11/17 - Tweek Geek open house, featuring Clayton Shaw of Emerald Physics!

cryotweaks · « **on:** 24 Oct 2007, 01:35 am »

Saturday, November 17 at 1:00 pm Tweek Geek is hosting an open house to celebrate the new showroom in Arvada, Colorado.

This promises to be a great time, featuring:

- FOOD! My wife (a culinary student), a few of her student friends, along with one of her instructors from Johnson & Wales University will be catering the event(yum!).

- Clayton Shaw of Emerald Physics will be present to discuss & demo his CS2 loudspeakers on the main level system.

- The Usher Audio Be-718 will be featured with Luminance Audio amplification in the lower level system.

- A great opportunity to meet with local area audio nuts and geeks.

Anyone interested in attending please RSVP to me via PM.

Cheers!

zybar · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 Oct 2007, 01:45 am »

Have a great time guys, sounds like you are in for a nice treat.

George

Bill Baker · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Oct 2007, 02:02 am »

Sounds like some nice gear will be featured. Out of curiousity, what will you be using to drive the CS2's?
I already know how good the Luminance and 'Silver & Oil' Usher 718's sound so I can only imagine the BE's will be truly amazing.

What preamp will you be using to feed the KST? Again, just out of curiosity.

And, you get to meet the man, Clayton, in person

cryotweaks · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Oct 2007, 02:19 am »

There is still a lot up in the air regarding gear. I hope to have a Dodd Battery pre, and as far as amps go, I may have a surprise or two. Whatever works best for the CS2's is what I will use. I hear you are working on some amps, perhaps they could be made available?

Bill Baker · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Oct 2007, 02:29 am »

Quote

There is still a lot up in the air regarding gear. I hope to have a Dodd Battery pre,

The Dodd pre should be sweet!

Quote

and as far as amps go, I may have a surprise or two. Whatever works best for the CS2's is what I will use.

I was curious if you were going to be using one (or two) of the Usher amps with the CS-2s.

Quote

I hear you are working on some amps, perhaps they could be made available

I would be honored for you to hear the BE (Bella EXtreme) amps driving these speakers but in honesty, timing is my only issue. The 17th will be here before we know it and the benches are still full with current orders. Unless....if one of my BE customers will be attending, maybe they could bring their's along with 'em

Either way, sounds like a great time.

cryotweaks · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Oct 2007, 03:10 pm »

Its getting good! There will now be a drawing for a pair of Usher S-520 loudspeakers and an Audience aR1P power conditioner. All attendees will qualify for the drawing.

PeteG · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Oct 2007, 04:27 pm »

Mike,
Count me in! RSVP sent.

TRM · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Oct 2007, 10:53 pm »

RSVP sent

thanks, looking forward to this

zybar · « **Reply #8 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 02:04 am »

How did things go?

George

mgalusha · « **Reply #9 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 04:03 am »

No one's posted yet? And I thought I was the slow one.

First, a big thanks to Mike and his wife Maya for having a house full of audio geeks over. Maya and another woman prepared some mighty fine eats and perhaps the best dessert I've ever tasted.

Where to start. The basement system was Wayne's Ultra Squeezebox with the Ultimate Nirvana PS feeding the Bolder/Bent/Burson preamp driving the mystery amp into a pair of Usher BE 718 (I think) speakers. It was sounding very nice and as I was an early guest I was fortunate enough to get a power supply comparison. We removed the Nirvana PS and put in the Ultimate IV (I believe) and the difference was not subtle at all. Much was lost in regards to leading edge attack, spaciousness and just overall life. It wasn't very long before I asked that the Nirvana PS be put back in. No question it's the real deal.

The upstairs system was a Transporter feeding a Behringer DCX2496 which drove 4 nuforce amps into the Emerald Physics CS2's. I was disappointed at what I was hearing, it just wasn't integrating well, the midrange was fuzzy and the bass wasn't keeping up with the rest of the music. Not at all what I heard at RMAF. A little later Clayton Shaw arrived and changed the setup considerably and the improvement was amazing. All the issues I had with the system were gone and the sound was very good. I don't particularly care for the nuforce amps and I'd really love to hear these with some good ole' class AB linear amps. Also, the DCX was bone stock so the results should be even better with some work to the Behringer.

I really enjoyed the CS2 setup once Clayton had it tweaked.

Thanks again for having us over Mike.

Mike

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 04:20 am »

Thanks for your comments Mike....

Quote

....I'd really love to hear these with some good ole' class AB linear amps.

Which amps would you use Mike ? Thanks.......

Chris

mgalusha · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 04:37 am »

Chris,

Not sure which amps, a lot of power isn't need on the top end and even with the EQ on the bass I don't think really high power is needed. Mike has one of the Luminance amps that I really enjoyed last time I was over but he didn't have two of them for the need 4 channels of amplification. Same goes for the new "mystery" amp he was using the basement system. Something that would accept a balanced signal would be nice but not mandatory. Given the XO is at 1kHz I'd be a bit hesitant to try and mix tubes and SS but the slopes are very steep and it might work just fine. If so something like my buddy Jerry's Mac 275 on top and maybe something like the Odyssey Extreme mono's on the bottom since they tend to have a death grip on the woofers.

Realistically, just a pair of nice stereo amps would likely work great. I'm just not a a fan of the nuforce sound but once Clayton had the system tweaked there is no question it was sounding very nice.

mike

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 04:41 am »

Thanks Mike....

audionut101 · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 05:23 am »

Quote from: mgalusha on 18 Nov 2007, 04:37 am

... but once Clayton had the system tweaked there is no question it was sounding very nice.

mike

do you know what specifically Clayton did to tweak the system?

smccull · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 05:40 am »

I agree with Mike (mgalusha). The sound of the CS2s certainly lived up to their hype, at least they did after Clayton played around with them. He moved them further out into the room (at least 6-8 ft) and restored the Behringer settings he specifies for that room placement. They certainly sounded better than any $3K speakers have any right to sound. Very open and dynamic. You can definitely tell there's no passive crossover mucking up the works.

I was really surprised to hear how well the two 15" woofers integrated with compression tweeter. I couldn't "hear" the crossover at all. They may have been the slightest bit recessed in the midrange, but then again that may have been the Nuforce amps. I too would love to hear them on some good old fashion tubes. The tweeter is very extended but with no harshness. I sat in the sweet spot for a while with it really cranked on some Count Basie and it never got to be too much for me. I have a real sensitivity to harsh tweeters and these speakers always sounded refined.

And the food! What a spread! Thanks to Mike G. and Clayton and everyone else who put the event together. I couldn't stay long because of another commitment, but I really enjoyed hearing the CS2s. Too bad I don't have the room for them.

Steve

TomS · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 01:04 pm »

Quote from: mgalusha on 18 Nov 2007, 04:37 am

Chris,

Not sure which amps, a lot of power isn't need on the top end and even with the EQ on the bass I don't think really high power is needed. Mike has one of the Luminance amps that I really enjoyed last time I was over but he didn't have two of them for the need 4 channels of amplification. Same goes for the new "mystery" amp he was using the basement system. Something that would accept a balanced signal would be nice but not mandatory. Given the XO is at 1kHz I'd be a bit hesitant to try and mix tubes and SS but the slopes are very steep and it might work just fine. If so something like my buddy Jerry's Mac 275 on top and maybe something like the Odyssey Extreme mono's on the bottom since they tend to have a death grip on the woofers.

Realistically, just a pair of nice stereo amps would likely work great. I'm just not a a fan of the nuforce sound but once Clayton had the system tweaked there is no question it was sounding very nice.

mike

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Mine will have the Odyssey Extreme Mono SE's on the bottom end and the Bella Extreme 3205 that was at Wayne's RMAF room last year on the top. Should be an interesting setup to say the least.

Tom

Wayne1 · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 03:15 pm »

Thanks to all who dropped by.

I think we had about 40 people through the house over the course of 4 hours. Mike's wife and her instructor put out a spread that was unbelievable. I hope they wrote down all that was offered to refresh my memory. The lemon curd served over blueberries was the most fantastic desert I can remember.

I was stuck in the basement for much of the day. I missed hearing when Clayton moved the speakers and reset the EQ, but I did hear the difference later. It seems the speaker NEED to be placed very deep into the room 5 feet is the minimum distance they can be front the front walls. They also need to be toed in quite a bit.

The Usher speakers impressed all who heard them with their small size and big performance. I compared the power supplies for the SB on two occasions. I was using my prototype Ultimate MKIII without the pre-regulator circuit and no Bybee Purifiers but with the Aspen Audio Nirvana upgrade. I replaced it with my prototype of the Ultimate MKIV WITH the pre-regulator and four Bybee Purifiers. In both cases the difference was immediate and obvious. After maybe 5 notes, Mike Galusha asked for the Nirvana to be put back

.

The leading edge transients were faster. There was more dynamics and impact. It sounded more like real musicians playing on real instruments in a real space. All in all, quite a beneficial upgrade.

The mystery amp is an item the Mike Garner and I are looking at importing. It is built in China, loosely based on the old Mark Levinson ML-2 circuit. It is fully discrete, fully differential balanced and direct coupled. It is rated at 250 wpc into 8, 500 into 4 and 1000 into 2. It is very smooth with NO grit or grain. We hope to get a few more in and try them out with the Emerald Physics speakers.

I ended up meeting the husband of Maya's instructor and his friend, who are both big homebrewers. We ended up talking and drinking beer for more than a few hours after most had left. It was a great time and a lot of really nice people came by. Mike and Maya, thanks for letting everyone into your home and putting on a fantastic feed.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #17 on:** 18 Nov 2007, 09:41 pm »

Wayne....

Quote

I was stuck in the basement for much of the day. I missed hearing when Clayton moved the speakers and reset the EQ, but I did hear the difference later. It seems the speaker NEED to be placed very deep into the room 5 feet is the minimum distance they can be front the front walls. They also need to be toed in quite a bit.

At RMAF'07....a similar setup there.... almost half way out in the room.They need space.....

Quote

I compared the power supplies for the SB on two occasions. I was using my prototype Ultimate MKIII without the pre-regulator circuit and no Bybee Purifiers but with the Aspen Audio Nirvana upgrade. I replaced it with my prototype of the Ultimate MKIV WITH the pre-regulator and four Bybee Purifiers. In both cases the difference was immediate and obvious. After maybe 5 notes, Mike Galusha asked for the Nirvana to be put back..

Nice !!! Good to hear its working out.....

sunshinedawg · « **Reply #18 on:** 19 Nov 2007, 01:03 am »

I don't really have much to add, Mike Galusha pretty much summed it up in his post on the first page of this thread. Thanks to Mike
Garner and his wife for the hospitality.

Quote from: audionut101 on 18 Nov 2007, 05:23 am

do you know what specifically Clayton did to tweak the system?

The others mentioned the toe-in. Just to describe it more, Clayton had the CS2's crossed perpendicular in front of the sweet spot. I definitely learned a lot about how to tweak them. It will help me when mine arrive in the next week or so. George and I are about to set his up so I will get even more practice.

zybar · « **Reply #19 on:** 19 Nov 2007, 01:13 am »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 18 Nov 2007, 09:41 pm

Wayne....

Quote
I was stuck in the basement for much of the day. I missed hearing when Clayton moved the speakers and reset the EQ, but I did hear the difference later. It seems the speaker NEED to be placed very deep into the room 5 feet is the minimum distance they can be front the front walls. They also need to be toed in quite a bit.

At RMAF'07....a similar setup there.... almost half way out in the room.They need space.....

Quote
I compared the power supplies for the SB on two occasions. I was using my prototype Ultimate MKIII without the pre-regulator circuit and no Bybee Purifiers but with the Aspen Audio Nirvana upgrade. I replaced it with my prototype of the Ultimate MKIV WITH the pre-regulator and four Bybee Purifiers. In both cases the difference was immediate and obvious. After maybe 5 notes, Mike Galusha asked for the Nirvana to be put back..

Nice !!! Good to hear its working out.....

Just to be clear...they don't need to be "almost half way out into the room".

They do need to be at least 3-5' into the room to sound their best. You also need to play with toe in and make sure that you select the proper pre-programmed file on the DCX-2496. All of this is outlined in the printed instructions that come with the speakers.

If you do these steps, you will be rewarded with some pretty awesome sound!

Your dealer or Clayton will be able to help you if you have any questions.

George