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serenechaos wrote:

Having just returned from this show, I have a few comments on your comments... 1) Yes, it was the amp you posted the link to.  2) Yes, the tweeter and two MF channel drivers were GOTO 3) Your estimates on flare rates aren't too far off (don't know if Jeffery want's them posted, but he was quite free with that, and all kinds of information at the show).  4) The main thing I wanted to comment on though was "person complained about dried, over-damped sound with a heavy shortage of the necessary amount twinkleness and sparks."  I was in and out of that room quite a few times, both days, and sometimes CDs were played, sometimes vinyl, sometimes really good tapes.  Sometimes the turntable was well adjusted, sometimes, well... not..  When it was right, it was hard to fault.  Everything was integrated, and "locked in" and the front row of chairs was only ~8' from the Midbass horns.  Everything from symphonys to solos-- Easily the best I've ever heard; i'm glad he brought it across the country to a show.  Now I'm trying to decide what do do the same, and what to do different.  I've wondered about that frame/front tripod.  Would it diffract soundwaves from the high MF horn and tweeter?

I do not invest a lot of credit in comment of my west coast friend, nether in your comment nor even in my own comment if I were in the room. The sound we get out of playbacks is something that serves our own sonic interests and audio adjectives. If I was at the show I would be interested in some specifics that would hardly wound be possible to furnish or to observe at show condition. Still, your comment that the Jeffery’s installation did throw some moments of excellence is nice to hear.

In the long run the actual result that Jeffery was able to obtain from that installation is not important. The most important is what and how he was trying to accomplish and that does have a great educational value.

Again, the Jeffery installation is the only commercials attempt that I have seen to time align channels by the way I do it – naturally. I said before and I will say again: horns-centric miss-align systems are crap and Jeffery’s intend is, in my view in very positive direction. It is hard to say anything further. Jeffery used Su’s GOTO drivers. GOTO are Morons and they advocated 4th orders crossovers. I hate those Linkwita-Riley fantasies about constant voltage – the people who use it juts have no ears. Still, I have no idea of GOTO might be used with slow crossovers, and I have no idea how Jeffery used them.

It is hard to judge what worth to imitate and what to do different – it would be nice to know what and how was done. In case GOTO drivers it would be hard for me for instance to predict anything with a degree of certainty and I did not play with GOTO drivers. From another side I was told that Jeffery sells the installation for $40K. It is not so huge price. Even if you obtain the drivers in Japan then they still will be around $10K-$15K that lives ~$25K for whole system.  The MF horn cost around $1K and the lower MF horn around $2K. That lives $1K-$2K for a frame (obviously it shell be better quality and design) and leaves ~$15K for big horn.  I think it is somewhere very reasonable numbers not to met ion that the drivers most like are being sold, even in wholesale, not as it might be sold in Japan.

So, considering that Jeffery demonstrates his ability for more of less sane horn construction considering that he is open for custom commissioning:

http://www.experiencemusic.net/philosophy.htm

, considering his reasonable prices I think that people who would look forward to build something similar might consider to recruit Jeffery for a custom project. The system need to be designed, estimated and tailored for the specific need - in my mind this is how any more or less serious installation shell be done. I think it is a good direction and if we have 5-6 builders in US with knowledge, taste and skills (not the Fitzmaurice-level fucking idiots that infested market nowadays) then in 5-10 years horn-loaded installations might be very far then they are now. In fact, if Jeffery (who is a young guy) will be in business then public has from him 2-5years when it would be possible to make his to do anything worthy and later the industry’s brain disease will forces him to make the same crap as any other audio company do in their plunge in reference points, descent of audio objectives and profit maximization.

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