NE Spring Speaker Shootout GTG - Date Poll and Discussion - Page 10

Bringing them is fine, if it is anything like the last event we will have time to listen to misc. things here and there. (Especially if you stay to the end of the event, then you can pretty much listen to whatever until Andrew or his Wife kicks us out )

For the listening test media I would like to have it be as simple as press play. No disc changes or device/source swaps. Last time we finished up late and only just got through the standard assessments. Any added time would be multiplied by the number of systems..... minutes add up quick

Lets say March 23rd for content suggestions and submitting. I don't know my work schedule this far ahead and would need some weekends to schedule around. We can do last minute pruning of content the night before / morning of.

FLAC files tend to be semi-large. So to submit them please host it somewhere on the web and either PM me a link or post on this thread. I will confirm with you when I have successfully retrieved them.

It would be good to have everyone attending to have listened to the material a couple times before hand. That way you are familiar with the content and how it sounds on your home system and setup.

If anyone needs software to rip CD's into FLAC, I suggest winamp. (Just be careful when installing this, it is bundled with ad's and junk usually) It can also play them back.

I'm not going to make this event, but here's one thought I had from the Sub GTG.

Rush's set up is awesome, He's got the really high end software and made the day go a million times smoother and the graphs were super kewl/helpful too, especially when it's your sub up, remote in hand, and squadoosh approaching

Another piece of information which I think would have been helpful would be some of the info Jonathan had up on his screen I believe with the omnicmic set up. Perhaps the ear more trained then mine was able to pick this out without that display when it occurred, but he was very easily able to identify when we were turning it up when the sub stopped getting louder and the additional increase was from the mains only. When compression started on the sub. If there's a way to get that up there too I think that would be informative too.

Just a thought.

You fellas are going to have a blast.

If I have the content by the 23rd I can get it edited by the event.

First come first served, with a few reservations.... if clips have similar qualities or demonstrate similar frequencies, one might be chosen over the other (if we have too many).
We could also just take suggestions from everyone, we have what, 25 attendees? so 25-50 clips, then vote for which you want to hear after listening to them all? I could do that too.
I say just let the suggestions come in and based on response we can decide what we have to do.


As a side note, I need to know what video clips we want to see sooner than music. I have the demo disc Archaea burned for me for the last event. It has a lot of demo video clips, though most focus on bass. I don't have a good feel for movie scenes that demonstrate mid-high range. Perhaps I will go look at the demo discs floating around. Editing the video down to just the part we care about is more difficult than audio splicing, but all it takes is time. I know how to do it and have the tools.



I guess what I am saying is, I haven't heard suggestions yet, other than 1 song or so.

Brian, the owner of Rythmik just recommended
"Chesky test CD2 is the one focused on image mapping"
When I enquired about imaging tests. The title is "Chesky Jazz & Tests Volume 2" I don't think the imaging tests are going to be very fun but maybe elect 1-2 folks to run them for 3-5 minutes at the beginning or ending of each demo from the MLP. It's available for ordering or digital download at http://www.chesky.com/various-artists--chesky-jazz-amp-tests-volume-2.html

Should have some quality jazz on it too if you all are looking to listen to different genres as well.

Made me think of you fellas. Would be cool if you all could do something to measure dynamics as well.


Drinking beer and listening to your favourites is always a good time too though.

I'm from the school of listen to what you know. I can tell more from listening to a song I know very well than from the best demo jazz or classical piece of music that I've never heard before.

Ok, I will bring em and if they get used great, and if not no big wow. I'm also building a DVD with the toughest hitting bass tracks I own so will bring a copy of that too.

You won't have harder hitting tracks than the last meet..... just saying....

I think we can top a few of those previous tracks. Some of Mark's (Dub King) music is nothing short of brutal, and has caused problems with every sub I've tried them on so far. I think he's working on a true subwoofer test track as well, which is a frightening thought. But I'll be the first to download it.

Some of them yes, actually I will give you most of them. But certain ones, including that sweep, are nasty.

Yea I have listened to a few of Dub King's tracks. I keep my finger on the volume down button just in case of the killer note..... which for my sub is at 12-16hz

The Jazz suggestion was a side note. The primary suggestion was... This is a speaker GTG are you going to test imagining? And if so here's one way to do so.

I miss you guys, may pitch a tent on Rilla's front lawn for this.

I'd go for the back yard instead - it was a lot bigger.

The mud wrestling is also back there

Yes the mud wrangling with the slicked subwoofer is also back there. Popalock knows all about what fun that is.....

F* your hill Rilla...

I'm sure it will see many more victims over the many GTG's to come.

Dont feel bad I fell down that hill at the Oct G2G as well carrying a cooler of beer.

i saved the beer & got covered in mud

I thought the hill was easy, Till I had 8 beers and 10 fireball shots, Then I ate shwit on it like pop's sub.

Jim, I thoroughly approve of the new avatar.

Every once in a while I'll come across a funny/interesting picture, so I'll save it to be used as an avatar someday. I figured it was about time for something new so I opted for that one. Not even sure where I got it, but he's a Jamaican they were calling "hippo man". What a surprise, eh? After seeing it as an avatar though I thought it might be a bit much, and was going to switch it for a different one, but you're the 3rd person who's made a comment since I changed it -- which was just last night -- so maybe I'll leave it after all.

Yeah I've seen that pic before. Definitely a keeper. I highly recommend holding on to it for a bit. DoIt, for me

I just ordered some new audio equipment. I know its not speakers, and that its schiit equipment, but let me know if anyone is interested in utilizing the bifrost to experience asgard....

AKG Reference Headphones Q701 Quincy Jones
Schiit Bifrost DAC
Schiit Asgard Amp (possibly receiving the unreleased version 2)

Please remind me to get back to this

Lots of updates since I last posted. It's great that Jeff is bringing some S2s and SVS is sending some Ultra speakers. I hope more companies directly participate in GTGs like this in the future. It's great for them and even better for us. The variety and quality of what will be able to audition is nothing short of amazing. This is going to be one fun weekend.

For the music and movie selection, it might be a good idea to contact the different companies that will have products being auditioned to see if they have any preferred material to highlight specific attributes of their speakers. We could also use some of the same clips that have been used at past GTGs, especially any that those participants found to show differences between the speakers.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1324185/se-wi-tower-speaker-gtg#post_20203579
http://www.avsforum.com/t/871474/ia-meet/3480#post_22791894

For listening levels, I think it would be interesting to use different levels during each audition. In other words, for each speaker have some content played at -20, some played at -10 and finish at reference. Or we could pick 1 or 2 clips and play them twice, below and at reference. Some speakers might excel at lower levels, but sound strained at higher levels, so this would allow each to be played well within its limits, but also allow us to test its dynamics and ability to play at higher levels.

Has the setup procedure been decided yet? My suggestion would be to do a minimum Audyssey run to set initial distances and levels. Then measure to verify the levels, FR and blend at the crossover. If there are any drastic FR anomalies, we could possibly address them with EQ. Not sure if we should use the same crossover for all setups or try to choose the best one for each. At a minimum we should capture the FR of each speaker, possibly the FR from different places in the room, we could try to grab a peak SPL for some of the clips and I could try to do some speclab captures again, hopefully with better results this time.

Just a reminder for anyone that wants earplugs, these have already been recommended.
http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-ETY-Plugs-Protection-Earplugs/dp/B0044DEESS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1360177450&sr=8-4&keywords=ear+plugs

Let's not forget food and drink. If there isn't going to be enough food being brought, instead of pizza, are there any BBQ places or delis nearby that cater or do take out? I am willing to chip in. And I am going to have to make some careful selections if I am going to retain the title of "Beer King." If we do get together on Friday night, I might have to bring something extra special.

-Mike