[Scott F.]

Many thanks go to Mark and Lisa (Blackmore) for hosting the latest mini-gathering last night. For those that couldn't make it, you missed one heck of a good time 

...and without further ado, here are the pics!


Terry Cain does great work


Blackmore's System from left to right
The Cain & Cain Abby's, Conrad Johnson EL34 amp (one of many amps), the ultra cool Opera Droplet CD player, the Yammamoto pre-amp (the Yammie 300b amp was down with a driver tube that went south), the Parts Express DIY 10" sub (that mated extremely well with the Abbeys), and the venerable Advents hiding behind the main system.


A quick pick of the ultra expensive, time aligned, non-cryo-dipped, blodium plated, four sevens, Super Helix interconnects.


OMG, it's Cable VooDoo 


Blackmores Abbey's and Mark@marktwains Fostex Horns. The Horns had some seriously SLAMMIN bass.


MarkTwains Fostex 167's had the phase plug tweak.


Dejected by all the atention the the single drivers were getting, the Innersounds could be found sulking in the corner. 


Amp swapping, we traded the CJ for the super sweet sounds of the Cary Convertable 2A3.


...and not to be left out, Marks Advents found their way into the system. The little 3.5 watt Cary did a remarkable job driving the Advents into the 90+db range.


We finished up the evening listening to the Advents being driven by Marks modified Baby Sophia. Good Stuff 


OK, which one of you guys spilled their drink on Marks new CD player?


Can you say Food? 


Heres all the guys.... Mark@marktwain, MerRev (Chris), (Mark) Blackmore


Steve and Bryan (of Sensible Sound Solutions)







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Ooops, I forgot to take a picture of Lisa (Mark's better half) and Tim (electricbear) 









....and finally,.....

...yours truely paying homage to Lonewolf (Chris).
(notice I'm leaning on a speaker with my legs crossed and holding a beer. now if I could only grow some hair and a mustache.)

[lonewolfny42]

Hey Scott....Thanks for the photo's...you make a good "ruler" !!!

We do those "ruler" shot's to show the size of the speaker's....and for me to remember what beer I was drinking that day...

Some nice looking equipement...even the little Sophia Baby made it in....good!!

Your comment on the Fostex Horns..."slammin bass"...was that without the sub in ?

Why I ask...I've got a SET amp coming soon. I'll match it with my Omega's, the A8's....but....always interested in others that would fit the bill.

Maybe you could post a little more about what you heard with the Fostex's....thanks !! (I've heard the Cain & Cain ....very nice speaker too!!)

Thanks......Chris

[jcrane]

Looks like I missed a great time. Maybe next time!
Scott I plan on calling you this week as I am on vacation

jamie

[Scott F.]

Hey Scott....Thanks for the photo's...you make a good "ruler" !!!
We do those "ruler" shot's to show the size of the speaker's....and for me to remember what beer I was drinking that day...

I like the explanation that so its how you can remember which beer you were drinking the best  If that were the case for me, I should have had my bottle of Oban in my hand.

Some nice looking equipement...even the little Sophia Baby made it in....good!!
Your comment on the Fostex Horns..."slammin bass"...was that without the sub in ?
Why I ask...I've got a SET amp coming soon. I'll match it with my Omega's, the A8's....but....always interested in others that would fit the bill.
Maybe you could post a little more about what you heard with the Fostex's....thanks !! (I've heard the Cain & Cain ....very nice speaker too!!)

Regarding MarkTwains Fostex horns, even though they used the same driver as the Abbey's, you would never know it. The horns had a completely different presentation. The phase plug seemed to smooth the and extend highs (though we did have a super tweeter rolled in somewhere near 12 or 14k). The bass was your very typical "Fostex rear horn bass". It was fast, tight, hugely dynamic and delivered by the truckload.

Where the Abby's had a nice, smooth 'rounded' bass, the horns bass leaped out at you and screamed "LETS ROCK"  Between 40 and 70hz the horns provide (about) +6db of additional output compared to the Abbey's. On the flip side, the little 10" Dayton sub blended into the Abbeys about as well as I've heard any sub. Both made great music. It was pretty amazing listneing to the drastic differences between the same driver in two different designs.

Sometime in the upcoming months I'll be writing more about the two up at ETM. I'm starting a new ongoing series called The New Adventures In High Efficency.

[lonewolfny42]

Thanks Scott !!!

Chris

Quick question....how big is the room ? Thanks....

[Scott F.]

Well, Marks living room was about 15' wide by 18' long and 8' tall (guesstimate). We had the horns pulled out from the back wall about 6' or 7' (maybe 8') to the back of the horns. I was really suprised how much bass we were getting with them being out so far.

If you get a chance to hear the Fostex drivers in a true back loaded horn rather than a bass reflex enclosure,  definately go for it. There isn't anything that can compare to the dynamics of a horn IMHO  Those things reach out and demand your attention.

Heres a link to the horns MarkTwain built.
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexcabs/166e_encl.pdf
The frequency response plot doesn't come close to the in room response we were getting.



Oh, I forgot one thing.

Loads of thanks go to Tim (electricbear) and our local AudioQuest rep for providing tons of free stuff (caps, tote bags, pens and the highly covented binding post wrenches).

[Blackmore]

Only one correction on my interconnects....the cables are plated in blah,blah,blahdium.  I think I have $6.00 invested in those babies.   Thanks to everyone who endured the heat for Fostex night.  Highlights of the night; Etta James at 100 dB singing "Take it to the Limit", the look on marktwain's face after he carried those speakers upstairs in 97 degree heat, electricbear's insistence that we break out the solder iron to mod something-anything, and everyone moving my crystal droplets around on top of the cdp so I'd have to spend hours getting them back just so.

Everyone get geared up for College Night!  The rules are: Advents, 1970's receiver, Dual turntable, records recorded when you were in school only, zipcord and whatever interconnects came with your last cassette player. Let's see those bellbottoms and blue jean jackets, Nehru shirts, overalls, etc.

[Scott F.]

Only one correction on my interconnects....the cables are plated in blah,blah,blahdium.  I think I have $6.00 invested in those babies.   Thanks to everyone who endured the heat for Fostex night.  Highlights of the night; Etta James at 100 dB singing "Take it to the Limit", the look on marktwain's face after he carried those speakers upstairs in 97 degree heat, electricbear's insistence that we break out the solder iron to mod something-anything, and everyone moving my crystal droplets around on top of the cdp so I'd have to spend hours getting them back just so.

Everyone get geared up for College Night!  The rules are: Advents, 1970's receiver, Dual turntable, records recorded when you were in school only, zipcord and whatever interconnects came with your last cassette player. Let's see those bellbottoms and blue jean jackets, Nehru shirts, overalls, etc.

"blah,blah,blahdium" 

I love the idea of college night  Between all of us, we should be able to put together three or four quality vintage systems. In fact I may just have to finish the restoration of my HH Scott 299 for this one 





Hey Mark@marktwain!

Have you got the link to that passive, line level, baffle step circuit you constructed for your horns?

[jcrane]

But some of us attended college in the 90s?!? Notice I didn't say ANYTHING about finishing
So will this require Nirvana, natural light and a boom box?
In college I had a jvc cd player and a sanyo rack style system complete with turntable and MDF rack purchased brand new between HS and the start of college in the fall of 1989! The speakers had these really bad 12" drivers and believe it or not my father has it in his basement. I thought I was the sh!t, how times have changed
Jamie

[MerRev]

Thank you Mark and Lisa for hosting a great little get-together.  I had a great time and didn't want to leave.  MarkTwain- thanks to you as well for being such a good sport and bringing out so many toys- very nice work on the Fostex horns.  Both the Abby's and Fostex horns made music exciting.

I know what I want for Christmas now.  The Droplet was a beaut and a nice match for the Yammies and Abby's.  Sturg- we know you like Willies amp but your gonna have to give it up some time. 

On my way home I heard this:
http://www.sheldonconcerthall.org/james.asp
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 8 p.m.

[Scott F.]

On my way home I heard this:
http://www.sheldonconcerthall.org/james.asp
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 8 p.m.

Etta James

WOW! This may have to be a group outing!

I wonder if there is any way to find out if she will be doing Take It To The Limit ?

hmmmm, I may have to put on my reporters cap and see what I can find out about the set list from her management.

....further hmmmm, I'd bet she'd have all kinds of great stories to tell if I could manage an interview

[drummerwill]

 Sounds like another great get-together, sorry I couldn't make it. My wife wanted to hear India Irye, maybe thats not the spelling ! Anyway the free concert down at the Arch, she was really good, it was like a jam session to her,she really connected. We stayed for the Fireworks not a bad evening, but I wish i could have heard the Fostex's !
  Willie

[electricbear]

Many thanks to Mark for hosting a great night and to Lisa for putting up with a home full of Audiophiles. We all had a lot of fun and heard some very different gear.
Thanks again.

[DeadFish]

Looked like a hoot to me!

Hope some of that gear makes it around again occasionally, or I'm gonna have to invite myself over somewhere. 

Glad you had a good outcome and the a/c held up. 

GOT to hear Mark's horns sometime...

Best!
Bill

[mark@marktwain]

Thanks to Mark and Lisa for hosting an excellent evening, smokin gear, cold beer and tasty eats it's always great getting together with the GAS gang. Was it frikkin hot outside or what!

Mark, you have a wonderful rig, the abby's sound excellent and you know how much I love your 2a3 amp and matching pre. I really didn't want to give them back after living with them for over a month! The Droplet cd player is in a league of it's own, what eye candy. I really think you need the matching stand and turntable though.

I still cant believe the bass we were gettin out of my horns, were they rockin or what! They don't sound like that in my listening area, I guess it's time for a relocation. I'll never forget the look on Scott's face when they first came to life kinda like this  .

Hey Scott, I think this is the link to the BSC circuit I'm using. It's the one from Paul Joppa at Bottlehead http://www.t-linespeakers.org/tech/bafflestep/passive-BSC.html

Willie and Fish man you really gotta hear these horns but I'm sorry to say that they will probably not have another tour down to St. Louie unless I have a contract from the host that they have arranged for handling into the listening position. Their just too damn heavy at 80 lbs each. You can always take a drive north and give em a listen though, maybe you can bring Sturg along too.

A special thanks to Mark, Scott and Steve for hauling my horns back down to my truck when it was time to go  (I really wasn't lookin foward to that doing that) and you guys made it look so easy. Bryan and Tim I know the real reason why you guys left early, I don't blame ya.

Chris, sorry you had to leave early too but a man has to do what a man has to do.

Mark

[bpape]

Yeah - I almost had it slip out of my hands on the way UP the stairs when we brought them in...  Thanks for bringing them over.  That was amazing bottom end and just a huge sound from the Fostex's in that horn. 

It was really interesting listening to amost identical drivers (except for the phase plug mod) in the 2 different cabinets and hearing completely different things.

Bryan