Matthew Bunn ('musicformatt' on PETT forum)

That's him on the left at CKY-DIY 2016, one week before the car crash that resulted in his death on Nov 18, 2016. He has been a staple for the InDIYana event starting since 2010, and thusly ending in 2016. His knowledge of music and audio cabling was thorough and without snake oil. He loved speakers of all sizes, and the heavier the old school amplifier the better. He was not only a knowledgeable hobbyist and music lover, but he was also well liked, appreciated, full of humor, and a welcome sight at any event he went to with me. It was about the music, camaraderie, and of course- 'the gear'- for him. He enjoyed every minute of it.

Not to be forgotten, he was my friend and cohort in audio crime. I met Matt in 6th grade, and we graduated together. We didn't associate much between graduation and late 2009. He found a passion in pro-audio mainly, with his attachment to music, and became a customer of Parts Express. He found me there on their forum, and made an obscure reference about a 7th grade science teacher we shared. We'd been hanging out about once a week ever since.

If you want to hoist one in his honor; Guinness, Red Stripe, or Yager-bombs (when really having a good time) were what he liked.

For the non-alcoholic preferences; he liked RC cola, Red Bull, Sun Drop, and Mountain Dew Baja Blast/Code Red/Voltage.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind....

Matt-

I'll miss all of those late Friday times on your bean-bag chair watching movies and listening to music too loudly, as well as the events and everything we attended together. It's been a joy to be reacquainted.

Rest in peace, Godpseed, and may you have sonic bliss in the beyond,

Your friend,

Ben

For posterity:

Let me start by saying he was very particular with what he liked to use, and had used many types and kinds of the related types and styles. There is no snake oil here, just solid connections, and reliable and heavy/durable components. This was also mimicked in his heavy-high-power amplifier preference and large/sensitive speakers. I feel that this knowledge could benefit many that have the urge to build their own cables and connections, and he would indeed encourage the process. He definitely knew what he was doing. I hope you find this information useful.

Interconnects:

Neutrik NC3FXX XLR connectors, or Amphenol 'with jaws' XLR connectors. He said, "Any flavor XLR connector works, but I use these."

Belden Brilliance 1800F 24AWG 2C AES/EBU 110 ohm very flexible cable for analog or digital. "Can't go wrong with Belden."

*funneled* black techflex to conjoin cables if he preferred. "Make it black.", he would say.

Speaker wires:

He was a huge fan of thick speaker wires. He had made many sets of 2x 10AWG twisted- per conductor; equivalent to Carol 10/4. (I'll update the cable specific model/brand in his later.)

He used either Blue-Jeans, Belden, or Carol ("I love the smell of new rubber [SJ] cord! *sniff* Ahh!", "Can't go wrong with Carol or Belden.") wire when he could.

He liked the WBT midline locking bananas- until they broke on him. After that, he switched to these dual set-screw 9-tine standard banana polycarbonate jobbies (091-3602):

http://www.parts-express.com/nine-tine-banana-plug-with-dual-set-screws-and-poly-carbonate-shell-2-pair--091-3602

Nothing else would hold the doubled large wire secure enough and not loosen over time or break in his application. The BFA model is in second place, as the ends are not as durable.

He also felt speaker wires should be white, and techflexxed/heatshrunk them to reflect this choice after they were twisted either by hand or drill-chuck. The last 2 sets he made had red and black ends that extended from the white heat shrink.

His Speakon 4-poles of choice were these:

NLT4FX STX cable connector 092-335

NL4MP-UC 4-pole panel mount jack 092-067

...and important- He wired the 4 poles individually with the 4 10AWG wires, and then wired his output panel to parallel 2 connections for each conductor. This does not work directly with new professional amplifiers that wire both channels to one 4-pole jack for easier bridging facilitation. He made panels in his racks to have this work as he wished, and did not wire at the amplifier this way.

Power connections:

He preferred 10AWG (12AWG minimum) power cords that he made himself from Carol SJ cable, and would rewire a lot of his equipment with such, whether hardwired or jack-connected. The Marinco IEC connector is the cheapest available, and he really liked Arrow/Hart plugs. He also used Neutrik PowerCon connectors.

He preferred Leviton white duplex sockets, to the point of swapping them into the Furman power strips he used. He said Hubbles were loose by comparison, and he liked a nice tight fit.