[arthurs]

No one mentioned sheep until you brought it up Grand Sheep Master!   

Yeah,

Shouldn't we start addressing him as King Sheep or Lord of The Sheep from now on?

I think I might just go ahead and get 2 of those subs then.

Yes John, I was waiting for SA to spill the bean on those 2 nice little guys and all he's been mumbling the last few posts was something akin to cows and sheeps... 

Yes Hugh, he seems to have some strange attachment to Sheep, not sure why...

The Rythmik subs are great subs with gobs of power but they have quite a bit of finesse too. I'm used to subs as I went through quite a few before I found the ACI Titan II LE, it was one of very few that was fast enough to blend in with Martin Logans and could just disappear. The Rythmik subs are of that caliber as well but with more power; fast, detailed and musical, not just a one note sub if you know what I mean. They're beautiful too!

[Hugh]

Danny,

Thanks for the nice compliment on the XCD-50.

I'll be talking to YOU & Gary at RMAF.

My thoughts on the gear....

The Onix CD player was a surprise. It sounded much better than I thought it would. It was top notch!

Not a surprise was how the little system opened up and the top end became cleaner and more extended when we dropped KCI John's cables in. His cables are great.

The real gem to me was Gary Dodd's new battery powered tube amp and new battery powered pre-amp. The pre-amp is actually passive but uses an active tube buffer. All of this was running off a single 12 volt battery. It ran on it all day and barely even dropped the voltage. Both the amp and pre are very efficient. The noise floor was non-existent. Absolute dead quiet and great from top to bottom. These two pieces top my list of best sounding gear and neither are even very expensive ($995 each). These two pieces of gear could set a new performance standard for everything else to be measured by. The real question is how long it will take for everyone to figure out how good it really is and get on board.

Big thanks again to Art and his wife too. It was a lot of fun. The people were great, and it was good to meet a few new guys. 

[Hugh]

GSM?

I must be related to AT&T then.

No one mentioned sheep until you brought it up Grand Sheep Master!   

Yeah,

Shouldn't we start addressing him as King Sheep or Lord of The Sheep from now on?

I think I might just go ahead and get 2 of those subs then.

Yes John, I was waiting for SA to spill the bean on those 2 nice little guys and all he's been mumbling the last few posts was something akin to cows and sheeps... 

Yes Hugh, he seems to have some strange attachment to Sheep, not sure why...

The Rythmik subs are great subs with gobs of power but they have quite a bit of finesse too. I'm used to subs as I went through quite a few before I found the ACI Titan II LE, it was one of very few that was fast enough to blend in with Martin Logans and could just disappear. The Rythmik subs are of that caliber as well but with more power; fast, detailed and musical, not just a one note sub if you know what I mean. They're beautiful too!

[KCI-JohnP]

Ok, I'll give Danny's speakers a go, I believe they are the V2's no?

They are not large speakers but they're not small either, just right for your average room. From what Danny told me they were whipped up quickly though you wouldn't have known this by looking at them, quite nice! According to Danny they were pretty much new with almost no break in time on them. The design is very cool as the cross over is exposed for all to see and I liked that. Both the tweet/mid and the woofers are open baffle. The mid/tweet was powered by Garys mini combo and the dual woofers(sorry not sure on the size, 10-12"??) in each speaker were powered by 300 wpc sub amps(I think). That's right, that average sized speaker is housing four big ole woofers and you know it when they're running too!

The sound, hmmm, well no doubt they were Dannys speakers; powerful full sound but warm and detailed at the same time. Danny has a special talent for causing some of us to get all those "audiophile words" mixed up, he seems to defy logic sometimes. Some ask me, "how can it be warm and detailed at the same time?" Hell, I don't know-but they are. Anyway, though they stand probably around 35-45 inches tall they sound like giants. Big, powerful sound that had many a toes tapping in the living room. One nice thing I noticed was that the end user is able to just walk right over to the woofer amps and adjust them to their liking anytime, easy as pie. This can be a big bonus IMHO.

In short the V2's were quite the "little" speaker that were enjoyed by many. Musical, powerful and detailed at a price point that is in just about anyones ballpark. So lets see, you could get Garys Mini combo for $2K and Danny's V2 speaker kit for another $1295 or so. I know of no setup, used or new, for $3300 that would be in this league..... Want to really "splurge"?? Go all out and opt for the Onix CDP that was rocking the house the entire time and you'd barely break $7K for the entire rig! Sounds like a nice chunk of change and it is, until you see what you get. Once you got a closer look at these pieces you'd feel very differently. That Onix was absolutely beautiful, wow! Seriously, it looks like a million bucks with those fine lines, rounded corners oh my....

[beun]

Kim here from Crescendo Systems,

I would like to thank Art and his wife for hosting this event. This gave me the valuable opportunity to have the panels critiqued in a great system and by knowledgeable people. It made me hear the strength and limitations of the panels and that will teach me how to make the new panels that I will show at the next Lone Star Audio Fest even better.

Thanks Art.


Kim

[arthurs]

No worries Kim, it was great to have you and I thought the big panels did several things very well once we figured them out a bit and stopped over-driving them.  They had great detail, a deep deep wide stage, and they did vocals extremely well.  I can't wait to hear the improvements you make, I think that's all part of the design journey is taking them to new places and seeing what they can do well, and where improvements can be made.

For those who haven't met him, take the time to stop by and see Kim at the next Lone Star, he's a really good guy working hard at making good gear.

[lonewolfny42]

Thanks for starting this thread John/KCI.....

Some nice equipment at Art's gathering...so comments always come in handy for those that could not attend...

Ok fellow Texans, ever wonder how a bunch of New Yorkers are kicking some Texans butts with their RAVE parties???  Well it's because they are excited about it and they post their thoughts, they express their excitement/feelings by posting that's how. They post pictures of the gear, the people, hell they even post pictures of the food!! So lets show some Texas pride and step up to the plate and express our gratitude for the people that went well out of their way to make sure we all enjoyed ourselves. 

Nice to see some action in the Texas Circle....now keep it going month to month to month....

[aml161]

"Appogg is a new company out of Austin Texas and I got to know Aaron when I was down there for an audio meet.  The platforms are custom built for my VAC's, have a piano black base box, some goop and viscous materials in them (see Aaron, I used viscous!) that is top secret and about a 3/4" thick acrylic top plate.  Mine are loaded to account for the weight of the VAC's being on the back half of the amps.  i believe they will be offering a "works with most anything" version as well as their custom offerings.  What I've noticed so far is they really quiet things down and add a level of air around everything while (confusingly) making it sound smoother at the same time....they really are spectacular and worth looking into.  I'll have Aaron post some more here about his products.  I'll be ordering them for my pre and the power supply to it as well.
http://www.appoggsystems.com/"

Art -- I'm thrilled that you're happy with your platforms!

The website will be updated shortly with new pictures and a more thorough description of the updated design (derived from your custom unit). But, you're exactly right. We have created a standardized design that should accommodate most components as well as units designed specifically to components' specs. We're also going to offer chassis that have natural wood finishes...

Not to get too sciency about our secret sauce, but the goop is more specifically a semi-solid "goop" 

Aaron

[PhenomeNhan]

Ah, cool. 

Btw, I saw that SH still was not sure which end of the cables is which?

SA,

I see no red?

We decided taking pictures of alcohol we were drinking meant we had a problem...so, no pictures of red, but it was consumed...

Hey, hey, hey....one was red and one was white.  And one end had arrows and the other didn't.  I was confused, even though they are my cables

[PhenomeNhan]

Thanks for allowing us to enter your humble abode, Art.  I had a great time.  It was a great experience and chance to connect some names with faces, as well as meet some new ones.  I had a wonderful time and am still excited about what I saw and heard.

John and Danny, thanks for your compliments on the Onix CD player.  As mentioned in the other thread, I loved what Danny was able to put together in 2 weeks time.  I really miss those Silkworms in my Onix system, but the Silkworm Plus really elevated the downstairs speakers after swapping out those red interconnects (maybe it was because I couldn't figure out which end was which on my own cables? )  At least I still have 1 KCI cable (PC) left in my home system   I need to work out some room configuration to see if I can accomodate Danny's speakers.

Kim, thank you for taking time to explain the philosophy behind your speakers.  I wish I had the opportunity to grab the sweet spot and listened to your speakers some more, but from my vantage point, the clarity was really good.  And it got better toward the end of the day.

As mentioned before, Gary's stuff really made Venuettes sing.  I did not realize all the specs mentioned above (besides the 15 Watts) until now.  These 2 components really pack a wallop and offer tremendous value.

I kinda missed a little bit of what the Rythmiks were capable of, as I was busy being educated by Kim outside the main listening room.  But the crowd had some very nice bass pumping out with some club music.

Aaron's platforms were beautifully made.  I wish I could comment on their effects on various electronics, but we didn't do any A/B comparison.

[jim...]

I can't thank Art, his family and everyone involved enough for a really great day. I heard great sound upstairs and down. Enjoyed meeting and seeing new folks and old friends. Texas knows audio! Thanks jim...

[mikeb]

First post guys!

Thanks you Art and Kathy for hosting such an exciting event!

I thought I knew what good audio sounded like but this has elevated my expectations to the point where I'm going to be spending $$$ in the very near future.

I showed my wife the V2's and she said we can put some in the living room. Xmas present for me!! 

I have a question about the cabling & cables used in the Dodd/Danny setup:

  Since that system is bi-amped, was there a y coming out of the Dodd buffer amp or how was it configured?

  Is there any cables included in the V2 kit like the ones coming from the plate amp to the subs?

  What is in the plans to do with the plate amps? Do they need a dedicated box that will be on the floor next to/behind the V2's?

  I know there was KCI silkworm + used but where were they installed/needed? I arrived after the cable swap out from Nhan's cables.

Sorry for all the questions but I want to replicate that sound as close as possible in my house and we all have heard a system before and then when we tried to make it work at home it just wasn't the same or even close.

[sl_1800]

My favorites from the gathering were Danny's V2 speakers, but then I'm a fan of open baffle speakers so go figure.  I will be spending more time with the V2's in the near future.  The Dodd amp and pre were fantastic , if I had a extra 2K laying around I would own them for sure.  At some point in the down stairs setup with the Dodd gear and the V2's, there was a cable swap.  I'm not sure what cables were in the system but I think they were replaced with some of Johns KCI interconnects and Electra speaker cables.  I have never heard cables make as much of a difference as that swap did.  I was thinking something about the V2 was not to my liking in the the top end but it turned out to be just the cables.

[PhenomeNhan]

My favorites from the gathering were Danny's V2 speakers, but then I'm a fan of open baffle speakers so go figure.  I will be spending more time with the V2's in the near future.  The Dodd amp and pre were fantastic , if I had a extra 2K laying around I would own them for sure.  At some point in the down stairs setup with the Dodd gear and the V2's, there was a cable swap.  I'm not sure what cables were in the system but I think they were replaced with some of Johns KCI interconnects and Electra speaker cables.  I have never heard cables make as much of a difference as that swap did.  I was thinking something about the V2 was not to my liking in the the top end but it turned out to be just the cables.

The 2 cables replaced were mine.  The interconnects were some prototype that Danny and Art made prior to the Electra cables.  The speaker cables were BeAR Labs White Lightning (if I can recall correctly).

Mike, I think the Dodd amps were monoblocks, so there's just one pair of (non-bi-wired) speaker cables coming out of them.  I'm not sure if that answered your question re: the Dodd amps or not.

[KCI-JohnP]

Kim here from Crescendo Systems,

I would like to thank Art and his wife for hosting this event. This gave me the valuable opportunity to have the panels critiqued in a great system and by knowledgeable people. It made me hear the strength and limitations of the panels and that will teach me how to make the new panels that I will show at the next Lone Star Audio Fest even better.

Thanks Art.

Kim

Hi Kim,
It was great meeting you and I enjoyed listening to your speakers. We may have encountered a problem or two but they still sounded good especially once they're warmed up, they have big potential. Brian Ding from Rythmik Audio had some really good ideas on some improvements, if you're interested and don't have his contact info please let me know and I'll gladly forward his info to you. Thank you for bringing your speakers to Arts for all to see/hear, I know that is hard to do. I look forward to hearing your improved version!

Sincerely,
John

[sl_1800]

Since that system is bi-amped, was there a y coming out of the Dodd buffer amp or how was it configured?/quote]

The Dodd pre had two sets of RCA outputs one set went to the Dodd amp and the other set to the plate amps for the woofers of the V2.

Is there any cables included in the V2 kit like the ones coming from the plate amp to the subs?/quote]

If this amp is similar to mine and I'm willing to bet it is, there are some wires that came with the amp that connect to the woofers in the V2.  But you could replace them with what ever you like.

What is in the plans to do with the plate amps? Do they need a dedicated box that will be on the floor next to/behind the V2's?/quote]

Yes you will need to do something with the amp.  I think most will build a small box and sit it on the floor behind the speakers or in my case I built a small box for my sub amp and I'm going to hang it on the wall behind and just to the side of the sub so I can see it's power light from my listening position.  I will assume this amp is like mine in that it has a 3 position power switch and a led to indicate status.  If in the off position the led is red, when on the led is green, when in auto mode the amp senses signal and turns on, hence green led, when no signal is detected for a period of time the amp shuts down automatically and the led turns red again.

[mikeb]

Thanks for the clarification. One more question:

The Dodd pre had two sets of RCA outputs one set went to the Dodd amp and the other set to the plate amps for the woofers of the V2.

Were both cables sets upgraded?  Is there a need to put ultra high quality cables on the woofer section or just the Dodd tube amp input?

Mike

[beun]

John,

I am definitely interested in hearing any idea on improving the panels. I indeed do not have his info, can you PM it to me?

Kim 

[sl_1800]

Were both cables sets upgraded?  Is there a need to put ultra high quality cables on the woofer section or just the Dodd tube amp input? /quote]

Mike to be honest I don't know for sure.  If it were me I would be more concerned about the cables from the pre to the Dodd amp.  And to be honest I don't have any high dollar cables in my system and I'm amazed how good it sounds.

[Danny Richie]

When we swapped out cables we only changed the interconnects from the source to the pre, and from the pre to the Dodd amp. Those were some good old home made cables that I made for Art a couple of years ago, and we changed those out for some of John's. We had some Electra Cable interconnects on the sub amps the whole time.

We also changed out the speaker cables and put in some of the Electra Cable B-6: http://www.electracable.com/speakercables.htm

It was hard to say which of the two attributed to the difference the most, but the change brought the system up to a level that I was expecting it to perform to.