Real reference level

burdette

We headed downtown to our All-American, classic, Americana 4th of July celebration on Friday... the whole deal - parade, blocked off downtown streets, little carnival for the kids, Lewis and Clark expo, guys cutting dugout canoes, homemade rootbeer, etc etc etc.

We were close the parade's start point, so we saw the end of it while it was still running through most of the route, so we were gathering our stuff. All of a sudden... ROOOOOOAAAAARR WHOOOOOOSH!!!! An F-15 comes over downtown at about 100 feet... then another, then two more a little higher.... my god.. talk about a thrill.. talk about an adreneline rush... talk about getting hit in the chest with REAL sound pressure and nut-rattling bass.... then they circled around and buzzed downtown again. It was moving... patriotic... testosterone-laden... it was very cool.

I watched two F-15s take off from the StL airport once and the sound overpowered ALL the other aircraft there. 50 commercial airliners in varying phases of landing, taking off, taxiing, etc, couldn't touch the volume of those two jets. I watched an F-18 do a mach run last year... it came in from my left about 50' off the ground.. I just stood and watched it.. never heard a thing, until it was heading off to my right, and THEN the whoooooooosh practically knocked you off your feet.

Music can move me. Movies and music can both stir emotions. But an event like that occurs rarely enough that the thrill seems so much more intense and exciting.

I've noticed the "frequency response" of real events lately.. dump trucks, planes, trains, etc. It is a GREAT reference for your system/sub. You *have* to know what the real thing feels/sounds like in order to know how well your system is reproducing it.

Anyway... from one guy to another... grunt, snort, snarl...

We get a B-2 every once in awhile, heading back to Whiteman, following the river. Usually pretty high, but still loud and thrilling.

nadams

We have an air force base nearby our house, and they sometimes bring the jets in low for training runs. I agree that the sound is absolutely amazing. I've never been witness to a mach run, though. The sound comes in at a stark contrast to the quietness out here in the "wilds" :-). It's cool, but I wouldn't want to hear it all the time...

nadams

RuSsMaN

Cool experience, agreed.

Hey, nadams, you forgot to add 'various Marantz pieces of junk' to your sig.

Cheers,
Rooster

wlrandall

Originally posted by burdette
I watched an F-18 do a mach run last year... it came in from my left about 50' off the ground.. I just stood and watched it.. never heard a thing, until it was heading off to my right, and THEN the whoooooooosh practically knocked you off your feet.

Got the same thrill myself at the Dallas NAS a few years backs. No audio system I ever heard could recreate that rush. Just when you think it's going, going, gone the wave hits you in the chest...awesome.

nadams

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Hey, nadams, you forgot to add 'various Marantz pieces of junk' to your sig.

Hey, thanks "Mr. Grand"...


oh, and in all seriousness..... it's not there because I just can't use it. I love the sound, but I'm really afraid the power-on thump is going to kill my polks.

nadams

RuSsMaN

Power on thumps can be scary to hear, but usually aren't a big deal. My whole-house rig right now has a Carver m200t and Hafler 101 pre.

Thumps on power up, 'whistles' on shutdown. Funny thing is, when I used the same amp with a Yammie C40 pre, no thump.

It's gotta be ground related between the amp/pre. In your situation, try it on another outlet. Hey, I think a cheap score is cool regardless, keep posting on them, I'm interested to hear about your scores.

Cheers,
Rooster

jbowl

Originally posted by burdette
We headed downtown to our All-American, classic, Americana 4th of July celebration on Friday....

I graduated from SMSU(Spfld). I met many kids from St. Charles area. Went up to the 4th party one year. I think it was '89 or '90. We were staying at a hotel about 3/4 mile off the landing.

We saw and heard a harrier hovering over the river. WOW, I thought it was gonna knock over our hotel. It was one of those 'OH MY GAWWWD' knid of moments.

shepx2

I work at an AETC base, where they train all the rookie Air Force pilots. The training aircraft are fairly quiet compared to most of the modern day fighters. But about 2 weeks ago, a group of F-16's came through on their way overseas. When they left, the pilots were showing off, and went afterburner/vertical.
I thought one of the older guys was gonna have a heart attack; he fell out of his chair it was so loud:) Even though we work on planes every day, we don't get to see the big dogs running very often, and it's a blast to see when we do.

burdette

On the other side of the spectrum, we have a B-17 coming in to the local airport today on a layover. Supposed to land this morning and leave tomorrow sometime. They're actually offering rides... haven't heard a price, but I doubt $50 would touch it.. wouldn't be surprised at $75 or $100.

I've *got* to get my kids out there to see it... of course, no doubt a group of us guys from work are going to head over, too.

HBombToo

Originally posted by burdette
On the other side of the spectrum, we have a B-17 coming in to the local airport today on a layover. Supposed to land this morning and leave tomorrow sometime. They're actually offering rides... haven't heard a price, but I doubt $50 would touch it.. wouldn't be surprised at $75 or $100.

I've *got* to get my kids out there to see it... of course, no doubt a group of us guys from work are going to head over, too.

Were talking about going down also. Do you know you can take a ride for about ~300 smackers? I'll pass but I'll definetly go check it out. Let me know when your going down and we'll try to meet up with you.

HBomb

gidrah

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Cool experience, agreed.

Hey, nadams, you forgot to add 'various Marantz pieces of junk' to your sig.

Cheers,
Rooster

I literally laughed out loud. Who's offensive now?