Lone Star Audio Fest 2018

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denny9167

Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« on: 8 May 2018, 09:44 pm »
I really enjoyed attending the LSAF this year, although I was somewhat organized, it was my first time, and  I hope I had made some impression. Most of the reactions where positive, I wanted to highlight the phono section of my SP-1B that Dick Olsher fell in love with, but forgot the power supply for the TT, anyway was happy overall with using digital media. All In all, I would come back again next year, hopefully more organized and more products to highlight, but I met some really great people, and made new friends in the process.


marvda1

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Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #1 on: 8 May 2018, 10:07 pm »
give us your thoughts on the rooms.

Dieterle Tool

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Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #2 on: 9 May 2018, 11:44 am »
I thought the JWM Acoustics room was exceptional. Joshua was great to converse with, played music I was familiar with and his speakers sound incredible.

I heard a huge transformation in Austin Acoustics room when switching from digital files to the reel to reel. I appreciated their passion for music and gear as well.

-Dieter

marvda1

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Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #3 on: 9 May 2018, 01:03 pm »
what did you think of the yg acoustics and rosso  rooms?

Dieterle Tool

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Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #4 on: 9 May 2018, 02:28 pm »
YG Acoustics room was locked when I was there Friday (around noon). The big room for Audio Thesis and Rosso was just OK. Saturday I returned for a second listen and door was locked.

marvda1

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Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #5 on: 9 May 2018, 03:26 pm »
audio thesis moved upstairs because the big room did not sound good.

glynnw

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Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #6 on: 9 May 2018, 08:08 pm »
I heard the Carmels there and liked them muchly.

Barry Thornton

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Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #7 on: 20 May 2018, 02:52 am »
Hello,

I thought I would wait a couple of weeks until all had settled down before thanking all of you very much for a most interesting weekend at the LSAF 2018.  It was my first event of this nature, most illuminating, and fun.  I did though feel a bit like a fish-out-of-water in that I was the only one I know of playing vinyl, and certainly the only one with headphones. 

One interesting byproduct of this was that folks used my room to talk to each other, meet and exchange all kinds of comments and introductions.  The result was that Rona and I had a front row seat to the soul of the event, totally anecdotal, and again a lot of fun.  Your efforts at putting this event on are most meritorious, my heartfelt congratulations and I look forward to your next event.

I am more than a bit curious about the aftermath of my presentation on Sunday.  Was this of interest and well received, or too far afield?  It was an intimate audience so I took liberties with my choice of expletives for the sake of humor but my question is about the content and and its value.  I offer to do a talk next time if you find it appropriate.  You name the subject.

My request: I am finishing a proto-build of a 50-watt power amplifier based on my headphone amplifier (current mode, Class-A, no feedback, global or interstage,  two balanced channels (bal in and out), etc., etc.) that you saw at the Fest.  It employs over 700 transistors to operate like tubes but in the current and not the voltage domain.  It is now physically very crude and I designed it with planar type speakers and high-efficiency in mind (I know that sounds like a contradiction but from an amp designer viewpoint it is not).

I am seeking critical audiophiles to help me in its development by listening to the amp on a system they know (so there is only one variable changed) and criticizing the performance to me so that I may better understand the nature of its interactions.  I subscribe to the idea that every 'Mother's child is beautiful', an expression of the idea that what we create we also think is right or the best.  Good old Dr. Delusion shows up regularly.  I am more interested in truth.

I expect 'first-light' by the end of the month.  Also let me know if you are into vinyl; I have a pre-production phono preamp that I would like to have auditioned also.

My thanks to all of you, a most splendid occasion and great fun.

Norman Tracy

Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #8 on: 22 May 2018, 04:03 am »
Thanks for the feedback on LSAF 2018, I believe those of us exhibiting and the attendees alike had a good time.

Denny, it was great seeing and hearing your Brown Audio Labs SP-1B full function preamp. The SP-1B fronted system sound was quite good and I am very impressed with the product’s layout and casework execution. Well done tube preamps in that affordable price range are one of the highest performances per dollar ratio segments in Hi-Fi. In the SP-1B you certainly have a strong contender.

Making the rounds I was pleased how this year in a couple of the major performance segments LSAF offered the chance to hear a wide range of sonic options on offer by the practitioners of the art.

In the horn niche auditioning the offerings from Pi Speakers, Volti Audio, Austin Acoustic, and Van Zyl Audio was informative. Saturated emotional intensity is available from Austin Acoustic’s where both the sound and equipment are room filling. Fun factor off the charts along with stunning build quality kept me revisiting the Volti Audio room to hear both the double bass bin Vittora and production configured Vittora systems. Van Zyl Audio had made further improvements in their 1812 Backfire horns that continue to impress with how effortlessly they deal with complex orchestral works driven by just a few triode watts. And Pi Speakers again demonstrates for those with a DIY inclination very high performance is available for modest dollar outlay.

In box speakers aspiring to state of the art (SOTA) segment using moving coil drivers in reflex and sealed enclosure architectures the arc of the Magico A3, YG Acoustics Carmels, Rosso Fiorentino Siena, JWM Acoustics Alyson ALM II, and Legacy Focus SE was very interesting. All of those systems are operating at the state of our art and I found it very informative how individual designers (or design teams) yielded results with different sonic flavors. Specifically the Magico and YG Acoustics based systems were holographic and hyper detailed with bass transient response I am confident one can use to crack walnuts. JWM Acoustics and Legacy occupied the other end of the spectrum presenting all kinds of detail, wide frequency bandwidth, and dynamic range in a more organic holistic fashion. The Rosso basically split the difference yielding a nice compromise between the hyper clean and clear Fi delivered by the metal enclosure + composite / metal driver systems and the organic sounding paper drivers based systems.

For both the horn and box speaker based systems what I found informative and fun was the ability to experience firsthand how the complex mix of each system’s components and design aesthetic yielded the given results.

Of course any audio show is about the Hi-Fi components and systems but when one gets into it a bit deeper it is the people and their human contributions that come to fore. In that light meeting Barry and Rona Thornton was for me one of the highlights of LSAF 2018. Barry, our two conversations in your exhibit room and at happy hour were educational, entertaining, and big fun. Alas, I missed all the presentations as I used Sunday to hear more rooms for my journalistic duties.

I will correct you regarding “only one I know of playing vinyl”, I “know of” a few more. JWM Acoustics’ Karen turntables were featured in both Joshua’s room and the Raven/Legacy room. I missed hearing the Karen 12 table with 12” arm in JWM Acoustics (never enough hours at LSAF) but when Dave played L.A. Woman (and if I need to add “by The Doors” we are not from the same planet) on the JSW Karen/Raven/Legacy system we had another peak Hi-Fi experience. And thanks to Phillip Holmes’ www.mockingbirddistribution.com we got our first look at the new Sorane ZA-1.2B tonearm (triggering Norman’s gear lust BAD) on hot-rodded Thornes TD124. Add to the mix Kevin Kennedy’s KTA-hifi.net KTA Muscovite phono stage Muscovite and the Austin Acoustic Uber-Fi demo system finally had an LP front end consummate with the rest of that system.

Back to Barry’s demo www.austinaudioworks.com again the clock and calendar are cruel mistresses and I missed hearing your Black Swan phono stage. I did audition the Austin Audio Works prototype DAC feeding the Black Amp headphone amplifier, very, very impressed. Of course you need to fix the ‘pops’ from the prototype DAC as it loses and reacquires SPDIF signal from the transport getting stopped. When the music is playing the transparency is outstanding leading me to believe you have distortion and noise well in hand. The drive your amp supplied to the famously inefficient Audeze LCD-3 planar headphones in use is also most impressive. The reproduction had that ease one enjoys when an amplifier is well within its comfortable operating range, very electrically quiet, and has a stable bandwidth well in excess of 20-20k Hz. 

Basically I believe one and all had a good time, I am already looking forward to LSAF 2019.
« Last Edit: 22 May 2018, 03:23 pm by Norman Tracy »

shooter

Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #9 on: 22 May 2018, 04:49 am »
Norman, Kevin Kennedy's web site is KTA-hifi.net, details of the Moscovite phono stage is well documented on DIYaudio. KandKaudio is owned by Kevin Carter and the phono stage is a totally different design.

Norman Tracy

Re: Lone Star Audio Fest 2018
« Reply #10 on: 22 May 2018, 03:25 pm »
Shooter, thanks for the corrections helping me get the Kevins straight. Post above edited accordingly. Downside is now I want to build my own "Muscovite" 6S3P Tube Phonostage.