High school speaker project- Field trip to GR-Research

S Clark · « **on:** 4 Mar 2009, 02:15 am »

Thought I'd pass along the initiation ritual. We try to get every student involved in the speaker projects to take a field trip to GR-Research and listen to the latest creation of its guru, Danny Richie. We spend a couple of hours learning about speaker building in general and crossover building specifically. Here is a photo of a couple of kids listening to the new OB prototype. Everyone was in awe of the Big Blues Dodds and Danny's OB prototype.

Nick77 · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Mar 2009, 02:19 am »

And your impressions of the new OB? Looks like a cool trip, hope to do the same someday.
Thanks for sharing Scott.

S Clark · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Mar 2009, 03:42 am »

IMHO, the new OB surpasses everything in Danny's line except the big LS series (and I don't think he is selling those kits anymore). The bass is amazingly fast and clear. Lower register piano sounds exactly like a big grand . (Piano is what I listen to when really critiquing a speaker since I had a 6'3" Steinway for a couple of decades. I have never heard the low register reproduced so accurately in any speaker) There are some things that the Neo3 tweeter does better (a bit of shimmer in the upper piano register), but the tweeter in OB prototype would definitely be equal to most of the top dome tweeters. Overall, what this speaker does incredibly well is create a fast, real bass and adds the spaciousness of an open baffle mid. It is a real winner.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Mar 2009, 05:05 am »

Scott....
I'm curious....when the students had their listening session...what music did you play ? Do they bring their Cd's ? Thanks....

S Clark · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Mar 2009, 05:54 am »

This time none of them brought their own music (which is a shame because usually it creates an opportunity to talk about compression), but after 10-12 trips to Danny's over the years, I can give you a pretty good list of the stuff that Danny likes to play.
Vienna Teng- Waking Hour
Allison Krauss
Lyle Lovett- Joshua Judges Ruth
Blue Man Group
O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack
Jennifer Warnes- The Hunter
Patty Larkin- Angels Running
Jesse Cook- Gravity

When I remember, I take my Copeland's "Fanfare" (I am pretty sure it is the same version that you sent me on the NY Audio Rave 2006 cd), and my David Fung "Evening Conversations". I tend to like more classical than Danny does.

Scott

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #5 on:** 4 Mar 2009, 06:02 am »

Thanks Scott....some good selections.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 Jul 2009, 10:04 pm »

Just want to praise Clark for doing this. I think it's just SO great!

S Clark · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Jul 2009, 02:11 am »

Thanks Jim. Education works when it is put in a meaningful context. Diffraction and wave interference are simply theories to memorized for a test until it affects something that affects you. High school kids are just like any of the rest of us- it has to be meaningful and implemented for learning to be long term.

All the good folks that have contributed to this project (including you and your excellent products) have helped create a nice interface between the private sector and public education. This works because our members here on AC are passionate about their hobby, and I'm passionate about science education. Together, we have put together a pretty nice little project for what is now adding up to several hundreds of students over the years.

I know Gary Dodd and Danny R. would love to have an extra judge. It's a bit of drive from the Houston area (I think that's where you are???), but we'd love to have you.

SC