Smoking in the BP

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

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

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

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...

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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...

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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.

 

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!

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