My first AKFEST - I had a great time.

Didn't win a damn thing - no surprise - that is why I don't play the lottery. I just don't have the right "karma" but that was not the reason I went.

My real reasons were to meet the luminaries that I have been exchange emails with over the forum, and to hear the systems that I read about. I did not go to listen to products from the many manufacturers. Most of all, I wanted to check out the results from the DIYers and modifiers. On the other hand, I did find new systems that I liked very much.

Harbeth SHL5 30 year anniv with a Luxman integrated - I would have used a tube integrated but even with the Luxman, the midrange clarity and detail were superb. This is coming from a guy that used to own SHL5s David was nice enough to give me a copy of the demo disk. Thanks man.

DeVore 3s sounded big and warm. Very impressive. The Silver 8s were also very nice but I prefer the 3s in the demo room. I would have liked to hear the Gibbon 9s. The difference between the 3 and the 8 surprised me a bit. I expected more of a family resemblence.

2.5" full range speakers in the Acoustic Technology room was interesting - just not my cup of tea.

The CLASSIC reproduction horn hybrids with the ATMASPHERE electronics were to me, one of the very best sounds in the show. It should for the $$. The system was in a room that is bigger than my home. Wished I had the space.

My impressions on the DIY/refurb/vintage stuff shown in the AKMEMBER rooms in no particular order. The fun factors were awsome. No BS audiophile tweaks. Just old fashion circuit design and implementation. I was very impress by the quality of the work and the sound. My personal thanks for the gracious AK members that hosted the rooms for their patience and hospitality.

My most memorable system: Cosmos JBL Four 15" woofers and Econowave playing In-a-gadda-da-vida at ROCKING levels..... The LPs I picked up from Cosmo sounded great too!

As advertised: Zilch's ECONOWAVE on Whell's ATM1A bottoms, Cosmos' 4 (count them) 15" JBL woofers and Kegger's HPM100s. All have their strengths. Not a hint of the horn "shouted" in all three systems. I like Kegger's implementation the best. The Econowave mounted in a bose like cabiney was a nice touch. The sound was warm, very well balance and the bass was excellent. Nice job guys! I am going to try the Selenium drivers on the ALTEC 811B horns now...

My personal favorite: DWOJO's ALTEC 604Gs with the Mantaray biamp using ELite 80 tube amps and BBE DS26 active crossover. Staggering impact playing Eric Clapton's LAYLA. The room I revisited the most often. Big, dynamic and slightly warm sound. I had expected these to sound a little like the Tannoy Churchills - that was not the case. Dave is a real ALTEC enthusiast and a find gentleman.

I gotta have it system: NOS VAC's LaScala Bass bottoms with TRACHORNS and Beyma CP25. This system, IMHO sounded nearly as good as the CLASSIC REPRODUCTION horns at a fraction of the cost. No horn artefacts whatsoever. Craig thinks it sounds better than the CLASSIC AUDIO REPRODUCTION horns on the first floor. I ain't arguing with the big guy.

BIG SURPRISE 1: I met ECHOWARs in the ARMY room. The man responsible for getting me to keep my Kenwood 700C. For whatever reason, the Pioneer SX1250 and Pioneer speakers sounded anemic in this room. I did however listened to a pair of ECHOWARs modifed Pioneed SPEC1 and SPEC2 pre.power amps driving THIEL 3.6s in the RETRO STEREO room that sounded fantastic. I am still salivating. It was an honor to have finally meet the man.

BIG SURPRISE 2: Squidward's Modified Klipsch Cornwalls with Crites tweeters, woofers and ALK crossovers. Deep deep bass out of this system when in corners. I have never heard bass from Cornwalls that sounded like this.The ALK crossovers actually made the speakers sound "laid-back". I never though I would use the word "laidback" to characterize Klipsch speakers but here it is... I own original Cornwall 1s so I know the Klipsch sound. I love his NAKAMICHI Dragon turntable. A very pleasant room to be in. I kept coming back to this room too.

BIG SURPRISE 3: The QUAD 2905s were a lot bigger than I imagine in the pure Audio room. Wished I had the money to buy the demo 988s. I always wanted some stats.

Best sounding tube amp, a toss up between the vintage (and rebuilt) McIntosh tube amp in the Classic Audio room and Dennis's DIY 6SN7/300B on a flower rack. The MAC had help with really expensive McIntosh speakers and music server. I am going to give the knod to Dennis's 300Bs driving everyman's speakers. It just sounds so warm and real...with only 3 watts!

Best looking DIY system: MarkusIII ribbon-TLINE, subs and rebuilt citation with proton amp sounded very clean too. This system has a lot promised.

Lowest WAF room: toss up between Cosmos JBLs/Logans and the sewer pipe speakers' in the DIY room. Come to think of it, the TRACHORNS atop the LaScala bass bottom in NOS VAC's room was pretty ugly too. Its about the sound.

All in all I had a great time. Its definitely a 2 day show. I picked up some good LPs and CDs. Met a group of great guys..... sign me up for AKFEST 2010for sure. Maybe more people from Illinois next time - other than myself and ekmanning.

I will post some pictures later.

kwingylee

Great Post, Kwingylee! Glad you had a memorable time.

Lee I had a great time with you! But you gotta quit telling people IT'S ALL MY FAULT! :D

Sounds like you had a great time and I look forward to your photos. I was seriously thinking about making the trip this year but obviously didn't make it. Hopefully next year.

Cool report. Thanks!

...Maybe more people from Illinois next time - other than myself and ekmanning...

kwingylee

Excuse me?!?!?!

Actually, there were several of us from Illinois. Maybe we should start putting our home town on our nametags.:thmbsp:

Glad you had a great time!

The plastic tube speakers are called the 'Powerflush' - they sound great nearfield.

You are more outgoing than I. I walked in, sat down, listened, mumbled things occassionally and walked out while saying thanks. I don't know anything about gear so was a little afraid to talk to the people that know stuff. I still had a great time. The member rooms were definitely the highlight. The vendor rooms were nice for me to get a chance to listen to the gear I will never be able to afford. Next year I will talk to some people...........

I would be smiling too if this was my system.

As advertised: Zilch's ECONOWAVE on Whell's ATM1A bottoms, Cosmos' 4 (count them) 15" JBL woofers and Kegger's HPM100s. All have their strengths. Not a hint of the horn "shouted" in all three systems. I like Kegger's implementation the best. The Econowave mounted in a bose like cabiney was a nice touch. The sound was warm, very well balance and the bass was excellent. Nice job guys! I am going to try the Selenium drivers on the ALTEC 811B horns now...

Sounds like you had a great time!!

We're pretty spoiled here in SE MI as probably 3/4s of the stuff you mentioned belongs to SMAC members. It's really a great place to be an audio guy :yes:

One note though on the Seleniums on the 811Bs and that is that the Econowave magic is a 3, maybe 4 pronged sword; CD lens, driver, and crossover mated to the bass driver. Don't expect Econowave magic on those 811Bs if you just swap out the drivers; been there, done that. You may gain some top end over whatever Altec driver is in there, but you'll still have the horniness of the 811B.

Good Luck and glad you had a great time!!

Zilch's Econowaves as implemented by Cosmo, Whell and Kegger. Kegger is chilling with his HPM100/Econowave combo.

kwinglee,

it was very nice meeting you (I was the other guy in squidward's room who owns the Nak). That turntable never ceases to be a hit.

He made it a point to emphasize the fact these are NOT standard Cornwalls.... Crites tweeter, woofer and ALK crossovers (not sure which). His NAKAMICHI Dragon is on the right. Very nice room to hang out in.

Actually, DJNagle built the Econowaves Whell now has. I wussed out and left mine home.

We got Ewave fever bad here....:yes:

As a relative newbie as well ... here are some quick comments!

I spent all day Sunday the show and visited every room - some for only a few minutes. My favorite rooms were Salk and Fritz Loudspeakers.

In the Salk room, all of the speakers sounded great, but I actually preferred the Songtowers to any of the others. I went back a 2nd time and confirmed this.

In Fritz' room the Carbon 7s sounded fantastic - as good as anything I heard at the show - and that was in a small room!

One last comment. . . What surprised me the most was how good the SMAC member rooms sounded. Many of these old beat speakers, sounded far better than new speakers costing thousands of dollars!!! It just goes to show that you don't need to spend top dollar to get great sound.

Nice report, Lee.

TRACH-HORNS vs JBL/ECONOWAVE vs Power flush.

Instant divorce?

Excuse me?!?!?!

Actually, there were several of us from Illinois. Maybe we should start putting our home town on our nametags.:thmbsp:

Glad you had a great time!

Another member from Illinois here. It was a lot of fun. I met a few more members this year than last year. I agree with what's been said about the member's systems and how great they all sounded. What a great group of guys, and gals.

Dare I mentioned Dennis Nagle's tube amp rack in the same breathe as Frank McINTOSH's. Dennis amps sound amazing...

markthefixer wins award - ak member of the year for his many generous posts and helpful spirit.

CONGRATULATIONS MARK!

Great looking and sounding systems on both counts. Markus did a great job on his twin subs driven by PROTON power amp. The T-Lines ain't bad either.

The ECHOWARS SPEC 1 and SPEC 2 sound as good as they look.

I am very impress by how sweet this sounds. I spent a lot of time in here too. Craig is a real character. The TRACHORN/LASCALA combo driven by NOSVAC amps work for me.

Audio Classics, Salk, Quad 2905s in the Pure Audio room, Harbeth SHL5 30 year anniv in the David Michael Audio room.... for those with the means.

No contest:

Laith AL Saadi trio. Unfortunately by this time, I have already ran out of cash to buy his CDs....

smac is a great organization...

if your within driving distance and want to spoil yourself with some great sounding equipment 1 saturday a month, this is for you. all audio, no attitude definately rings true with smac. great group of people with a great pool of knowledge. wish i could make more of the meets, never had anything but a great time and the exposure to different equipment can not be beat... :yes:

p.s. the price of admission and fees just cannot be beat...

I am just waking up from our ridiculously long return trip from the fest. I am still in a state of audio euphoria, despite the fact that after listening to some of the best setups in the free world, I spent 12 hours in a rental van listening to the cheapest 6 1/2 inches of materials that AC Delco could scrape together and call speakers. I wanted to post a few pics, and express my gratitude for the hospitality and tips from all the members. After seeing some of the pics, I am a little disappointed in myself for not seeing all the rooms. But, if any of you met me, you might have picked up on the fact that I am a little chatty, so there simply weren't enough hours in the day. It's so hard to even attempt to pick a favorite room, although the sound string room was definitely high on my list for the ratio of alcohol to audio. This was my first fest, and certainly will not be my last. I would heartily implore anyone who has never attended one to run, don't walk to the next AK fest. Maybe even auction off that collection of Firestone Christmas Albums that you have been saving for your retirement, if funds are your only set back.
Big thanks going out to Andyman and PieceitPete for the records, Carl for the cleaning, Tentoze for some great banter and the best Trappist ale to ever grace my gullet.:beer: Many thanks to Mario for all your TT Help. X-24, thanks for the iPod cord and conversation, Ernie, thanks for bearing with me for missing the context of your poke at Tentoze. Brian B. thanks for hosting. Strawman, thanks for the swap, I'm sure you will give them a good home. A big 'ol North Carolina WHOOOP WHOOOOP to all the guys in the SMAC rooms, for the hospitality, and allowing me to stumble in and out. (For the record I didn't spill a drop all weekend.) Certainly thanks are in order for Grumpy and Mrs. Grumpy and all the behind the scenes people for making this thing happen. Lastly, I guess I would have to give a great big thank you to HomerJsimpson, for encouraging me to subscribe, and inviting me to share the Great White Van Speaker Adventure, and fixing all my broken toys. If there's anyone I forgot to thank, my apologies. We'll just chalk that up to sensory overload.
Without further ado, the pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/38088311@N06/

On a side note: It was also my first trip to Michigan. Being from the South, where everyone is "How do you do", and "Thank you", I would have to say from my experiences outside of the fest, that the state motto for Michigan must be "F@%k You, I have enough friends!" To clarify, no disrespect to any of the many super friendly AK'ers I met. It's just a different way of life up there I guess. I am glad to be back in the land of Sweet Tea and Fried Chicken. This site is a great organization, I'm sure like all families it has it's dysfunctions, but hey, If we all sang the same note, who would need a 3 way speaker?

:deal: Hey, at least I got a vacuum cleaner! :thmbsp:

There are those that you can try and those that you can't. Besides the EconoWAVE, here are the ones that I find most interesting.

1. WHELLS TT isolators
2. dnewma04's homemade turntable with SME3 arm.
3. dnewma04's homemade air bearing arm
4. Kegger's Anthem preamps
5. Kegger's amps
6. Ashok's IOBOX based music server with 1 TB hard drive

The Venue and Dr Joe D'Appolito from Snell

Great pix and narratives. Thanks for the input!

great thread kwingylee :thmbsp:

Here are the pictures I took.

http://picasaweb.google.com/timjthomas/AKFest2009#

Great coverage from our "men in the field". I forgot my camera & music. :sigh:

I am very impress by how sweet this sounds. I spent a lot of time in here too. Craig is a real character. The TRACHORN/LASCALA combo driven by NOSVAC amps work for me.

I hope you don't think I'm picking on you kwinglylee, everyone's been calling those horns Trachorns.

Just a minor correction, the horns in Craig's room were not Trachorns, which is the name that Al Klappenberger has given his ALK Trachorns. They are V-Trac horns www.dcchomes.com/Vtrac.html The main difference being that the V-Trac horns have a 2" driver/horn format versus the 1" with the ALK Trachorns.

Craig had the "demo" units, which are making their way around the country to the people who are on the V-Trac Demo List www.dcchomes.com/Vtrac3.html

If anyone here would like to get on the list to try these out, please email me.

Greg Roberts

Wow nice pictures and it looks like a great time.

Onepixel, we need to go next year and represent NorCal. :yes:

I hope you don't think I'm picking on you kwinglylee, everyone's been calling those horns Trachorns.

Just a minor correction, the horns in Craig's room were not Trachorns, which is the name that Al Klappenberger has given his ALK Trachorns. They are V-Trac horns www.dcchomes.com/Vtrac.html The main difference being that the V-Trac horns have a 2" driver/horn format versus the 1" with the ALK Trachorns.

Craig had the "demo" units, which are making their way around the country to the people who are on the V-Trac Demo List www.dcchomes.com/Vtrac3.html

If anyone here would like to get on the list to try these out, please email me.

Greg Roberts

Greg:

I don't feel pick on at all...I stand correct. Craig made it clear to me these were the 2" horn throat vs the 1 inchers. They sound very very sweet. Cost prohibitive (once all drivers and crossovers are factored it) to many K-Horn owners such as myself but your option is very very good.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to hear them. BTW, your K-horn refurbs look fantastic!

Lee I had a great time with you! But you gotta quit telling people IT'S ALL MY FAULT! :D

Lets wind the clock back... I think you were the one that said if you were marooned on an island and can only bring one set of speakers, you would bring your Cornwalls.....and communicated that with so much passion and enthusiasm such that it led me into buying a pair for myself,....

which led me to the klipsch forum

which led me to the alkeng website....

which led me to the bobcrites website...

which led me to akfest 09....

which led me to nosvac's room and his V-TRAC/LA SCALA setup

which then followed by Squidward's room.....

yeah, its all your fault!!

This is a great thread, and kwingylee has some talent behind the camera.

Andy, thanks for clarifying the origin of my Econowaves - its good to give credit where credit is due.

With my own listening room, my only regret is the lack of time to get around and see more of the members and their rooms, and listen to their systems. There's some great looking gear, and some very talented people behind it, in these pictures. Oh well, maybe next year.

The bottom line is that the AK staff did another bang up job putting this year's Fest together. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and all the rooms that I saw were very well done. Thanks for a great time, and thanks for these great pics.

lets wind the clock back... I think you were the one that said if you were marooned on an island and can only bring one set of speakers, you would bring your cornwalls.....and communicated that with so much passion and enthusiasm such that it led me into buying a pair for myself,....

Which led me to the klipsch forum

which led me to the alkeng website....

Which led me to the bobcrites website...

Which led me to akfest 09....

Which led me to nosvac's room and his v-trac/la scala setup

which then followed by squidward's room.....

Yeah, its all your fault!!

guilty as charged!

It was a great Fest! I had a blast!!!

Unfortunately, my implementation of a JBL 4508 cabinet (with a combination of 136a, 2225 and E-145 woofers) with an econo-wave was a last minute (thrown together Friday) implementation of an Econo-wave and not a good example of a well implemented design. Frankly, I did not feel we got it really well dialed in until Sunday afternoon. I regret not explaining that it was an experiment in progress...

My intent in trying the combination was to get a very efficient and dynamic system capable of deep bass and extended highs without any abrasiveness.

If hearing them before I got them where they needed to be discouraged anyone from trying econo-waves, then I have made a grievous error. The econo-wave project is very worthwhile and pays huge dividends in value of sound.

WOW, I'm flattered. I should mention that the amp rack was built from scrap steel salvaged out of my favorite scrap yard in Hamtramic. I had a great time.

WOW, I'm flattered. I should mention that the amp rack was built from scrap steel salvaged out of my favorite scrap yard in Hamtramic. I had a great time.

It is more art than iron... Its Beautious!

kwingylee and all-A big thanks for the photos and stories.:yes:This is what makes AK so much fun. Couldn't be there,but I will be around the KC area.Good info,great music,good times,good people.What more do you want?!

As a relative newbie as well ... here are some quick comments!


One last comment. . . What surprised me the most was how good the SMAC member rooms sounded. Many of these old beat speakers, sounded far better than new speakers costing thousands of dollars!!! It just goes to show that you don't need to spend top dollar to get great sound.

This even surprised the 'old beat up speakers' owners!

With my own listening room, my only regret is the lack of time to get around and see more of the members and their rooms, and listen to their systems. There's some great looking gear, and some very talented people behind it, in these pictures. Oh well, maybe next year.



Tell me about it. I made it into a total of 5 rooms all weekend... The two large rooms on the first floor (had too give a listen to the classic audio stuff in the room that could use the speakers), Both SMAC rooms and of course my owm room. I have no idea what all was at the show. But I had another great time this year!!

Craig

Was there anyone but me REALLY impressed by marcus's little two way folded pipe (I assume) speakers. Amazing sound for a little ribbon tweeter and a 4 inch (I think) mid-base. When he added that sub, man was the sound good...

Was there anyone but me REALLY impressed by marcus's little two way folded pipe (I assume) speakers. Amazing sound for a little ribbon tweeter and a 4 inch (I think) mid-base. When he added that sub, man was the sound good...

I was impressed. Markus did a great job on the subs too....They look great. Sound wise, they could use a little more mid bass. Maybe Marcus can retune the 4" driver to go lower....or may be it was the crossover point.

It was a great Fest! I had a blast!!!

Unfortunately, my implementation of a JBL 4508 cabinet (with a combination of 136a, 2225 and E-145 woofers) with an econo-wave was a last minute (thrown together Friday) implementation of an Econo-wave and not a good example of a well implemented design. Frankly, I did not feel we got it really well dialed in until Sunday afternoon. I regret not explaining that it was an experiment in progress...

My intent in trying the combination was to get a very efficient and dynamic system capable of deep bass and extended highs without any abrasiveness.

If hearing them before I got them where they needed to be discouraged anyone from trying econo-waves, then I have made a grievous error. The econo-wave project is very worthwhile and pays huge dividends in value of sound.

Cosmos, your system is a real throw pack... overall the Econowave sounded great to me. I was one of the first guys in your room Saturday. Wish I had spent more time in your room. From what I saw, you had plenty of company. BTW, the Deep Purple machine head LP I got from you sounded great!!

Was there anyone but me REALLY impressed by marcus's little two way folded pipe (I assume) speakers. Amazing sound for a little ribbon tweeter and a 4 inch (I think) mid-base. When he added that sub, man was the sound good...

Hi cfranz,

Thanks for the compliment! I had just finished those Friday morning, and hadn't really had a chance to voice them yet. Kwingylee hit it right on - I will probably adjust baffle step to bring up the midbass a bit. I actually could have run them without the subs had I had more time to work them - they are capable of going solidly down to 50 Hz. I'm glad you liked them, and I'm glad I got a chance to meet you. I didn't have a chance to travel to very many rooms this year, but I'm glad I got a chance to talk to some great people. I've had several requests to post my design on the sight, and I'll try to get it into the DIY section in the next couple of days.

Take care,
Markus

I had a great time! Saw a lot of cool stuff, bought a shirt, got some ideas from the DIY room and member rooms, but what I didn’t expect was all of the music that I have never heard before!

Looks like a blast. I may just have to go next year.

Cosmos, your system is a real throw pack... overall the Econowave sounded great to me. I was one of the first guys in your room Saturday. Wish I had spent more time in your room. From what I saw, you had plenty of company. BTW, the Deep Purple machine head LP I got from you sounded great!!

Thanks!

You got a Deep Purple machine head LP from me? Oh hell that had to be a mistake!! ;-)


Seriously, glad you are enjoying it.

The Fest is a great experience and the best part is the people!

My first AK Fest
Just had a great time meeting everyone and made some new friends. Just a great weekend even with the 13 drive up plus back. Will be back next year.