hifi heroin

nickel choke input.

2012-02-29T02:09:00.000-05:00

10 chokes. 10hy. 100ma. 100 ohms.

granted it is a bad picture. (according to some)

granted it is a bad idea. (according to some)

the given is they are quiet as choke input devices and it pains me to say they sound good in a phono stage.

dave

TAD 2001 on Le Cleac'h 650 Hz high T horn...

2012-02-29T00:01:00.005-05:00

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A local came by. He likes what he has heard of the horns... and wants to get his feet wet... Well, he got more than his feet wet. Look at his new toys!

He started by asking if I had anything laying around. Sadly, in the quest to try to listen to as much as possible, I often have really nice stuff just sitting. The pile below is just one pile of a few. So we had options. He listens in a relatively small room.. so integrating a lot of large horns is tougher... but the TAD 2001 drivers on a very fast flare horn really cover a wide range. I measured flat from lower than I would recommend crossing over up to higher than my microphone is accurate (any good measurement microphone recommendations?).... I actually had some NOS diaphragms.. these things are really cool.. different from the JBL Beryllium as these are formed by vapor deposition.. that has to be a nasty and toxic process... these look as if the dust would just flake off.. obviously it does not actually do that... but compared to the formed from flat sheet JBL diaphragms, they look like it!

some random shots along the way:

I have a few of these horns left... they have been great.. no issues so far.. heavy... solid... sound great.. and I have a friend with another pair of TAD's available if anyone wants to mimic this rig...

Peace,
Me

For Sale: RCA MI-1443 [MI-1428] Field Coil Compression Drivers...

2012-02-18T00:57:00.008-05:00

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Yep... time to let them go.. I have lived with them and loved them... but they are collecting dust.. which is a crime.. so time to go...

These are the higher voltage, 115Vdc, versions.. some say better, and more highly sought after versions.. the only difference between these and the more common 1428 is the field coil voltage... all else is the same...

Serial numbers are 1261 and 5861.. the earlier one has the ever so slightly more green tint to the paint.. definitely rare.. and I dig it more than the later simple grey... you will only notice in side by side comparisons, but it is there...

sonically, they are perfect... same diaphragms.. same sweeps... a very good matched pair.. see the plots and video below..

US$6000... pretty firm.. that is what they fetch in unproven condition... I will also sell the adjustable mercury supply for them for US$1000... transferred to a vintage chassis, of course...

oh, and I even have a good clean pair of the original connectors that I made new cables for.. they fetch a couple hundred themselves..

private email to experiencemusic at hotmail dot com is probably best..

thanks!

Filament glow inside mercury vapor...

2012-02-12T16:38:00.002-05:00

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not much to add to that....

Peace,
Me

Levels of insanity.

2012-02-10T21:35:00.001-05:00

Last nights project from the scrap heap was another "quickie" that we discussed a while ago and I purchased the materials for. Jon at Lowther America asked how a copper washer fitted to a Lowther phase plug would work. While theory abounds, there is no better option than to get your hands dirty and give it a try so I took a half hour off and played. Unfortunately I only could find one of the appropriate plugs and more are on the way so listening tests on the the effect with the Lowther field coil will have to wait.

From Lowthers to another Old English standard.

Oops... that was the milwaukee standard for insanity...

The phase plug wasn't even close to insanity of some of the people we call "family". Back in July one of the family pushed the 301 envelope a bit with a solid brass platter for his 301.

Well, Lets just say the results were promising enough for him to "kick it up a notch" and the results are not for those with a weak stomach.

Yes, that is a solid Brass 301 deck + platter (with a 401 motor) and the insane thing is he is not done yet. The bearing housing is next. If all goes well, there will be a "DIY" room at the Capital Audiofest this year and everyone will be able to hear it against a stock 301 on some quads and be their own judge of what is insane.

I can't wait to hear it!

Cardon and Sparton mesh rectifiers..

2012-02-08T16:41:00.006-05:00

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just a fun one that I found when rummaging...

Sparton and Cardon made mesh versions of a few of our favorite tubes.... this one is the half wave rectifier type 81... I love them just because of the big globe bottle and the beautiful filament that glows through the mesh... here is a shot pulled from the mesh 50 I used in a line level crossover I built a while back...

and for Adam, I must zoom out a bit on that first shot... he has been promised this photo for a while...

and lastly... could you read that label? how about a close up?

yeah.. that's right.. Bonham Music Shop in the Haight... rumor has it John Bonham's old man sold Jerry Garcia this very rectifier! I am gonna eBay and retire! (rumor not verified)

Peace,
Me

Lemonade from Lemons.. and bye bye birdie....

2012-02-02T23:33:00.005-05:00

Remember those fires in Los Alamos last summer? Well, my friends from the area, Robert and Deb, survived quite well thanks to a move to a new location down by the river a few years back. However, one of their friends lost part of his house... ouch.. but while the wall was down, being the audiophile that he is, he decided to install that horn in the subfloor that had been lurking in the back of his mind for a while. As a long time audiophile, he had never quite forgotten the sound of horns... and being a physicist, he knew the theoretical advantages... and those advantages are greatest in the bass... he asked my friend robert to help think it through.. robert, being the guy he is, not only 'thought it through", but ran simulations and helped pick out woofers that met the budget and application.... (my only role was to look at their plan and say "cooool").... the plan was in place for a quick install over the holiday break...

floor cut (note blue tarp for wall)

first half

long section half way

first fold

second half

second section

third section

second fold

throat

throat chamber

motor box

back panel

ready to play

The horn "exceeds all expectations".... but while he did manage to get everything out of his house and save most everything, he lost a very unique friend....

"ok, i was thinking, should tell you a little more of the burned house story.
some of the house burned, but other than that he got everything out, just some smoke damage.
including his bird.
he had this starling, he rescued 7 years ago, & the smoke got to its lungs & it died.
but the bird was cool.
it had lived its whole life between his speakers, so it didn't know bird songs,
but it could sing. mostly liked the blues, or jimi's guitar, but got upset, and would screech if he played metal.
thing was you usually couldn't hear it, unless you got close, because it had perfect pitch,
and would sing lead, or harmony, at whatever level would fit in with whoever it was singing with.
rip starling"

what an amazing story...

Peace,
Me

eBay strikes again!

2012-01-27T23:39:00.006-05:00

I rarely just comb eBay these days. Instead, I rely on saved searches for things that I actually use. However, occasions arise when a seller's "other items" have something that I maybe should not buy, but I "buy it now" anyway... usually due to a well below market value cost... in this case it was a lot of cartridges... I have been wanting to learn a little more about HiFi from the late mono era back into the heart of the 78 years... this seemed like the perfect thing to make me learn something... the problem when I do this is that I realize just how much it is that I have to learn - DOH!

So now it is time to learn... but on this one particular cartridge, google is not, well, googling very well... the name, number, and abbreviation is just too common... so I have these Electro Voice (EV) model 16 cartridges.. so anyone who can help point me to some good information on this cart will receive one... heck, two! of these hopefully not obsolete and total junk carts in the mail... how was that for abusing my blog power?

and I will send one to anyone who can identify the background in the above picture... (that was a bit nicer, wasn't it?)

Peace,
Me

back from vacation....

2012-01-27T00:01:00.004-05:00

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ahhh... a *real* vacation... and thank you to my lovely lady who actually won the trip at her job.... thanks, baby! it was exactly what the doctor ordered....

Musical accompaniment to my "plant, hop, swish... plant, hop, swish"..

My Morning Jacket - "Z"
Mingus - "Blues and Roots"
Air - "Moon Safari"
Muddy Waters - "His Best: 1947 to 1955"
The Black Keys - "Rubber Factory"
The Disco Biscuits - "Trancefusion Radio Vol II"
G. Love and Special Sauce - "Best of..."
King Sunny Ade - "Juju Music"
James Brown - "Star Time - Mr. Dynamite"
Seattle Loft Party (Skerik, Sawka, Watts) 2/22/02

they all look alike to me.

2012-01-21T02:06:00.000-05:00

here we have 4 pair of SUT's that all look the same. If called by name, they answer to:

1:10 for a zyx airy / A90 to the paciffic northwest
1:20 for the rev's shilabe
1:10 for MJC's MySonic
1:10 for a Kleos.

hidden behind the scene is a soon to be extinct breed.

One of the last bombs is for a Colibri and headed to Hong Kong. Aside from the common sonic signature the other fact that brings this family together is that they are all wound with silver wire.

Enjoy!

uni-bombs.

2012-01-19T00:45:00.005-05:00

Since we only have a few days left of uncensored internet in the US, I feel that it is time to introduce you all to a new black box. These simple cases effectively enclose and shield a single SUT. They are utilitarian and on the scale we work at, they do the job nicely. In the future they will be dressed up a bit and integrated into a lame attempt at a product but for now they exist as the next step beyond the bomb.

Our entire goal is to give credit where credit is due and the inspiration for this particular shielding came from frank who was the first person to practically box up my SUT's. While I have successfully made them silent in "odd" but "technically correct" packaging, somehow the aesthetic doesn't inspire people as shown by the "where's waldo" bomb below.

Western Electric 12a and 13a combination..

2012-01-12T23:54:00.007-05:00

So I have this book.. Sound-Picture Recording and Projection... it is from around 1931... and for quite some time now I have been fascinated how it just refers to a high flying 12a and a floor mounted 13a as a "system"... yeah, right! I mean who has BOTH of these horns???

I have studied the horns... and how they are referenced in this book.. and I dig the thought behind the "system"... the 12a is shorter.. it leans to the high side of the spectrum... upper midrange heavy... and the 13a is longer... more low frequency loading.. so the air mass rolls the top end a bit more and the length extends the bass down a bit... so it is more midbass... and when used in tandem, you can now see the "system"...

and the 12a is flown up high... your brain will follow the upper frequencies more for "image source"... and the nice touch of the 13a out in front of the 12a as its path length is longer - time alignment, eh?

and I would go into the control system.. how the 200A works.. and all the impedance charts in this text, but I mean, really, who has *multiple* pairs of these??

so then a few months back our Music Maker of the Month sent me these shots... I have been blown away ever since...

and now in a new home:

stunned....

Peace,
Me

A Blasting New Year.

2012-01-11T19:01:00.000-05:00

Spent part of new years eve old skool.

went through a few different vintage boxes and a few size D batteries. (I was amazed how much better things sounded on batteries)

They were in the 12 cell and 30-40 pound range.

And all of the music was analog!

Analog even when we listened those funny round disks.

Now that is one trick box! It auto senses, cues records finds tracks and plays both sides. (dual linear tracking arms and cartridges) I asked how it tracked on the move and there is a pressure switch under the left rear foot that only takes a small piece of duct tape to disable. We didn't skip it but then again we didn't try too hard.

This is my kinda bling.

2012-01-08T02:46:00.000-05:00

Music Maker of the Month - Joe Roberts!

2012-01-06T19:35:00.005-05:00

It is about time that I honored Joe as Music Maker of the Month! This is the man that wrote Sound Practices! What we owe him cannot be understated, so to have overlooked him this long is a crime. My apologies, Joe. Here you go:

What Joe listens to is the amazing system above. Just check out these specifications:

The Dell AS500PA Sound Bar Computer Speakers are high-quality stereo sound speakers for anyone looking for superior quality sound with space considerations and less wires. These Sound Bar series speakers help in improving the quality of multimedia presentations, online training, gaming, DVD playback or simply listening to music on your system. The Dell AS500PA Sound Bar Computer Speakers deliver 14 watts of total RMS output to generate crystal clear sound. These high-quality stereo sound speakers are lightweight, smartly designed and can be easily attached to the Dell Ultrasharp monitor.

did you catch that? "or simply listening to music".. the fifth thing listed. Clearly they do not know their potential. Joe has owned darn near every piece of vintage gear worth owning, and I do mean *thousands* of pieces of gear, and this is what he chooses. Dell needs to have this unit reviewed. They are missing out on sales!

The installation is so very simple as well. Even audiophiles can hook this thing up:

I forgot to mention the features. Just check out the side headphone jack and single control - volume only.. very audiophile!

And do not take this as a joke. Joe still listens to gear of the highest quality to continually keep his reference high. Just check out the pictures from one of his trips to see friends in Korea. [here is the link to more pictures]

So Joe, thank you for writing Sound Practices! I personally cannot thank you enough for what it taught me. I hope in some little way this helps.

Peace,
Me

Nice Rack!

2012-01-03T23:39:00.000-05:00

How often can you get away with uttering the title of this entry in public? I spent the new year in DC again visiting and after two years of waiting we finally installed his new rack.

Constructed from slabs of 3 and 4" thick maple and 2" threaded rods stability is not an issue and in a pinch it can serve alternate duties.

Holiday Emergencies

2012-01-02T00:49:00.003-05:00

In the aftermath of the holidays the occasional emergency comes up that needs to be dealt with. In this case my youngest employee lost a key piece to the assembly of one of his leisure time activities. Given that he only gets five minutes a day outside the factory, I felt it would be in violation of the holiday spirit to put the older employee to work on Christmas day. I quickly got over that.

I assure all of you that even though he was operating heavy machinery on 3 hours of sleep, the caffeine and sugar kept him quite alert while he moved the cross slide. The end result was a functional part to allow the completion of the younger's leisure time activity and it only took 15 minutes and cost three fingers to complete. (don't worry the fingers were all mine)

When the younger commented on the difference in color, I simply replied the new piece is made out of Delrin and don't come complaining to me when a couple Bionicles show up in the morgue because the ABS part failed during a crucial operation.

Happy New Year to all and to all a good night. (except of course for the workers who do not have time to sleep)

how JP sees things...

2011-12-30T00:13:00.003-05:00

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yeah... I still dig building with Legos... JP always starts building by the books... that drives me crazy.. I am pure freestyle... but when he took these pictures, well, I began to see why he does it like he does... it is kinda like building your own audio gear.. it makes you invested.. adds a bond.... makes you care even more... it makes you sweat the details...

and I just like the pictures...

show me your new vinyl!

2011-12-26T01:20:00.003-05:00

I am spoiled... and it is therefore extremely difficult to buy gifts for me... I have any tube I really need... and to even think about something along those lines is to get into really obscure geekland... but I am blessed with a wife and family who listen... so this is what they got me.. check these out!

I know most of you have the super over released Folk Singer from Muddy Waters, and that is a phenomenal album, but this is his best from the early Chess years... I did not own it on vinyl.. and have nearly killed a hard drive calling this compilation over and over again... to say that I cannot afford teh stack of original 78's goes without saying, but this reissue sounds *WAY* better than my digital copy... this is serious dancing music... I often make a fool out of myself playing this one..

the Satch Plays Fats is another that I only had a digital copy of... not sure why.. I guess I always assumed it would be expensive due to age... but MZ showed me that it is out there.. I know every word to every song.. know the notes coming on teh solos.. Lisa and I both pull this one.. so it is nice to have a vinyl copy.. it makes it extra yummy...

Man or Atroman is modern surf rock.. I super dig these guys.. it is somehow mixed with a little REM sound in there.. "jangly guitars" as Lenwood would say.. highly recommended... but you can listen here for yourself first... check out the video by Sarah Jacobsen, an artist herself...

and last but not least is The Black Keys... I have already written about them here.. and I dig the new album.. more soul.. and back to some tunes that will absolutely ROCK live... I hope they swing south...

so I am super glad the family listens when I mumble about needing a vinyl this or a vinyl that... oh, and they wisely bought me a new green hoodie to replace my ten year old beater that has seen use and abuse... and they know me well enough to not buy one with a logo so large that it makes me a billboard... ahh... in cognito... my favorite..

so what did you guys and gals get???? gotta share!!

Peace,
Me

Jazz

2011-12-15T00:58:00.004-05:00

This one was hard... I read this a week ago... it really resonated... tough, but I think very correct...

and then I spent four days listening to ninety percent jazz... old monos... new stereos.. modern.. classic...

and I still feel that it is true... so I revisited tonight... now there is a stir.. sad.. but read the original.. I think it is correct... and read it with love.. I think it will sink in...

the original is here.. on Nicholas Payton's blog... the text I will copy below:
_________________________________________

On Why Jazz Isn’t Cool Anymore
Posted on November 27, 2011

Jazz died in 1959.

There maybe cool individuals who say they play Jazz, but ain’t shit cool about Jazz as a whole.

Jazz died when cool stopped being hip.

Jazz was a limited idea to begin with.

Jazz is a label that was forced upon the musicians.

The musicians should’ve never accepted that idea.

Jazz ain’t shit.

Jazz is incestuous.

Jazz separated itself from American popular music.

Big mistake.

The music never recovered.

Ornette tried to save Jazz from itself by taking the music back to its New Orleanian roots, but his efforts were too esoteric.

Jazz died in 1959, that’s why Ornette tried to “Free Jazz” in 1960.

Jazz is only cool if you don’t actually play it for a living.

Jazz musicians have accepted the idea that it’s OK to be poor.

John Coltrane is a bad cat, but Jazz stopped being cool in 1959.

The very fact that so many people are holding on to this idea of what Jazz is supposed to be is exactly what makes it not cool.

People are holding on to an idea that died long ago.

Jazz, like the Buddha, is dead.

Let it go, people, let it go.

Paul Whiteman was the King of Jazz and someday all kings must fall.

Jazz ain’t cool, it’s cold, like necrophilia.

Stop fucking the dead and embrace the living.

Jazz worries way too much about itself for it to be cool.

Jazz died in 1959.

The number one Jazz record is Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue.

Dave Brubeck’s Time Out was released in 1959.

1959 was the coolest year in Jazz.

Jazz is haunted by its own hungry ghosts.

Let it die.

You can be martyrs for an idea that died over a half a century if y’all want.

Jazz has proven itself to be limited, and therefore, not cool.

Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt from looking back.

Jazz is dead.

Miles ahead.

Some may say that I’m no longer the same dude who recorded the album with Doc Cheatham.

Correct: I’m not the same dude I was 14 years ago.

Isn’t that the point?

Our whole purpose on this planet is to evolve.

The Golden Age of Jazz is gone.

Let it go.

Too many necrophiliacs in Jazz.

You’re making my case for me.

Some people may say we are defined by our limitations.

I don’t believe in limitations, but yes, if you believe you are limited that will define you.

Definitions are retrospective.

And if you find yourself getting mad, it’s probably because you know Jazz is dead.

Why get upset if what I’m saying doesn’t ring true?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t play Jazz.

I play Postmodern New Orleans music.

Louis Armstrong and Danny Barker play Traditional New Orleans Music.

Ellis Marsalis and James Black play Modern New Orleans music.

Kidd Jordan and Clyde Kerr play Avant-garde New Orleans music.

Donald Harrison plays Neoclassical New Orleans music.

I play Postmodern New Orleans music.

I am a part of a lineage.

I am a part of a blood line.

My ancestors didn’t play Jazz, they played Traditional, Modern and Avant-garde New Orleans Music.

I don’t play Jazz.

I don’t let others define who I am.

I am a Postmodern New Orleans musician.

I create music for the heart and the head, for the beauty and the booty.

The man who lets others define him is a dead man.

With all due respect to the masters, they were victims of a colonialist mentality.

Blacks have been conditioned for centuries to be grateful for whatever crumbs thrown to them.

As a postmodern musician, it’s my duty to do better than my predecessors.

To question, reexamine and redefine what it is that we do.

They accepted it because they had to.

Because my ancestors opened the door for me, I don’t have to accept it.

Louis bowed and scraped so Miles could turn his back.

It’s called evolution.

It’s the colonialist mentality that glorifies being treated like a slave.

There is nothing romantic about poor, scuffling Jazz musicians.

Fuck that idea.

It’s not cool.

Jazz is a lie.

America is a lie.

Playing Jazz is like running on a treadmill: you may break a sweat, but ultimately you ain’t going nowhere.

Some people may say we are limited.

I say, we are as limited as we think.

I am not limited.

Jazz is a marketing ploy that serves an elite few.

The elite make all the money while they tell the true artists it’s cool to be broke.

Occupy Jazz!

I am not speaking of so-called Jazz’s improvisational aspects.

Improvisation by its very nature can never be passé, but mindsets are invariably deadly.

Not knowing is the most you can ever know.

It’s only when you don’t know that “everything” is possible.

Jazz has nothing to do with music or being cool.

It’s a marketing idea.

A glaring example of what’s wrong with Jazz is how people fight over it.

People are too afraid to let go of a name that is killing the spirit of the music.

Life is bigger than music, unless you love and/or play Jazz.

The art, or lack thereof, is just a reflection.

Miles Davis personified cool and he hated Jazz.

What is Jazz anyway?

Life isn’t linear, it’s concentric.

When you’re truly creating you don’t have time to think about what to call it.

Who thinks of what they’ll name the baby while they’re fucking?

Playing Jazz is like using the rear-view mirror to drive your car on the freeway.

If you think Jazz is a style of music, you’ll never begin to understand.

It’s ultimately on the musicians.

People are fickle and follow the pack.

Not enough artists willing to soldier for their shit.

People follow trends and brands.

So do musicians, sadly.

Jazz is a brand.

Jazz ain’t music, it’s marketing, and bad marketing at that.

It has never been, nor will it ever be, music.

Here lies Jazz (1916 – 1959).

Too many musicians and not enough artists.

I believe music to be more of a medium than a brand.

Silence is music, too.

You can’t practice art.

In order for it to be true, one must live it.

Existence is not contingent upon thought.

It’s where you choose to put silence that makes sound music.

Sound and silence equals music.

Sometimes when I’m soloing, I don’t play shit.

I just move blocks of silence around.

The notes are an afterthought.

Silence is what makes music sexy.

Silence is cool.

- Nicholas Payton

_____________________________________________

and after that has settled in.. I have two things I want to say, hopefully without taking anything from Mr. Payton...

one, I listen to this music every day.. my favorite modern musician calls himself a jazz musician just to thin his herd of potential followers and assure himself of a group of serious listeners.. I think this picture says a lot:

and two... deep breath... as many of you are here as much for gear as for music, every time you read the word jazz in that poem, please replace it with "audiophilia"... I think it makes even more sense...

Peace,
Me

Cool new neighbor.

2011-12-11T22:32:00.000-05:00

While drinking my coffee and reading my email this morning I saw this sitting in a tree a hundred meters away out of the corner of my eye.

I hope she was checking out the hood and decides to move in. It would really help with 'critter control' and yellow dog would be the first one cut loose to battle.

(yes I know they mainly eat fish but evolution is real isn't it?)

dave

the coolest variac EVER!

2011-12-08T21:24:00.005-05:00

I went to an auction with hopes of picking up a toroid winder and the bidding was crazy. way over ebay prices but i did come home with the coolest variac I have ever seen.

I didn't need another variac and the clean new ones at the auction were going for $150 each. I guess vintage was lost on the crowd so it was my win. There were three of them in this lot and if you won the bid for the first one, you had the option to buy the rest at that price. Novelty has a price and the bid went up to $40 for the pick of the litter and the winner chose the runt.

The remaining two from this lot went up under a similar bid situation and at $15 I had the option to take both. One was a 15A unit and the other was 7.5A unit. I took both.

My desire was the smaller unit since unlike the big traditional bakelite knob of 15A unit, the smaller one had a voltage readout feature quite different form the traditional methods.

Pay no attention to that cat in the picture and look at the bakelite knobs!

I tried to brag about the cool factor to the scrappers at the auction end and they looked at me like I had three eyes.

dave

Next time JJ needs a haircut.

2011-12-05T01:52:00.002-05:00

We need to get together and have an intervention to get JJ a haircut. The one caveat is it must happen here.

Hit the link and look at the rest of the pics and the paypal address for donations will be live soon. It is the holiday season and please give freely. I am working on the whole 503C thing so your gift to getting JJ's hair cut will be a nice tax deduction.

Of course I will have to supervise this trip so even more $$ is needed and after the haircuts... we will need to go somewhere to eat. Our goal has always been to eat here and the irony of both is perfect so the time is now!

Props go to Sean for finding and sending me the link to Page-Boy and to new family member Casper for his passion.

Emia Exists.

2011-11-28T18:15:00.000-05:00

That's right boys and girls, JJ and I are finally trying to bring our wares to the masses with an actual line of bang for the buck products.

Pictured above is a two chassis phono stage and remote autoformer volume control. All three units will sit side by side and take up a single rack space.

We also have the ability to use different colors for the front plates but for now we are both diggin' the chocolate which appears nearly black when in a rack but just gives us a hint of warmth to match our other copper based patina look.

If the remotes offer too much bling on the autoformers we also have the more affordable manual attenuators.

These can be used on their own or in conjunction with the phono stage. Both the manual and the remote units offer dual inputs and parallel outputs.

Our goal was to keep things understated as can be seen by the input selector and up/down switches on the remote units. We also decided to keep our names subtle with the branding as well and we think it works.

Final retail prices are still TBD based on how badly we get beat up by the distributors we are dealing with. Until those deals are in place and a firm price is set, we may have a few units for sale in the back of our white van.

stay tuned.

Fat Possum Records - Holiday Sale!

2011-11-26T21:55:00.004-05:00

Dudes... I have easily bought more form these guys than any other label this year... .easily...

They have a VERY heavy roster... Al Green, Black Keys, Junior Kimbrough, Heartless Bastards, Wavves, and my latest favorite - Cedell Davis... beware, this is some "broke ass shit, right here".....

and they are having a holiday sale... $10 records, cd's, hats, dvd's... $15 double LP's and picture discs... if you have not seen their documentary, You See Me Laughin', then click this link and watch the opening... way worth $10.... learn about where I am from - Mississippi.... for better and mostly for worse...

and here is what is pulling me down.... gotta get this... somebody in our extended and broken family needs forty seven blues 45's from back in the day... check out the covers.... all simply recorded.... and very real....

link to the George Mitchell Collection

Peace,
Me

lady day and john coltrane.

2011-11-26T01:46:00.002-05:00

gsh came into the rotation today and this song really hit me harder than the rest in a positive manner. it has always been one of my favorites.

unfortunately the"suggested" video put a much less positive view on the lyrics.

i say turn off the pictures and let the music talk to you.

Tantalum...

2011-11-17T20:50:00.003-05:00

.
I just thought I should share...

atomic number 73 letting Elmore James do his thing!

Peace,
Me

Strain Gauge Fashion

2011-11-16T15:01:00.002-05:00

I received a padded envelope today and the only two expected deliveries were a strain gauge cartridge and a pair of tubes. (I was scared)

My panic quickly subsided and turned to confusion when I opened it to find a rigid eyeglass case.

Opening the case put me at ease because inside was one of the original Panasonic EPC-450's

This is a different animal altogether than the EPC-450C II's and the EPC-451's and it is always nice to have a spare for the "ark"

Line Controller...

2011-11-08T14:39:00.004-05:00

for now, just a tease of the Experience Music Line Controller...

Shown above is just the signal chassis. It will be a two chassis setup just like the phono stage. In fact, the face of the power supply will have the same dual switching arrangement.

I am working on quite a few things that are very near completion. This should be a really fun November..

Enjoy your Fall color! (down under, enjoy Spring!)

Peace,
Me

leftover chicken dinner.

2011-11-07T17:28:00.000-05:00

Another Name.

Beau is next in the "claim game"

since oneinthepipe is a no show thus far, random.org says the next name is mister #72. by counting backwards I get one mad_winner!

we gave oninthepipe a week and if he (rash assumption) actually puts the pipe down and responds first they are his. mad_ gets the weekend to claim and then another name gets pulled out of the random hat and added to the mix.

first to claim gets it

dave

Off the shelf...NOT!

2011-11-03T17:13:00.000-04:00

Ready to ship out today are an assortment of IED's (intelligent electrical designs). In the group are a pair of 1:100's for pete's IO LTD, 1:50's for Ming's IO LTD, 1:20's for Scott's A90, 1:10's for Joel's A90 and the short one with the extra wire is a 1:10 unibomber for Alan's premium Be mono. The two absent from the class picture are the 1:20's for Jean's and Alan's Shilabe in silver and copper.

enjoy folks and thanks!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

2011-10-28T22:12:00.000-04:00

Random.org says the 28th comment gets the autoformers.

by my count that means oneinthepipe gets them.

All we need now is a real name and a shipping address.

the intactaudio link at the top of the blog will lead you to the appropriate email address to send the info to.

dave

A fistful of nickels.

2011-10-27T19:48:00.000-04:00

I'll be the first to admit I am no George Costanza but read on because these 80% nickel chokes are headed out to serve an interesting duty.

A few months back I received a call fro Dimitri at Ronin Applied Sciences about the possibility of using an inductor as a plate load in a microphone capsule. Of course I am always up for a cool new idea so I did up prototype. Apparently the recent showing at the NY AES convention created a bit of a stir and more inducors are going out tomorrow.

Below are some pictures of the finished product and at an introductory price of $4200 it should be a giant killer! Total props go out to Dimitri for thinking outside the box and trying something as silly as a 140hy 5ma 80% nickel choke loading a c3g in a mic capsule! (full specs from Dimitri)

In talking to a few of my historian friends there was some recollection of an inductive loaded tube in a mic capsule by telefunken in the 30's and if anybody out there has any references to others who used inductors in capsules please chime in.

dave

stop the insanity.

2011-10-26T18:57:00.001-04:00

occasionally we have to try crazy stuff and a customer recently needed a different attenuation range for his speaker level autoformers and new pair of tasty 49% nickel units are going out tomorrow.

Since the most economical way to ship them is a flat rate box, I can slip another pair of toys into the box for him to play with. It just so happens that his crossover uses a 2.5mhy choke so a pair of amorphous inductors it is.

Coming in at nearly 5 pounds each and using something like #8ga wire with a rectangular cross section they have a massive 50 milliohms of DCR. Compare that to a 12ga aircore with 350 milliohms or a 14ga steel cored inductor with 120 milliohms of DCR and I surely have some chest beating bragging rights.

OK seriously, I had the bobbins left over taking up space and rather than recycle the copper I figured I'd rather send them out for someone to listen to. As always I encourage public reports (both good and bad) since I really don't have anything at risk here and ultimately they would have to sell for a huge amount of money. I guess the point is that I have a sucker (oops cusomer) willing to give them a listen and I gots to know.

Oh yeah, the monk cover was what I was listening to and I needed some fill light for the hack photos. A professional would have photoshopped it out but i am not worthy to touch monk.

dave

RMAF 2011 via Manho...

2011-10-24T09:17:00.006-04:00

blatant post of Manho's pictures....

He obviously spent too much time in the room. Now that I think about it, we all did. Next year, I vote we take Saturday afternoon off and go hiking. The Fall color is just too good.

However, as Dave would say, "This is why we go to shows." These pictures are full of people I have known for years, if not decades. It was great seeing so many friends.

Me

Enjoy the Music giveaway.

2011-10-21T16:26:00.001-04:00

A few months back Dick Olsher reviewed the autoformer modules for the DIY section of Enjoy the Music. I sent him a pair of modules and he put them in a simple plastic box for the review. (PDF of the review is here)

We agreed that after the review was done the final enclosure needed to be given away. Steve Rochlin was cool with us giving it away here.

The only rule is if you win it, you need to use it. If it doesn't work for you pass it along to someone who can use it.

To enter simply add your name n the form of a one line comment below and random.org will pick a winner in a week or so.

good luck!

Cavity Search

2011-10-20T17:51:00.002-04:00

I'm not talking about dental procedures here!

It seems every time I fly, I end up with one of these nice reminders from the TSA that they have searched through my stuff. This time upon arriving home I opened my bag and some of the contents in plain sight alarmed even me.

pulling back a bit shows the whole picture of the contents.

The IED's tag was a joke at the display table and I have no idea how it found its way into my suitcase and if I would have seen it while packing up I would have tossed it. I know Johhny wanted to go through security with me to film the events so maybe he hid the IED card with hopes of a million hit youtube video.

Luck was on my side and I made it home without issue and I want to leave you with a pic of the two revolutionaries that wore those badges all weekend.

More RMAF coverage to come.

dave

32... the magic number.

2011-10-12T02:32:00.002-04:00

more memphis horns...

2011-10-11T12:43:00.003-04:00

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not the famous horn group, The Memphis Horns, but.. well.. somehow still memphis horns...

I know the Occupy Wall Street group is not using horns as they feel they are too forward and off-putting, but maybe this person did not get that message??... or maybe because of her message, she is allowed to be forceful..

in any case, yet more memphis for you guys who do not live here.. I realized that I need to complete the Memphis picture for "ya'll", so I will start sneaking more memphis into the texts...

Me

More Autoformers.....

2011-10-10T21:04:00.006-04:00

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finished two more autoformers a while back... forgot to show you guys...

the first is in a mahogany case with black base to match an amplifier... toggle up and down for volume.. simple toggle for source selection... and of course remote.....

the second is a more modern horizontal hifi style... note the name on this one.. later this week we will have a related giveaway... tied in with his online rag....

Me

Godzilla.

2011-10-07T00:49:00.000-04:00

Good friend and family member John Ngo at Par-Metal / Antek was doing some chassis work for us for some upcoming products. I'll admit I use and like toroids and when perusing his catalog I saw this beast. It is 1900VCT @ 0.7A and comes in at just about the weight of the 320hz field coil compression driver.

Scale always being the issue, here it is with a more traditional 350V tube transformer and the much smaller ($10) filament transformers they offer. Since I don't smoke I needed to use a different vice for true scale.

On their website they have an extensive catalog with current pricing and stock amounts which brings me to the topic of the post and that is Berger acting up amongst a metropolis of stocked toroids 5 miles from NYC in the beautiful swamplands of New Jersey.

Shameful Shameful Shameful.

2011-10-01T23:31:00.001-04:00

a few thousand words of shameful self promotion. Although technically I am not promoting myself... so what the heck.

crazy loot delivery day.

2011-09-22T20:48:00.000-04:00

four packages showed up today all with some nice loot inside. The first one came from Mr. Oh and had an assortment of 49% nickel lam sizes they recently acquired. I have to come right out and say that that even though many people consider me crazy, Those guys are insane and set goals for me to aspire to.

without the 300B for scale the family looks pretty pedestrian and it doesn't really hit home until you see the basic autoformer sized lam in the picture for comparison.

The next two boxes had goodies from a different realm. One had a panasonic strain gauge and the other had a Euphonics U15-2 which is one of the earlier lower output Euphonics.

The last box is the one that made me nervous since it actually cost me some real money and since they were not fully tested they represented a bit of a risk.

I must be living a charmed life these days since not only do they test perfectly, In circuit they are nearly matched (13ma & 15ma) which is very difficult to get. Given a random sample of 10 tubes, you would be lucky to get three pair this close and for a given 150V B+ and -2V bias you might see a pair at 10-12ma a pair at 18-20ma and a pair at 28-30ma. They all sound great but man they are all over the place.

dave... knocking hardly on wood.

Stereo Sound Agency....

2011-09-22T00:33:00.009-04:00

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yeah... skateboard decks... I have loved Stereo Sound Agency (for obvious reasons) for many years... but they have really outdone themselves this time... check out the fall collection... sick stuff.. want a Western Electric 755A on your board? yeah... me, too...

if you dig this stuff, head over to Stereo Sound Agency... support them.. I am sure their business model is "try not to lose too much money".....

ok... so did you catch that? jazz cats on the left... I like the deck on the far left... but the decks on the right? stacks of vinyl!

so those are the decks with drivers on them... Altec 604's and 515's... Western 755A's... these are for Iain to drool over...

Those decks have the artwork of Chris Pastras... I dig it... always have.. he is one of the two partners of Stereo Sound...

and if you need an analog/hifi/stereo T-shirt or hoodie... check them out... they will be gone very soon.. seasons and styles change probably next month... I might have to treat myself to a new hoodie this year... maybe a birthday present...

so the other partner is Jason Lee... yes, that Jason Lee... from "My Name is Earl"... he used to be a professional skateboarder.. I love the fact that he is now loved by millions but probably still gets "Hey! Get outta here!!" when skating through the park... dude is an amazing street skater... was really one of the best ollie/kick flip guys a decade ago.... VIDEO HERE.....

man, do I need to spend more time on my board... I'm getting rusty.... it really is as much fun as it looks... except for the pavement... that hurts...

Peace,
Me

Sam Phillips and Sun Studio...

2011-09-16T09:34:00.004-04:00

yeah.. the guy that recorded all of those great Sun Studio artists.... wikipedia article here:

Sam Phillips

discovered Howlin' Wolf... Elvis... Johnny Cash... heck, the man even recorded what many consider the first rock and roll song ever - "Rocket 88".. featuring Ike Turner on guitar...

Rocket 88 on You Tube

so during a recent walk downtown, Lisa and I went by his last studio (that I know of)... check it out.. it is one of my favorite buildings in town.. the problem is that I am unsure which side I like more...

Hi my name is dave and i'm an addict.

2011-09-13T14:00:00.001-04:00

I have been scanning the local craigslist for a few of my needs and near the top of the list is a small benchtop mill. This morning one gets listed for $400 which is high but it also seems to come with a metal lathe.

I know JJ could use a metal lathe and the only possible downside is it has been in storage for 10 years so I feared rust. The lathe indeed showed rust but nothing was frozen and it happens to be the same model I have and it had a 5" chuck mounted on it. (which i could really use)

The milling machine was unfortunately a drill press. A better one than my current one but it wasn't until i started looking in the other boxes when things became interesting.

I asked if what was in the rest of the boxes was also available and he said he needed ot vacate the storage space and needed everything gone. I handed him $400 and loaded up the car. What was also included is pictured below.

I have been looking for a 6" rotary table and the 24" cross slide is an added plus

setup and measurement tools are always fun.

Chucks to the left and right of centers.

there was also a mini benchtop drill press and a box of assorted tools including 30-40 end mills and lathe bits. They guy said his father used the press as a mill (hence the cross slide) and all the parts suggest that to be the case so for $400 I thought I 'd give it a go.

the occasional 'For Sale' ad....

2011-09-07T10:42:00.006-04:00

Dave approved the occasional for sale advertisement... so here is a wild throwback.. an integrated 45 SE amp... this is like the second amplifier I ever built... pretty good condition considering... I reworked it a bit when Bruce went to tri-amping his horns... we yanked the parallel feed output stage and went to juicy nickel from dave... so it was never meant to be full range... it ran either his mids or treble.. and I think the Avant Garde speakers are 12 ohms.... but Bruce is a solderable DIY'er, so we designed and he built a big six channel SE amp... pretty fly.. I will get pictures next time I visit...

here it is with "vintage" knobs:

and again with "modern" knobs:

circuit and measurements shown here... it is wild for me to look back at how I did some things back then... I built it for a budget, so it was a case of few parts, but good ones.. teflon coupling caps... some MQ chokes in teh power supply... film caps as last PS and cathode bypass... I now use mercury and too many power supplies, but this is really clean... just two triodes used in their linear range.. hard to not make music with that scheme....

I can gap it down and drop the -3dB point to the high 20's... that would make it full range for people running 8" drivers... the lack of a bottom half octave would actually clean up the sound a bit... or I can swap the outputs for parallel feed... or drop in something bigger with more inductance... or convert to 46's... or 2A3's for a bit more power... it is up to you... I have about $1500 in trade value in it... I can add to that for some customization, or drop ship it as is with a pair of ST45's...

if you have any interest, send email.. experiencemusic at hotmail dot com...

thanks!

Peace,
Me

The Voigt Legacy...

2011-09-02T21:38:00.011-04:00

Yeah, it is fashionable to bad mouth Lowthers... I get it... measure one straight on in an open baffle and it is rough... but what if I presented it a different way? how could you make the best sound with these? Can you admire what they do well (and those things are phenomenal) and live with what is not perfect? That mindset just might lead to happiness for a lot of people....

so let's look at that weird name associated with Lowther and see if we can learn anything... what did he build?

yeah, a front horn! smart man... I bet this thing sounds fabulous... (I heard teh Voigt museum does not have one of these... I found it in Hope, AR!)

look at those smooth horn curves ending in ninety degrees... even a small roundover on the very edge.. diffraction, be gone! tractrix flare... nice.....

so what else did he build? well, a corner horn.. with reflectors to get the highs out... a very well thought out cabinet... I bet one of these in the corner sounded pretty darn good...

highs were bumped out by using a small deflector.. check it out...

and the drivers from that era....

Modern Lowthers are very different than the old models. Gone is the heavy lacquered cone.. the whizzer now has a roll on it.. the light bulb phase plug has been lost... so do not believe people when they say Lowther has not changed with the times - they have... there is even an outfit making new field coils.. designed with finite element computer modeling... (very tongue in cheek)...

the newer cones are better for all of these direct radiating cabinets and back loaded horns.. the rolled whizzer helps control what the horn's air load used to... put them in an appropriate room... set them up with care.. get toe-in just right.. turn off the lights.. and you can get visiting musicians to your room.. how do I know this? well, once upon a time when I was too young to know any better, Jon Ver Halen talked me into bringing a single ended, no feedback amplifier to a Stereophile show to pair with, gulp, Lowther Medallions... we set them up by ear... and then Wally came in... took teh best seat.. wouldn't leave.. kept spinning record after record... so then he came back teh next day with measurement gear... we were +/- 3dB from 20 to 20k by cheating with a sub below 45Hz... pretty amazing for a single voice coil...

and I guess that is why I defend Lowther to the end... pretty tough to get that performance from a single voice coil of any sort.. especially at high SPL on a five watt single ended amp...

Peace,
Me

Prime Time

2011-08-31T01:02:00.000-04:00

I had the good fortune to meet and photograph Prime for the current NFL Sunday ticket campaign. Everyone involved in the project just seemed to get it and things went so smoothly, I actually switched my TV service back to satellite.

I thankfully survived the hurricane without issues and it was a non-event for me. I do find some of the sympathy mass emails of goodwill a little too self serving.

DTV cared

My bank also cared.

I could go on about the virtual support offered by the man but I would rather suggest they send people rather than email out to actually help. Sadly, the folks sent out would be unpaid interns armed with silver spoons to clean up this mess suffered by a fellow audio junkie.

Wire

2011-08-26T13:20:00.000-04:00

A delivery truck left this sitting in the middle of my driveway.

It was 120 pounds of copper on two spools.

For scale, here is a single 10 pound spool

The scary part is in a week the wire will be gone and all we will have to show for it is 8 field coil compression drivers.

On another not in my attempt to win "father of the year" I recently took the boys to see grandma in Wisconsin. The oldest was dead tired on the return and was falling asleep on anything he could. We were on one of the moving walkways and he was asleep. As we neared the end I had two choices. Wake him or film it.

Dang it, Mayer!

2011-08-25T00:46:00.005-04:00

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I had all these tube box pictures lined up for a rainy day and you go and start a tube box blog thread!!... dang it!... AND you start with the best ever, the RCA world boxes.... double dang it! ok... ok... you win... but here is one I like...

I actually really like their classic logo as seen at the bottom... the "Heintz_HK_Kaufman"... very classic.. but this wild electric HK and Gammatron in black, white, and orange is just phenomenal... one of my favorites...

an affordable field coil driver?

2011-08-23T00:52:00.003-04:00

we all know the economy of scale and that the title of the post is an oxymoron. Since we are a bit slow on the uptake and always love a challenge here are a few pics of an oem driver that will be on the AASOA table at RMAF.

Summer Vacation....

2011-08-21T21:29:00.011-04:00

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school has started back... so productivity has picked up again... but I already miss summer... I like summer.. who doesn't? but the crazy memphis heat and humidity does eventually get to you.. the kids get a little stir crazy.. so we have taken to crashing at Lenny's under the guise of "working on his HiFi".. really just getting up in altitude.. dropping twenty to forty degrees.. and getting in some porch time..

so how about a few pictures?

JP, my youngest, chillin' on a rock...

the HiFi we were working on... this is the "social system"... it has to sound good in the kitchen, in the living room, and most importantly, on the porch!

amp tweaking was actually easy.. it turns out the driver stage in his PT Barnum amp could not even clip the output stage, so a quick change and it actually sounded dynamic.. before the changes the volume knob acted a bit more like a compressor/tone control... ahh.. much better now..

there was a lot of talk about gardens.. but God's gardens just can't be bettered:

on teh way to the best hikes.. probably around 5000 feet...

yep.. so a crazy setup until you think it through.... Altec 416 in a big cabinet... original Goto cast horn and Goto alnico 555 (their first product) in conga drum shells up firing... time alignment was actually pretty close.. I measured all of this stuff... and TAD 4001's, with rear covers removed and domes up firing as tweeters..

and more of one of the hikes.. what I once again wish I could convey over a computer is the smell... man, oh man!

when we first set it up, it just was not really blending well.. so I asked for some scrap cardboard to try out some reflectors... this is what I got in return! probably should not show Goto-San... or maybe he would share a cold PBR on the porch with us? do you think he would dig the Richard Johnston and Elmore James?

and what a swimming hole! waterfall.. cold refreshing water.. just perfect... far from the 105 with ninety percent humidity that is Memphis... far, far away...

now back to work... with Elmore James in my brain!

Peace,
Me

Special K

2011-08-16T14:25:00.001-04:00

Lets start at the beginning and a cool pic from one of Papa's trips to Korea

It just kills me how small that 16A in the background looks which just goes to show how insane this system is. The owner of the system is Mr. K who happens to run a very large Korean cable manufacturer. The reason this is important is because when the pair of silver autoformers were put in the new silbatone silver signature 300B (come to RMAF and hear it) it became clear that more silver wire that I had on hand was needed.

As it turns out, about a year ago Mr. K's company bought one of the larger US magnet wire manufacturers and the request was made. Unfortunately they could not produce the wire but a few days later I was told 5 kilos of silver was headed my way from a third party with help from K.

This box showed up the other day via ground service on the big brown truck. The funniest part of it was no signature was required and it was sitting on my doorstep with this sticker clearly placed on the outside of the box.

Only in Korea kids. Only in Korea.

ZEN I/V

2011-08-15T11:26:00.000-04:00

Van Halen called the other day and said it was time for transformer zen.

The back story is covered on my forum and gasp... it uses those three legged sand devices.

At least this approach gets some capacitors out of the picture and takes advantage of AC summing and DC offsetting so stay tuned.

Music.

2011-08-12T23:43:00.001-04:00

No audiophile BS here, just some boob-toob videos and some fun. JJ sent me a link to the video below and while it is all warm and fuzzy it isn't growing on me yet.

as I clicked on this, something else was spinning in the background that had much more power and meaning to me so I went to the boob to watch the video.

then the rabbit hole hit me with one of the first songs that HIT me with lyrics and music and made me happy about the future.

Now one that brings me to tears about the past.

and one final one... boob tube is now commercial so apologies if there is an ad.

Robert's rules of order.

2011-08-01T23:10:00.001-04:00

The boys were reading their bedtime books and the younger one was out. I challenged the older one to quiz me on his new star wars book. I was humbled when the guy who wore the brown hood wasn't obi wan. I was perplexed when it wasn't lord vader with the black hood. I quickly looked for revisionist history and the lack of official info in the front of the book had me thinking Rod Serling would be stepping out with an unfiltered camel in hand to bring things back to reality.

Fortunately, legos can only be manipulated in positive ways so I present you the $100 armrest from the land of...

What are these?

2011-07-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while you need to do something different so I spun these upon request for a friend. Some of you might be saying crossover inductors, others that know me better may be thinking super tweeter field coil or cartridge electromagnet. Maybe showing the rest of the parts will let you in on the secret.

All joking aside, here they are assembled and ready to be installed under the cathode of a filament biased 104D.

We should be able to listen to them this weekend in the land of walter and I will report back. With an amp of current they drop 6.2V and hit a whopping temperature of 170F. Funny thing is the first pair got so hot the bondcoat on the wire cut loose which is why a bit of aluminum and brass heatsinking was used.

Just when I had cleared some space in the shop....

2011-07-28T14:18:00.005-04:00

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these crates arrived... but I am honestly very excited. It is extremely difficult to find a professional cabinet maker these days. This guy worked form my CAD drawings.. sent revisions... stain samples... can use whatever wood I specify.. timely.. just totally professional...

these were made to be "espresso".. always yummy in my book... and the wood is super high quality birch... very low voids... pre-veneered so that the veneer never peels away..

the corners are all mitered at 45's on a CNC so that it all fits together perfectly and the grain wraps around the cabinet.. a super nice touch...

bracing is set in with dado joints... very stiff and strong... all in all, I am very pleased...

oh, what goes in it? yes, I guess I should mention that.. basically just a generic woofer cabinet... designed around the Altec 604 and the Altec 416... these guys make great bass in all but the largest rooms... and some people just do not want nine foot straight basshorns... finally a nice option...

finished photos and plots soon...

Me

The First Strain Gauge?

2011-07-26T21:45:00.003-04:00

On a recent trip to NYC, Frank (the guy who suspends a broomstick from a piece of fishing line and calls it a tonearm) brought me a very special gift from the Pfanstiehl Chemical Company of Waukegan, Illinois. Inside this box is to date the earliest sample I have seen of a strain gauge phono cartridge and matching power supply.

For one year in 1946 Capehart used a Pfanstiehl strain gauge cartridge in one of their high end 78 record changers before switching to a GE variable reluctance cartridge.

Since the phan-Tone is a flip-over cartridge (with two individual gauges) that can play both 78's and 33/45's it must date a few years after the Capehart misfire so there still may be earlier ones out there. This one is still a very cool vintage mono cartridge with a sapphire stylus on either side that tracks at a mere 7 grams and I want to thank my brother for the wonderful gift.

Western Electric 9A Receiver

2011-07-22T19:38:00.008-04:00

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no.. not really like the NAD, Pioneer, or even Marantz receivers from back in the day... this one is WAY older...

super thanks to my friends from the "other South" for this fine specimen to scan and model... it really helps in getting it *just* right...

so what material do you think we should use? Bronze? Bronze sounds good, right? and this piece has to be strong - so Aluminum will just not do... and steel is out because it really should be non-magnetic when this close to the driver.. so, yeah.. let's cast this beautiful object in Bronze..

which gives away what I was doing in Hope, Arkansas at the Klipsch Museum.. taking some detailed measurements... PWK had one of these, too...

Peace,
Me

My Aida

2011-07-20T00:17:00.003-04:00

I love honest passion.

The audiophile nearfield version.

It rocked to Boston... or was it Journey... I get confused.

Apparently the "reallyreal deal" took too many D cells and was a bear to carry so we heard the box in the first pic with LED's pegged as a compromise.

At least one passionate person got it.

He inspired me.

Quad ESL 57 Eye Candy

2011-07-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

While in DC for the CAF, I had the pleasure of meeting Wayne Piquet and Kent McCollom two of the guys who rebuild Quads here in the states. On the last day we were able to hear Wayne's new panels in solid maple frames made by one of the "andy's" and I have to say they were a huge leap forward in both sonics and efficinecy over the stock panels they replaced.

We started setup with a pair of forward facing single panels and then put the doubles in front to confirm phase.

Then we returned to the original setup of the three panels with a single facing forward and the doubles facing the outer wall.

Why do they call it a bug screen?

2011-07-16T14:01:00.006-04:00

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http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
So I was pulling out a pair of the monster alnico JBL 2482's for a friend... these babies have a big 4" coil and can handle sixty watts at 300Hz... considering they are over 110dB/watt on a horn, that is, what? 130dB or so? crazy stuff.. so when I found this inside:

all I could picture were the bugs at a Black Sabbath show... headbanging away.. and trying to get closer to the speakers to make it louder and louder...

Peace,
Me

The Book on the 301

2011-07-14T23:09:00.001-04:00

I put this nice little book to good use last week and was amazed how far we have come (gone?) in our instruction manuals.

It was such a nice bound book that surely gave a pride of ownership. Now I have to be honest in why I was actually drawn to it. It had nothing to do with the fact that we were using a 301, that was just odd luck. It just happened to be the right thickness to prop up the RS labs arm for a quick comparison. After we were done, I cracked it open to see all the nice stuff inside.

Capital Audiofest, Best room at the show.

2011-07-13T01:08:00.001-04:00

I guess this is going to be a non-traditional show report and the best way to start it out is with a non-traditional room. I skipped Axpona in my own backyard to mow my lawn, yet drove 300 miles to this show for one reason and that was to see old friends and make some new ones.

The first room I hit was the local DC audio guys and upon entering the room I saw my old friend Roscoe from joenet and the NYnoize shows, beyond that I met a few monikers I knew but no faces. After enjoying a quick chat I moved on with a beverage in tow.

The best part of this room was the diversity and the non-commercial nature. It was just a bunch of friends hanging out having a good time.

On Saturday they were playing a pair of Basszillas and the next day new speakers appeared, not because the sound was bad but because it was a group of kids who could share their toys in the same sandbox. Compare this to the tension and stress in rooms shared by manufacturers and they get an A+.

Every time I went into the room there was something different playing from both the music and equipment perspective. The beauty of it all was for my tastes, the sound bettered the bulk of other rooms at the show.

I regret not getting to hear any tapes, but just the presence of a deck screams passion from at least one member of the group.

Now to get back to my friend Roscoe and a story of poetic justice.

About 10 years ago Roscoe bought a pair of flying lead autoformers from me and on Saturday he admitted he had yet to wire them up. I had given a pair of modules to Gary to give away in the raffle and the winner said he wasn't a DIY kind of guy and returned it to the pool. (cool move) On Sunday everything needed ot go and Gary stated you needed to be present to win. When the autoformers hit his hand, Gary asked all the DIY'ers to raise their hand to get a pool of possible recipients and only Roscoe replied.... perfect!

I am still saddened by the lack of creativity showing up at these kind of events but my hope that future promoters catering to a wider audience was encouraged by this show.

The Complex Curve on a Rectangular Horn...

2011-07-11T01:08:00.016-04:00

I have had a lot of people ask about making their own midbass horn - PLEASE DO!!!

My method for a quick single or pair is to build rectangular. You can build a horn like this in a very long weekend if all the steps have been carefully planned...

but how to cut that complex curve that is the intersection of the curved wall and the straight wall??? extremely difficult to plot... and even if we can plot it, how many of us have a large CNC 3D router?

so I cut the straight side walls out of 3/4" plywood or even doubled up to 1.5", depending on panel width... I then screw in a brace that is right down the middle... this is easy to plot as it is just the center axis of the horn expansion... you can remove the brace later or keep it in if you want.. your choice..

when you drop a yardstick/meterstick across the face you will instantly see the complex curve... how will you ever get a piece of bending ply to fit properly on that uneven surface? simple. make it flat...

I do this with a "contraption"... that is southern for homebrew tooling... jig... doohickey-thingamajig... whatever... belt sander screwed and clamped to scrap wood... pictures tell it all...

brace in place:

contraption:

I clamped and screwed the sander to a piece of wood:

The actual setup for sanding.. you want this horizontal as your arms will be tired:

check your progress with that meterstick:

not quite:

yep, got it:

close enough.. remember that on a midbass horn, a cm or inch of error is lost to the wavelengths in use... do not go crazy with trying to keep extreme accuracy... quality of build is much more important! stiffen... listen... damp lightly... brace... lacquer... love.. listen... that is how you make great midbass horns.. and do not be afraid to say "that sounds terrible" if it does.. that is only motivation to make it better...

adding layers in the next installment.... i tried to start and finish on Father's Day weekend... I lost... so maybe one late night this week...

Peace,
Me

Smoking in the BP

2011-07-10T12:27:00.002-04:00

So we pull in to fuel up and some people will take any chance they have to sneak a smoke. Even an Alabama action painter.

One Fine 7C

2011-07-08T15:19:00.003-04:00

What is that Mike has.

What is inside

Not your average 7C

No time like the present

Noise graded no less...

some of the story

Day one 1:45am... Keychains, Platters and Idlers

2011-07-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

The title says it all. It i now 1:45, about the time I wanted to make the first post but alas It is 1:45pm and win is still sleeping. I guess that is what happen when the sun tells you it is time to sleep.

301 reasons to come down.

A nice keychain.

Idle Hands

Swarf Rats

2011-07-07T00:47:00.000-04:00

sorry to be absent lately... getting ready to head down to the Capital Audiofest to play for a few days. I'll be hanging out in room 378 "Vinyl and Vintage" with some cold beer and a handful of toys so stop by if you are attending. When I get back I'll do a mini-show report but until then.... I'll give you the latest script for "Swarf Rats"

The story starts with a money shot of what used to be a 5" chunk of aluminum with a couple of 6" end plates.

In order to get to that point, my fingers were getting very tired of turning the cross slide on my cheap lathe so it was time to get creative, I looked around and 5 minutes later I had this:

Yes, that is a chunk of 3" firewood sawed off on a bandsaw with two holes attached to a cordless drill. It also made an incredible power feed for cutting the taper.

Since I already blew the money shot, i'll end with the title sequence and the net result of the time on the lathe.

Now before you say "well that isn't much"... I'll assure you I could easily fit two little crackers into the space occupied by the swarf.

Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers...

2011-06-29T21:48:00.003-04:00

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I really thought that Joe and I were "on the down low" coming from Amsterdam to Munich. I guess not. Thomas saw right through us from a mile away. He sent this picture around. As Joe said, "Jackson as Phineas Freak? You nailed it."

and JC, on the left, well... he grew up in the village *way* before it was clean... across the street from *the* park.. and I do not mean Central Park... he never had a chance to appear normal... especially not German normal...

but guess what, Mr. Schick Tonearms? I got you, too... remember this?

Peace,
Me

Goto 505 on Le Cleac'h 140 horn - measurements...

2011-06-28T20:45:00.007-04:00

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My inbox popped up with more Goto questions... I guess someone started things up at Roman's forum again... one day I will catch up on my reading and head back over there.. I still owe him a phone call or two...

I noticed that there were no measurements at all in any of these discussions... so I figured I would post a few as I am actually listening to them out in the shop... you have to listen and measure and *think* to set up a good horn rig...

Goto 505 free air impedance:

Goto 505 impulse and frequency response on Le Cleac'h 140 horn:

This combination sounds very good... but I will say that it takes up too much space for the range it covers...

oh, and thanks again to the machinist who made these adapters:

and to DC, who sent me that laptop when I was down...

stay tuned.. something curled up is nearly done... lots of midbass compression drivers and cone drivers to test in the near future... something to go *below* this 505...

Me

I need a bigger Lathe.

2011-06-22T22:41:00.000-04:00

I received this in the mail today as a thank you from fellow lowther enthusiast Matteo in Italy for sending him a lowther reformer.

A few clicks in google brought me to this blog post that had some speakers with his signature on it and some other eye candy.

source

I remember seeing these before and the (blog is now linked) it reminded me when Herb came over to sharpie work the Feral Eye

give papa $29 for the original art

At some point I need to do this treatment to my bigfuns but where do you find artists that work for free? Silly me, they all do. JJ when you heading up this way?

Music Maker of the Month - in Munich!

2011-06-21T14:36:00.014-04:00

It is fitting that I have let Music Maker of the Month slide for so long. With the work Dietmar has done in building his system, he deserves a Music Maker of the Year award....

Dietmar has built nearly every component in his system. It is very evenly balanced with no excesses in any one area.. ok.. well, that sentence is probably best written as even excesses in all areas... but what I mean is that his front end is not in a different class than his amplifiers or speakers... every area has received careful, well planned attention... he built his amplifiers... his horns... modified his drivers.. treated the room... worked up the crossovers..

and the sound? he nailed it... natural is the only word you can use... and that is the perfect word... from the first words out of Elvis's mouth, you knew he had it... absolutely stunning...

(so, how about we proceed to a bunch of bad cell phone pictures? classic hifi heroin from my side... I spend my money on junk, not camera equipment... more horns! more tubes! more drivers!)

Basshorns were built into the wall.. this is his attic... see the slope on the top right? the horns are actually on hinges to act as doors... so this one is open so JC and I could climb back there and look around...

which reminds me.. in the first picture, you can see how he has filled the peak of the attic with sound absorbers of differing density and then covered it to look like a flat ceiling.. genius!

JC for scale... note behind the mid horn you can see the floor to ceiling and wall to wall basshorns... which use the room as natural extension... eat your heart out PW Klipsch!

Have you tried a few drivers, Dietmar?

here is the control center... EMT... (check out the cabinet he built for it!).. phono and line stage.. digital crossover and delay... all right in front of the listening position.. why get up when you do not have to?

horn front shot... on rollers for easy movement left and right... why? you ask..

because of the well known dispersion characteristics of snail horns... check out those graphs....

amplifiers in use...

yeah, he made this himself.. of course he did...

ever built a transmitting tube amp with mercury rectifiers? yep... done that as well...

more Dietmar and more scale....

and you know a humble, soft spoken guy like Dietnar measures.. it is the proper engineering way.. you have to listen *and* measure.. you just have to.... one of the rules... yeah.. and how many of you have a flux probe? (yes, dave, I know you have Sid Smith's old flux probe.. I was not including you)...

Astounding work, Dietmar...

Me

more Munich High End Impressions....

2011-06-15T18:13:00.012-04:00

This post gets to the heart of why we go to shows. Yes, we want to walk around and sample the gear as we are always looking for new and different, but we mainly go to see friends... and make new ones... However, when Silbatone shares something from the archives, you listen.. listen for what it does right... of course you will note what it may not be doing perfectly, but man, oh, man does the Western Electric 16 horn do something right....

it is not like you need to see any more pictures of this horn from me.. I have admired its form for years and years. I think it belongs in the Museum of Modern Art. Dave and I are never ones to copy, but when a commission came in for me to make this one - with the option to make improvements where I deemed necessary as long as I kept the theme in place - my mind started swirling... that form in my life on a daily basis?... and now having heard the directness... and the absolute best "scale" I have ever heard.... well, sitting in front of the 16 while in Munich has pulled my vote over to "Amen. Let's do it!"...

Yeah, as always with such high resolution we struggled a bit. The bass was not really integrated perfectly, and the new 300b was too forward for this setup. But by day three with the WE242 amp now in play and Frank having done his Frank thing with the Van Den Hul cartridge, it was doing something so very right in the middle. I guess four field coil compression drivers running full range will do that! roughly 80 to 6k at what, 120dB? that is crazy talk... and directly connected to the amp... no crossover parts??? whew! So, considering that I tell people a year to get a good horn tuned, three days for phenomenal mids is not bad at all!

I did lament the fact that we had to close the room at night. That is my pet peeve with HiFi shows. With all of this gear here, we should be hanging out and listening late into the night. That is what Dave and I like to do. But we had to settle for too much Bavarian brew and giant round tables filled with thirty of your closest friends from a dozen different countries. I guess that is a good second choice. Oh, even the vegetarian ate well. No sausage, but plenty of super good food - that giant white asparagus, cheeses, pastas, potatoes, salads with real greens, and of course a barrel of pretzels to go with my beer!

so who made up the rambling wreck this year? man.. Silbatone...Bae, Joe, JC, Lee, Manho.. too many Euro Joes - Wolfgang, Christian, Manfred, Rogell, Holger, Sikking, Mayer, Von Langa.... Japan and GIP in the form of Suzuki, Kikawa, and Kawanishi... the analog guys, Schroder adn Schick.. the dutch kids, of course... a few Americans - Stewart and me.. even a real deal local diy superman - Dietmar... and I am sure there were others.. what a mess it was trying to get this group to move about.. like three year old soccer teams.. a slow moving blob.... so the table shot is of about half the "team".... were took up a few tables...

oh.. a funny one to me.. after the show one night... sitting in a really wonderful outdoor beerhall, I mentioned that I had not eaten in twelve hours and was also quite dehydrated... so traditional German rehydration was ordered up special just for me - 72 ounces of half lemonade and half weiss beer! by the time I was halfway through, I had to stop for fear of embarrassing my 150 pound, now drunken self in a foreign country! and of course the waitress, who was barely taller standing than I was sitting down, could have carried me out under one arm... she was bringing those giant steins ten at a time... I was genuinely scared..

I also was able to get a bunch of JC and Stewart time in... joe and I hung out non-stop in Holland, but the two of us together do not push each other much.. we are just observers of culture on a stroll... a fabulous time, but WAY different than JC and Stewart time... those dudes were great... talk of tube construction.. regulation.. self noise.. stuff to try... early Eimac audio experiments.. and then quickly somehow we are back to the city.. Ornette, Kirk, and Ulmer.. then Mingus... and Hartman and Coltrane.. wrecking me with my own favorite things: Eimacs, direct coupled circuits, Trane, Mingus, and what happened to jazz... late into the night and into the morning.. hanging out with those guys was inspiring... stewart, I am waiting for teh day when I can come visit that brain bank of yours and that vinyl... and JC, brother, I just want to stroll Sweden, preferably in summer, and talk life and circuits, after all, they are the same thing....

and back to "the sound"... well, I can honestly say that I have never heard piano and violin like I heard in that room... so direct, so honest... MJ always says, "metal horn"... repeats it like a mantra.. and based on my experience with the 24 and 16, I get what he is saying.. preservation of energy may be the single most important tenet of HiFi... it somehow preserves more of the emotion when you have this drama of scale... the best example of this is when a very well known cartridge maker came in.. he was weeping in a room of fifty other people.. most total strangers.. he was just moved.. and I know exactly where he was... it was heavy... overwhelming, really...

Remote Intact Autoformers...

2011-06-08T00:15:00.007-04:00

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I forgot to show you guys what I shipped right before I wandered over to Holland and Bavaria...

The knob drives the display and the volume (duh)... in addition to volume, the remote controls balance, mute, and display on and off.... with the logic, -56dB to +7dB is available in 1dB steps...

The bright sun exaggerates the display glass... I really like the soft glow in a dark listening room... not too much light...

the traveling demo unit should be back any day now... so speak up if you want on the list...

Peace,
Me

Munich High End - show impressions...

2011-06-06T14:37:00.010-04:00

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ok.. I have to be honest. This is rather awkward for me. I am not a reviewer. I am a manufacturer. However, I am always asked for show reports. It would be very easy to read this as my attempt at shooting down my competition. But, as you guys probably know, that is not really my style. I am always looking for potential. That is my gig. The eternal quest for something that communicates music. Besides, my demand is far exceeding my ability to supply as it stands today. The last thing I need now is to pick up all of their orders...

so, with all of that having been said, take it however you want.. this is my best pick from a an hour or two of wandering each day.. I am 99% sure I heard all the horns that were there.. if it is not mentioned below, there was something, or a lot of things, that really got to me.. as always, your ears may vary...

+++++++++++++++

first, the best all around sound at the show... and super nice guys.. was Musique-Concrete....

this blurry picture is perfect... you can't tell which handsome scruffy guy is which... (big laugh).... anyway, their sound was good.. good all around.. maybe the highs could have been a touch sweeter, less electronic, but it was good... not as dynamic as the big WE system, but balanced, integrated, easy to listen to.. made music.. good work, Marco!

(that picture kinda freaks lisa out.. paint the speaker black and it is also eerily similar to what is in our den... and Marco and I just met when this picture was taken!)

+++++++++++++++++++++

Auto Tech had some Le Cleac'h horns there.. fiberglass... but well built.. the seam has been minimized.. but the rear has that black damping spray that Lisa won't allow in the house.. however, for a DIY'er on a budget, they were noticeably less plastic sounding than Avant Garde...

++++++++++++++++++++++

on a general horn note, many systems, as always, were very restrained.. not sure why.. what is the trend of making horns sound polite? sad for a dynamics and scale guy like me.. I like *life* in my music.. if you can read the paper while listening to Sonny Stitt, you goofed...

and then there was *dry*.. horns that had no flesh.. I guess a little bit of Beryllium can be nice, but a whole stack of it is way too much....

as you can see, not much to write home about in regards to sonic marvels.. I guess even a well done show in Munchen is still just a hifi show.. the good news is that there was lots of vinyl...lots of turntables... woo hoo!!

my next post will have more good stuff... fun people and a lot of thoughts on Silbatone and the WE16...

Oh, one really cool item that I forgot to mention:

this sweet little 7", in combination with an Iphone (or others) app named platter speed is just what I need for my 50Hz strobed Garrard 301... yippee! oh, platterspeed is a free app... so if you already have a test record that you know is accurate....

ok.. back to work...

Me

The (almost) original Strain Gauge

2011-06-03T17:38:00.001-04:00

First I want to offer my most sincere apologies to Barbara and Julius because if Frank ever sees this installation it will surely kill him.

I finally scored another piece of history and had to do the typical get it done installation to see how it works. I grabbed a piece of 1/4" plywood and hacked out an armboard which is held in place by amorphous and 80% nickel cores :-).

Unfortunately the PS was kaput so that bummed me out a bit... sure i could spelunker into it but I know it is a crappy compromised solid state design that really isn't worth the effort particularly when a fine supply such as this is resting on the shelf below.

Before all of you gasp at the fact that I actually built something without wheels, I'll point you to the german version of the PS that Frank (hope you are still with us mate) took to the ETF in 2008. (pic borrowed from holger)

If the german one is still to crude (I think it is beautiful) I guess I could get off my arse and assemble the last two of the 'drug through the hudson ones.

Now that I think of it... I'll just keep listening to the rats nest and take the boys Kayaking... Summer has officially hit NY.

Because Dave is too humble...

2011-05-31T22:27:00.003-04:00

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to even tell me this review is out there!!

it just landed in my inbox... Enjoy the Music... a glowing review of his autoformer volume controls...

Olsher's quote:
"The sonic benefits of the Slagle AVC accrue from the elimination of an unnecessary electronic gain stage and replacement of resistive attenuation from the signal path. Bottom line: a superb volume control and the best $350 investment in audio! "

yeah... that is how I feel about them....

Me

Those Dutch Kids, Again.....

2011-05-28T13:59:00.009-04:00

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WOW... yeah... I said it.. wow... Joe and I knew when we met Caspar, Remko, and Wilco at CES that they had the passion... so when they invited us up and said they would have a party, we had to make that happen... fly into Schipol... train to Utrecht and then Geldermalsen... and only an hour from Schipol is Audio-Life... and their shop is wonderful! ... I just found this six moons road tour page...

it is in an old factory... five stories... there is some retail being done, but it is always in the background... just hanging out listening to music is in the foreground.. the rooms are chill... the lighting is just right... and for the party, well, it was phenomenal... family style barbecue... a pretty out there jazz band... and DJ'ing from an Ongaku and a laptop...

it appears that someone has covered the audiophile portion of the party... so click HERE if you want the youtube party video from a local rag... when we landed they were doing the serious audiophile thing with Musical Affairs and PEL... you can see from the video... that stuff is pretty good for cello and low volume vocals... nice and rich... clearly constructed by people who care.. better than nearly everything at Munich High End... but it just cannot handle complex... so, for the office, perhaps perfect... it just cannot be your only system... Bruckner eats it for breakfast...

but what that perspective misses is all of the kids underfoot.. they know all the best hiding spots... they showed me the super loft... oh, and there was Bob Marley on the projector.. and lots of friends until the first rays of the sun... super, duper thanks, guys... you will see and hear more about them over the years... we just hooked them up with Suzuki, so now they are a destination... if you want to hear GIP outside Japan, you need to go to the Netherlands.. trust me, you will have fun...

random video of barbecue:

random video of sneaky kids:

more travels tomorrow!

Me

Back from Munich...

2011-05-26T17:24:00.004-04:00

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and I will try to get a post up each day... so much stuff... so many cool people....

total props go to Silbatone for not trying to sell anything... just trying to share their knowledge and collection... strings and piano were like staring at works by the Dutch masters.... emotionally overwhelming... sincere thanks...

Me

Another Giveaway.... 2 UTC ouncers for free.

2011-05-24T00:43:00.003-04:00

Put your name in the comment field to enter. Read below for the story and specs.

I was down in DC a few weeks back for a family celebration and I was able to sneak in some time with my audio family. I saw Barry on the way down and then had a great time with family at my nieces graduation. When the festivities ended about midnight I rang Ijaz and as usual he was ready for the third shift. Mike was interested in coming by to chat about crazy ideas and when he showed up he came with booty in hand that he had pulled from equipment over the years.

It was an assortment of UTC "ouncers" he wanted to see put into use and I felt obligated to accept them. In the lot there were 4 of them marked 25A27 and my internet searches didn't turn up anything so to the bench I went.

I suspected they were lineout transformers but the interesting thing is when put in reverse they seem to function comparably to the mic inputs as SUT's. The nice thing about them is the step up ratio is much lower than the traditional "vintage" mic input units re-purposed for SUT usage which means you do not automatically load your cartridge down. They appear to be 1:9 devices with a CT that will allow for a 1:18 ratio.

The above measurements are using a 15 and 40 ohm source impedance (denon 103 and 103R) and the termination is 47K. Ratios are roughly 1:10 and 1:20 with some losses and the 20Khz top end is met. On the low end bandwidth will be low enough to pass the footsteps of your neighbors.

For comparison, I'll offer up some earlier plots from some peerless 4722's and 4665's. Of course these are not apples to apples comparisons but if you can deduce that this particular apple is your flavor....

Put your name below and claim them.

They may be brilliant, they may be a headache, they may even hum yet the rule remains the same. If you win it, you need to try them and report back.

Addendum... As with all of the giveaways here, things are random and you need to enter your name. We don't do first come first served and let lady luck determine who gets them. They came to me for free and they will all go out to people for free. I just need to measure and document them so it may take some time.

Precious Metals

2011-05-18T11:34:00.000-04:00

My newest investment strategy is moving away form cash under my mattress to silver on my shelf. Given the worth of the US dollar, I hope it is the correct move. Pictured above is about 8 pounds of high purity silver magnet wire in assorted sizes. These sizes will allow me to do a small number of autoformers and some nice low ratio SUT's for a handful of customers that have been pestering me for years for silver.

First up are 6 pair of the chapman/bent modules to go to Korea with some Step-Ups to follow. Next a few samples go out to some OEM's and family members to try. If all goes well I may try to do what the Hunt bros. couldn't accomplish in the 80's.

As a final note, in the next day or so we should crack the 100,000 pageview threshold and JJ and I want to thank you all for putting up with out antics and coming back for more! I'm sure the content is about to increase a bit in the next weeks with Munich on the horizon.

so let me hear about your DHT headphone amp!

2011-05-11T16:57:00.005-04:00

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I love this blog and was flattered Jeffrey asked me to write something. Few days ago I finished this 56 dc 171a headphone amp (more than 50% dht – 80 rectifier) – nothing fancy, scrap chassis, low cost.

Both my son and I thought it was OK at first - a bit flat. Today Jeffrey suggested to remove the 9ohm load resistors I had on the 5K:8 OPT's for the 32ohm headphones. I let my son have the first listen and in two notes he pronounces "It's Better!". It really came alive – open and fluid. Ten minutes later, thinking of Jeffrey, I treated my son to his first experience with Jimi...

- Joe

I am working on my Juju..

2011-05-08T21:12:00.012-04:00

I am working on my Juju.... or perhaps more properly titled "Robert Johnson's Deal with the Devil"...

It all started innocently enough.. a simple link to this new set

but it began to come on like the locusts... twenty emails in three days... all about Robert Johnson... maybe I should say it came on like the floods... yep... definitely.. it came on like the floods...

Everything in this picture from the first row of trees up should be land. Seriously. We drove the bridge today. The water goes for miles and miles and miles into Arkansas.

I *know* why. I am not sure anyone else has noticed this, but this is clearly a direct result of Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil. Do not accuse me of being gullible. I know what I am talking about. I used to ride my bicycle up and down Highway 61 on a daily basis.. and not just anywhere... right smack dab in between the two intersections that are believed to be the crossroads where the man sold his soul to the devil. Do you know what year the Mississippi River set the record? 1937. Do you know what year Robert Johnson recorded the vast majority of his records? yep. 1937. He only recorded for less than a year - he was dead by summer '38. Do you think it is a coincidence that we are going to inch right up to that record, maybe breaking it, maybe not, in the very week of his 100th birthday? Not me... that is the devil at work... the ongoing deal of his pact...

Today is the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson.. I am scared... ... you know I am working on my Juju... and my Juju comes tonight... Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at the Hi Tone... if that ain't Juju, nothing is... I will be with the devil and I will be spared...

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at YouTube

and another thing... I will not be around in May of 2037!

Peace,
Me

p.s.... a few more pictures and thoughts... we were extremely lucky... we live in the 100 year flood plain... after the storms last weekend, my shop flooded.. just an inch or two... and my yard was saturated and had that same inch or two... but the house was spared.. it was flash flooding.. however, had it been only a few days later it would have coincided with the Mississippi peaking and it would have certainly been a foot or two into my house and many, many, many more homes... my house is just out of view of this shot to the top right... there should be NO water in this picture.. this is a high school and a hospital complex...

to give you an idea of high high it was locally, this is JP on a bridge in the neighborhood park.. yes, bridge.. so the water was supposed to be below this... clearly it was not...

and lastly.. this shot taken yesterday... God's apology for passing on Robert Johnson's record deal...

Offshore scams or mistaken email??

2011-05-06T01:57:00.001-04:00

This showed up in my inbox today and I thought it funny that the scammers had Simpson humor.

WooHoo... a full sawbuck! How can I collect?

Funny thing is, I suspect the above $20 deposit is legit and some other Dave Slagle in St. Augustine FL has far better friends at the bank than I do.

I just wish his Honda Dealer would stop sending me notices that it is time for service on his accord.

Artemis Labs PH-1

2011-04-30T23:40:00.001-04:00

I have been listening to the Artemis Labs PH-1 and PH-1S for some time and the PH-1S with its nickel outputs is staying. This means that the PH-1 needs to find a new home and after talking things over with JJ we agreed that the occasional "for sale" post isn't to terribly sleazy and I'd rather offer it up here to family first before dealing with the great unknown.

This is a unit that has low hours on it and the little old lady who owned it only drove it to church on Sunday. Seriously it has only used for shows and it might have seen an occasional reviewer. It is in great condition and I can offer a 1 year warranty on it. It is a 120V 60hz unit so it is perfect for the states. (for overseas, different voltages are possible )

The specs and user manual can be found on Sean's Artemis Pages but the basics are:

-Designed by John atwood
-54dB of gain (low ratio SUT needed for MC carts)
-Hand built in the US
-Choke loaded output stage

the rest of the info is at the link above. Below are a bunch of pics showing the unit which retails for $3500. Looking to get $1850. One just sold on the 'gon for $1900 without the family behind it or any sort of warranty so I think that is fair. I can also provide photo proof that this unit is fully backed and approved by a well known German.

As for the sonic characteristics, does it compete with the LCR's at 5-10X the price? It holds its own. Now compare it to any of fashionable tube units out there using an ungodly amount of 12**7 tubes at multiples the price and I honestly say it will run circles around them.

Enough blabbing on my part. Below are the rest of the pictures showing the boring details.

If anyone out there needs an affordable tube phono that they can trust, I truly believe this one is a steal.

Guitar Eye Candy

2011-04-28T19:03:00.000-04:00

Ken Parker just sent me some pics of his most recent work of art and I though some of you might enjoy it.

Below are Kens words about his creation:

Here are some photos of "Semeur", my latest guitar. The name means both "sower" and "mischief - maker" in French.

Semeur is built with curly mahogany from Belize, curly Sitka spruce from Alaska, Douglas fir, and ebony.

Weighing 1.7 kilos, she has a big voice, and is very versatile.

My first guitar on the continent!

I couldn't wait for the website, so this is an unedited preview.

Happy Spring to everyone.

Peace,

Ken

Now for the details.... Nice work Ken!!! (click the images to enlarge)

Munich High End 2011 Preview..

2011-04-27T10:59:00.007-04:00

.

I am not sure I am fully recovered from CES, but Joe assures me this will be easier... that the gear is all show ready... GIP will be bringing a pair of these...

but I am of course excited about this:

Peace,
Me

I tasted my first Black Man today,

2011-04-26T22:25:00.004-04:00

All of the guys in Texas lead by Johnny have been raving about all the Black Man they have tried. Being the jealous type, I too wanted to try a Black Man myself since they are impossible to get outside the Dallas area. When brewmaster innerurban asked for my address, little did I realize it was for the illegal activity of sending 6 Black Man across state lines. He confidently assured me assured me that Fedex ground has no issues shipping Black Man as long as you call them "yeast samples" Much to my surprise, the Black Man showed up today showing great diversity with three matched pairs of Pale, Brown and deep Black.

I properly chilled and opened up a Belgian Black Man and in searching for the proper glassware, decided that I needed to share my Black Man with some friends.

Avoiding tornadoes and choosing a winner....

2011-04-25T14:25:00.004-04:00

.
Surprisingly they are both the same thing... totally random...

I grew up with tornadoes. As a child I remember the insanely loud howl of the wind as it took out parts of our house... took out all of the windows... smashed the television... picked up my swing set... blew over our chainlink fence... as an engineer, I am not sure how that last one happened...

Just a few minutes ago I was typing email from the closet. Tornadoes sighted in Memphis for the fourth time in three weeks. Sirens going off yet again. Even for the Mid South, that is too many close calls. Remember that picture of the wisteria I took a few days ago? This photo was taken at the intersection just to the left, barely out of sight of that shot.. there are supposed to be at least three traffic signals hanging from this post:

Nature has been impressive this Spring. These are not even true tornado damages. This is just from local winds in the area.... snapped trees everywhere... some 130 foot oaks down in the neighborhood.... a hundred thousand without power for days... we were down for just over a day... and lucky considering the trees on my little square of earth...

so.. as I said.. it is totally random... which is why I don't pull a number out of a hat... I read atmospheric noise to give away tubes.. so is it random? or predestined?

Eric, number 18, email me to get your triodes...

Lowther Phase Plug Tweeters Pt. III

2011-04-19T21:48:00.003-04:00

I guess since I have the metal lathe and the Lowthers up and running, this project has shifted to me, yet I want to be clear the original concept is JJ's. I hinted to the progress in the Emancipation Day entry, and the Brown Truck brought a brown box with the last needed part some 4 X 0.7 mm threaded studs.

I didn't do them exactly to JJ's drawigns trying to keep it as close as possible to a typical doorknob plug. I installed them and put on some tunes as I wired them up. With them in place and not wired the highs were severely truncated but they quickly came back when I connected the tweeter through a 1 mic series cap. I only had enough time to get through 1 album side and I definitely need to play with phasing and crossover frequency but things are looking good!

As a proof of concept, there is a lot of promise and the second run through gave us a lot direction for the MK III variation. The first experiment happened with the use of a single drywall screw last May in Texas at the LSAF and quickly taught us that the physical distance between the voice coils need to be set to the crossover frequency. We also have a few other tricks to try out on the next revision so stay tuned to this work in progress.

Emancipation Day.

2011-04-17T23:20:00.003-04:00

I hate paperwork! Last Thursday (4-14-2011) Jeffrey Jackson made me mad... no he made me angry when a box of toys from Memphis showed up on my doorstep. Unfortunately, on that day my plate was full with keeping Uncle Sam happy so the box sat unopened as I crossed my eyes and dotted my T's to comply.

As I was finishing up the Federal part I was seriously considering the extension route when the phone rang. Johnny and Bob were starting to play with the original Lowther field coils and as we chatted and I explained my pain, Bob said we have until the 18th this year.

Google confirmed it and I have to laugh at the irony of Emancipation Day coinciding with Tax Day. Irony aside, early the next morning I busted into that box and played. Here I am a few nights later with something real to show and because of it, I'll probably end up going the extension route tomorrow.

Of course I owe and will be penalized for not paying on time, yet somehow the fact that I will be paying more in tax and penalty than GE did this year will make me sleep well tonight.

Record Store Day....

2011-04-17T15:47:00.005-04:00

I actually made it out to TWO record stores! I took the kids into midtown for some street skating and hit two shops. One had a band playing out in the parking lot.... beautiful weather...

I will listen and give a report on the albums I picked up, but I think I found the official album covers that combine for "HiFiHeroin".... check it out....

hmmm.... wonder which is which?