Building The DCBR Center Channel For The Nest Great Room Audio ~ Another Acoustical Physics Demo That Sounds Great Too 03Nov25-14Nov25

The TABAD (Tang Band Dual) ~ A DCBR For Tang Band W4-1337SDF Driver... With the success of the Peregrine TABAQs as mains in the Nest GR8 room, and enough 12mm Baltic birch left over from their build, I decided to design a somewhat unique cabinet for the center channel in that room. I alluded to a dual chamber bass reflex (DCBR) during the choice to build QWTLs using the Tang Band W4-1337SDF drivers. I have now done one, using another 1337SDF driver, for the center channel, alongside the QWTLs. Yeah, that's Molly Tuttle and her band covering Thriller in costume for Halloween. The TABAQs are raised 10" onto the fireplace hearth, getting the drivers nicely to ear level at listening position.

The TABAD design... is not like those I've seen before for a DCBR, I am using 2 major chambers inside the box; they are about 2/3 and 1/3 the volume of the entire cabinet and coupled by a port; that's all largely known. I am also using rectangular slot ports to the front, tuned for bass from the back throw of the driver; slot ports are somewhat unique in a DCBR. Tuning performance is not a lot different than a normal single port - single chamber bass reflex, but it is less stressful on the driver and should deliver a smoother bass response. My driver does not have a lot of xMax throw. I won't get the low end from my 1337s as with my transmission line designs, but I don't need that from the center channel. Too, I know the slot ports are less efficient than more normal round ports but again I'm sacrificing that (knowing I have an efficient driver and usually don't play loudly in this room), for hopefully tighter bass above 60Hz. Modeling came out fine: the combined (red) response from the driver (blue) and the cabinet/ports (gold) delivers solid bass at 65Hz and is pretty smooth to 1KHz. I was a bit concerned for air speed in the ports given they are less efficient and will have more friction (23cm rectangular circumference vs 8cm round circumference), but it's fine.

Building The TABAD... Cutting the parts from the leftover sheet of birch plywood was easy; given all the straight cuts it was all done on the table saw in <1hr. That is except for the 101mm hole in the 110mm wide baffle and the drill saw holes in the chamber section pieces. I epoxied in the internal port and then dry fit the pieces to assure dimensions. I put the back, sides and chamber reinforcements together on the bottom during the 1st clamping. Then I added the front/baffle and the port boards; I used a .5cm "measuring jig" to assure the positioning of the port boards was correct and they were straight. I then used spray adhesive to put 1/2" carpet underlayment throughout the cabinet to limit resonances, leaving the last pieces till I was ready to put the top on the cabinet. I received the W4-1337SDF driver and the binding posts and finished off the speaker.

I finished the speaker with inexpensive binding posts and installed the driver with gasket tape as usual. I soldered the speaker and posts ~ I won't be changing drivers on this one.

Measuring & Listening... I installed the TABAD center channel in its location directly below the TV monitor in the Nest GR8 room. I placed a measurement mic at the prime listening position and measured it's performance using REW (mono signal to just the new TABAD; all other speakers were off). It measures and sounds smooth & awesome... pretty flat but as expected, not much bass below 75Hz...NP. I cranked it up and it remains coherent and smooth.

I could smooth the curve somewhat with DSP but I don't really need to do that externally IMO ~ I'll allow Denon's own Audessy measurement and correction do that. I next listened and measured a 3.0, and then a 3.1 configuration. Sounds excellent and the TABAQ bolster the lows to 45Hz and even smooth the highs, being at ear level. Adding the Velo servo sub gets the whole thing down to 20Hz. Finally I did the whole 5.1 thing and listened again... back surrounds are fine here for movie effects but don't add a ton to music listening.

Sanding & Finishing... I decided not to wait for spring to finish the TABAQs & TABAD. Getting the Nest GR8 room looking better heading in to winter is warranted... and the garage is heated so not too bad. Sanding in 120 then 240 grit papers via finishing sander is the start... I "plug" the ports and the driver hole in the baffle to stop ingress of dust or liquids.

I finished all 3 speakers as usual with true black stain and several coats of clear polyurethane. I yet need to tack down the new wire runs but the look and sound are right on.

I do need to figure out what to do in the 'holes' that'd be left when I remove the decommissioned NHT 1 L&R mains on the mantle. Too, I'd consider continuing to build TABAs ~ maybe some TABAOs, Tang Band Onkens, for the surround spots.

A Day With Yoho ~ Fishing The PT @ NC And An Avs Game 13Nov25

I celebrated Kala's birthday in style with my friend Yoho. It was another great day in the 70s so we headed south to fish the PT. We hit the Nature Center, but so did other fishermen. We hit the water at ~10am with modest wind and long line nymphing rigs. I caught a number of smaller bows ~15" only on our 2/3 pass of the NC section... it was crowded ahead and we jumped out before the hook weir. With lower viz turbid conditions at 150cfs flows, effective flies for me were flashier stuff: oil can Perdigon, the #22 rainbow warrior, and the #24 mojo midge. Their was a great fall mayfly hatch on @ noon as we left but there was just "nowhere" to go among the other players. We chose to dine on sloppers at Brues before returning to COS.

Traffic was complete shit all the way from COS to downtown Denver. It was rush hour sure, but also accidents laid in our way to Ball arena for the Avs game, a 2 hour commute. Ultimately we convened in a good parking spot, for which we'd prepaid ~ given Jim's knowledge and leadership, and made it with 15min to spare to opening faceoff. The 1st period was a whirlwind with Avs scoring just 1 min into the game and then adding 2 more... but the Sabres did fine too with 2 goals. Ultimately we won 6-3 with a Landeskog open net goal finishing, fed by Nece who could've rolled a hattrick but fed the captain who'd had 4 goals called back recently ~ this'll break the spell. It was a blast; from Jim's seats we could see everything.

Great day with Yoho. 

Skied The Key For My 1st Runs ~ No Snow, No Legs, Just Fun 03Nov25

Keystone has done a solid job again with snow-making early season, on the open white ribbons. There is precious little snow elsewhere out here. Despite it being 62° at the base today (I helped a chunky 5" lizard back to the sun after he'd wandered into shade & cold), I had a good time on all 3 open lifts (I didn't take Ranger) and associated runs. Snow wasn't scraped off after WE but for one smallish section, and the bottom was warm and malleable. I was surprised that even on an early Monday the River Run lot was filling up... to park on my favored N side of the lot I did take the back row. On the hill and lifts the skiers were not as noticeable and all white ribbons were navigable without incident. Woohoo; it begins. I tried to hit Last Chance on the way home but alas construction has them closed for the time being. 

Molly Tuttle Concert @ Ogden Was Excellent ~ MT GR8 As Ever; Touring Band Is Tighter, Has Complete Arrangements Throughout The Set, And Is Even Choreographed 25Oct25

I was solo to the Molly Tuttle concert @ Ogden Theater on Saturday. The Highway Knows Tour concert was excellent and the sound was good at the Ogden from the 2nd riser above the mosh pit, center stage. Molly Tuttle was exceptional, as I now come to expect... she is a guitar playing goddess, and a fine songwriter. She opened the show just as she does the latest album, with 'Everything Burns,' but she played a wild double necked 12 string & guitar someone had gifted her. That song uses her searing 12 string riffs from the opening. So good.

I wasn't on the rail for this show, unexpectedly, as traffic all the way from COS to the theater was bad. Doors were already open on my arrival at 7:15pm, which is late for me. It wasn't a big issue but with two lead -in artists and a 100min set from Molly, it was a long time standing. Opening the show was a shy but sweet sounding kid from around Nashville: Cecilia Castleman. Decent songs, sweet voice, capable guitar (which she liked to mod to a variety of sounds). Later in the show Molly invited her back to sing Goodby Little Miss Sunshine with her.

2nd up was a seasoned and funny Texas country singer named Joshua Ray Walker. His voice was special, his demeanor & schtick humorous, and his playing was excellent. Texas country for sure... there were plenty of folks near me that came to see him vs Molly Tuttle. Some even left after Walker... they sang along to his raucous and irreverent tunes. He was good and again was invited out by Molly for a duet later in her set.

Back to Molly Tuttle and the band... I saw this group debut in Vail in early June this year and, as expected, they've been working hard on all aspects of the show ~ so much tighter. The Ogden delivery was much improved with great touring arrangements of Molly's songs and covers, good solos from around the band, and even keen and a little campy choreographed moments during the show. The whole thing was excellent beginning to end. Beyond Molly's playing anything strummed, picked, or hammered (guitar, 12 sting guitar, electric, banjo, etc) and singing lead, the new band includes great musicians: Mary Mulroney upfront on fiddle, mandolin, keys, and backing vocals, Vanessa McGowan, also up front on bass, double acoustic bass, and backing vocals, Megan Jane on drums and other percussion (like washboard), and Ellen Angelico on lead electric, pedal steel, and dobro. This is a now a spectacular lineup alongside MT... different from Golden Highway (and seemingly as yet unnamed) but no less fun to see and hear. That said, I come to hear the bandleader ~ and she is killing it. Many of the songs for this show were from the latest album or her fav covers but there was bluegrass stuff and even older, like 'Take The Journey.' I like the claw-hammer songs best like this and 'Rosalee' & 'That's Gonna Leave A Mark' from her recent album. Harmonies with Molly from the front women were pretty good, especially on the single mic setup she used for the duets with opening act artists as well.

As usual, later in the show, timed with 'Old Me (New Wig),'Molly stripped off the wig and displayed her long now bald head from alopecia. I have friends who've had it and Molly still does ~ crowd was supportive, and she continued to shred. No selfie and no marquis shot ~ I was late but in plenty of time to enjoy another MT concert from this impressive and impossibly hard-working signer-songwriter and bandleader. 

Quick Outing On The Ark Tailwaters ~ Couple Of Bigs & Some Smalls On Gorgeous Day 20Oct25

I headed solo on a nice Monday to the PT @ NC to fish. It's been a while and it was fun; I toted the RF True 5 loaded with a nymph rig. Flows were up over several days to ~300cfs, skies were clear, water was turbid and off with 3ft viz. The best performer was oddly a #22 rainbow warrior dropper (good for visibility I guess), but the MHFBPT worked too, as did the oil can Perdigon weight. I saw precious little bug sign but for a small & brief mayfly hatch @ 11am; it did not bring anybody up. Not many pics as I mostly forgot but one 20" cutbow was near and far to net 3 times before landing. I also saw a stork on the holes too, twice... on approach he moved on further upstream. Not epic and fishing was searching, not targeting, but not bad.

October ’25 Music Appreciation ~ Just That Vibe, Far From Centrism 09Oct25

Still just listening to the best we offer:

• Cat Clyde on Live AF Various 12Jul24
• Turnstile on Tiny Desk Various 10Sep25
• Anna Moss @ WWOZ New Orleans 03Apr25
• Tedeschi Trucks Band & Steve Winwood Covering 'Sing A Simple Song' & 'I Wanna Take You Higher' 19Sep25
• Wilder Flower ‘Grandpa’s Coat' in Pickens, SC 26Jun25
• MIpSo on Radio Heartland, Minnnepolis 16Oct25 - Various Spectacular - 16Oc25
• Haley Williams on Jimmy Fallon 08Oct25

'I'm With Her' Concert @ Paramount ~ Fabulous Show & VIP Experience 15Oct25

Jim & Mary, Bob & Byron, and Kala & I went to the 'I'm With Her' concert in Denver with my urging. We bought VIP tickets and sat in the orchestra center row 7 for the show. As noted before, the Paramount is gorgeous and the sound is superior. Good thing, as these women are great artists and the vocals were among the best I've ever heard ~ their accompaniment was madly skilled strings across the board.

Our VIP experience included a row 1 close up 3 song set with audience Q&A before the show and a signed poster and lanyard badge. We arrived right on time and the pre-show was cool. These are spectacular artists who are completely down to earth... honest and engaged the entire intimate pre-event. 'I'm With Her' are Sara Watkins (fiddle, uke, vocals), Aoife O'Donovan (guitar, vocals), and Sara Jarosz (guitar, octavia, mandolin, banjo, vocals). All are strong alt-bluegrass and Americana/Roots solo artists in their own rights and formed this very special supergroup in 2014.

We exited the theater after the pre-show, walked in the rebuilt 16th St mall, and had really good Italian dinners nearby at Panzini (thx Jim). Our timing was again perfect (always easier with assigned seats) as with VIP we skipped the line and headed right into the theater; we arrived to our seats with 1 minute to spare before Jon Muq took the stage. Jon had a sweet voice and seemingly relevant songs but he was hard to hear, especially on dialogue. I was worried sound was going to be rough in row 7 but it was only odd on his set. Jon's a Ugandan immigrant who headed to Austin, TX.

We got up and walked around a bit after Muq; our seats were mightily cramped both shoulder width wise as well as (no) legroom wise. The front 28 rows at the Paramount were temporary reserved seating for 'I'm With Her,' often they are SRO mosh pit... the temporary nature allowed a bad install for our seats. This was the only downside to the outing. Again, 'I'm With Her' harmonies, blends, and answers are just spectacular: Watkins' soprano rocks big; O'Donovan's folk builds great structure for the tunes; Jarosz's round tone is beautiful. I have both of the albums and knew all the songs ~ hard to imagine, but they were just as good, maybe better, live. One of the best shows ever.

The team separated on departure but the COS-bound team got the Paramount marquis selfie at the end.