May Austin HTF Meet. (1 Viewer)

[Chad Anson]

I've heard (hah, no pun intended) from a couple of sources that above the screen is often preferred because we are less able to localize sounds originating above our ear than below. If I were you, I'd just rig it up above and see how it sounds.

 

[Colin Dunn]

Looks like we have a consensus for May 17.

Now who wants to open up their HTs for the tour? I am willing to open up my place again, if the tour takes the group through northeast Austin. I really would like to see Jeff Meininger's and Dave Elliott's HTs (hint, hint). If I recall correctly, Julian also tentatively offered to host (new guy jumping in with both feet!). No offense intended to Hank, Nils, or Frederick, whose HTs I've already seen on numerous occasions. I think I've seen Jonathan's HT in a previous incarnation, but am curious about the most recent changes there...

 

[Chad Anson]

I'd like to volunteer to host a leg of the event. We're about halfway through construction of our dedicated theater and I'd love to show it off and get feedback (before the drywall goes up). I live in Lakeway and would be pretty close to several of the others.

 

[Jeff Meininger]

Yes, put me on the list. Our HT is pretty worthless if it's before dark, though.

I haven't seen Nils' HT... I'd sure like to if he's up for adding it to the tour. Otherwise I'll just hit one of his movie nights. I think he's near 620 and 2222, right?

Hank has a fairly light-tolerant HT (I think... RPTV), so maybe it could be a stop on the tour pre-8:00PM?

If Nils has full light control, then the most direct looking route to take would start with Nils, then progress up 620 to Hank, then my place, then on to Dave E's and Frederick F's. Mike F is in Leander, that could be a zag between my place and Lago Vista, or maybe the final stop on the tour?

That route is just an idea. I'm probably leaving people out (sorry) or volunteering people who don't want to be featured (sorry).

 

[Jeff Meininger]

If Chad is in Lakeway, then maybe he should be the first stop if we follow the "progression up 620 to points north" idea.

Maybe this will be the first time I make it through Lakeway without getting stopped by the police! Woohoo!

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Maybe this will be the first time I make it through Lakeway without getting stopped by the police! Woohoo!

Or getting attacked by hordes of hungry deer!

 

[Rajiv Arora]

17th should work for me, and I'm willing to show my HT.

-Rajiv

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

We could meet for lunch at The Oasis or the Iguana Grill (no overpriced margaritas for Dr. T this time ), then on to Chad's in Lakeway. I was just there and met Chad and his gracious wife- very nice folks. They are both DIY-ing a large dedicated HT - you guys will really enjoy seeing the work that's been done and yet to do in this exciting project.
After that, we could go on to Jeff's, then Dave's, Rajiv's, etc. I too would like to see only HT's I haven't seen before at a meet.

 

[Scott Oliver]

I would love to see Julian's place, but it looks like it will be pretty far out of the loop.

Julian, I am just going to have to give you a call, because I really would love to hear those VMPS speakers if you wouldn't mind. Perhaps if your interested I could bring my new tube preamp, which I am still working the kinks out of. The owner of Granite Audio thinks I have a noisy tube in the one of the three linestage spots. So now I only have to play around with the tubes over and over to see who is the culprit. Yeah!:frowning:

I am just getting a little more tweeter hiss then I should be, it is audible to about 3-4 feet away. So I can't hear anything from my listening chair, but still I hate noise in my system.

 

[Rajiv Arora]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I have reasonable light control, and would prefer to be earlier in the rotation, so we're done at my place by 6ish latest.

Would someone like to map out an optimal route if we all sent him our addresses?

-Rajiv

 

[Chad Anson]

Johnny Fins is also an okay venue right on the water.

 

[Rich_Ave]

I'll be glad to add my HT to the list on the parade. I live off 620 between 2222 and Anderson Mill Road in the Canyon Creek subdivision. I have an LCD projector, but I don't have great light control just yet. Please let me know if you're interested. I'm also assuming it's on the 17th.

Rich

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Rich, welcome! Can you share just a bit more detail? You are certainly among the far West Austin group here (Nils, Chad, Ian, Jeff M., myself). We'll see how the logistics stacks up for the meet, and yes, it's looking like the 17th.

 

[Scott Oliver]

Well I have got to thank Julian for having me over for a bit yesterday to check out his system. Great house Julian, a truly inspiring effort to the DIY'er in all of us.

I have got to give an update on my new tube preamp. Still haven't had a chance to work towards eliminating all noise, but did take the time to just sit and listen for awhile. I am very surprised by the improvement this thing has made to my music listening. My only source I have to hook up to it is my Sony S7000 DVD player and its analog outputs. I have never used these and while this Sony is known to have a good transport section and good DVD video and audio quality, its DAC's and analog outputs aren't considered anything to write home about from everything I have read. I figured that my digital source would continue to be the Sony into the Theta Casa Nova's DAC's until I could afford a better CD player system. Well with the the Theta out of the loop and the Granite Audio in it is very, very nice sounding, and in all ways superior to the Theta. I was shocked today when I was listening for about 4 hours, the music is so textured, 3Dish, luscious, emotional, plus deeper and wider soundstaging.

My wife picked up on it to and actually took over the sweet spot to do her schoolwork, which is the first time this has ever happened.

Oh I also sold my Sony TV today for $700. So starting tommorrow until my wife and I breakdown and add a FP, our DVD watching will be done on a 19" RCA TV.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Okay, it's time for a final count. The Austin *Parade of HT's* will be on Saturday, May 17th. If we do only new HT's, it appears that a good starting point may be Chad Anson's in Lakeway. We could meet for lunch at The Oasis, Iguana Grill, or Johnny Fins. FWIW, The Oasis may be the most likely place for us to get a large separate, fairly quiet area (inside) for our group. What do you think, Chad?
Lunch time? How about 1:00 instead of 12:00?
After lunch, on to Chad's, then head back east on 620 to Jeff M's. From there, ??, so everyone else who is volunteering their HT's, please e-mail Colin your address and between him and me we'll locate them on a MapQuest map and figure the most effecient route.
Does that sound like a plan? If another way is better, please post - I'm only suggesting.
1. Are you planning to attend?
2. Are you volunteering your HT for the tour?

 

[Scott Oliver]

I think there is at least one more "new" theater out in Lakeway - Dave Elliot's.

 

[Frederick_Falk]

Why are we only doing new HT's? There are plenty of people that have not seen some of the regular sites that have hosted movie nights, yet. I think we should try and get as many sites in as possible. That said, why can't we start on Friday night and do some sites that don't have complete light control (like mine for instance; I would be happy to add my place to the tour) and that should get us in to see at least 3 sites. Then we could start again in the morning around 10 AM (for those that like to sleep late) and make our rounds to as many as we can do. I think we will need to limit each site to one hour (which may or may not include driving time) and have each host provide some snacks and drinks so we don't have to take a lot of time out of the day to stop for lunch and dinner. This way we should be able to get in seven or eight more sites on Saturday. I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has done and getting input on how to make mine better.

 

[Chad Anson]

I'm not a big fan of the food at the Oasis, but if we can get a private room that would be cool. I'll call Johnny Fins to verify, but I believe they have some private rooms as well. How big of a group are we expecting?

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Chad,

If you haven't eaten at Oasis in some time I think you are in for a HUGE surprise. They got a new chef about a year ago who has completely redone their menu and the food has been fantastic. I rarely ate at the Oasis because the food had always been so poor, but the last three meals I have had their were unbelievably good. My favorite is their crawfish enchiladas! I think the reason for the new chef is that Bo invested several million dollars in the expansion of the Oasis with their new special event center that they use for weddings and catered events and didn't want to blow it by not offering first rate menu items.

On the other hand, I think the Iguana Grill must have hired the old chef because the food there has gotten so bad that even Taco 'Hell' serves better food.

Johnny Fins is pretty good, and has plenty of room upstairs for large groups, but if we are planning on visiting as many HT systems as possible, Johnny Fins may not be the best choice as it takes quite a bit of time to get to. After all, it is next to Hurst Harbor which is a bit of a drive off 620 and as it is floating on the lake and the parking is fairly far from the restaurant, the travel time will eat somewhat into our day.

The most convenient of the three is certainly Iguana Grill, but it also has the worst food - and most expensive margaritas, right Dr. J?

Unless the view is that important, there are several other yet to be mentioned restaurants along 620 that would make excellent choices, very convenient, more conversation friendly rooms, and don't charge $7 for a margarita.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Because it was suggested and a couple of folks said they prefer it. If the majority votes otherwise, then okay.

Back to the task at hand:
1. Will you meet for lunch and the tour?
2. If so, vote for a restaurant so we can get that out of the way.
3. Are you volunteering your HT?