NorCal DIY AUDIO meeting - April 20

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CharlieLaub

Member
2007-03-13 2:49 am
Michigan
audio.claub.net
Hello fellow DIYers,

I'd like to announce that the next NorCal DIY AUDIO group meeting will take place on Saturday April 20th from 10am-4pm in Davis, CA. Please add this to your calendar.

The event will be held in the great room of the Stonegate Country Club (same venue as the last meeting). This is a large room with vaulted ceiling and carpeted floor over concrete. The acoustics are moderately live and there is some midbass gain depending on room placement. This makes the venue well suited for a variety of speaker types and sizes, including open baffle designs. There is a long sloped ramp up to the room and plenty of free parking. Pics from the last meeting can be found here: NorCal DIY AUDIO Meeting - Spring2011


HELP NEEDED FOR THE FOLLOWING:
  • We will need a "main system" for demoing speakers with passive crossovers. This usually means a clean 100+WPC solid state 2ch amp with lots of current capability, a preamp, and CD/DAC source. In the past we have had audio sourced from computer files, so additional system inputs are needed as well. We have not used vinyl sources in the past, but you never know. Speaker wire, interconnects, and extension cords/power strips are also needed. Please contact me if you can bring any or all of this equipment.
  • A raffle of donated speaker parts and other DIY stuff will take place. I need help in sourcing items. This can include personal donations from your own parts collection as well as help from people who can solicit donations from vendors such as Parts-Express, Madisound, Apex Jr., etc. If you have a connection with a vendor or reseller, please contact me so we can discuss how to proceed.
  • This year I'd like to have a lunch available and I need someone to take this on. As part of the reservation we have access to a long deck and a nice Weber grill. If someone could step up who would not be involved in the speaker event (a spouse perhaps?) to grill some food and get a lunch spread ready that might work well. A full kitchen is located directly off of the great room. I am open to ideas on how to provide lunch to hungry DIYers at the venue.
  • The format could be as simple as demoing speakers all day, or there can be a tech talk during lunch. In the past we have used a mixture of mandatory and optional music clips. Source material containing a variety of musical styles is needed. Input on this aspect is welcome.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me on any aspect of the event. I will follow up with additional information in the coming weeks. At that time I will be asking for your RSVP so that I can get an idea of how many people to expect.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

-Charlie


P.S. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS EVENT IN OTHER DIY AUDIO FORUMS



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C

CharlieLaub

Member
2007-03-13 2:49 am
Michigan
audio.claub.net
Tech Talks at the NorCal DIY Audio meeting

Regarding the idea of a tech talk, I was asked about the possibility of giving a talk on the Active Crossover Designer tools that I wrote. I thought that it might be useful to give a talk on a project from start to finish, including:
  • Gated Impulse Frequency Response Measurements using ARTA
  • Combining measurements and extracting minimum phase data using the Frequency Response Blender
  • Designing an active crossover using the Active Crossover Designer tools
It would be nice if the talk could be videotaped. I could put up the files on the NC DIY AUDIO web site, or in my personal audio pages. If that doesn't work out, I have a copy of Snagit that I could use to create an animated tutorial with voiceover that would probably be just as good.

If there are other topics or tutorials that you would like to see covered in a tech talk please feel free to make a suggestion.

-Charlie
 
C

CharlieLaub

Member
2007-03-13 2:49 am
Michigan
audio.claub.net
Speaker demo tracks now available

Following previous precedent there will be a mandatory set of demo tracks that all loudspeaker demos must use before the builder has time for 5-10 minutes of their own musical choices.

A WAV file has been uploaded to the group web site with four cuts from the following tracks:
Title (Artist) - Album/Source
A Face Without A Name (Bill Evans) - Intuition
Muita Bobeira (Luciana Souza & Romero Lubambo) - Duos II
Fast Car (Tracy Chapman) - Tracy Chapman
The Nearness of You (Norah Jones) - Marian McPartland & Friends: 85 Candles / Live in New York
​
There is a short silence between each track. The total playing time is 6:47.

I will send the link to the WAV file to the group's mailing list. If you are not on the EMail list but are interested in receiving the file, you can contact me via the group web site:
NC DIY AUDIO Home Page

You are welcome to sign up for occasional EMail info and meeting reminders at the Membership page:
Membership

See you April 20th. Get those projects ready!

-Charlie
 
Last edited:
C

CharlieLaub

Member
2007-03-13 2:49 am
Michigan
audio.claub.net
Hello Friends,

The NorCal DIY Audio Group meeting is a just over a week away! Please find details and info about the meeting below:

* TECH TALK: I will be giving a demonstration of active crossover design for a compact 3-way loudspeaker using the Active Crossover Designer Tools at the event, around lunchtime. I will be sending a separate Email message to the group mailing list about this tomorrow.

* Siegfried Linkwitz: SL will attend the meeting, and has offered to do an informal Q&A session if people are interested. He is bringing a set of Plutos to demo.

* LUNCH: I haven't received many RSVP's for lunch - you do want to eat, don't you? If you want to get your $5 worth of lunchtime food and have not RSVP'd, please do. This will probably be a burger, potato salad, and soda or something similar. There will not be any other food offered at the event, and it's a long day, so you might want to bring a snack for any cravings that hit you.

* SPEAKER STANDS: if you are bringing small speakers, we don't currently have any stands to put them on. If someone can bring stands, please let me know. Otherwise we have the floor to use.

* PLAYBACK SYSTEM: we will have a system set up consisting of a source, pre-amp, power amp and speaker wires with bare ends. If you need anything else for your system, please bring it. If you need to power your equipment, please bring an extension cord. Bring any tools that you will need. Please plan ahead.

* VENUE: the meeting is being held at the Stongate Country Club, located at 919 Lake Blvd Davis, CA 95616. The meeting starts at 9am and ends at 5pm when we need to be cleared out of the room. There is ample parking and a long sloped ramp leads up to the room without any steps along the way.

* ALERT: on the same day, UC-Davis is holding "Picnic Day" which is an all-campus event. Many people drive to Davis for the day, so AVOID DOWNTOWN DAVIS AND THE CAMPUS AREA. Please plan your route accordingly as the roadways may already be busy in the morning.

* AREA INFO: very nearby Stonegate CC is a small supermarket, a coffee shop with free wireless, and a couple of low-key restaurants. There is no hardware store or electronics retailer nearby.

* NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED: please note that there is no alcohol allowed by city law, since I did not obtain a permit. We can go out for suds at the local brew-pizza restaurant after the meeting if people are interested.

If there are any other issues, needs, or questions, please contact me. See you then!

-Charlie
 
C

CharlieLaub

Member
2007-03-13 2:49 am
Michigan
audio.claub.net
Here is the final update:

There has been a last minute lunch menu change to locally made sandwiches on a roll, chips, and a soda. It is so much easier logistically to serve these items that I had to abandon the idea of burgers. Also, the lunch order has been placed so I can't accept any more RSVPs at this time, however, you can purchase sandwiches and drinks at the grocery store's deli, located just a couple of hundred yards down the street from the meeting.

Please consider bringing your own snacks and drinks (non-alcoholic only please) if you would like them before and after lunch time. You can always stop in to the grocery store before or during the meeting and pick something up.

VENUE: the meeting is being held at the Stonegate Country Club, located at 919 Lake Blvd Davis, CA 95616. The meeting starts at 9am and ends at 5pm when we need to be cleared out of the room. There is ample parking and a long sloped ramp leads up to the room without any steps along the way.

See you in three days time,

-Charlie
 
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