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Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon (Read 62553 times)
Randy in Caintuck
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Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
12/25/15 at 19:47:44
 
Greetings .....

Well, I'm six days away from retiring from the IT industry .....

The plans to open my little audio storefront are nearing completion and the doors should be open by mid January, 2016.

Here are a few photos of the space as it nears completion .....











And I will even have a kitchenette on site .....



In addition, I just received my custom license plate that reflects my interest in open baffle loudspeakers .....



I'm extending a warm invitation to all members of the Decware forum family to visit if you find yourself in Caintuck (Alexandria, Kentucky).
Refreshments will be on hand and a nice relaxed atmosphere where music is the order of the day.

Of course, Decware amplifiers will be part of the lineup and digital and analog front ends will be at the service of visitors who wish to bring their own music and loudspeakers.

In addition to the main 35' x 17' listening space (10' ceiling) .... there will be a secondary 12' x 12' listening room to accommodate folks who don't have a large listening room in their homes.

More info on the store as it becomes available on my website.

My very best wishes to the Decware Audio family and all of the forum readers for a happy and prosperous 2016,

Randy
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Core32
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #1 - 12/26/15 at 00:34:20
 
Good luck Randy. In retirement and with the new business.
I am quite jealous...  :'(
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #2 - 12/26/15 at 04:53:57
 
Best of luck Randy. I wish I lived closer so I could visit your store. I'm really happy with the baffles I bought from you.
Rich
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #3 - 12/27/15 at 17:05:59
 
Thanks guys .....

Happy listening,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #4 - 12/30/15 at 22:52:50
 
OK Randy...you're killing me!!!  I'm not that far away in Clarksville, IN, and now I have to visit.  Can I bring my monoblock? I would love to here them with your speakers.

Dan
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #5 - 01/04/16 at 04:03:28
 
Hi Dan,

By all means you and your monoblocks are welcome ....

I just finished a conversation with the landlord and he expects everything to be ready sometime between January 20th and February 1st.  I will update this thread (and my website) as soon as I have an opening date locked in.

In the meantime, I have been busy finishing a few pairs of baffles in solid hardwoods and a couple of different configurations in the furniture grade plywood (which also looks pretty good, IMHO).



Gonco Alves (Tigerwood)



Red Oak



Red Oak rear view



Curly Hard Maple



Curly Red Oak



Walnut



Cherry



Red Oak plywood 2 way

My official retirement day was last Thursday, so when the storefront is ready it won't take long to get everything set up.

Happy listening,

Randy

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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #6 - 01/05/16 at 04:37:43
 
With the vinyl resurgence and affordable hifi in a similar renaissance, I think you could pull in quite a crowd of young folks. Will you be doing anything vinyl related?
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Core32
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #7 - 01/05/16 at 13:17:29
 
I like the nice wood finishes of course, but the impressive thing to me is the absolute simplicity of the designs.
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #8 - 01/05/16 at 22:34:05
 
Hello hifitubes,

I fully agree with your thoughts .....

One of the items that will be featured in the storefront will be the U-Turn Orbit turntable along with the Pluto phono preamp. Nice components for a very reasonable price.

I will also be offering the Stockfisch Audio CDs and vinyl which sound very good to my ears ..... as well as some other new vinyl as I find out what my visitors like.

One of my audio buddies suggested a used vinyl bin, so I am looking at that as well.

There is a college less than 10 miles down the road from my storefront (NKU in Highland Heights, KY), so I'm hoping to draw some visitors from there as the word gets out about the storefront.

Best wishes,

Randy
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #9 - 01/05/16 at 22:43:52
 
Hi Core32,

Thanks for the positive thoughts .....

I happen to agree with you ..... the simplicity is one of the reasons the speakers sound as good as they do.  They punch way above their price point, IMHO.

Of course, a single 8" "full range" driver is not the holy grail for some music lovers.  For the music I listen to, they fill my needs very nicely ..... but if a person needs some additional bottom end I recommend one or two additional baffles with plate amp driven Hawthorne Audio Augies.  That pretty much provides a true full range open baffle system and most of the folks who have heard it have had very favorable comments.

I'm also going to offer some larger baffles in the storefront with a two way driver compliment for those visitors who prefer a more "robust" sound ..... but the Betsy driver baffles are my personal favorite .....

Happy listening,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #10 - 01/08/16 at 22:09:40
 
Good add on the U turn spinner Randy.  I have followed them since their Kickstarter campaign.  

Somebody could put together a great system for not much $$ based on your current offering.
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #11 - 01/11/16 at 20:57:46
 
Yep ..... that's the plan .....

In the Caintuck Audio storefront, I will offer a complete system with a Flea Watt amplifier, an Onkyo C-7030 CD player and a pair of my speakers for 750.00.

The analog version will be a kilobuck, including the Pluto phono preamp. U-Turn only allows resellers to offer the Orbit Plus table which has the acrylic platter and Ortofon cartridge ..... which is fine with me.

If someone needs the warm glow of vacuum tubes, the Spud pentode and the Decware SE84 UFO and Rachael will be there to float their boats .....

It looks like the opening date will now be the first week of February and I am scrambling to get everything ready for the "grand opening".

Happy listening,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #12 - 01/12/16 at 03:18:31
 
that's exciting, making great sound affordable  sounds like fun   wish I was in your town to see it and hang out     maybe I will see you next Decfest.  I live in wa. state   But I grew up in Indiana so I'll make it a duel purpose visit.
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #13 - 01/14/16 at 02:30:31
 
Hi darrwood,

Looking forward to meeting you at Decfest 2016 .....

If you happen to find yourself in the state of Kentucky, by all means stop in for a visit.

As to the thought of making great sound affordable, I must confess that I "borrowed" the idea from Steve Deckert who introduced me to the thought of "great sound for the sincere but broke music lover" many years ago when he first marketed the little Zen amplifier.

It seemed like a great idea to me and I think it's a concept that will stand the test of time.

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #14 - 01/15/16 at 03:37:59
 
I think the hardest thing about HiFi is that it is so hard to find a great sound not just at an affordable price, but at all.  most areas don't have much to choose from and what they do have is priced to be sold to lottery winners!  I have spent more on HiFi in the last few years than I thought I ever would but am very happy  I have a Music Hall 7.1 tt a ZP3 and ZEN UFO2  and BIB with 6.5 in fostex speakers a frend made.  still a few little tweaks but nothing major  I'm buying records now. Darrell
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #15 - 02/04/16 at 04:32:43
 
Well, after a short delay because of some uncooperative weather and the electrical inspection ..... I will get the key to the front door tomorrow  

The "official" opening date will be on Monday February 8th.

I have just about everything in house to set up shop and the rest should be here very soon.

The signs for the roadside marquee and over the door will be ready in about three weeks.

Here is the rendering sent to me by the sign maker .....



One thing is for certain, sign are not cheap .....

I'm hoping that many of the members of the Decware forum family make a road trip to Caintuck sometime in the near future.

Happy listening,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #16 - 02/04/16 at 13:04:39
 
Congrats Randy!
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #17 - 02/04/16 at 21:26:01
 
Very nice sign and I would bet it's not cheap!
Hope you have more business than you can handle.  :)
Then you can retire all over again.  ;)
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #18 - 02/05/16 at 10:26:27
 
Best of luck to you Randy! Always enjoy your posts and audio insights!
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #19 - 02/05/16 at 15:00:56
 
Good luck Randy!
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #20 - 02/06/16 at 04:40:01
 
Thanks guys .....

I spent most of today moving things into the storefront, as there were some friends who offered their vehicles and strong backs .....

As of 10:00 PM, I was just finishing up ..... long day.

I will be at it again tomorrow and should have just about everything moved into the location.

While I was moving things around today, I set up a basic system and it didn't sound as good as I had expected.  It could be that I'm just spoiled by my heavily treated listening room at home ..... or it could be that I just need to play around with the setup and speaker placement.  After I get everything else moved in tomorrow I will be doing some serious system fine tuning.

There is no reason that I won't be able to get sound as least as good as what I had in the "hotel room" at the Capital Audio Fest.

Oh well ..... no one said that this was going to be easy .....

I will snap a couple of photos tomorrow of the inside and post them when I get home ..... if I can stay awake that long.

Happy listening,

Randy
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #21 - 02/09/16 at 00:15:11
 
Well ..... a couple of hours of trial and error and I have the system sounding pretty good .....

Here is a photo taken from the primary listening seat .....



First day open and the only visitor was my dear sister .....

Honestly, I really can't expect much traffic until the signs are up ..... and my sister is great company.  Another music lover .....

We will see what the future brings, but I am having fun which is the real point of this adventure.

One bit of good news is that I received notices that the two Decware amps I ordered for the storefront are nearing completion.

Happy listening,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #22 - 02/09/16 at 17:11:22
 
Looking good. Are there plans to add a way to protect the speakers from kids or pets?
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #23 - 02/10/16 at 01:58:59
 
Hi jpv,

Yep ..... I will offer metal grills for those who have to have them.
Truthfully though, I would prefer to pass on a sale rather than ruin the sound with the metal grills .....  

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #24 - 02/10/16 at 03:54:15
 
Having worked in two retail audio stores in the early 1990's I can first remind you that dust caps are like black holes for children's fingers.  My sincere advise is a simple self defense mechanism.  Equip the floor models with a hidden motion sensor wired to a squirt gun located behind a small pin hole at the top.  Keep it full.  :)

A less entertaining option would be to connect the speaker wires to a pair of diodes feeding a voltage sensor that triggers a silent alarm. That way when the dust cap is moved even the smallest amount by a finger, a voltage will be created by the voice coil and trigger the alarm.

If you're having issues with sound quality you may have a drop ceiling causing it. My listening room at the old shop originally had that issue and you were there to hear it Smiley  

Keep up posted!  It's a thrill to watch your progress!

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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #25 - 02/12/16 at 14:22:24
 
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the encouragement .....

Yep ..... there is something about a dust cap that draws a child's finger like a magnet .....

As to the sound quality, even though the room has a drop ceiling ..... it is 12 feet high. I think I have most of the problems resolved by the judicious use of some small absorber panels in the middle of the front wall and a couple more on the side walls to catch the "first bounce".

It's amazing how much of a difference a few square feet of room treatment can make .....

I will take a photo today of the "fix" and post it later tonight.

It looks like I'm still a couple of weeks away from having the outdoor signs up ..... so the situation is that no one knows I'm here yet.
I'm ordering a couple of magnetic signs for my car today and visiting a few of the used vinyl shops within 15 miles of my location to see if I can trade some business cards, flyers and "good will" with them.

I will also be placing a couple of ads in the local community shopper advertising rags.  With all of those things and a little word of mouth, I'm hoping to get a few stragglers through the front door in the near future .....  

Looking forward to getting the Decware amps and switchbox within the next few days .....

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #26 - 02/16/16 at 03:03:21
 







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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #27 - 02/16/16 at 10:00:23
 
Maybe I will reveal some serious holes in my knowledge base here... but what is that black thing on the backside?
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #28 - 02/16/16 at 22:03:36
 
Hi Jorgen,

Actually, it's just a box that supports the 5 way binding post on this speaker. This model uses an 8" "full range" driver.

On some other models I make that are two way designs, the box houses the crossover components.

Best wishes,

Randy

PS ..... thanks for the nice photo, Steve.
You are obviously a much better photographer than I am .....
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #29 - 02/26/16 at 04:36:51
 
Saturday was a very good day for me .....

A delivery came and it resulted in the following .....



I now have a nice range of amplifiers to offer to the visitors at the storefront, ranging from 200.00 to 1495.00.

As expected, both Decware amplifiers were packed to withstand a nuclear blast and work perfectly .....

This was the first time I have had an opportunity to have a long listening session with a pair of my speakers powered by Rachael.
Obviously, additional hours will make things even better ..... but it was a real treat.  I know that pairing a 1500.00 amplifier with a 350.00 pair of loudspeakers seems insane, but the proof is in the listening .....

Having a ton of fun,

Randy

PS ..... the Decware switch box also arrived and it works even better than I had expected.  Seriously transparent and it allows me to quickly switch between the three sources on the equipment rack (U-Turn Audio Orbit TT, Onkyo CD player and computer fed AudioQuest DragonFly USB DAC). There is also one more set of inputs to accommodate a future source. Besides being acoustically transparent, it is beautiful and built like a tank.
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #30 - 02/26/16 at 12:35:46
 
Very interested in any other thoughts on the Rachael with your Betsy based OBs.  Also did you have a helper woofer going?

Finally and thoughts on the uturn?  Always thought of picking one of their tables up.  I listen to vinyl infrequently so I don't want to spend a lot. Liked them since their Kickstarter days.
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #31 - 02/26/16 at 14:20:46
 
Good questions .....

The Betsy drivers drop off below 70 or 80 Hz pretty quickly in a small open baffle placed several feet from room boundaries ..... actually it's probably a bit higher than that and I haven't measured them yet in the storefront showroom.

So ..... for anything requiring serious bottom end a plate amp and Augie is pretty much mandatory.  Even so, the tonal balance and extra wattage of the Rachael gives the speakers a bit more "heft" than the lower powered amplifiers.

My showroom is 17' wide, with 12' ceilings and a free standing wall that makes the space about 35' long.  I'm thinking that in a smaller room with the baffles a bit closer to room boundaries there might be enough low end for many folks to get by without any help.

As the saying goes ..... "your mileage may vary" .....

I haven't spent much time with the U-Turn table yet, but spinning the Stockfisch sampler LP is pretty impressive.  It's as quiet as a CD and the Ortofon cartridge that came on the table sounds very nice to my ears. The model that U-Turn provides to resellers has the acrylic platter and the ones I ordered have the cueing device which works very nicely.

I played this LP for a couple of friends who haven't heard much vinyl and their jaws hit the floor pretty hard .....

IMHO, that table and the matching phono pre are a lot of bang for the buck.  I'm sure that the Pluto is not up to the standards of the ZP3, but for under a hundred dollars it is pretty amazing.

Happy listening,

Randy
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Decware SE84UFO amplifier
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #32 - 03/10/16 at 04:40:53
 
have you ever tried to put a set of Betsys in series? The UFO can work with 4 ohms
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Randy in Caintuck
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #33 - 03/13/16 at 23:52:55
 
Hi darrwood,

Several months ago while I was still in "experimental mode", I made some "MTM" baffles using two Betsy drivers with a dome tweeter in the middle. Truthfully, I was not happy with the results and scrapped the idea.

The beauty of the Betsy driver in the lowboy baffle is that it throws a really big, full height sound stage (you can ask Steve about that), disappear amazingly well, are very easy to move when needed and above all are the epitome of simplicity.

I have no plans to change anything at this point.  If my customers want something that makes a "bigger" sound and goes higher and lower in frequency, they can check out my two way models.

Having said that, the main listening room in my storefront is 35' long, 17' wide and has a 12' ceiling.  A pair of the Betsy baffles being driven by the SE84UFO easily fills the room with very satisfying sound and everyone who has heard the system has called me a liar when I tell them that everything they are hearing is coming from those two little baffles, a two watt per channel amplifier and a single Hawthorne Audio Augie driver powered by an inexpensive plate amp crossed over at 80 HZ.

After they go up and put their ear to the drivers to verify, they have to apologize .....

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #34 - 03/13/16 at 23:59:51
 
Thursday was a very good day .....

My outdoor signs were delivered and installed .....





I also ordered some magnetic signs for the sides of my chariot .....





And here is a photo of the secondary listening room for visitors who do not have a 35' x 17' man cave at home .....



Happy listening,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #35 - 03/17/16 at 15:04:29
 
Very nice Randy! Wish I lived closer...I would be there in a heartbeat.

One need not, go down the Rabbit hole as I have done. But, I'm loving it. After my quest for a few more pairs of NOS 6922's....I will just be left with enjoying the Music. (Because I need to stop to avoid debtor's prison).     Undecided   Grin

I want to ask you: remember that outboard REMOTE volume control Dave rigged up to his volume knob of his SE84CS (Zen Select)?

I remember he called it (joking) his hillbilly Rube Goldberg contraption. It was awesome! I'm not to proud to hook up something like it to the knob of my CSP3 Preamp! I think it would be a great conversation piece too....with pride.

Does he still have that volume control on his Select? What was that taken from?  I seriously want to do this/control from my Listening chair/volume SPL..... .
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #36 - 03/18/16 at 15:29:29
 
Hi Stone,

Good to hear from you .....

I don't remember Dave having a remote volume control on his amplifier.
He uses a Camelot Uther DAC that has remote volume in the analog domain.

He did rig up a remote volume control for me from a motorized pot that we took from an old receiver, but I don't know the details.

I haven't seen Dave in a while.  I think he has taken a serious interest in photography which keeps him pretty busy.

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #37 - 03/18/16 at 15:48:18
 
Hi Randy, that must have been it. I remember a posted pic of the motorized you guys did.....if my memory serves me correctly.

I emailed Steve and created a Thread to see what comes of my thought. I could have it done locally....but I'd rather Steve and company do it/created/done from the volume pot board(s) that the new ZTPRE is utilizing. Single or dual!
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #38 - 03/26/16 at 15:42:00
 
I had the pleasure of stopping by Caintuck Audio yesterday.  Randy was a great host.  We talked about speaker designs, drivers, amps, and most importantly listened to some great music:

Melody Gardot: My One and Only Thrill
Branford Marsalis: Trio Jeepy
Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street
Ryan Adams: Live at Carnegie Hall
Stevie Ray Vaughn: The Sky is Crying
Yo-Yo-Ma: Inspired by Bach

The open baffles with the Betsy’s make great music and are a perfect companion for the SuperZen.  Without crossovers, the amp never ran out of steam, even in the big open room.  The speed of the SZ was there in spades and the sound was detailed, coherent and open.  The speakers disappeared and you could hear deep into the soundstage.  

I could have sat there all afternoon and listened.  

Thanks again Randy.


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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #39 - 03/26/16 at 21:45:28
 
Hi Dave,

It was my pleasure having you visit the storefront .....

Many thanks for sharing the excellent music you brought with you.
I now have a few purchases in the near future to add to my collection ...

We had a nice balance of listening and "audio talk" and I hope you return soon and often.

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #40 - 04/14/16 at 01:17:00
 
Randy, how is your store progressing now that it's spring?
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #41 - 04/14/16 at 15:23:52
 
Jealous of your visit Dave.  I'll check out the music.  Randy is my OB OB-wan.
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #42 - 04/18/16 at 21:13:52
 
Hi DB2,

Store traffic is still pretty light.
I'm in the process of doing a little local advertising to see if I can coax the music lovers out of the woodwork .....

I'm hoping that some word of mouth and time at this location will eventually bring some steady traffic.
So far, many of the folks who poke their head in the door are looking for car audio, which I am just not into. If this adventure was about the money, I would convert to car audio and probably be making a killing.

The good news is that my website / internet sales are pretty steady.
In the past couple of weeks I shipped speakers to California and Singapore and will be shipping a pair a flat pack baffles next week.

If you find yourself in Caintuck, please make the storefront one of your stops .....

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #43 - 04/18/16 at 21:15:59
 
Hi Palomino,

Nice Star Wars play .....

Happy listening,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio speakers
Reply #44 - 05/02/16 at 18:53:23
 
We are pleased to announce that Decware will be adding Randy's entry level open baffle speaker to the web site.  So far the page has been completed, and a notice has been sent out to everyone on the customer appreciation list.  Soon, we will have the page linked through the speaker section of the site.  

The reason we have chosen this speaker, is because of the price vs performance.  At $350 a pair, mated with an SE84UFO amplifier, it is possible to have a Decware Zen experience for less than $1500.00!  

This I hope encourages people who are new to Decware or tubes in general to take the plunge.  

Since it is impossible to imagine what the speakers might sound like, I have made a 20 minute demonstration video of the speakers and placed it on the page.  While it took awhile to make, I believe no amount of web page copy would communicate how the speakers can sound and I hope to do the same thing for all of our speakers.

Here is the link to The Betsy Baffle Loudspeaker page:  https://www.decware.com/newsite/Caintuck.html

Steve   Smiley

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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #45 - 05/06/16 at 17:58:06
 
Steve did a great job showing off these speakers.  I've had a pair for a couple of months and can concur that they are a tremendous amount of fun for 350.00.

I've been playing around with them with all sorts of rooms and equipment.  As Steve mentions, with a Zen and the Caintucks, one can put together a high quality system  for minimal cost.
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #46 - 05/09/16 at 21:07:30
 
Wow .....

Thanks to everyone for the positive comments ... and especially to Steve for taking the time to put together the amazing audio / video presentation .....

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of the forum readers to visit my storefront in Alexandria, KY to hear the speakers paired with either the SE84UFO or the Rachael amplifiers.

There are two listening areas, one 35' x 17' and the other 12' x 12'.

By all means, if you already own a pair of speakers and would like to hear how they sound with one of the Decware amplifiers ... you will receive a warm welcome. Bring your favorite music and plan to spend as much time as you would like. There are facilities to spin vinyl, play CDs and computer based audio files as well.

Coffee, tea and bottled water are available for visitors .....

Happy listening,

Randy

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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #47 - 05/15/16 at 16:23:57
 
Hi Randy, I'm interested in a pair of Audio Nirvana Classic 15 ALNICO's.....in your Baffle design. Have you heard these? What is your opinion?

My Room is small, 12 x 13 by 9 high. I just put my Speaker's perpendicular from where they were and took down some Acoustic treatment. My room was way over damped. I stopped reinforcing the transmission line bass (by bringing them out into the room too).....and much more enjoy the additional detail I'm now hearing in the midrange and highs.

However, open baffles, take the room further out of the equation. I see you use a 12 x 12 room as one of your demo rooms. The new Classic looks pretty darn cool in its capabilities. I would like you to put them in your Open Baffles and quote me a finished price with shipping.  Thanks.

Plus, once again, your opinion on these....suggestions and thoughts. I'm okay with them only reaching down to at least 45 Hrtz's.
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #48 - 05/16/16 at 18:03:53
 
Hi Stone,

The only AN Classic speakers I have had in house were the 10"ers.
Here are my thoughts on this .....
I tried the Classic 10s and the 12s with the ferrous magnets in several of my open baffle speakers.
At first, I was very much impressed with both drivers.
The top end is amazingly extended and open and I gushed about the sound on my personal website.

However ..... as with many other things, after extended listening I found the tonal balance to be a bit unnerving. Too much detail on the top end.

Having said that, David Dicks STRONGLY suggests mounting his drivers in his big ported box enclosures.  He says that they will work in an open baffle, but thinks it's not the best option.
Based on what I heard, I would say that the man knows his product well.

It has been my experience that surface area has a great deal to do with the tonal balance of open baffler speakers.  I have heard a pair of 8" Betsy drivers in 4'x 4' baffles that rattled the walls with bass.

The fact that I much prefer smaller baffles (for an assortment of reasons) pretty much rules out the AN drivers in my designs.
If my baffles were larger, they would probably sound much better.

The AN drivers are amazingly detailed and extended on the top end and I can certainly see why they have many fans ..... but I cannot recommend them in my small baffles.

I would presume that the 15" drivers would sound better than the 10" and 12" versions and I might try a pair of them in the future ..... but right now I am up to my rear end building Betsy baffles after Steve generously added them to his website store .....

I hope this helps .....

Best wishes,

Randy
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Re: Caintuck Audio storefront coming soon
Reply #49 - 05/16/16 at 19:12:47
 
Hi Randy, thanks, this definitely helps!

Where I could happily live with what I have created in my Room (especially now, having changed it around and realized I was over-damped), .....I want to try full range driver's again. However, this time in your Open Baffle's. I can see myself rotating them with my Adagio's. If it turns out not to be for my tastes vs. my current single capped Adagio's....so be it.  I think I'm going to enjoy the juxtaposition of the two approaches.

Thanks again and look for an order from me, for your Betsy's! Glad to read you're doing great!    -Stone
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