is stellar on the original pressing.
One of my voicing tracks, actually.
I just knew something felt off when listening to it.
InDIYana Event Website
Did Todd K win 1st place in under 300 with his "Front Row" speakers? I forgot to ask him his name when group photos were taken. These were the white towers with T26SG, M130, and SB15SFCR39-8
I thought those mids ^ looked like GR Research drivers - thanks for the confirmation.
And they sounded incredible!!
With a name like "Finale" I would guess this is Paul's last entry. That would explain going all out on the drivers. If so, I'll miss his classic enclosures and craftmanship. Some begrudged him for using Dan N. to do his crossovers, but I never had a problem with that. AFAIK he always made it public that Dan did the crossover work. Anyway, this year it wasn't enough - you had to go beyond a classic looking speaker.
congratulations to all the winners. I wish that I could have heard them all, but I can't handle hearing the same 3 tracks 52 times.
Finally, something Nick is not good at.