100dB
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Posts posted by 100dB
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No good corners, no. Fireplace and front door on end, kitchen on the other.
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Room is 30 ft long, 16 ft deep (from wall behind Belles to back wall), 9 ft ceiling.
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What should I expect with “freshened” or new xovers?
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I find that they have a pronounced bump with a center frequency around 7kHz. The lack of bass was something I was prepared for. Imaging is vague, but that’s fine. This was just a great find, and I’m a bit underwhelmed.
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Nuforce dda-120 SS integrated. Two Elekit TU-H82s, one with a ‘62 Cifte 12AU7, and one with a ‘52 Tung-Sol Black Glass/Black plate 12AU7. Been streaming from Deezer by and large, in 16/44.
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It’s been a few years since I dropped in. Much has happened: Moved. Retired. Got sick. Got better. Came out of retirement. Son went off to college (and took some of my audio stuff), and much more... It’s good to be back.
Did you ever date someone and your head is telling you that this should be the best relationship ever, but your heart isn’t in it? Try as you might, the thrill isn’t there. That’s happening to me, with a beautiful pair of Belles I recently picked up as a birthday present to myself.
i know the qualities I expected. They sounded good, if not great, when I auditioned them. I knew of the shortcomings. And they’re so beautiful! Still, it ain’t happening.
In the past, I’ve had Heresy IIIs, and Cornscala #Ds. Recording monitors, and Maggie’s. With the Belle’s I’ve tried two different tube amps that I made myself, and a good SS amp. I’ve moved them to the wall; away from the wall; toed in; straight across; with eq and without. My soul isn’t getting it. Help!
I have the original paperwork, and glass tops for the cabs. I’m not in a position to make them a project for myself. Do I really need new crossovers? Or drivers? Or horns? I love “all original”, and these are all original. 1982. AA crossovers. What am I doing wrong that I’m getting ear bites with every playing? Thoughts?
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I had a Nova. It was great. No problems, and sounded wonderful. I put a NOS Mullard tube in it. Not sure it made much difference, but it was cheap fun.
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I rarely respond, but I noticed a side comment somwhere about your hearing. I have HIIIs, and have not had the problems you describe. As an audiologist, I'm wondering if you're experiencing something called "recruitment", and this can be associated with even mild hearing loss. Recruitment is the subjective experience of an abnormal growth in loudness, and occurs at the cochlear level. That would be why everything sounds great til 9 o'clock position on the volume control, then - bam! ...too harsh/loud/bright, etc. There are simple tests for this that can be done during an audiological exam. Oh... Since October is National Audiology Month, you (and everyone else) have another reason to check the piece of gear that counts the most - your ears! ...and no, I'm not drumming up business (no pun intended) - I work solely with Deaf/Hard of Hearing kids, in the public sector. Just some thoughts. Good luck! :-)
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The MiniWatt came today. It's now in my editing bay running my Paradigm Reference 20s (Sensitivity = 87dB). The pre is the pre out from my Peachtree Nova, with my MacBook as the source at the moment. I'm only sitting a few feet away. The amp is dead quiet when on w/o signal. It seems to drive the 20s up to a moderate level (comfortable level), but no more without getting congested. That said, it sounds great! Very deep. It's a great value - I think I'll like it even more as I mess with some old Telefunken tubes I ordered, etc. Stay tuned... I need to link it up my other systems.
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I ordered the N3. I'll be on the phone tomorrow ordering the Mullards. By my math, using a Paradigm Servo-15 sub and the MiniWatt wide open as a power amp (passive volume control), I should get my Heresy IIIs to fill my kid's elementary school gym with the audio I mixed for his 5th graduation slide show. 3.5 watts vs small gymnasium. I like the odds. Espescially as I made sure the peak and rms signal levels were pretty smooth when I edited the audio. I'll let you know.
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I just ordered a MiniWatt. It looked like it had a great fun/$ ratio. I plan to try some Mullards in it, just for kicks.
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David, you've done some great theoretical and practical work here! Kudos. Localization is a combination of head shadow effects and pinnae effects (even torso effects) that result in something called Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF). You'll find lots of material on this topic from many sources. In addition, checkout Mapleshade Recordings - it will look quite familiar - PZMs on plexi (only two instead of four). Your pursuit of the "you-are-there" experience is what most of us classical engineers strive for. In your case though, you have control of both the recording and playback environments. Most of the time we have to make trade offs for headphone, two-channel, and surround formats. That can be tough. The "they-are-here" listening experience can be very cool too - using the technology to take the listener to an imaginary space. ...let's see, what else... Ribbon mics do indeed rule, but can be a pain; and I apologize for having no paragraph breaks - my iPod won't do it when posting. Oh yeah, if there is enough interest, I'll post a link discussing some research suggesting that higher sampling and bit rates yield absolutely no improvement in perceived resolution (but hey, memory is cheap these days so why not).
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Point taken. Excuse me. Let's move on.
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Yeah, I'm an audiologist, as well as a recording engineer. I have Heresys, Maggies, and Paradigm Reference all living under the same roof - it's like the United Nations. Tubes, SS... all here. I love my vinyl, and my iPod, equally. Simple care regarding the signal path should leave you happy, regardless. Do what you love. I don't have any tinnitus jokes, though I do have horror stories. Frankly, we should all be extremely grateful for what we have. I met a deaf woman this weekend who uses a cochlear implant. Up until recently, she never knew that rain, or a river, actually made a sound. She still says that while the world is now audible, it isn't necessarily beautiful (auditorily), and her fiancé is a world class sound recordist, Gordon Hempton. I count my blessings. ~Dan
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I just saw Cheap Trick last thursday in San Diego. They played at an audiology convention (Oticon Hearing Instruments block party)... Would that be "Cheap Trick Live At Oticon"? They still rock, yet we had a lot of ear plugs in use.
More bands: G-Spot Tornado; The Infidels.
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Sort of in the spirit of "Right This Minute": What are some names of bands who's music might have been a little iffy, but their name was perfect! (If you were lucky they were both good.) For example, "My Morning Jacket". Or, "The Cramps". Personally, while the "Minnesota Barking Ducks" didn't have the greatest name, their slogan "Nothing beats fun for having a good time" has always been a fav! Name that band! :-)
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Many years ago, Peter Egan, an essayist for Road & Track, Cycle World, and other magazines, wrote a piece that I believe was called "Wooden Boats". Essentially, he noted that all the new bikes, cars, etc, could do everything "better" than the older machines. Yet, he and many others, found themselves going back to older gear because of the sense of craft, and the fact that someone actually, physically, was involved in the device's creation. He recalled the little wooden sailboat In which he learned to sail on White Bear Lake, in MInnesota. the fragrance of the wet canvas life jackets, the look of the varnished wood...
As a newbie here, I'm finding this same sensibility seems to be prevalent among many forum members. Looking at members' gear lists, it seems like folks have an analog (vinyl/tube/Heritage) "wooden boat" world, and a digital (very high end HT) world. I maintain an interest in both as well, though perhaps not to the extreme of some others here. This 2-channel forum reminds me that I'm not alone in enjoying the "wooden boats" in life. Our big ol' Klipsch speakers can take us to some great places in a style that can not be matched by the latest-and-greatest, "perfect sound forever" aural vehicles. I'm so glad Klipsch continues to offer these gems to us. I'm glad one can get under the hood and mess around with them. I'm grateful I can stop listening to the gear, and just listen to the music!
Thanks Klipsch!
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I'm curious whether part of the perceived improvement has to do with being able to better preserve the frequency response and dynamic range of the master when transfering to vinyl in mono, as left/right separation isn't necessary. In other words, there might be a positive trade off for mono vs stereo in these areas, particularly dynamic range. Thoughts?
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All true. It's called phantom center channel, and can seem to float wonderously in space. Fun!
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I ordered this amp's slightly bigger brother from Parts Express yesterday. It's backordered, but is too useful to be without. BTW, the Outlaw 2200 is on sale (about 25% off). 200 watts/2inches tall, and stackable.
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If the issue is a shift in tempo w/o pitch change, in an analog piece of gear, I believe you may have stumped the "psychoacoustic band". It's your band though.
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I'm very confused about "fast", as well as the "clock" in SS analog gear.
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Ha! I finally got around to looking it up too. I read through the owners manual as well. They'd be a strong contender for my system. There's a place for "bling" in all of our audio "train sets", and a place for gear that simply gets the job done well and done right. I sense the little Outlaw would fall under the latter category. Happy Easter all! ~Dan
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Point taken, Dennie. I've not auditioned them either, so there's that. Still, I don't know that I'd rule them out based on their Class D mode of operation - Outlaw has a great return policy if you don't like what you're hearing. My old 1050 sounds delightful, but it is used in a home theater setting. ~Dan
Belle: an unrequited love...
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
So, spread them out AND come away from the wall?