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Speaker Party in Detroit!!! HPM-1500s!!

Bauhausler

Bauhausler

Rational Subjectivist
All;
This is an open invitation to AK-ers to visit The Bauhaus for a speaker listening session on Weds, 3/24. The occasion is the reassembly of the Pioneer HPM-1500s. I;ll be picking up the repaired woofers from the great guys at The Circuit Shop in Grand Rapids on Tuesday. So many people asked to hear them when they were done that I decided to have an open house. These probably won't be around past mid April, as they are slated for eBay.
Other speakers tha twill be here for audition:
Harbeth HL7es, repaired at last
Lowther DX3s with Klipschorn bass bins
Realistic electrostats from the pawnshop
JBL L-65 Jubals as seen at AKFest
Some Kinda Cerwin Vega DX3 thing i rebuilt.
Those funny looking 9 X 13 coax EMI Benjamin speakers we were arguing about
My ultra-tweaked Spicas and their subwoofers may be here if Grumpy gets mad enough at them by then (no rush, Grump)
Member LVB might be persuaded to bring his Marantz 770s or other goodies.
Maybe other members' gear if they choose to participate.
Various stuff of mine of lesser pedigree.

I'm thinking evening, after-work-like, but I'll be available all day for people to drop by. There will be food and libations.
PM me if you're interested.
Cheers!
 
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Man, What an opportunity!

Too bad I can't be there.

Greg
 
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I am planning on making party...should be interesting...never heard HPM anything before so I'm looking forward to hearing those big mutha's.

Jon:)
 
Originally posted by DanTana
That looks like an "E" ticket ride to me, what time does it take off? :)
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The fuse is lit! I just got home (5 hour round trip drive) with the woofers and of course immediately installed them. Right now I'm driving the speakers with my Mccormack DNA 1 amp driven directly from the variable outputs of a Sony XA20ES CD player. The sound is extremely dynamic. Super punchy and lots of jump factor. It sounds like they could play a lot louder without strain, but if I turn it iup any more things will start to vibrate off my desk. I'm playing a great CD by Josh Molina in his persona as Songs:Ohia, a confusing band name. The CD is Magnolia Electric company. The song John Henry Split My Heart just raises the hair on the back of my neck every time, and these speakers have the immediacy and liveness to really bring it across.
I also installed repaired woofers in my Harbeth Compact 7ES speakers. These are a midsize British stand mounted 2-way a few years old. They are highly acclaimed by critics and cost about $3K new. The sound is very satsfying, but totally different from the HPMs. Which one would I want to live with? Don't make me answer that please!
See y'all tomorrow, and bring some favorite CDs.
 
Unfortunately I am living in the house of sick. The wife, daughter and I all have pretty bad colds. Sorry to miss it.
 
Originally posted by botrytis
It is a little too far for me, otherwise I would make it. Besides, my mother is visiting (her last night here) so I need to make sure she had a good time and keep her busy (watching DVD's and the like).

Bau - next time have it on a weekend, will ya?

Dave
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Sorry you and Ski couldn't make it. Next time I'll shoot for a weekend date. This was spur of the moment. See the attached pic for what I have to contend with putting away this morning. Any stack of speakers that obscures the Klipschorn behind it is a BIG stack.
 
I am curious about the comments y'all might have concerning the various speaker systems.
Dang, but the woofer in the HPM looks huge.
 
Bauhausler, my gosh man! You've got a beautiful assortment of speakers!

Are you going to have both channels on the ChipAmp done in time?


wish I could have made it...have a great time!
 
Thanks to the Bauhausler for a very fine evening of music!

I made a comment that he should have had a camera to catch the expressions on us when we entered his listening area; if those speakers impressed you, you should see the electronics!

Basically, I was overwhelmed by such a fine and diverse array of equipment. Everything sounded wonderful, but the coup de' grace was when the Lowthers and the Klipsch bass bins were turned on! Great sound instantly became something very special. It's hard to imagine that something could get so much better, but the soundstage, imaging, depth, you name it, all was spot on. Writing isn't my strong point, but I'm darned glad I was there to hear those speakers! :grnbounce :ntwrthy: :yippy:

Thanks again to Bauhausler for hosting the get together, and to Grumpy and Jon Tee for being there. Hopefully, summer will bring more of these little get togethers.
 
Originally posted by bully
I am curious about the comments y'all might have concerning the various speaker systems.
Dang, but the woofer in the HPM looks huge.
Click to expand...

The HPM-1500 has a 16" woofer. That's sixteen, not fifteen. I think there was definitely an aspect of one-up-manship going on there. Grumpy really liked the tone of the bass from them. OTOH, he's been listening to my virtually bassless Spicas for a few days so anything will sound better balanced than that.
The DHT 45/ Lowther/Klipsch system had not been run in over 2 weeks. It typically takes some running to wake up and sound good, but when we played them 'cold' the magic was still there. There's something about a small direct heated triode driving a light, sensitive speaker cone that just gets the job done for me. It's fussy, problematic, unforgiving and shockingly expensive to do, but so worth it to me when the music sounds just right.
Earlier in the day AK member LVB and I gave the HPMs The Loud And Stupid Test. This consists of a techno track called Ready Steady Go by Paul Oakenfold played at hair-parting levels to test the dynamics. This track is the theme music for the great chase scene in the movie The Bourne Identity and is incomparable in its ability to pump up the adrenaline. Attendees of the recent AKfest will remember hearing my JBL L65s doing this test with LVB's Pioneer SX-1250.
The HPMs took most of what my Mccormack DNA1 amp would put out and still sounded effortless and free of strain. There's not many speakers you can say that about. They do have their limits apparently. When they came to me one of the crossovers was charred and melted down by having been set on fire by an overload.
You know, along the lines of simpler is better, I've been thinking. There's a Chinese company that makes a close copy of these Lowther drivers for about 1/8 the money. Its parameters are optimized for a ported or TL alignment rather than a horn like the Lowther is. Moth Audio uses them in a really attractive floorstanding single driver speaker that retails for under $700 a pair. The midrange tone of these used with a clean watt or two will put your jaw on the floor and keep it there. I wonder what a driver like that would do in a drainpipe TL 'cabinet' like Ski uses for his single driver system. The natural amp to try them with is a Gainclone of course. It could be a match made in heaven. When I put the other channel on my Gainclone I'll have to haul it in to our local Moth dealer Almas Hi Fi and give this a try.
So many projects, so little time.
Thanks to all who participated and commented. We'll have to do this again some time soon.
maybe we can get TRILLN451, Mrs Baihausler to come down and participate.
Cheers
 
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