[daves]

Within the next couple months, we are going to have a blind listening challenge for local friends and GAS friends who attend our annual gathering. Besides our normal listening and chatting, we will be running a blind test for all who wish to participate in a dedicated test of solid state and tube amps, to see if folks can discern between the two, if they can further identify what is what, and if they have preferences. To make things easier, we probably will run the test on a set of KHorns dedicated for the testing, since they are amenable to low volume listening/identification, and will allow the inclusion of a low powered SET amp.

We probably will use a Monarchy Audio SM70 Pro, Levinson #27, Bryston 3b ST, Marantz 8B, Citation II, and custom 2A3 SET amp for the demos. This will provide a Class A amp, a flagship SS, a mid line SS, a classic 6550 output, a classic 6CA7 output, and a flea powered 2A3 output tube amp.

All equipment besides the amps will remain constant, so we will have a valid controlled environment. We'll probably select three songs that we will cycle through for each amp, so hopefully they will be interesting.

More to come.... and check out the AK thread with photos.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3492046#post3492046

[thunderbrick]

How 'bout a hybrid amp?

[daves]

Thunderbrick, we will have three other rooms, so we could have a hybrid in the mix. What are you thinking?

[thunderbrick]

A vintage Moscode 300?   

When, and roughly where, does this event take place?

[daves]

We are tentatively thinking Saturday, March 20 starting at noon. We live in south county at 255 and Telegraph, so a real easy drive up for you! 

[daves]

We are definitely on for Saturday, March 20, starting at noon. We are within three minutes of 255 and Telegraph, so it is easy to get here. I will email attendees our exact address two days prior to Saturday.

Please RSVP if you would, it should be a lot of fun.

Attendee list
Carl G(Klipsch)
Wolfshead/Melvin(AudioHeritage)
BattRadio/Mark(GAS)
Thunderbrick(GAS)
Sam(AK)
Ken Seger(GAS)
Bill, Lynn and Alan G
Steve A and nephew
Kent J
Theebadone(Bob)
Joe S
Phillip C
Bob A
EchoesMyron(Matt)
Joe K

[thunderbrick]

Guys, I regret that I have to bail out.  I am working at SLU that day, and the great state of Missouri wouldn't like it if I were to go running around STL to a beeraudio GTG in  a state vehicle.  Unreasonable ******'s!

Sorry!

'brick

[daves]

Thunderbrick, we can rescue you in a POV if need be. I PMed you my cell if the opportunity arises...

[sturgus]

Dave, sure wish I could make it but I have to work. It would be nice if you post pics. Enjoy the day.
Sturgus

[daves]

Thanks, Sturgus. Hope all is progressing well in your neck surgery recovery. 

[daves]

Well, it looks like we will break twenty folks, which will be a goodly number for our 1957 ranch house. I have been putting many of the amps through their paces, excepting the Levinson and Carl's Sonic Impact.

I'm hoping it will be both interesting and eye opening for many of the less jaded people attending. After doing a lot of core soil sampling for all of this week, my arms are telling me we won't be moving the big amps around much at all after they are set up in the back room....but that's no problem, there still will be other stuff to drive the satellite systems. :thmbsp:

We are looking forward to this one. :yes:

If you have indicated you will be attending, check your pm, and contact me if you haven't received a pm.

Thanks, Dave

[KenSeger]

A big thanks to Dave and Colleen for hosting the event.  Another big thanks to everybody that risked life, limb, and spine hauling those amps around.

It was a lot of fun for me to critically listen to power amps again, it's been a while.  Very educational.

I was great to see everybody again and even better to see some new faces that share our passion.

Ken

[Joe_K]

Thank You Dave and Colleen for hosting a wonderful get-together.

It was good to see everyone and hear the amp shoot-out!

Those K-Horns are very impressive!

And thanks for firing up the DQ-10s, they brought back a lot of memories!

Joe

[Carl G]

Dave, what a great event!! It was nice to catch up with those I have not seen since last year's gathering, and there was plenty of great food and drink to boot.

Well, onto to the event.

Various people rotated in and out for the first three rounds and then the shootout of champions. I counted the average listening audience to be approximately 15 people at a time.

In the first round, the majority of the crowd voiced their preference for the Trends 10.1 tripath amp (with an upgraded stand alone PSU) over the pair of SET amps. After all, the little Trends (the size of a matchbox) won StereoMojo's 2007 blind digital amp shootout among 14 different amplifiers, and with an upgraded power supply, the little amp is no slouch. To my ears, the little Trends was almost as smooth as the SET on the top end (and amongst the smoothest solid state I have heard), and the Trends was superior in detail and bass definition.

The second round was a route. To my ears, the Monarchy class A solid state sounded thin and edgy. On the other hand, the rebuilt Marantz 8B was smooth as silk, detailed in spades, and forceful at the same time. Having previously heard (and loved) this particular 8B in its original form, Craig Ostby's rebuild (NOS Valves) truly did a great job in restoring this beauty to its legendary status. Even though it was detailed on the top end, the 8B truly lived up to its moniker as the "king of the midrange." The crowd voiced its approval for this amp after the very first song. "Natural," "realistic" and "just like being there" were numerous comments heard by the crowd about the 8B.

The last round was much closer. On the lower end, I actually preferred the bass of the Mark Levinson as sounding much tighter, and I thought that the bass of the Audio Research D115 was just "slightly" bloated. On the top end, however, the Levinson sounded a bit dry and slightly thin to my ears, and the AR tube monster sounded almost as sweet on the top end as the 8B. Given that the D115 was such a powerful tube amp, I was impressed with the amount of detail on the top end, and the lushness of the midrange was only exceeded by the Marantz 8B. As Dave mentioned, the crowd preferred the Audio Research over the Mark Levinson, and this may also be a function of the speakers being run (horns love tubes).

Ah......the speakers. As some of you may know, the test speakers were a pair of 1962/63 Klipschorns with JBL 2404 tweeters and a sweet pair of Universal aftermarket crossovers designed by Al Klappenberger (ALK Engineering). Kudos to Dave - his Khorns sounded great. They were very revealing, yet they adapted to the variety of musical formats with ease. Other than the various amps, the Khorns were the star of day.

Thanks again to Dave and Colleen for again hosting this annual event!! Cannot wait until next year.

Carl.

[daves]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Feel free to praise, bash, or comment negatively on the various snippets you heard, even for brief moments. There probably won't be any constructive or negative comments from the AK forum attendees, so don't shy away. Obviously I knew there would be winners and losers, so none of the comments will cause umbrage or hurt my feelings.

Maybe next time we can do a back to the '60s party, in the fall.