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Re: The Most Interesting Product at GPAF? [message #3110 is a reply to message #3047] Sun, 14 May 2006 00:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I liked Skip's setup too. There were lots of things I liked. Your "one π tower" is really cool. Jef Larson's amps were great. Akhilesh did a good job with his single drivers and subs. Jim Griffin's speakers were nice. I think the Profet amps are smoooooth. Probably the single most amazing thing to me is the fact that Charlie went from concept to production on not one, not two, not even four but five new products in less than a year. In fact, I think it was closer to six months. I'm going to call Azzolina Audio the Kricket company. (To understand, read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.)


Great Plains Audiofest 2006 Writeup, Page 1 [message #3111 is a reply to message #3024] Sun, 14 May 2006 01:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

This year's Great Plains Audiofest was even better than last year. We learned a few things at the 2005 event that we took advantage of for this year's show. And the things we learned this year, we'll take advantage of next year. One of them is to have banners for every exhibitor. Might seem obvious, but none of us thought of it this year or last. The whole show grew out of a grass-roots, love of music, group of enthusiasts and dedicated niche market manufacturers. So most of us kept things informal and just showed up and setup. But the prominent BassMaxx banner made me realize all at once that next year we all should have banners like that and the whole hotel will be decorated. Imagine each exhibitor hanging an attractive banner from the railing in front of their rooms:

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0300.JPG


This year, we all stayed through Sunday and that gave us time to do seminars on Saturday. That turned out to be an excellent idea. The seminars were very popular and I think everyone enjoyed them. First one was a tube amp seminar by Jef Larson, followed by the Crossover Electronics 101 seminar that I do, then Jim Griffin's line array seminar and finally Akhilesh Bajaj did a talk on single driver speaker implementations.

Tube Amp Seminar by Jef Larson:

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0228.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0227.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0226.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0225.JPG


"Crossover Electronics 101" by Wayne Parham:

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0229.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0230.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0231.JPG


Line Array Seminar by Jim Griffin:

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0243.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0242.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0240.JPG


Single Driver Seminar by Akhilesh Bajaj:

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0245.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0244.JPG

http://greatplainsaudiofest.com/2006/Photos/DSCN0246.JPG


Comments on GPAF 2006:
Great Plains Audiofest 2006 Writeup, Page 2 [message #3119 is a reply to message #3111] Tue, 16 May 2006 20:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Audio Note

Audio Note was represented by Mario Binner, who flew overseas to attend the show. He is a very gracious fellow, and quite knowledgable in his product line and audio in general. I was very impressed with Mr. Binner.

Mario Binner standing beside an Audio Note Sound System

Audio Note sent a very good mid-level system. I say "mid-level" because to Audio Note, that's what it was. They have various price points from around a thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars, so this system was towards the lower end of their price scale.

In fact, the preamplifier sent was damaged so I loaned them my Audio Note Kit 2, an entry-level amplifier. It sounded very nice to my ears, and many others commented how well the Audio Note room sounded. The rest of the system consisted of AN-E/Spe Speakers, a CDT2 MkII CD transport, DAC2.1x Signature DAC and TT2 Turntable with an ARM2 tonearm and an IQ3 cartridge.

Audio Note

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Great Plains Audiofest 2006 Writeup, Page 3 [message #3120 is a reply to message #3119] Thu, 18 May 2006 22:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

abraxasaudio

Abraxas Audio is the brain child of Jef Larson, who came and brought his lovely wife Deborah. They're really special at GPAF every year; Jef did a wonderful seminar on tube amp construction and Deborah always fills the halls with her warm smile. She even brought around some goodies to eat - Thanks Deborah!

Jef and Deborah Larson

Jef Larson makes each amplifier by hand, so each is an individual work of art. You would think that would mean each amplifier must cost several thousand dollars, but that's not the case. They are actually very inexpensive. In fact, on Sunday, Jef offered a special deal - An abraxasaudio amp and Brines speakers for $999. Amazing!

The abraxasaudio room sounded great, as always. It was one of the most popular rooms of the show!

abraxasaudio tube amplifiers

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Those are taller than the ceilings in my house! [message #3124 is a reply to message #3106] Fri, 19 May 2006 13:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
spkrman57
Messages: 522
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (1st Degree)
What efficiency will that unit be rated at???

Regards, Ron

Re: Those are taller than the ceilings in my house! [message #3132 is a reply to message #3124] Mon, 22 May 2006 21:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ping is currently offline  ping
Messages: 2
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
Ron,

Have not received it from the guy yet. Some tech details.

Ping


Great Plains Audiofest 2006 Writeup, Page 4 [message #3133 is a reply to message #3120] Mon, 22 May 2006 22:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Great Plains Audio Club Room - Mark Margiotta

There were two Great Plains Audio Club rooms this year at GPAF, one run by Mark Margiota and another by Akhilesh Bajaj. Mark's room was virtually a second Audio Note room because his system contains a lot of Audio Note gear. It was a great sounding room, as always!

Mark Margiotta, ready to spin another disc

Mark has an excellent record collection, literally hundreds and hundreds of pressings, many very rare and most in great shape. So he not only prides himself in having a great system, but also for having lots of good software to use on it. The system consists of Audio Note Conquest 300B monoblocks with WE tubes, AN/e LX loudspeakers, AN LX speaker cables and ANVx interconnects, Audible Illusions Modulus 3A preamp, Meridian 508.24 CD Player and a Sota Comet turntable with Audioquest PT-6 tonearm and Sumiko Blue Point Special cartridge.

Click photo for larger view

Great Plains Audiofest 2006 Writeup, Page 5 [message #3138 is a reply to message #3133] Tue, 23 May 2006 23:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Skip Pack's DIY Audio Room

Skip and Charlie discussing the Squeezebox digital audio server

Skip Pack setup a system entirely home made, and some of his gear is pretty sophisticated. The source is a laptop computer acting as a file server, connected through wireless 802.11g router to a Squeezebox. The Squeezebox system provides a user interface and DAC, and requests song files from the computer. Its (digital or) analog audio output is connected to an amplifier, a DIY GainClone in this case. With this setup, Skip sends sound remotely throughout his home without the need for physical connections. The speakers are Studio Series two π Speakers, built from a kit and modded with audiophile crossover components.

Click photo for larger view

Great Plains Audiofest 2006 Writeup, Page 6 [message #3141 is a reply to message #3138] Wed, 24 May 2006 21:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Rhino AcousticsMaxxHorn and BassMaxx

MaxxHorn Immersion Loudspeaker
BassMaxx horn sub in background

Rhino Acoustics brought their newest creation to GPAF - A home hifi speaker called Immersion. Not only did it sound great, but it looked stunning. Rhino Acoustics is best known for their BassMaxx prosound horn subwoofers, and they brought one of those to GPAF too. The Immersion sounded just fine without a sub, but what's the fun in that?

Click photo for larger view

Great Plains Audiofest 2006 Writeup, Page 7 [message #3142 is a reply to message #3141] Wed, 24 May 2006 22:55 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Azzolina Audio

Azzolina Audio's Charlie Azzolina-Michlin

Azzolina Audio makes some very fine products, a whole line, in fact. The Basso basshorn is based on the Klipsch LaScala design, with the rear chamber ported for greater extension. The Alto mid/high horn is a large format horn using a Lowther driver and Le Cleac'h expansion. But Charlie didn't stop there, in fact, he specializes in triode amps, introducing the Soprano line stage, Baritone triode push-pull main amp and Tenor USB DAC. Now are you ready for this? Azzolina Audio brought these to market in an amazing seven months! But don't take that to mean Charlie is new to this, no sir. Charlie has been building and designing tube amps and audio gear for years so this was a natural extension of his audio passions. Good work, Charlie!

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