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Randy in Caintuck's listening room (Read 28365 times)
Randy in Caintuck
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Randy in Caintuck's listening room
10/21/11 at 01:32:45
 


Well, now that I have a lovely Decware amplifier back in the "stable" it seems proper to post a few photos of the 'umble listening room  

Here are some pics of the various and assorted gear that puts a big smile on my mug every night .....















Some larger photos of the above here.















Some larger photos of the above here.

Enjoy,

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Open Baffles
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Lon
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #1 - 10/21/11 at 14:42:28
 
Nice work oh demi-god!  I bet it sounds nice.
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #2 - 10/22/11 at 22:44:40
 
Randy,

I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to talk much at Zenfest.  Would you please write a bit about your system?

steve
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #3 - 10/24/11 at 01:33:47
 
Howdy Lon,

It has been quite a while since I last donned my "demi-god hat" .....
I'm not sure that it fits any more .....

Take care .....


Hi Steve,

Well ..... the room is 16' x 26' with a ceiling at not quite 8' at the highest point.

The main speakers (depending on which ones are in use) are 5 to 7 feet from the front wall and the listening seat is about 11 feet from the plane of the main speakers.

I am running a CEC belt drive top loading CD transport into a Camelot Uther DAC with the latest Anagram modifications.  The DAC feeds a vacuum tube buffer which feeds one of three amplifiers .... a Decware Model SE84C+, a Greenvalve Audio Type 10 amplifier which uses thoriated filament power tubes and a mercury vapor rectifier or a heavily modified CGV Electronics 300B amplifier with Emission Labs 300B mesh plate tubes.  They all sound different and all sound very fine to my ears.

The 92 db efficient Parker Audio Troll speakers are a one of a kind set with Heil AMT drivers and Duelund VSF capacitors. They sit on 24" stands that are filled with 75 pounds of lead shot and sand.  The 96 db efficient home brew open baffle speakers use Visaton B200 drivers running full range and Heil AMT drivers crossed over at 12K with Mundorf silver oil capacitors.  I also still have a pair of Ed's Horns that work their way into the system on a regular basis.



That photo was taken before I doubled up on the Hawthorne Audio Augie bass drivers.

Speaking of the Augies, they are running as a true stereo pair crossed over at 75 hZ with each channel having its own dedicated plate amplifier.

As with the amplifiers, each of the speakers has its own sound and I could make a good argument for any of them.

I am in love with the open baffle bass and can highly recommend the Augies.  They have sounded very good with a wide variety of main speakers I have heard them paired with.  It's a "different" sound and takes a while to get used to, but nearly everyone who has heard the Augies has agreed that they produce some very tuneful and realistic bass ..... especially with acoustic bass instruments such as double bass, cello and the lower registers of piano .....

The front wall has a heavy curtain and some acoustic panels for damping and bass traps in the corners.  There are acoustic panels on the side walls to catch the "first bounce" from the main speakers and the CD rack on the rear wall makes a pretty good diffuser panel.

The system has good tonality and throws a huge sound stage with well recorded material with the stage extending well behind the front wall and several feet to the outsides of the side walls.  The ambiance of the recorded space is extremely good on recordings that contain such.   Lead vocals are a treat, projecting just far enough into the room and having a 3-D and palpable presence to allow that "reach out and touch the performer" illusion.  I have a hanging light centered on the rear wall with a dimmer that allows for a very "cozy" atmosphere for the small scale acoustic performances that are the main fare of my music collection.

I have hit a pretty good balance between detail and long term "listenability" .....

If you are ever in the Cincinnati, Ohio / northern Kentucky area, feel free to stop in for a listen.

Best wishes,

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii 15 Open Bass Baffle
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stevef
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #4 - 10/24/11 at 19:20:13
 
Randy,

Very very nice.  I have a pair of dipoles in my main system (Orions) and agree that although bass at first seems different, it does sound attractive. I suspect something right is happening from about 40-50 hz on up.
You have done a phenomenal job putting your system together. And the choices you have... all audiophiles, read us audiofools, need to swap things out on occasion. Thanks so much for the description. Best wishes.

Steve
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #5 - 02/13/12 at 16:29:39
 
I just finished an interesting experiment on my open baffle speakers ...

Our buddy ChrisK happened to have a pair of pristine Visaton B200 drivers that he wasn't using and he offered them to me at a price I couldn't pass up.

I had been wanting to see how a second pair of B200 drivers would work on my baffles in an MTM configuration, so this was the perfect opportunity.







Larger photos can be seen here, here and here.

At this point, the baffles are "hillbilly rigged" until the weather warms up and I can rebuild the baffles to accommodate the additional drivers.  The plan is to move all of the drivers closer together, but the setup is already working better than I could have hoped.

Since I sit about 12 feet from the baffles, I am not getting any "lobing" or coherency problems and I expect things to get even better when the baffles are rebuilt.

With this setup, the speakers are about 99 dB efficient and the dynamics are absolutely amazing ..... it's amazing how much really good sound you can get from a "tiny" Zen amplifier when the loudspeakers are this efficient .....

Paired up with the Hawthorne Audio "Augie short stacks" I am getting a very big, but precise sound.

Having fun in Caintuck,

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii 15 Open Bass Baffle
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ZYGI
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #6 - 02/14/12 at 00:51:51
 
Nice looking Randy, I'm sure when the weather warms up and you get to the baffles, they'll look even better.

Now I understand what ChrisK was telling me.  He said it sounded big and dynamic.
Zygi
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #7 - 04/10/12 at 19:43:47
 
I just took a picture of the setup with The Horns and the "Augie Short Stacks" .....



Larger photo here.

I am having The Horns refinished sometime soon to match the wood in the rest of the listening room and will post a new photo when that little project is done.

Looking forward to ZenFest 2012 .....

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
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Doorman
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #8 - 04/10/12 at 20:14:44
 
Looks great Randy: What a lucky man to have a dedicated listening room. (For some of us those OB's wouldn't get in the door, past the wife!!)
Best
Do
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #9 - 04/14/12 at 19:00:46
 
Hi Don,

Thanks for the kind words .....

Mrs. Randy owns the 1st and 2nd floors of the teepee and the basement is mine ..... I promise you that none of my audio gear would make it "up the steps" into her domain .....

Best wishes,

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii 15 Open Bass Baffle
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #10 - 05/29/12 at 19:36:14
 
I recently attended the Audio Karma show in Novi, Michigan.  Hawthorne Audio had a display room at the show and I got to hear their new flagship speakers, the Rainiers. These are some BIG open baffle speakers and sounded very good, indeed.  One of the things that amazed me the most was the ability of these very large baffles to pull a "disappearing act".

After hearing them, it convinced me to try something that had been in the back of my mind for a while.  Here are the results :









Larger photos can be seen here.

They sound very good and pull a similar disappearing act as the Rainiers.

At 99 dB efficiency, the little Zen amp drives them quite nicely  

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Open Baffles
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Donnie
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #11 - 05/30/12 at 00:21:21
 
Randy, They are awsome!
How tall are they, 6 1/2' or better?
I am a sucker for projects that are way overkill, and these are overkill. In fact that is what I would name them, OVERKILL!
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #12 - 05/30/12 at 20:47:12
 
Howdy Donnie,

The baffles themselves are 21" wide and 67" tall.  With the trim, base and spikes, they are 71" tall ..... so just an inch short of six feet.

I know that they look bigger than that.  The last time I had speakers in my room this big was a pair of Maggie 1.6s a few years ago.

My wife came home from a trip to Virginia the night I finished them. I took her downstairs to the listening room for a quick peek.  The look on her face was priceless ..... I interpreted it as "you're not serious, are you ?"  Somehow, I don't think the speakers will ever be displayed in her living room .....

Best wishes,

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii 15 Open Bass Baffle
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Doorman
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #13 - 05/30/12 at 22:27:04
 
And therein lies one of the problems with many OB speakers.
The all-important WAF! Smiley
Best
Don
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Lon
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #14 - 05/30/12 at 22:36:14
 
I'll bet it sounds even better than it looks (that is, looks to manly audiophiles at least!)

Good job Randy!
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Randy in Caintuck
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Tube be ... or not
tube be ... it's a
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Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #15 - 05/31/12 at 20:57:16
 
Hi Lon,

I never really thought about the "manly audiophile" thing, but you may very well be right.  For years, I was a big fan of small, high quality book shelf type speakers because they always pulled a great "disappearing act". I was very pleased to discover that a "man sized" speaker can do the same thing (in a slightly different way) ..... and I must admit to being in love with the dipole open baffle sound .....

But, the WAF just isn't there ..... and that is why Mrs. Randy decorates the first and second floors of our teepee and I am banished to the dungeon .....

Best wishes,

Randy
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CEC TL5N belt drive CD transport
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii 15 Open Bass Baffle
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Lon
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"Love without
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worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 23313
Re: Randy in Caintuck's listening room
Reply #16 - 05/31/12 at 21:53:33
 
It really is astonishing when big speakers "disappear". . . and man talk about full-bodied sound!

It's nice to have that basement room for listening and attending enjoyments. I have been banished to a basement twice earlier in my life, and basements can give you wonderful sound!

The next manly thing you should try is a used PS Audio PerfectWave AC12 power cord on the Zen. I can only imagine how good that would sound!
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HR-1,ZTPRE,ZBIT,ZROCK2,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod,Taboo MkIV;Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD,P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls,Reference spkrcbls;Mapleshade SamsonV3;VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects, IsoPods; headphones:Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1
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