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Floyddroid
28-07-2014, 21:11
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r209/progmeister1/Tascamnebo4_zps49bdde97.jpg (http://s145.photobucket.com/user/progmeister1/media/Tascamnebo4_zps49bdde97.jpg.html)

:)

Marco
28-07-2014, 21:50
Guys,

Oops - I've made a boo-boo... When trying to move a load of bake-off info into separate threads in the new section, I've ended up deleting some of it, including the NEBO 4 comments up until now :doh: Soz!

So, Steve, let's start with a 'head count' of how many folk are going to be attending. I'll start off with myself....

Marco

Marco
28-07-2014, 21:52
The Plymouth bake-off, being organised by Awkward, will also need to be mentioned again...

Marco.

Floyddroid
28-07-2014, 22:24
Good idea Marco. Colin, myself, Rich Britton, Alan Towell, Mick Rik, Richard Popple. It would be very helpful if people intending to come confirm as i would like an idea of how many people plan on coming for the butties. If there is anyone who would like to know more about it please PM me.
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r209/progmeister1/Windmill_zpsa598969f.jpg (http://s145.photobucket.com/user/progmeister1/media/Windmill_zpsa598969f.jpg.html)
Guys,

Oops - I've made a boo-boo... When trying to move a load of bake-off info into separate threads in the new section, I've ended up deleting some of it, including the NEBO 4 comments up until now :doh: Soz!

So, Steve, let's start with a 'head count' of how many folk are going to be attending. I'll start off with myself....

Marco

Qwin
29-07-2014, 06:14
Confirming I will be there.

mik_rik
29-07-2014, 09:21
Confirming I'll be there , with me kit out! :eek:

Floyddroid
29-07-2014, 09:25
:cheers:Steady Mik.

Be great to see you again fella.
Confirming I'll be there , with me kit out! :eek:

Marco
29-07-2014, 09:25
As long as it's out, not off, folks should be safe! :eyebrows:

Marco.

Floyddroid
29-07-2014, 09:33
Confirming I will be there.

Look forward to seeing you Ken.

YNWaN
29-07-2014, 09:37
Hi Steve, would it be possible for me to attend your Nebo4 event - I understand if it is rather late and you are full?

Floyddroid
29-07-2014, 10:06
No problem. Let me know what you will be bringing and i will start working out some slots. Be great to meet you.
Hi Steve, would it be possible for me to attend your Nebo4 event - I understand if it is rather late and you are full?

YNWaN
29-07-2014, 10:44
Cool :).

I've just this minute had delivered a Lab-Gruppen IPD 1200 amp. 300wpc into 8Ohms and 600 into 4 - Class D with built in digital crossover and DSP. I'm going to use it to actively drive the bass units in my speakers - could bring that?

337alant
29-07-2014, 14:03
Could you bring your paradise phono Mark ?

Alan

YNWaN
29-07-2014, 14:48
Hmm... Perhaps - it's MC only though and loading is set for my cartridge.

RichB
29-07-2014, 22:43
Yep I'll be there, staying over at the hotel so I can enjoy a bevvy for once!

I'll bring a SBT loaded with FLAC with best of two worlds power supply and an Amptastic Mini-1.

Steve let me know if you need any speakers or stands.

Looking forward to seeing you all and well done to Marco for creating this community section.

Floyddroid
30-07-2014, 21:50
Things certainly seem to be shaping up rather nicely folks. I am really pleased with the way that these little get togethers are going. i am thrilled to bits that people are traveling so many miles away to contribute to the day especially Marco whom i may be tempted to buy a pint. It's a tonic to know that this humble little get together is attracting new attendees as well as the people who have enjoyed coming since the first one. Hard to believe that in the very short space of time that i have been hosting the events that we are now on to to 4th.
The one element missing from Nebo 4 will be Neil Blackwood who is integral to the event and whom i will miss dreadfully. However, Neil has a lot on his plate at the moment, he is a very busy man indeed and hopefully he will be back to keep me right at future events.

It pleases me to know that similar events/meetings or what ever you want to call them are happening up and down the country. The essence of hifi/audio is of an age. The concept of appreciating and sitting down to listen to music in the home has changed in many ways. What we celebrate with great enthusiasm pays homage to a capsule of time from the late fifties to the present i'm guessing. How much longer it will continue only time will tell? In the meantime Meetings like Nebo unite some great folk. let's keep it going for as long as we can.

Over the years, i like many of you out there have owned many classic pieces of hi-fi history. There is still a few things i want to experience though. I was kinda hoping that someone would fetch along a pair of Yamaha NS 1000N speakers. To date the highlights of the Nebo meetings have been Mik's Radford power amp, Alan Towell's mind blowing Tascam R2R and the presence of Les Wolstenholme who traveled many miles to grace us with his wisdom and reveal new projects that he was working on.

When i organised the very first Nebo i meant it to be an extension of internet forums like AOS and Pink Fish
bringing them into life. A 3D version if you like. I always get a bit jittery about now worrying if anyone will turn up or not but to be honest it isn't the numbers of people who attend its what they bring to the party. Nebo 4 looks like it will be another great afternoon/evening of fun. To all those who came before, come again. To all those who come for the first time, welcome.

See you down there.

YNWaN
05-08-2014, 10:35
Unfortunately it looks like NEBO 4 clashes with another event I'm being encouraged to attend :(. So no amp, no phonostage and no NS-1000Ms either (though I wasn't thinking of bringing my speakers).

Floyddroid
05-08-2014, 16:18
No problem good sir. Enjoy the other event. It was really nice of you to consider coming all that way. ATB.

Steve:)

Floyddroid
05-08-2014, 21:47
BTW, what does YNWaN mean?
Unfortunately it looks like NEBO 4 clashes with another event I'm being encouraged to attend :(. So no amp, no phonostage and no NS-1000Ms either (though I wasn't thinking of bringing my speakers).

Qwin
06-08-2014, 08:27
Sounds like YNWaN won't be bringing the items he mentions in post #12 and his paradise phono Alan asks about in #13 - me thinks.

Great pity, maybe another time.

Floyddroid
06-08-2014, 11:33
we still have plenty to be going on with though that will nicely fill the day. Good to hear that Les Wolstenholme will be coming again so i will ask him to bring some Avondale stuff to listen to. Are you still coming Ken?
Sounds like YNWaN won't be bringing the items he mentions in post 12 and his paradise phono Alan asks about in #13 - me thinks.

Great pity, maybe another time.

Qwin
06-08-2014, 15:49
Yes, I will be there and a bit early to help set up. ;)

Marco
06-08-2014, 18:54
What's the earliest we can get there for then, chaps? I should hopefully also be bringing Macca with me :)

Don't mind helping set up stuff!

Marco.

Marco
06-08-2014, 22:03
What's the earliest we can get there for then, chaps?

Is anyone awake?? ;)

Marco.

Floyddroid
06-08-2014, 22:20
Just got home from work Marco. Apologies. 2pm we can get in the room. Looking forward to meeting you. I am taking my usual Ikea tables so if anyone has any decent supports they would like to bring along please do.
Is anyone awake?? ;)

Marco.

Marco
06-08-2014, 22:49
Hi Steve,

2pm sounds cool! :)

Ikea tables will be fine. I'll need to see anyway if there's going to room in the car for my T/T, as well as the Celestion 66s and possibly Martin's Akais, so I may not need any support tables for the kit I'm bringing.

Marco.

RichB
07-08-2014, 23:29
I expect to be there for 2.30 and will stand around pretending to be useful with a beer in my hand!

Floyddroid
08-08-2014, 05:01
That's my boy.
I expect to be there for 2.30 and will stand around pretending to be useful with a beer in my hand!

337alant
08-08-2014, 07:31
Sounds like YNWaN won't be bringing the items he mentions in post #12 and his paradise phono Alan asks about in #13 - me thinks.

Great pity, maybe another time.
Its OK I will bring my Paradise Phono just wanted to compare them if possible.
I will bring my pioneer PLC-590 turntable, my Tascam BR20 R2R, My DIY pre / power, its a pity we don't have niel's speakers they are superb IMO

Alan

RichB
08-08-2014, 10:03
Sounds like we're all sorted for analogue sources then.

In which case I'll bring some digital sources, SBT, Marantz CDP for use as a transport, Rega DAC, Vlink II, and a laptop.

Are we all sorted for speakers guys?

johnB
08-08-2014, 10:08
This event looks like it'll be a good one. Hopefully plenty of post match interviews etc.

jollyfix
08-08-2014, 11:46
This event looks like it'll be a good one. Hopefully plenty of post match interviews etc.
and pics please.

RichB
08-08-2014, 16:41
and pics please.

thanks for reminding me to charge the camera up!

Wilbur
09-08-2014, 00:53
Can bring a pair of Spendor BC2 if needed,and my Sony psx75.....

Marco
09-08-2014, 05:15
Just a couple of details for anyone not local to Teesside, who will be travelling a distance to the venue... The Windmill Hotel is in a place called Dalton Piercy, and the telephone number there is: 01429 267592.

Someone may find info that useful :)

Marco.

jollyfix
09-08-2014, 07:51
thanks for reminding me to charge the camera up!
looking forward to your NEBO photos Rich.

RichB
09-08-2014, 08:40
Can bring a pair of Spendor BC2 if needed,and my Sony psx75.....

I'd very much like to hear them big Spens mate!

struth
09-08-2014, 19:24
Nebo was the name of a steamship that sunk on passage to Bombay in 1883......nuts or what:lol:

hope you all have a great time; sounds like a great way to do it.

Wilbur
10-08-2014, 02:59
Great day,thanks to everyone who turned up and made it very welcoming,im a bit on the shy side;)

Macca
10-08-2014, 10:43
It was indeed an outstanding event. I didn't get home until 0130 and poor old Marco had another 40 minute drive after dropping me of so many thanks to him for going out of his way to pick me up and drop me off. Just got up and got to go out in a bit so I will file my report later :)

Floyddroid
10-08-2014, 11:08
Brilliant to meet you guys. thank you so much for coming all that way. I must admit that i missed me old mucker Neil Blackwood who normally helps sort out technical matters etc. He is juggling a lot of plates at the moment so he couldn't attend. Thanks again for coming.
It was indeed an outstanding event. I didn't get home until 0130 and poor old Marco had another 40 minute drive after dropping me of so many thanks to him for going out of his way to pick me up and drop me off. Just got up and got to go out in a bit so I will file my report later :)

RichB
10-08-2014, 11:29
Great day,thanks to everyone who turned up and made it very welcoming,im a bit on the shy side;)



It was indeed an outstanding event. I didn't get home until 0130 and poor old Marco had another 40 minute drive after dropping me of so many thanks to him for going out of his way to pick me up and drop me off. Just got up and got to go out in a bit so I will file my report later :)

Really lovely to meet yous, its a very friendly event and I enjoyed a bit banter with yous. There are some regulars there who've never said a word yet, or ask for any gear or music to be played, they just seem turn up, take a seat and enjoy the goings on and that's the nice thing about it. It seems you can be as involved as you want to be (within the rules of Mr Petch's careful stewardship of course);)


Brilliant to meet you guys. thank you so much for coming all that way. I must admit that i missed me old mucker Meil Blackwood who normally helps sort out technical matters etc. He is juggling a lot of plates at the moment so he couldn't attend. Thanks again for coming.

Aye, Neil's turntable is always good too hear and those big Ruarks have become a NEBO reference. It was good to hear some other stuff also and with 2 pairs of 66s in attendance, the BC2s and such a variety of amps we were still quite spoiled.:lol:

Sand Dancin Donkey Walker
10-08-2014, 12:29
Hi Guys

Hope you all enjoyed your meet.
My intention of dropping by was stopped by work unfortunately.
I spent at least 4Hrs dress up exactly like the image below.
Playing with 11kV VCB's that though it was funny to take the p*** out of me for hours on end.
Look forward to the photo's hopefully someone has taken

http://www.powersight.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/help-cat-iv.jpg

struth
10-08-2014, 12:44
Lol

clarkey555
10-08-2014, 15:18
just like to say a big thankyou to steve for getting this event up and running and to everybody who attended nebo 4.i consider myself a bit of a newbie when it comes to really good hifi kit and so for me this was an eyeopener and a definite ear opener and a big shout out to alan for his diy kit and his reel to reel tape time machine gizmo and ken you have one fantastic turntable there and some lovely kit also and rich b for making me welcome top man Richie,mik rik you are awesome bud and will definitely see you around,thanks also to les for some nice words of wisdom and for keeping part of the hifi industry honest well done mate and once again thankyou everybody for making the day so special.steve you can count me in for next year bud counting the days cheers:grouphug:

Qwin
10-08-2014, 16:48
The event was a tremendous success so first off, a big thanks to Steve for organising it. :clap:

I’ve shown some of what went on and will leave others to fill in the blanks.



http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_01.jpg

This was the opening set up in one of the two adjoining rooms.




http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_02.jpg

The TT is my DIY Technics with Terminator arm feeding a Fire Bottle Phono into Mick’s passive Pre and Verdik Q10 Mono Blocks, this went out through Celestion 66 speakers.




http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_03.jpg

Moving over into the other room we kicked off with some Flac and CD through Pre/Power combinations provided by Lez from Avondale and into Mission speakers, Steve would tell you what model.




http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_04.jpg

Other valve combinations and a mixture of old and new in the main picture, as digital files played through a Radford Sta-15. The Leak Stereo 20 inset was original apart from the input/output sockets and sounded very nice, giving the Radford some competition for best valve amp of the day. For me the Radford just had it.



http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_05.jpg

Alan’s Pioneer PLC-590 with SME arm and Ortofon Kontrapunkt-b cartridge, my choice for best TT combination, bags of rhythm and drive, got your foot tapping.
Alan's Tascam BR20 R2R made its usual impact, I am always amazed at the rightness of the sound it produces, even from digital source material.




http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_06.jpg

Nicely modified Technics SL-1200 with Jelco arm playing through Avondale amplification into Spendor BC2’s.



http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_07.jpg

This set up was a revelation, my Techie based TT into the two box Paradise Phono seen bottom right, this went into an Amptastic Mini-1 20w integrated, that’s the tiny silver/black box to the left of the Paradise. This went out through the big Celestion speakers. It was amazing what this cheap little box could do, amazing.





http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_08.jpg

Marco’s 66’s doing the business, it was great to compare his totally stock 66’s with my own, I am in the process of re-capping my x-overs so it was a good reference to see how the voicing has changed on mine. I think it would be fair to say their were good aspects in both set ups. I now need to do some tweeking to address the areas were I lost out, especially in the Mid Range.





http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_09.jpg

We rarely had everyone in one room at the same time, as some people were usually setting up or having quite coversations in the other room, but here is some of the turn out.


I really enjoyed the event, a good mix of equipment and musical tastes, with some great conversations and exchanges of opinions thrown in.

Well done everybody. :)

vinyljunky
10-08-2014, 17:09
I tip my hat off to you Steve for a wonderful event.You were an excellent host along with all the other guys that turned up.Highlight of the event was the modded pioneer turntable with contropunk cart through those celestial dittons.Also a shout out to Richie b's amptastic it had no right to sound as good as that for 100 pounds and 20 watts.Noticed a few people getting hammered (no names).Gutted I had to leave early.Also a shout out to les it was an education listening to that man.Also shout out to mik rik good crack. Thanks again Steve deffo be coming next year this time I will stay to the death possibly stay in hotel over night.

RichB
10-08-2014, 17:10
Ok so it looks like I'm the first to show some pics and give a little report. It looked like there were folk with some better cameras and photography skills there and I noticed some crowd shots taken also so hopefully there will be some better ones along soon.

When I arrived I found Alan, Ken, and Mick already getting to work on setting up the first system: This room featured Ken's impressive 66's on plinths which filled the place up nicely with a sound that stayed really rich and full bodied with the various sources and amps we managed to try over the course of the night.

The first sounds made by this system were from Ken's DIY/Modded turntable with the Terminator arm (I got some hear some Frank Zappa on this later and was very impressed!). There were a couple of phono stages used in this room throughout the course of evening, Alan's beautifully made Paradise and the Firebottle Steve has had on loan from a talented maker from this parish I believe. Amplification was provided by Mick courtesy of his Prometheus pre and Verdik 10w monoblocks. A great start to the day and if this were the only system we'd all have been happy I'm sure.

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000448.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000448.jpg.html)

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000447.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000447.jpg.html)

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000449.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000449.jpg.html)

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000450.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000450.jpg.html)

Next up in this system was Alan's Tascam BR20 R2R. Alan's R2Rs are always a treat to hear and as we sat enjoying some rock and blues I found myself again pondering the transformational effect of the medium on digital source recordings. Such care and attention and a sound so dense and rich you could drink it! I think this played into Alan's Hackernap and Pre and again out through the 66s.

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000451.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000451.jpg.html)

The other room was initially a bit cobbled together as I'd decided not to take my Rega speakers (they've been heard before and were I thought swamped next to be big Ruarks we had there last time). With Marco and Macca delayed in traffic we were potentially looking 'all trousers and no mouth' until Steve popped up the road to fetch his spare Mission 752s. Then we were in buisness. This time I focused on a comprehensive digital front end comprising the following feeding a Rega DAC: Squeezebox Touch with Squeezeupgrade PSU (playing an assortment of FLAC files from a USB drive), my laptop and MF Vlink II, and my Marantz CD-63 used as transport (mains cable, mech and case mods) in case anyone wanted to spin the silver things. Initially we gave the new Amptastic Mini-1 the amp duties where it didn't disappoint (although we wouldnt find its perfect speaker partners til a bit later).

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000453.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000453.jpg.html)

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000454.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000454.jpg.html)

Should also add that whilst this was going on Mr Les Wolstennholme arrived and space was found in the racks for the Avondale modified Arcam CDP, Pre + PSU and monoblocks he brought. Les would later give us an interesting walk through this kit and I got to make some CD and vinyl requests to really give it work out for my own ears.

Apologies for the next pic with the bad light, but its worth mentioning that Paul also showed up a bit later at which point and the speakers were quickly swapped out for his Spendor BC2 and a Quadraspire rack which arrived with some good natured Yorkshiremen (good lads who took all the stereotyping on the chin:lol:)

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000455.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000455.jpg.html)

A techie in rather fine plinth brought by a Yorkshireman, this performed well in spite of the wobbly floor and fat gits who seemed intent on testing the weight and integrity of that fine plinth by jumping up and down next to it :lol:

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000457.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000457.jpg.html)

Then back into the other room for a further comparison of the Firebottle and Paradise phono stages and a little more R2R action. A new face to the NEBO came along with a beautifully restored Leak Stereo 20 which was drafted into service although seemed to struggle a bit which we later discovered was likely due to a load mismatch. Something tells me this amp will come back for revenge at some point and I look forward to being there when it does.

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000459.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000459.jpg.html)

We then tried the diminutive Amptastic in its place and were given another surprise of the evening. It sounded magnificent and I think found some new friends this evening with a fair bit of head scratching going on when we saw it moving those big cones about in the Celestions. Many agreed they are a bonafide bargain and it stood capably among its peers producing the sweet mid and sparkle these amps are so well known for. This wasn't however at the expense of any bass depth and was the best I've heard one sound yet!

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000458.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000458.jpg.html)

Having arrived a little later than expected due to traffic Marco and Macca were welcomed in with Marco's 66's drafted in to do a stint on the end of the Avondale amps. How spoiled are we? 2 pairs of 66s in the same spot to throw watts at!

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s468/richbritton/P1000460.jpg (http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/richbritton/media/P1000460.jpg.html)

Finally we had a daft hour combining a bit of old and new and paired Mick's Radford with a laptop/vlink/Rega DAC front end to finish the night on a prog rock high note, in particular the track 'Swan Hunter' from Big Big Train's Eastern Electric Pt2. This tune seemed to sum up what the NEBO is for me, tradition meeting progress, a distinctly Northern sensibility and hospitality. Good times and I even got a bit tiddly with not needing to drive home that night. Even caught up with Les and his wife over breakfast this morning for some more anecdotes, great stuff.

Pleasure to make some new acquaintances and to refresh some old ones. Thanks again to Steve for taking the initiative.

RichB
10-08-2014, 17:24
I really enjoyed the event, a good mix of equipment and musical tastes, with some great conversations and exchanges of opinions thrown in.

Well done everybody. :)

Haha, seems you beat me to it Ken! Great pics mate... The sweat marks on the tshirts say it all for how warm it was up there last night, I look burned out and excuse the builders arse in the other pic lol

Macca
10-08-2014, 17:38
Marco and I did some listening at my place first. It didn't take long for Marco to agree mine was the best system he had ever heard ;) so we soon got on the road but a delay meant we did not arrive until gone five o'clock. Fortunately we were just in time for the demonstration of an Avondale Cd player (modded Arcam) and some Avondale/Naim amps that Les had tweaked to sound 'exciting'. Les gave a bit of a talk and did some Q&A all of which was fascinating and highly entertaining.

We then got a listen to Ken's renovated Celestion 66 with his Modded Technics (you would not guess the pedigree from looking at it. When I say modded I mean modded :) ) and with Alan's Pioneer TT - beautiful looking and sounding decks the both of them. And a variety of amplification, although I thought unlike some others that the valve amps and the mini-T were a bit out of their depth driving the Celestions in the bass but it was a pretty minor thing really. The Firebottle phono stage was put in - that sounded amazingly good, but when it was swapped for the Paradise things jumped up a couple of notches to the point where you could safely say that the sound was 'bob on'. As Rich B says, the Zappa track that was played really showed of the abilities of all this kit, superb sound of a standard you rarely get to hear. The Paradise is very, very impressive.

Marco's original condition Celestion 66 then got hooked up to Les's amps and CD player, and then to another modified Technics in a gorgeous plinth. The amps, being voiced on the 'exiting' side of neutral maybe not the best match for a studio monitor and I have to say I couldn't stay in the room with Led Zep 3 blasting out at 'Marco' volume ;) Neither could Les though, so we got the chance for a bit of a chat.

Finally we had a listen to some file audio through a Radford STA15 driving Ken's Celestions. Bit of Floyd from 'Momentary Lapse', very impressive and sweet-sounding but not 'valvey sweet'. Not heard one of these amps before I can see now why they are so highly rated.

Many thanks to Steve for putting on the event, it was well worth the long journey and it was really great to meet everyone in person instead of just over the internet. And thanks again to Marco who went out of his way to pick me up and drop me back home.

Gordon Steadman
10-08-2014, 17:43
We need some names!! How about some labels or a list of who's who??

Qwin
10-08-2014, 19:20
I’m the one behind the camera :D

Hopeless at remembering names but I’ll fill in some, apologies if I’m wrong.

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_09.jpg

Starting at the back in the White shirt is Lez Wolstenholme (Avondale) and on his right is Lee Halliday.

Next row down on the far left is Mick (mik rik)

Front row right is Marco and to his left is Steve (Floyddroid)

Bottom left corner is Richard (RichB).

People - jump in and identify yourselves/others.

337alant
10-08-2014, 19:23
Big thanks to steve for organising the event ;) and as Steve said great pitty that Niel could not make it
Thanks for posting some Great pictures Ken and Rich :eyebrows:
I had a great time also and it was very nice meeting some new AOS faces there:)
Great to meet our forum owner Marco as well, who without this platform to publisise this event it would be impossible to organise sucessfully :)
Once again allways a pleasure to listen to the great discussion and stories form Les Wolstenholme a legend in the audio industary IMO
First time I read some articles form Les was in the audio conversions magazines in the 90s and that has what has spured me on in my DIY stuff ever since

Great stuff, good crack and nice friendy people

Alan

Wilbur
10-08-2014, 20:19
I’m the one behind the camera :D

Hopeless at remembering names but I’ll fill in some, apologies if I’m wrong.

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_09.jpg

Starting at the back in the White shirt is Lez Wolstenholme (Avondale) and on his right is Lee Halliday.

Next row down on the far left is Mick (mik rik)

Front row right is Marco and to his left is Steve (Floyddroid)

Bottom left corner is Richard (RichB).

People - jump in and identify yourselves/others.

2nd row,2nd from left,is yours truly,had a great day!

Floyddroid
10-08-2014, 20:37
Well, what can i say? Other than thanks to everyone. I don't feel any need to write my views on Nebo 4 as it has pretty much all been said above. it's been a very difficult year for me personally and as August 9th approached i had firmly convinced myself that Nebo 4 would be the last one. As anyone who arranges such events know, there is always the worry that nobody will turn up. It was soon to dawn on me that the Nebo meetings have become really special. I was absolutely blown away that some attendee's had driven quite a distance.
My only negative thought about the day is that we should have started earlier. I was really sad that one person didn't get his kit heard despite my best efforts to marshal things in such a way to accommodate him before he had to leave. The positive comments and encouragement i had throughout the day was truly inspiring and i am now putting my mind to planning Nebo 5 so watch this space. I may have to persuade the management at The Windmill to allow a much earlier start time or even look for a different venue. Hopefully not though as i quite like it there.
A bake off it was in the true sense of the word. it was hot enough to bake cakes in both rooms and there was the great Celestion 66 bake off. Between Ken's rebuilt beauties and Marco's bog standard untouched devices. Great fun. I can only echo the comments made by Macca, Ken and Richie who all got me off lightly not having to write a report of some kind due to them writing such elaborate statements. I couldn't help thinking to myself though, that all goes well until Alan Towell plays his Tascam and everyone starts rubbing their chin in amazement. In my opinion it just sounds so right. Alan along with Mik Rik and Ken made me feel humble. They really do know their stuff and a joy to be around. Les Wolstenholme's demonstration and Q&A session really did make me smile. Fantastic. I would dearly love to hear his signature power amps which are more neutral than the ones he had with him and a bit beefier. Rich Britton's little Amptastic intrigued me too. A great day spent with great people. Thank you to you all. "we'll be back"

RichB
10-08-2014, 21:10
I’m the one behind the camera :D

Hopeless at remembering names but I’ll fill in some, apologies if I’m wrong.

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_09.jpg

Starting at the back in the White shirt is Lez Wolstenholme (Avondale) and on his right is Lee Halliday.

Next row down on the far left is Mick (mik rik)

Front row right is Marco and to his left is Steve (Floyddroid)

Bottom left corner is Richard (RichB).

People - jump in and identify yourselves/others.

Yep, that's me... sweating like a wrong un and sucking a lemon apparently

337alant
10-08-2014, 21:41
Hey Richy nice to meet you again M8 and hat's off to that little T-Amp BTW I am amaized that that little box can produce a sound like that :eek:
Alan

Wilbur
10-08-2014, 22:28
Aye,was a real eye/ear opener that little bugger!

YNWaN
11-08-2014, 06:56
I don't feel any need to write my views on Nebo 4 as it has pretty much all been said above.

Blimey, don't you (not you specifically as such)! Surely there's quite a lot more that could be said - not much been said (a little yes, but not enough) about the differences between the two pairs of 66's for a start.....?

jollyfix
11-08-2014, 07:08
Yep, that's me... sweating like a wrong un and sucking a lemon apparently
Rich i didn't recognize in the photo, you must be sucking the mother of all lemons. Glad you all had a great time.

Floyddroid
11-08-2014, 07:40
I think it is because the mistake we made was to have the two pair of speakers in seperate rooms in different sytems so it was difficult to get an exact comparison. ken's rebuilt 66's were placed on his own concrete plinths where as Marco's standard 66's were perched atop a pair of Ikea Corras tables. My view is that Marco's speakers benefited from being on the end of Les Wolstenholme's bright and breezy Naim like Avondales. Ken's 66's are much more controlled and the work he's done on them give them an extra bit of wallop. Marco's 66's had the disadvantage of being fed a fairly upbeat signal from an Audio Technca Art1 via very upbeat amplification. However, despite this i thought Marco's sounded pretty damned good. I assume the blame for this vagueness as in hindsight i should have put them in the same system. Both pair sounded very good indeed though. Maybe we need a re-match.
Blimey, don't you (not you specifically as such)! Surely there's quite a lot more that could be said - not much been said (a little yes, but not enough) about the differences between the two pairs of 66's for a start.....?

Floyddroid
11-08-2014, 07:43
I am going to put my views down via my website in the next few days. It was a great day and there was a lot of fun to be had. Maybe we will see you at the next one.

Regards

Steve
Blimey, don't you (not you specifically as such)! Surely there's quite a lot more that could be said - not much been said (a little yes, but not enough) about the differences between the two pairs of 66's for a start.....?

Floyddroid
11-08-2014, 07:49
Next time i would love to hear a pair of Yamaha NS1000m's. Anyone got a pair that they would like to bring along?

YNWaN
11-08-2014, 07:57
I've got an uber pair of NS1000M's - external crossovers, custom stands, the works - would be a massive PITA to bring though.

If it's on again next year I would like to attend - though not if it involves the nightmare journey I believe Marco and co endured!

Err... yes - not having the 66's in the same system (or even the same room) would make comparing them difficult - impossible in fact...

Write up on your website - what website is that then?

Floyddroid
11-08-2014, 08:10
www.progmeister.com

Marco
11-08-2014, 08:14
Apologies for the delay in responding, chaps, but after a much needed lie-in yesterday, followed by having my dad round for Sunday dinner (and various other things), things have been hectic!

Anyway, I shall add my thoughts later on NEBO, save to say that it was excellent :cool:

Marco.

Qwin
11-08-2014, 09:44
YNWaN

To elaborate on the 66 head to head and purely from my perspective:

Marco’s 66 were in a bright system so not an ideal match but I thought the treble was not as good as my modified cross over, the Polyprop caps I used in that section were cleaner and crisper. Having said that I think I need to adjust mine to allow more of the top end through as they lacked a little sparkle.

At the other end I had more grunt and the bass had plenty of percussive content, more so than Marco’s. I had adjusted the bass content two days before the bake off and maybe gone too far, sacrificing a little of the lower mids for an increase in upper bass. To give you some idea of what a black art X-Over voicing is, I only changed the ESR compensating resistor on the main series cap for the Mids (30uf) from 1.8 Ohm to 1.875 Ohm (multiple resistors in parallel). This was enough to audibly change the emphasis.

Marco’s Mid Range had far more presence and was the dominant part of his presentation. Acoustic strings sounded sweeter and more realistic through his because of this.
Again I had changed the mix on mine just prior to the meeting. I took out the 4uf Ansar Polyprop which was parallel across the Mid Range filter and put an electrolytic back in. The Polyprop sounded terrible in this position causing a VERY audible resonant sibilance on the upper mids/treble. This fault is highlighted in the diyaudio thread and they have plots to show how adding various value ESR resistors reduces this resonance. I tried all the values they had used, the problem for me was that the closer you got to eliminating the resonance the worse the driver integration. Put the same value Lytic back in and the resonance was gone – they hadn’t tried that and were hell bent on using Polyprops throught.
I thought when listening to some Joni Mitchell (Blue) that I had too much upper mids so I added a 0.5 Ohm resistor after this 4uf Lytic. Again with hindsight this was too much and I took away too much of the upper mids.

In summing up, my voicing is a work in progress and it’s fair to say that both sets of speakers sounded very good and had an overall similarity in their sound. Marcos had a slight emphasis in the Mid Range. Mine had a slight emphasis on the frequency extremes.
The Polyprops I used in the treble had cleaned that end up nicely and the renewal of the 72uf Electrolytics in the bass section had brought cleaner snappier bass lines back to the level I am sure they were when new. I need to work on balancing out each drivers contribution now, to get the mix just right.

With the many component variations I have tried so far with this circuit, several things are apparent, to me anyway:

1) If you just swap all the Lytics in this circuit for Polyprops the sound is truly awful.
2) If you add ESR compensating resistors to all the Polyprops you end up getting further and further away from the original sound and chasing your tail with one change curing a particular fault but highlighting another.
3) An Alcap Lytic, when used as a replacement for the main 30uf(or 24uf) in the mid range does not sound anywhere near as good as the original Lytic that Celestion used – a Polyprop works better here.
4) Polyprops work well (better) for the series caps in the tweeter filter.
5) The overall best solution to maintain the original voicing is to use a mixture of Lytics and Polyprops with as few a number of additional resistors as possible.
6) Very small changes in resistance makes clearly audible swings in the voicing.


That’s my take on things, when I get the balance better for the Mids, I will try to get together with Marco and do a more detailed comparison using identical source components. If and when I get it spot on I will of course post the circuit and parts list for the benefit of everyone. :)

RichB
11-08-2014, 09:46
In case anyone is interested in the playlist, here are some of the albums from which I suggested various tracks over the course of the day:

CD
Rod Woomble - My secret is my silence
Steely Dan - Aja
Tunng - Good Arrows

Vinyl
Talking Heads - Speaking in tongues
Men at Work - Business as usual
The Beatles - 1962-1966 (Red)
Frank Zappa - Zoot Allures

FLAC
David Rhodes - Rhodes
Elbow - The seldom seen kid
Pink Floyd - A momentary lapse of reason
Robbie Robertson - How to become clairvoyant
Porcupine Tree - In absentia
Big Big Train - English Electric Pt 2

YNWaN
11-08-2014, 09:49
Thank you - that was the kind of detail I was hoping for :).

Jimbo
11-08-2014, 11:14
YNWaN

To elaborate on the 66 head to head and purely from my perspective:

Marco’s 66 were in a bright system so not an ideal match but I thought the treble was not as good as my modified cross over, the Polyprop caps I used in that section were cleaner and crisper. Having said that I think I need to adjust mine to allow more of the top end through as they lacked a little sparkle.

At the other end I had more grunt and the bass had plenty of percussive content, more so than Marco’s. I had adjusted the bass content two days before the bake off and maybe gone too far, sacrificing a little of the lower mids for an increase in upper bass. To give you some idea of what a black art X-Over voicing is, I only changed the ESR compensating resistor on the main series cap for the Mids (30uf) from 1.8 Ohm to 1.875 Ohm (multiple resistors in parallel). This was enough to audibly change the emphasis.

Marco’s Mid Range had far more presence and was the dominant part of his presentation. Acoustic strings sounded sweeter and more realistic through his because of this.
Again I had changed the mix on mine just prior to the meeting. I took out the 4uf Ansar Polyprop which was parallel across the Mid Range filter and put an electrolytic back in. The Polyprop sounded terrible in this position causing a VERY audible resonant sibilance on the upper mids/treble. This fault is highlighted in the diyaudio thread and they have plots to show how adding various value ESR resistors reduces this resonance. I tried all the values they had used, the problem for me was that the closer you got to eliminating the resonance the worse the driver integration. Put the same value Lytic back in and the resonance was gone – they hadn’t tried that and were hell bent on using Polyprops throught.
I thought when listening to some Joni Mitchell (Blue) that I had too much upper mids so I added a 0.5 Ohm resistor after this 4uf Lytic. Again with hindsight this was too much and I took away too much of the upper mids.

In summing up, my voicing is a work in progress and it’s fair to say that both sets of speakers sounded very good and had an overall similarity in their sound. Marcos had a slight emphasis in the Mid Range. Mine had a slight emphasis on the frequency extremes.
The Polyprops I used in the treble had cleaned that end up nicely and the renewal of the 72uf Electrolytics in the bass section had brought cleaner snappier bass lines back to the level I am sure they were when new. I need to work on balancing out each drivers contribution now, to get the mix just right.

With the many component variations I have tried so far with this circuit, several things are apparent, to me anyway:

1) If you just swap all the Lytics in this circuit for Polyprops the sound is truly awful.
2) If you add ESR compensating resistors to all the Polyprops you end up getting further and further away from the original sound and chasing your tail with one change curing a particular fault but highlighting another.
3) An Alcap Lytic, when used as a replacement for the main 30uf(or 24uf) in the mid range does not sound anywhere near as good as the original Lytic that Celestion used – a Polyprop works better here.
4) Polyprops work well (better) for the series caps in the tweeter filter.
5) The overall best solution to maintain the original voicing is to use a mixture of Lytics and Polyprops with as few a number of additional resistors as possible.
6) Very small changes in resistance make clearly audible swings in the voicing.


That’s my take on things, when I get the balance better for the Mids, I will try to get together with Marco and do a more detailed comparison using identical source components. If and when I get it spot on I will of course post the circuit and parts list for the benefit of everyone. :)

Hi Ken,

your work on the Celestion crossovers does show indeed what a delicate art voicing aspeaker can be through careful selection of caps and resistors, almost a black art.

This would make me think twice if I were to do any work on my Spendors. I would try absolutely to keep to the original components and specifications if they were still available. I suspect with old speakers one of the problems maybe changing one component for new whilst every other component in the crossover has aged. What a nightmare!

Qwin
11-08-2014, 11:43
James - yes it is not straight forward at all and I allways end up spending three to four times the amount of money on try out parts than the cost of the bits for the finished x-over.

I have been told that things like ESR values on the same capacitance electrolytic parts, from different manufacturers, can vary tremendously. This makes renewal a nightmare and in my case the original Elcaps are no longer available. Falcon Accoustics claim that Alcap give the same sound as Elcaps, I have found this to be true in some applications and false for others. Likewise, Polyprops +ESR compensating resistors sometimes work better than Lytics and somtimes without any other adjustments, they sound worse.

In the words of Mr David Bowie "It ain't easy" :eyebrows:

Anyway, enough on that topic, I will leave that for my 66 thread.

337alant
11-08-2014, 20:48
later set up in room 2,
On the bottom shelf LesWs modified Naim 135 monoblocks in a couple of Andrew properly cases, power supply for the Avondale Grad1 Pre Amp,
mid shelf the Grad 1 control unit, and audio innovations integrated, not sure what was in the wooden box?
Top shelf, Avondale modified Arcam alfa 5, Technichs 1210 in a very nice wooden plinth

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/14888967412_c6a215f7c8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oFFRhG)nebp 4-8 (https://flic.kr/p/oFFRhG) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Les Wolstenholme, fascinating stories and reminiscing over his years in the audio industry

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3909/14702705298_1c2bcae663_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oped3W)nebp 4-7 (https://flic.kr/p/oped3W) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Pioneer PLC 590 and Kens Beautiful re-plinthed techy

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/14889297275_686e98438c_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oFHxkZ)nebp 4-6 (https://flic.kr/p/oFHxkZ) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

B4 pre amp and Hackernap dual mono power amp

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/14702635420_1ab0789be4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opdRh9)nebp 4-5 (https://flic.kr/p/opdRh9) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

2 box Paradise Phono stage and Leak Stereo 20 power amp

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5589/14702770737_ca2e504414_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opexvc)nebp 4-4 (https://flic.kr/p/opexvc) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Tascam BR 20 Reel 2 Reel

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/14886463061_54a66e423b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oFt1Qe)nebp 4-11 (https://flic.kr/p/oFt1Qe) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5585/14702706878_b1151f3da1_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opedwb)nebp 4-3 (https://flic.kr/p/opedwb) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Richie's T-amp and Micks TVC pre amp

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5581/14702703758_f4272c1215_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opecAo)nebp 4-10 (https://flic.kr/p/opecAo) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Alan's Fire bottle + valve Phono stage

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5582/14702661559_c416bb8e81_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opdZ3P)nebp 4-9 (https://flic.kr/p/opdZ3P) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Micks Valve monoblocks and TVC pre amp and Kens wonderful pimped Techy

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3842/14702637090_58049743e2_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opdRLW)nebp 4-1 (https://flic.kr/p/opdRLW) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Alan

Floyddroid
11-08-2014, 20:48
Well you got it. That's a load off my mind.

Thank you - that was the kind of detail I was hoping for :).

Floyddroid
11-08-2014, 20:49
Nice one Ken.
YNWaN

To elaborate on the 66 head to head and purely from my perspective:

Marco’s 66 were in a bright system so not an ideal match but I thought the treble was not as good as my modified cross over, the Polyprop caps I used in that section were cleaner and crisper. Having said that I think I need to adjust mine to allow more of the top end through as they lacked a little sparkle.

At the other end I had more grunt and the bass had plenty of percussive content, more so than Marco’s. I had adjusted the bass content two days before the bake off and maybe gone too far, sacrificing a little of the lower mids for an increase in upper bass. To give you some idea of what a black art X-Over voicing is, I only changed the ESR compensating resistor on the main series cap for the Mids (30uf) from 1.8 Ohm to 1.875 Ohm (multiple resistors in parallel). This was enough to audibly change the emphasis.

Marco’s Mid Range had far more presence and was the dominant part of his presentation. Acoustic strings sounded sweeter and more realistic through his because of this.
Again I had changed the mix on mine just prior to the meeting. I took out the 4uf Ansar Polyprop which was parallel across the Mid Range filter and put an electrolytic back in. The Polyprop sounded terrible in this position causing a VERY audible resonant sibilance on the upper mids/treble. This fault is highlighted in the diyaudio thread and they have plots to show how adding various value ESR resistors reduces this resonance. I tried all the values they had used, the problem for me was that the closer you got to eliminating the resonance the worse the driver integration. Put the same value Lytic back in and the resonance was gone – they hadn’t tried that and were hell bent on using Polyprops throught.
I thought when listening to some Joni Mitchell (Blue) that I had too much upper mids so I added a 0.5 Ohm resistor after this 4uf Lytic. Again with hindsight this was too much and I took away too much of the upper mids.

In summing up, my voicing is a work in progress and it’s fair to say that both sets of speakers sounded very good and had an overall similarity in their sound. Marcos had a slight emphasis in the Mid Range. Mine had a slight emphasis on the frequency extremes.
The Polyprops I used in the treble had cleaned that end up nicely and the renewal of the 72uf Electrolytics in the bass section had brought cleaner snappier bass lines back to the level I am sure they were when new. I need to work on balancing out each drivers contribution now, to get the mix just right.

With the many component variations I have tried so far with this circuit, several things are apparent, to me anyway:

1) If you just swap all the Lytics in this circuit for Polyprops the sound is truly awful.
2) If you add ESR compensating resistors to all the Polyprops you end up getting further and further away from the original sound and chasing your tail with one change curing a particular fault but highlighting another.
3) An Alcap Lytic, when used as a replacement for the main 30uf(or 24uf) in the mid range does not sound anywhere near as good as the original Lytic that Celestion used – a Polyprop works better here.
4) Polyprops work well (better) for the series caps in the tweeter filter.
5) The overall best solution to maintain the original voicing is to use a mixture of Lytics and Polyprops with as few a number of additional resistors as possible.
6) Very small changes in resistance makes clearly audible swings in the voicing.


That’s my take on things, when I get the balance better for the Mids, I will try to get together with Marco and do a more detailed comparison using identical source components. If and when I get it spot on I will of course post the circuit and parts list for the benefit of everyone. :)

337alant
11-08-2014, 21:05
Some music played from the Tascam

One of these nights - Keb Mo
The Thrill is gone - BB King
Ventura Highway - America
Feel like making love - Bad Company
Blowin Free - Wishbone Ash
Reelin in the years - Steely Dan
Fire and rain - James Taylor
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Sothern man - Neil Young
Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix

Vinyl
Womack Womack - love wars album
Ricky lee Jones 1st album
Ben Harper welcome to the cruel world
I took Dusty plays in Memphis but never got time to play it :(

Alan

Floyddroid
11-08-2014, 21:11
Brilliant pictures Alan. A lot better than the ones i got. The wooden box beneath the Techie in room two is it's power supply. The Audio Innovation pre amp had been heavily modified having many components removed making it a phono stage.
later set up in room 2,
On the bottom shelf LesWs modified Naim 135 monoblocks in a couple of Andrew properly cases, power supply for the Avondale Grad1 Pre Amp,
mid shelf the Grad 1 control unit, and audio innovations integrated, not sure what was in the wooden box?
Top shelf, Avondale modified Arcam alfa 5, Technichs 1210 in a very nice wooden plinth

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/14888967412_c6a215f7c8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oFFRhG)nebp 4-8 (https://flic.kr/p/oFFRhG) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Les Wolstenholme, fascinating stories and reminiscing over his years in the audio industry

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3909/14702705298_1c2bcae663_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oped3W)nebp 4-7 (https://flic.kr/p/oped3W) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Pioneer PLC 590 and Kens Beautiful re-plinthed techy

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/14889297275_686e98438c_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oFHxkZ)nebp 4-6 (https://flic.kr/p/oFHxkZ) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

B4 pre amp and Hackernap dual mono power amp

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/14702635420_1ab0789be4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opdRh9)nebp 4-5 (https://flic.kr/p/opdRh9) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

2 box Paradise Phono stage and Leak Stereo 20 power amp

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5589/14702770737_ca2e504414_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opexvc)nebp 4-4 (https://flic.kr/p/opexvc) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Tascam BR 20 Reel 2 Reel

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/14886463061_54a66e423b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oFt1Qe)nebp 4-11 (https://flic.kr/p/oFt1Qe) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5585/14702706878_b1151f3da1_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opedwb)nebp 4-3 (https://flic.kr/p/opedwb) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Richie's T-amp and Micks TVC pre amp

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5581/14702703758_f4272c1215_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opecAo)nebp 4-10 (https://flic.kr/p/opecAo) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Alan's Fire bottle + valve Phono stage

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5582/14702661559_c416bb8e81_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opdZ3P)nebp 4-9 (https://flic.kr/p/opdZ3P) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Micks Valve monoblocks and TVC pre amp and Kens wonderful pimped Techy

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3842/14702637090_58049743e2_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/opdRLW)nebp 4-1 (https://flic.kr/p/opdRLW) by 337alant (https://www.flickr.com/people/69508926@N05/), on Flickr

Alan

struth
11-08-2014, 23:25
Great to see these pictures lads, makes me feel like I was there.:)

jollyfix
12-08-2014, 06:37
Great to see these pictures lads, makes me feel like I was there.:)
Yep , couldn't agree more.

Qwin
13-08-2014, 09:23
Couple of extra people picked up on these shots.


http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_10.jpg

Far right by the door is Alan Towell (337alant)





http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_11.jpg

Few more new faces in the other room, which was taken early in the session before it got err warm.
Dive in and tell folks who you are if not allready mentioned, I can never remember more than a handfull of new names at a time so appologies if I've slipped up but I haven't forgotten you. Every one new who I was because I was the only one wearing a name badge that also included a picture of my Avitar, it does help at these events.


Some of the music I took along and managed to play on various kit:

Vinyl
America – Self titled
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Bachman Turner Overdrive – Not Fragile
Swing Out Sister – It’s Better to Travel
Cat Stevens – Teaser and the Fire Cat

CD
The Sarah Smith Trio – (Violin/Acoustic Guitars, in the style of Stephane Grappelli)
OMD – English Electric


I had such a good time, can't wait for the next one :D

RichB
13-08-2014, 09:45
Couple of extra people picked up on these shots.


http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_10.jpg

Far right by the door is Alan Towell (337alant)





http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Pics/Nebo4_11.jpg

Few more new faces in the other room, which was taken early in the session before it got err warm.
Dive in and tell folks who you are if not allready mentioned, I can never remember more than a handfull of new names at a time so appologies if I've slipped up but I haven't forgotten you. Every one new who I was because I was the only one wearing a name badge that also included a picture of my Avitar, it does help at these events.


Some of the music I took along and managed to play on various kit:

Vinyl
America – Self titled
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Bachman Turner Overdrive – Not Fragile
Swing Out Sister – It’s Better to Travel
Cat Stevens – Teaser and the Fire Cat

CD
The Sarah Smith Trio – (Violin/Acoustic Guitars, in the style of Stephane Grappelli)
OMD – English Electric


I had such a good time, can't wait for the next one :D

So that's you in charge of the name badges next time Ken!

That OMD one is on my purchase list as I liked what I heard.

jollyfix
13-08-2014, 09:58
Thats a better photo Rich, no lemon sucking.

Jimbo
13-08-2014, 10:21
Alan, my colleague here at work Lisa loves your T shirt!:)

Ali Tait
13-08-2014, 10:59
Thats a better photo Rich, no lemon sucking.

Looks like he's having a good fart though. :lol:

Qwin
13-08-2014, 11:42
Rich - The OMD album (English Electric) is one of the few, from the bands that have got back together, that sounds as good if not better than their early stuff.

I was never a big fan of theirs but like this one a lot.

I liked the Tunng album (Good Arrows), the Malia/Boris Blank (Convergance) and the Zappa (Zoot Allures) that was played and have been looking into getting copies of these. :)

RichB
13-08-2014, 12:44
Looks like he's having a good fart though. :lol:

Haha it does, my posture, Les's face and the shifty look from the lad on the other side all suggest a meaty air biscuit floating around :lol:

Haven't heard from you in while, you keeping well?

Ali Tait
13-08-2014, 14:23
Aye good thanks mate, just busy at work as usual. Would liked to have made NEBO, had to go and see Frank Skinner at the Fringe instead, and to see Squeeze this weekend. It's a hard life.

Owston coming up in November if you fancy it?

mik_rik
13-08-2014, 17:49
6 bloody times I've tried to post about Nebo and every time I press submit it tells me to log in and my post gets lost in the ether , so all I'm going to say is I thoroughly enjoyed it, made some more good friends , got to hear kit I would never have heard otherwise,bowled over by the quality of Ken and Alan's diy/engineering skills,Les did a great talk on the industry,Rich's Amptastic, the Leak ST20 [apologies but Ive forgotten the owners name] Star of the night ,once again ,our "host" Steve ....take a deserved bow. .. ps the Verdiks do sound a lot better at home ,maybe have to try them on another system..next time

RichB
13-08-2014, 18:46
6 bloody times I've tried to post about Nebo and every time I press submit it tells me to log in and my post gets lost in the ether , so all I'm going to say is I thoroughly enjoyed it, made some more good friends , got to hear kit I would never have heard otherwise,bowled over by the quality of Ken and Alan's diy/engineering skills,Les did a great talk on the industry,Rich's Amptastic, the Leak ST20 [apologies but Ive forgotten the owners name] Star of the night ,once again ,our "host" Steve ....take a deserved bow. .. ps the Verdiks do sound a lot better at home ,maybe have to try them on another system..next time

Always remember to press the 'remember me' button when you log in Mick. That seems to work for me.

337alant
13-08-2014, 19:56
Mick
One thing that has been overlooked is just how good your 10-20W valve amps were that kicked off room 1, and on reflection they were excellent, sweet subtle very wide sound stage and very dynamic for such a low powered amp, They were awesome really and glad you brought them along, as usual you surprise us with your excellent valve amplification and I look forward your next surprise
Great chatting with you as well mate
Alan

RichB
13-08-2014, 20:26
+1

Like I said in my write up, if the first system of the day was all we'd had to listen too all day I'd have been quite happy with that.

Was surprised when you suggested getting the Radford out for our joint sesh as the Verdiks were on song and you'd mentioned having some issues with it.

337alant
13-08-2014, 22:15
Alan, my colleague here at work Lisa loves your T shirt!:)

LOL thanks Yeah I love Reel 2 Reel, class isn't it, I have it in black and grey, a R2R and a pair of head phones is my Ipod LOL, just isn't as transportable on the bus or tube,
Probably just goes to show what an old fart I am LOL
Alan

YNWaN
14-08-2014, 10:48
I've just noticed the Paradise phono doesn't have the Calvin buffers fitted - imagine if it had..... ;)

337alant
14-08-2014, 14:27
Mark, I have the calvin Boards and Si has sent me some parts but I am not going to fit them just yet as I have to many other projects on the go. The phono stage is working and sounding good so that will have to do for now.
Do the calvins make much difference?

Alan

YNWaN
14-08-2014, 14:52
Not a vast amount Alan. There is a small inductor on the boards that is shown as a hand made coil of wire. I've since bought the actual correct value inductor but despite having it for three weeks I haven't got round to fitting it yet :).

I only did the finishing off on my Calvins but they were still a bit of a PITA to fit - removing mother boards, making spacers, drilling boards (making drilling jigs), cutting out components etc...

Floyddroid
21-08-2014, 10:34
Big thanks to everyone who came to NEBO 4. I hope we made some new friends. personally i think that the day was an absolute joy. here is what i posted on my website.....http://progmeister.com/nebo-4-august-9th-2014 :)

Marco
21-08-2014, 10:42
Hi Steve,

It was a fab event, mate, so many thanks again for hosting it. I’ll defo come to the next one (get there early enough next time) and bring my Techy with me! :cool:

Marco.

Floyddroid
14-09-2014, 09:15
Over the next few weeks i am going to give thought to NEBO 5. Should anyone have any suggestions about anything they would like to see included or how i can improve things please let me know. I will try to get the management of the venue to allow an earlier start time. I am open to constructive criticism guys in order to make NEBO meetings better, Let me know your views. I would love to see more AOS members attend and put more faces to names.

Marco
14-09-2014, 09:43
I’d like to come to the next one, Steve, and bring my Techy this time (and possibly Croft preamp), so an earlier start, preferably sometime in the morning, would be much appreciated. Ideally, I’d like to get there for around 10am and leave about 6pm, to go back down the road, rather than like last time, leave at 10.45pm, and get back in about 2am…. :eyebrows:

Marco.

Qwin
14-09-2014, 10:10
Hi Steve

The Windmill is a great venue with food drink and accomodation on site, also it's located on a major trunk road so easy to get to and find, it would get my vote for future events.

The adjoining rooms kind of work, but wow, was it hot. This may not be such a problem as outside temperatures are cooling now but..........

Have you thought about using the larger function room below these two rooms, it would be cooler and have better accoustics as the ceiling is higher and it has a solid floor. The low ceilings in the rooms upstairs (less than the average house) are not ideal and the suspended floor proved a problem in one room particularly, with vinyl replay suffering baddly with foot fall, no matter how carefully YOU tried to walk past :D.

My main reason for prefering the ground floor room is that you don't have to navigate the narrow stairs with big speakers, delicate turntables (concrete speaker plinths) etc. I turned up with a speaker on a sack truck and the stairs had me beat. In the ground floor room you could set up 2 systems on opposite walls and have the seats back to back between them, the room is big enough. You could argue that it is bigger than the average home listening room so things might not sound comparable, but I think this is a minor draw back compared with the positive points, oh and its closer to the bar :eyebrows:.

Some food for thought, what do other folks think?

edit: I'll second the early start.
Might be good to start a new thread for NEBO5 even at this early stage?

Macca
14-09-2014, 10:28
Have you thought about using the larger function room below these two rooms, it would be cooler and have better accoustics as the ceiling is higher and it has a solid floor. The low ceilings in the rooms upstairs (less than the average house) are not ideal and the suspended floor proved a problem in one room particularly, with vinyl replay suffering baddly with foot fall, no matter how carefully YOU tried to walk past :D.

?

I'd agree. The venue is near perfect (if a little bit distant from the civilised world) but the suspended floor was an issue.

You could also try and negotiate a discount at the bar. We did seem to get through a fair amount of ale between us all so might be worth asking ;)

Ali Tait
14-09-2014, 10:30
Hi Steve

The Windmill is a great venue with food drink and accomodation on site, also it's located on a major trunk road so easy to get to and find, it would get my vote for future events.

The adjoining rooms kind of work, but wow, was it hot. This may not be such a problem as outside temperatures are cooling now but..........

Have you thought about using the larger function room below these two rooms, it would be cooler and have better accoustics as the ceiling is higher and it has a solid floor. The low ceilings in the rooms upstairs (less than the average house) are not ideal and the suspended floor proved a problem in one room particularly, with vinyl replay suffering baddly with foot fall, no matter how carefully YOU tried to walk past :D.

My main reason for prefering the ground floor room is that you don't have to navigate the narrow stairs with big speakers, delicate turntables (concrete speaker plinths) etc. I turned up with a speaker on a sack truck and the stairs had me beat. In the ground floor room you could set up 2 systems on opposite walls and have the seats back to back between them, the room is big enough. You could argue that it is bigger than the average home listening room so things might not sound comparable, but I think this is a minor draw back compared with the positive points, oh and its closer to the bar :eyebrows:.

Some food for thought, what do other folks think?

edit: I'll second the early start.
Might be good to start a new thread for NEBO5 even at this early stage?

This is what we do at Owston, there is one large room that everyone sets up in. Works well, we just take turns to have a go.

Floyddroid
14-09-2014, 12:19
Hi alia. Looking forwrd to meeting you at Owston.
This is what we do at Owston, there is one large room that everyone sets up in. Works well, we just take turns to have a go.

RichB
15-09-2014, 08:31
Hi Steve,

I'm generally ok with the arrangements and think the big room may be an idea if the event continues to grow in numbers. I would be concerned though about some of the smaller systems becoming swamped by the room so it may be good to have the upstairs space also, depending on numbers and affordability of course.

Re the suspended floor upstairs I think this was mainly a problem with the large rack which was put in the room as I'm not aware of it being an issue in the past with the smaller cabinets.

R

mik_rik
16-09-2014, 16:27
Could give a thought to making it a two day event .Might make it worthwhile for people who have to travel from further afield.Also, even though the last event was some 8 hours,it was still a rush to allow everyone to show their gear and the music they had brought [the 2 Geordie lads with their cd player]Sometimes it is the music ,not just the gear that people really enjoy[I could have listened to Alan's compilation tape on his r2r, and Jay's Leak stereo20 just played music as I thought it should be] Just an idea but ,we all have cd's etc that we no longer listen to,so we could bring them along and let whoever wants them have them or make a small donation [50p or £1 each] to go to the hiring of the venue or some agreed upon charity

Ali Tait
16-09-2014, 18:24
Hi alia. Looking forwrd to meeting you at Owston.

Likewise Steve, should be a good do. Looking forward to the R to R!

Floyddroid
08-10-2014, 09:46
My worry about staging it over two days Mik is the extra expense and the risk of poor attendance on the second day. I am in negotiation now with the venue to start earlier in the day. I have a couple of idea's too that i have beeb thinking about. I think we will be looking at sometime in January.
Could give a thought to making it a two day event .Might make it worthwhile for people who have to travel from further afield.Also, even though the last event was some 8 hours,it was still a rush to allow everyone to show their gear and the music they had brought [the 2 Geordie lads with their cd player]Sometimes it is the music ,not just the gear that people really enjoy[I could have listened to Alan's compilation tape on his r2r, and Jay's Leak stereo20 just played music as I thought it should be] Just an idea but ,we all have cd's etc that we no longer listen to,so we could bring them along and let whoever wants them have them or make a small donation [50p or £1 each] to go to the hiring of the venue or some agreed upon charity