CAF from the beginning.

I think this picture sums it up.

Thursday afternoon we needed some stunt speakers and Milo shows up as our savior.  Total props go out to Milo, Barret and Beau for going above and beyond for the family!

The next test after getting functional sound was to get the strain gauge mounted on the Schroder and the Shilabe on the Siggwan.  The first part was easy but the headshell of the siggwan was about 3mm thicker than the previous headshell so the hardware just couldn't make it.  Mind you now we are talking M2.5 X 25mm hardware in hand and it was midnight.

The solution came up at 8am the next morning (after greeting Barret and Win at 5am and putting them to bed) where the local hardware store next to the whole foods actually had some 4-40 parts that were 1.25" (32mm) long... and in BRASS!.  The rest is just a simple example of problem solving.

 The first problem to address was to turn a pan head slotted screw to a makeshift socket head.  Next was making a hex nut round.  I thought everything was golden until I realized there was zero option to adjust the cartridge due to the overall diameter of the 4-40's.  If it were my cartridge, I would have drilled the body out but that wasn't an option (yet).

A little more work "schroder style" in the bathroom of a hotel I was able to dig into my manhattan portage bag of tricks to get that puppy mounted.

I know the moral of the story is to simply increase the breadth of the cartridge mounting hardware I travel with but sometimes the story is worth the effort and all it took was some creativity and a few abrasive wheels.

Moving backward to my first CAF post.... I'll leave you with the first place mike started blasting vinyl on sunday.

because we have not mentioned Western Electric in far too long....

I felt the need to post this:

which makes no sense until I add this:

it was a gift... and the funny thing is that I actually needed the fork... I only had one here... now I can invite a friend over... you see, I have been here in New York for about ten weeks... working on the house... the barn... getting close... and in a few short days I go back to get the family!  I can't wait... if they are *really* appreciative and helpful, I *may* let them use my fork... 

peace,

me

Triode Pete

I had the pleasure of being invited to Triode Pete's house for a Rave.  I met pete a couple of years ago and a number of things we talked about overlapped but it wasn't until I needed some CO2 for the Blackman Brew at the CAF last year did all all come home.  Pete is family and I hope the following pictures show you why.

Lets start with 50's in his Loesch and Wiesner amps.

The amp let us listen to 300B's 50's and 10's and for the first time I actually heard a 10 I liked...  (and no I'm not saying anything other than it was from the dark lantern camp and it was not a globe)

Maybe some of the magic came from one of Arthur's custom crossovers for the Tannoy 12" gold monitors.

Next time around, I think it can be arranged to bring the full compliment of tubes to amuse these amps.  The mesh 10's and 50's  will stay on static display until the anjeo flows and the experts calculate the risk. 

All of those ancient tube and tannoys were listened to through a digital front end in a "den" system.  If you wandered out and found the main system there was vinyl!  Anyone with an astute eye will see the genrad supplies that evolved into the tempo electric phono.

It is also important to note the pet friendly main room listening environment transducers.

Of course they were  powered by  Loesch and Wiesner.  This time a 45/ 2A3 unit with some vintage biplates singing.  

I'm confidant that the blur is shek's 46% talking.

Lets go in reverse here.

Capital Audiofest Sunday night in the bar after the show closed.

It just goes uphill from there!

We can now go horizontal in the aspect ratio since just prior to the soul, we were "shushed" by an adjacent vendor for the talking heads so lets back up inside and skip over Gil and the Poets in the hall.

the next two are in proper reverse order to show what caused the trouble above.

 and prior to Mike showing up with his 44 pound 12" machine...  this one is still my favorite.

Needless to say it was an awesome show.

Capital Audiofest.

It's that time of year again and the Capital Audiofest is next weekend in Washington DC.  We will have a presence there though our Emia wares via Fred at Audio Prana.  Since a lot of what Fred does is headphone based we will be providing two vinyl front ends but the headphone stuff is much more interesting.

A number of out friends including John Chapman of Bent Audio have been telling us how awesome the autoformers sound being driven by a low output Z dac.  So last night at midnight, we decided it was worth a little work to have a "proof of concept piece" at the show.

While it is a single source in  / single out autoformer it can also be used to drive a set of cans.  The concept is to use it on a desktop headphone system and rather than attenuate digitally before the dac, leave the signal at full resolution and reap the rewards of current drive as you attenuate.

I mentioned above that we will be responsible for two of the three vinyl rigs in various places.  A grease 301 in a trick plinth and Siggwan arm will be upstairs in one room.  The Saskia II with a Schroder arm will be down on the main floor for all to see playing through some high end headphones.  To support those two tables we will provide a strain gauge system with a panasonic and a Shilabe through some silver SUT's and the Emia Phono.  Silver and copper autoformers will also be flying around.

With all these cool vinyl front ends we need source info so bring your favorite 33'3 45's 78's or I'm playing the pink thang.... trust me it is mild compared to what milo will play.  Put another way... If you bring it we will play it.  The added benefit is how cool that pink 45 will look on Saskia II's deck.

Mesh 50

Mesh 50 on a kickass tester.

Mesh 50 playing.

 Mesh 50 playing in a kickass system.

 damn that reflective silver surface they put on those tubes.

Saskia II and edibles

lets start with edibles.....

lets finish with taste....

When the Lightnin' Struck.....

First, nobody was injured... second, Mother Nature rules!!

I was making lightning myself (more later) just outside the barn last Saturday afternoon.. watching this thunderstorm roll in from the mountains... as I was working on steel, once a loud crack hit just north of here, I packed it in.... closed the doors... and walked the path back  to the house... as I was rounding the bend, just under the future strike location, I actually said out loud, to the storm, "Bring it on!"... I meant the rain, as it was hot and I was ready for a soaking.... it did start raining basically that instant, but what came a few minutes later I did not want!

so this is a *huge* tree.... can't really tell from the photos...

there were all of these rips in the ground... not sure what caused them...

debris field was kinda crazy...

check out the discoloration from where the electricity ran through and boiled/burned the bark....

debris was thrown from the tree all the way to the house.... small pieces on the roof... and a few four to six foot 2x4 sized chunks all the way past the house to the carport...

can't quite see the debris in this like I had hoped.... but you can see my hammock... hoping to get some time in that beauty before too long!

the strike ran down this pole... it actually moved the pole like six feet at its base...

more trunk action...

it ripped this trench with the steel pole... the pole used to be at the top where the trench ends... this might have saved the tree!

and in addition to taking out the CNC control computer and several other things, it literally exploded the wall wart for the modem.... fused the connector to the base!   (hoping to have real internet by the end of next week - bear with me)

and, as I said, I had been making my own lightnin'!

peace,

me

davey and goliath

Davey

Goliath

UL approved

Yummy

davey

Offset.

I present to you the signal part of the high current chokes


Pair of 10K:8 49% nickel output transformers to get 7W out of an 841 @ 35ma.   Inductance is 150hy's with a +-5ma window and the top end is flat to 50K before the squirrels show up.

These 4 are for the 801 running at 25ma and the same +- 5ma window.  One pair is a simple 4:1 stepdown and the other is the first (gasp) phase splitter I will take credit for.  

This is a fun topic and I will leave you with a sense of scale.
 

whats wrong with this picture?

 

Lets say I have this friend... lets call him "Robert"... who sends me the above picture of a dac he is building.

Judging by the variac and the fluke, "Robert" is a seasoned pro but the thing that caught my eye was the bottle of goop hiding behind that meter seemingly held down by blue 3M painters tape. 

Totally perplexed I had to ask "Robert" what the deal was to which he responded:

Artifact of circumstance.

Blue tape was used to temp hold wiring, anything in place, determine location; goop & solder.

As things assumed positions,
tape came off. 

No trash can handy... 
Goop tube in hand...
Tape gets stuck to what's handy. 

now this makes perfect sense and it is as if "Robert" and I were actually the same person.

here is the transformer tape dispenser on my winder.

when I have an extra piece or scrap I stick it to the live center support directly below the tape dispenser.

this all serves a very important role in letting my kids fit in on that rare occasion they need an instant mullet.

first post from a new land...

.
and as much as I want to post pictures of mountains and rivers and waves of grain.... and lightnin' bugs!!... I know you want hifi photos... so here is a shot of the new listening room as it looks today... it is the first to be "done"... (please let the air conditioning installation finish soon!)... the house is amazing... there will be many pictures as we restore... the land is even better, but for now, here are photos from each "corner"...

and before I depart for a three night Phish run, here is a tease.. a real tease...

peace,
me