CAS 2019

[slipperybidness]

Perhaps, but it was 20 years ago when I heard them. This is a pic of what the tweeter looked like.

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Those speakers look a lot like the ones I heard and my memory of the tweeter is almost exactly what I saw. It does look like it would produce a lot of uv...

He didn't make very many of them, but they made a little splash in the audio world back in the day.

On my end, I am extremely familiar with the chemical trace metals analytical technique of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy. You blow your sample through a plasma torch, which breaks it down to elements and ionizing it. Once you have it ionized, you can control the sample ion beam with voltage lenses and other techniques before hitting the detector (quadrupole mass filter and electron multiplier in this case).

 

[Pogre]

On my end, I am extremely familiar with the chemical trace metals analytical technique of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy. You blow your sample through a plasma torch, which breaks it down to elements and ionizing it. Once you have it ionized, you can control the sample ion beam with voltage lenses and other techniques before hitting the detector (quadrupole mass filter and electron multiplier in this case).

Yeah, they use helium and ionize it by knocking electrons off the atoms if I understand it right... and I'll stop there because I'm already in over my head, lol.

 

[slipperybidness]

Yeah, they use helium and ionize it by knocking electrons off the atoms if I understand it right... and I'll stop there because I'm already in over my head, lol.

Yup, that's the idea.

Ionize a gas, then you apply a large RF frequency to the ionized gas. The positive ions move opposite the free negative electrons, and the direction of each changes rapidly in the RF field, creating friction.

So, that's the bottom line, the plasma is produced from friction of ions and electrons moving past each other in the RF frequency domain.

It doesn't have to be Helium. Argon is much more common for plasma, and there are various specialized plasmas using Oxygen or mixtures, and these are used as an etch process.

 

[davidscott]

Wow Ryan what a nice review of the show. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! It looks like I could drink beer out of those Unisingers while listening to music.

 

[Pogre]

Yes! Thanks Ryan. I love the pics and didn't mean to hijack your thread. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[lovinthehd]

So how was the Hilton for the venue? Outside noise any issue in the building (only been there once for a Raiders thing, just seems very close to airport and traffic).

 

[Verdinut]

Interesting that you liked the Joseph Audio Perspective 2 speakers. I heard & liked them several years ago as the Perspectives, then priced at about $13,000 a pair. Now they have graphene coated magnesium alloy cone woofers and cost $15k .

About Joseph Audio speakers, several years ago in Montreal at the Audio & Visual Show which IIRC took place at the Delta Hotel, Joseph was presenting a pair of bookshelves. While I was in the room, he drove them with a pipe organ CD or PC file. You could definitely hear that the small woofers could not take all the energy that was fed into them. I found that it was a little bit too much and unforgiving, and not the type of demo you should attempt when you want to sell a product.

If it had not been for that incident, I liked the speakers which he presented. They were among the few which had a pleasant and smooth sound.

 

[ryanosaur]

Interesting that you liked the Joseph Audio Perspective 2 speakers. I heard & liked them several years ago as the Perspectives, then priced at about $13,000 a pair. Now they have graphene coated magnesium alloy cone woofers and cost $15k .

I liked them a lot. As Jim Salk and Dennis Murphy were also at that show, I asked them to go hear them. They both liked them as well. And both pointed out that the Salk HT2TL performed at least as well at a significantly lower price. Jim said the Seas Excel W16 drivers in the Perspective cost a bit more than the larger Seas Excel W18 drivers in the HT2TL. But he wondered how they might model in a MLTL type cabinet. Both he and Dennis agreed the RAAL ribbon should sound better than the Seas Excel Millenium tweeter in the Perspective.

About a year or two later, Jim announced the Veracity ST. It used two Seas Excel W16s plus a RAAL ribbon tweet, arranged as an MTM, in a MLTL cabinet with the same footprint as the SongTower, but it had >95% of the performance of the HT2TL. I had always wanted the HT2TLs, but don't have the floor space they require. I bought my Veracity STs 3 years ago and love them. I paid less than one third of what the Perspective2 costs, and that included premium ropey cherry veneer and shipping .

Jim Salk provided this photo when they were new. Now the cherry has turned a nice warm red color.

Swerd! Well, I'm in good company if you, Jim, and Dennis all liked what you guys heard from that iteration! I don't think the new version would've disappointed.
As for @Verdinut's situation, I could see that happen, for certain! Hell, like I said, the person running the room when I came in was stuck on Mono!
Pleasing and smooth sound. Hmmm... I'll think I'll be coming back to this.

@davidscott @Pogre
You're welcome! And Pogre, no shade from me on hijacking threads... some great things can happen in a sidebar conversation! I learned a little more, too!

Well... it seems like I have a bit more to share! I'll get the rest up in a moment. Just got home from the shop and want to get out of these boots!

 

[ryanosaur]

For the risk of being anti-climatic, I’m gonna go to a speaker that completely wowed me, but was not the best.
It was pretty FiretrUCKIN’ great, though.

If nothing else it wins the Unabashedly Large award. Not the way those Acapella‘s were large. These fit in a normal room. And for any speaker fan here that has dealt with spousal approval, this is not something you just sneak in and hope the other won’t mind.

Bernhagen Porter Model 10/12, $50K

And these were just kinda cute in their own understated way.

I listened to a few cuts here... pretty cool stuff. There was a female soprano with chorus and pipe organ doing a cool little ditty from a Requiem. (Yes, I just used “cool ditty” and “Requiem” in the same sentence! What! ) The choral work was nice, and other than my slight aversion to art-trained Sopranos warbling in the mesosphere, her voice seemed well recreated here: nothing sounded off to me in any of the vocal parts. The Pipe Organ was quite demonstrative. Heads turned when the pipes lit up. I wish I knew this piece so I could judge the built in Sub, and its overall balance in the reproduction. Suffice it to say, this speaker had a following, and no one was complaining about what they were hearing.
What caught me more, in my love for stripped down blues, was Buddy Guy’s Done Got Old. These speakers brought some serious gravitas to this party, and Buddy’s vocals and guitar were naked on a pedestal in a way I’ve rarely heard. If ever one could say a song like that was pristine, this was the time, in all its gravel and grit!

I also give this one the Biggest Surprise award.


Sent from a handheld device using a silly little app.

 

[ryanosaur]

Next up, I award the Biggest Mystery Award and the Ha!-You-Can’t-Have-One Award...

To a company that builds Network Streamers?
Yes.
But not for that.

Aurender had custom speakers built to “show off” how good their streamers sound.

Yes, this is what Dude said to me. Straight.

All Accuton drivers in an Aluminum Enclosure. 200# each.

I don’t give a rat’s hindquarters what makes their streamers worth 18-Large. But these, as I so eloquently phrased it earlier in this thread:
“Want!”

Checking the room out early in the day was cool, but later, I was drawn back by the siren song of Christmas Card From A Hooker in Minneapolis, one of my absolute favorite Tom Waits cuts. Clean and precise. Once I picked my jaw up from the floor. (Yes, I went there.) I turned to the guy and asked if he would play a jazz cut I had been using while auditioning speakers, Evolution by Joe Lovano. Dude was a musician too, and knew Lovano from some more recent work... he readily agreed. A few bumps to the SPL, and we were in Tenor Heaven!
Every aspect of this recording came to life. Joe’s sound on his Grenadilla wood mouthpiece, Dave Holland’s enormous bass presence, Petrucciani’s key work, and Ed Blackwell’s drums....
If ever I had a doubt what was meant when a driver was called “detailed,” I do not now.

All I can say is keep your eyes open at any future Audio Shows and go check out Aurender if they have a room!


Sent from a handheld device using a silly little app.

 

[ryanosaur]

All that is left...
My favorite, and really not a surprise.

Seriously, though, for those of us that know the Dennis Murphy and Jim Salk sound, I was still floored by this. I’ve used before, words like easy and effortless to describe how the Phil 3s and BMRs sound...

If you could take that and distill it... the SS 9.5 is what you get.

Not much I can say beyond what I have already. These are stunning.

Cheers, all!


Sent from a handheld device using a silly little app.

 

[Russdawg1]

Quite the finale to a great show. Thanks Ryan!

You’ll see me there next year, I hope!

 

[slipperybidness]

About Joseph Audio speakers, several years ago in Montreal at the Audio & Visual Show which IIRC took place at the Delta Hotel, Joseph was presenting a pair of bookshelves. While I was in the room, he drove them with a pipe organ CD or PC file. You could definitely hear that the small woofers could not take all the energy that was fed into them. I found that it was a little bit too much and unforgiving, and not the type of demo you should attempt when you want to sell a product.

If it had not been for that incident, I liked the speakers which he presented. They were among the few which had a pleasant and smooth sound.

I heard those same Joseph speakers from the pics in this thread, at RMAF a few years ago. They sounded very good, even excellent, to my ears, but not at that price.

 

[hornblower64]

Yes, the trained soprano is an acquired taste, and one can be forgiven for never acquiring it. It is a little bizarre; somewhat like a strangely controlled screaming. The piece was the Reutter Requiem. I believe on Reference Recordings.

David Bernhagen

 

[hornblower64]

And my wife is a professional 'cellist whom I have heard perform this piece live. The bass balance is as I remember it. Do be aware that it is a reduced orchestra, not a full symphony.

 

[ryanosaur]

Yes, the trained soprano is an acquired taste, and one can be forgiven for never acquiring it. It is a little bizarre; somewhat like a strangely controlled screaming. The piece was the Reutter Requiem. I believe on Reference Recordings.

David Bernhagen

Hi David!
Thanks for stopping in and letting me know about that Requiem.
My music school days are long behind me, yet that is one thing that I’ve only slightly come to terms with in my maturity. Perhaps the only thing I dislike more is a piccolo!

But seriously, great work on that 10/12! It was very impressive. I’m only just starting my path into speaker design. I honestly loved what you guys did with that!
Would you mind sharing any more details, please? I’d love to know more about your drivers, the cabinet size and tuning, etc.

And I promise... if I find a briefcase full of loot, you guys will hear from me!

 

[hornblower64]

Hi David!
Thanks for stopping in and letting me know about that Requiem.
My music school days are long behind me, yet that is one thing that I’ve only slightly come to terms with in my maturity. Perhaps the only thing I dislike more is a piccolo!

But seriously, great work on that 10/12! It was very impressive. I’m only just starting my path into speaker design. I honestly loved what you guys did with that!
Would you mind sharing any more details, please? I’d love to know more about your drivers, the cabinet size and tuning, etc.

And I promise... if I find a briefcase full of loot, you guys will hear from me!

If you go to our website, there is more information, and my phone number. I would share more over the phone than I care to put in a post.

 

[shadyJ]

Hey Ryan, very nice coverage of the show! They ought to issue you a press pass if you decide to go again!

 

[ryanosaur]

Hey Ryan, very nice coverage of the show! They ought to issue you a press pass if you decide to go again!

Thanks, Shady! Maybe there's a future for me in Audio. 'Probably a more sustainable lifestyle than in a kitchen!
I am available as a consultant if AH ever needs a West Coast friend! In fact when you are ready to test that new Hsu sub, I can pick it up and have the test field ready for you! Complete with a tractor so you don't have to hurt your back!!!

 

[ryanosaur]

If you go to our website, there is more information, and my phone number. I would share more over the phone than I care to put in a post.

Thank you. I will take you up on that. (Might be a bit, but I will call!)
Cheers!
R