Three Way Evil Design Study

[JonMarsh]

Ah, the method of your madness.

I think your going to be vary pleased with this well planned and implemented cabinet work, it should rank up there with your best work. I hope these are keepers for your listening room and not just a short while?

They'd BETTER be keepers! An awful lot of effort, and expense. In performance they should be like an improved version of the Modula Xtreme. But as William the Shake said, there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip!

There's still a lot of fiddly bits to take care of, but once I have things that look like cabinets instead of piles of parts, the motivation ramps up higher.

Also found out yesterday that Parts Connrxion in Canada shipped the cable for the internal wiring- going with Kimberly 12TC on thr woofers and mids, and 8TC for the tweeters.

[PMazz]

8O

You making speakers or climbing Everest???

[JonMarsh]

8O

You making speakers or climbing Everest???

I hope I'm making speakers, because I'm CERTAINLY NOT equipped for climbing Everest! :B :E

But this project has seemed like a long uphill struggle- and now I'm getting to the point of managing a lot of the fiddly bits I hadn't even thought about when placing the order for the LBL ply back last February...

I have been looking at HVLP spray systems- any specific recommendations you'd care to pass along for a sort of budget version of decent performance? And what should I expect to pay? Is something like a Fuji Minimite 3 HVLP system with gravity gun worth the price premium over something like a Wagoner 518080 (at about 1/5 the price) for what may be a one time use?

Oh, and just to make things interesting, though I'm supposedly on vacation this week, have been sucked into a few conference calls and now I've setup a short notice trip back to Europe on business - will be there through almost the middle of December, so progress will stop in it's tracks shortly until my holiday break.

THAT wasn't in the plan, either!

[Steve Manning]

Sprayer

I hope I'm making speakers, because I'm CERTAINLY NOT equipped for climbing Everest! :B :E

But this project has seemed like a long uphill struggle- and now I'm getting to the point of managing a lot of the fiddly bits I hadn't even thought about when placing the order for the LBL ply back last February...

I have been looking at HVLP spray systems- any specific recommendations you'd care to pass along for a sort of budget version of decent performance? And what should I expect to pay? Is something like a Fuji Minimite 3 HVLP system with gravity gun worth the price premium over something like a Wagoner 518080 (at about 1/5 the price) for what may be a one time use?

Oh, and just to make things interesting, though I'm supposedly on vacation this week, have been sucked into a few conference calls and now I've setup a short notice trip back to Europe on business - will be there through almost the middle of December, so progress will stop in it's tracks shortly until my holiday break.

THAT wasn't in the plan, either!

Jon,

You might want to check this out for a spray system:

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/earlex-hv6900-spray-station-review/

I have the HV5000 which he references as well which is what I have, those can be had for under $350 and I've been pretty pleased with mine so far.

Steve

[PMazz]

Do you have a compressor and, if so, how may CFM?

[JonMarsh]

No, but I've been thinking about getting one. Recommendations? HVLP for Dummies, here (I'm the dummy!)

[Steve Manning]

No, but I've been thinking about getting one. Recommendations? HVLP for Dummies, here (I'm the dummy!)

Jon Check out the link I left ya .....

[David G]

If you don't mind electric, try the Wagner 550 fine sprayer. I'm very happy with it. Lots of Youtube videos on it.

[Steidl Guitars]

Another vote for a compressor and HVLP gun; most can be driven with very modest compressors. I have SATA guns, which are beautiful, but certainly not necessary for weekend warriors.

[JonMarsh]

Jon Check out the link I left ya .....

Thanks! I'm obviously seriously in dummy mode today- too many things going on what with work on a vacation day! It looks like just what I need... and it's on my Wish List now, so I won't forget between now and when I get back from Austria!

[JonMarsh]

Pre-Thanksgiving Teaser and motivator

Teaser for you, motivator for me- :B

Lots and lots of work left to do, including lots of what I call "fiddly bits", but at least I can finally see more than a stack of wood pieces! (the phenolic separator is not fully cut to size yet- it doesn't have it's "bevels").

I'm really glad the Aurasound woofers are pretty light weight with Neodymium magnets, because believe me, these LBL cabinets are heavy! And stiff! Still, the heavy duty hand truck I have will earn it's keep when I have to move them out the home...





A Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I'll be giving thanks for getting this project this far, and being able to do this kind of work at all (back surgery, knee surgery, etc).

[PMazz]

No, but I've been thinking about getting one. Recommendations? HVLP for Dummies, here (I'm the dummy!)

All HVLP guns use low pressure (~30PSI) but some require more volume than others. For small projects, a decent sized air tank will overcome the compressors limitations. Sorry I can't recommend anything beyond that as we have a very large shop compressor and just small job site ones. I don't know if they make 2 stage compressors in smaller versions but if so, they generate higher PSI which will translate into less cycling.

For the guns themselves, I wouldn't spend a lot in your case. Even the HD guns will probably produce good results. For clear finishes go with a needle size ~1.2 - 1.5. Top fed is far better than a siphon cup gun, IMO.

The all-in-one systems have the benefit of warm dry air. They remind me of a running vacuum cleaner. The downside is they are one off kinds of tools whereas a compressor is multifunctional. I know nothing about the electric types like Wagner, etc.

Speakers look great BTW! Just ship them to me and I'll shoot them for you. Shipping wouldn't cost more than a few thousand! :B

[JonMarsh]

That HV6900 you linked to looks pretty good, and I bet it would be cheaper than shipping the cabinets to you, though less certain regarding the outcome! I've got some decent size pieces of LBL to tryout stuff and practice on, so for now, I'll say we have a plan...

Thanks!

[meb46]

Jon - Progress looks great... brings back fond memories of my assembly process. I am just back from the US, so looking at mine with fresh perspective. Looking forward to getting the tweeters in a couple of weeks and then some Cross-over details from you. I am going to get mine up and running forst and then re-finish them properly after I am in the US.

On the HVLP sprayers, I had a lot of success with mine... the only issue I had is adjusting it correctly. If you spray on too much at one time you can get airbubbles trapped in the coat, which then need to be sanded out. You will have a more forgiving process on sanding your cabinets being solid wood finish and not a thin veneer. Also... make sure you have plenty of room to move around your cabinets when spraying. I sprayed mine in a small room and really didnt get a good perspective on coverage.

Looking forward to the test data... i'm already dreaming of improvements I could make to my cabinets if I decided to go through the progress again in a few years

[JonMarsh]

I'm looking forward to getting these ready for test data, too, but work pulled a surprise on me- was supposed to be off all week, got pulled into some stuff Tuesday and Wednesday, and now had to set up a short notice business trip to Austria- I'll be gone most of the first two weeks of December. That and things I've got to try to wrap up BEFORE leaving on this unplanned trip will make the next week a real crunch, and it may not be possible to get these to the point of measurements before I leave- but I'll do my best.

There's a lot of detail work, and I won't even have the cable for internal wiring until next Wednesday. I was planning on doing measurements outdoors as well, for reference, but that won't be possible before I leave. For a system this size, doing 1 meter measurements with windowing suited to my living room is not going to tell the story properly, I think- though it might be enough for initial crossover development. Hence, my desire to use Beverly's back yard patio.

Sigh... if it's not one thing, it's something else, eh?

Yes, I agree that the finishing on these may be easier than for a veneered system. The Calibamboo Fossilized Bamboo has an independently tested/verified hardness rating of 5000+ on the Janka Hardness scale, and that is QUITE obvious when working with the material- it means adjusting one's tooling approach and methods somewhat, but it also means the material is much stronger, harder, and more durable than what we normally work with (say, MDF or BB ply). I like it. I like it a lot... :T

With a maximum unsupported side wall distance of about six inches the cabinet walls are very stiff, with the inherent panel resonance way up in frequency, like that attributed to the small mini-monitors like KEF101's. This keeps issues out of the woofer passband, that''s for certain. I opened up the brace holes a bit from the original design, from 4" diameter to 4-5/8"; it makes working in the cabinet with hands through the holes much easier.

The lower cabinet bottom shelf brace will be the shelf for the LF crossover, and the opening behind it can be used to load the midrange and tweeter crossovers on to the back wall. There's a lot of other pictures taken that will be posted and explained in the official "build thread" over the holidays after I get back from Austria- three weeks off in a row now, because of a new mandatory take your PTO policy to cut outstanding balances for employees like me going into the new year. :B

I'll take your comments and Pete Mazz's previously posted advice on lacquer spraying in considering, starting with finishing tests on some of my scrap pieces. Obviously, as I'm learning as I go along, a somewhat slower, more methodical approach is called for. The last time I did much lacquer spraying was when I was 14-15, repainting motorcycles with a close friend who's dad ran a body shop and who gave us some primers and some shop access on the weekends- keep in mind that was in the mid 60's. That went pretty well, so cross fingers. I've done a few small projects with Deft rattle can lacquer that turned out pretty well (not speaker related), so well just have to see what happens. At this point I'm still thinking in terms of painting the top and bottom modules individually, then mating them (permanently) after that's finished.

One thing that may help is that back in 2009 I built two heavy duty speaker turntables that can support 250 lb., initially the idea was for testing but I found them to be very handy for assembly and finishing work. I think they'll come in handy for this.



This is the turntable bearing from Woodcraft that made them possible.

As Willie the Shake says, many a slip twixt the cup and the lip- let's see if I can develop a methodology for me that minimizes the slips!

[Hank]

Jon, I recommended the Wagner Control Spray Plus HVLP sprayer to John, who had never used a sprayer and he was happy with it:
"Hank, the sprayer worked great!!! I put on a thin coat last night and I almost didn't mind having to clean it after I was done. Thanks for the recommend!"
It's not a pro rig for constant use, but a nice compact unit for the DIY-er.

[Johnloudb]

Wow, Hank, that really takes me back! Yes, I like the sprayer, it did work real well from what I can tell, and seemed easy to clean. The difficult angles I was trying to spray were challenging and I'd sometimes spray to much on an area and get drips in places. Spraying a large vertical surface like I was, it was challenging to keep drips from forming even 15 minutes after spraying.

Jon,
If you're doing a polyurethane finish, I would do the initial coats with the sprayer and the final 2 or 3 coats with rub on poly using a rag. That made the finish very smooth. I did use the foam brush at first, but again, a few drips would usually form and I'd scrape them off later. With the smaller box you have though, drips probably aren't much of an issue.

This was my first time with doing this sort of thing, and I'm sure I would do much better the second time around.

[JonMarsh]

Hi John,

I'm planning on doing some more test finishing- like I did prepping for the Ardents- and I'm still leaning towards lacquer at this time, for the reasons Pete Mazz has pointed out. I'll certainly concede poly would be easier, but I also don't want to have issues with UV color change, as I'm going for a light clear finish. That looks pretty good with lacquer on something like Maple, and I've got some spare pieces to test finish with different pore filling techniques and practice the spraying.

After that is done, we'll see what we shall see- mostly not until after mid December and I get back from business travel.

[sdl2112]

Hi Jon,

My 2 cents on finishing...I'm definitely an amateur and have no spray equipment. I like lacquer best and have used Deft rattle can lacquer but when I lived in Houston the weather and bugs wreaked havoc on a project.

After seeing the David Marks tv show WoodWorks years back I tried his method with General Finishes Seal-A-Cell and Arm-R-Seal and it is just so simple with great results. You might add it as a candidate...try it on a test piece. That is what I'll be using for my Jenzen build. As far as the UV issues...maybe some of their water based products..?..I haven't tried them.

I used it on this cherry end table.

[JonMarsh]

I think I saw you talking about this before and made some notes- I'll put it on one of my early test boards, especially considering the ease of application and technique.

This reminds me of what I used to do with Watco Oil back in the 70's - the key is the right technique and a fairly high number of coats, and you could get a pretty amazing looking finish.

In this case, whether I go with lacquer or products like these, I also plan to try adding powdered silica (System Three) to the sealing coats- I've found that works very well for open pore woods in the sanding sealer in one test project I did (not speaker related)


Thanks for bringing this up again-

================================

Update- Oh, yeah, I remember the first stumbling block I ran into with this- it's not available to ship into the state of CA. But supposedly some Woodcraft Stores may carry it anyway. I'll have to check the Dublin store- they're usually willing to order stuff for me, anyway. Same issue with Arm-R-Seal.

We'll see... I'm serious about trying out alternatives before making the decision. I've gotten good results also with Deft rattle can, but figured maybe it's time for me to try to join the big boys... :W

[JonMarsh]

Cable Porn

No, I'm not talking about the stuff you may or may not watch late at night on the telly.... :roll:






No pending shipments now while I'm out of town.

But lots of work planned for when I get back... you have no idea! Even looking at a supplementary DSP crossover option, though I think that's a long shot.

[Steve Manning]

Cable Porn

No, I'm not talking about the stuff you may or may not watch late at night on the telly.... :roll:






No pending shipments now while I'm out of town.

But lots of work planned for when I get back... you have no idea! Even looking at a supplementary DSP crossover option, though I think that's a long shot.

Now that's what I call hook up wire !!!! 8O

[CraigJ]

Even looking at a supplementary DSP crossover option, though I think that's a long shot.

Some of us don't have cable and are into active porn. :smootch: Perhaps you could fire up that new supplementary MiniDSP and enjoy listening to your beautiful speakers while you build the analog crossovers.



Oh, sorry to ask, but which room in that condo will these big bad boys reside?

Craig j

[JonMarsh]

Some of us don't have cable and are into active porn. :smootch: Perhaps you could fire up that new supplementary MiniDSP and enjoy listening to your beautiful speakers while you build the analog crossovers.



Oh, sorry to ask, but which room in that condo will these big bad boys reside?

Craig j

You know, just the other day I came across the storage bin with my MiniDSP board that I'd bought last Xmas, and said to myself, I've got to try to find some time this holiday break to play with this. But it may not happen, given all the other stuff I need to do.

Actually, the electronic crossover I've got to figure out if it's usable is built into a configuration option of the DAC I think I want to upgrade to early next year, the TotalDAC D1/D2. This is a NOS (Non Oversampling) R2/R ladder DAC (using 0.01% Vishay resistors) with multiple inputs, a very large input buffer for de-jitter, and supporting up to 24/192 on several input types.

It is available in electronic crossover configurations, totally programmable from the remote, but with only certain options- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order Butter worth. Calculations are carried out in the FPGA at 59 bits of precision, as is the built in volume control (adjustable in 0.2 dB increments).

Personally, I like the silver option best...



Here's a view of the back panel, which can be configured in two and three way options- but only the top high pass is balanced. Something of a quandary for me, as I prefer balanced.




Interior view of a D1 balanced board; note the unpopulated sections reserved for additional outputs used in the D2 crossover version. In January there will probably be some new options available, for shunt regulation of digital, and easier use of external regulators, like the Paul Hynes. Note the 0.01% Visha foil resistors used in the R2/R ladder; these constitute about 2/3 of the BOM cost.



I haven't heard this yet, but a friend in Munich with whom I have extensive knowledge of his system and tastes just evaluated and bought one, and will likely add a second one in the new year, for dual mono. FCC approval is pending, probably complete in Q1 2013.

Linearity and noise are excellent; it benches very well, as well as sounding quite good by reports I trust.



This is reproducing a very low level 1 kHz sine wave from 24 bit data... I think it meets that tired overworked label of "state of the art" fairly well.

Vincent has sent me more detailed info, as well as some references for optimum use of the B3 alignment taking advantage of the programmable delay available for outputs. But the likely place to use this is just between woofer and midrange, so my plan is to use other tools to evaluate the feasibility, before committing to the D2 (crossover) version, to see if it will work with the system configuration.

Some other weird things in the pipeline to play with for this system are some extensive modifications to a pair of Aragon Palladiums, and in the planning stages, a Hypex nCore build- as straight forward as the latter is, that may happen first, as I can tie it into some work stuff (200V high performance MOSFETs we have, and a new version of them coming out in February).

As to where these speakers will go, good question! Actually, probably at my girlfriend's, as she has a large family room and decent sized living room also, and she's trying to entice me to spend more time there.... :W

[JonMarsh]

It's 7:30 in the morning, I've arrived at the Vienna airport from my first flight from Klagenfurt, and I'm really glad to be on my way back home.

No visions of sugar plums and elves dancing in my head, more like HVLP sprayers, dust extractors, and a new amplifier project based on NCORE 400 modules. I'm debating whether to go fully dual mono in small enclosures like this...




or something larger wired and built as dual mono in a single chassis with better thermals and a more conventional footprint- really leaning towards the latter right now, using this chassis:



Need something very low distortion that runs cool and with a small electricity footprint- maybe this will do the trick! Certainly it's a lot different technology base than quasi class A Aragon's!

[Hank]

I am plagued by the Jon syndrome. Our Sourcing Manager for Electronic Solutions Division has taken a global director position at Flextronics. Guess who was "given" this division. On top of Specialty Display and Projection and Architectural Markets business units. Just take a wild guess. :cry: Phrases like "We have to give 'em our most veteran" "Hank can handle anything" etc. Here's my conspiracy theory: Load Hank down to the point he will retire and we'll replace him with a much less expensive young person. Yeah, that's it. Jon, you must have something to do with this, as you seem to like being overloaded :M It's been nice knowing you guys... :thud:

[Steidl Guitars]

I built and use a dual-mono Ncore; I think it's pretty terrific.

[JonMarsh]

I built and use a dual-mono Ncore; I think it's pretty terrific.

Yeah, I was following with interest the development last year, but had been totally swamped with other stuff (mostly work!) since the beginning of the year. I have experimented with the UCD modules, felt they were getting pretty close, but these new ones are pretty much state of the art in my opinion, other than not having ripple current steering like the Exetron solutions. (So I'll probably put a small 2nd order Bessel ultra-sonic filter in this new speaker design).

It's remarkable how well they stack up even compared with some other recently introduced so called high end solutions, like the Anthem M1 high power monoblock. (~$3500 each).

The Anthem has a very high output capability (1kW plus) but for a high end HT or stereo setup, it seems to me they made some fundamentally bad design choices. Keep in mind that while I'm not totally of a "First Watt" frame of mind, I think the most critical power range for an amplifier is the first 50 watts, and there it should be pretty much beyond reproach. Even better if the first 100 watts falls within that kind of performance. Both measurements are done with the kinds of ultrasonic filters recommended for Class D amplifier to take the high frequency carrier out of the analysis picture; note, the carrier level for the M1 is much higher than for the NCORE 400. I'm posting just two sets of comparison curves for reference:

Anthem M1 THD versus power



This was 1 kHz drive level. Note the Y axis scale carefully for comparison; with increasing power, it's normal to see THD falling steadily as THD is actually THD + Noise; at the point actual distortion emerges from the background noise, then have a soft rise until large scale nonlinearities set in near clipping. Measured Distortion+Noise minima is a bit above 0.01%, which 20-10 years ago would have been considered quite good for a class D design, and not really bad for an analog design.


NCORE 400 THD versus power, several frequencies



For the nCORE 400, the THD+NOISE has dropped to 0.001% at about 1-1/2 watts output, and continues to fall to a minima around 0.0003 to 0.0004% in the 20-80 watt range. No, I didn't misplace or add a zero in there, and I think you may understand that is pretty much as close to whatever state of the art is defined at these days, regardless of technology type- it is in the range delivered by high cost ultra low noise opamps such as the LM4562 or LME49710.


Anthem 18kHz + 20 kHz two tone IM



First side bands on the HF multi-tone test are only down a bit less than 60 dB, though at least the 1 and 2 kHz fold down distortion product are fairly low, in the -100 dB range. This is a pretty severe stress test of any amplifier, and many do much worse than this.


On the other hand, some do much better...


NCORE 400 18kHz + 20 kHz two tone IM.



The first sideband products are at a very low level (-100db) and the difference side bands at 1 kHz and 2 kHz are commendably low at about -125 dB. I can't recall seeing better in any measured power amplifier, only in high cost high performance op amps.


And that is why I'm building a set of these. :B

Plus, the company I work for has a couple of new MOSFETs coming out early and late this next year that might work quite well in this design, too...

[JonMarsh]

I am plagued by the Jon syndrome. Our Sourcing Manager for Electronic Solutions Division has taken a global director position at Flextronics. Guess who was "given" this division. On top of Specialty Display and Projection and Architectural Markets business units. Just take a wild guess. :cry: Phrases like "We have to give 'em our most veteran" "Hank can handle anything" etc. Here's my conspiracy theory: Load Hank down to the point he will retire and we'll replace him with a much less expensive young person. Yeah, that's it.

Jon, you must have something to do with this, as you seem to like being overloaded :M

It's been nice knowing you guys... :thud:

So typical, Hank. But you know, what will happen, is they'll try to replace you with a much less expensive younger guy, and find out they need two or three of them to get the same effective results.

And no, I don't like being overloaded, and frankly hadn't been worried about this "promotion" because knowing history and how difficult it is to get approved for my current position or the next one pending, I figured (and had been told) to expect it to take several years and repeated presentations to the board (a "Technical Ladder" board composed of top management and technical people) before this would be approved, if ever. So, no worries on my part about getting promoted to my Peter Principle point, until my manager called me last Thursday on this trip to say, "Guess what, I'm talking to our newest Senior Principle Engineer." As we say overseas, Sheisse!

I'm supposed to go by the HR office today, Phyllis says she has something for me, it's likely the actual paperwork.

For people at our company who are not managers, but individual technical contributors, this is the path they take which is parallel to management paths, and puts me a the equivalent global grade as a director or senior director. The company is very collaboration oriented, and I've been doing projects in cooperation with technical teams at HQ for quite some time, since the early 90's, but the level of engagement has been steadily ramping up, which makes my nominal position title of a regional Application Engineer rather inadequate, though I do work with a number of our strategic US customers and coach the local AE and FAE team.

In this "intensification" of my recent position (Principle Engineer), I'll just be doing more of the same, only higher and deeper, which somehow doesn't seem appropriate, since I'm the only Principle or Senior Principle in the company that DOESN'T have a PhD.

But then that's become a standing joke in the company, is that I have such strong soft skills with customers (for an engineer) because I have a pysch degree instead of EE, and also I must understand better how the circuits and semiconductors "feel", and get them to open up to me! :rofl:

Some days I just look back and wonder, how the hell did I wind up here? :roll:

Hank, you go get 'em, kick butt and take names, but take no prisoners! And have a good Christmas Holiday! That's my next target after Friday, other than an industry association webinar I'm giving on the 18th.

[JonMarsh]

step by step, inch by inch...

Ugh! Time zone conflicts and jet lag!

Nevertheless, got down to my local Woodcraft today, picked up some good stuff...

• Seal-a-cell and Arm-R-Seal for the wipe on test; the Seal-a-cell will be mixed with powdered silica (from System Three) for pore filling for the prep
• Titebond developed glue gun with a variety of specialty glue types for grille panel, crossover assembly, etc
• Neo magnets for the grille panels, including 1/2" sizes, and matching steel washer assemblies for the magnetic grilles
• more Forstner bits (can you ever have enough good Forstner bits?)

In other news, some of the big crossover inductors ordered from Parts Connexion are backordered a couple of weeks, but all in all, that's not too bad if that's all...

[dlneubec]

Sounds like the holidays speaker camp has started!

[JonMarsh]

Sounds like the holidays speaker camp has started!

You Betcha! :T I've been looking forward to the next three weeks for the last three months- one of the things keeping me (semi) sane and putting up with the nose to the grindstone routine at work. Now I've just got to get re-synced to the local time zone (two weeks in a time zone nine hours away really messes me up!) and get through all the fun but time consuming meet ups, lunches, and special events for the season...

Realistically, I still probably have more ambition than I have time! :W

[Steve Manning]

You Betcha! :T I've been looking forward to the next three weeks for the last three months- one of the things keeping me (semi) sane and putting up with the nose to the grindstone routine at work. Now I've just got to get re-synced to the local time zone (two weeks in a time zone nine hours away really messes me up!) and get through all the fun but time consuming meet ups, lunches, and special events for the season...

Realistically, I still probably have more ambition than I have time! :W

I'm soooo jealous ....... I'm going to get some time this afternoon and maybe a few hours during the week before holiday time hits. Since I'm now into bondo and sanding mode, and all the back and forth iterations and time that it takes, progress is going to be slow.

[JonP]

For the nCORE 400, the THD+NOISE has dropped to 0.001% at about 1-1/2 watts output, and continues to fall to a minima around 0.0003 to 0.0004% in the 20-80 watt range. No, I didn't misplace or add a zero in there, and I think you may understand that is pretty much as close to whatever state of the art is defined at these days, regardless of technology type- it is in the range delivered by high cost ultra low noise opamps such as the LM4562 or LME49710.

<snip>

And that is why I'm building a set of these. :B

Just... wow. Hard to believe they really are that good... Not that I'd want to give you any other distractions, but have you heard the lecture given at Burning Amp '12 by Bruno Putzeys? I have an audio copy... might be a video copy out there, haven't seen one yet.

Speaker building first...

[JonMarsh]

Just... wow. Hard to believe they really are that good... Not that I'd want to give you any other distractions, but have you heard the lecture given at Burning Amp '12 by Bruno Putzeys? I have an audio copy... might be a video copy out there, haven't seen one yet.

Speaker building first...

No, haven't heard that. Burning Amp is something I would have liked to go to, but just no time. In the end, what matters about the Encores is how they sound- but electrical efficiency is a driving point for me to evaluate them.

I have a test setup and filters for measuring CLASS D amps, but can only go down to 0.001%. Would love to have an AP, but I have to get by with used HP gear!


Their SMPS is basically an unregulated two quadrant IBC with sync rec on the secondary- no PFC,so I'm pondering developing and trying out a PFC front end for them, using some of out new parts (some VERY high speed low Qoss IGBT's and silicon carbide rectifiers). This would stabilize the output with regards to line voltage variations, and get rid of the nasty line current harmonics from the diode bridge input, while improving the line power factor and increasing the deliverable power from the line.

[JonMarsh]

Messiah

Last night was the Messiah performance which my GF sang in the choir. It was a pretty nice performance, 24 piece (roughly) chamber orchestra, including percussionist with tympani, and four talented soloists.

The room was setup more like a baseball diamond, with the stage in one corner, and a lot of acoustical panels for RT control on the walls. I sat in a chair on one of the back side walls right in front of a panel; being adjacent to the boundary optimized the LF response, and the large acoustical panel killed any backside reflections, so everything was quite clear and detailed. I thoroughly enjoyed the music and performance; I was so relaxed I think my BP must have dropped 15 points!

Unfortunately the whole evening didn't go that we'll, because when we got home her son was quite upset, had been on the phone with his sister in Las Vegas, and his dad had just passed; he'd been in the hospital for several days because of issues with his progressive COPD, and had had a heart attack.

The Holidays can bring us joy, but they're not immune from life's more painful events.

[wushuliu]

But then that's become a standing joke in the company, is that I have such strong soft skills with customers (for an engineer) because I have a pysch degree instead of EE, and also I must understand better how the circuits and semiconductors "feel", and get them to open up to me! :rofl:
.

No disrespect to the many wonderful people in this hobby, but Jon out off all the audio forums I frequent you are the best writer and frankly the best communicator of anyone I have read. You have an amazing ability to translate difficult concepts into layman terms in a way which comes off as effortless (and humble). Not just in intent, but in your command of language. I really commend you for it. That is extremely rare in this hobby, I have found. You are a true mentor.

[Hank]

+1 to that!

[CraigJ]

+2 to that!

[sdl2112]

+3 to that!

[dar47]

+4 and our prayers go out to to your girl friend's family.

[JonMarsh]

+4 and our prayers go out to to your girl friend's family.

Thank you very much- there's never a good time of year for something like this, but I think the timing makes it just that much harder and more stressful. Some of our holiday plans will just have to be set aside, but some things should go on for continuity and distraction, I think...

And thanks for all the kind words- I think there's an interesting dichotomy- we're all in this together, yet we have our own paths and eventual goals; but mutual support and idea sharing is always a great thing, and something that I'm glad happens so much here, with ALL the great participants on the board each bringing the benefit of their skills and experience! It's a long list, a big cast of characters, but it's the collaboration and high signal to noise ratio here that make this a special place to participate in for me!

On a more practical plane, phenolic sheets for crossovers arrived, along with a Cambridge audio Blu ray player that will free up the Oppo BDP93 I've got at GF's for the Vanity 8 channel digital output card... can you spell, "Multi-channel SACD extraction"?

I'm excited, and ordered some new releases of SACD's today, and finally bought today. the new audio editing program from Audiofile Engineering, Triumph.



Triumph

Looks like an "interesting" learning curve, (like the old Chinese curse, "may you live in interesting times", but hopefully my knowledge of Wave Editor (it's predecessor) will help.

Primary use is digital file capture over my RME Fireface from the modified SACD players (Vanity cards using a custom FPGA to convert DSD to 24/176.4 PCM) and conversion to AIFF files or FLAC for music sever.

If that sounds like hardware based SACD ripping, well, hand you a cigar! :B



~Jon

[JonMarsh]

Book came in (thanks for the hint Scott!) and I have to say it looks super and I'm looking forward to checking out the DVD. Anyone inexperienced (like me) considering spraying should have a book like this...

• ISBN-10 : 1600850928
• ISBN-13 : 978-1600850929

https://a.co/d/1uTB9TQ

[Juhazi]

I exploit this Jon's thread to wish to you all a

Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!

Jon, thank you for sharing your interests and thoughts of audio gear and many other aspects of life! I have been following, learning and enjoying your and other threads for many years. You are definitely one of the greatest guys in diyaudio genre.

I wish that you and your nearest people will endure the drama of recent and upcoming events. Give a warm hug to each other and you will grow even stronger together

Juha

[JonMarsh]

I exploit this Jon's thread to wish to you all a

Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!

Jon, thank you for sharing your interests and thoughts of audio gear and many other aspects of life! I have been following, learning and enjoying your and other threads for many years. You are definitely one of the greatest guys in diyaudio genre.

I wish that you and your nearest people will endure the drama of recent and upcoming events. Give a warm hug to each other and you will grow even stronger together

Juha

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words! Obviously, it is little more challenging this holiday, but so far things seem to be working out well and GF's kids (in their 20's) are handling the loss and responsibility well. We're continuing with our basic plans, but now are setting up a memorial service and taking care of other matters shortly after the holidays.

Best wishes to you for you and your friends and family in Finland for the Holidays!

~Jon