System Overhaul Thread

[Voltron]

I'm so literal.

Edited March 9, 2011 by Voltron

[luvdunhill]

I'm so literal.

That was Dusty's idea!

[Dusty Chalk]

Nope, the actual enclosure front-to-back is bowtie. Or maybe sort of a cross between a bowtie and an elbow (macaroni).

And that'd be one per driver.

And then you'd have to arrange three of them in an omnidirectional polydirectional configuration so that...no, wait, then the backwave would be out-of-phase...I guess it's either sealed, or whatever it's called when you fill the transmission line with (more or less) completely absorbing materials.

[Voltron]

D'oh! I forgot about the Spoiler thing and when I searched the thread and didn't find it I thought you had edited your post.

[swt61]

It's not uncommon for memory loss in a guy your age Al.

[Voltron]

It's not uncommon for memory loss in a guy your age Al.

As in a couple years younger than you?

[Dusty Chalk]

He forgot that. Proving his point.

[luvdunhill]

Ok, barring total fail on being able to construct the cabs, the Lowther TP-1 Isis with DX4 drivers (not sure what phase plug) it is. 3/4" Russian Birch construction. They'll be nice and heavy.

So, moving up the chain.

Amp. I think I'd like an integrated, and the Krell seems a bit much for these.

I'm thinking Pass INT-30A.

Any other suggestions?

[Dusty Chalk]

You mentioned Krell, so I'm assuming you're buying, not building it yourself. Yes?

I'm gay for Musical Fidelity, so I'd say the M3 or one of the M6's if you want new, or one of the ones with the Nu-Vista or Tri-Vista tubes in the front end for one of the old ones.

But you'll probably ignore that, because no-one around here likes Musical Fidelity the way I do. But if you have a local store that sells used equipment, they're worth hearing.

[n_maher]

IIRC he already owns the Krell, which is why he mentioned it.

Marc,

Looking forward to seeing the results. I'm retooling multiple rigs right now which is mostly a function of downsizing and a reduction in the amount of space that I'm allowed. In 4 to 6 weeks I should have a new integrated amp.

[luvdunhill]

You mentioned Krell, so I'm assuming you're buying, not building it yourself. Yes?

I'm gay for Musical Fidelity, so I'd say the M3 or one of the M6's if you want new, or one of the ones with the Nu-Vista or Tri-Vista tubes in the front end for one of the old ones.

But you'll probably ignore that, because no-one around here likes Musical Fidelity the way I do. But if you have a local store that sells used equipment, they're worth hearing.

Yeah, I have a Krell KAV-400xi which is nice, but I'm thinking it's the wrong approach here.

I have heard any MF gear I'm a while. They used to have the reputation for being decent circuits that were poorly implemented. Not sure if that's still the case. I'll look around locally for sure.

Build, buy, it's all possible!

[luvdunhill]

Marc,

Looking forward to seeing the results. I'm retooling multiple rigs right now which is mostly a function of downsizing and a reduction in the amount of space that I'm allowed. In 4 to 6 weeks I should have a new integrated amp.

Thanks Nate. Go for the corners, WAF is high there!

[crappyjones123]

wouldnt a nice warm set amp work better with such high efficiency drivers?

[swt61]

Solid state will work better with small children, and for me low power, well built, great sounding gear means PASS. Although I bet numb's recently sold M22 would also have been a great choice for amplification.

[crappyjones123]

ah forgot about the chillen clause.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I have a Krell KAV-400xi which is nice, but I'm thinking it's the wrong approach here.

I have heard any MF gear I'm a while. They used to have the reputation for being decent circuits that were poorly implemented. Not sure if that's still the case. I'll look around locally for sure.

Build, buy, it's all possible!

Yeah, the Krell may not be.

I like the higher end MF gear (A3 and up). A lot. I don't know about poorly implemented -- I specifically remember him worrying about the orientation of the choke because of the orthogonal nature of RF noise generated by other parts in the circuit (from an interview in Stereophile, of course).

I say build. It'd be cool if you built your whole system. I just saw an article on the front of Elektor magazine about developing your own mp3 player. link

...which would, of course, mean building a Pass Labs schematic.

[luvdunhill]

wouldnt a nice warm set amp work better with such high efficiency drivers?

Power numbers don't really mean anything and this is paradoxically true with high efficiency drivers. Remember, it is all about gain and attenuation an how this translates to acoustic watts.

That said, I wouldn't rule it out Throw some ideas out there!

[recstar24]

You have to explore the firstwatt options, especially since schematics and boards are so widely available.

[luvdunhill]

You have to explore the firstwatt options, especially since schematics and boards are so READILY AVAILABLE AND 80% DONE IN YOUR LIVING ROOM.

(gotta edit this one before Steve gets there)

Edited March 10, 2011 by luvdunhill

[recstar24]

Ha

[crappyjones123]

arent pass amps rather silly to build? for people who know how to do things like build stuff.

[Dusty Chalk]

What do you mean by, "silly"?

[crappyjones123]

easy

[grawk]

as long as you don't have to build the power supply...

[Craig Sawyers]

I'm not sure at this point. I've come to the end of a journey that says that DIY isn't the end-all-be-all in this hobby. There is a lot going for many (well, not many ... relatively few) commercial designs out there. Also, it's fun to own one-off-designs and first-run items by first-rate designers, something like this would be too cool to pass up (eyes Al's Unnecessary Complex 300B and half of Kevin Gilmore's house)

I will say that I'll leave the enclosure design to the pros on this one, having done it "all" myself on more than a few occasions... I reserve the right to employ a misplaced Alaskan as well.

I've had only limited sonic success with loudspeaker building over the years, and long ago went for commercial (and sometimes very quirky) options. Magneplanar, Martin-Logan, Podium 1 and now ESL57 among others. However, one thing is clear - cabinet colouration is a major issue. Various high-end manufacturers use constrained layer damping - Wilson and Rockport as examples. Rockport use either fibreglass or carbon fiber inside and outside skins, and fill the gap with an epoxy/ceramic powder filler. Seriously heavy - the Arrakis are 900lbs each (and cost a Jaguar's-worth of dosh from your pocket) - and totally inert.

Of course the idea of contrained layer damping is not new. The Wharfedale SFB (sand filled baffle) was there in the mid 1950's, a good account being here http://www.inner-magazines.com/news/28/72/Whaferdale-SFB3/ along with comparisons to the Quad ESL57 and the Klipsch Horn.

Oh - and back in the early 1970's I built an irregular pentagon footprint cabinet (to defeat standing waves), and lined the things with an inch of concrete. My parents though I had seriously lost the plot. They were a dangerously heavy two-person lift. They drew the line at an underfloor mounted bass horn firing upwards through an aperture in the floorboards though.