2010 Meet - Blaster Competition rules...

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jaetee

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I just posted this in the 2009 thread, but have a feeling it will not get due notice there... Therefore, here are some of my thoughts on how we can listen to A LOT more boxes than we did last year or this year, and have some fun doing this.

For next year, here is what I think we should do:

1) Each member brings a deck of cards. From your deck, you will extract a set of Joker-10 and have them on hand ready to cast votes with (like on Dancing with the Stars). Joker = a 1, as in "you've got to be joking." 10 is the highest.

2) Set up a display in the room where the food was such that any box that any of us want to listen to gets put in a que... with a power plug, and a component CD player or tape deck handy to provide source material via line-in. No laptops, iPod, MD or walkmans. The source for line-in should ideally be a good quality ANALOG tape deck (IMHO). The reason I think we should use tapes is because we can control the signal and duplicate it. I volunteer to make a set of three or four identical high-quality tapes specifically for this purpose, and will use a mix of songs from the 80's that span funk, soul, early hip-hop, rock and pop. We can all agree on a tracklist prior to the meet. Radio stations sometimes mess with the mixing and you can't duplicate song to song, etc... We should make this as much of an apples to apples test that we can.

3) Each box gets assigned into one of seven categories, which should be:
A) mini one piece
B) mid-size one piece
C) large one piece
D) mini three piece
E) mid-size three piece
F) large three piece
G) Modified boxes (any mods on the box, you end up here)

4) We then play each box, grouped in their respective categories. The box is played for a maximum of 3-4 minutes using either the units own tape deck or the line-in. There should be no less than 8 or 10 members on hand during the playing of each box. I'm thinking some boxes will get gonged from the competion almost immediately and not need their full time slot for an evaluation, so we can burn through lots more boxes that way. The 3-4 minutes are for evaluating those boxes that have a legitimate shot and a trophy..

5) At the end of each box's demo, each member holds up a card with the value of how they think the box should be rated in that category. The low and high value are removed and the rest of the values go into the boxes' score.

6) After a category is complete, the two or three highest scoring boxes are then isolated and played again back-to-back for final evaluation to determine category winner.

7) At the very end, the winner of the two "large" stock categories go to a final battle to determine which box is the MASTER BLASTER fo the bunch. I don't think modified boxes (non original speakers, amp upgrades, custom boxes and such) should be included in the master blaster competition. Instead, the best modified box gets its own trophy as MASTER MOD BOX.

I realize there would be a huge time period involved depending on how many boxes we have. And we may want to drop some of the categories. Something that does kind of limit us is the fact that there is only one room and so many boxes. In order for this to work, though... there would have to be some serious organization, structure, and buy-in from all involved.. or it will be a huge cluster-fukk. If we have sound coming from the other side of the room because a couple of members aren't into the competition and want to hear something on their own, that would create a problem. Maybe we can setup a table and a power plug somewhere outside for them to listen. We don't want to fascists about this, after all....

Anway, lets sort this out now and have some fun with this one... plus, we'll need to scour some thrifts for some cheap trophies to hand out! I can bring a laptop, double stick tape and a paper cutter so I can photoshop some labels like I made for Frank's trophy this last year. We'll just need someone to bring a printer and print-driver disks.

Soooo..... Whaddayaguys think?
 

Fatdog

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I posted this on the tail end of the 2009 pictures thread:

Jaetee, it sounds kind of complicated when you read it, but I'm sure it would go much more smoothly in execution. When Freddie was up this past Sunday, we sort of talked about that kind of idea. He suggested a class betwixt the mini and mid categories - something like a bantam weight, if you will. The example he used was the Panasonic RX-C45; it's not a mini, but it's not quite a mid-sized box.

I definitely believe that we need to start the meet at 0800 hours. Starting at 1000 or 1100 is way too late when you have over a hundred boxes to ogle, caress, and listen to. Attendees should also really plan on staying until, at least, 2100 hours, which might necessitate a hotel room for a Sunday departure.

Anybody who can should plan on arriving at about 0700 to help Tony and others set up the clubhouse and get it ready (moving chairs, tables, etc.) It takes a lot of work and coordination to pull off a meet like this and the more attendees we add each year, the more time it will need in the planning stages.

Jaetee, thanks for starting this part of it now. :thumbsup:
 

ahardb0dy

Member (SA)
I also posted this on the end of the 2009 meet pic's thread,

what are we judging for? Loudness, sound quality? both?, I know everyone wants to know which box is loudest but the meet is also about seeing and hearing boxes that members may have never heard before (or seen), running tests on the tape decks even if the tapes are the same are going to produce different results as some decks may not be running at the exact speed they are supposed to be at. Line in would work fine if the boxes all had line in, I'm sure there are a few that don't. I know you said you prefer tapes but wouldn't the sound quality be better if we used a CD even like a mixed CD and than feed the output of the CD player to multiple boxes at the same time? I'm sure there is a way to split the output from a CD player multiple times without losing quality.
I agree that there should be different categories for the boxes, as for running out of time, next meet will start earlier, as I said already I just need help setting up and if we do start earlier help has to be earlier also, but if anyone stays here with us like Freddie and his wife did this year than I already have some help, it doesn't take long to set up the room and this year we weren't ready as Freddie and I had to run to the store while members were already showing up. Next meet we will have everything ready ahead of time, I like being the host but would like to have more time to spend with all of our guests. Also if we start earlier everyone should try to show up earlier, members coming in the afternoon for whatever reason than saying there wasn't enough time
is not a problem of the meet start time. How about a 2 day meet? (My wife Linda has no problem with any of our out of town members staying over if necessary), One day to test the other for everything else?
What do you think?
 

Fatdog

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Tony, I would love to make this a two-day event. Getting everyone else aboard with the idea is the challenge. If we make it two-day affair, does it then become a "convention" instead of a "meet"? :-)
 

ahardb0dy

Member (SA)
Jaetee said:

"CD vs. tape and sound quality is debatable... I have tape gear here that make very well make you reconsider that quality statement/question. Nonetheless, for this purpose, I wouldn't have a problem using CDs.

I just think that since 90% of the classic boomers didn't have CD players, it would be cool for nostalgic reasons to use a high quality tape.

To reliably split one signal evenly to multiple sources we would need a "distribution amplifier." These can be found quite reasonably on ebay sometimes, and there is plenty of time, I may pick one up..."

Sorry I misread what you posted about the tape, if the tape is played in a external deck than fed into the line in's of the boxes being tested that would be fine, I was just concerned if 2 identical tapes would be played in the boxes to be tested their could be differences with playback, if the tape is played in an external deck forget what I said about using a CD. How many boxes would be compared at one time? 2? if so a simple "y" cable coming out of the external deck should do fine.
 

jaetee

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Loud vs. good are not necessarily synonomous. But loud is the only "quantifiable" value there... maybe we just let a decible-meter decide? Kinda sux to think that a box that goes really lound but sounds like ass in the process could win... but this is not an audiophile competiton, is it???

So, I'm thinking we'll need a decible reading device.

CD vs. tape and sound quality is debatable... I have tape gear here that might very well make you reconsider that quality statement/question. Nonetheless, for this purpose, I wouldn't have a problem using CDs. I just thought that since 90% of the classic boomers didn't have CD players, it would be cool for nostalgic reasons to use a high quality tape. We can do CDs, though... The real big advantage of using CD would be for the ability to quickly cue up a track or playing a song over again for comparison. So, CDs played from a home CD player with its own output control seems like a good choice here (or a tapedeck :-D ).

To reliably split one consistant signal evenly to multiple sources we would need a "distribution amplifier." These can be found quite reasonably on ebay sometimes, and since there is plenty of time between now and then, I may try to pick one up to donate to the cause. I think this is a great idea. Because that way we can line up six or seven boxes in a row, playing the same music. Granted, there would be some bleed from one to the other in the same room, but this would make it bearable. Then the judges go from box to box and score each one.

This will get loud!

Either way, its going to be a bit chaotic.

As for the logistics, after we sort out the rules, then we can sort out the logistics. I will make a commitment to be there much earlier next time, too... ;-)
 

ahardb0dy

Member (SA)
oh, the showing up in the afternoon comment wasn't directed specifically to you, sorry if it seemed that way, I was in no way saying CD's sound superior to tapes, as I said in my other reply I just misread what you had posted. It doesn't have to be an audiophile competition, but as you said loud but sounding like ass (distorted) shouldn't win, but we can judge which box sounds better, that's why I asked about loudness vs quality, if one box is louder but shitty sounding than another that isn't as loud but sounds cleaner the louder one should not win, my opinion.
 

jaetee

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The one thing that pops into my mind when writing this.... is that if it were 1982 and we were at the basketball court, or a street corner....

It would be much simpler... it would be tape vs. tape (or radio vs. radio) and batteries....

None of the technology...

We could go that route and consider the power plugs a luxury. If the tape deck in your blaster doesn't work, you're disqualified. Simple as that.

Part of me would much rather do it that way.... Again, I'll be glad to make a handfull of identical tapes, All at the same levels.... Thats not a problem for me.
 

jaetee

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ahardb0dy said:
oh, the showing up in the afternoon comment wasn't directed specifically to you, sorry if it seemed that way, I was in no way saying CD's sound superior to tapes, as I said in my other reply I just misread what you had posted. It doesn't have to be an audiophile competition, but as you said loud but sounding like ass (distorted) shouldn't win, but we can judge which box sounds better, that's why I asked about loudness vs quality, if one box is louder but shitty sounding than another that isn't as loud but sounds cleaner the louder one should not win, my opinion.
no worries, I didn't take it that way at all...

I wish I could have been there earlier this year. And will be there earlier next year... no stress, Tony!!!

And you're right about sound quality vs. loudness. It should be quantifiable somehow...

I gotta run to DMV and lock in the Benz now...

Looking forward to getting back to this topic later!
 

jaetee

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:lol: :lol:

Right!!! That's why I bought a walkman! Cheaper batteries...

I was thinking we should be able to plug into the wall. Doing this with batteries is way unrealistic...

But, the tape deck vs. tape deck thing does have some merit, because now your talking about all the signal processing happening in the actual box. And if your deck doesn't work, or doesn't work very well.... then you're out. After all, don't we all think the winner of the competion should be in good enough shape to play its own tapes and do it well?
 

ahardb0dy

Member (SA)
My tape decks work fairly well, the 880 may be slightly fast and I know I can adjust it at the motor, but even if you use the line in the signal processing once the signal makes it into the box is still done inside the box. But I agree, if a member wants to have their box judged they have all year to make sure it is in tip top condition. That way if a member has a box that isn't 100% we won't admit it into the completion, that should be a requirement, box must be at 100% functional status to compete.
 

Fatdog

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ahardb0dy said:
...that should be a requirement, box must be at 100% functional status to compete.
That would definitely clear out the field a bit so you won't have 80 boxes competing. I would like to see some sort of judging based on sound quality at identical output levels. However, you get into a big ol' mess with tone-only, bass & treble, loudness, and multi-band EQ discrepancies. Plus, any sound judging would be totally subjective anyway unless there was a spectrum analyzer available to take a snapshot of the sound coming out of a box.
 

ahardb0dy

Member (SA)
differences in one box to another as far as tone controls could be applied to which box sounds best in it's best "tuning", you wouldn't want to compare say my Aiwa 600 with 1 tone control to say my 880 with seperate bass and treble controls, of course the more adjustments a box has ( EQ,) the better it MAY sound. We'll sort this all out before the next meet but it is good to try to set up some guidelines now instead of the day of the meet (convention)
 

hemiguy2006

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Maybe we can create an online registration form for the next meet??
That can help us gather more info ahead of time , like for example
Sizes of boxes?
One piece ?
Three piece?
Component systems?
This way we can pre determine how many tables needed and we can have a better overall presentation.
I love all of JT's Ideas for the competition part.
That will give us the opportunity to hear more of the boxes in attendance rather than getting stuck on any one box.
I do wonder if cassette media will be the best route for the competition though???
(ONLY) because we might spend alot of extra time rewinding and fast forwarding tracks??.
What do you guys think???
Its great that we are planning far in advance and I hope we can keep the momentum going so that we can have a longer stronger meet next time.
Also what do you guys think about a RSVP deadline being we are planning so far in advance???
I think the sooner we can get the info the better we can be prepared.
I will definitely come the night before the meet this time to help prepare and try and bring an extra table if it will help.
 

ahardb0dy

Member (SA)
I was waiting for you to comment Frank, and the added benefit of anyone coming the night before will be able to partake in our new boombox eve dinner that was started this year.

One of the reasons I started the other thread about the 2010 meet now was to give members who need to make plans early or save up some funds the opportunity to do so, we also talked about changing the date to June, as Ira said the weather is important but attendance is top priority. The only bad thing if we have the meet in June is we have to wait longer before it takes place,
 

Prime

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What about a batteries only shoot-out along with the regular plugged in shoot-out. Surely, this would yield different winners.
 
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