Beastaudio's 2015 NC Get Together...

[Shredhead]

Beastaudio's signal chain starts with an OPPO 103 running into a Marantz AV7702 receiver, sub out into a minidsp 2ch XLR and then into 2 amps for his 8 front HT18's and 2 near field HST18s.  I ran a loop of his Marantz's sub out jack and added the minidsp bypassed to the mix to see what rolloff the small signal chain stuff had.  I'm very impressed with the low end response of the Marantz, it is very close to the OPPO 105's analog sub out.  I'll have to post a comparison of the 2 in the appropriate thread sometime soon. 

RED trace is the Marantz sub out and the GREEN is the minidsp added to it.

 

I've been very curious of the AV7702's ability to handle high levels of re-directed bass without clipping the signal for a while now.  I was also curious to see if the OPPO (which has been proven to clip movie tracks with hot re-directed bass) http://data-bass.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/379-maxmercys-wcs-test-disc-beta-and-an-o-scope/?p=6640

would end up passing the clipped signal out of the HDMI port digitally since the problem is apparently in the OPPO's digital section.  I was relieved to find out that it didn't and if you attenuate the Marantz AVR's sub out or MVL by at least 10.5dB you will be for sure safe against clipping in a worst case scenario for a 7.1 track with re-directed bass. 

 

I just came up with a new design for an adjustable, all analog bang for buck sub preamp that can output over 16V peaks clean.  It can be used as an LT, line booster/attenuator, RCA to XLR active converter or signal chain rolloff booster.  I brought a prototype to the GTG and Bosso and I dialed in a quick curve on it to replace Beast's minidsp in the signal chain mainly due to the fact that it is flat in frequency response to below 1Hz, has a higher dynamic range and it is more flexible in the LT curve it can apply to a sealed setup. 

The WHITE trace is the mini DSP and the RED trace is the new SEQSS-V (dash V for variable) at the MLP. 

 

After re-calibrating the gain stages we then played some gun shot scenes from John Wick http://data-bass.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/372-john-wick-discussion-poll-closed/ for reference to test the system adjustment.

 

Even though Beast's system is located in a basement, it has gobs of tactile ULF punch and this was the perfect scene to experience the ass whoopin' that it can dish out.

 

Then we played EOT's intro square wave sustained brutality and you gotta love Brandon... he has no problem pushing the limits of whatever system is at his finger tips.  He pushed his system until reaching the amps' breaking point and fortunately his Crest and Peavey have reliable protection circuits.  You could hear an unpleasant transient sound when they kicked in at the end of the 15Hz tone as they severly limited the output of the following tone.

Not sure if this was really reference level, my guess is that it was quite a bit hotter but I wasn't running the SPL meter at the time. 

 

I wish I had more time to measure to see at what point the amp's power tapered off but there were just too many cool people to socialize with so you guys will have to forgive me.

 

Then we hooked up 2 of dgage's Mariana HS24 subs.  Here are a couple quick measurements:

BLUE trace is a close mic and the RED trace is the MLP.  Room was obviously fighting us on this but we didn't have the space or time to tame the peak at 15Hz. 

 

Gage then picked Lone Survivor's helicopter scene as a reference scene to demo:

I had no idea how brutal this scene was as I totally missed this movie.  It had the 24's moving for sure and sounded powerful.

 

I had many more things that I wanted to measure and post about but this was a pretty special GTG IMO (TWO mods from DB?!) and I just couldn't pass up on conversing with as many people as possible.  You guys are all as cool as ice and I was happy to spend time with all of you.  And Brandon: thanks buddie, you are hands down the host with the most, your theater is top freaking notch, bad to the bone.  I really enjoyed the giant image of the Atmos demo and your low end is world class!

[Shredhead]

One of the ULF highlights of the day was when maxmercy gave us a BEQ demo of what the nanoAVR is capable of doing in the right hands.  He took his favorite Dolby/DTS/THX/ demo trailers and BEQ'd em' to extend their low frequency response to full bandwidth.  He would play the original recording first and then show what happened with the BEQ applied.  It was awesome, everyone could tell a gigantic difference having the ULF in the scenes with Beast's 10 -18's.  Here are some highlights:

 

SCALE:

Bottom one is without BEQ and top is with it applied.

 

Black lines divide the different scenes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last one was so utterly violent that it shut both the Crest and Peavey sub amps down in a scary manner.

 

This demo was like getting a free back massage in Beast's comfortable theater seating.

[maxmercy]

I warned beast about the last one before he even put the disc in.  I'm glad his amps did the right thing and kept that from going to the subs (it was replayed later at lower volume without protect mode kicking in).  

 

JSS

[lukeamdman]

What model of MiniDSP is that?  The LF roll-off appears to be a bit more steep than the balanced 2x4 I measured a couple years back.  I should measure my 10x10. 

[Shredhead]

There was a competition car guy at the GTG named Sterling who enlisted Nick from SI to build him a new model of the HS24 with a new larger motor and 4" coil that ended up weighing in at ~140lbs each.  Nick named the new behemoth the BHS-24.  This gentleman was kind enough to give whoever wanted to experience the 2 BHS-24's in a 4th order bandpass in his SUV a ride to demo them with music.  I wasn't brave enough to do it (I'm a wimp when it comes to high SPL like that) but my cousin Matt went on a ride and described it as awesome and hard to breath while the beasts were reaching RMS levels of 6000 sustained watts!  Apparently the system can reach peak SPL of 157dB!

Pictures just aren't the same as seeing how large these motors look in person.

 

 

Here is a video link that Sterling gave me of the system in action:

 

 

 

Oh and I happened to be talking with Scott and he showed me some drivers that were laying in the front room and my jaw must've been hanging wide open when I saw this futuristic brilliantly designed neodymium super alien technology uber driver.  I'm not going to ruin the surprise of who used these to upgrade their system but here are a couple pics:

 

We didn't get a chance to get these things in motion but just looking at all the details of the design was fun in itself.

 

I didn't think to take any pics or vids of the GTG so if anyone else did please post them. 

[maxmercy]

The rolloff is 3dB at 4Hz.  It's definitely not the worst in that category, and it is the openDRC-AN, IIRC.  I didn't experience the truck either.  No need to tempt fate.  I also don't ride bulls nor B.A.S.E. jump or do anything that Steve Irwin used to do for the same reasons.

 

JSS

[lukeamdman]

That looks like the Rockford T3S2-19 that Josh just tested. 

[chrapladm]

Thanks for the posts Shred. I look forward to hearing more about SEQ. The whole event from everyone posting so far sounds like a LOT of fun. SO many systems makes a poor man struggle for the right decisions on what to buy.

 

Did Beast add wall treatments to his room since the last GTG?

 

I ask because someone mentioned the SH50's sounding even more tactile than before. Beast hasnt commented yet either so maybe he will say.

[Ricci]

Hey Paul thanks for the data and all that.

Especially the Marantz WCS information. I've been waiting for someone to take a look at that exact unit. Looks workable with a bit of gain structuring. I was going to talk to you a bit more but you were busy with the measurements and I know how that is. Next time.

 

Beasts system and room is impressive. He doesn't lack for bass with 10 18's that's for sure. He is not shy with the volume knob. Amps lighting up like xmas trees at times. For me the SH50's stole the show with a nod towards the projector system and video.

 

Luke,

Yes I took one of my DO boxes with 2 of the RF's. We didn't hook it up as it turns out but I really just wanted to show some of the other guys the motor in person anyway. I listened to them the whole way down and back in my Jeep.

[lukeamdman]

Hey Paul thanks for the data and all that.

Especially the Marantz WCS information. I've been waiting for someone to take a look at that exact unit. Looks workable with a bit of gain structuring. I was going to talk to you a bit more but you were busy with the measurements and I know how that is. Next time.

 

Beasts system and room is impressive. He doesn't lack for bass with 10 18's that's for sure. He is not shy with the volume knob. Amps lighting up like xmas trees at times. For me the SH50's stole the show with a nod towards the projector system and video.

 

Luke,

Yes I took one of my DO boxes 2 of the RF's. We didn't hook it up as it turns out but I really just wanted to show some of the other guys the motor in person anyway. I listened to them the whole way down and back in my Jeep.

 

Did you replace (8) XXX with (8) of those RF's?!?!?!?!

[Ricci]

Did you replace (8) XXX with (8) of those RF's?!?!?!?!

 

Of course. The last three 1 ohm models should be delivered tomorrow or Wed. I got the 2ohm for testing a few months ago and made up my mind on the spot. So (8) 1ohm and (1) 2ohm actually. Spent the last couple weeks enlarging all eight of the cutouts and recesses on my cabs and rewiring, mounting, etc. Just waiting on those last couple to show up now.

 

 

 

I'll add some more comments on the GTG later but Nick's new DS4 driver was on hand so those of us who were curious could kick the tires a bit. That is a beefy driver and it looks like it has its shit together. Might turn out to be an even better deal than the HT18 and that would be saying something. In person it looks like something that most other vendors would be charging twice the money for.

[BeastAudio]

Paul, thanks for getting all that up so quickly! Man dudes I had a dang blast at this one. I look forward for more impressions to come along, but what people have already supplied have been fantastic. Im gonna have some fun going through things with my new improved signal chain Now how much the wife likes it.....haha. We shall see.

 

Glad folks liked the sh50's so much. I don't know why they rarely get the traction they deserve, but I have definitely enjoyed all my time with them...

 

Those RF's were mean man....just mean.

Thanks for the posts Shred. I look forward to hearing more about SEQ. The whole event from everyone posting so far sounds like a LOT of fun. SO many systems makes a poor man struggle for the right decisions on what to buy.

 

Did Beast add wall treatments to his room since the last GTG?

 

I ask because someone mentioned the SH50's sounding even more tactile than before. Beast hasnt commented yet either so maybe he will say.

 

I had all the treatments in that were there for the previous g2g. I don't know though man, not really much has changed as opposed to the new seats and a slight difference in listening position (Which we all know can make a huge difference). I have messed with the toe-in a little on the 50's but doesn't seem enough to change anything major impressions-wise there. Most of what I saw was quite subtle when adjusting that.

 

I don't know what else to say, I have always thought their "tactile feel" as being good  

[Bossobass Dave]

A Beast GTG, what is there to say? If you missed it, you missed everything there is to miss.

 

After years and years, I got to meet the Simonian. That was a highlight. Since we've been on the air since the late 90s, I was stunned to find out Scott first logged into a subwoofer forum when he was 16 years old. Fuckin' awesome to meet you, my friend.

 

After years and years, I finally got to meet Max Mercy. Dude walks in, and says, "Hey everybody, John S------." It went straight over my head. As the general convo continued, someone asked him his SN. "I'm maxmercy." BAM! Extraordinary man, pleasure to meet and glad to have had the opportunity to converse with at length. Many talents, many interests and much fun.

 

After years and years, I get to meet the ship's android, Data, as in Data_Bass, Musician, sub builder, measurements tech, latent hippie and all around interesting young man, Josh Ricci. We have many things in common, except that I'm a hundred and he (and the rest of the crowd) are young fellas. Enjoyed talking with and overhearing your other convos as the day progressed into night. Oh, hell yeah.

 

Rowdy Roddy Brandon. The Beast From Still Country. Always smilin', always accommodating, always making everyone glad they made the arduous trip. Superb upgrades to the HT, SQ extraordinaire, fabulous (now centered) seating,  Atmos/DTS-X ready sound and balls-out low end. You're the man, my friend. No bout a doubt it.

 

Dave "Jersey Boy". Always a great convo with an interesting guy. I HAVE to get up there to the Jersey shore and make a couple of days of it. I'm positive it will be a trip to remember and hosted by another stellar example of the profession.

 

Steve... I hope NSA was listening in because we solved the world's problems in under an hour. Awesome stuff. Glad to see you and great to talk with you.

 

Dave. Awesome products. Wishing you all the best in that enterprise and always available to offer any accumulated knowledge I have that you may be interested in. But, the gratitude this trip goes to your detailed explanation of the health issue that's been most on my mind over the last month or so. Thanks for the heads up and the free testing. Really, it made the trip ever so much more enjoyable in that I could relax for the first time in a while.

 

Man, I forget the name of the new dad. He knows who I'm talking about. Great to see you again and kiss that beautiful little baby boy for me. Congrats on a job well done and for having an attitude that I envy and that inspires me to smile more often.

 

Adam. I can't expound here because it would take up too much virtual ink. It was a blast having you stay and making the trip up to the mountains and back with you. I had a lot of things weighing on me and took some of that out on you. Having a big lug to absorb some grief in stride is something I can't easily repay, if ever. Hey to you and yours. I hope the trip back got you home safe and sound and looking forward to getting up with y'all soon.

 

There was a new guy there and I forgot his name because I'm old. I hope he chimes in because it was great to meet him as well. Also, props to the maniacal car stereo dude who left Matt speechless with an altered heart rate and temporarily deaf. He was at the remote control late into the even when I happened to be sitting in front of one of Nick's HST-18s. My back still smarts a bit.

 

Nick. Wow. HT-18s. HST-18s. HS-24s. The new DS4-18. They, of course, were the stars of the show. I appreciate you more than you know. Sorry your old man couldn't make it. His absence made me the oldest guy there by too far a margin.

 

Paul. Machine head. The data makes the GTG a whole different event. Most importantly, as memories fade, the data remains. I LOVE watching SpecLab scrol the low end content in real time as we watch a flick or listen to hits. I watched intently as they screened John Wick because I've SL graphed those gunshots and remember the bandwidth to <3 Hz. The first time through, the low end response was rolled off just <15 Hz. After the SEQSS-V (working name: Dash V) was inserted and quickly tweaked, the SL graphs showed the huge increase in playback accuracy, adding 2-1/2 octaves to the presentation. I know sitting in the cubby hole patching cables, setting levels, measuring and matching gain, running loop throughs of the signal chain, separately and collectively, working in the dark with a pen light, naming and capping SL graphs as fast as they come and go on the big screen and ending the night with data that's as reliable as it gets... is an AWESOME feat.

 

Matt. Thanks for being there, packing my special diet needs food, lugging hardware, positive attitude and mingler-extraordinaire. I know this was your first GTG. You picked a great one. I hope you had a good time. I hope you make it out to more of them down the road.

 

The rest of the attendees will have to forgive me for the omission here, but rest assured I'll remember whomever it is eventually because everyone there was unforgettable.

 

To all of you mega pixel phone owners... No pics? You jaded bunch of meat heads.

[maxmercy]

I think the best part of it all is that I now hear your actual voices when reading your posts....

 

JSS

[Bossobass Dave]

Having attended GTGs across the USA over the past decade and a half, it's always been my opinion that hard data makes for a much more enjoyable and memorable experience. Our memories fade but the data remains to jerk us back to reality. SpecLab is my favorite tool. Seeing that monitor scroll the content in real time as we watch a flick or listen to hits is priceless.

 

Here's a perfect example: Dave's Marianna playing the chopper scene from LS. If you only examined the SL comparo of digital to mic'd at the seats, you'd walk away saying that the sub clocked around 30% THD of the 6 Hz fundamental. But, having the linear graph of the response at the mic to examine along with the comparo graphs, you see that H1 is down -7dB while H2 is boosted +5dB (a feature of Brandon's room at the main LP) at the mic. The details matter and having the details at your disposal is so cool.

 

 

Paul mentioned the SEQSS-V (working name: Dash V) earlier in the thread. He designed it because of the volume of requests for a separate SEQSS. Of course, most don't realize that the SEQSS is specific to the BB and Raptor systems and isn't a plug-in solution for other sealed systems. So, Paul decided to design a "variable' SEQSS version that's adaptable to any sealed system.

 

The proto he left with Brandon lacks the case, switch, I/O jacks and knobs (because he wanted Brandon to have one first and show what it can do before the rest of the hardware comes in).

 

Here is what it will look like and the back will have RCA in and RCA and XLR out as well as the wall wart barrel jack.

 

The case is brushed anodized aluminum, as are the knobs. It's a top quality little piece and, as we like to say in the development lab... ANALOG RULES! The Dash V will be available soon at <$200. The cases and parts are on their way now. The web site has been completely redone with links to a secure shopping cart and will reflect the Dash V's availability when officially launched.

 

 

[NWCgrad]

Brandon, man this GTG was epic! Spending a weekend with people who don't think this stuff is nuts was great. Meeting lots of new people was a highlight of the weekend even with the impressive audio demonstrations.

 

The DSL's were amazing, next time I will bring my Leonard Cohen Live in Dublin blu ray as its freaking awesome. He may be 81 but still puts on a great show and his "The Future" CD is a must have. The coaxial surrounds and Atmos were impressive, especially considering some of the SPL levels we were hitting.

 

The subs....what can I say it was bass bliss. The 24's and the 10 18's were just awesome in tactile feel and impact. At times my surgical site was hurting like hell, and Friday night was my 6 month post surgery mark.

 

Everyone I spoke with was great, I think it takes a certain imbalance to embrace this culture so we all seem to relate well. I couldn't believe how fast the time flew by. Overall great time with great people.

[mlah384]

Having attended GTGs across the USA over the past decade and a half, it's always been my opinion that hard data makes for a much more enjoyable and memorable experience. Our memories fade but the data remains to jerk us back to reality. SpecLab is my favorite tool. Seeing that monitor scroll the content in real time as we watch a flick or listen to hits is priceless.

 

Here's a perfect example: Dave's Marianna playing the chopper scene from LS. If you only examined the SL comparo of digital to mic'd at the seats, you'd walk away saying that the sub clocked around 30% THD of the 6 Hz fundamental. But, having the linear graph of the response at the mic to examine along with the comparo graphs, you see that H1 is down -7dB while H2 is boosted +5dB (a feature of Brandon's room at the main LP) at the mic. The details matter and having the details at your disposal is so cool.

 

 

Paul mentioned the SEQSS-V (working name: Dash V) earlier in the thread. He designed it because of the volume of requests for a separate SEQSS. Of course, most don't realize that the SEQSS is specific to the BB and Raptor systems and isn't a plug-in solution for other sealed systems. So, Paul decided to design a "variable' SEQSS version that's adaptable to any sealed system.

 

The proto he left with Brandon lacks the case, switch, I/O jacks and knobs (because he wanted Brandon to have one first and show what it can do before the rest of the hardware comes in).

 

Here is what it will look like and the back will have RCA in and RCA and XLR out as well as the wall wart barrel jack.

 

The case is brushed anodized aluminum, as are the knobs. It's a top quality little piece and, as we like to say in the development lab... ANALOG RULES! The Dash V will be available soon at <$200. The cases and parts are on their way now. The web site has been completely redone with links to a secure shopping cart and will reflect the Dash V's availability when officially launched.

 

 

I'll buy 1 for sure!

[Ricci]

I think the best part of it all is that I now hear your actual voices when reading your posts....

 

JSS

Exactly my thoughts. Now I have a picture of who's comments I'm reading.

[Ricci]

Did anyone take pictures? I didnt. I don't remember anyone else taking any.

 

Scott you home yet bro?

[dgage]

Others have summarized the event well so I'll focus less on the system and happenings and more on the outstanding people.  I've heard Brandon's system before but the Danley's did sound better than I remembered.  And his bass system is absolutely phenomenal, there were more than a few than came up out of breath from dealing with the pounding.   I agree that the Atmos demos showed great potential and so I'm really looking forward to adding Atmos to my house at some point.

Brandon is a marvelous host, made me feel as if I was at home.  Lunch/dinner/snack1/snack2 was great as I made a pig of myself.

I really enjoyed meeting and hanging out with people most.  Bono, I mean BossoBass. Shreds.  MaxMercy. Ambesolman. Ricci. Electrodynamic. Reefdiver. NWCGrad. Simonian. Madaeel. 24changer. Homeskizzle. Orif.  Really enjoyed myself talking about a diverse range of topics.  I always say it's a good day if I've learned something new and that weekend was fantastic as I was able to greatly expand my knowledge from interacting with so many intelligent people.

Brandon - you constantly seem to improve your system so it's better each time I experience it.  And amazingly, your GTGs seem to get better each and every time as well.  Truly had a great time and I can't thank you enough for hosting another great event.

David

[maxmercy]

Did anyone take pictures? I didnt. I don't remember anyone else taking any.

 

Scott you home yet bro?

 

Like I said at the other place...a great story trumps a mediocre pic/video anytime...

 

JSS

[Bossobass Dave]

Did anyone take pictures? I didnt. I don't remember anyone else taking any.

 

Scott you home yet bro?

 This bums me out. I always bring my Nikon to these events. But, this time I thought 'Man, all these guys have hi-rez video/still pics cameras on their maxi-pads, so why bring the camera rig?'

 

I can't believe no one took vid/pics.

[chrapladm]

Awesome to finally see a low end EQ unit approved by Bosso.

 

Just curious but was the Dash V used when the NanoAVR was in place?

 

While I would love to have my Motu HTPC setup its not going to happen right now. BUT for a lot less money I could have a Nano AVR and a Dash V if they work well together.

 

Funny that I tried to ask about a lot of pictures and videos be taken if not streamed and figured it might not happen. BUT seeing that a lot of these attendees are veterans of the HT forums realm it doesnt surprise me. When I build a subwoofer I dont tend to take many pictures at all. When I attend GTG's with friends I dont take many pictures because I am busy enjoying myself, talking and being with like minded people. So if not many pictures/videos were taken I can understand. And I find it awesome that if the reason for lack of media is because everyone had such a good time then I applaud Beast and all who attended.

[Shredhead]

 

 

Just curious but was the Dash V used when the NanoAVR was in place?

 

While I would love to have my Motu HTPC setup its not going to happen right now. BUT for a lot less money I could have a Nano AVR and a Dash V if they work well together.

They work fine together as long as you are careful in setting up your gain stages not to overload your amp's input with too much boost. 

[chrapladm]

Alrighty then. Sounds like I have a winner for my living room setup now. Didnt want to use a MiniDSP and didnt like dealing with ME so this is a win win for me. I dont mind using the all-in-one unit like the NanoAVR and HDMI. Look forward to production units in the future.