August Battle of the Amps Gathering in St. Louis

[sheltie dave]

After a lot of talking and planning, a group of our St. Louis forum members would like to extend an open invite to everyone for a "Battle of the Amps" gathering the first weekend in August, the weekend of August 4 - 6.

There have been MANY discussions about various amplifiers, tube vs solid state, varied amp topologies and output tubes, etc. Amongst the incorrigable collectors in town, we have assembled a gaggle of examples that, as my better half notes, "would choke a horse and feed a mule." Being from the Show-me state, she is right.

Looking through the current setups, we have examples of Klipsch speakers from every decade except the 1940's. If you threw in Captain Bob's collection, we have four examples of every decade, so we try not to think about that.[<)]

Off the top of my head, we will have a JuicyMusic Blueberry, Blueberry Extreme, Peach, Merlin, an Apt Holman, a Hafler DH110, and a Creek passive for preamps.

The amps will include two sets of VRDs, a Marantz 8B, a Harman Kardon Citation II, a McIntosh MC275, a Pilot 232, an Erik Mandaville Horus-based 2A3 set, a Wright WPA 3.5, an Eico HF81, and a Scott 299C/D on the tube side. Solid state will be represented with a McIntosh MC500, a Krell, a Carver reciever, and a set of Monarchy SM70s.

So far, for sources we have a Linn Sondek LP 12 turntable lined up as well as Carl's varied, and we are getting a commitment for a Mark Levinson CD transport, along with our two Rega Planets, a tubed Jolida, and various Goodwill specials.

Right now the systems fall out this way, although we have a great deal of flexibility to change things around on the fly so you should be able to hear exactly what you want. To wit:

50's Shorthorn, Wright WPA 3.5

60's 63 Khorns, Eico HF81, Scott 299D

70's Belles/Valencias HT with QSC amps, or 3 channel with Marantz 8B/Dynaco ST70

Cornwalls(vert) with Monarchy SM70s

80's Fortes with SW10 sub and Marantz 2240 receiver HT

90's Khorns(AK-3) with VRDs

00's Heresy IIs with various, RF 7s with Teac chimp amp

Free agents - Karlsen enclosure, JBL L100/110s

Patio tea party speakers - Altec VOTTs, Valencias with Carver Receiver

BTW, Carl is a real champion for mods, so examples of ALK, DeanG, and BEC mods are present in a 63 Cornwall, the RF 7s, Belles, one set of Valencias, and the 63 Khorns. Trachorns, Eminence, and BEC tweets are also present. I think Carl liked to chop, slam, tuck, French, mod and rod cars in a former life.[:S]

Carl and I will provide the main base of activities. We are within five miles of each other, and we are at Interstate 255 and 55 in south St. Louis county. Hotels are conveniently located near us, and St. Louis has a variety of other activities for both attendees and their families, including a top notch free zoo, amazing botanical garden, Children's Magic House, sculpture park, the Cardinals, Six Flags, etc.

We'll be posting more, and I'm sure Carl, Chris, Bob, and others will be adding more details as time goes by.

[DrWho]

oh wow, sounds like a blast...will we need to RSVP?

And would it be possible to bring down some more toys to play with?

[sheltie dave]

RSVPs and requests are appreciated, DrWho.

I forgot the subs, already... RSW15, two SVSs, and another of Carl's I can't remember. Toss a Bryston 3BST and a Crown PowerLine 4 in the mix as well. Let us know if there is anything specific you want to hear - if we can, we'll try to source it in town so you don't have to cart it down.

I have talked to Zaw, and Alpha Audio is willing to have an exclusive listening session if we desire. They are the major used/repairs stereo store in the area, and usually have a vast collection of good vintage and modern stereo gear for sale, trade, and listening. Today they had some Amazing Carvers, the big Maggies, the old school huge McIntosh speakers, some Totems, AR 1s, four or five Thorens tables, and some top condition AR tube gear. Every time you go in, you find something you can't live without, so it's good to leave cash, checkbook and credit cards home.

I'll be talking to the great vinyl and CD used stores in the near future about a field trip with arranged discounts(Euclid Records, the Record Exchange, and Vintage Vinyl,) and hopefully there will be some choice live acts at the Pageant, the Focal Point, Just Jazz, and the Sheldon for that weekend.

[mike stehr]

That's a lot of gear to check out over the course of two days......

Sounds like fun.

[arfz28]

Sounds like a great time Sheltie, I got it on my calander and hopefully will make it, I am only one hour away and its been a year since I been too your place. All this equipment will be unbeilivable to see and listen too.

[lo123]

Wow!! I had just about given up on finding any Heritage gear in St. Louis. I'm out in O'Fallon, MO, count me in, sounds great.

[oldbuckster]

Boy, sounds like fun, the Texas gathering looks good too. Anything like that up here in the NorthEast, N.Y. or Vermont?

[gonzp]

Man this does sound like fun!!! I am anxious to read all of the impressions!!

[SilverSport]

...same here...lotsa gear to audition...Bill

[whell]

What?? No Reference series??

[Deang]

Dave has a nice set of modded RF-7's.

[cjgeraci]

Yes he does. Dave has my former pair of RF-7s with your finest mod..

If anyone wants to hear a great pair of 7s......show up that weekend.

Gang, this is going to be a fun gathering. Lots of horns and some fantastic amps and preamps.

Deano, thanks for all your help recently. Even without taking the Beymas down another 2db, the Altecs sound incredible. Better than I thought I could get them to. They are just my rears, but they sound better than many mains I have heard. I am glad that I put the extra time, money and effort into them.

Carl.

P.S. I will also have some more Reference upstairs at my place that weekend. HT anchored by a Dean-modded RC7 and a SVS sub.

[sheltie dave]

I talked to a friend of one of the Sound Room managers, and we may also have a chance to hear the new TOTL Reference speakers, either at the store or (hopefully)in house.

There also is a pedestrian 75 wpc Harman Kardon solid state amp, and Steve may be bringing his McIntosh MC 40s in from western Missouri if he comes.

We vacillated on when to post this, as we didn't want to impinge on the anniversary or other gatherings that are coming up shortly. We ended up figuring lead time is also a good thing for trying to plan ahead with schedules, as some people may be driving or flying from a ways away.

[Rocketman4274]

Yes Dave sounds like it will be a great time.I will bring my BAT Preamp,Mc275 amp and maybe my Mda700/Mcd751 Transport and converter.This was Mcintoshes top of the line untill 2004 when they came out with the $16,000.00 Mda/Mcd 1000.I just hope with all this gear we get to demo it all.It's sure gonna be fun trying.

[sheltie dave]

Two of the tube amps in heavy rotation in the downstairs Khorns den will be the NOSValves VRDs and the Erik Madaville Horus-based 2A3 SET amps, amongst others.

[CaptnBob]

I can throw in (let me rephrase that) add to the mix a Hadley 601, a Marantz 7, a Marantz SA-8260, a MC-275, Vanco switch box, a LEE Catenoid corner horn (if I can find a suitable tweeter - I can't get behind the concept of spending $300 to replace the Jensen RP-302 that's supposed to be in it) and, if there's any room left in the car, a pair of H-1000s.

If you guys would like, I can arrange a tour of KFUO-FM. It's the first FM station west of the Mississippi - the AM's been here since 1926 - and we're still in the original building. It's not a whole afternoon thing, but it might be fun for an hour or so.

[sheltie dave]

Bob, that would be great. I've been digging to find the plans for the Lee-Catenoid without any luck so far. I came across a rave on the Hadley, so that will be nice.

After a suggestion from Mike, here is a smaller cropped shot of the ALK jrs that we'll be swapping for the '63 1RB networks in the one set of KHorns.

[Colin]

7

pre-amplifiers

9

tube amplifiers

4

solid-state amplifiers

4

sources

9

spks

3

subs

3

pieces of music (Classical, jazz, rock)

81,648

possible tests

5

minutes each (including switching time)

408,240

total minutes

6,804

hours of listening

8

system set-ups (rooms)

35

days at each one!

[DrWho]

Ya, I'm thinking there's way too much gear too...even if one could listen to everything the frame of reference would be changing so fast it would become a completely useless experience.

[sheltie dave]

Come on, guys, give us a little wiggle room! We will have anchor components for the majority of the listening areas, and there is not going to be an endless parade of switching marathons. While we will be serious about some quality listening and comparisons, we are even more eager for tall tales, swapping stories, and talking bull with whoever shows up.

We have a large collection of gear, but we will not be in a frenzy to hear everything just to hear everything. It's going to be a la carte and dictated by the folks who come in to town. After all, the iron stays when the people leave[]

I want to see a speaker comparison between the RF 7s and the new RF 83s.

Three local people want to hear the differences between the Khorns and Cornwalls.

Chris has a modern MC275 and a very high end BAT preamp that will allow a direct comparison with the Blueberry/VRD combo.

Bob has some very rare and interesting equipment that I have never seen in thirty years of dabbling. I wouldn't be afraid to throw Maron and Bob in a stereo trivia contest with anyone in the country, and they both knew PWK from various meets.

There aren't many times where you can walk in, sit down, and listen to differences in a 43 year old network, and hear the direct improvement when an ALK jr network is dropped in. Carl has his fully tricked out Belles and Valencias that are smoking, with Trachorns, DeanGs all around, and Eminence tweets. We have close to the whole enchilada to feast on, so bite off what you can chew and chase it with some poblano hot sauce and a Corona. There might be a little heartburn from too much food, but it's all run with Klipsch and/or vintage horns.

Enjoy!