PrestonTom
-
Posts
4394 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by PrestonTom
-
-
Regarding the original question: Yes, it pretty much is hype. Certainly do something regarding protecting the circuit. But that is not a big dollar item.
If you want to improve the sound of your system, then spend an afternoon rearranging furniture, adjusting drapes, adding an area rug (or removing one), extra padding under a carpet, opening/closing doors to adjacent rooms, toeing in/out speakers, re-locating your listening chair etc.
These will provide noticeable changes, Serioulsy the biggest probelm will be in determing which changes are actually improvements in sound rather that just a change in the sound.
-Tom
-
In fact, is the analog filter in the path?
My understanding was that by oversampling, the aliased frequencies are now shifted upwards and a anti-aliasing filter is now uneccessary or a very gentle one can be used (since the limited bandwidth of the speaker and our ears will in effect filter the aliased image).
Regarding the phase shift, this is a non-issue. The phase shift introduced by a filter (esp if it is a gentle or single pole filter) is small. Given that the phase shifts are near the corner frequency of the filter, a phase shift at a such a high frequency is certainly inaudible (trust me on this one).
-Tom
-
I actually go a further step. I do not even use a preamp.
I have a Adcom straight line controller - sometimes called a passive preamp (basically some switches and a pad & can only be used on line level sources). I like to keep very little in the signal path.
-Tom
-
Gee, I found another one. It's from a a classified in Connecticut. I have no idea why it so inexpensive, but it is a very recent listing.
-Tom
----------------------------
Luxman, am/fm tuner/amp, Model R3045, great condition, asking $70 OBO. (203) 856-9899 or (203) 374-9463 . Fairfield
-
I always liked the Luxman equipment also. If it's any help (and I don't think you were looking for a receiver) try this link
http://www.robertsav.com/usedequip.html
It's medium size stereo store that has a number of used/consignment items. I have dealt with these folks before and they have always been fair and reasonable.
Good luck,
-Tom
-
Good Luck on your project! Let me chime in and merely echo what other have already said. If you are going a for a darkish stain then by all means use a conditioner ahead of time. Otherwise it will definitely be quite splotchy (some woods including birch are like this). Even with a lighter stain, doing this on the edges (where there is open grain & ply) will help quite a bit. Using some birch ply from Home Depot (to experiment with) is also an excellent suggestion. In my personal experience, I have always had good luck with the Watco danish oils (they are pigmented to various shades). They are fairly forgiving, especially if you are not trying to achieve a dark color. As usual reading the instructions, taking your time, and using a sanding block(esp at the edges) are all key ingredients.
Good luck
-Tom
-
I wanted to echo what Dr Who said regarding room treatments "... the results will be far more drastic than say the difference between a $50 cd player and a $1000 one. I really am surprised that more people don't go about treating their rooms."
With all the energy and money spent on cables and exotic tweaks, a much bigger bang will be provided by even some farily simple things.
1) spend an afternoon moving the speakers around and finding the right spot
2) pull the chair out/away from the rear wall
3) try listneing with a couple of pices of furniture moved in or out of the room
4) open or close a door opening into the adjacent room
5) try opening or closing the drapes
6) try removing or adding an area rug (or extra padding underneath).
7) there are others
I expect you will hear noticeable changes (perhaps clearly better ones). If this experiment works (and it is without cost). Then go the next step and spend some time with a review article and learn a bit about "room acoustics 101"
The strategy is not very sexy (not like getting some exotc capacitors or speaker cable that is outrageously over priced and dubious in its possible effects), however adding drapes, carpets, carpet pads moving furniture or putting art up on the walls will have a big impact. The next step would then be the kinds of acoustic treatments discussed (bass traps, foam products, etc).
The reason I suggest the baby steps first, is that room acoustics is a bit tricky. My suggestions are no cost (and critically listening to music is fun also). Most of us do not have perfectly rectangular rooms without windows and doors and covered with the materials that we know the sound absorption coefficients for. Consequently, modelling and predicting is tricky business.
I will stop preaching now. It just that I get bothered when various folks spend and inordinate amount of time and money on low impact (in some cases no impact) choices for improving the sound. Speakers are part of a system. The other major peice of the system is the room.
I guess I just get grumpy as I get older,
-Tom
-
Fantastic project! Very inspiring also. Thank you for photographing all the details.
Enjoy them,
-Tom
-
That is a very interesting photo essay. I am always intrigued by these high efficiency systems. Could you tell us more about about the design issues and theory. I suspect you were tempted to add a tweeter at some point.
My compliments on your work!
-Tom
-
Rob,
There are all sorts of options. Since there is some directionality on the high mid and high frequency driver, being on axis is advsable (that is, you are sitting at the the apex of a 90 deg angle). One option is to build a false corner(s) and toe the cabinets inward. However, I would NOT suggest toeing in the cabinets by not having them snug in a corner. Depending whether it is a "B" or "C" model you might be able to toe in the top section independent of the bottom section. Whether this has an odd or unacceptable look about it depends on the beholder (no doubt you wife or girlfriend will be ready with a strong opinion however).
The K-Horns really do sound wonderful, but they sound best when propoerly placed in the corners.
-Tom
-
Fantastic! Those are an absolute trip! You are inspiring me to take on some new projects.
Enjoy,
-Tom
-
Joe that is absolutely fantastic news!
I can't imagine how relieved you must feel. I also can't imagine the remarkable perspective that you must now have on life and on living.
All my best,
-Tom
-
Oh my god, those are absolutely beautiful....
I am going to be up all night wondering if I can do something like that to my K-Horns. I am supposed to be thinking about installing new kitchen cabinets. You have got me all turned around ....
Enjoy, they look beautiful,
-Tom
-
Kriton,
It looks like there was the usual number of hiccups in project. But rejoice, you like the color and the surface is smooth. If you are disatisfied with the sheen on the surface, you have a number of options. Since I don't know what stain you used (was it in an oil or poly or what), I will suggest a wax finish. This will (probably) remain on the surface and not change the color. The more hand rubing / number of coats then the better the sheen. Two caveats: it will not produce a high gloss and it requires some care (do not put a drink on top or you wil get a ring blemish). Of course there are other options. But you have the color you want and and the surface is smooth. This adds up to success!
-Tom
-
This is curious. If what Mark is remembering is correct, then a DC switch could be a real hot potato. On electronic measurment equipment (o'scopes) and sometimes wave generators and filters there is frequently an otption for coupling the input or output. AC coupled effectively removes any DC component (a non alternating current or biasing voltage).
If that is what this switch is doing, I have no idea why they would ever think of providing such an option on home audio (I would be curious to know). Normally the source and preamp would not be sending DC so there would no reason to amplify it (unless there was a microphone preamp that was sending a biasing voltage - although I imagine that would be through a different wire).
The reason it could be a hot potato is that if there were ever a glitch you would not want to send much DC to a speaker - this would be a bad thing! Perhaps it was meant for some kind of an electrostatic speaker??
I am curious about this one.
-Tom
-
I hate to be a wet blanket, but judging from the picture neither sanding nor stripping will work. The damage is just too deep.
With a stripper or perhaps bleach (this was mentioned above and actually oxallic (sp?) acid is preferred), the stains will not be as noticeable (and they would need to be re-oiled). But the stains would still be quite visible.
I know you nixed the idea of new veneer; however, it is not as difficult (or as expensive) as you might think. A nice veneer and finish (I like the Watco oil finsihes) would make these cabinets look superb.
Let us know how it goes,
-Tom
-
Hello Kriton,
Gil is correct. The 1st coat will raise the grain, which can then be lightly sanded (some folks wet-sand and some folks use steel wool - but there are pros and cons on that one). One concern however is that although the cabinets are "raw" they probably have picked up dirt and various oils and wax-like grime over the years.
Not all of this may have been removed by the sanding. If this is the case then the oil will not take evenly. If you are using any stain or pigment, then the darker the pigment is, then any uneveness will be even more noticeable. There are deglossers available (these are actually dillute finish strippers). If you choose this route, use them sparingly and wipe them off with thinner afterwards (as usual, follow the directions on the can). Anytime you use a stripper or deglosser, there is chance of harming a thin ply or veneer (or the glue that holds it on).
When you are eady to finish, BLO is a good choice (follow the directions carefully and work methodically). As an alternative, my favorite has always been the Watco products (they used to be danish oil composition - but now they are water based and I am not sure of the composition).
As usual the more time/prep you spend - the better the finished product. BTW stay away from any products (waxes/polishes) that contain silicones.
Good luck,
-Tom
-
Congratulations Jeremy,
The BLO will certainly help if the wood is dry and the sheen is flat. However it will not darken up the wood to match the other cabinetry. The other stuff is is oak and and has a reddish hue to it. While the walnut is more of a straight brown and has a more subtle grain pattern. I am skeptical you would ever get much of a match. They seem about the same "darkness" so maybe that is good enough.
If you did want to change the color or the darkness, the old finish would have to be stripped (chemically). If this is not done, you would get a very, very splotchy finish. There are a number of steps involved and you would never get a great match with the oak (veneer would be the solution). I think you get my drift ... there is potentially a great deal of work involved. However, the cabinets look fine as they are. The BLO will help hide some the discoloration of the chip and help give the wood some protection and shine (read the instructions carefully and work methodically). Incidentally, regarding possible coatings/waxes/polishes that others may recommend - make sure thay do not contain any silicones.
Enjoy, they are good looking cabinets and you got a deal that brings out the envy in the rest of us.
-Tom
-
It is best if they are snug in the corner. Additinally, it is helpful to place some pipe foam insulation on the horizontal (bottom of the HF section) between the cabinet and the wall. You may want to do the same on the vertical portions of the tail (against the corner). If it is not snug, you will find a roll off at the lowest frequencies and also a diminished response around a few hundred Hz.
The corner of the room completes the final flare of the horn. If placing them snug into a corner is problematic, then consider constructing a false corner or 1/2 false corner. Many have used this option with good success.
Enjoy,
-Tom
-
Those are absolutely beautiful.
How did the room remodelling go. As I recall there was some sound attenuation issues you were dealing with.
Enjoy!
-
The imaging issue is a tricky one. I have K-Horns that are fairly well set up (in corners along the long wall, listening spot at the on-axis position, and a center channel (L+R)). Even in this configuration (which can still be tweaked) the imaging is not perfect and the K-Horns do not disappear (and certainly the image lacks any depth). My experience is not uncommon. The closest I have come is when I have used panel speakers (Maggies and esp Martin Logans). However, they have their own set of headaches and tweakings when it comes to room placement. However, with a well-recorded source, you can come close to hearing the "sound" rather than hearing the "sound coming from two boxes" (and the in between locations).
It is difficult! Although I love the K-Horns, I do not really think I will come close to this expereince with the horns. This is just my honest opinion, if others have come close, then more power to you. More importantly what is your secret?
-Tom
-
Thanks,
I followed your advice ... a cabinet was available and good things are in store.
-Tom
-
Gee Triode I thought that I made such a persuasive argument for immediately building a corner that the comparison between K-Horns (without a corner) and the other speakers was so short-lived that it would not be an issue. I must learn to be more assertive.
Enjoy the K-Horns, they really are remarkable.
-Tom
-
SUCCESS!
As fate would have it, it looks like a Hersey cabinet will be showing up on my doorstep next week.
I will be running some "experiments" with my new set up and will keep you posted
-Tom
Increasing bass on the Lascala's
in Technical/Restorations
Posted
There may be a couple of "80%" solutions that would not be very expensive. The frequencies you're discussing have very long wavelengths -very long. And No - a La Scala is not going to have the same low bass response as a K-Horn. The cabinet and geometry will not support that. Trying to get an equalizer or crossover to force the low frequencies out is certainly going accentuate distortion and other problems. So much for the neagtive.
On the positive side, a La Scala does have a pretty good bass response (let's not get greedy here). Some of the problems you may be having could relate to whether the bass you are hearing is smooth or not. Remember the wavelengths! Why not sample various locations for both the speaker and the listening chair. This will not get rid of the room acoustic-deficiencies; however, it may minimize some of them. The next step could be doing some research on Room Acoustics 101. Bass traps and foam (or even furniture, carpet/ pads, drapes) could help. No .... it won't lower the cabinet's response to very low frequency input. However, it could smooth out the response that you do have. Certainly it could rid of some "boominess" if that is a problem.
I know acoustics are not the sexy solutions (not like amps and other neat stuff). However, it should certainly be part of the solution. certainly it will help with other parts of the spectrum also.
As a note of caution, this can be tricky stuff, so please educate yourself ahead of time, since the various treatments and traps can get expensive (or at least upset the heck out of your girlfriend).
Good luck,
-Tom