Friday, September 25, 2015

Our 25th Meeting

OK, fellow audiophiles in the Las Vegas area and everywhere (really, this is the worldwide web after all), the first official audio society ever in Sin City, has now completed its 25th meeting!

We had our 25th meeting on 9-19-15.

This time LVAC member Les hosted. This was Les’ second time hosting in 2015 – the first time was in January, 8 months ago. In the interim, Les had moved from a condo to an apartment and re-installed his audio and video system.

Les had also taken his speakers from the prototype stage (or, as I called it in January, “a DIY project”) to a finished furniture quality system. Both the appearance and sound quality (which was good to start with) have improved. Les credited part of that to the assistance he received from LVAC member Barry, who spent several hours in Les’ living room Thursday evening tuning the system with Barry’s TEF system to prepare for the meeting.

As he did in January, Les presented a wide range of vinyl, CD and video source material. He contrasted the differences between those media. The music ran the gamut from classical to jazz to rock including vintage and current recordings. As was the case in January, all of the different genres of music sounded great on Les' system. The system does not discriminate on recording quality, either. It features several octaves of “lower mid-range” often missing from other systems which highlight the full sound range of pianos,guitars, many other musical instruments and male and female vocalists. The system was very neutral without sounding thin and bright as many audiophiles would think that horn speakers with solid state electronics would be.

Les also played selections submitted by other members. One of them, "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens, which member Jonathan brought on both vinyl and on CD, proved that CDs don’t wear out but records do.

Thanks to Jonathan as well for loaning Les a Musical Fidelity V-DAC for the demo. It “Plugged” and it “Played.”

Les presented two separate speaker systems using the same “front end” starting point in a form of an “A – B” comparison. He is obviously a big JBL fan, so all of the drivers are by JBL. Les called the systems “The Big Horns” and “The Black + Whites” – looking at the photo it is obvious why. An equipment list and photos from Jonathan and Les follow.

During the meeting, Les mentioned that he would like to sell any or all of his equipment to any interested party.

So, once again, there you have it - yet another successful LVAC meeting. Thanks again to
Les for hosting, the various members for showing up, and you for your support.

Equipment for Les' September 19, 2015 LVAC Demo

System 1 - The "Big Horns"

Speakers
  

Bass
  

1 Pair
  

Vintage JBL Apollo Cabinets with JBL LE15A woofers (refoamed by OC Spekers)

Midrange/HF
  

1 Pair
  

Custom 36in Smith Horns In Walnut And Maple with JBL 2451J drivers and Truextent BeX

diaphragms.

Electronics
  


Amplifiers
  

2 JBL UREI 6260s - 150 watts per channel each at 8 ohms

Crossover
  

Rane AC23 three way electronic crossover (set for two way at 350 Hz)

Equalizer
  

SAE Mark 17 (restored 2014)


System 2 - The "Black And Whites"

Speakers
  

Bass
  

1 Pair
  

Custom LaScala replicas with JBL D140F woofers

Midrange/HF
  

1 Pair
  

Custom 24in Smith Horns with JBL LE85 drivers

Electronics
  

Amplifiers
  

SAE Mark 3 - 120 watts per channel at 8 ohms dual monoblock


JBL UREI 6260 - 150 watts per channel at 8 ohms

Crossover
  

Rane AC22 two way electronic crossover (at 750 Hz)

Equalizer
  

SAE Mark 17 (restored 2015)


  
Other Electronics

Pre-amplifier
  

SAE Mark 9b

Equalizer
  

SAE Mark 7

DAC
  

Musical Fidelity V-DAC (loaned by Jonathan Meyers)


  
Play Vinyl
  

Turntable
  

SONY TTS 3000 (restored 2014)

Tonearm
  

SONY PUA 237

Cartridge
  

Stanton 681


  
Play CDs
  

DVD player
  

SONY SR210P


Video
  
Projector
  

EPSON 8350


Photos are below. Photos by Les and Jonathan:











Wednesday, September 23, 2015

October meeting place and time set *rescheduled*

Ok, fellow audiophiles from Las Vegas (and Southern Nevada in general,) we have determined where and when our next meeting will be at! Below are the details and whatnot. Thanks as always for looking.

The October LVAC meeting will be rescheduled from Sunday, 10-18-15 from 2-5 pm PST to Sunday, 10-25-15 from 2-5 pm PST. The meeting will still be held at the latest (and greatest?) high end audio store here in Las Vegas, Audio Visual Solutions! Greg, the store manager, will give the club a guided tour of the establishment and all of the wonderful sights and sounds therein. He will also be speaking to the club as well about various audio-related topics.

The major lines they carry are McIntosh (Platinum Dealer) Monitor Audio, Krell, Sonus Faber, PS Audio, Sony (Audio and TVs), Klipsch, Jamo, Pioneer Elite, Yamaha, Integra, Onkyo, Control4, Salamander Designs and many others. They are considering other major lines to represent. Quite a heavy hitting lineup to say the least!

Greg will also provide refreshments as par for the course.

This is a special event, so don't miss this! Be there or be square, as they say.

To get an idea of what their systems are like, please view the photos below.

For more information about the LVAC and how to become a member (you must be a member to attend this meeting,) follow the link below.

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2014/10/membership-in-lvac.html

Once you become a member, you will be provided with the address, phone number, and other pertinent details.

Photos:







Thursday, September 17, 2015

*CANCELLED* Special Event in December! A High End Audio legend visits the LVAC! *CANCELLED*

*ATTN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SPECIAL EVENT BELOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THE EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED TO A LATER DATE AND TIME*

*UNTIL THEN COME TO CES 2016 AND VISIT THE DAN D'AGOSTINO MASTER AUDIO SYSTEMS ROOM. IT WILL BE ROOM 122 ON THE 30TH FLOOR AT THE VENETIAN HOTEL AND CASINO IN LAS VEGAS*

And who is this pray tell? Well, it's a man that really needs no introduction. His name is Dan D'Agostino, and he has been building high end audio electronics since 1980. His first company was Krell Industries, which revolutionized the way Class A power amplifiers could be built and how they could drive any speakers known to man. Right around 5 years ago, he struck out on his own with a new company that bears his name; Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems. These units are the culmination of what Dan has learned over the years, and if both reviewers and end users are correct, this is the best stuff Dan has ever created to date.

So, since the D'Agostino factory is just south of Vegas in neighboring Arizona, we extended to Petra D'Agostino (Dan's wife) an invitation to Dan to come up to Vegas and demo his wares for our humble little club. We weren't expecting much, matter of fact, we were expecting something along the lines of; "who do you think you are CES? RMAF? get the F outta here!" or just the old silent treatment. Surprisingly enough, Dan has been oh so kind to agree to demo his wares for us on Saturday, December 5th, 2015 from 2-5pm PST. Yes, this will go down, believe it or not. It's a major coup d'etat for this club. Never in our wildest dreams did we think this would happen when we formed 2 years ago. Well guess what, it's happening. And no Dan, we're not worthy!

This oh so special event will be at LVAC member Mike's place. Mike has hosted a few time before over the last 2 years, and he never ceases to amaze us with his professionalism and hospitality.

However, this is a members-only event. Because of space, cost, and time considerations, itt is not open to the public. To become a member of the LVAC, click on the link below.

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2014/10/membership-in-lvac.html

Now for a few photos of Dan and the wonderful works of art that he has created. Enjoy...





Friday, September 4, 2015

September meeting place and time set

Ok, fellow audiophiles from Las Vegas (and Southern Nevada in general,) we have determined where and when our next meeting will be at! Below are the details and whatnot. Thanks as always for looking.

The September LVAC meeting will be on Saturday, 9-19-15 from 2-5 pm. Les will provide food and drink as par for the course.

This month's meeting will be at Les' place. This is his 2nd time hosting since January 2015.

To get an idea of what his system is like, click on the link below.

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2015/01/our-seventeenth-meeting.html

For more information about the LVAC and how to become a member (you must be a member to attend meetings,) follow the link below.

http://lasvegasaudioclub.blogspot.com/2014/10/membership-in-lvac.html