Houston Bay Area (Seabrook) Listen-in

[Mallette]

The Wrights on stage. These things have a marvelous build quality with sonics to match. The PAW liked the looks of them. That bodes well for the future! That is Paul's preamp on top of the MBS-5 music server.

[Mallette]

...and finally, the Wright stuff. 3.5 amps of Class A goodness. Thanks for sharing, Paul and Rick. I hope this is just the start of a Houston Hornhead group. We had (and I remain a member) quite a group in Dallas. While I'd have loved to had even more, my listening room is problematic for more than about 5 at a time. I opened the futon up and that really helped provide a reasonable listening space, but the "sweet spot," sweet as it is, is pretty small in there. Now, in my dream house plans...

[pauln]

I have lived here 20 years and still got lost twice on the eight mile drive over to Daves, but happily arrived same time as Rick and Terry.

First thing up was a listen to the old format 78. Those guys back in the 30s sure knew a thing or two about playing and recording I was amazed at the sound (through the Cornwall). That Empire table and correct phono EQ makes those old records sing clean and clear with joy. Dave observed that the record looked like it had never been played. I left him a couple dozen including some Duke Ellington and Count Basie to play with later.

Ricks build quality on the Bottleheads is outstanding. The Bottleheads sounded great and quite loud on Daves old Khorns which are stock 64s no tweaks no upgrades. The high end was impressively smooth and transparent for such oldies and the solid thump of how I remembered Khorns from many years ago was a delight to hear. We enjoyed a lot of music over the five hours.

We put the Wright gear in place choosing to go direct from the table to preamp to monoblocks and a ground loop we had been chasing disappeared. The Wrights sounded good on the Khorns (and loud). I suggested we give the Wrights something low to drive and Dave pulled out a hymn played on a pipe organ with 16 foot pipes to see what they would do at 32 Hz. Seabrook's finest failed to show up, but they're only SETs you know still the loudest and lowest I've ever heard.

Something I did not expect was the depth of Daves experience and knowledge of all things recording, engineering, and Klipsch did not realize he knew PWK and had spent time with him in his lab. Much of what we heard was recorded by Dave himself churches, clubs in Austin; this guy likes to pack some microphones and get around. If I ever record any of my gigs Id like Dave to engineer it he has an excellent sense about mic placement, space, and sound.

Dave and Rick are among those lucky fellows whose wives are totally enthusiastic about audio. We had a great time and I hope for more opportunities to meet more folks from the area in future listen-ins. Thanks for hosting us, Dave.

[jt1stcav]

So, a good time was had by all, and the pics came out great. I definately missed out...wish FL was alot closer to TX.

Had I attended I would've brought my Panasonic pro DAT recorder and a few session tapes of my dad's residence pipe organ that he recorded years ago. The organ's now sold and being reinstalled in an old Victorian home in Asheville...wish I could've had Dave record it just one time before its MIDI controller failed and became inoperable (sigh). Dave was genuinely interested in recording the instrument, and he certainly has the equipment to have done it justice! Oh well...

[Mallette]

Jim: Glad to hear that instrument found a home instead of a pipe inventory heap. Any links to keeping up with it?

Paul: What about your reputation???? Thanks for the kind words. By the way, the 78's were coming out of all five speakers, not just the Cornie. You experienced what I have, which is that in spite of its size, that room has pretty excellent imaging. When playing 78's throught the ST-70, and therefore the 'horns only, I had to get up the first time and put my ears right in front of the Cornwall to really believe it was not playing. Dallas Hornheads who visited my former listening space recall I had a real imaging problem there with needing to be about 4 feet futher back (which would have been right in the middle of the master bath) to get decent imaging.

Anyway, it was a good time. Nothing like music and Klipsch to bring about world peace.

Dave

[jt1stcav]

Jim: Glad to hear that instrument found a home instead of a pipe inventory heap. Any links to keeping up with it?

Ya know, I haven't heard a peep from the new owner since the last day he and his helpers put the last piece of windchest bracing inside the U-Haul and finally drove away with their latest acquisition! That was in October of last year. I only assume he's been feverishly trying to piece it all back together (including all those miles of wiring from the relay and windchests to the console), which might be even harder than he imagined since the organ's being installed in the home's massive basement and will speak directly overhead through a decorative wrought iron grille on the floor of the huge living room where the console will reside. That's all I know right now...

Now back to the main topic of your Seabrook Listen-In...

[Cody_Mack]

There was much more, but I'll leave it to them to describe. For my part, I am just delighted to make new hornhead friends in our new home and am looking forward to more such events. Hornheads and Bottleheads should be friends...(with apologies to Hammerstein).

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for hosting the Listen-In. You and your wife are very gracious. I will write more later; still recovering from last night where I provided the music for friend/family wedding shower. Yup, 2A3 + Heresys rocked the house! Had several curious inquiries about my equipment (tubes); especially from one (shortwave) radio guy. Don't believe I ever convinced him that my maximum output was 3.5 Watts. Fun Stuff!

Rick

[Cody_Mack]

Dave,

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OK, a few highlights:

That digital amp sounded very good indeed. It was a seamless transfer from the Scout / George Wright Pre / Bottlehead 2A3 setup to the Music Server and digital amp setup. Your digital system is sounding very analog!

The sweet spot was just that. In two-channel, the imaging was dead-on center. Like you said, you will swear the center <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Cornwall is pouring out the tunes; yet it is not even switched in.

Was not all that crazy for your surround setup; think you said you use Pro-Logic II? I dont really care for surround music unless it is specifically recorded so. I have always experienced a less-colored sound with two-channel versus surround. However, with your explanation of how you like space in recordings I can understand why you like to listen in surround. The system sounded very good; its just not my taste.

Again, I was very impressed with your digital setup. I may be interested in construction something similar. I think I am going to go that route (music server/quality DAC) instead of going after a high-end CD player.

Thanks to you, and Paul, for the kind words. Paul, I dont know if I have the PAW; she thinks the latest American Idol on the TV is good sound. But she supports what I like (and approves the funding), and she is a lot of fun to be around.

Thanks again, Dave, for hosting us.

Rick

[Mallette]

Now that everyone's chimed in, I'll write a bit of a "wrap."

It was Erik Mandaville who caused me to try the digital amp. When a tube sage of his immense stature puts his seal of approval on a technology it pays to listen up. I would LIKE to think I am pretty open minded (many have commented that I have a hole in the head) and able to believe that accurate sound need not require huge sums of money when approached through entirely new technology. I believe this to be the case. For me, the first listen absolutely sunk SS for all time at any price. Some of you may recall that it is my belief that all of us actually hear the little nuances we claim to, whether from different interconnects, capacitors, or proper placement of a St. Jude statue near the center speaker. However, some of us (read: Dave) find these nuances to be largely irrelevant and the source material to be everything. I find a cleanly recorded, properly miked 78 rpm recording of Kid Ory from 1933, surface noise and all, to be sonically superior to many CDs (or LPs, for that matter). To the extent that speakers, TT's, amplifiers, preamps, et al, neither add nor subtract from that is all I ask. The less they intrude, the better. In my case, I feel that my system is close enough to providing that in the sense that the differences between source material is far greater than anything I am hearing that might be the result of equipment imposing its signature on the signal.

As to surround: I probably should have done a bit of adjustment. I don't fiddle with it too much as I am so used to it after 30 years that I usually just move around a bit to get in the "sweet" spot. For 2 channel native material, the rears should not be discretely audible. Rick, when you say "...not specifically recorded so..." you are, in fact, referring to mono. All stereo recordings have out of phase information that constitute "surround" information. That was the basis of Hafler's original hypothesis that eventually led to Dolby Pro Logic, et al. Perhaps we can experiment with a little more finesse on my part some time and it may ameliorate your thinking. Then again, maybe not...

Of course, this is also (partially) why I have the ST-70 switchable in the system. I strives to please... However, I'll eventually get around to putting my Hafler passive ambience recovery device in line with it to feed the rears. Of course, I'll be able to switch it out.

Paul: Lovin' those 78's you left. Some of the showing little or no sign of use. Jack Teagarden up close and personal! It is breathtaking and disconcerting to the point I had to open my eyes to ensure that I was still in Kansas (metaphorically). Where else can one hear Paul Ash and His Granada Orchestra? "It Had to be You" with Isham Jones and His Orchestra...YUM.

100 years of recorded art and history at our fingertips. Life is GOOD.

Thanks again, and let's don't stop here!!!

Dave

[Cody_Mack]

Dave,

I'm sorry...my post sounded slightly more negative than intended....the surround system did indeed sound very good. My past experience with a pro-logic system playing 2 channel native material was not good; but then again I had no real equipment to base that on at the time. I do understand what you are saying about recordings (other than mono) containing a certain amount of surround effects. What I meant about "...not specifically recorded so...", I should have said, "...not specifically mastered so...", as in 5 discrete channels, for instance.

Anyhow, all your systems are top notch. I foresee many more sessions in the future. As I said, I know of one other group in the Houston area, the Lone Star Bottleheads, and they generally meet on the west side of town. They also meet in San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. You have no doubt run into at least one of those fellas. There next meet is coming up in Dallas in a coule of weeks. There are several DIY guys in that group; lots of speakers and amps, and very nice build quality. The names Wardsweb and FredT300B come to mind. We got to hear a fresh pair of Straight 8s at the last SA meeting; they were astounding!

Rick

[Mallette]

Dang, Rick. I hate a game of trying to "out gentleman." I really understand where you are coming from. The fault was all mine for not acting on my understanding of a true bottlehead mentality and presenting you the very best tweak I could. It still wouldn't have sold you, but I could have done better. That is the REAL fun of all this. Actually, I've thought of LOTS of things I could have done better.

That means we've got to DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN! [] and keep at it until I get it right.

Dave

[pauln]

Hello Dave,

One of the many topics discussed was your wife's interest in the different versions of Rhapsody In Blue. While putting some things away I found something interesting. It's a book form album with two 12 inch green label 78s (four sides) Columbia Masterworks of Rhapsody In Blue, but it is quite strange.

The performance is by Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra.

The pianist is Alec Templton, who was a blind virtuoso! He was born in Wales 1910.

This version says the Rhapsody is played "straight" according to the original arrangment for jazz band and piano.

Since the Rhapsody takes three sides, the fourth is an orchestral version of "Love Walked In", part of Gershwin's last work.

I'll drop it by one evening for you and her to play with.

Regards,

Paul

[Mallette]

Assuming 6 minute sides, that's a max of 18:00 which makes it a candidate for "authentic." Surprising from Kostelanetz. By the late '40's most performances had been "romanticized" to 40 minutes or more. The Whiteman/Gershwin 78 I have comes in at 12:00 flat. I am sure we'd both love to hear it.

Dave