Ardent D (aka Kurosawa Jr) Winter Camp

[JimS]

Like riding a bicycle, that board looks just fine 🧐

[JonMarsh]

Well, believe it or not, I'm actually back to working on speaker stuff- my annual wellness exam (a month+ late this year due to doctor workload) was just last Friday, and it did end up being what I jokingly referred to the doc as our annual book of the month club meet, because I brought a couple of books that should be interesting for him and a binder of other info, and after I started explaining it to the nurse who was supposed to do the first stage of the "geriatrics" evaluation, well, she skipped the stuff like the cognition test or memory test, because she couldn't understand what I was talking about (medical and orthomolecular related) and she couldn't remember all the things I brought up quickly... (yes, that was intended to be funny, but it is also factual...) (anyone curious, just PM me). (for reference, I am 74, but feel like mostly like a crabby or grumpy 55 year old most days...)

So, yeah, unlike some folks, I don't get to brag about cognitive test results, because they figured it was simply unnecessary.

But, I have been getting back into the swing of things, which if you haven't built a crossover board in many months, well, that's not trivial, but going for me was setting up a new work space also. So, later today or tomorrow morning I'll set up this build and test things for the 2nd midrange board.

Funniest thing was having my Stanley hot glue gun get glitchy on me, going into my local Ace Hardware and finding they don't have those any more OR my favorite amber colored Ace Hardware Heavy Duty glue sticks... (that's where the crabby or grumpy part comes in) (all bought before 2020). But they did have a new nice looking glue gun from Taiwan, "Surebonder" which came with what seem to be some fairly decent glue sticks for heavier duty work. (they actually have several gun and stick combos on offer). And it seems like they'll hold tight, like my favorite Amber Heavy Duty Ace Hardware sticks. but these new ones are about twice the length, which makes getting stuff done easier.

[JonMarsh]

Well, I'm ALMOST done with the re-organizing of work/assembly setups, moving the crossover assembly into the front bedroom that had previously had more woodworking glue up, and moving that around. Should start back on the crossover updates for the second cabinet "any day now"!

So many non audio delays and must do's (health stuff for others; my wife had more clinical and doctor appointments one day in September than I've had in three years... but then, my doctor is almost impossible to get ahold of or schedule appointments with- got a Wellness exam coming up mid October that should have been early September, and that was scheduled over 7 months ago... hearing similar things from friends in other parts of the country this year!

[technodanvan]

My DA25s I preordered from PE have not yet arrived (should be a couple days still), but the DA32s have. They are still packaged as pairs, so I imagine the DA25 is as well.

[JonMarsh]

Sven had tweaked up some stuff going on in the background, and some glitches Steve and I had earlier in the week seem to be gone.

[JonMarsh]

The parts from Parts Express are just single pieces. The parts from Wagner are matched pairs, which some may view as a benefit. My personal experience is that DA25TX00-08 have been so consistent that the singles are quite usable.

[JonMarsh]

IT was only a week ago when the only information posted online with this part was “OUT OF STOCK”, This is very good news for folks

[letiennam]

Parts express restocked the Da25tx tweeters! I just emailed them yesterday because the day before they were still out of stock.
Also Wagner from Australia has DA25TXs in stock which is cheaper than SoundImports but not as good Parts express

[Scareurpasenger]

Parts express just restocked the Da25tx tweeters!

[JonMarsh]

Drivers shipped off to JimS yesterday, including vintage midranges, matched tweeters, and a pair of AS168-9-470 NIB I was keeping around...

We had a project review with Steve last week.

For the intellectually curious, this is what the "as built" schematic looks like at this point...

Given the issues around driver availability, it's not likely to see anyone else building this, though those new 2" CF Dayton midranges might pitch hit OK, and SoundImports in the Netherlands does have some matched pairs of the DA25TX00-08 in stock, but the Tariffs coming here were pretty steep when I got my last ones from them. Chinese origin.

[letiennam]

I hope your wife gets well soon. I also have a vote for SB15CAC

[JonMarsh]

Just to state the obvious, lots of room reflections in the impulse response window! Long measurement window

[JonMarsh]

Man, the days have just been jam packed lately, like 3 medical appointments yesterday for my wife!

I think I'm about done adjusting Mid and HF levels, have been focused on optimizing things a bit for the cabinet tilt that Steve and JimS plan to use, without the footer design I used. In this case, front panel is not nearly vertical, and top and bottom are pretty much parallel to the floor. Not Vimberg like.

These are two measurements; taken 10 degrees off axis, so that the cabinet diffraction effects don't stack up the way they do directly on axis. DUT moved to a more normal position, back is 4' from the rear wall.


Measurement height is 38", distance 1m.






Measurement height is 34", distance 2m.





Wouldn't hurt to get out the AST panels that I have, but no time right now!

Of course, having a grille panel and the felt dampers like the Wavecor Ardent wouldn't be a bad idea either, but this was originally just intended to be a quick concept test build prelude to the TTC cabinet Steve did. Don't know if I'll get around to that here... this is for a secondary system, I want to get back to the Saint-Saëns planar work...

[JonMarsh]

Well, this ties in quite closely with my thinking, using the build concept for the dual LF driver cabinet in the Sant-Saëns/SMJ-40 (which can work with drivers wired in series or parallel at the cable connecting to the 4 pole SpeakOn cabinet connector, and this driver complement for Mid+tweeter, or if one wanted to try something more "classical" looking for the midrange, the SB15CAC. But I've got quite a few of both midranges on hand... biggest difference is the size of enclosure and use of PR's, as I'm at about 28L per driver, and with an RS265PR on each driver. Sealed, half a cubic foot per driver for the HO version, you'd wind up with an F3 around 57 Hz, and if one has the room to position carefully for boundary reinforcement lower down (more distance from side and rear walls), then that could get interesting. Of course, the roll of rate is so slow, F6 would be about 40Hz, so with some good positioning, there's interesting possibilities.

[Efalegalo]

Jon,

I've been thinking about building a really small/budget version of the Ardents, utilizing many of the drivers that you rate favorably.

Specifically, I was thinking:

• RSS210HF-4 (Pair) - in Series
  • Going with the smallest sealed enclosure
• Peerless FSL-0512
• Peerless DA25TX

All of which I have in stock at home.

I built a small three-way last year using a single ported RSS210HF and was amazed by the bass output. I'm thinking a small floor-standing speaker with a pair of these would punch above its weight class. When I play around in VituixCAD with a pair of RSS210 in series/sealed, one does not give up too much of the bottom end by going with a smaller enclosure (e.g., 0.5cubic feet per driver)

[JonMarsh]

Just so you know, current plan is to get the stereo pair finished in current configuration, which mostly means building the 2nd midrange crossover and updating the documentation, then get them hooked up in the living room in a proper configuration with the "budget" play back system described in "Champagne wishes and caviar dreams" with the Mac mini plus external storage dock, running Audirvana Origins, likely a Singxer SU-1B digital interface (does things like the Alpha USB but more connectivity options, the Soekris 1541 DAC/preamp/headphone amp, and the Denifrips Hyperion balanced power amp. Hoping to fire this up soon...

but, you know what they say, life is what happens while you're busy making other plans!

[JimS]

Hey Jon, no worries at all, I realize it has been a highly stressful few months and best wishes to the family on a healthy recovery.

Two thoughts from my side, I’m in no real rush on these so feel free to take the time you need. Steve is queued up for the cabinets, and if needed I can separate out the crossover build to a later stage to work with your schedule. On the other hand, if you’ve been happily listening for a few years and have done some further tweaks over the past week, then they are likely (really close to) ready by most people’s standards 😀 and I’m sure I’ll love what ever version you are comfortable signing off on 👍.

Best,
Jim

[JonMarsh]

One other reminder to make- the Ardent D had a limited focus and intent when originally created- primarily, it was a platform to evaluate the feasibility of a three way with the AS168 and a dome mid crossover to use a Duelund type crossover, where all the drivers should have the same Z axis origin in the mounting plane- for the purpose of making a stacked MDF layered speaker with top to bottom tension rods... like this:




And so, the Ardent D as built for testing the crossover and driver concept did NOT have a front panel with damper felt around midrange and tweeter drivers, and is not what I'd call optimized for edge diffraction control. But, it did seem to prove out the concept idea fairly well, and I had fun listening to it!

How much further I'll tweak or optimize it I don't know, or exactly when- you see, I have these cabinets in progress for the Saint-Saens, that I would really like to get back too!

[JonMarsh]

I did get the joke, but for some odd ball reason felt compelled to play straight man! As I say, it's been a weird month, to say the least!

[JimS]

Thanks Jon.

Q1: makes sense

Q2: reread the thread (I did read it many years ago, just forgot the punchline 😀), makes good sense 👍

Q3: in case the wink-y face didn’t fully convey my humor to forum post, this one was a joke as my listening companion/dog was looking up at me with a raised ear as I was looking at the ultrasonic tweeter plots.

[Steve Manning]

As a point of reference, I did this design concept back in 2015, when I was still using SketchUp! Back when we could still get the Accuton mid range drivers.

[JonMarsh]

And if we REALLY wanted to go for the unobtanium angle, we could do it with some of my vintage NIB Transducer Labs tweeters, which, besides being very high performing parts, came from the great State of Idaho where I currently reside... life is strange, eh?

[JonMarsh]

You mean something like this ......

A bit fancier concept realization than I had time to put in right now, but as usual I think you've got the general drift... as I mention there is a range of potential midrange drivers to consider, but putting an Accuton in their is a nice artistic touch!


And I'd be surprised if it didn't get those folks over in Utah a bit peeved for more than one reason!

So, "Just hold that thought!" for now....

[JonMarsh]

Question 1: Room and placement issues... too much going on in the living room right now (and in my life! Though I'm pretty much all recovered from the COVID... one of wife's friends wants health advice for her parents, given what she's heard I've done for other folks... blood glucose levels and possibly getting off Metformin.)

Question 2: No, not at this point. You may not have seen one of my other posts from a number of years ago, but it was about a simple passive balanced inline voicing filter using ideas and levels that came from Sigfried Linkwitz and Don Baringer (in the 2008-2010 time frame; he was also a participant in the CA DIY group) and that I bounced around with Ergo Esken here.

https://www.htguide.com/forum/mission-possible-diy/system-room-setup/42048-report-back-on-stereo-speaker-voicing-investigation

The idea is to build the speaker to basically flat on axis, then as desired, put an inline passive balanced filter between preamp output and power amp input. I've got friends local in CA running Wavecor Ardents that way and they really like it. IMO, this is especially useful if one sets up for best imaging and minimum boundary mode boost, with something like a Cardas setup.

Question 3: There is already an ultrasonic filter built in to the HF crossover; the challenge is to minimize the interaction of the lower sideband with the desired axial response and maximum attenuation. The intrinsic driver peak is quite a bit higher. Of course, with uncompressed CD quality material, there isn't anything up there anyway- but if you go for 24/88 material down converted from DSD, well, who knows? It depends on the CD mastering. I never get complaints when ET comes by to listen, but then we know as an aging Sith Lord, his upper range hearing probably leaves a bit to desire- just like those aging reviewers at the Absolute sound that LOVE the peaks in the measured response of planar magnetic tweeters like the GRS PT2522c, or the version they're using in the PS Audio FR30 that they raved about:



That possibly even the more mature among us can hear...

This plot above is from HiFi News in England, a sister publication to Stereophile who uses basically the same measurement approach.

[JimS]

Thanks for the measurement details Jon, looking good!!

A few quick questions (for my learning):

Are the 1.2-1.3k dips boundary-related? They seem to show up in both height/distance measurements (but not in near-field)? Usually I think of room-related as a bit lower in frequency?

Are you thinking of voicing circuit here? Doesn’t seem so in the near-field but appears a bit of natural tilt in the second far-field measurement.

And does the 30k peak go away at a 6” listening height? (asking for an interested friend 🐕). 😜

[JimS]

These are not the droids you’re looking for….

[Steve Manning]

Thinking a bit about this LF enclosure design, and other possible ways to make a speaker system with it as a building block, a very logical idea that I think Steve would like is something inspired more by some of the smaller Wilson Audio designs. The question marks lay more around what should go into the upper module- a lot of possible candidates for midrange drivers, depending on how low one is willing or able to run them. The upper range of this LF module gives one options...

The Peerless FSL-0512 is certainly a possibility, but in a much higher price range, so are a number of PuriFi parts, including some we have on hand. Ignoring cost for now, the PTT6.5X04-NAA-08 might be a favorite choice, and I have a couple on hand.




But for this, I think I'd go with my tried and true LR3 network designs.

You mean something like this ......

[JonMarsh]

OK, back to business, some crossover tweaks complete, actually took out one big part, but put in another part (not of the same type) just so things would balance out...

Listening to things in the IT den while I write this up, and the test article is prettty much in the middle of the room pointing away from the IT den, where I'm at the far side from the entrance, and by cracky, it sounds pretty good! Must have done something right by accident, eh? (Nickel Creek "Can't Complain") (lot of vocals and plucked string instruments).

The MF-HF set, after trimming configuration on LPAD on LPAD, adding a 4.1 uF MR cap in a secret location for the tweeter, and checking a bit on and off axis-
removing an inductor in the MF network, adding in a smallish cap, and rechecking phase a few times... you know, the normal OCD sort of stuff.



I captured two full range measurements, showing some differences that occur depending on the measurement height and distance.








Due to how close I was to walls and that the speaker was pointed TOWARD the walls, one corner, actually, I was using a Half Hamming impulse filter with a relatively high cutoff filter, so not much point in paying attention below 250 Hz, but I can say it's certainly there based on an earlier relatively near field measurement.
Time to build the 2nd midrange crossover board- starting with cutting it to dimensions!

[JonMarsh]

Thinking a bit about this LF enclosure design, and other possible ways to make a speaker system with it as a building block, a very logical idea that I think Steve would like is something inspired more by some of the smaller Wilson Audio designs. The question marks lay more around what should go into the upper module- a lot of possible candidates for midrange drivers, depending on how low one is willing or able to run them. The upper range of this LF module gives one options...

The Peerless FSL-0512 is certainly a possibility, but in a much higher price range, so are a number of PuriFi parts, including some we have on hand. Ignoring cost for now, the PTT6.5X04-NAA-08 might be a favorite choice, and I have a couple on hand.




But for this, I think I'd go with my tried and true LR3 network designs.

[Scareurpasenger]

On the shelf and waiting! The nice thing about these drivers is that I don’t mind buying spares.

[JonMarsh]

Now, besides this LF cabinet concept, there have been a variety of investigations also into the midrange, one particular one I would call Kii inspired, due to the drivers used in Kii Audio speakers from Europe. I sometimes refer to the Peerless FSL-0512 as being the best $250 midrange you can sometimes buy for under $20 from the right European sources, and so I've bought a few of them in the past.

Why do I say that? Well, here's a QNF (quasi-near-field) on axis measurement of a typical sample.




And a picture of the cone driver:





They are still in stock at my "French Connection", who may supply Kii or get overflow stock from them. I'm not sure which it is, and the price is under $20 for my wholesale account.

Of course, being made in China, the Tariff hit would be substantial, but on a relatively low base price. "Budget High End"? Maybe...

[JonMarsh]

One relevant comment about my personal preferences- I'm always searching for optimum woofers that successfully "straddle" the space between a conventional woofer and a long throw driver/near sub driver. That means having a good Xmax, having faraday rings and other tricks to reduce inductance rise with frequency, and having a break up mode well above the area of interest- for these RSS210HO/HF, that means 4kHz or higher.

[JonMarsh]

Thanks for your reply! Sounds like just wait for a bit for the updates. That gives me some time to read and make myself familiar with the speaker. So, with the new parts selected, the performance would be at par with the older version? I am not a critical listener and these would go in my living room and used with Netflix and Music.

Thanks!

Yeah, but if you want to whet your curiosity a bit, and see directions that I think have merit, check out the most recent work on the Saint-Saëns project, specifically the LF system redesign and partitioning into two dual woofer cabinets. A single one of these cabinets make a very compelling argument for the next phase of Ardent on the low end, as enclosure standing waves and other issues seem to be very much in hand, along with a smooth wide range extended output for a woofer system. And fairly easy to build; these prototypes used some off the shelf modular cabinets available from Parts Express, then wrap them up together in a highly strengthened package, but of course, not all that light!





Measured quasi near field, which makes the PR output less apparent, due to distance. (PR's on back)






Check out posts Questions abound through Damping factor question in that thread.

[JonMarsh]

Well, I'd say that I am always aiming for improvement, as regards in room behavior, distortion, and uniformity of power response. And these days, the pricing structure of supplies and drivers creates a mandate to try to figure out how to do more with less.

That's why I used to describe the Peerless DA25TX008 as the best $400 tweeter you could buy for $60.

This un-smoothed polar plot at 10 degree intervals should give a little pause for thought...




As should this SPL on axis response plot with HD2 and HD3 distortion, in the SMJ-Calliope two way crossover:

(Crossover includes a notch filter for the tweeter breakup in series to the driver at the output of the filter)

[bullet0770]

The Wavecor Ardent, in its slight variations (like the version with 12mu Scanspeak Midrange and less expensive Scanspeak tweeter done for Renron (Ron Bradley) is more practical, though the woofer cost is growing. I have in mind a version based on woofers like the Dayton RSS210HF or HO, possibly this new Carbon Fiber dome midrange (I have a pair on hand; makes a simplified cabinet build easier) and with RSS265PR or RSS210PR, but have been helping friends with health emergencies, keeps stalling working on the fun stuff! Also, a key point is that PE is saying the Peerless DA25TX008 will be available again, and a few have been sourced through other regions, so this (which is in the Ardent D) would be a part of any future plans of this type due to the very high performance and for the most part reasonable price.

Thanks for your reply! Sounds like just wait for a bit for the updates. That gives me some time to read and make myself familiar with the speaker. So, with the new parts selected, the performance would be at par with the older version? I am not a critical listener and these would go in my living room and used with Netflix and Music.

Thanks!

[JonMarsh]

The Wavecor Ardent, in its slight variations (like the version with 12mu Scanspeak Midrange and less expensive Scanspeak tweeter done for Renron (Ron Bradley) is more practical, though the woofer cost is growing. I have in mind a version based on woofers like the Dayton RSS210HF or HO, possibly this new Carbon Fiber dome midrange (I have a pair on hand; makes a simplified cabinet build easier) and with RSS265PR or RSS210PR, but have been helping friends with health emergencies, keeps stalling working on the fun stuff! Also, a key point is that PE is saying the Peerless DA25TX008 will be available again, and a few have been sourced through other regions, so this (which is in the Ardent D) would be a part of any future plans of this type due to the very high performance and for the most part reasonable price.

[bullet0770]

Read the entirety of this thread to gain a full perspective. Yeah, a lot of ground to cover. As points become finalized, I will post the crossover details. What JimS is getting built will be using some vintage new in box RS52AN parts that perform much better than what could be bought from PE in 2019 or 2020. That is all discussed in this thread. A potential alternative is the new Dayton Carbon Fiber dome midrange.

But keep in mind, the AS168 Accuton woofers are hard to source, and very expensive these days compared with when this project was started in 2019. And their construction with effective Z-axis source in the mounting plane and what amounts to built in baffle step compensation for the correct width of speaker baffle is key for supporting a Duelund crossover. That's part of why they're used in the Vimberg Mino.

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. I will read the thread to gain some insight for the build. I see AS168 Accuton woofers is hard to get and very expensive if found. Is wavecor Ardent the alternative to this ? Which speaker should I consider building as of now?

Again Thanks!

[JonMarsh]

Hi Jon,

I read about the Ardent D and wanted some details. So, I joined ths forum and this is my first post.
Where can I find the latest build details of the Ardent D with SS midrange?

Thanks,
Nav

Read the entirety of this thread to gain a full perspective. Yeah, a lot of ground to cover. As points become finalized, I will post the crossover details. What JimS is getting built will be using some vintage new in box RS52AN parts that perform much better than what could be bought from PE in 2019 or 2020. That is all discussed in this thread. A potential alternative is the new Dayton Carbon Fiber dome midrange.

https://www.daytonaudio.com/product/2087/cf50n-4-2-carbon-fiber-dome-midrange-4-ohm

But keep in mind, the AS168 Accuton woofers are hard to source, and very expensive these days compared with when this project was started in 2019. And their construction with effective Z-axis source in the mounting plane and what amounts to built in baffle step compensation for the correct width of speaker baffle is key for supporting a Duelund crossover. That's part of why they're used in the Vimberg Mino.

[JonMarsh]

Hey Jon, I approve the name 😀

No need to adjust the listening axis, I’ll work with Steve to get the right forward tilt 👍

I haven’t been to Antarctic peninsula yet, but a friend of mine (now ‘retired’) is working as chief scientist/educator aboard some of those trips so hopefully will have a chance one of these years.

best,
jim

It is a very recommended experience. I have three PDFs prepared for the lunch and learn I gave about that at my former employer's US HQ, and if you have access to Apple Messages, can send these files- they're much too large for email, even though the images are substantially reduced in size from the original Medium Format.

[JimS]

Hey Nav, welcome! The ardent d is quite a different speaker from the wavecor ardent build you linked. I’ll let Jon respond with further details.

[JimS]

Hey Jon, I approve the name 😀

No need to adjust the listening axis, I’ll work with Steve to get the right forward tilt 👍

I haven’t been to Antarctic peninsula yet, but a friend of mine (now ‘retired’) is working as chief scientist/educator aboard some of those trips so hopefully will have a chance one of these years.

best,
jim

[bullet0770]

Is this the one? Crossover details

Thanks!

[bullet0770]

And, just in case anyone IS interested in boots on the ground and hiking in Antarctica, this is the outfit to check out:
This was not your normal cruise ship trip, where you sail by the Antarctic peninsula and can just see it in the distance- we visited a lot of the research stations on the peninsula, did hiking, and even stayed overnight one night- but had to carry everything out with us!

Hi Jon,

I read about the Ardent D and wanted some details. So, I joined ths forum and this is my first post.
Where can I find the latest build details of the Ardent D with SS midrange?

Thanks,
Nav

[JonMarsh]

And, just in case anyone IS interested in boots on the ground and hiking in Antarctica, this is the outfit to check out:


https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/antarctica/cruises/otl30a26-antarctica-uncharted-islands-of-the-deep-south?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_ca mpaign=OTL30a26-promo-July2025&utm_term=B2C-&utm_content=trip-page


They have a new custom built ship for these polar expeditions; when I went, they were still using this converted Norwegian icebreaker.




I brought two Pentax medium format cameras on this trip, and had a great time- even ended up doing a lunch and learn presentation at our national headquarters about it. only 100 passengers on this ship, and 47 crew. Departs from Ushuaia Argentina.

This was not your normal cruise ship trip, where you sail by the Antarctic peninsula and can just see it in the distance- we visited a lot of the research stations on the peninsula, did hiking, and even stayed overnight one night- but had to carry everything out with us!

[JonMarsh]

Little bit of an update...

The wifey continued to deteriorate, and was having chills and other issues, so I administered one of the Abbot Binax Covid tests last weekend (I keep them around the house to check any suspicious illness) and she was very positive, and got a Paxlovid prescription for her last Monday (a five day set of pills), which did start helping out after a couple of days- of course, you can probably write the rest of the story without any additional inputs from me- though keeping my distance, on Thursday I started feeling funky, did a COVID test, came up positive, contacted my doc's staff, they got a Paxlovid prescription ordered which the local pharmacy was out of stock on until Friday, picked it up Friday, and now here we are, and yes, feeling better even last night as regards sleep. But still plan to take today easy, for the most part.

Situation is complicated by the fast that her younger daughter's family is in town, they're visiting very close friends from school who moved to Idaho, wanted to spend some time with Liubov, but she told them I have COVID, and I filled them in on the whole story. Standard clinical practice is to not allow anyone just passing a COVID antigen test into the office for 7 days after testing clear, as not having antigens doesn't mean you're not generating viruses- I offered if they want to visit to leave the house on Monday or Tuesday and find a shady parking spot and read in my current SciFi novels on my Kindle app on iPad. We'll see what comes to pass, but given they have two young kids, they should just pass on the idea, IMO. But it's their prerogative one way or another, and of course they may hope that with me gone and keeping some distance from my wife, everything will be OK. But I have another favorite saying, "Hope is not a strategy".

So, I have been making a variety of subtle tweaks on the crossover for my existing build and the new ones for JimS; considering how his interest is driving all of this, I'm inclined to rename this project, as:

"JimS Ardent D Signature Edition"

This has been complicated a bit by the need to attempt to aim the listening axis lower, due to Steve and JimS wanting a base that is more Wavecor Ardent like, and does not tilt forward the cabinet.

Have made small updates on the woofer crossover, for the RS52AN to woofer blend, I've also been tweaking the MF and HF crossovers.

The last MF-HF status check before the virus closed in:




Of course, needless to say, I want to have the best possible mental focus for completing this, and even though I've had what may amount to world record mild COVID infections due to my vitamin protocols, especially vitamin C, I am no longer a sparklingly youthful 65, for example, planning my next hiking trip in Antarctica. Though, folks often mistake me for that, or younger, because of how most folks in that age group look locally.
I'm not going to launch into a lecture with all the gory details about how skin collagen healing and formation can be diagnostic of underlying metabolic health, but given how one 61 year old son-in-law has aged in the last two years after a significant neuroendocrine tumor was removed 6 months ago along with his spleen and a significant hunk of his pancreas, and I can point to specific facial issues that have developed due to lack of adequate vitamin C for normal levels of collagen supported tissue maintenance and repair, and make him look older than I, while I am the one 12 years his senior. Big changes in just the last year, and since Thanksgiving 2024. It just reinforces the old adage about how the health of the skin is a mirror of the body inside.

And if you want to see a good example of that, check out this NYT article. A year older than I, but looks two decades.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/well/cardiac-amyloidosis.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_2025080 5&instance_id=159904&nl=today%27s-headlines&regi_id=55273049&segment_id=203269&user_ id=4173de2be12db5f969ba21e3c9c1ed85