Deang

The RF-7's. It would take a really nice 200 wpc SS amp like an Aragon, and a good sub for the DQ's to get to the RF-7 level -- and even then the DQ's might fall a little short. However, the sound is nostalgic, and gives me a good feeling.

Believe it or not -- all of the stock inductors on the a stock DQ-10 board ARE air core inductors. With an acoustic suspension design, you definitely don't want to screw with the DCR -- so I leave them alone. http://www.winebase.com.au/audio/avpbassm.htm

Well Craig, if it doesn't work -- you can always use it as a glow in the dark frisbee. I thought jitter had to do with something else, but I can't remember. This thing must be pretty thin, I'm not sure my Sony 9000es could even gobble it.

Did this picture ever show up in the first post? I noticed the attachment isn't there. Was it ever?

Oh my -- if you can afford it -- get two pair! A wonderful speaker -- you will enjoy them immensely.

Ah yes -- the passive mind experience. I use cussing Think it's O.K. if I use silver wire on positive and copper on negative? If I've understood everything you've said correctly -- it seems it would be alright.

You can also pick up a used Adcom GFA-555 for around that amount. It would be my choice.

That is an outrageous deal -- are you sure he didn't mean $422 EACH -- because they list for $850 a pair. BTW -- the RB5 is the sleeper in the Reference lineup. A killer little box.

"Consider for a mo' that you are working with "elemental forces" of the universe - the ones that hold atoms together - and you are standing there winding a hank of 20ga copper wire onto a spool!" Are you saying I can touch the face of God while winding an inductor? I sure can believe it -- cuz I say lot's of stuff to Him while I'm winding

Ha! I'm only half as dumb as I look! This is pretty much how I understood it until I started thinking! So then, on the counter-clockwise, or reverse flow -- is there 'voltage' on the wire? The really funny thing to me is this: When this reversal happens, and pulls the driver back towards the magnetic gap -- it's NOT pushing air, so is it making 'sound'? I realize what a cycle is, and it's bascially vibrating -- but is this vibration, or cps like oscillation? Does this mean I can't run 42 AWG wire on my negative terminals?

THAT is some very nice work, right up with Clipped & Shorns monstrosity. Yeah, "fun" -- who are you kidding. It always sounds "fun" -- until you're sweating and bleeding all over everything! It always starts out fun for me -- but towards the end it just ends up being damn hard work.

Very nice work -- looks like some huge lenses are going to mounted into those corners. By the end of summer I'll be getting my baptism is cabinet building. Lord help me.

hee hee -- i don't know who in the hell she is, I just found the pic out on the net somewhere.

bumped for mdeneen

Group hug

Well yes, a passive radiator is basically a port, so too close to the wall and you impede the performance of the radiator.

I've always liked the Rotel amps, but I've always liked them for their treble. I know they make a couple of monsters that really grind out the bass -- but almost any high powered amp will do that. Where are you crossing over with your horns? Got a dollar figure in mind? How do you feel about buying used?

Good post. So MD-- what are you willing to spend? Maybe we can get you in the right direction.

Mark, I know you and Craig talked about this, but him and me had a discussion on the phone about it -- and I just finally told Craig that if anyone would know how to explain it -- you could. That would be this thing about + and - as it relates to AC. My understanding was pretty much the same as Josh's from the post above. After Craig talked to you, and then relayed the information back to me -- I just decided to use copper for my return path back to the amp. So, looking at Josh's comment -- what is the correct way of looking at this? Is negative just a return path for ground, or does the signal in fact reverse and push the other way? I understand what makes my speaker push out -- but how the hell does it know to suck in? I thought is was like when I switch the wires on a battery when I'm testing drivers. Wire on positive end and the driver pushes out - wires reversed and the driver pulls in. Yeesh, wierd stuff. The Cap thing: To me, it's all becoming very confusing. I know Leo likes to keep his voltage specs down too on the caps. So, is it all marketing BS to brainwash the non-engineering types like me? If the lower VDC caps are superior electrically speaking, then should'nt a 50VDC electrolytic or 100VDC polyester or mylar, sound better than a 200VDC film/foil, or 400 or 630VDC metallized polypropylene? Do they only sound better to me because I think they should? If so, then it's not fair that my brain be allowed to play these tricks on me. My idea about the whole thing was centered on the idea that caps might be microphonic. I asked Craig to grab some caps and tap on them while hooked up to the scope. My thinking was that maybe these bigger caps sound better in speakers not because of their specific material -- but from their additional protection from mechanical vibration. Of course it's silly -- for then why wouldn't a resistor or inductor be subject to the same problem.

Belles and Scalas benefit from corner placement because of their limited low frequency response. That, combined with the bristling transients -- tends to make the treble sound tipped up in relationship to the bass (when pulled out from the corners). At the very least, the backs should be against the wall. OTOH, an acoustically 'dead' room, with thick carpet, lots of cushy furniture, and drapes galore -- might allow some options with placement other than mentioned above. The real benefit of corner placement comes from uniform room coverage of the sound. Typically, the 1st order reflections do not reach the ear until late. These are the ones that screw with the timing signature of the material. I believe the Chorus and Forte use passive radiators -- those WILL have to pulled out from the wall some. I believe a foot or so would do nicely

The bass track in music is usually mono, and them pumped through both channels. Typically though, I believe it's the left channel you want to plug into -- but I can't for the life of me remember why. If there is stereo bass recorded, and something from the bass is played through one channel only, you wouldn't hear it -- depending on what channel it was being played through. You don't really need Y 'cable'. You can go to Rat Shack and get a Y adapter -- about 6 inches long, and you can connect two interconnects to it to plug into your sub -- this way you'll be sure to get both channels.

Klipsch PCB's with original inductors for scale. The biggest cap on the PCBs was about the same size as the smallest value on the new board. I have a theory as to why the higher voltage, bigger caps sound better, and it may not be related to the material used in the cap. I have Craig checking out my theory with his scope. I'm not saying anything about this until I talk to Craig again for fear of being written off as moron (too late -- I know If I'm wrong -- then we are left with the question of why all of these various cap types sound somewhat different -- in spite of spec'ing out virtually the same. My next project is sure to get me run off of the forum.

Change of subject here. I had just enough money to get the parts I needed to one new crossover for the RF-7's. The same as the first with the exception of the following: Replaced the Auricap metallized polypropylenes in the tweeter circuit with RelCap Theta film and foils, and used a 10 AWG Northcreek Music coil instead of a 14 AWG Solen. I will remove some of the thick acoustic foam out of the RF-7's, and replace it with something thinner to help compensate for the much lower DCR of the large coil (lowering the DCR of the bass coil changes the tuning point of the cabinet a little). The boards are not going in the speakers, but will sit on the floor on top of Deflex. Internal speaker wiring was handmade using the 22 AWG five nine silver I had from the cables I bought last year. Two strands for the tweeter, four strands for the woofer positive side. I'm using copper for the negative side. 2nd board will have to wait until next month.

Here is a picture of the first set I completed using the MultiCaps and Northcreek wire. The boards were built from scratch. I will probably go back and revisit the crossovers on this set when I have a little money again.