Amir's 2023 Pacific Audio Fest Report Continued

[amirm]

Amir did you speak to Miller Carbon, he heavily promotes Tekton on Audiogon forums and I wonder what your impression of him is.
I would love to see measurements of the Tekton and the Spatial Audio speakers.

I did not. The person manning the suite was there for the electronics. Speakers were his own personal unit which he had upgraded with better parts.

 

[Tim Link]

JR Suhre is the name of the man and speakers! Said he was designing speakers in 1950s and back at it now. It uses an array of small drivers running full range with a long pipe going through the very think box and shooting out the top:

Look close... what do you see? Yes, Topping and Hypex amplifier! I asked him how he learned about them. He said "on some site they were showing very good measurements of them!" Told him who I was and we then had a very nice conversation. He wanted people to buy the whole system and get done.

Miles Davis - Freddie Freeloader (Official Audio)​

I thought it sounded good!

I thought it sounded really good too! I went in there several times. These speakers go right up against the wall and he didn't have them spread too far apart. I asked him about why he had them so close and he said it just sounded best to him that way.

 

[Tim Link]

Wells Audio. TAD speakers:

Over the top on cables I would say although that is quite common at these shows:

Yello - Kiss in Blue (feat. Heidi Happy)​

Superbly recorded track. Sound was fine in this suite.

The cables were expensive, but he had nice T-shirts for only $5! This is a great sounding recording. I usually like Yelo's sound.

 

[JSmith]

The cables were expensive, but he had nice T-shirts for only $5!

So you don't even get a free t-shirt when buying an overpriced cable? Gosh...


JSmith

 

[roog]

My thought is that at some point we want to have our own show with proper seminars, tutorials, and of course, exhibitors that believe in audio science/engineering.

Love the idea, back in the 50's and 60's in the UK science and engineering was something to be proud of there were festivals, (not many I grant you). Nowadays, I am sorry to say, I don't see the mass interest in it. Its like the public think that products 'just happen' and that, "Engineers just fix cars, don't they?"

Everything is so dumbed down now, I recall in the UK we used to have TV programmes produced by the 'Open University', structured modules on a range of topics including electronics to help those on the course to study for a degree largely from home, lots of quality material was put out there in the public realm, of course this has understandably gone on line, fenced off.

I can't imagine there being the money or the will to do this today, mores the pity.

 

[amirm]

I can't imagine there being the money or the will to do this today, mores the pity.

I think the issue is that we are all so spread out in the world. Otherwise we could have a modest conference and get a lot done. When I was younger, I would do tours around US and rest of the world. But now, I don't feel like spending so much time on airplanes. Maybe we do something virtual to start.

 

[roog]

Maybe we do something virtual to start

That sounds like a good idea.
Recently I have been joining the 'Keysight' on line events, I find some of the presenters try a little too hard for my taste, but the info is good and the production values high.

 

[Tim Link]

So you don't even get a free t-shirt when buying an overpriced cable? Gosh...


JSmith

I don't know. I bought the T-shirt but didn't get any cables.

 

[Spocko]

So you don't even get a free t-shirt when buying an overpriced cable? Gosh...


JSmith

He didn't want to overcharge for speaker cables by adding to the cost with his $5 t-shirt

 

[Spocko]

I get what you are saying but what pains me more are the $500 items that do nothing. People with loads of money dropping tens of thousands of dollars on 'art' doesn't bug me as much as hardworking people spending decent chunks on worthless junk.
Watching car shows where they highlight the super high end I realize that a lot of rich people buy things to own them, not to use them. Hundreds of thousands on super cars that don't shift well, have suspension issues, brake issues or just plain issues. Figure into it that some of these people are the ones with music at ear damaging levels in their cars and I have very little sympathy for them.

Ah yes, $500 for exotic polymer cable risers? for "electrolytic" oil that you MUST use weekly to wipe down your connectors? Let's not forget audiophile slippers that prevent high frequency reflections off your toe nails!

 

[Spocko]

True, but as an exeption, the Andrew Jones MoFi and PureAudio speakers should be quite good for under $10,000, actually.

I badly want an excuse to buy the PureAudio speakers but I need a larger room - one day

 

[MacClintock]

I badly want an excuse to buy the PureAudio speakers but I need a larger room - one day

Have you heard them? Have you seen any measurements on these? I think with the modelar concept, it is possible to choose a combination suited for smaller rooms. What open baffle is concerned, there are either the smaller ones from Spatial audio, like here https://www.spatialaudiolab.com/qseries for example, or these from PureAduioProject: https://pureaudioproject.com/duet15-prelude-open-baffle-speakers/. In any case interesting concept.

 

[Spocko]

Have you heard them? Have you seen any measurements on these? I think with the modelar concept, it is possible to choose a combination suited for smaller rooms. What open baffle is concerned, there are either the smaller ones from Spatial audio, like here https://www.spatialaudiolab.com/qseries for example, or these from PureAduioProject: https://pureaudioproject.com/duet15-prelude-open-baffle-speakers/. In any case interesting concept.

I have not! I'm very interested in open baffle speakers like these however but I will be doing some listening when the time comes

 

[lamda18]

Πρέπει να αγαπήσω τον vintage δέκτη κατά την επίδειξη (Sansui

Sansui 9090. Είχα αυτό. 1979-1989

 

[Verig]

the smaller ones from Spatial audio, like here https://www.spatialaudiolab.com/qseries for example, or these from PureAduioProject: https://pureaudioproject.com/duet15-prelude-open-baffle-speakers/. In any case interesting concept.

Interesting. 10" is quite small for open baffle, wonder how well that works. But everything I've heard this far has been good. I mean I said that the last gen smaller 12" "didn't do it for me" but that was directly swapping from 15" and it was a large space so a bit unfair comparison.

 

[Doodski]

Interesting. 10" is quite small for open baffle, wonder how well that works. But everything I've heard this far has been good. I mean I said that the last gen smaller 12" "didn't do it for me" but that was directly swapping from 15" and it was a large space so a bit unfair comparison.

Are open baffle woofers designed for open baffles or are they just fitted on the baffle and then run them?

 

[amirm]

Are open baffle woofers designed for open baffles or are they just fitted on the baffle and then run them?

Spatial audio guy told me they had them custom designed because normal drivers were designed for closed boxes.

 

[Doodski]

Spatial audio guy told me they had them custom designed because normal drivers were designed for closed boxes.

So if I extrapolate then acoustic suspension designs and ported designs have specially designed woofers for the different applications too?

 

[Verig]

So if I extrapolate then acoustic suspension designs and ported designs have specially designed woofers for the different applications too?

Specially designed is a bit strong wording in many cases. All speaker elements have parameters that guide their proper implementation. Some are happy ported or sealed, some are practical only ported, some don't like open baffle at all...
So the answer is yes but it's often not that clear cut because it depends so much on your design target. Unless you order a custom run, then it quite likely is clear cut.

 

[Draki]

Spatial audio guy told me they had them custom designed because normal drivers were designed for closed boxes.

I am pretty sure the woofers used are these Beymas.

Products - Beyma - Professional Speaker Manufacturer since 1969

Find the speaker that suits better with your needs in an easy way, thanks to our powerful filters and the product comparator.

www.beyma.com

They do work very well in OB design - first hand experience (the parameters are suitable as-is, no need to customize...).