Club Meeting Information
Ever wondered what the audiophile world was all about or if "tube-heads" are similar to "dead-heads?" Come meet us and find out. We are based in the Greater Seattle area but our members come from all over the Pacific Northwest. We always welcome newcomers to our meetings. Feel free to email us if you have any questions
Meeting Calendar
February 9th, 2012 - Our February meeting is a very special event which will feature presentations and discussion with two Pacific Northwest audio manufacturers. Coming up from Amboy (Vancouver) WA, Dan Wright, from ModWright Instruments, will be bringing his KWI 200 integrated amp with integral DAC, LS 100 tube linestage (also with DAC), a KWA 150SE SS Power amp (a very special piece - ed), and likely a tube-modified Oppo BDP-95. From Ferndale (Bellingham) WA, Lou Hinkley from Daedalus Audio, will be bringing his Athena speakers. These speakers are characterized by their ability to remain clear as well as natural, with a wide range of music and at all volume levels. In addition, their high (96 db) efficiency makes them amp-friendly, and it doesn't hurt that they're beautiful to look at. Both manufacturers encourage members to bring their favorite demo discs to the meeting. These same manufacturers partnered at the 2011 Rocky Mountain Audio Festival to produce great music for visitors to their rooms.
January 12th, 2012 - The January meeting of the PNWAS will feature an exciting showdown of digital playback systems. This will be both an interesting preview of state-of-the-art digital audio components, as well as a showcase of digital gear our Executive Committee has selected as candidates for consideration in our own digital playback system. Headlining the first half of the meeting will be a duel between the stock Oppo multi-player and a modified player from John Tucker, at Exemplar Audio. The second half of the meeting will pit the stock Oppo against the Eximus DAC. The music will be a mixture of top-notch Redbook and hi-res tracks.
December 8th, 2011 - Annual holiday party and gift exchange.
November 10th, 2011 - Road trip to the Madrona Digital studio, in Bellevue. Be sure to RSVP a few days ahead. Guests, please email / call Darin or Joe to RSVP. You won't want to miss this one.
October 13th, 2011 - The October meeting will feature a comparison of the two very different amplifier topologies. The Class A* Plinius SA-103 will square off with the Class D Genesis GR360. Both of these amps have received critical acclaim in the media and both sound terrific. Special thanks to members Peigen Jiang (Plinius) and Joe Pittman (Genesis) for providing the gear for this event.
September 8th, 2011 - Our next meeting will focus on music, specifically, your favorite music. We are asking that all members and guests bring music that brings you enjoyment, has special meaning, or represents something new that you’ve heard and want to share. We’d like you to bring one or two discs or records, and if you’re comfortable with it, say a few words about what you like about the music. This type of event is always fun and simple, and makes it easy to come up with new additions to your music collection. This event is all about sharing the music you like with the rest of us.
August 27th, 2011 - We will hold our two year DIY project event on Saturday, Aug 27th. Watch our events page for more details as the date approaches.August 11th, 2011 - Road trip to Mike Levigne's, to listen to his world-class system. Those of you who attended last year and the year before will be amazed when you hear the changes he's made this year. RSVP to joe@kosmic.us
July 14th, 2011 - A few small tube amps will be on hand to explore the allure of high efficiency speakers. We will use the 95dB efficient, Cain & Cain Abby.
June 9th, 2011 - Audio Society member and inventor of the amazing Ground Control tweak, Bud Purvine, will demonstrate his speaker driver modification process, he calls enABLE. This process elimnates the resonance that resides on the surface of the driver, a problem which today's drivers do not address. We'll have two sets of the same speaker (one treated, one not) and you will hear the before and after in an A/B listening test. Get ready to be shocked by the improvement.
May 12th, 2011 - Dan Schmalle (aka Doc Bottlehead) will demonstrate his creations. Dan is renowned in the audiophile world for his low-power amplifiers and headphone amps, which can be purchased as a kit by DIYers. The source will be Dan's reel to reel tapes, from the Tape Project and the gear on hand will include a set of Dan's 300Bs and his 2 watt OTL Set amp, connected to his Straight 8 (eight driver) speakers. In addition, Dan will have four listening stations set up with his headphone amps and several models of headphones.
April 14th, 2011 - Jules Bloomenthal, will give a presentation on the ground breaking work he did with Soundstream Inc, at the dawn of the digital music age. The meeting will include listening to several early digital recordings made by Jules and his colleagues.
March 10th, 2011 - Ted Smith will come by with his new DAC prototype, which utilizes DSD technology.
February 10th, 2011 - Is Digital Ready for Prime Time?
The club has many members who are dedicated vinyl-philes, and as many members where the CD/Music Server is their
primary source. There have been endless debates on digital vs analog - theory and specifications vs "just listen".
This month's meeting is not a debate on analog vs digital, but an exploration and discussion on state of the art in
analog and digital playback.
As a basis of discussion, we have attempted to put together a system that is equally optimized for analog and digital. We will be able to compare high-quality analog playback with a pass through an ADC and DAC loop. While this is certainly not exhaustive, it will give attending members food for thought..... and whether with the system assembled, members in the acoustic space of the club meeting can hear the difference between straight analog, and analog digitized and then converted back to analog.
The system will comprise the following:
Roksan Xerses 20+ record player
Roksan Artemiz arm
MicroMagic Virus cartridge (with ruby cantilever and optimized contour stylus)
Burmester Top Line Ph100 phono stage with built-in 24bit/192hz ADC
Weiss Minerva DAC (plus mods by Gary)
Genesis SMc-1 Preamp
Genesis GR360+ amplifier
Genesis 7.1f loudspeaker
Members are encouraged to bring their LPs to play.
January 13th, 2011 - Contestants from our speaker contest last August return to show off their creations. From horns to 3-ways to monitors, we will have nearly all of the award winners from the contest.
December 9th, 2010 - Annual Christmas and holiday party.
November 11th, 2010 - High Definition video and music with Jerry Pomeroy.
October 14th, 2010 - Guest speaker TBA.
September 9th, 2010 - Tweaks...amazing gizmos and devices you may not have tried yet.
August 28th, 2010 (Saturday) - PNWAS Biennial (every two years) DIY Speaker Building Contest: entrants will have their speakers played and judged from behind a curtain, with the exact same gear, music selections and SPL calibration. To the victors go the bragging rights.
Doors at 9:00am and judging starts around 9:30. The contest will go until all the entries have been evaluated by the judges and their scores are totaled and ranked within classes and overall. Winners will then be announced and presented with certificates, with the Best of Show then announced. Everything should wrap up around 4:00-5:00pm. Please contact us if you have further questions
Click here for detailed information about the contest.
August 12th, 2010 - This month's meeting will be held at Mike Lavigne's listening room. Guests not on our distribution list, go to the contact page and contact Darin Forkenbrock, for details.
July 8th, 2010 - 70's night...gear and music from a golden age.
June 10th, 2010 - A reel-to-reel listening session with Bruce Brown and his best reels, from Puget Sound Studios.
May 13th, 2010 - Turntable setup tips, followed by a listening session with various tables and gear. Bring your special vinyl.
April 8th, 2010 - Rollout of a few prototype commercial components from club members, as well as some DIY component and speaker projects built by members.
March 11th, 2010 - Guest amplifier designers present their new monoblocks, which yield an amazingly tube-sounding solid state design, along with the newest speaker designs from Northwest-based Eficion.
February 11th, 2010 - Presentation by Bruce Brown, of Puget Sound Studios, on converting LPs to high-resolution digital files.
| Times: | Meetings are held
the second Thursday of every month (unless stated otherwise) at 7:30 PM and last about 2 hours. |
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| Location: | Mercer
Island Congregational Church (basement) 4545 Island Crest Way Mercer Island, WA 98040  |
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Directions
From Interstate 90I-90 Eastbound: take the Island Crest Way exit (Exit 7B), at the end of the exit ramp, merge left onto Island Crest Way.
I-90 Westbound: take the Island Crest Way exit (Exit 7) and turn left onto Island Crest Way.
Go south on Island Crest Way for about 1.4 miles.
The Church is just after the crest of a hill, on the right hand side. The church is just past SE 45th St.
Follow the parking lot left. We meet in the basement. Audio Club Seattle WA