Photos from AKFest 2010

What was the question?

The question I asked the vendor was about the bass alignment - There are woofers on opposing Left-Right sides of each cabinet. I asked him if the alignment was Bipole (essentially omnidirectional, if XO below baffle step freq) or Dipole. [for anyone still thinking I'm nuts: A lateral dipole is possible - search Gradient Loudspeakers]

He said "look at it!", dipole was "impossible" and my "question is irrelevant". His body language and delivery was even more condemning than the words :thumbsdn: . Zero effort was made to clarify the question.

I guess I owe the vendor an apology: I was listening with my ears and brain, instead of with my eyes and wallet. . . . e'nuff "attitude" from me.

Sorry AK! - I 'didn't mean to drop a turd in the Keg, er--Forum. The Fest indeed was a good time, with (exception noted) good folks all around!:banana: I bought the biggest thing in the swap room:yes:, won a doorprize, and met some really cool people, including ones in my own backyard I didn't know. It was a good day!

-- Tubamark
 
My experience with the "Dairy Queens" was very positive from a super friendly vendor with zero attitude. Go figure. :headscrat

Edit: FWIW, the gentleman who auditioned the system for me was not the one pictured above.
 
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What is this gear and how did it sound?
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These speakers have huge field coil drivers in them, and the electronics inside them was pretty impressive.

The first day I heard them, I was really digging them. They sounded a lot like Altecs to me, only with the perfect mix of bass.

The second day though, they just didn't sound quite right to me. They seemed kind of muffled sounding.

I got to listen to War Pigs on them with plenty of volume vigorously applied. They the dynamics where there, they needed some more depth and highs..

Would I love to have these in my house and tuned right.. damn skippy. I could hear the potential.. would I call them worth that price to me? No, but as far as the looks of them, they were some really cool art work, and had sme over the top drivers in them. I saw pictures he had there of them being built, and I can understand the price.. these things were damn near solid chunks of wood..
 
The question I asked the vendor was about the bass alignment - There are woofers on opposing Left-Right sides of each cabinet. I asked him if the alignment was Bipole (essentially omnidirectional, if XO below baffle step freq) or Dipole. [for anyone still thinking I'm nuts: A lateral dipole is possible - search Gradient Loudspeakers]

He said "look at it!", dipole was "impossible" and my "question is irrelevant". His body language and delivery was even more condemning than the words :thumbsdn: . Zero effort was made to clarify the question.

I guess I owe the vendor an apology: I was listening with my ears and brain, instead of with my eyes and wallet. . . . e'nuff "attitude" from me.

Sorry AK! - I 'didn't mean to drop a turd in the Keg, er--Forum. The Fest indeed was a good time, with (exception noted) good folks all around!:banana: I bought the biggest thing in the swap room:yes:, won a doorprize, and met some really cool people, including ones in my own backyard I didn't know. It was a good day!

-- Tubamark

It sounds like attitude on both sides.
 
It sounds like attitude on both sides.

I don't know, but I doubt many sales managers train their reps to tell potential buyers that ANY question is "irrelevant". Pissing off a potential buyer usually doesn't get the sale.
 
I was there when tuba got dissed. He was dissed & dismissed, no question. Being in sales myself, I was, um, surprised. I hereby leave the subject.

Pete
 
Actually, dipole wouldn't have worked, at all. You would have been listening in the null in the figure 8.
 
I don't know, but I doubt many sales managers train their reps to tell potential buyers that ANY question is "irrelevant". Pissing off a potential buyer usually doesn't get the sale.

Absolutely agreed. It would have been much better to explain bipole vs dipole than to be an jerk about it.
 
The question I asked the vendor was about the bass alignment - There are woofers on opposing Left-Right sides of each cabinet. I asked him if the alignment was Bipole (essentially omnidirectional, if XO below baffle step freq) or Dipole. [for anyone still thinking I'm nuts: A lateral dipole is possible - search Gradient Loudspeakers]

He said "look at it!", dipole was "impossible" and my "question is irrelevant". His body language and delivery was even more condemning than the words :thumbsdn: . Zero effort was made to clarify the question.

I guess I owe the vendor an apology: I was listening with my ears and brain, instead of with my eyes and wallet. . . . e'nuff "attitude" from me.

Sorry AK! - I 'didn't mean to drop a turd in the Keg, er--Forum. The Fest indeed was a good time, with (exception noted) good folks all around!:banana: I bought the biggest thing in the swap room:yes:, won a doorprize, and met some really cool people, including ones in my own backyard I didn't know. It was a good day!

-- Tubamark

I was sitting right behind you when you asked the question, the guy in the wheelchair, and there was no doubt about their 'tude! In fact, I had already formed my opinion of the crew and just after you asked your question and they started the little dance around your question, I split. As I recall, you asked one guy, the guy in the picture, and he clearly didn't know and looked to another guy, a guy with an accent that was kind of hard to understand, and this guy said it was impossible... and that was about all I heard as I headed for the door.

There was another guy that asked what the cost of everything was and again, it was bounced off two of them, this time the same two guys but in reverse order, and there was no real answer, just some shrugs of the shoulders and he walked off; I guess if you have to ask...
 
You also have to remember, a big point these guys were selling were their cables. Those things were beauties, but I also knew if I had to ask, I couldn't afford them.. as well as with a lot of the other gear at the show..

I can tell you they did give me the prices on a couple pieces.. The Esoteric CD player were a little over half the cost of the speakers, and that huge CAT amp on the floor had a price on it as a used piece of gear that I would seriously consider if I was looking for a fantastic amp, at a reasonable price considering what they go for new..

I just don't have a room that I could consider putting an amp that size in, and I'm just not that into my music to dump that kind of jack on an amp, HOWEVER, if my wife said I could buy that CAT amp, I'd probably be kicking myself in the ass for knowing I would probably end up having it, and not enjoying a vacation for two years..
 
I don't know, but I doubt many sales managers train their reps to tell potential buyers that ANY question is "irrelevant". Pissing off a potential buyer usually doesn't get the sale.
Of course, and I would never do it. There are two sides to every story.

The whole thing may be irrelevant, since I don't know many people who would want speakers that look like that in their rooms.
 
I listened to his speakers quite a bit, and the big brothers to those in the Tyler room. Those things are just so fantastic sounding. I told Retro that if he didn't have room to get them home I had plenty. I would say out of all the vendors there, the Tyler speakers were by far the ones that most impressed me sound wise..

You would have liked the D-10's he had last year. :yes:

There was another guy that asked what the cost of everything was and again, it was bounced off two of them, this time the same two guys but in reverse order, and there was no real answer, just some shrugs of the shoulders and he walked off; I guess if you have to ask...

I heard something around the 200k mark.
 
How about we get back to talking about the pics and other things from the fest. Dwelling on this will surely lead to no good.
 
That amp was 100% over the top!

Besides, there was a LOT of gear at the fest to talk about.

Cosmos's berrillium (sp?) horns running on keggers amps, for instance :) The Maggie 1.7s were pretty good too.

Pete
 
You would have liked the D-10's he had last year. :yes:



I heard something around the 200k mark.

The guy that asked suggested either 315k or 350k, I can't remember, and as I say, the guy just shrugged his shoulders, nodded his head a bit, made a strage face and walked away, rather odd.

How about we get back to talking about the pics and other things from the fest. Dwelling on this will surely lead to no good.
I concur. I am not one to diss the system because I didn't like the people much, as I stated prior, I never got a real good listen nor able to sit in a good spot, but I did find the hosts a bit odd.
 
I stopped in that room briefly and was surprised. The vendor was asking guys how they liked the system and they flat out told him they wouldn't buy it. He said he could take it, but when they told him they weren't impressed he seemed to go over and pout, so perhaps I missed out on something earlier. I wasn't impressed either and FWIW, those are the fugliest things I saw all weekend. :puke: Even if they sounded good they are so visually obnoxious I wouldn't buy them.

Not sure if someone else already mentioned this, but they are designed by the same guy who designed the B&W nautilus and also the matrix bracing system that B&W uses. A very smart guy apparently, and an excellent designer. There's a review of them in the January HiFi+ magazine.

That said, it doesn't excuse rudeness from the guys on the floor. The easiest way of dealing with that is to tell them - in front of everyone. Like "hey, excuse me, but why did you have to be so rude in your answer?". Embarrassment makes a good learning tool for people like that I've found.

Dave
 
That's surely true! :yes: ...:sigh:


It's nice to AT LEAST see the pics, though! THANK YOU to all those who have posted pics; those of us who can't be there sure appreciate the chance to at least know what we are missing!

Yes, that is very true. Some *really* nice stuff. Would have been nice to be there though. We don't have this sort of thing in Ozstralia ;)

Dave
 
WOW all these great pictures and not one of what I thought were Bogdan Audio Creations?

Large black speakers made up of about 50 sections of MDF, all cut with a jigsaw then glued up, internal chambers filled with sand, curvy shape.....guy had a photo book of the build process.... Bueller~Bueller~Bueller
 
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