Owston meet, Doncaster, 22&23 Oct 22

[Ant]

Next, Ray's valve dac and headphone setup. Only got one useable pic unfortunately, by being inept

IMG_9772 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

Next Nicks system consisting of Quasars, his MCJ3 (I think) phono stage, P6 amps and a TVC, and a borrowed AMG deck with its own arm and a Hana moving coil

TT

IMG_9775 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

Quasars

IMG_9776 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

Crossovers

IMG_9774 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

Then we have mi dads el34 se feedback amp

IMG_9778 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr,

A load of heads listening to Steve's system which I only got one useable pic of unfortunately

IMG_9777 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

And Chris and Steve sorting out said system earlier in the day

IMG_9763 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

I didn't get any pics of marks purifi monitors either, sorry mark, hopefully someone has some pics of them

Apologies if I've missed anyone else, apologies to everyone I flashbanged with the camera, and please correct any errors in my descriptions

[IslandPink]

Good stuff. I should have brought a flash, it was quite dim. However -

No.1 : is it a loudspeaker or is it a carpet ? - look carefully.
( latest crossover box and silver wires on Nick's OB's )

[IslandPink]

No. 2 :
My Purifi monitor attempting to loom over Steve-Vinylnvalves 'big rig'

[IslandPink]

Balls, just cross-posted, and you have much crisper shots of Nick's speakers.

[Ant]

Should have mentioned the flash mark, i had one in the camera bag. Wether the hotshoe was the same i dont know though

[Dave the bass]

Have fun Poppits, I'm missing being there already but I do intend on coming back again.

Shame not to see you, but you'll be pleased to know that I dedicated a Genesis track to you in your absence.

too kind, too kind.

Hang on, YOU played a Geneshit track?!? And theres me thinking you were cool

[Dave the bass]

Excellent pics and reporting. Thank you.

[IslandPink]

Hang on, YOU played a Geneshit track?!? And theres me thinking you were cool

To be fair, Peter Gabriel was never that impressed with your amplifiers.

[Ray P]

what was the Genesis track you played Mark.

[IslandPink]

'The Musical Box', Ray. One of their finest tracks, although this is obviously not universally accepted, judging by the reaction in the room after I played it.

[pre65]

I must agree with something Paul B said earlier.

At Owston in the past, at least half of the music played is not to my taste at all, and makes evaluating the kit a problem.

Before anyone else says, I dare say what I do like is not to everyone's taste either.

[chris661]

Chris, can you remind me of the model number of your headphones that we tried.

Shure SRH1540. I used the 840s until they broke, and was happy to find the 1540s at a good price. I also have some 1440s somewhere, but they're open-backed so not much use for live sound.


For anyone that I did speaker measurements for, send me a PM and I'll send you a link where you can download the REW files to have a look at.


I must also echo the thanks to Steve. It wouldn't happen without all that work in the background.

Chris

[Cressy Snr]

I must agree with something Paul B said earlier.

At Owston in the past, at least half of the music played is not to my taste at all, and makes evaluating the kit a problem.

Before anyone else says, I dare say what I do like is not to everyone's taste either.

I certainly concur there Phil but not in terms of the music played. A good system should be able to play anything thrown at it from whatever era without batting an eyelid and it is a person’s right to play what they like. Whether you personally like the music or not is to my mind irrelevant. The question I ask myself when trying to evaluate a system is ‘does the system communicate? Does it move me to want to boogie? Does it move me emotionally, if it is for example a piece of classical or choral, or deep soul, power ballad, driving rock or whatever.

The barrier for me at yesterday’s event and at all others, including without exception, every commercial show I’ve ever attended in the past, is the sheer unadulterated bloody volume. It drives me crazy. Many people and I’m not knocking them for it, go all out for the absolute sound, ie the illusion of the band in the room, whipcrack dynamics, blistering transient speed, jump factor and the rest of it. It’s certainly a noble quest.

There were lashings of speed, dynamics and jump factor yesterday; spectacularly so in fact: Ultra-Fi by the shedload and why not? It was sock blowoffery of the highest calibre and it was too much for my sensitive, foppish disposition. My ideas about what makes a good sonic experience seem to be diametrically opposed to what is considered the norm in the modern world of hi-fi; so much so that I often wonder if I fit with the beat all. I appear to be stuck in the mid 70s golden age. Nevertheless I wouldn’t miss Owston for the world.

My own sonic tastes mean that my gear can barely raise more than a whisper at a venue no matter what I build or bring because whipcrack dynamics and concert hall volume don’t interest me in the slightest, neither does in-your-face excitement. That sort of caper is incompatible with a tiny room, but a low-coloration presentation and an easy, unfatiguing vibe most certainly is. The BBC small broadcast monitor sound IOW. If I could afford them I would go for a Harbeth/Spendor/LS3-5A type speaker without hesitation. The big Mets were the nearest I got to that ideal using my own hands, and I’m glad they went to a good home.

What a stroke of luck then, that Ray was so kind as to donate those slightly knocked about, 30 year old Mission 773 mini tower floorstanders to my little collection of speakers. These have proved to be the answer to my prayers. The old school British, pre Linn/Naim hi fi sound, free gratis and for nothing. Sometimes you plug in a pair of speakers and things just click into place. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you damn’ well take notice. These unassuming little towers are spot on for my own tastes and listening environment. They work a treat with both the valve and the NVA based solid state amps. Couldn’t ask for more really.

[Nick]

is the sheer unadulterated bloody volume

But I think when you combine folk chatting, the background noise from the bar and people sitting both close and far at the back. There is a minimum volumn below which I don't think many of aspects of the system that people have worked hard to achieve can be heard. And of course the loudness contour of the ear.

[Ray P]

'The Musical Box', Ray. One of their finest tracks, although this is obviously not universally accepted, judging by the reaction in the room after I played it.

It's a good'un Mark and from the 'true' Genesis era (IMO the decline started after the Lamb and concluded when there were three...). If DtB comes to Owston in the future I think I may demo Foxtrot.

Have you listened to any of their 'official' recordings from the early period; I have the CD of this which shows the band in a more raw state, still learning and shaping their musicianship and performances and well worth a listen - good rendition of the Musical Box too.

https://amzn.eu/d/8UULdID

If you get the opportunity, I recommend getting along to a Steve Hackett gig, he does excellent performances of the Genesis music from that period. I've just bought his 'Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More' album, which includes a blu-ray video as well as 2CDs of great tracks.