AudioCircle
Industry Circles => GR Research => Topic started by: mlundy57 on 5 May 2015, 03:03 am
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Got back from LASF last night. Boy am I pooped. I had two rooms set up. Mine had my Wedgies with the 3x8" servo H-frames and my LGK 1.0's. My grandson manned the second room which had X-Omnis and N1X's.
My grandson and I finished building and wiring up the H-Frames at 11:30pm Wednesday night then loaded up the van for the trip to Dallas Thursday morning. However, I couldn't complete them because my HX300 amps had not arrived yet.
Rythmik doesn't keep any OB versions of the HX300 on hand because all Brian has to do is add a shelving circuit which he usually does the day the amps are ordered and ships them out the next day. It was just my bad luck that the day I ordered the amps and drivers from Danny, Brian left for China for 10 days.
Danny jumped in and offered to lend me a pair of the A370 PEQ's and a pair of inline filters for the show. So we took a little detour on the way to Dallas and went by Danny's house. In addition to lending me the equipment, Danny let us listen to some of the new equipment he is working on. Don't know how much I can say about this but audio treat of a lifetime is probably safe. Also, regarding the little chip amps Danny has posted about before, you would not believe what they were driving and how well they did it.
Once we got in to Dallas, unloaded and set up, I hooked the amps up and heard the bass units for the first time. Yes, they worked.
Here are some pictures of the Wedgies and H-Frames
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120377)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120378)
Here are some of my LGK 1.0's with a separate amp, DAC, and computer source in a desktop set up. I finally got around to finishing these so I could take them to Dallas. They are finished in a crotch walnut that I lightly sanded with 150 grit then left rough rather than sanding smooth. It is hard to tell from the pictures but by leaving the veneer rough there is a three dimensional quality to the speakers. It will never be glossy because of this, but I like the rustic look.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120380)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120381)
My second room had the X-Omnis and the N1X's. The X-Omnis are unfinished but I couldn't leave them behind and I am glad I didn't. More on that later.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120382)
I also brought two of the X-CS Encores I'm working on even though the finish is only half done and set one up in each room as another example of my work
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120384)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120385)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=120386)
So how did it go? Everybody that heard them were floored by the little desktop monitors.
While the Wedgies sounded good when I first set them up, the bass really impressed people. I will be the first to admit I really didn't know what I was doing when it comes to dialing a system in. I was able to get it sounding decent but not great. Saturday afternoon, Danny and Gary Dodd stopped by and then the magic happened. Danny took the N1X's out and had the second room focus on the X-Omnis. Then he pulled them farther out into the room and toed them in (I had them 3ft from the wall and facing straight on). Now they shined.
With the Wedgies he first had me move them farther away from the side wall. I didn't have any room treatment and there was too much reflection off the concrete wall. Next he fixed two hook-up errors I made. The first one I made when I set the system up. I accidentally got the subwoofer inputs crossed so I was sending the right channel to the left speaker and the left to the right. The next one I created when I switched out the power amp in a hurry. I had been borrowing a Nighthawk 20wpc tube amp from Raven, nice sounding amp by the way. When I put my amp back in I got in a hurry and switched polarity on the left speaker. Then he toed the wedgies in more than I had them. He kept working at until he was satisfied.
Result - the Wedgies were transformed. People who had stopped by earlier in the day or on Friday came back by and were amazed. One person said they were good before but something was a little off, now they were seamless. I had a full room most of Saturday. Only two lulls of about 5min each. I had quite a few people come back multiple times to hear to the Wedgies and were smiling. Once everybody had stopped visiting Saturday night I got a chance to sit down and really listen to the Wedgies. I have never heard the final movement from Mahler's 8th symphony sound like that.
From a business standpoint, no immediate sales but something may develop. About a hundred people took my business card, six people were very interested in the LGK monitors and one for the X-Omnis. Even if I don't get any orders, it was worth it to me. I learned a lot from Danny about how to set up a system and then got to listen to the Wedgies the way they are supposed to sound. That alone was worth the effort.
From a fun standpoint I had a blast.
Mike
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It was a good show, thanks for exhibiting. Still not sure how you got up on the 3rd floor but I guess there's a reason.
We stopped in a few times and heard the H Frames and the omnis. The H Frames in particular sounded great. And you're correct - I heard the H Frames before and after those guys fine tuned them and they sounded good at first but special after they did their thing.
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It was a good show, thanks for exhibiting. Still not sure how you got up on the 3rd floor but I guess there's a reason.
We stopped in a few times and heard the H Frames and the omnis. The H Frames in particular sounded great. And you're correct - I heard the H Frames before and after those guys fine tuned them and they sounded good at first but special after they did their thing.
You're welcome.
I don't know how I got up there either. Next year I will check in directly with the folks organizing the event rather than relying on the hotel to know what is going on.
I'm glad you got to hear the H-frames after the fix. Next year I'll get it right the first time.
Now to sleep for a week. Oops, can't do that, I have to catch up with my day job :lol:
Mike
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Those LGKs and stands sure are pretty :drool:
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I enjoyed listening to the wedgies and the opportunity to meet and talk to Mike. As usual, GR has created a very high value speaker at an affordable price. Although not a lot of rooms, many of those that I listened to were impressive in one way or another.
Scott
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Mike, you do really beautiful work that helps to bring Danny's work to the masses -- great work, man! I would have loved to have heard everything dialed in as intended. I am finally spending lots of time with my pair of wedgies and the dual twin twelve-inch H-frames. I can't imagine things sounding much better, but my speakers look nothing like the works of art you have there :thumb:.
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Glad you had a goo d time Mike.
Can only imagine what you got to listen to at Danny's place, and yeah, I bet I can guess what those tlittle chip amps were drivng !!
jay
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If you got to hear the new OB line arrays at Danny's like S Clark and I did, they are something very special indeed! :thumb:
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mike, where in the system did you try the cherry amps and what did you think of them?
marvin
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Those LGKs and stands sure are pretty :drool:
Thank you, glad you like them.
I enjoyed listening to the wedgies and the opportunity to meet and talk to Mike. As usual, GR has created a very high value speaker at an affordable price. Although not a lot of rooms, many of those that I listened to were impressive in one way or another.
Scott
Scott,
It was nice meeting you as well. I agree, every room I checked out had something to offer.
One nice thing about not having a lot of rooms is that that you don't feel rushed to move on so you won't miss something. You could relax and spend some time listening and nobody cared how many times you came back. I welcomed it and felt flattered when people came back to listen multiple times. This is a testament to the quality of GR designs in general and the Wedgie in particular.
And everybody is friendly and helpful. At one point, Raven Audio lent me one of their Nighthawk integrated tube amps and a power cable from Douglas Connections to use. A little later a pair of Cherry digital amps were brought in for me to listen too.
Mike
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Mike, you do really beautiful work that helps to bring Danny's work to the masses -- great work, man! I would have loved to have heard everything dialed in as intended. I am finally spending lots of time with my pair of wedgies and the dual twin twelve-inch H-frames. I can't imagine things sounding much better, but my speakers look nothing like the works of art you have there :thumb:.
Thanks. I'm not quite there yet since the servo 8's are not playing right now. I gave Danny his amps back and mine haven't come in yet so I am back to listening to the Wedgies with a single driver non-servo 8" X-sub. Decent little sub but not compared to the triple 8" H-frames. Currently the Wedgies are a little anemic.
I'm sure the dual 12's are fantastic. I'm not sorry for my choice of the 8's. I barely have room for them in the room. However, the cost of building three 8's or two 12's is almost the same so if you have the room, go for the dual 12's.
Mike
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Glad you had a goo d time Mike.
Can only imagine what you got to listen to at Danny's place, and yeah, I bet I can guess what those
jay tlittle chip amps were drivng !!
If you got to hear the new OB line arrays at Danny's like S Clark and I did, they are something very special indeed! :thumb:
Jay and Rich,
You're dead on. As they say around here, those babys are "the bomb" :banana piano:
Mike
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I just hope next year that LSAF and Axpona are farther apart in time.
Want to come to both but need more than a few days between them for travel.
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mike, where in the system did you try the cherry amps and what did you think of them?
marvin
I tried them with the Wedgies. They were good little amps, very powerful. For the type of music I was playing, Mostly jazz and classical, I preferred the sound of the tubes. If you're not a tube person then those little Cherry's deserve a listen. At 200wpc they are plenty powerful even for less efficient speakers.
Mike
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I just hope next year that LSAF and Axpona are farther apart in time.
Want to come to both but need more than a few days between them for travel.
That is bad timing. I hope next year LASF doesn't consider the first weekend in May to be the one with May 1 on Sunday, too close to April 15th. I hope they wait until the 6th-8th. Don't know how that would fit with Axpona though.
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Axpona is April 15-17 in 2016. That would make LSAF on May 6-8 possible!
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Axpona is April 15-17 in 2016. That would make LSAF on May 6-8 possible!
So whose ear do we need to drop a bug into for this?
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Probably on the AC Audio Show LSAF page.
Just found their Facebook page and will put the suggestion there.
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So whose ear do we need to drop a bug into for this?
Steven Solazzo was the guy who coordinated it this year. He's the guy exhibitors got all the eMails from at least, I assume you received them from him.
Then there's the Face Book page.
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I posted the question on the LASF contact page and just heard back. LASF 2016 will indeed be held May 6th through 8th.
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Excellent!
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Just heard LSAF2016 will be 6-8 May 2016.
Now that helps!
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Mike,
I was also one to stop by your room more than once. I was there helping my friend Skip from Audio Thesis setup his two Usher room's. The second time, I came to your room was probably around 2 in the morning. I came up with my friend Ron (Blowtorch room) and your grandson. We enjoyed your setup and I look forward to speaking again soon ( your grandson ) gave me contact information.
Halen
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Just heard LSAF2016 will be 6-8 May 2016.
Now that helps!
Cool. I'm still interested to see if a free listing in Stereophile's events section would up the attendance.
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Mike,
I was also one to stop by your room more than once. I was there helping my friend Skip from Audio Thesis setup his two Usher room's. The second time, I came to your room was probably around 2 in the morning. I came up with my friend Ron (Blowtorch room) and your grandson. We enjoyed your setup and I look forward to speaking again soon ( your grandson ) gave me contact information.
Halen
Halen,
I remember. I'm glad you came by and enjoyed the systems. I look forward to talking with you also.
Mike
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I was at LSAF, we had the 5One2Audio room. I thought your room sounded great after the changes.
Was lots of fun at the show, even though I was surprised how much the show had shrunk. Plus there was absolutely no organization at all. No designation list of room/floor with vendors, no major players (I think there was Legacy and Polk a few years back). Hopefully there is a show next year and if so I hope it bounces back..