Title: Re: Decfest 2019
Post by Steve Deckert on 10/09/19 at 05:08:49
From all of us at Decware, we thank you for another fantastic audio fest! This is the 17th one in a row, always the first full weekend in October. It was in the 80's and even 90's just days before the fest and then cooled off to fest like temperatures in the 60's during the day and cool bonfire temperatures at night!
A special thanks to all those who have attended past fests, as you have become like family to us, and since this has been going on for so long now, DECFEST has a real family reunion thing going on that is most enjoyable.
My personal observations about equipment are as follows...
Every year I set up what I think is possibly the best sounding combination of gear before the fest and have it playing on Friday when the fest starts. I like to see how long it will capture everyones attention before it gets swapped out for something someone came to hear... which basically means it has to sound so good that people either forgot about what they came to hear or simply decide to wait to ask to hear it because everyone is raving about what is playing.
This year, something happened that has never happened. The entire fest was run with a 2 watt amplifier, with only a few hours of higher power. The amp was the 25th Anniversary Zen Triode and it was paired with the new 25th Anniversary CSP3 preamp driving the Zen Big Open Baffles that we will be selling under the model # ZBOB of which there is a thread called "Steve's Big Betsy Project" chronicling the development of those speakers in real time.
These speakers are 100dB with no crossover, and are single driver. One redefined what everyone thought good bass sounded like and one redefined what people thought good highs sounded like. Both were so compelling that they dominated the fest all three days which is why the 2 watt amp was so successful. Imagine a large room with 40 people talking and music is playing and people are trying to listen to it... then add in a little rain to boost the noise floor further and up until this fest, things like the Zen Mystery Amp, and the Zen TORII's had to be called upon to get the job done. This year the 2 watt amp kicked everything's ass with the help of these speakers.
Some of the DECFEST family members came this year bearing gifts!!! I got some records, and reel to reel tapes, and some really great beer so I'm happier than shit right now! Thank you!
On the West end of the room was the Lii Audio Crystal 10 flagship speakers driven by, yes another 2 watt amplifier, the SE84UFO3 (bone stock with no mods) and these speakers sounded like there was a 250 watt hi-current amplifier playing with a 1200 watt high current subwoofer backing it up. It was crazy.
So while I sure everyone did notice, it was like no-one really noticed since the volumes and bass performance was like all years prior, the only difference being 2 watts instead of 25,30, and 40 watts.
Regarding the three Lii-Audio driven speakers: Crystal 10 cabinet, Crystal 10 baffle, F15 baffle. All three were 100dB. The Crystal 10 cabinet went so low that it would embarrass the vast majority of subwoofers. The F15 baffle hit so hard it made the mid bass of every other speaker in the building seem lacking, including the Crystal 10 cabinet and Crystal 10 baffle. The Crystal 10 baffle is more open sounding than the Crystal 10 cabinet, but just barely. Since the Crystal 10 baffle that we will offer has to be packaged with a ZROCK2 class A triode tube equalizer for bass control, it will cost easily over twice as much as the Crystal 10 cabinet by Lii Audio, so the cabinet clearly wins that war from a monetary perspective.
The F15 baffle kicked everythings ass to a point that it made it harder to shift gears into other speakers. So this fest confirmed everything I've said (and claimed) about the F15 drivers in my large baffles as well as the 2 watt Anniversary Zen Triode amplifier and the incredible hit that it has in the bass... better than larger amplifiers in most cases so it was fun to let people hear this since it's obviously rather unusual.
The Big Betsy (model ZBOB) also sounded great with the ZKIT60 solid state amplifier that we enjoy so much from Dan K. Dan has built a pair of MDF Big Betsy clones and Palimino has built a pair of solid oak clones that are half as thick and both reported they don't sound like the originals. Dan is going to make some hardwood models to compare and Palimino may double the thickness of his to see the difference, or may not because as he discovered, his sound a bit lighter and he kind of likes it.
I got to see some good friends from years ago who inspired and mentored me in how to market a product, a skill set I have largely wasted due to being too busy keeping my hands directly on each product that goes out the door... nevertheless I have learned from the best and am eternally grateful for their time.
We got to listen to some great reel to reel tapes from UltraAnalog Recordings and other present day labels along with some good vinyl which we contrasted with some mediocre vinyl to hear how large the gap actually is... large.
Randy's Caintuck Audio baffles were a big hit this year with his new baffle offerings that are stupidly affordable... kind of a "from one music lover to another" thing on the pricing of this mans speakers and still the all time winner of best sounding speaker for the money.
Bob Ziegler's new Radial (HR-2?) prototype was well liked as I knew it would be. By repeating the latest HR-1 updates where the top driver is crossover-less, but using an 8-inch driver instead of a 6, this speaker sounds enough better to be called an HR-2 as far as I'm concerned. Bob came a week early this year so we could build a plywood version of the "Big Betsy" so we could pin down a low end figure on the pricing. It was a lot of fun to work on something together in my new shop. We got 7 inches of rain, nearly struck by lightning more than once, and almost blown away by tornadoes for 2 of those days. I was grateful for building the shop with a 12 pitch roof because the rain and even hail was not loud enough inside the building to be a problem.
The live feed was watched by 900 people world wide, and was said to sound better than it ever has except during those times when people were SPL testing the speakers to see how loud they could play which distorted the feed. This is what happens with a high fidelity feed, where there is no compressor.
No UFO's were spotted this year, so apparently my scalar grid that extends 10 miles beyond Decware property in every direction is effective. Besides cloaking the 25th Anniversary amplifier and preamp from alien scans, it also seems to mitigate negative energy in general. ; )
Instead of standing outside looking for UFO's each night, everyone chilled in the wood shop with the doors open overlooking the bond-fire and listening to the original Zen Triode Amplifier - model SE84 serial number 001, now over 25 years old and still ticking like a time clock. I had it playing on my old Sansui speakers from the 1970's that still remain in perfect condition and are themselves nearly 100dB.
The food this year was exceptional with in house Chefs, Dan and DeVon you are never disappointed. The weather was great, the mood was sublime. Thanks everyone for caring enough to drive and fly all the way over hear from all over the country. If pictures are worth a thousand words, then actions are worth a million and your attendance says it all... in fact it and this forum are what make what I do real to me. We have no local business whatsoever, we see the UPS man every day and thats it with the exception of weekly listening appointments we are isolated. This forum and fest keep it ultra real. When people pull you aside and share their stories with you and you are part of their story, it is very humbling and it makes you constantly try harder...
-Steve, DeVon and crew.
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