New England Winter Frankenfest Feb. 23 workshops thread

Hey, I'm really excited about the record grading workshop. Tim from your group told me about it today. I have the record store just up the block from your meet and am thinking of closing for an hour to attend. Is it still at 1 PM? Also wondering if you mind if I post the workshop on my store facebook page and let others know about it.

Also, I suggested to Tim you might offer grading workshops for dealers with AudioKarma certification (for a small fee?). Attendees could declare themselves as CERTIFIED AudioKarma graders - not sure how you could regulate standards, tho.

How about a "pre-Frankenfest" sale...say 9ish ?:D
 
Since we are in no way officially associated with AudioKarma it is hardly appropriate for us to use them as a certifying authority.
Also, I do not want anything associated with this GTG to involve fees; that's a rat-hole we don't need to go down.
I was kinda kidding about that, but some kind of record dealer grading awareness certificate would be a boon to buyers everywhere.
But we'll be looking forward to your participation - feel free to bring some records to sell or flyers (discounts?) for the participants.
Thank you - I'll be by for sure. Just say "Frankenfest" and I'll knock off at least 15%.
 
How about a "pre-Frankenfest" sale...say 9ish ?:D
You got it - 9:30-ish to 11-ish. And I'll get more stuff in the bins for post-Franken. Open til whenever.
recordhog- Don't close down the shop for too long. I want to spend some money there.
Oooh what do I like better money ... records ... I like money AND records! I wish I'd realized earlier this was happening. I'll just close from 1PM to 2 PM to attend the record grading workshop.
 
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Let's move the time of the community meeting to 2:00 in case anyone wants to scoot out earlier than 3:00 because of the snow.
 
Here's a post-script and single place to store information for the next Frankenfests:

From post #29 with expansion:

11:00 Speaker Refoaming - Bostown will lead this workshop. He will be refoaming some drivers from Urchinn's Snell speakers. Urchinn has gotten the materials and will make sure the drivers are removed from the speakers and are near room temperature. You can attend and learn or bring your own refoaming projects and do them with guidance.
The reason this workshop is early is because it takes time for the glue to set and dry and Bostown would like to demonstrate the finished speakers mid-afternoon.

This did happen, but late in the day, around 3:00. Bostown was later than he'd planned (new baby in the home), the place was very busy and we're just starting to get our (my) workshop coordination chops together. I did see quite a crowd around Jamal, and many happy speakers with new surrounds, and even watch truevis apply glue around the perimeter of a freshly scraped cone.
Thank you Jamal for your stewardship, your patience, your ability to multitask, you skill at teaching, and your guidance.

1:00 Record Grading Workshop - Stephanie Gaynor, Tom in RI and possibly Dmitry. See http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...5&postcount=24
Would Peter's room in the back of his space be best for this because there's a lot of horizontal space on that big table? Would somewhere else be better?
This workshop did take place in Peter's boardroom with Steph Gaynor's planning and presentation and Tom in RI's supplementation. There were very positive comments and a lot of people now have more confidence in the consistency of their grading.
See this post:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=6544979&postcount=235

Ad-Hoc tech sessions:
Informal Tube Testing - by Al Wise.
This went off with Al set up in his usual place and many happy people having had their tubes assessed in Al's best "Antiques Roadshow" way.

Soldering - Al Wise has volunteered to bring a fancy soldering station and demonstrate soldering. I can help with both of these.
The box was there and was explained. I'd love to get my hands on one of those babies!. Temperature adaptive soldering? Amazing.

Multimeter use: w1jim. Bring a meter and any documentation you have and w1jim can go through it with you.
I don't know the status of this one. If there's no feedback, I'll put it in the "proposed workshops" for future fests section.

Stylus microscope: LexDM3 will have one.
Dan and w1jim love their magnification.
Dan came through as this post shows:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=6544982&postcount=236


Ad-Hoc listening sessions:
1. The Pass room - Gigbyt, Todd MacDona, BillyK and others actively assess Pass gear. Will move forward. Did not happen. Isolated listening area is a good likelihood for a future fest. Permission required to use the upstairs space.

2. DAC shootout - Some of us have DACs. I have an AudioQuest Dragonfly and can bring a laptop and a mini RCA to dual RCA male cable to run it into any preamp, integrated amp or receiver. Others have mentioned having DACs. Other than using a system in a listening space, what interfaces would we need?

This did not happen. There was a lot of activity and I did not have a chance to coordinate how to bring this together. I'll add it to the future workshops post.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=6512635&postcount=30
 
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I am a new guy here, but I thought I'd offer a couple of suggestions for the future F-fest workshops.

Record grading was excellent. Stephanie held it together. If we could actually get a set-up with a turntable going, to see if our grading was accurate, it'd be wonderful.

Also, if possible at all, it'd be great to set-up a room detached from "the great hall", with a reference cd player/tt/amp/preamp, so we could switch different speakers and DACs. That would be awesome. We could make a list with numbers, like at a deli, so people would know when their speakers, DAC, sd player, etc. would be next in-line.

I can also help with the record cleaning workshop, if anyone wants to see that done. Again, a set-up with a tt would be essential for before/after listening.

I had a terrific time on Saturday!!!
Whoever brought in the industrial-sized tray of lasagna- THANK YOU!
 
Record Grading Workshop Results

Hi, I thought I'd post the results from the Record Grading Workshop Test records. Thanks to Tim99 for the concept and the ballots!

There was little consensus on the grades but I believe if we took time to go over each example as a group we would have reached an agreement on the condition. My grade is included in the listing (with my adaptations of EX (in between NM and VG+) and VG(+) for low VG+ and in the voting as strict Goldmine (Cover/Vinyl). Not everyone included a grade for the cover and the vinyl.

Jessee Colin Young, Light Shine, 1974, WB BS-2790, VG(+)VG(+), notch, streets of Burbank label

VG+/VG+ l
VG+/VG ll
VG/VG++ ll
VG/VG ll
G+/VG l
G ll

IMG_3910.JPG


Olivia Newton John, Olivia's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 , 1982, MCA 5347, EX/VG(+), Gatefold cover, rainbow on blue sky MCA label

VG++/VG+ l
VG+/VG+ ll
VG++/VG l
VG+ l
VG l
NM/VG l
VG+/VG l

IMG_5838.JPG


Loverboy, Get Lucky, 1981, Columbia FC37638, VG(+)/VG, cover shows moderate ring and edge wear, vinyl has a few shallow but feelable small hair line scratches, 1H1A Stamper, "Don Fox Rocks" in dead wax

VG+/VG ll
G+/VG l
G+/G l
VG/G ll
G l
G/G l
Fair l

IMG_4662.jpg


JS Bach: Partitas Nos 5 & 6, Glenn Gould, Columbia ML 5186, VG+/VG+, 2 Eye Columbia Label

EX l
VG+/VG+ lll
VG/VG++ lll
VG l

Joe & Eddie, Coast to Coast, Crescendo GNP 96, VG/VG-, cover has split along spine, lght ring, moderate ew, black on red crescendo lbl, original Crescendo Inner sleeve, vinyl has several shallow but feelable scuffs and scratches

VG+/VG+ l
VG/VG+ l
VG/VG- l
VG/VG l
VG+/G ll
Good/Fair l
Fair l

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1/Prokofieff Piano Concerto No. 2, Tedd Joselson, piano; Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy Conductor, 1974, RCAARL1-0751, dynaflex Red Seal Label, VG/VG+, cover has moderate to heavy edge wear and moderate ring wear, vinyl shows some light pressure scuffs and hair line scratches -- nothing you can feel with a fingernail,

VG/VG+ lll
VG+/VG l
VG/VG l
G/G+ l
G l
Good Fair l
 
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