View Full Version : Cornwall bakeoff
Been asked when my next bakeoff is due so, going to put forward the 26th February for consideration.
Naturally, the following week is the Scalford show so certainly not that date. If the 26/2/11 date isn't going to suit, then put your proposals forward and we'll get a concensus together for another date.
The venue is near Liskeard in Cornwall and if anyone is coming from afar, I can put you up in our spare room for the night
technobear
23-01-2011, 21:01
Been asked when my next bakeoff is due so, going to put forward the 26th February for consideration.
No good to me :(
How about March 19th? :eyebrows:
If I get more than one vote for 19th March then I am happy with that.
I also just realised that the 26th Feb is the Brissol show weekend, but who in their right mind wants to drive there with the price of fuel the way it is, pay a fortune to park, pay nine quid just to get in, pay through the nose for rubbish food and drink, then moan like hell on the forums afterwards how crowded it was, there was too much AV, the rooms were too small, the salespeople were inattentive/rude/stupid and the systems sounded total shite for the prices being asked :eek:
If you want all that I will provide it all exactly the same for your pleasure if you wish for £9.00 cheaper :eyebrows:
technobear
23-01-2011, 23:44
I won't be at Bristol. I have something much more interesting lined up for that weekend.
jandl100
24-01-2011, 10:14
Hmmm ... all you say is true about Bristol show, Frank - but I think I'll go this year anyway! :eyebrows:
They've quite a good exhibitor turnout this year http://www.bristolshow.co.uk/brands.lasso
I'm happy with March 19 for your Bake Off, too. :)
OK then, March 19th it is :eyebrows:
I don't think I can make this one!! :lolsign:
I don't think I can make this one!! :lolsign:
Excuses, excuses, excuses :lolsign:
By the way, do you folks over in Canada have these group se . . . I mean bakeoffs?
Reached the bottom of page 2 so this needs a bump ^^^
Excuses, excuses, excuses :lolsign:
By the way, do you folks over in Canada have these group se . . . I mean bakeoffs?
None that I'm aware of...although I did ask the Wife to ask a friend over once...:lolsign:
Erm.........maybe i'm being a bit thick here...............am new to this forum.........but not new to Audio and have heard this term (BakeOff) many times but am still unsure what it is.
Can anyone explain please?
Many thanks in advance,
James.
The term "bakeoff" means you and several others lugging selected items from your hi-fi systems over to another enthusiast's home and mix it all in together and see what transpires :eyebrows:
Cheap components get blended in with esoterica and vice versa, so more than once we have assembled some very fine sounding systems with a right old mish-mash of age, style, genre and cost components.
Added to that, people bring along their own selection of music to play, so you get to hear music you would never otherwise hear.
Great day to be honest with some nice kit, fine tunes, a good yarn or two and if your host makes the effort, some great hospitality too. My famous bolly draws as much attention as the kit and music does :lol:
Thanks for the explanation. It's a bit far for me otherwise sounds a great wheeze!
JC
Thanks for the explanation. It's a bit far for me otherwise sounds a great wheeze!
JC
Pah! There will be guys coming down from a lot further than you would be ;)
When petrol wasn't the exhorbitant price it is now, it wasn't uncommon for me to drive to places like Worthing, Tring, Milton Keynes and back in a day for a bakeoff :lolsign:
This event happens on this coming Saturday, so this is your last chance to get your name down on the list :eyebrows:
Be there or be square! :flasher:
Marco.
Be there or be square! :flasher:
Marco.
Shame you weren't available to come down Marco. I am doing my usual Bolognese for the evening meal which would give you a real stiffy mate :eyebrows:
Lol, sounds great, and I've love to come if someone drove or flew me down.... ;)
It's a bitch of a drive from here, mate - I know because I've got hotel contracts for corporate artwork all over Devon and Cornwall!
Anyway, hope it goes well and you have a great time :cool:
We expect a full write-up!
Marco.
Thanks to everyone who came along
Not much kit came along at this one, but having said that we didn't have the usual fight between two systems competing in adjacent rooms and I must say it was much better for it, so I think if I have more bakeoffs that will be the way to go in future.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg208/kernowman/Hi-Fi/Dsc06671.jpg
Technobear (Chris) brought along his new Audiolab CD/DAC/pre gizmo, a Bel Canto power amp and a pair of Jamo bookshelves. I wasn't all that impressed with the Audiolab at first hearing and that was probably because it wasn't warmed up properly and it has a plethora of digital filters (7 according to Chris) to wade through before the right one was selected. However, once it had warmed up and the right filter was selected, it did give a very good account of itself into the Bel Canto power amp - certainly got my Dali's dancing The Bel Canto sounded ace once it and the Audiolab were warmed up and working together in harmony.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg208/kernowman/Hi-Fi/Dsc06670.jpg
This picture shows the Audiolab doing transport duties into the built-in DAC of the XTZ and also the pre-amp section alone (The XTZ is splittable by links) driving the Bel Canto power amp.
Although a very small bookshelf speaker and a lack of proper stands (dining chairs no less!) and being well out into the room without the necessary boundary reinforcement, the little Jamo speakers did surprise me with their excellent sound. Fabulous top end and midband and what bass was there was articulate and extremely well defined, given the erroneous position they were plonked in - right in front of the Dali's. Certainly one to look out for at the right price.
Nice to see a new face in the shape of Greybeard (Colin) who had a pair of VRR valve monoblocks to bring along. Poor chap was rather apologetic for hauling along valve amps with 1 EL34 as the output stage producing some 4 watts or so, thinking they were outclassed by the big beefy SS amps and the prospect of driving a pair of not that sensitive Dali floorstanders. Not so. These monoblocks produced a beguiling sweetness with female vocals and delicate refined music, plus they could get the Dalis to produce some mighty fine bass notes too I thought a couple of Loreena Mackennit tracks would be an easy task for them to get to grips with, until some deep bass notes arrived in the music and the VRR's tackled them with easy aplomb
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg208/kernowman/Hi-Fi/Dsc06673.jpg
The A30 was up next and as ever it gave a very fine account of itself. I put Supertramp's "Dreamer" track on with the volume cranked up and who said that valve gear doesn't get down and boogie at high volume???
One thing I do always look forward to is hearing some fresh toons to add to my list of wants and got a few albums lined up for the collection. Interesting too that a young lad like Syep has developed his musical tastes from the "boom tish" plinky plonk pop music he listened to some 5 years ago when I first met him, to some sophisticated and refined music he listens to now and must admit a couple of his selections has gone onto my own hit list.
That really does sum up this bakeoff for me this time around. Great tunes, not much kit swapping done but a good quality sound instead, in an easy relaxed atmosphere.
Brilliant stuff, Frank. I'm glad you guys had a ball. It seems that there was some interesting kit (and music) listened to, which is what it's all about :)
I think we should encourage more of these mini bake-offs throughout the country, as there's nothing better than meeting the people behind their Internet persona and listening to good music and top-notch kit! :cool:
Marco.
Excellent write up Frank. Sounds like you guys had a great time.
Thanks for telling us all about it.
Regards
technobear
20-03-2011, 20:46
In case anyone is wondering, the Jamo standmounts are Cornet 145's. I don't know what they retailed at but I got them off Gumtree and I think I got a bargain. This is the first time I've had them on the Audiolab/Bel Canto combo and I was quite shocked by how big they sounded and how free the sound was from the boxes. As Frank says, they need a wall behind them or a corner nearby to help the bass but that suits a lot of people who don't want speakers in the middle of the room. Shame Frank didn't take a picture
The Audiolab is of course the 8200CDQ and I think my opinion is well known by now. I love it.
The Bel Canto is an eVo200.2 which is I think the first class D amp thet Bel Canto introduced. This one uses the Tripath module and puts out 120 Watts into 8 ohms and 240 Watts into 4 ohms. It can still pump 80 Watts into my Zu's which are 12 ohm and as you know are very efficient. The result is awesome. The Bel Canto gets bass out of the Zu's that I didn't know they had in them. In fact, one or two issues with the sound which I previously blamed on the speakers have now disappeared with the Bel Canto in charge. The speakers were just being honest about what they were being fed.
The XTZ as an amp sounds excellent, is very good value for money and is quite the looker too. It's a bit unfair comparing it to the Bel Canto as the latter retailed for somewhere north of £2000 I believe. The Tripath technology has a few potential advantages over class A or class B and in the eVo200.2 they are well realised. It's a shame that we couldn't have compared the XTZ to something like a Sugden A21. That would have been interesting. You certainly get a lot of amp for your money from XTZ.
The DAC in the XTZ is not in the same class as the one in the Audiolab, although of course not helped by introducing an SPDIF link into the proceedings, but it's a useful add on. I'm not sure if Frank uses the XTZ DAC or the one in his ESound CD player.
The ESound was the first thing we listened to so some of the others missed it. I thought it sounded pretty good but I'm not sure which DAC we were using.
I loved those VRR monoblocks. Outrageous how much sound you can get out of just 5 Watts from a single EL34 and it sounded very good. You got a bargain there Colin.
And finally the Dali Suite 2.8's. These speakers continue to impress me with how little they do wrong. They just dont seem to have the faults that I'm used to expecting at this price point from this type of speaker. They were very good value at their RRP of about a grand. At the silly low price that Frank paid, they were one helluva bargain.
More comments on the wam:
http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?50290-Cornwall-bakeoff&p=961291#post961291
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.