WithamFest07

[petercom]

Just come back from a very successful meeting at WithamFest07, this year held in a nice room in the Angel Inn.

Lovely to meet everyone again and see their recent, and not so recent projects (see pics in the Gallery).

Highlight of the day for me was the ESS AMT1 speakers driven by home built 'Ongaku' amplifier. I heard these speakers in my early days in hi-fi retailing and they were always a devil to drive (4 Ohms nominal dipping to below 3 Ohms). But 93dB sensitivity (and they sounded it) and a sublime mid and treble performance from the Ongaku copy worked really well together. Only the lumpy bass showed the compromises in this combination.

Close in impressive musical performance were Steve's Lowther Horns - the Angels - beautifully finished and showing just how clear and clean Lowthers can be in a good cabinet where the majority of the horn colorations have been designed out. These actually seemed to work best on the end of DTB's newly built WD88VA which actually stopped everyone talking when it first went on!

Opinions, naturally, were flying around the room as to the merits of OBs, Transmitter OP valves, horns and CD vs vinyl - all good stuff. But surprisingly DTB's first foray into DIY valve audio, a little ECL82 SE with tiny, low cost output transformers, showed what could be done on a tight budget and relayed plenty of musical enjoyment with some of the speakers.

A fun day out, and shame I couldn't be there in the evening to enjoy the local brew and plenty more chat. I haven't commented on all the equipment but you can see some of this in the Gallery pictures and no doubt others will contribute (and correct if I've got anything wrong).

Thanks to Martin for organising and well done to everyone who bravely brought their equipment.

[The Shadow]

Sounds like a good day was had Peter.
Wish I could have been there but it was not possible.

Looking at the size of that room I would have loved to have got the Metronomes running in there either side of the fireplace with the sub in the corner. Would have been interesting to compare them with Paul's OBs using the same driver.

Steve

[Bizzie]

I'll look forward to hearing more comments from others who attended!!! I really wish I could have been there too but I had to work
Maybe next time.

[Greg.]

I'm delighted that you've all had such a good time. I'm a bit sad I was not with you, but then again I'm also delighted that I've fixed the central heating and the house is warm again

Best wishes,

Greg

[Paul Barker]

Originally Posted by Greg.

I've fixed the central heating and the house is warm again

Best wishes,

Greg

Good

[NealG]

Many thanks to Martin and Sam for the organisation and food, another interesting and varied audio experience!

[attilio7]

Hi, can anyone tell me what make are the chunky rope like speaker cables being used? I don’t recognize them. Congratulations on organizing such a unique event.

attilio

[Tony Moore]

Hi All,

Firstly, many thanks once again to Martin and Sam for organising a great event and putting on a superb food spread. The room was much better suited than the previous venue and having a real-ale bar right through the door was a huge temptation! (I had to change plans and drive back yesterday though so I didn't partake )

I really enjoyed the day yesterday and meeting up for some Wobbling once more on Friday evening. Those Heil tweeters blew me away.

The speaker cables mentioned were Nick's TNT Twisted Twins, CAT5 network cable.

Cheers,
Tony

[raymondj]

Hi,

I have just come away from WithamFest07. Firstly many thanks to Martin and Sam for looking after us, the effort put into running the event feeding us was much appreciated.

Equipment highlights for me were: 1) Dave the Bass's BOBA for sounding great and putting things into perspective i.e it didnt cost the earth but was great entertainment. 2) The bottlehead amps which again were sweet sounding and capable at only 1 watt or so. 3) The OB designs with bass helper and fostex maindriver which made me think about trying for myself 4) Steve's beautiful to look at and also to listen too self designed lowther horns and PX25 amps. Appologies if i have got the tube type confused.

Never before heard an Ongaku type amp, also Heil air motion transformers. Finally never heard Buddy Holly sounding so good on vinyl even after several plays.

Thanks again.
Ray.

My thanks also to Martin and Sam for hosting the event and laying on such a nice spread.

Despite only a quick visit, it was very interesting to see and hear some of the fascinating kit and to be able to put a few faces to names. The efforts and activities of the DIY fraternity are always an inspiration - it takes a rare dedication to haul kit (weighing as much as it obviously did) around the countryside!

Many thanks to all those involved..!!

Keith G