Kansas City speaker g2g and barbecue in the park - November 2012. - Page 2

We have another KC enthusiast who has pm'ed me that he'd like to attend, especially to hear the JTR Neosis speakers. His forum handle is Kcboom. I've updated the first post again.

God smiled on us for the weather. 61* and sunny for tomorrow! Doesn't get much better for mid November!

Jedimastergrant needed back out. So one more down. I'll update the first post.

Randy and I will get to shelter #7 at about 9:30 AM to setup is the plan.


By the way - the bathrooms in KCMO parks get closed down for winter at the end of October. This is basically a woodsy area so you can do what you feel comfortable within the privacy of the woods --- or just drive to the nearest facility if you have to use the restroom. But figured that is worth mentioning.

Just completed a really enjoyable day. Getting ready to unload the gear. Thanks to everybody who came Thanks to Jeff for sending the Neosis speakers to audition. I enjoyed getting to hear everything, and reconnect with some old friends and a make a new friend! I'll post up some impressions later. Each speaker auditioned was great, but the JTR Neosis ruled the day. If you can front the ticket price the ride is definitely worthwhile!

For anyone who liked this track - Carp, KCBoost, Stitch1 - The name of that drummer track was "Boxenkiller" by Cyrill Lutzelschwab and Martin Hess

Well we had a great time. It was a casual affair with good speakers and good people! We listed to quite a variety of music, everything from metal to bluegrass, acapella to techno. Pretty much anything was fair game to audition.

There ended up only being three speakers sets in attendance because I couldn't fit the Wharfedale speakers in the Ranger truck I borrowed with the Captivators, Neosis speakers, and all the electronic gear. I had the cab and bed completely loaded!!!

I hooked up a PS3 for the source along with my laptop for flac and mp3 playback, and 24" sony LCD TV for display. My Onkyo TX-NR1007 was used as the receiver. Randy's Yamaha P3500S amp was used to push the mains, and my Inuke DSP 3000 amp was used to push the Captivators. The shelter house was obviously a bit reflective as you can see in the video based on the concrete floor and stone walls, but all in all it was an enjoyable place to listen to the speakers. The day was nice, weather cooperated, no cops were called and we encountered no trouble at all. It went about as smoothly as could possibly be hoped!

We started and ended the day listening to the Neosis. They are a fantastic speaker. Limitless headroom, super clear airy sound. Unveiled audio at its finest. I really think of all the meets I've participated in and all the speakers I've ever heard these speakers are in the top three, and I don't even know which of my top three I'd most prefer because I've not got to audition them all side by side. Suffice to say, I loved these things! The sound is so clear it sounds as if you are just right there in the midst of the actual artists. They'll take as much volume as you can stand and just stay crystal clear as you turn em up! They are as comfortable at 115dB + as they are at 85dB. By the end of the day we'd knocked all kinds of junk loose off the ceiling which landed on top of my electronics....So even outside in a stone and concrete shelter house you can "bring down the house" with JTR products. These things are as pleasant for the discerning audiophile as they are for next frat house party. I'm planning on heading to carp's house tomorrow night for another audition. In my own room these are the best sounding speakers I've ever had the pleasure to listen to. They didn't sound harsh in the least --- even in my untreated room with a tile floor. They gave me chills on classical music and rocked the house on Jack Johnson. I cannot relay just how transparent these speakers are. Make an effort to audition them for yourself against your own speakers and you'll quickly discover that these are a cut above! They don't sound like speakers. Never boxy, Never small, Always HUGE and transparent sound. We crossed the JTR over at 80hz for this gig.

We listened to the Procella P8 speakers next. I've heard these speakers on a couple occasions now and I think they do really well for dialogue and clarity. They sounded great when we kept the volumes reasonable, but obviously weren't much of a comparison against the JTR when we turned the volume up. They are made to be mounted against a wall Randy said and we had them just out in the open so we upped the crossover to 150hz. They sounded great on some songs and overtaxed on others. They sound awesome in Randy's room. Movie dialogue on his P8's in his treated room is among - if not the best I've ever heard.

We ended listening to the Elemental Designs Cinema 12 speakers. These were basically more like the JTR, but just a class down, if I can keep from mincing words. They had more output capability than the P8 speakers auditioned before but when we switched back to the JTR at the end of the day everyone knew instantly which speaker was superior. Carp is in love with the Neosis and trying to determine if he can/should buy a set. I believe all of us left pretty impressed. The Cinema12's are a great speaker too, especially for those of us more budget restricted, but everything was just a bit less impressive on the Cinema 12 as compared to the JTR. The tweeter seemed to be the weakest link on the ED. Perhaps on upgrade on that component would go a long way. Funny thing is we level matched the ED on the left side to the a Neosis on the right side at one point and then stood back 15 foot and listened in the sweet spot. The ED mostly seemed to be a bit louder, and as you approached the speakers to listen at a closer distance you realized that volume was a bit of distortion when compared to the JTR speaker. If you put your ear right by the ED you'd hear a bit of distortion. If you put your ear right by the JTR you wouldn't. If you liked a guitar lick on the ED, you'd like it a bit better on the JTR. Just they way it was. Given the price difference that's to be expected. Personally I wouldn't have any problem owning the ED speakers, even knowing the JTR are clearly superior in every way. The ED speakers sound great in carps room and I've heard them on numerous occasions in that setting. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of! We crossed the ED over at 100hz.

Meeting each of the guys again was fun. Thanks for coming everyone and bringing food and drink. We had more than enough of each! It was definitely a good time and perhaps we can plan another event like this next spring or fall.

Here's a couple minutes of video of the event.

Edited by Archaea - 11/19/12 at 8:28pm