Well Folks...
I managed to make the meeting with the local Knoxville folks. Got to hear some really beautiful sounds and see some wicked cool amps and components. I am fully and totally hooked thanks to Scott, Mark, Larry, and James LOL..
Today I was able to drive to western knox county and meet James family and listen to his custom build amps and speakers in person. I can away thinking how amazing the mids and highs were on his system. It is something he has been tinkering with for a very long time now. He has some nice custom build El34 dual mono amps and a custom built preamp and a really cool older Nakamichi Turntable with upgraded components. We listened to a lot of my music and some of his music as well for about three hours. He also showed me his custom building shop where he builds the speakers, enclosures, amps, everything. I want to thank him sincerely for showing me his setup. He also taught me quite a bit about the way this stuff works while I was there. I am quite impressed with what can be accomplished with DIY stuff. Just got home and was listening to my Denon receiver and my KEF mains. Played the same Division bell tracks we played at his house and the difference is remarkable. The clarity of the mids and highs is night and day. The only thing I think I would like more on his setup and this is a subjective thing is a tad more bass. Of course we did not exactly crank up the low end on his setup while I was there and it had much more but I guess listening to three diffferent systems now it is clear to me that I desire BOTH the crystal mids and highs as well as the punchy lows that are clear and crisp but not muddy. It is probably not going to be easy to get what I want but it is a goal.
His speakers were bi amped and the mids and highs used a custom built crossover setup while the lows were on a seperate amp. I can see this may also be the way for me to go. Perhaps with some more woofers he mentioned he built a similar setup with dual 10" woofers for another fellow and they had considerably more low end output. I learned a great deal listening to his system today and learned what I find important to my listening tastes as well as what I like in amps. I was shocked at how HEAVY those tube amps were. I tried to lift one slightly to get a look at the bottom side and the rear and MAN was that thing a heavy SOB LOL>... I guess with all those heavy steel components on it it has to be. All of his system is a prototype and he is still working on it but from what I heard it is going to be amazing once he finishes what he wants to do with them.
It will probably take me some time to accrue the money necessary to build what I am after and I am honestly not exactly sure what I want to build but this system is pretty close to what I need. I may try to build the amps first and then move onto the speakers after I dunno. The amp is another thing I need to learn quite a bit about before I try to dump some money on it. His system was quite capable and powerful sounding even tho it was only 15 watts max. He said he doubted we went over 2 watts the entire time we listened. Amazing how clean and clear a single ended custom amp can be. No hum, no noise, nothing but clean clear sound. Class A apparently. I think that is the kind of amps I want in my house. We shall see what I can come up with here. Thanks to all of you who were so kind as to invite me into your homes and let me experience some amazing DIY systems. Peace
Pete
I managed to make the meeting with the local Knoxville folks. Got to hear some really beautiful sounds and see some wicked cool amps and components. I am fully and totally hooked thanks to Scott, Mark, Larry, and James LOL..
Today I was able to drive to western knox county and meet James family and listen to his custom build amps and speakers in person. I can away thinking how amazing the mids and highs were on his system. It is something he has been tinkering with for a very long time now. He has some nice custom build El34 dual mono amps and a custom built preamp and a really cool older Nakamichi Turntable with upgraded components. We listened to a lot of my music and some of his music as well for about three hours. He also showed me his custom building shop where he builds the speakers, enclosures, amps, everything. I want to thank him sincerely for showing me his setup. He also taught me quite a bit about the way this stuff works while I was there. I am quite impressed with what can be accomplished with DIY stuff. Just got home and was listening to my Denon receiver and my KEF mains. Played the same Division bell tracks we played at his house and the difference is remarkable. The clarity of the mids and highs is night and day. The only thing I think I would like more on his setup and this is a subjective thing is a tad more bass. Of course we did not exactly crank up the low end on his setup while I was there and it had much more but I guess listening to three diffferent systems now it is clear to me that I desire BOTH the crystal mids and highs as well as the punchy lows that are clear and crisp but not muddy. It is probably not going to be easy to get what I want but it is a goal.
His speakers were bi amped and the mids and highs used a custom built crossover setup while the lows were on a seperate amp. I can see this may also be the way for me to go. Perhaps with some more woofers he mentioned he built a similar setup with dual 10" woofers for another fellow and they had considerably more low end output. I learned a great deal listening to his system today and learned what I find important to my listening tastes as well as what I like in amps. I was shocked at how HEAVY those tube amps were. I tried to lift one slightly to get a look at the bottom side and the rear and MAN was that thing a heavy SOB LOL>... I guess with all those heavy steel components on it it has to be. All of his system is a prototype and he is still working on it but from what I heard it is going to be amazing once he finishes what he wants to do with them.
It will probably take me some time to accrue the money necessary to build what I am after and I am honestly not exactly sure what I want to build but this system is pretty close to what I need. I may try to build the amps first and then move onto the speakers after I dunno. The amp is another thing I need to learn quite a bit about before I try to dump some money on it. His system was quite capable and powerful sounding even tho it was only 15 watts max. He said he doubted we went over 2 watts the entire time we listened. Amazing how clean and clear a single ended custom amp can be. No hum, no noise, nothing but clean clear sound. Class A apparently. I think that is the kind of amps I want in my house. We shall see what I can come up with here. Thanks to all of you who were so kind as to invite me into your homes and let me experience some amazing DIY systems. Peace
Pete
Chattanooga here
I'm in Chattanooga. If your in the area stop in area 61 (my gallery on main st). I have these speakers there:
And just because this shot rocks
I'm always there Saturday 9:00 to 2:00. On and off through the week. Open Wed. thru Fri. 10:00-6:00. Bring your favorite CDs and we'll talk speakers.
David
I'm in Chattanooga. If your in the area stop in area 61 (my gallery on main st). I have these speakers there:
And just because this shot rocks
I'm always there Saturday 9:00 to 2:00. On and off through the week. Open Wed. thru Fri. 10:00-6:00. Bring your favorite CDs and we'll talk speakers.
David
David..
Hey man thanks for the warm invite. Looks like you got some very interesting stuff going on down there. I occasionally run down to Atlanta to shoot my Air rifle Field Target competitions and Chattanooga is on the way of course. I would love to see and hear your cool speakers. I am still on the fence about just what I want to build and have listened to several sweet systems from kind folks here on the forum locally who were kind enough to invite me into their home to hear and enjoy. I will keep your information and make it a point to come on by when I get a chance hopefully soon. Peace
Pete
Hey man thanks for the warm invite. Looks like you got some very interesting stuff going on down there. I occasionally run down to Atlanta to shoot my Air rifle Field Target competitions and Chattanooga is on the way of course. I would love to see and hear your cool speakers. I am still on the fence about just what I want to build and have listened to several sweet systems from kind folks here on the forum locally who were kind enough to invite me into their home to hear and enjoy. I will keep your information and make it a point to come on by when I get a chance hopefully soon. Peace
Pete
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