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mas

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  1. If you want "different", simply insert various values of inductance and capacitance in the signal chain. Its allot easier and cheaper than running cable and you have plenty more combinations to play with. This topic is OLD. Warranties on wires. Now that's a business I need to start, and all it requires is a soldering iron and some solder ... Let's see...the odds of copper losing its conductivity.....[*-)] Oh, and I almost forgot the most important part, some fancy marketing brochures with some half-baked physics BS mentioning obtuse out of context fancy terms like skin effect and frequency balanced and velocities of electron movement - wait - that gives me an idea! Electron vitamins! Guaranteed to impart more pep in to your electrons as the actual inches per minute rate is nothing to get excited about! As if electron travel was what mattered anyway - but hey, it only has toseem feasible - and after all, what do the stupid consumers know!? Right? There's an audiophile born every minute!
  2. In 2002 their list price was $80K. But hey, its audiophila - the land where belief is more important tnan physics - and hence the obscene increase in price is totally justified for anyone with more money than brains who wants to buy them.
  3. mas

    BluRay Glitch?

    I don't think so in this case. If you note, she has ben fighting this battle since at least 2002. Take a minute and think about when Sony or Toshiba came out with the first production HD player... Also, there is no basis for the initial assumption that the diodes necessarily had to use her process. The only thing that appears 'late' is Sony's, et. al's. due diligence and our awareness of her efforts. And as far as knowing about blue laser development patents, neither Sony nor Toshiba nor any other manufacturer should have had a problem with this, as the 'race' to build blue and ultraviolet laser diodes has been feverish since the early 90's. And no one gained any advantage by keeping such developments 'secret'. In fact, there efforts would have been better served by making their efforts and result public. But they bear no responsibility for paying to make such developments widely known. We went through the same patent search dance (well, actually the DOE and USNavy did the legal search) in the process of developing a frequency agile SS infrared laser in the early-mid 90's as well. And unlike some technologies, there really aren't that many patents to search.
  4. mas

    BluRay Glitch?

    HD-DVD abd BluRay use the same asic diodes. The lenses are different.
  5. mas

    BluRay Glitch?

    If the patent is indeed her's as stated, Sony and the manufacturer's must first license the technology from her...Not simply pay her royalties! If she licenses the technology to them, then they pay royalties. It looks like she has the industry by the proverbial cahones. And to think that Sony still doesn't have a handle on costs and is still losing money on each PS3 as it exists now! Sound like she has won the HD war...and Sony loses....[]
  6. Columbia University professor could trigger a Blu-ray injunction By Scott Fulton Beta News March 21, 2008 http://www.betanews.com/article/Columbia_University_professor_could_trigger_a_Bluray_injunction/1206132536 With a few victories already under her belt, a celebrated physicist seeks to leverage those wins in a contest to reclaim her legacy. The other side of the story is that everything with a blue laser diode in it has just come under suspicion. A fifty-six-year veteran physicist who is currently Columbia University's Howe Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering, will have her patent infringement case heard by the US International Trade Commission. If Judge Paul J. Luckern concurs, an injunction could be placed on the import of all electronics containing blue-laser diodes manufactured using a certain patented process. Prof. Gertrude F. Neumark Rothschild filed suit in February against some 30 of the world's principal consumer electronics manufacturers, including Sony, Toshiba, LG, Lite-On, Matsushita, Hitachi, Motorola, Nokia, Pioneer, Samsung, Sanyo, Sony Ericsson, and Sharp. Her claim is that all these companies produce blue-laser diodes using a particular semiconductor manufacturing process, whose patent she applied for in 1988 and received in 1993. That particular process, she claims, is actually the only one there is for making reliable blue-laser diodes; and the implication of her suit is that corporations simply adopted that process as though it were in the public domain, perhaps because they thought its discovery in a university made it public -- a common misconception. Contrary to reports, the professor is no "little old lady," nor is she some patent troll acting on behalf of long-forgotten interests. In fact, Prof. Rothschild (nee Prof. Neumark) is a formidable adversary who already won several battles in an effort to reclaim what she sees as her long-overdue royalties. Her previous volley of infringement suits was launched in 2002 against semiconductor producers Philips Lumileds, Cree, and Toyoda Gosei, for infringing against this same battery of patents. Toyoda Gosei settled out of court in August 2006 for an unspecified amount; Philips Lumileds settled with her just two weeks ago. The professor's attorneys describe her as no less than the inventor of the blue-laser diode, and her patent makes a convincing case that the moniker may be deserved. A blue-laser diode is a type of semiconductor which produces light at given frequencies. It does this by exciting electrons in the stream so much that they lose energy as they leap over what's literally called a "wide gap." The distance of that gap helps determine the frequency of the emitted light, though to get those electrons excited just right, the semiconductor has to be doped with just the right impurities. In patent number 5,252,499, "Wide band-gap semiconductors having low bipolar resistivity and method of formation," which credits Prof. Rothschild as the sole inventor on behalf of herself, a set of those impurities is listed. Among them is gallium nitride (GaN), and her patent describes how this and a few other candidates can be introduced into the n-type side of the semiconductor. That alone would create undesirable results, so her process goes on further to explain how the introduction of atomic hydrogen on the p-type side would neutralize the undesired effects, enabling the desired state of low bipolar resistivity. Evidently, hers could be the process by which low resistivity is typically attained. It could be a very long battle, but the professor appears experienced in such matters. A multitude of Japanese and German patents on gallium nitride-based semiconductors to which Prof. Rothschild did not contribute, may get called into question under new federal law regarding the novelty of inventions that appear to be upgrades to existing, older patents. Those patents have been the basis of Rothschild's previous defendants' defense...but those defendants settled. If the investigation launched by USITC Judge Luckern finds that any or all 30 companies used Prof. Rothschild's methods without proper attribution or royalty, and that they're in violation of the dreaded Section 337 of the Tariff Act, the victors in the last format war may find themselves answering to a very distraught customer base.
  7. Not knowing anything about karaoke receivers (well, ...other than the concept), I suspect that the input sensitivity of the receiver does not match that of the microphone. You will want to check the receiver input sensitivity and the output of the microphone to check for matching. Typical microphone output signals are in the millivolt range while line level inputs are typically in the range of 0.5-2V - thus a microphone pre-amp may be necessary to match levels... Alternately, you may need a mic that has an integrated pre-amp that is designed to match the input sensitivity of the receiver.
  8. Yup! Buc, we've got to stop agreeing...this is a dangerous precedent. [] This notion may be originating from the fact that you can modify the LF extension of an SVS sub by blocking a one or two of the three ports. But this is not a valid generic answer!
  9. Relax Richard... I'm sure they will come to their senses and realize that they were mistaken. [] But I think I just missed an opportunity to sell them a subwoofer...(which is a very good solution to augment the lower 2 octaves...) [][][*-)]
  10. I know that this will sound like a smart aleck answer, but you turn up the volume. The wall effectively decreases the amount of space by 1/2 that the total acoustical energy of the speaker is radiated into, thereby increasing the gain by a factor of 2. With no wall, you effectively increase the space by a factor of 2 which also reduces the gain by a factor of 2. (Raising them off from the floor and putting them on stands has the same effect of removing the wall. There is nothing wrong with the speakers. You are dealing with basic physics here. And I know of no neat devices that overcome this. Crosover processing can potentially adjust the sensitivity of the various passbands to increase the LF relative to the mids and highs. This is normally done in the design phase when the intended use is selected (or variable taps are provided for selectable sensitivity for varying applications. But I would try to avoid using an EQ as an amplifier. Additional volume can make up the difference in gain - especially in the LFs, compensating for the lack of LF coupling of the frequencies whose wavelengths are no longer within a 1/4 wavelength distance from the boundary surfaces due to the 'removal' of the wall.
  11. To repeat what Ear has stated, he has plenty of bass. The problem is its distribution due to the phenomena of room modes - standing waves established based upon the geometry of the room. And with standing waves you have peaks and valleys (nulls) where the gain at particular frequencies is either summed and made greater (the peaks), or it is minimized (the nulls). And this is a classic example in that the room dimensions cause the 3 major modes to sum at the same frequencies, thereby exacerbating the problem. And his room has LWH mesurements that are all multiples of each other, further reinforcing the modes.
  12. mas

    Sub placement

    you dont think maybe i should put in the center of the room facing the listening area? Sure symmetry is good. But first we are dealing with a wife who wants if gone, and now we are suddenly asing for optimal placement in the room.. Dare I ask what happened between the first post and now? [] With corner placement you get the larget amount of rom gain, although you may have greater stimulus of room modes - so there is a potential tradeoff. Symmetry is very important, as while LFs diffract easily around small surfaces giving rise to the misnomer that L, being 'omni-directional' ar not localizable - which is NOT necessarily true, especially in a small acoustic space where there is sufficient direct to ambient signal... But it is funny how a very conditional attribute can take on an air of absolute irrefutability... So, yes, you have choices. You must deal with aesthetics (and perhaps a wife [] - we'll keep an eye out for future episodes of "Without a Trace"), as well as room modes - in particular, the location of the nulls and issues such as localization. And your point is well taken. Although I personally feel that ideally there should be stereo subs - one for each front channel colocated there, in the absence of this, a centrally situated sub does improve imaging. But do you have space 'under' the front shelves? I rather had the idea that they were a hutch format (my weird assumption) - but if they are open (do not think about putting them inside some enclosure!) you might wsant to try that spot as well.
  13. mas

    Sub placement

    The SW location looks good to me ...
  14. OK, so we are going to ignore that secret Knights Templar thing....? OK!... mums the word! Good. It was a sordid affair anyway... []
  15. Nope!. I have seen FAR too many glass cook tops damaged in multiple ways - from scratches by grates, and a myriad other mysterious sources. In fact, it is interesteing to see how many of these are sent off by the dealers for damage. Just look in the showrooms for evidence of damage, and inquire with the second hand shops about repairs and problems. My favorite? That's easy. For a cooktop: gas. And there is nothing like electricity on the cooktop as you turn down the heat and due to its S L O W response, watching whatever it is boil over because the response lag is SO slow. And induction tops are even slower to respond. And my mom is right. It seems too many kitchen appliances are designed by men who never use them, with minute detailing cracks and crevices that look great on the cover of house beautiful, but which only collect gunk and are impossible to keep clean. A smooth deep well surrounding the sealed burners allowing for easy collection and cleanup of spills is a real plus. And it is amazing to note how many surface arrangements do not allow for the use of all of the burners without either interferring with each other or obscuring the controls! I would make sure that your stock pots, etc. can all play well together and with the controls. It seems that I have been perusing the various home improvement centers for a new cooktop myself...and its hard to find one that works well for a reasonable price - as they quickly enter into designerland. And you will definitely save ALLOT of money if you can use a slide in or drop in over separates. The price differential is absurd. A gas cooktop and an electric convection oven (or two) is sure nice. And I must admit to really missing the separate gas broilers that were so common in the 60's that have seemingly been replaced by microwaves. They sure made BBQing and grilling in the off season an easy and nice treat. Good luck! I think you would do well to check the second hand shops and retail stores with a copy of Consumer's Reports - and may I suggest that you resist buying to impress the neighbors and instead get the most functional appliance for the task - and save that money for more significant things...
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