For 2007, things were definitely more laid back than some of our prior gatherings. Not quite as many radical designs, cars full of gear, and debates as prior years. Don't know if it's the 80 degree days in Feb, lack of cabin fever, or basic gentrification of our folks. We just aren't that competitive.
I am sure that everybody who came up from Tucson to North Phoenix were pretty hot. The officials of this friggin LA-with-no-ocean-town decided to shut down 4 of 5 lanes on I-10. Traffic backed up for 10 miles, bumper 2 bumper, 5mph. Some of us took 2 hours to get off the interstate. From what I saw, they had 4 miles shut down, 5 people on the job site, 1 person working. Typical government project.
Madisound came through with a few door prizes. Thanks Mad folks. PE did not represent this year.
Craig did an admirable job hosting. Plenty of chow, good company, no stairs.
Thanks Craig, hope all that hair on your right arm grows back!
Commentary is my opinion, others may have a different take. No judgments here, just impressions. I spent more time socializing, less time listening. Anyway, enuff bitchin about the gummint, on with show...
1. Craig (our host's) primary electronics. His homemade preamp, DAC, Class A monoblocks. Serious stuff. We ran it pretty much the whole day. Toasty. This was the main listening area.
2. Craig's "Main" system. A Focal three way. Serious bottom end. Very smooth mids, and well controlled high end. He's been seriously tweeking these for awhile. Personally, I've never been a big Focal fan (especially tweeters) but I think he's tamed these quite well.
3/4 Jason bought a boatload of these HiVi 6" drivers. This was his MTM version with a HiVi silk dome. (He wants to do them with a ribbon). The TM version is #4. With more or less full baffle step, these had some serious thump -- albeit at the expense of some efficiency. Kudos for the gloss black finishing job -- well done.
Here's the queue waiting for their chance in spotlight
5. My Ruby monitors
6. My Cyclops 3 Ways
7. Craig's Seas MTM's - With the crossover modified, these were emminently smooth and listenable. Not the most punchy, but balanced none the less.
8. My AZ-2525 MTM
Here's the secondary auditioning area on the back patio. Sorry for those of you "back east" suffering thru blizzards and winter. If it's any consolation, the pool was unheated, too cold to swim.
9. Craig's 8" Audio Nirvana Single Driver - With no crossover, in a PE box, this is the closest to true "full range" I've heard. Substantial bottom end, very efficient (we ran them off an 8 Watt tube amp), lovely imaging. I thought the whizzer cone was a little raspy for my taste, others liked them fine. If I had to recommend a no-electronic-knowledge-needed these would be up there. I thought they were better than the Zu Druid's I heard awhile back.
10. Craig's wr125/TM025 tm's. Another basically single driver with a bit of high end (+8kHz) help. We heard a tweeterless version last year. Not enough bottom end for anything but the bedroom. I think this would be a great L/R/C for a home theater-even without the tweeter.
11. Craig's DIY chipamp( from last year) beneath an 8 Watt tube amp.
