Update: Pacific NW Gathering March 10

markmarc

I've been receiving a few emails on how this event is going to run. So, here is the general scope:
The gathering will take place in a reception hall. The room is at least 60'x50'. We will also have the foyer available for display as well. There will be plenty of tables to display equipment, sit and chat/listen. Due to the electrical situation, power is a bit limited. Make sure to bring along a strip bar and a heavy duty extension cord. The benefit is that, ten systems won't be playing at the same time!
Several people are planning on bringing equipment to sell, or money to buy. I would, therefore, consider this a swap meet as well.
At the present time I still plan on having sub sandwiches, chips, pop, for the first 50 people. Although that could change to hot dogs or burgers on the grill if the church youth group wants to take that on.

Hope to see you there!

danger boy

shameless bump in case anyone on the West coast didn't see this.. there is still time to get your ahem.. a$$ to Portland, OR tomorrow for this Northwest audio gathering.

see ya there.

michael_w

Just a bit too far away for me, but otherwise I would have loved to go. Take lots of photos and have fun!

Ricardo

Yes, have fun; I wish I was closer.

Polk65

17.5 hours later with red eyes and tired dogs, I am home. It was fun meeting new Polkies and people outside of Club Polk. I missed seeing some of the usual ugly mugs however this opened up discussions about different gear. It was... refreshing.

A big thank you to Danger Boy for pulling a cardboard box out of thin air that was the perfect size for shipping some newly acquired vinyl home. Thank you, they arrived intact.

Folks this is my first review (that I know of) so hold the cabbage and tomatoes. I'm going to mix some of my experiences today leading into a brief review. Sorry if this is long as my brain is feeling scrambled from x-rays and multiple double shots of espresso.

Early in the day, shortly after arriving in Portland I took care of business. While driving around I saw a Trader Joe's. Knowing that they employ college students I went in with a mission. I left with a list of vinyl shops and funky clubs, some energy bars in pocket and headed to the meet. I made a few navigational errors and two very short turns up one-way streets. In the western part of Portland it's easy to go in circles if you are not used to every other street being one-way. There must have been a strike or a fire at the doughnut factory today as I saw not one cop the entire day.

Along the way I saw two Goodwill stores and made a note to check them out for vinyl on the way back. The 45 minute drive passed over a river and some hills before revealing miles of flat farmland. Rose bushes for sale. Walnuts for sale. Rose bushes for sale. Red barns of all shapes everywhere. Rose bushes for sale.

Eventually I found the place and according to the master of ceremonies 31 HI-FI lunatics from near and far descended on the community of Verboort, Oregon. Most drove by car. At least one drove an open pickup with a tarp protecting precious gear. There were many different brands of vintage speakers and gear for sale at reasonable prices. Real wattage amps and receivers were a pleasure to see, hear and feel the warmth from their glass.

I arrived around noon just in time for lunch. Music played in the background coming from speakers that I was unfamiliar with. They captured my attention like a deer deep in thought with headlights. I think I may have offended one dude who after awhile got up and said "I think you can hear better if I'm not in the way". I said "no problem, don't move" but he moved anyway... and who was I to argue? It did sound better. Just as I was finishing lunch Danger Boy and shortly thereafter Masanz1 arrived. We chatted briefly and split up to explore. I found an AK member selling four boxes of vinyl and smiled. This scratched my need to check the vinyl and Goodwill shops, allowing me some extra time at the meet.

Mark called us together for a demo by Aperion Audio. This was a surprise for me as I wasn't aware that a company was coming by to demo their gear plus I had never heard their speakers before. As luck would have it, my chair at the table turned out to be the sweet spot. First up was the Aperion 632 "bookshelf" roughly the size of LSi9's. I closed my eyes and sucked in the music. Awesome presence. Slightly laid back for my initial taste but not lacking in the mid punch. Next was their 533-T "tower" which was demoed along with the S8-APR subwoofer. This sub has one active driver and two passives. They said in a smaller room the sub would not be needed but for the size of our meeting hall they opted for it. These sounded great but I preferred the 632's better. If you like a laid back speaker that is not bright, give these a listen.

Reps Ben and Caleb have been friends since school and are musicians. Ben has an album and music clips at his website http://benfowler.com

I told them a little bit about Club Polk and invited them to check us out. They are good people and part of a local team designing speakers that they enjoy. Check out their website and reviews.

http://www.aperionaudio.com
http://www.aperionaudio.com/community/forums/

http://www.affordableaudio.org has some reviews written by our own Markmarc

Ricardo

Glad you made it safe...now, where are the pictures???????

markmarc

Thanks to all 31 attendees, Saturday was great fun. i want to personally thank each and everyone of you for coming out and sharing your equipment and/or passion. the opportunity to connect faces with names and handles, though a bit confusing, was great anyway. For all those who took pics, get them uploaded and copied to me. I have something in mind.
Mark

danger boy

markmarc wrote:

Thanks to all 31 attendees, Saturday was great fun. i want to personally thank each and everyone of you for coming out and sharing your equipment and/or passion. the opportunity to connect faces with names and handles, though a bit confusing, was great anyway. For all those who took pics, get them uploaded and copied to me. I have something in mind.
Mark

Mark, PM me your email address.. and I can email you the pics I took. I will post a few of them here as well.

Al

P.S. I just got home myself from the gathering.. it's very late Sunday night. Was a lot of fun. More later..

Polk65

Good to see you home safe. Sleep well.

danger boy

here are a few of the pics i took on Saturday.

I can't even begin to mention or remember the gear there.. maybe someone here will know this or that piece of gear.

the bookshelf speakers are the ones Polk65 was talking about... sweet sounding speaker.. no lack of bass either.. my oh my were they sweet sounding.

first pics are of the Aperion Audio speakers..

3rd pic is of a extremely sweet sounding Pioneer SX-838 the owner of his fine sounding receiver has refurbed it.. and has put in alot of man hours upgrading this and that... I was blown away with this receiver.

4th pic is you guessed it... our very own Polk65, Steve !

5th pic is of the entry hall way rig.. i don't know anything about the large floor standing speakers.. but I hear the owner get them for nearly nothing.. at his local GW store. interesting speakers, and they are pretty big as well. I didn't spend enough time listening to them to make a fair evaluation of them. I couldn't tear myself away from the SWEET sounding Pioneer SX-838.

In the last pic on the middle of the table is a big heavy mo fo amp made by Yamaha.. it's a centennial edition 1887 - 1987 beautifully, overbuilt stereo amp. rare. Huge VU meters... i hear the owner also has the mates that go along with it.. high coolness factor.

Polk65

I'll say this much about Al's photography skill. He is as stealthy as they get and roughly 3 seconds after he snaps the picture you realize he's got you. I was smiling at a nice find of DSOTM and In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

Fireman32

Man looks like it was a great time to be had by all. Cant wait to see the rest of the pics.

danger boy

Polk65 wrote:

I'll say this much about Al's photography skill. He is as stealthy as they get and roughly 3 seconds after he snaps the picture you realize he's got you. I was smiling at a nice find of DSOTM and In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

thanks... i'm a stealthy, ninja, photgrapher.

markmarc

Getting pics in from attendees. Will try to have a slideshow uploaded tonight.