Nicks OB speakers

Dedicated to those large boxes at one end of the room
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Scottmoose
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#16

Post by Scottmoose »

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Last edited by Scottmoose on Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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andrew Ivimey
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#17

Post by andrew Ivimey »

I missed it - quite frankly I utterly missed it.

I stillwell remember Mark's reference to Anthem of the Sun and at the time I missed that too.

Mybe I don't listen to music enought.
Max N
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#18

Post by Max N »

Hi Paul
I also really enjoyed your version of the OBs at Egg. I don't think they got the same reaction at Witham because a lot of us already knew how good they sounded, so maybe we weren't as vocal in praising them. ie we expected them to sound good and they did, so probably didn't elicit as much comment. I always found them an easier listen than James', there is something about that 108E that I really like.
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al newall
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#19

Post by al newall »

I think Max is right. Paul.
Stuff usually creates more interest first time out.
On the second showing people are happy to listen but may not display the same enthusiam.

Staying roughly on the subject. I sometimes wish those listening would tell me if my stuffs crap.
I occasionally get the feeling that there is a polite tolerance when listening, maybe a few shouts of "i don't like that" followed by some constructive critism would help the less experienced, like myself. :)
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pre65
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#20

Post by pre65 »

Hi Al-yes i agree !

Sometimes no comments at all can be disheartening.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
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#21

Post by steve s »

al newall wrote:I think Max is right. Paul.

Staying roughly on the subject. I sometimes wish those listening would tell me if my stuffs crap.
I occasionally get the feeling that there is a polite tolerance when listening, maybe a few shouts of "i don't like that" followed by some constructive critism would help the less experienced, like myself. :)
I know what you mean.. the trouble is that every one seems to have different ideas of whats crap and what good is....

so is the best way is to suit yourself ?

the only way to really compare kit in my view is instant switching between amps speakers etc.. i always need a reference to judge something that is close to something else on quality..

steve
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Nick
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#22

Post by Nick »

Staying roughly on the subject. I sometimes wish those listening would tell me if my stuffs crap.
The problem is, how do you distinguish between "crap" and "I don't like it".

In reality the only measure must be "does it do what the builder wanted it to do", without that, I think its hard to be as polarised as good or crap.

As a example, at the last Witham meeting, I was very impressed by two amps in particular (hope you don't mind chaps), Simons 300b, and Andrews 6c33c. Both did (to my ears) something special, and both also (again to my ears) were flawed in their own way as well. To me, they were both great and crap at the same time, great, in that they did something I wanted to explore further, and crap in that they didn't do something that I find important and couldn't live without.

(Its no coincidence, that since then, I have spent most of my messing time, with 300b's and 6c33c's)
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#23

Post by simon »

Nick wrote:hope you don't mind chaps
Be my guest! :)

I agree with Nick and Steve. There's a difference between good, bad, right and wrong. We all hear things differently and only the individual can decide how those terms are defined. Some cyber warriors don't seem to realise this and want to be evangelical about it. If, say, I want to listen to something that is both bad and wrong because I actually like it then that's fair enough. Doesn't mean anyone has to agree.

It seems to me that this DIY habit of ours is a journey, and as we travel we expand out horizons. We start at the beginning with whatever our baggage is - in my case solid state amps and an LP12. Through building stuff and listening to others I'm learning about what I'd like my kit to sound like and hopefully work out how to achieve that (yeah, right!). Along the way I've had the privilege of hearing others' kit at meets and houses. It's a very generous thing that people do letting others listen to their kit as it's easy to criticise, especially in less than ideal locations. It's a bit like asking people what they think of your children. Most would fear the answer!

To reciprocate, I remember the first time I heard Nick's 211 amps at the first Egg. I didn't really get them (which I've said to Nick before). The sound seemed to have so much treble it didn't somehow seem right. 'Course, it wasn't Nick's amps, it was my ears/brain/baggage. Through listening to all this great kit that we're building I'm able to learn a little each time and I now appreciate how good Nick's 211s really are. I think it's this camaraderie that makes this such a pleasurably hobby for me. That and DTB's funny photos, obviously. :lol:
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Greg
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#24

Post by Greg »

What you guys are expounding really encapsulates where I now am on all this. I've said before that I've developed a jaundiced attitude to the meet ups in terms of sound experienced. Frankly, the reality is that anything I've heard at our meets has been so compromised by the environment, it's really impossible to make a valued judgement on quality of sound. At Owstfest I introduced some challenging recordings that none of the systems could cope with. That might simply be the environmental factor. In a domestic setting, things might just work....I don't know, albeit they work in my home and set up.

For me, meet ups are great for the social aspect, but frankly, I've not heard anything to inspire me at these events. For me, compared with my home sound, everything is sub-standard. Consequently I am an advocate of small home based meets which surely allow the listener to make rational judgement.

Best wishes,

Greg
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al newall
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#25

Post by al newall »

Yep.
Someone turned up at my place last week with a couple of monoblocks and a modified CD player. I wish they were mine.
I don't think i've heard anything at the meetings that was significantly more enjoyable, regardless of cost or effort.

It does make me wonder if its worth everyone setting up their own gear, at these events.
Better just to have component shootouts based around a reference setup.
I know it's been said before.
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Nick
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#26

Post by Nick »

Well, there is the "show and tell" aspect of it all, but I must admit I find them very useful, but as I said, what I find of use, is hearing that little bit of something special that pokes its head above the general noise and chaos.

Maybe it just me being a geek, but I am happy if I come away from the do,with a couple of new ideas to persue, and I certainly don't expect to hear the best thing since sliced bread.

The best (and most informative) times I have spent, are the sessions with Paul and co, just trying things with clipleads and seeing where we get to, problem is you can't turn those times into a event with dozens of folk.

Spose thats agreeing that the small get togethers are better, but its a bit like a AGM, just the excuse to spend a few days talking about valves is worth a lot to me.

If you remember, Pauls original suggestion for the first eggfest, was more like the small get together, it was intended to be about boatanchers, and to allow people to hear things like 212's which doesn't normally happen. Problem is, the stress that puts on the people with the 212's was higher than you might expect. Especially the second time, where it would be hard enough to repeat the last time, let alone improve on it.

I will be the first to admit the 211 became a PITA to take to the events, let alone what Paul had to take to play with 212's, thats another reason why I started playing with 300b's, I am hoping at the coming weekend it will be nice a simple, ust throw the OB's in the 4*4, find somewhere for the 6c33c, somewhere for the sp10, somewhere for the phono stage, somewhere for the spare valves, somewhere for the records, somewhere for the tesk kit incase it all goes wrong. Hmm, see what I mean, its not that simple anymore.

But don't get me wrong, I am not looking for sympathy, I only do it because I enjoy it, so ignore much of the whinging :-)
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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#27

Post by Will »

I think everyone who shows their system at these get togethers now knows it will only perform at some 50% in the venue. There was going to be a Tee Shirt for them saying it sounds better at home, as long as we take this onboard, hate saying that, then we should be thankfull folks
make the effort.
I enjoyed the evenings at Donny great fun passing as a gold card holder to get cheap drinks etc. 2 carvery meals on one plate because the Yorkshire the genes took over.
I dont think I will be at Witham but you never know if I make it will bring a deck and phono to show Andrew the way :lol:
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Paul Barker
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#28

Post by Paul Barker »

I haven't signed up for Whitham, is it this weekend?

For me the first eggfest achieved what I wanted to achieve.

It started the getting together of a great group of UK valve enthusiasts and survived as a result of Steve's ability and willingness to make the arrangements.

So what it has become is great for me, though for a few seasons I am out of the experimenter/demonstator group, perhaps in future some big bottles will find there way to another meeting.
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Nick
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#29

Post by Nick »

I haven't signed up for Whitham, is it this weekend?
Weekend after this, 22nd, 23nd
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#30

Post by Cressy Snr »

Personally I like these events the way they are, where people can browse around, looking at the systems, talking to the owners and picking up philosophies, tips etc.

Without the presence of different systems the events would be far less interesting.

Steve.
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