Fun In The Sun On The Run ~ Couple Of Hours In 11 Mile Canyon 26Mar25

I returned to the Front Range today via Lk George and headed up 11 Mile Canyon to fish the S Platte. It was a gorgeous day and 47 other carloads of fishermen thought so too. I didn't hit the water till about noon and left at 2:30pm. Flows were down to 65cfs, which didn't seem good either. I caught a number of smaller 16"-17" fish including a brown and cutbows. The emerger midge worked best but I actually saw a BWO on the water and added that for a while.

Springtime In The Rockies ~ Good Golfing, Hiking, Fishing, & Skiing Mar25

Golf... One hopes it'll always be like this. The fam got together at City Park GC in Denver to enjoy lunch and a round with Kala & Matt; Letha even came for outing and drove the cart.

Hike... Sure we have snowy and colder days but between those... yeah. Kala & I are prepping for our trip to Big Bend and have been hiking around some together. We're both coming off of illnesses so we're working up to the longer, steeper hikes. Around Blodgett Pk and the open space there, right behind our house, is always fun.

Fish... March sees the beginning of the cutthroat & rainbow simultaneous spawn... that's why we get big cutbows. The tailwaters of the South Platte, Arkansas and Blue Rivers near us are strong fisheries where that dynamic plays out annually and I partake... not in the spawn but the more ready availability of the biggest fish as they turn red, gain hookjaws, and get randy. We don't fish the spawning beds (redds) but nearby is game.

Ski... Spring skiing on the sunny 45° days is awesome, and there are plenty in March. We alternate these with dumpers in Summit Co; so fun. Plus, being able to aprés at one of the best breweries in the country sucks not, especially when the boyz can break away from duties.

DRC Audiophile Systems' Descriptions ~ They're All GR8 22Mar25

It's been a while and updates have been made to many of the primary systems I use @ Blodgett and @ the Nest to listen to music and movies. Too I've recently added and optimized a new system in the Blodgett living room called the EleFrugalKit; I already described it HERE so won't repeat that. Additionally, no changes have been made to Mobile Nirvana or the Blodgett Theater described HERE, so I won't repeat them either.

Nest Music Theater ~ NestMT 6.2.1 Immersive Sound

The most amazing and complex audio system in my collection is the 6.2.1 NestMT. It's been built out over 4 years through many custom speaker alternatives, as well as adding new sources, and changes in core electronics. It is stable and final and awesome now. The final speaker array is based entirely on efficient Fostex E𝚺 drivers in cool alternative efficient cabinets including the L/R mains of original DRC BLHs (back loaded horns) with 6" Fostex FE168E𝚺s bolstered at the high end by Russian Viawave SRT-7 ribbon super tweeters to hit the highest highs, a center channel pair of DRC Onkens with 4" Fostex FE108E𝚺s, Metronome ML-QQWT (mass loaded quadratic tapered quarter wave transmission line) surrounds with Fostex FE108E𝚺s, and height speakers of MiniOnkens also with Fostex FE108E𝚺s. These high efficiency full range speakers are complimented by a musical 600 watt HSU ULS 15-Mk II subwoofer. Fronts are driven by a hand-built 8W 300B SET tube amp rolled up throughout with a NOS 1958 Tung-Sol 5687s pre-amp and modern Czech KR Audio 300B power; the center is driven by a Willsenton R8 loaded with Mullard EL34s. The height and surrounds are driven by an  oldish Yamaha AVR, TSR7810, in order to get modern derived and discrete Dolby & DTX channel signals as well as center channel pre-amp output for the Willsenton. The Yamaha is also the 24bit/192KHz DAC for the center, surround, and height channels. The fronts are EQed digital to digital with a miniDSP DDRC 22D with Dirac Live (for room EQ) and then D>A conversion is done by the awesome Denafrips Pontious 2 multibit pure R2R ladder DAC. Signal path delays from this multi-amp/multi-DAC configuration are cleverly eliminated using a Felston DD740 which allows synchronization of several outputs from several inputs. Alternative source material in the NestMT is delivered either from vinyl on the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo turntable with Tube Box DS2 pre-amp and Sumiko cartridge, Roku digital streams, or flac files served by my Linux JRiver MC streamer. For all 2 channel PCM material I can play just that on the mains or derive the other channels with Dolby PLIIx or DTX... both sound great.

NestDesk ~ Bamboo Blanda Bowls All Around, With Massive Monitor

The NestDesk has undergone a comprehensive upgrade in electronics recently but is always anchored by some great speakers built from bamboo Ikea salad bowls.  The front 6" bowls are built of 4" Fostex FE108NS drivers and they're supported by an 11" Blanda serving bowl subwoofer carrying a 6.5" Tang Band WS-22536 driver driven by an external 100w class AB plate amp. Yeah, that's a bamboo dog bowl holder carrying the sub. The kit is driven by a Black Ice FX10H tube amp updated with Tung-Sol 7189 power tubes and winning the DAC-off was a Denefrips Enyo 15th R2R DAC. I added a cork-backed desk pad to absorb some bounced mid-high waves but otherwise this has killer near field sound, with some thump. I didn't scrimp on the monitor either, a 42" 4K/HDR LG OLED on a monitor arm. Works for lots of workspace, or killer desktop concerts... that's the amazing Anna Moss on screen. Too, the kit has some nice headphones. Source material is spewed by my MacStudio YouTube/Music, FlacBox or JRiver MC apps.

Blodgett Family Room ~ Front Array Onkens

This is the first mention for the Blodgett FR kit as a righteous hifi system. It's anchored by a front soundfield built by a pair of custom NanoOnkens and the NanoCC, an Onken-like center channel, (all based on the keen 4" Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HD driver). The 5.1 system's sub for LFE and low end is the closed SVS SB 1000 and the surrounds are space saving in-ceiling 7" 2 way speakers. This speaker array is now driven by a "new" and modest Onkyo TX-NR6100 to assure modern discrete Dolby & DTX decodes for shows and 8K/HDR switching for the TV. The TV/monitor is the great fitting, great showing 42" LG 4K/HDR OLED panel. Source material is supplied to this room, or any of 5 other rooms in Blodgett, by a Roku Ultra or by another mele Linux JRiver MC streamer.

Blodgett Schiit ~ Refinements & Updates

Just a source stream refinement and USB update have been made on this strong headphone system. Mr Speakers EtherC Flow planar magnetics are driven by a hybrid Schiit Mjolinar 2 tube amp. 1960s Amperex "Holland D Getter" E88CC (fun) or Telefunken E88CC (clean) driver tubes are used ~ I can blow my mind either way. The DAC is a Schiit R2R Gungnir with a recent Unison USB update; it's just more musical and warm than delta-sigma DACs. This system is balanced all the way from digital stereo sources to my ears; 4 wire XLR connectors and cabling are used on the headphones and in the interconnects between amp & DAC. Mostly flac files from JRiver (v32) or YouTube (Music) are streamed to the DAC via USB. This is my reference headset and Kala sleeps soundly when I'm on the closed cans.

Another Good Day On The PT ~ Bigs Are Out For Spawn 21Mar25

The cutbow spawn on the Arkansas tailwater in Pueblo is in full swing. One implication is that the sections' biggest fish are out getting randy, and displaying spawning behaviors. We don't fish on the redds or disturb them (always wade far around the spawning beds) but nearby resting and feeding fish are fare game. Often the largest fish fin off beds nearby and above their normal deeper holes, so they can escape back to the depths readily. It's a great time of year to be fishing our rainbow tailwaters in CO. My outing to the PT began late at 11am and ended early at 2pm but I still caught many larger and stronger fish at about 2/hr. Flows are still low @ 153cfs; temps were low 60's; wind was minimal. All fish today were taken on a gray-brown midge emerger; all were 18"-20", so I did score my 1st 20"er of the year (shown eating the guy beneath me ~ not a great pic as to showing size really, but funny); only one lady was in the mix. I toted the keen Rodfather Ghost Bomber; it landed all the big fish readily respecting my 5.5X tippets.

Latest DRC Audiophile System ~ The EleFrugalKit Experiments Make It 20Mar25

I had a notion of "cheapest but best" in search of a worthy stereo system for the Blodgett Living Room (BLR). It's here now and it is awesome; the best stereo I've done. I will do a final description now, but the entire journey is within prior blog entries. Basically this is $15K sound for $2K. If you know me, you know, for others, I've ranged throughout my life from really esoteric and expensive speakers and amps and sources and now always come back to: 1) custom high efficiency speakers based on single full-range drivers in horn cabinets, 2) low power single-ended triode (no feedback) tube amps, and 3) multi-bit DACs combined with 24bit/192KHz digital source files. Ok, vinyl is accepted but is just less manageable or convenient... no shaky needle drops needed from my iPhone.

The EleFrugalKit is built upon the incredible Frugel-Horn Mk3 cabinet design (15mm Baltic birch ~$100/pr); I built and tweaked this keen design from Scott Lindgren. After rolling and measuring 5 different 4" full range drivers, my favored (shown) are Tang Band 4-1337s (TB1337s ~$200/pr) and Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HDs (MAP7s~$100/pr). The TBs sparkle across the range from dubl bass to rim shots and glockenspiels derived from the big magnet, tight basket, good excursion, and titanium cone. The MAs are smoother and and more complete sounding. Driving the transducers is a DRC hand-built Elekit TU-8200R tube amp (~$900) loaded with modern Russian Tung Sol 6550 power tubes (~$190/pr) and a 1960's NOS Valvo ECC82 pre-amp section (~$150/pr). There was a significant roll through power tubes and driver tubes to get to this optimum. Offering source material is a keen Bluetooth aptX HD receiver called DS200Pro ($80) on one input (for phones and other transient wireless stream sources), and a mele Linux computer ($150) streaming from JRiver MC attached to my .5TB of flac files spun from my ArchLinux server on the 2nd input. The hardwired source is rendered through a Schiit Modi Multibit 2 ($320) "multibit" DAC, the least expensive MB DAC I could find (tested great); the DS200PRO has its own ESS Sabre 24/192KHz delta-sigma DAC.

So the entire EleFrugalKit is $2K and small, and I'd challenge anything, and demo confidently, that it'd be un-bested. OK, my $8K 5.1.2 NestMT can beat it but this kit totally rocks.

Update 22Mar25 Trying DSP Again... I lashed in the miniDSP again and tried smoothing the bass bumps from the FH3s with TB1337s that I saw, and other stuff. I tried twice (see graph) ~ the 1st was to eliminate the bumps ~ meh, did it. The 2nd was to eliminate everything above the significant 3Khz-8KHz valley section; lots of processing needed but got it to the room curve. On listening neither of these biquads DSP adjustments made enough difference to me ~ I removed the miniDSP and went natural FH3-TB1337 again and am happy. At least I tried.

Update 29Mar25 Demo Day In The Blodgett Living Room... I threw a last minute net out for a demo after finishing the FH3s and returning them to the Blodgett LR. The only taker was Yoho and we had a blast listening to all style of tunes we like. We agreed that the FrugalHorns were best at rendering voices and acoustic instruments; electric rock & roll just was not as clean or compelling. Not a big issue for me as my realm is mostly aligned with that goodness. Thanks Jim for supplying nice brews.

Update 31Mar25 Room Placement/Traps & Driver Choice... After listening a ton and measuring the FH3s after some boom was ameliorated via DSP I sought to make the same adjustment purely acoustically. I moved the speakers around and loaded different sized pillows in various locations. I settled on a 16" move out from the wall/corner and some smallish pillows added behind the last horn section... the measured improvement toward my house curve is shown.

I also went back and ran a head2head listening contest and measurement session of the Tang Band 1337 (TB1337) vs the Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HD (MAP7). The MAP7 won both with smoother sounds, and now are in the FH3s. Whether that is "for good," I don't know, but they are in there "for now."

The new placement, bass traps, and drivers delivered a more comprehensive and immediate soundfield during tonight's demo with DD. We hit Trinity for dinner and then I served some tunes on the EleFrugalKit ~ some speced in rock, country, and rap by Daryle and they all sounded good. The kit is in very good shape from demo daze. Thx boyz.

Update 01Apr25 More Nods For The Kit... I was able to chase some Peregrine bros into the BLR seating and received some more affirming nods to the playlist and the design/build/sound. Thanks Scooter & Larry... pretty fun eve. No pics 'cause, you know, top secret kept that way here.

Rolling Drivers In The FrugalHorns ~ Audio Adventures With EleFrugalKit Stereo 18Mar25

The Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HD drivers (pic center) are super solid, very wide range, musical, and pretty flat in the FH3 corner horns, and they are very affordable. But can I do better? The FrugalHorns are known to be very tolerant of a variety of 4" drivers. I have some great 4" full range alternatives in other speakers that I can try: (pic left to right) Fostex FE108EΣs from the Metronomes in the NestMT, Fostex FE108NSs from the Blanda108s on the NestDesk, wild Tang Band W4-2356s from the TriPorts @ MLC's, Too, I like the specs and reviews of the titanium Tang Bang 4-1337s so I bought a pair to throw in the mix.

While I really like the MAP7.2HDs, driver swapping is the next alternative shot at rolling into a big sonic improvement in the Blodgett living room (BLR) stereo ~ plus I just really like the experimenting, obviously. I gathered all the speakers with these drivers in them into COS for the driver rolling.

Sweeping The "Home" Cabinets... Before rolling though, I swept all these speakers in their "home" cabinets in the room in which the FH3s exist. Interesting comparison... the FH3s with the current Mark Audio Pluvias are the best sounding overall full range speakers (not unexpected, being horns), with the excellent Metronomes (quarter wave transmission lines) being second ~ while this cabinet is very nice, the performance is attributable as well, in part, to the very nice FE108EΣ drivers (which display the telltale 1KHz dip). Both of these are larger and produce solid bass to achieve true full range. The TriPorts and the Blandas are smaller and just don't have the bass, and they display some BDS loss in free space to boot. The Blandas were 3rd best (they sound great as nearfields) and TriPorts were last in this list, which are nice in voices, but lose some high end.

Meanwhile... I'm breaking in the new titanium Tang Bands while futzing with the rest.

Rolling 4" Drivers In The FH3s... I will now rotate through these drivers in the FH3s and listen and measure. I added spade female quick connects to the ends of the internal speaker wires of the FH3s to facilitate switching drivers readily. They don't all have the same hole patterns but no holes will be exposed in the process and I used smallish screws. I am not going to optimize poly stuffing in the FH3s by driver ~ the 30g of poly fluff per throat and trap that I used for the Pluvias will be constant... not optimal but close enough. I will of course measure (from position A 4m from drivers) and listen throughout this roll. My playlist includes AJ Lee, Molly Tuttle, Sammy Rae, Sara Jarosz, and Mark Knopfler.

Whoa the Fostex FE108EΣ based FH3s are sweet... maybe a bit thinner on the back-loaded bass than the Pluvias but stellar on the mid-highs. They don't seem as solid on cymbals either.

Wow, the Fostex FE108NS based FH3s are even better... New Sols have stronger thump than the EΣs and full round sound all up and down. They're even offering great high end. Solid choice but at 3X the price are they worth the extra $, and am I willing to give them up from nearfield glory on the NestDesk ~ probably not.

The TangBand W4-2356 based FH3s are like these drivers, weird... 1st, they render 3-5dB less than the other drivers at the same amp setting ~ I had to bump the measurement up to the others to compare. 2nd, they just don't have the mid-high end of the others drivers... while the mids are OK, these speakers are just dull.

The new TangBand 4-1337 based FH3s are excellent... The big magnet and solid basket deliver tight sound, great cymbals & rim shots, present a wide soundfield across the complete orchestra, sound great on vocals and bluegrass strings, and deliver strong bass. These are a solid choice but not quite up to the FE108NSs. The TB1337s are a great alternative the the MAP7s with cool dynamism. I really like them and will not return them; these are more what I expected from Tang Band.

Here are the sweeps for all the 4" full range drivers measured in the FH3s, and a 2nd pic for just MAP7 vs TB1337. The SPL graphs kind of bear out what I heard above. Every driver is headed back into its "home" cabinet, and for now I will continue to enjoy the new Tang Bands... but the Mark Audios are ever available. The MAs might be a bit smoother but the TBs rock too. I also think there is more time needed for the titanium to relax a bit and the TBs to open up even more.

Well, this driver roll is likely the final optimization I plan for the BLR stereo. All the projects completed over the past several weeks have progressed and refined the sound on this kit. The lynchpins of course are the Frugel-Horn Mk3 cabinets with great MA or TB drivers, the Elekit TU8200R amp with TungSol 6550 power tubes and Valvo ECC82 NOS 1960 pre-amp tubes, and the recently added Modi Multibit DAC. Listen acutely friends.

Rolling Another DAC-Off ~ Elekit PS-3249R vs Schiit Modi Multibit 17Mar25

Ok, the "integrated" Elekit delta-sigma DAC is now optimized to the extent I want to take it (see prior post). But, it's still just an OK DAC serving in a keen system. Can I do better but stay cheap? I was impressed with Schiit's "True Multibit" tech when I did a DAC-off for the NestDesk, that included their Bifrost... it didn't win against the Denafrips Enyo 15th, a true R2R DAC, but it was close. So, keeping with the small and frugal tone of this whole kit, I bought the least expensive "multibit" DAC I've ever seen, the $300 Modi Multibit, to trial it and bake off against the incumbent Elekit DAC. The Schiit seems16bit internally to me but handles 24bit/192KHz (and that's what's advertised for its bit depth/sample rate). I could throw in the miniDSP 2x4HD again with these other DACs, but it's just not as good when EQ isn't needed. The SPL sweeps comparing the DACs were largely indistiguishable ~ as I've seen before. I will use my ears on headphones and from the fab FrugalHorns.

The Schiit ModiMB2 was just better than the "integrated" Elekit 3249R DAC so I'll be adding it to the EleFrugalKit. While listening to key passages on Phoebe's, Molly's, and AJ's works was great on the FH3s, it was a challenge to find sharp differences as I A-B compared the DACs. I liked the low range on the ModiMB2 more but that was about it. On headphones however the differences were more noticeable; the ModiMB2 sounded more defined, was "faster" tracking on decays, and it was more dynamic sounding. Perhaps it's not just the "multibit" nature of the ModiMB2 but also the difference in how the DACs are powered ~ the Elekit is powered from the attached PC USB (which is potentially noisy) and the ModiMB2 has a keen AC wall adapter. 

So, the Modi Multibit 2 is "in" the Blodgett Living Room Kit now.