Let's vote on a non-binding referendum for the next Summer FrankenFest

Given your druthers - where would you like the next New England FrankenFest to be held?


  • Total voters
    48
Basement sounds good to me. With enough advance notice and some signage, I'm sure we could drum up more interest. It'll never be as attractive as browsing and shooting the breeze in the main area but that's fine. As long as we have food and drink down there, there could be a steady trickle of listeners. Come to the dark side, we have chili.

I arrived late but I suppose setting up in the hall must have been a bit of a free-for-all. A basement listening area would require more planning in advance. For example, say there is space/lighting/power to set up four systems, we'd get firm commitments from four "exhibitors," tell them how much floor space they get, and then have one system going at a time and switch to the next one after 15 minutes or so.

And give the exhibitors some visibility for advertising flyers upstairs, like "I have such and such for sale, find me at demo system A in the basement," so they're not shut out of the selling action.

I live close enough that I could show up one night during the week before to help clear and clean. My wife and I have been meaning to check out the Strand theater around the corner, anyway.
 
If I remember correctly, the Walpole location had a nice room when you walked in (used for food/beverages last time), then you walked to the left to see another much larger room, and that that led to another large room in the back. And another smaller room that had those wonderful Dahlquist DQ-10's set up, and there might have been another small room? Plus, no parking problems, and pretty easy to get to. Jus' sayin'.....
 
If I remember correctly, the Walpole location had a nice room when you walked in (used for food/beverages last time), then you walked to the left to see another much larger room, and that that led to another large room in the back. And another smaller room that had those wonderful Dahlquist DQ-10's set up, and there might have been another small room? Plus, no parking problems, and pretty easy to get to. Jus' sayin'.....[/QUOTE

2 rooms with doors: Brian AKA baco99 was demoing his new speakers in the larger room, I was in the 2nd smaller room with the Time Windows.
This was a pretty good space overall, carpeted, lower ceilings except for the large room.
 
It may be a cop out , but these things don't happen so frequently that driving an hour in any direction is a problem for me. Frank has been a great host, The space feels like home because we know it, however it certainly has limitations since there are other tenants and the space availability changes from gathering to gathering.

I liked the workshops of the past, I also liked when listening spaces where available and were rotated where someone would set up , demo their set up for a period of time and then we moved on to someone else's set up. - -The listening spaces had a continuous rotation of gear to experience. That can be accomplished in Walpole with a sign up list - amount of time depends on the number of people who are interested in demo'ing gear that's interesting , unique, DIY or things we've seldom seen or heard before.

I enjoyed Jim's op amp demo, or his RE-CAPPED vs Fresh from the barn A/B comparison. I had fun doing the Speaker re-foaming session. we got 4 or 5 people back up and running with their speakers , so it was worth the time and effort. stuff like that adds value to me given the drive time, in addition to the socializing , and general oogling at gear that folks are selling ( while trying to keep my buying impulses in check).

The lack of space for those types of experiences and interactions changes the event and puts nearly all the emphasis on the "trader/ marketplace" aspect of things. - so some of the diversity of the gatherings in terms of activities has been scaled back quite a bit largely due to space limitations.

Sorting out a Demo schedule might be helpful. where folks would know in advance what system someone is planning to bring and what time they can hear it. Its doesn't have to be precise to the minute but a general idea helps. @SmitterDave brings some interesting things to these events , it would be nice to hear it in a dedicated space for a few minutes , then move on something that @baco99 has created or restored. etc etc and so on.

but back to location. Walpole is fine, Taunton sounds good too. and the distance in one direction or another isn't going to kill me. I've traveled further for far less FUN.
 
If I remember correctly, the Walpole location had a nice room when you walked in (used for food/beverages last time), then you walked to the left to see another much larger room, and that that led to another large room in the back. And another smaller room that had those wonderful Dahlquist DQ-10's set up, and there might have been another small room? Plus, no parking problems, and pretty easy to get to. Jus' sayin'.....


Just note, the Walpole building is actively being leased. We happened to catch that first floor space in transition where a tenant expanded and relocated within the building literally a few weeks before our event. Otherwise it would have been stuffed with cubicles. I can't guarantee it will be available come June.

Taunton, however, will likely be available for a very long time...... :(
 
Just note, the Walpole building is actively being leased. We happened to catch that first floor space in transition where a tenant expanded and relocated within the building literally a few weeks before our event. Otherwise it would have been stuffed with cubicles. I can't guarantee it will be available come June.

Taunton, however, will likely be available for a very long time...... :(

And with that said. I just cast my vote for Taunton which is the direction i was leaning in anyway. :) open availability is a good thing.. whats the parking and loading situation look like?
 
Glad for Brian and Company that Walpole is leased - people are free to change their votes.
 
FYI - I talked to Frank today and we're on for June 24th in Clinton.
While there is some legitimate concerns regarding the over crowding at our recent winter event this shouldn't be a concern for the spring/summer event since the turnout is always lower.

If, as i suspect, the other rooms aren't available for setting up systems we can set up in the basement area - which is a large common area and won't be rented out.
Also, we may be able to use the upstairs hallways as we usually do.
 
Walpole was nice, but NO GRILLING allowed on the premises. That has been a part of my experience since 2009 and hate to give it up. Nothing better than some grilled food and a couple barley sodas whilst talking with some fine people. It's nice having the workshop one mile from my house but I am open to whatever the majority feels will work best.
 
New member here. What is the address for this Frankenfest or will this be posted at a later date?

Sounds like a great time!
 
New member here. What is the address for this Frankenfest or will this be posted at a later date?

Sounds like a great time!
It's usually in Clinton, MA. For a number of reasons, we used another site two gatherings back, and because the gathering has grown, it's getting tight with less space available.
The final decision will me posted closer to the gathering date.
I can say it's always a great time regardless where it is, but Clinton is like going home because of Frank's generosity.
 
my issue is and has been the day not the location. I am a John Deere retail sales guy and Saturdays are generally not do-able for anything but work.

I love Frank's place and it is less than an hour drive for me but would not mind travelling further if need be.
 
The consignment shop across the street from Frank's had two pairs of Klipsch Heresy's, and a pair of B&D Beovox S-45's, which I bought. The Heresy's are gorgeous, but still out of my price range. They also had a Luxman receiver, and some other nice vintage audio pieces, at fantastic prices. I spoke with Frank on the phone, and he is great. I never heard of the event until the consignment shop told me about it.
 
The consignment shop across the street from Frank's had two pairs of Klipsch Heresy's, and a pair of B&D Beovox S-45's, which I bought. The Heresy's are gorgeous, but still out of my price range. They also had a Luxman receiver, and some other nice vintage audio pieces, at fantastic prices. I spoke with Frank on the phone, and he is great. I never heard of the event until the consignment shop told me about it.
I stopped in there last gathering, and there were a couple sets of speakers and some receivers, a smaller Nakamachi among them. I thought the speaker prices was a bit high for what they were, though I thing they were recently brought in, no price reductions made on them at the time like some of the receivers.
 
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