The Chicago Audio fest.
Many thanks to Dave Ellis and Jim Salk for getting this together and making it happen. The one-day event was set up to have a DIY “competition” in three categories where drivers and xo totaled: <$250, 251-500, and unlimited (boxes extra). This was held in one of the conference rooms on the mail level. There were also three rooms upstairs. They were Salk Sound. BESL and a room of three enthusiastic DIYers.
When I got to the third floor there was a sign pointing to the rooms. I picked and arrow and followed it. By chance it was Jim Salk’s room.
www.salksound.comHe had just hooked everything up and had some music playing. We talked a bit, introduced ourselves and I listened to some music. Jim stepped out for about 15 minuets so I had the room to my self. It sounded great as is and about an hour later he calibrated the DEQX unit to the room. It made a significant difference to the bass.
Jim was using a Denon player into the DEQX into an ATI amp triamping the HT3’s. He also used a Sony changer into (I think) a LINN DAC into a VanAlstine pre into a Bryston 4B (I think) into the passive xo’s of the HT3’s. Either way the sound was very articulate, clear and had great balance from top to bottom. Especially in the bass with room correction.
The G2 ribbon offers an airy presence to the treble, never becoming fatiguing. It made cymbals shimmer into thin air. I am used to a bit warmer (colored?) midrange than what I heard with the W18EX. I will be listening to it in my room when I audition a pair of HT1’s. The bass was tight and never got in the way of the rest of the speaker. Jim said the HT3 will get to the mid 20’s in room. The sound was balanced and very cohesive. Dennis Murphy is an excellent xo designer. The passive vs. active was so very close. I don’t believe the difference was “worth” it unless you can afford to go all the way, IMO.
I listened to the EXT’s that utilizes a different tweeter and two Extremis drivers in an MTM arrangement. I liked this cabinet almost as much as the HT3. It is just a bit taller and narrower than the 3’s.
The DIY room. (Sorry, I don’t remember their names) had a 5.1 set up of diy speakers. They had the Outlaw 750 preamp and Outlaw 5 channel amp fed by a Denon 2200. They even had a projector pointed at the wall for DVD-A navigation. These guys were having lots of fun with a 5.1 system that sounded real good. They had a monster center channel and a 15” Dayton sub in a large box as well.
The BESL room was hosted by Phil Bamburg along with Jackman. Nice to finally meet you Phil and Jack.
http://www.bamberglab.com/index.shtmlPhil had his Series 5 MTM system set up with custom matching subs. He was driving the system actively with an Onix CD-2 as transport to a Behringer DCX-2496 doing room equalization and DAC into the Emotiva “Big Dog” 7 channel amp. That Onix/Emo stuff is very attractive. Mark sure knows how to design very nice looking equipment. They also had the big dog pre/pro, but I didn’t get a chance to hear it. The midrange was top notch with the Seas W-18 mids. I found the Seas Millennium tweeter to be a little too hot for my tastes.
Throughout the day Dave Ellis ran various speaker auditions from DIYers in the conference room. He had a pair of 1801F that were used throughout the day. We did some cable swaps and some amp swaps and some CD player swaps, etc.
