Project May Audition

[Mr. Widget]

For those of you unfamiliar with the Project May program that was begun about a year ago by a suggestion that we, the members of this Forum, build a Lansing speaker for our esteemed Webmaster and Forum Moderator Don McRitchie, please check out this link.

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/pr...ay/pmintro.htm

The first complete prototypes of this system are now up and running here in San Francisco. I realize this is short notice, but in the interest of keeping the ball rolling and continuing to move forward during the upcoming holiday season, I will be hosting an audition this Sunday November 21. This audition is open to any interested forum members who are in the San Francisco Bay Area and would like to come by.

The audition will be held Sunday afternoon from 2:00pm. If you would like to be part of this listening session and meet other Lansing fanatics, please send me a PM.


Here is a shot of one prototype in all of it's rough beauty.

Widget

[lfh]

I've been staring at the picture for like five minutes now...so extraordinarily super-mega-ueber-cool! (Wish I could come on over, but...)

[johnaec]

Well, I really tried, but I just can't get out of a band rehearsal this Sunday afternoon. I definitely want to hear them down the line sometime, though...
Take some pics this weekend, and down a few for me!

John

[lfh]

Well, I really tried, but I just can't get out of a band rehearsal this Sunday afternoon.

That's the downside of playing the most important instrument of them all.

[Infredible]

I will be there for sure.

Fred.

[Real Prober]

I'd be there if I have time.. but I will be busy this weekend. Sorry.

[Zilch]

We met new friends,
Drank fine wine,
Heard great music,
Learned new stuff.

The speakers were awesomely good, too....

[dancing-dave]

Any news of the project making its way to the Tri-State/New England area?

[Titanium Dome]

Will there be a SoCal/LA audition, perhaps at the Northridge Facility? You must know someone who'll let you in...

[Mr. Widget]

It was fun meeting several more Forum members. I wish we had had more time to schedule this audition session so that even more folks could have come by and participated. It was interesting to hear the many comments made during the audition and it great to hear the wide range of music from people's favorite discs. Many were familiar but others were real ear openers.

As for the next stop for this traveling circus, I believe it is heading to Utah for TimG to do additional measurements. I have ordered a Clio loudspeaker measurement system for my own use. I will call the distributor on Monday. It has been on order for a while, if it is again in stock and will be shipped to me soon I will hold onto the Project Mays for a bit longer to do some additional tests here first. If my Clio system is still on back order, I will be packing it up for TimG. After that I am not sure where it will turn up.

For more details and technical descriptions of what has been going on check out the dedicated Project May threads.

Widget

[boputnam]

First-vs-Final
I hope the resolution is useful, here.

First, a Spectrum comparing the First configuration, vs the Final configuration. Widget has all the relevant notes on the modifications that were made to the three networks, but suffice it to say, every mod he made (under the direction of Giskard) improved the response and sound.

Blue = original, Green = Final. For this display, the spectrum are "matched" such that the Green does not exceed (obscure) any Blue bar - you can see the subtle but audible increased LF response of the Blue that is reduced in the Green.

[boputnam]

ibid, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform).

Colors:
Pink = First
Green = Final

Here, the spectrum (traces) are normalized at approx. 400 Hz - that is, they are matched there (where there was an audible boost in the Pink), and the Green shows Final. The Green is much more level (flatter) all along the spectrum = good. (ignore the artifacts +18kHz)

[boputnam]

REMEMBER!!! This is dry - without ANY EQ. No nada, no nothing. Nunca.

Just incredible engineering on Team May's part. May is running full-range, completely passive networks. Wow...

[boputnam]

Most measurements (all RTA spectra) were taken with SmaartLIVE generated Pink Noise. However, source material is not relevant in the FFT cases - in those, the source data is compared real-time to the acoustically measured data, incorporating a delay for the input signal so the two signals are in-synch.

[boputnam]

Without their approval, I offer you a shot of the ears - toward the end of our trialing.

From Left -> Right:

Widget, Ms. Gadget, Freddie, Zilch, Speakerdave (seated) and DonC. The shot is taken from the extremely well measured RH tower, looking nearly up the barrel of the Earthworks M30 microphone (directed at the MF - you can see it gets priority...).

Thanks to Widget, whose generous and patient aural and physical donations to May (and pedantically blue-taped markings!!) advanced this phase, measurably. And, as always, kudos to the inimitable Giskard who was longingly on the other end of the phone...