Relocating The EleFrugalKit ~ Dialing In The FHMk3s With MAP7s Via miniDSP 27Feb26

Relocating EleFrugalKit... With future plans for the east wall and east area of the lower level in Blodgett, I relocated the FH MK3s to that wall along with all the electronics. I did lose display of band images and lyrics from JRiver MC but I am working on repair of a decent Sony XBR TV that might get me all that back... we'll see. Yeah, I painted a shoebox full of wall warts. The latest album from Sweet Pill is worthy.

Measuring EleFrugalKit On East Wall... I remeasured the FH MK3s with my new Umik-2. They sound great but are jiggy and measure with more distortion than prior. So, I rolled in some EQ courtesy of the miniDSP 2x4HD... I auto-created PEQ filters in REW after measuring the FH3 MAP7s raw. Good measured and listening improvement in the low end with some EQ (green is good). Distortion is managed better too. Amazing these FH3s with Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HD drivers get down to 45Hz.

Adding Super-Tweeters To Blodgett Theater Mains ~ Fostex T90As Sizzle 24Feb26-26Feb26

T90A Super-Tweeters... I removed my Viawave ribbon super-tweeters from Blodgett long ago, to add them to the Nest MT mains. It is past time to add some super-tweeters back to extend my Paradigm Reference Studio 100 3-way L/R mains to 4-ways and the moon. I chose the somewhat affordable Fostex T90A horns (there are 'similar' Fostex horns at $1300 each ~ I didn't touch those). The T90As are well respected and widely reviewed; they cover 5KHz to 35KHz and are very sensitive. Too, while small, they are heavy. I added a variable L-PAD and 1.5µF capacitor for a ~10KHz crossover and adjusting integration with the mains. I fabricated an inexpensive housing for the electronics when my initial supplier backed out of the buy due to tariff uncertainty. The T90A comes with a small  dowel 'stand" that I painted black and to which I added small feet in the back to level the super-tweeter over the raised lip of the towers. With the sensitivity of the towers almost the same as the horn super-tweeters I just lashed the T90As (with L-PAD) in parallel with the towers. Listening: yeah, cymbal crashes sizzle now. I always felt the PR Studio 100 high end needed some help and howdy, now they have it again. That's 'modern' Grace Potter on YouTube.

Measuring & Integrating The Super-Tweeters... The TA90s were potent... I took a number of measurements and adjusted their output back 15dB from maximum before I got them aligned to the Paradigm Reference Studio 100s. Here's the final lineup which yields a satisfying integration. This shows the left & right super-tweeters discretely and the L&R mains combined.

And here's the 'stereo' with the now 4-way mains and the sub. Yeah... I've moved the sub around a bit and AccuEQ in the Integra DHC-80.6 has played with levels as well and I see I really need to reintegrate it manually again. Else, pretty decent above 300Hz.

Finally here are all 5.1.2 channels rolling to the listening position. Again, I have to clean up the bass.

Remeasuring & Reintegrating... I remeasured and dialed in the subwoofer manually. It seems leaving corrections to AccuEQ yielded some strange settings IMO. I flattened all those out and reintegrated the bass properly to measurements and my ear. Shown are the mains only and the sub only (moved up to bolster mains' bass).

With some of the settings changed I also remeasured the high end and adjusted the super-tweeter gain. Shown are just the mains, just the supertweeters, and the resulting combined sweep.

The full sweep of the '4-way' mains is sweet now... the sub smooths the low end when active.

Adding Height Speakers To Blodgett Theater ~ 5.1.2 'Dome Of Sound' With Titans And New KB & Mouse For Linux19Feb26

Height Speakers For Blodgett Theater... Formerly 5.1 THX system was updated to 5.1.2. With the addition of modern decodes like Dolby Atmos and others available in the 'new' Integra DHC-80.6, listening to modern soundtracks is often improved with some overhead speakers. I re-rigged the main L/R speakers from bi-amp to single to free up a couple of channels in the RDA-7 for the left & right height speakers, and adjusted the speaker layout setup in the Integra controller to the appropriate 5.1.2. The new height speakers are Paradigm brand like the rest of the theater's array...  but they are one click down from 'Reference' to 'Performance.' They are unused Paradigm Titans retired from the Blodgett Fam Rm when I built custom Onkens for that room. I bought some decent & small speaker brackets from 'Mount It' for the install to the ceiling and I did just rudimentary cabling to start, but will find a way to hide them ultimately. Once the speakers were up and connected I reran Integra's AccuEQ for balance and as a check for proper settings. All's good. I'll isolate and measure the L&R height speakers from listening position when I have my measurement mic in town.

I Run Fore/Aft Dipoles... For surrounds (on stands) so that spreads the sound out forwards and back against the wall already. That's why they are not 'behind' the listening position.

Paradigm Titan V1s Updated & Relocated... These 'bookshelf' speakers needed to be updated before installing them, as one of the speaker binding spring things was busted. I updated to more modern, and my preferred, banana jack style terminals. Fortunately the old terminal cups weren't glued and I popped them out easily. The holes needed were about the same as my replacement banana jack cups and made sufficient with a Dremel tool. Titans are two-way bass reflex speakers in 10L cabinets. All the drivers still work and the speakers sound decent. While I was in there I measured and noted the driver compliment as well as the crossover and cabinet and port dimensions in case something ever blows. Mid-Woofer is a 3.6 Ω 6" Paradigm custom driver and the tweeter is a 3/4" dome. The bass port is just 1.5" diameter and 3.25" long ~ if things were appropriately designed, that puts the port capable of ~55Hz (I don't know the fs of the driver... probably no one does) in this cabinet. The last pic in this series has the terminal update and the placement of the ceiling mount.

Listening To Full Soundtracks... Discrete decodes, most often from movie soundtracks, but also Blu-Ray discs of concerts when so recorded, is awesome with the height speakers installed. Helicopters coming from behind (in surrounds), then overhead (in heights), and then forward to the front array (in L/R & CC) is pretty cool. Even signaling derived from 2 channel PCM is compelling and immersive ~ though when I do listen to music  on this system it is often in 'straight' stereo.

Measuring Height & Surrounds... I got the new Umik-2 and measured the Blodgett Theater again. The new height speakers behave similarly to the surrounds actually and make a compelling 'rear' field of the 5.1.2. Here's a sweep of all four of the surrounds & heights together... modestly well behaved with modest bass but full spectrum.

New Keyboard & Mouse For Streamer Control In EleFrugalKit... I also replaced the rickety wired keyboard (with some missing keys) and bluetooth mouse for the streamer, used sometimes when controlling Linux running JRiver MC in the EleFrugalKit. I most often use my Harmony remote via Flirc for navigation but it's easier to do Linux maintenance, etc with a real KB. As prior noted, I've moved the whole EleFrugalKit to the lower level to be more house friendly. I acquired a Logitech Pop keyboard and associated Pop mouse. These are supposedly meant for youngsters with Insta & Tik Tok penchants but I found the pair perfect for my HAPC (home audio PC). Logitech has updated their USB dongle to 'Bolt' for security and I bought the USB dongle as it's compatible with my my new Pop purchases. The KB is surprisingly stout and heavy and clean for a Chicklet, and the 75% footprint is desired in this application... I really like it compared to other HAPC KBs I use. The only issue was that I had to pre-associate the USB dongle with the KB & mouse on macOS before moving the interfaces to my mele Linux streamer... weird.

Porsches On Passes ~ We Ripped A Southern Route Through Cripple Ck 16Feb26

The Coffin-Mariettas headed out for a rip in the Porsches on Presidents' Day. We departed COS about 10am on a nice sunny 60° day and headed to Canon City, then up to Cripple Ck, and finally home to COS for pizza at Il Vicino. It was a blast ~ Kala rode with Matt out of the wind and who knew I could ride with the top down in CO in Feb! Speed limits were exceeded on occasion and passing was always completed quickly.

We got to Canon City quickly and to Cripple Ck shortly after and found a festival day of sorts. The Ice Castles were open and visible but we did not go. The main drag was blocked off for ice sculptures (eagle was cool with saguaros ~ reminded us of the Sonoran) and a bunch of festival booths of jewelry, clothing, and food. We went in most of the casinos and they were pretty nice actually, but there weren't many tables open for playing; the main vibe was slots and game machines, 1000s of them. Still, Matt found a seat and broke even at the $10 blackjack table in Chamonix. Soon enough we were off from 9800ft elevation toward Woodland Park and then COS for pizza, then home @ 7500ft; Matt continued on down to Denver at 5280ft.

Great day with the fam.

Dressing MLC's Digs ~ And Dining With Denverites 14Feb26

Kala & I headed to DEN to visit Matt. Matt & I built a new console for his audio and TV gear while Kala sorted some stuff. It came out great and accommodates his DRC custom Tang Band Tri-Port speakers and Tang Band NanoSub well. We repurposed a Paradigm center channel from Blodgett that mates well with these. Matt bought a nice Q-OLED TV backed by a Roku Ultra.

We also hung some relevant posters in his study and the living area... more may be needed on sparsely clad walls but these are a good start.

Once we wrapped the apartment efforts for the day we met up with Letha for some tasty Nepalese food at the excellent Tikka & Grill on Broadway.

Nice day in Denver.

Music Appreciation Feb 2026 - Esoteric Perspectives From Deep In The Feed 12Feb26

Well this month's MA is a reach into 2025 for some stellar but more esoteric cuts.

• Canntarireach @ Piping Line 02Dec25 ~ Stellar Scots supergroup. Lean back with respect. 
• Stephen Wilson Jr @ Print Shop in Marietta, GA 17Oct24 ~ Just whoa; play on.
• Bleachers feat Haley Williams @ Beacon Theater w/ Jack Antonoff 27Oct25  ~ Channeling recent Haley is good, even when she’s flat; Bleachers are Bruce.
• Elise Duckworth covering ‘Angel From Montgomery’ 13SDec25 ~ Sweet new version; love Prine.
• Samantha Fish @ Esplanade Studios Can Ya Handle The Heat 08Apr25 ~ Always hairy blues.
• Margret Glaspy @ Moutain Stage 'Will You Be My Man' 13Nov25 ~ Really good NYC poet.
• Lindsay Lou @ Mountain Stage 'Queen Of Time" 18Oct 24 ~ Struggles carrying the coolest vibe & great voice.

Big Richard Concert @ Cervantes ~ Completely Fantastic With Della Mae 08Feb26

Dual Album Release Party... was a  at Cervantes in Five Points Denver last night. I was there especially to see the Colorado all-female bluegrass supergroup, Big Richard, again. I've listened since the beginning and to say their star is rising is understatement. I appreciated the skills and tunes of the 15 year New England area all-female bluegrass group, Della Mae, too. Great night @ Cervantes... I arrived early for doors and was 4th in line for the sold out 1050 house. I chose to sit and therefore headed to the balcony for the center stool above the sound guy. Cervantes sound was "ok" up there but female vocals & highs were not as good as on the floor (where I've been before). I wanted a seat though and there are only ~80 of them. At least as a septuagenarian the long process of GA including: queueing (1 hr), doors (1 hr), opener (1 hr), and show (1.5 hr) makes standing (in the right spot, which you can't leave if solo) taxing. Anyway... all female string bands are having a moment and I am a fan of these madly skilled musicians and their strong musicianship (of course include Molly Tuttle's new band in this reference. Big Richard's 'Pet' and Della Mae's 'Magic Accident' both recently dropped and many songs from these were featured at the show but both bands delivered wicked covers and older releases as well.

Della Mae... opened but didn't make the Cervantes marquee; kindof odd, but it is Colorado. They were excellent with super high energy bluegrass and are all very strong musicians. Left to right on the album cover above are Celia Woodsmith, lead vocals & rhythm,  Avril Smith, lead guitar & backup vocals, Kimber Ludiker, fiddle & vocals, and Vickie Vaughn , bass & vocals... they all write some stuff and have a Grammy nom from 2015. The bassist crushes the beat and has 3 consecutive IMBA wins as 'bassist of the year.' Celia's vocals are excellent; to hear them best from the balcony at Cervantes I was cupping my ears to draw in more of the those frequencies (a theme for the night actually). Avril wailed spectacularly from a seat all night stage left as a recent accident in the snow & ice back east left her unable to stand for the show. Her song “Out Run ‘Em,” was a highlight and featured champion fiddler Kimber Ludiker shredding lines and singing. I have to say I really liked the lead instruments all night. Della Mae did some great covers and even sang 'Burrito' penned by another fav Maya de Vitry. Clearly stellar band and notable that their producer is the brilliant Americana artist Allison Brown. I recorded Helen singing "Home of the Free;" rare find.

Big Richard... is fantastic. If you follow them or me, you've seen outstanding work from the outset in ~'21. They are an all-woman Colorado bluegrass string-band supergroup blazing the streamwaves, festivals, and concert venues. Tonight's offer @ Cervantes, as headliners in a fine local venue, was a return to CO along the tour and played as tight as I've seen them play. Really a treat. Everytime the 3 and even 4 part harmonies grabbed the ring when coupled to their mad instrument skills. Sorry for the fuzzy images... I only have an iPhone 12 and my camera is over-zoomed as I was far away... maybe I need to upgrade, or sneak my tiny rig into the venues.

Big Richard are (left to right as I watch them on stage): Eve Panning - Fiddle and Harmonies, Bonnie Sims - Mandolin & Lead Vocals, Hazel Royer - Bass & Vocals,  Joy Adams - Cello & Vocals. They all write and they all play like demons and sing like, well, not angels exactly. Joy is a Phd of music with a tenor almost baritone voice that she breaks and rewinds regularly for a wild sound, and with keen carried cello as her main axe, she's unusual all around. But she's a multi-instrumentalist and played banjo and octave mandolin this night, and she often writes and leads as on "Pet," the title track on the recent drop. She has Grammys. Eve organized the lineup initially for a one off festival (and wow, she chose wisely) and plays a mean violin and occasionally joins in the 3 and 4 part harmonies. She slams all the time and when featured in a lot of fiddle tunes which are often traditional or Appalachian or Irish like "Circus Jerk." Hazel is a recent hire replacing the initial bassist; great bandmate as her writing and lead vocals are beginning to really shine through as on "Alaska" and others. Core to lead singing and keeping the beat on mandolin as percussion, when not wailing the lead, Bonnie has a look too. BR did a breakthrough song "The Missing Stair" penned with friends and sung by Bonnie, awesome... she has TV show hits. Big Richard often do some costuming for shows, clowns (like the album cover), the founding fathers (@ Millennium in DC), and more but tonight they were mellow except everyone was wearing their own "Fuck Ice" garb. Their songs and covers, like Thorne's "Run, Red Fox Run" or "Millionaire" are political with policy and social comments sometimes... they do it well and are heard.  Protest songs are appreciated. I recorded the opening song and Joy's Pet at the show.

Big Richard is excellent and I had a great night at the Cervantes with them. I did leave a skosh early as I was late to pickup Kala from MLC's and head back to the Springs, so I did not see the mini-set featuring all 8 women.