Squidward's AK 'Fest 06 pics

Squidward

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I've been wanting to post some of the pics that I took at AK this year, but since the 'Fest I've been slammed with work commitments and family responsibilities. Despite having about a million other things that I should be doing, I will post some here, now.

This first batch is the room that I shared with PakProtector. We sort of had a concept to the room, it was to show how tubes could be accessible on a budget, with speaker choices that are commonly available. I brought a stock Foreplay 3 line stage from bottlehead.com, and a ST-35 clone built from a PCB purchased from diytube.com. PakProtector brought two neat DIY linestages, and a stunning amp of his own design. I represented what could be done with current kit builds, PP showd what was available to the advanced hobbyist. Neither of our systems were overly expensive, yet we received a few compliments on the quality of the sound.

Both of our amplifiers hovered around a dozen or so push-pull tube watts. We wanted to show how that translated to real world speaker loads, so we chose some speakers that are currently available to the average audio hobbyist. We ran Pioneer HPM-60s, Polk monitor 10s, and Klipsch Heresies for speakers. I was impressed most by the Polks, but all three sounded good.

The "guts" shot is PP's amp. It weighs a ton! But it's worth it...
 

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This is my buddy Kegger! The first day of the 'Fest he was running some ADS with tubes, and man, did it sound good. The day these pics were taken he was running the full range drivers in the center of the cabinets with all other drivers disabled. He was kind enough to spin some Dire Straits for us, and man, the midrange was perfect. A beautiful setup that hinted at the magic that full range drivers can have!
 

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This character is none other than AK's Andyman! He's a fun, gregarious guy, and he's going for the coveted mad-scientist award with his homebrew record cleaning machine! Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you, this thing has as much torque as a diesel engine. The suction part is very powerful, but that ice cream motor just keeps right on going! Good work Andy!
 

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Also in the running for the coveted mad-scientist award is Blue Circle audio. This guy (Gilbert) really knows how to make a great FrankenStereo! Mated with Grumpy's speakers in the photo, the integrated amp pictured sounded wonderful. The real show stopper was the pre-amp with about a hundred capacitors in it, many more than some power amps.

Me: "Is this a power amp?"

Gilbert: "No, it's a pre-amp."

Me: (pause) "Um...why does a pre-amp have so many capacitors in it?"

Gilbert: "We plug it in to the wall for two hours to charge it up. Then we unplug it and it runs for 36 hours."

WOW! :banana: :banana: :banana:
 

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This gentleman is AK's Ski! He brought some real nice speakers, and his system sounded great! Here he is with some home made Altecs, and DQ-10s.
 

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Here are some pics of some of the manufacturer's rooms. Tetra made some interesting speakers.

David Michael Audio brought some very impressive stuff. Those Harbeth speakers sounded good!
 

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Brian from Venus Hi-Fi was a class act. A very nice man to talk to and deal with. When I get a chance, I'm heading up to East Lansing to go shopping! His gear sounded very nice.

The Zu room was interesting, to say the least. I would like to hear them with different electronics upstream, there was something in the tone that I didn't find to my liking. Many people found this to be an excellent setup, maybe it was just me? :scratch2:
 

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This is my friend Rick, AK's Tubino. A very helpful guy, who has a killer system. His Tannoys sound excellent, as does his deHavilland tube gear. He had some beautiful amps on display, and some interesting home-brew speaker wire.
 

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Thanks for the pics Squidward. Its great to see some of the systems members put together for the fest but also some of the members themselves.

RC
 
Thanks for posting the pics, they were excellent, is it my imagination or did I see these same faces in the FBI wanted posters at the post office?? :scratch2:
 
dgwojo said:
Thanks for posting the pics, they were excellent, is it my imagination or did I see these same faces in the FBI wanted posters at the post office?? :scratch2:

ummmm...Yes. Two thigs kept me from calling...first, the rewards were puny, and second, one ov the sketches resembled me.

We missed you David, maybe next year we can make you Free?
cheers,
Douglas
 
PakProtector said:
ummmm...Yes. Two thigs kept me from calling...first, the rewards were puny, and second, one ov the sketches resembled me.

We missed you David, maybe next year we can make you Free?
cheers,
Douglas
Doug, it killed me to not be there, but in the long term it's better to keep the peace at home, you know, the Grand Traverse Resort was great too!! Yes, the rewards for that most wanted list were miniscule!! Andyman mentioned milk cartons for missing people, no age progression was neccessary!! LOL!! We're all getting older, Dave. :yes:
 
Polk 10s

Thanks for the Polk 10's Ed! :banana: Maybe I should bring 'em back next year?? :scratch2: You had a great set up between the two of you...I expect to see more of the same next time but I think we need some AR's in that room!
 
ARguy said:
Thanks for the Polk 10's Ed! :banana: Maybe I should bring 'em back next year?? :scratch2: You had a great set up between the two of you...I expect to see more of the same next time but I think we need some AR's in that room!

Stacked A-R no less....:) Some neat DIY speakers perhaps?

I got the shock of my life from some special Viogt pipes at Oswald's Mill this past weekend. Truly a jaw dropping experience. Super-cheap RS 5.5" whizzer cone speakers, 2 per.

Anyway, there will be plenty of neat stuff I can assure you. Probably even have some of my wife's DIY as well, and her along with it...:)
cheers,
Douglas
 
Great pics Ed and Douglas. You're room was always rocking! :banana: Really gets you thinking with the "budget" mindset as to what can be accomplished.
I think Ed needs to get cracking on grand illusion idea. :thmbsp:
 
Strawman said:
Great pics Ed and Douglas. You're room was always rocking! :banana: Really gets you thinking with the "budget" mindset as to what can be accomplished.
I think Ed needs to get cracking on grand illusion idea. :thmbsp:

Thanks for the compliment. The room would not have been anything near the success it was without Ed's efforts.

On the budget front, it is not just low budget. It is about making your own efforts, and making decisions which best stretch the dollar. Most of my stuff was salvaged from old gear on its way to the trash. What was left is cistom stuff of my own design. Take the output Iron for an example. The E-Linear circuit needs specially placed taps on the plate winding. I found a good vintage output, the Peerless S-265-Q, and had it taken apart. It turned out to be an ideal design to modify. It is also quite inexpensive to reproduce, at less than $100 each( it is actually the most expensive single piece on that amp ). There is other custom stuff of my own design, all available to anybody who asks Heyboer to wind one.

We had hoped to inspire some folks to engage in the DIY craft by example. I hope it catches on. There is a whole new level of performance available.
cheers,
Douglas
 
He ED Buddy thanks for the Pic's! Wish we could of got some from day one. You take
some really good photos. Way better than I can have mine ever come out.

The fest was great for many reasons, and I stil plan on doing a run down of my time at
this years fest and everything that had happened. Your room sounded awsome. I really
liked the sound of Douglas's amp on the Rat shack horns to.

Stay COOL BRO!
 
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