Anyone up for a UK diyAudio Meet?

[Studley]

Talk about Sod's law; I've just seen this thread and I would have loved to have gone - and it was in my native Yorkshire. Bu**er!

[SineEra]

A big thanks to all I met today for making this weekend happen. Your dedication to the cause of diy audio was a pleasure to share.

I saw and heard many things to inspire me to build new generation of HiFi. The bar has been set and I must say the standard is high.

The alephs were amazing so much for taking the easy way out with a pre built class D. Now where can I get a matched set of those output transistors?

Here to next year's event

Simon

[Variac]

I've invited everyone to your place.

Well SY, there are rumors of us being able to have a

"DIY Audio Burning Amp" meet right here in S.F.

You would bring your valves amps, no?

[Dr.EM]

Wish I could have been there . Those Orions look really sweet, with the electronics so nicely executed too. Would have been really worthwhile listening to the equiptment to get an idea of what drivers etc I may want to use myself. As it happens I couldn't get transport and left it too late to get time off work (while trying to organise said transport). Looking forward to more photos

[Tim F]

Hi All
Back in sunny Buxton & feel I need to say a BIG Thank You to all who made our first diyAudio UK meet possible.
An inspiring & enjoyable weekend, I hope can be at least an annual event.
Also thanks to Jan Didden & Hugo for spending so much time explaining things to me that have opened up new thoughts on other routes forward.
Vikash the Orion's & accompanying electronics are a credit to you & your workmanship & dedication. Truely superb speakers even with the room acoustic's not being great.
To all of you who attended it's been great.
See you next year (with some of the results of my own efforts)
Take Care guys & galls.

[pinkmouse]

Ah, home at last. Thanks to all that attended for a great event, even if things didn't quite run as planned.

More later after I've sat down and had a cup of tea...

[ShinOBIWAN]

What a great weekend and what a bunch of great characters.

I feel the need to particularly thank Jan and Hugo for bringing their own charm to the event. Two very sharp and fun characters. Hugo' Alephs were quite excellent and Jans heavily modded DCX was close to my own heart as I'm very much into digital crossovers myself. Sadly we only briefly heard the preamp section of the modded DCX whilst in conjunction with the Orions.

A lot of credit should be given to Vik and Al for much of the organisation leading up to the event. Without those two I really doubt this would have happened. So hats off to both of them. Al and Vik also provided around 30% of the kit at the show, I was amazed just how much stuff Al had crammed into his Volvo! And Vik turned up with a transit van full of kit so say no more!

And to everyone else I'd just like to thank you for bringing your kit, yourselves and for the stimilating and thought provoking conversation. I've certainly learned a thing or two.

The acoustics of all the rooms were varying degree of 'bad'. So the general concencus was that we simply couldn't remove enough of the room to hear through to the greatness of some of the designs.
Viks Orions did OK but he himself was disappointed and I'd have to say I was a little. I think to pass subjective judgement based on any of the auditions would be foolhardy though. The rooms were just too poor IMO.

One speaker that surprised me, even despite the room problems, was Al's excellent 3-way Audax system. I got to listen to this after things had quietened down a little and they have the type of sound I find appealing. Dynamic, large and surprisingly weighty.

Despite all the impressive kit, for me the real pleasure taken from the weekend was meeting and chatting to folks.

Here's to next years event

[float]

Big thanks from me to everyone who made this happen. I was only there Saturday, but it was amazing to see the diversity of our hobby and hear kit that would otherwise be missed.
The sheer amount of stuff some guys brought made me feel guilty as the only thing I had was smaller than a shoebox!
I thought Jan and Hugo had turned up with their own hotel rooms- a closer look revealed that it was actually Hugo's Aleph amps (complete with patio doors and two car garage)

Looking forward to next year

[SimontY]

Terrific event, and many firsts for me. I've never been to anything like this before and never had the chance to hear some of these interesting types of design either (single driver, open baffle etc). The vast majority of attendees were super friendly and humble in spite of their varied achievements.

In particular Vikash and Al clearly did stupendous amounts of organisation and poured energy into the event. I very much enjoyed listening to speakers made by both of these top blokes.

Al's 3-ways had a ballsy sound with bass, which I liked a lot (same goes for Vik's rebuilt TDLs - I loved these with the Aleph Xs!!). I didn't get much chance to hear the Orions with proper music but what I did hear was the cleanest bass going. Come to think of it the rest of the spectrum was exceptionally clean too! I think room acoustics and a lack of quality sources let all the demos down a bit though. Some lovely sounds also came from two single driver systems, which did things in their own special way.

A 3-way comparison let me hear where my preamp loses out compared to more sophisticated designs, which was fascinating!

Best of all was the chat of course, and putting faces to some of these names!!

Thanks everyone.

Simon

[steve shiels]

I too would like to thank the orgainsers for a good job done

i attended on the saturaday and really enjoyed the day
every one i spoke to was great and sharing of knowledge is vital..

good talk by Jan.. even though. I don't use feedback in any of my amps...

the rooms where not right.. but to be fair, its is very hard to get a suitable venue with out it costing the earth...

It was nice to see some very good solid state amps too..
I'm quite into valves myself.. i was quite suprised

What i have found at these meets is that there are very differing opinions on what people think as being 'right'.. we all choose kit using our own ears and pocket depth i suppose..

thanks again to you all

steve