Hello everyone!
It was a fantastic jam, with lots of great people, gear and food (boy, did those brats disappear fast!!). Art, many, many thanks to you for stepping up to host and doing it in style!
A bunch of other "thank yous" are in order:
- Phil at SonicSpirits for sending the Focus 688 monitors, BC integrated and Opus 21 CD player
- Jim at SalkSound for allowing his demo HT1s to stay in the DFW for the Jam
- Ken for arranging transport of the HT1s
- Jason at NuForce for overnighting the prototype pair of Ref9 amps
- Lee at Cryo-Parts for arranging transport of both the NuForce and SonicSpirts gear and bringing several cables
- Danny at GR Research for bringing 3 sets of speakers and a pair of stands
- Gary at Dodd Audio for bringing his amps and preamp
- Brent at Media Design for bringing the Gallo Reference IIIs
- Charlie (?) for bringing a pre-amp of his own design
I'm sure I've missed a few, as I never found out who brought the Halcro or PS audio gear, so thanks again to everyone else that helped out in any way!
As for comments... I took a few things away from the jam, but basically, I would say that we just had a lot of fun. I wouldn't characterize anything I did as critical listening, as there was simply too much going on. We had two rooms going, but they were connected via an open kitchen, so there was definitely some crosstalk happening - along with some strategic volume knob adjusting as a result!
In addition, we were swapping gear too often for any really extended listening or evaluation, and I was unfamiliar with all of it to begin with, not to mention the rooms themselves. There were definitely a couple of room related issues, despite all of the "human acoustic absorbers" we had present!
In my opinion, there was no gear that wasn't worthy of more detailed in home auditions. That said...
Speakers:
I would put the Salk HT1s and Raw Acoustics RA8 at the top of my in-home audition list. (Full disclosure: I have a pair of Salk HT3s on order, but the HT1 performance reaffirmed my belief that I will enjoy the HT3s.) Danny's now-discontinued Criterion has the same tweeter as the HT1s and sounded similar, but not quite as full. The HT1 has a larger mid-range driver and bigger cabinet to help out in this regard. I really did enjoy the HT1!
Since my gear will going in my living room, a line array would be a bit overwhelming, but the RA8s are probably the most livable line array I've seen thanks to their very narrow profile. The only catch is that, with their rolloff in the 40s, I would definitely need a sub. I really liked the RA8 ribbon tweeter, however, and the mids were impressive too. The Focus 688s and Danny's small speakers were both very good, but my personal tastes run to full range speakers, so with everything else to experience, I didn't focus on them quite as much as I probably should have. (I prefer satin finished veneer on speakers, but the burled oak finish on the 688s was fantastic!) I will also add that the Gallo made a much better impression on me than the first time I heard it last year, and I think part of that was due to better gear upstream. I'd like to hear it with the B.A.M. module, to see how that changes its behavior and frequency response. With that 330 degree dispersion tweeter, however, you had better have some room treatment in place!
To sidestep for a moment - my most valuable realization of the afternoon resulted from a discussion with Danny about the HT1 G2 ribbon and RA8 G2Si derived ribbon. Specifically, the RA8 ribbon might have been the slightest bit more revealing, and Danny commented that this was probably due - at least partially - to the fact that the effeciency of the line arrayed woofers meant that the tweeter didn't have to be padded down much at all. (The 96dB G2 ribbon in the Salk has to be padded down to match the 86 dB woofer.) The key here is that - for those that have or prefer lower efficiency speakers - this is yet another reason to consider going to a fully active setup, with amps connected to the drivers after the crossover. No padding is required in this arrangement, and you can thus avoid any potential loss from having to match sensitivity between drivers. Thanks for helping me to that realization, Danny!
Getting back to gear... amps:
I'd like to hear the Dodd 120s, NuForce Ref9s (or more probably 8s) and BC integrated at home in an extended listening session. These amps cover quite a price range, but they all gave me enough hints to want more listening time - whether I could afford them or not. I can't resist prodding Gary a bit since he so firmly believes nothing can compete with tubes, but his amps are impressive. For reasons that have nothing to do with acoustics, I tend to lean away from tubes for an integrated 2 channel/HT system such as what I'm currently putting together, but if I ever get to build a dedicated 2 channel rig (in a separate room) and have the budget available, I'd definitely consider his amps. (Yes, jermnd, Gary raised his prices recently in preparation for establishing a dealer network. The
120W monos are now advertised at $5200 a pair, although you should probably check with Gary offline if you are really interested.)
Again, for a 2 channel only system, I thought the BC integrated was a great piece that I'd love to hear more of. If only it had a remote when configured with the Shalco switches...
As for the NuForce, I think this amp probably got the worst deal of the night. In the "small room" it was hooked up to my BPT 3.5 Signature power conditioner due to a lack of handy wall outlets within reach, and the standard view is that amps should be plugged directly into the wall. I don't know what they were connected to in the big room. In addition, the NuForce power cords didn't attend the jam with the amps, so two different cords were scratched up for each monoblock. (They did look like decent power cords, however, and I think that at least one was furnished by Lee.) In addition, these amps were pre-production units, and I don't know how much play time was on them before they showed up. I know that the production units will have different cases and more capacitance. I don't know that the NuForce series of amps would be my ultimate answer to amplication and more than any other amp, but I was impressed enough that I'd like to hear them at leasure in a few different system configurations, especially since their performance comes with a far more impressive $/Watt ratio than many.
Unfortunately, I missed the visiting Halco and PS Audio amps, as well as Art's Cary monoblocks. I think they were only played in the large room.
Sources:
I don't have much to say here. I heard both the Opus 21 and Art's source, but both were in different systems with different gear. They were never compared to my knowledge.
Cables and power cords:
Same as above - what was initially placed in each system stayed there throughout the afternoon.
Power Conditioners:
Same as above.
Again, take everything I've said with not just a grain of salt, but a whole block of it. At least on my part, I was just having fun. I played some tracks I'm familiar with on several systems, but there was no effort to identify "synergies" (how I hate that word!) between individual components and speakers, and any real attempts at critical listening were difficult due to the environment and enthusiasm of everyone there.
In short - we had a great time, and I'm looking forward to the next jam in 3 weeks! Thanks again to all that made this jam possible!
