Malabon sound festival with pics

[triokenwood]

A friend who is now in Canada told me that once a year some folks in Malabon bring out of their homes their audio (tube) equipment and sort of engage in a soundfest. According to him, they play mostly martial music--the likes of John Philip Souza.

Anybody knows about this?

[setup2]

Have friends from Malabon and indeed there use to be a soundfiesta... not your common hifi show... it is done in the plaza or open area... no rooms to divide you and the name of the game I think, who can go the loudest without blowing up your equiptment... Another thing, size matters... the bigger the speakers the better... Don't know if they still do it now...

Regards,
Joel

[egay]

Correct.
and you will not believe what TUBE amps they can churn from that side of the metropolis!

they do this in Concepcion, Malabon but i have not gone there for the last 10 years or so; that's the place where i first saw all tube equipment and multi-driver speakers.

sound quality?
back then i thought they were loud.

this was also the place i first heard the 1812 Overture played like there was no tomorrow

i guess they could make them better if they wanted to

.e.

[triokenwood]

Thanks Joel and Egay for that interesting info.

[rvc]

i don't remember how or from whom, but yes, i've heard about this event too. i think one of the oldtimer technicians at mareco told me about this quite sometime ago. one hell of a real shoot-out.

[markm]

Heard about this regular event as from an old friend as well.
They design/tweak and diy tube gears/speakers then and try to outdo each other in sq or spl shootouts. They also helped each other in the design and execution of their projects. I think it went for a few decades (until the early 90's) and was just stopped because the organizer passed away. If people experimented with exotic caps now, the folks there/then enthusiastically experimented with vitamin q's, west caps/various russian caps. Probably the closest thing to an audio bayanihan.

[edrel sison]

I think it went for a few decades (until the early 90's) and was just stopped because the organizer passed away

It hasn't stop a bit. There is this small barrio in Malabon called Dampalit where they held contests regularly. I grew up in this place and saw school grounds and open basketball courts filled with people just to watch the contests. You might be mistaken them as "mobiles" now because of the size of their speakers but these guys were there even before the disco days. Their speakers are patterned after the american's baffle old school sizes housing one or two 15 inch for lows. For the mids they use compression drivers coupled with those Altec 511 horns. For highs they use either JBL075s, 2402s or 2405s. Those who cant afford the JBLs and the Altecs had some locally avail drivers and speakers installed on their sets. For the amps and preamps they use SS and tube combinations. The contest normally has 3 judges with music backrounds, i.e. brass band conductor or an elder. They will let you play 6 to 7 tracks with each track worth 10%. Each track (title chosen by the participant) have a certain music category such as marches, percussion, sax, trumpet, piano,female vocal, male vocal etc. The last track that will be played would be a common track which is a classical piece chosen by the organizers that would be worth 30-40%. Adding up to the previous scores will be your final score and would of course determine your standing. Fun to watch it. Maybe not for others but you will have to admire their passion in doing it and making their sets..

By the way they are at it again this coming Saturday, December 30. Participants would be 8. Prizes are 10K, 6K, 4K for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. consolation at 1.5K each. If you are near Malabon City and this be of interest to you, you may want to come..

[joe3rp]

[

By the way they are at it again this coming Saturday, Nov.30. Participants would be 8. Prizes are 10K, 6K, 4K for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. consolation at 1.5K each. If you are near Malabon City and this be of interest to you, you may want to come..

What Date?

[edrel sison]

[

By the way they are at it again this coming Saturday, Nov.30. Participants would be 8. Prizes are 10K, 6K, 4K for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. consolation at 1.5K each. If you are near Malabon City and this be of interest to you, you may want to come..

What Date?

December 30. This Saturday. I thought December nilagay ko November pala! I will edit my previous post..

[markm]

I think it went for a few decades (until the early 90's) and was just stopped because the organizer passed away

It hasn't stop a bit. D

Great to hear the tradition lives.

[egay]

Edrel: so this did not totally die down, huh!
i will try to visit this saturday... i have a friend way back CQ-DX days whose dad participates and they build their own tube amps... in those days, my only idea of tubes are for Ham Radio parts and Amps

yeah, their speakers were large then, when i thought minis were in. i guess they are still large by current standards.

thanks for the info.

stay cool!
.e.

[AbadSantos 7]

i have a friend way back CQ-DX days whose dad participates and they build their own tube amps... in those days, my only idea of tubes are for Ham Radio parts and Amps
.e.

Sorry medyo out of the topic....

Sir Egay...have you been a fan of Ham Tube Radio??? I still have my set-up Cobra 2000 with Turner Super side kick microphone with a Tube 1KW amplifier.

Yes agree with the tube..una ko nakilala ang tube sa Ham Radio na mas gumaganda habang umiinit..

Cheers.

[egay]

i have a friend way back CQ-DX days whose dad participates and they build their own tube amps... in those days, my only idea of tubes are for Ham Radio parts and Amps
.e.

Sorry medyo out of the topic....

Sir Egay...have you been a fan of Ham Tube Radio??? I still have my set-up Cobra 2000 with Turner Super side kick microphone with a Tube 1KW amplifier.

Yes agree with the tube..una ko nakilala ang tube sa Ham Radio na mas gumaganda habang umiinit..

Cheers.

NOW YOU'RE TALKING!
I used to have that same CB radio but either with an Astatic or a SuperSidekick Mic (man, i missed those beauties! )... then i used a 500W tube amplifier to cut through the traffic in the evenings and everyone at a 1km-radius know I'm on-air

I belonged to the group who was the first to respond to a small/light plane crash in Cavite sometime in '86 i think.

I 'upgraded' to Icom 720 HF, then went to VHF, UHF, then cellphone . Before SMS, we were already doing Teletypes on our computers attached to our HFs; before NetTV, we were already doing AmateurTV.

AbadSantos, we should get together and do our Q-codes! QSL?

QRT.
.e.

[AbadSantos 7]

i have a friend way back CQ-DX days whose dad participates and they build their own tube amps... in those days, my only idea of tubes are for Ham Radio parts and Amps
.e.

Sorry medyo out of the topic....

Sir Egay...have you been a fan of Ham Tube Radio??? I still have my set-up Cobra 2000 with Turner Super side kick microphone with a Tube 1KW amplifier.

Yes agree with the tube..una ko nakilala ang tube sa Ham Radio na mas gumaganda habang umiinit..

Cheers.

NOW YOU'RE TALKING!
I used to have that same CB radio but either with an Astatic or a SuperSidekick Mic (man, i missed those beauties! )... then i used a 500W tube amplifier to cut through the traffic in the evenings and everyone at a 1km-radius know I'm on-air

I belonged to the group who was the first to respond to a small/light plane crash in Cavite sometime in '86 i think.

I 'upgraded' to Icom 720 HF, then went to VHF, UHF, then cellphone . Before SMS, we were already doing Teletypes on our computers attached to our HFs; before NetTV, we were already doing AmateurTV.

AbadSantos, we should get together and do our Q-codes! QSL?

QRT.
.e.

Mods sorry po ulit....

Sir Egay when I go back in Jan(last week) can I pay you a visit...Yes I missed those Silver Eagle...I still have naka medyas pa hangang ngayon..hahaha..

I am a member of LIACOM...Channel 12 27.105MHz and still active. When we are in CB we go for Red Cross Volunteers but when we are in VHF we are the North Jose Abad Santos Fire Volunteers and responding to those fire emergencies...

Mods sorry po ulit medyo off topic...

Cheers.

[zenaudio]

I think it went for a few decades (until the early 90's) and was just stopped because the organizer passed away

It hasn't stop a bit. There is this small barrio in Malabon called Dampalit where they held contests regularly. I grew up in this place and saw school grounds and open basketball courts filled with people just to watch the contests. .. Their speakers are patterned after the american's baffle old school sizes housing one or two 15 inch for lows. .... The contest normally has 3 judges with music backrounds, i.e. brass band conductor or an elder. ... Fun to watch it. Maybe not for others but you will have to admire their passion in doing it and making their sets..

By the way they are at it again this coming Saturday, December 30. ...If you are near Malabon City and this be of interest to you, you may want to come..

Looks like a good subject for a photo shoot.

[egay]

OT parin.

LIACOM, i remember.
I was with in CH38 - Th Apocalypse Group; we were sharing the band with the LA Group.

yeah, the Silver Eagle - The base mic to have; more handsome than the Golden Eagle... i consider this the Harley Davidson of communication microphones

Just PM when you're back.

Thanks mods!
.e.

[triokenwood]

Thanks for that valuable info Edrel. It's great to know that the tradition lives. I thought it was just a decibel shootout; may mga distinguished judges pala. It would be interesting to know what tube amps they were using. I guess some would be Dynacos, Fishers and Marantzes and the locally assembled rigs would have RCA or GE vacuum tubes.

[edrel sison]

Egay, if you know Dampalit, they will be doing it at the open area of the basketball court beside Merville Subd entrance. They will be there starting at 6PM this Saturday until probably 11 or 12 PM.

Zenaudio, best time to shoot indeed. I wish I had a good cam so that I could post pics.

Just do not expect everything are super duper systems with super duper sounds. They are just doing it because they love to do it and they are just using whatever they could to maintain their systems. Some look awful but who cares? Once they start to go at it, fun begins to roll...and did I say if you are a participant, you must have your crew to move things in and out of the venue..parang F1 racing Supporters of each are also all over the place so it really is one hell of a shootout..and expect cold war after the verdict has been announced..kumpleto. intrigue, drama, everything....

Fun, isn't it?

[edrel sison]

It's great to know that the tradition lives. I thought it was just a decibel shootout; may mga distinguished judges pala. It would be interesting to know what tube amps they were using. I guess some would be Dynacos, Fishers and Marantzes and the locally assembled rigs would have RCA or GE vacuum tubes.

Most folks that tell stories about it would say "palakasan" lang talaga but behind the contests and these behemoth set-ups are their passion for getting that good outdoor sound. There are a bunch of elders in there who would tell you what your system sounds like..and they are mean.. Kung mahina loob mo titigil kn lang and you quit. The way they do the contests is loud indeed because you have to fill the open area with sound to a decent level that should not be irritating. The contest has evolved from turntable sources from the 70s to CD into the 90s. The amps were no different as they chose the more powerful SS amp matched with tube preamps made and tweaked by local technicians. The pre amps were their local cloned versions of the AR SP3, CJs, Marantz and Mcintosh. What we are trying to perfect at home, they are doing it outdoors. What I dont understand (and I am happy to know) is that those who participates are getting younger. Eventually the tradition will remain.. at least for the next decade.

[triokenwood]

It's great to know that the tradition lives. I thought it was just a decibel shootout; may mga distinguished judges pala. It would be interesting to know what tube amps they were using. I guess some would be Dynacos, Fishers and Marantzes and the locally assembled rigs would have RCA or GE vacuum tubes.

Most folks that tell stories about it would say "palakasan" lang talaga but behind the contests and these behemoth set-ups are their passion for getting that good outdoor sound. There are a bunch of elders in there who would tell you what your system sounds like..and they are mean.. Kung mahina loob mo titigil kn lang and you quit. The way they do the contests is loud indeed because you have to fill the open area with sound to a decent level that should not be irritating. The contest has evolved from turntable sources from the 70s to CD into the 90s. The amps were no different as they chose the more powerful SS amp matched with tube preamps made and tweaked by local technicians. The pre amps were their local cloned versions of the AR SP3, CJs, Marantz and Mcintosh. What we are trying to perfect at home, they are doing it outdoors. What I dont understand (and I am happy to know) is that those who participates are getting younger. Eventually the tradition will remain.. at least for the next decade.

Long live the Malabon sound festival! If you have pics of the upcoming event, please post naman.