Marvel

Merry Christmas to all! If you get a chance, have a look at this video from Brad Paisley and Andy Griffith. For those who are married, it better make you cry. It's really touching. Bruce http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvKgnkIN8C8

Stock crossover, no changes required. To make the best of it, a filter goes at the input of the amp. I don't have the details right at hand, or I would post them.Since I have posted so much about DJK's mod, I should really try it on my LS, but I am pretty happy with the repsonse as is. My amps and my room...YMMV. Bruce

They shouldn't be charging you anything!

A friend sent me this editorial... (I DO think we need to be good stewards of what we have, but there is always more going on than we think)The Day After (Inauguration) By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, December 15, 2008 4:20 The temperature at Denver International Airport dropped to 18 below zero on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 14 below set in 1901. White Sulphur Springs, Mont., reported 29 below to the National Weather Service, breaking the record of 17 below set in 1922. Meanwhile, ice storms ravage the Northeast and the upper Midwest. This is not a local phenomenon. Hong Kong had the second-longest cold spell since 1885. Cold in northern Vietnam destroyed 40% of the rice crop and killed 33,000 head of livestock. The British Parliament debated climate change as London experienced the first October snow since 1934. Presumably this has all been reported by the Associated Press. But according to a weekend AP report, this is all an illusion and "2008 is on a pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line." Rather than being "evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming." Oh. The report, which includes no comments from any skeptic, says global warming "is a ticking time-bomb that President-elect Obama can't avoid." It warns "warming is accelerating. Time is running out, and Obama knows it." Especially if he relies on AP wire reports. Problem is, nature didn't get the memo. Geophysicist David Deming found that for the first time since the 18th century, in the days before SUVs, Alaskan glaciers grew this year instead of retreating. Fairbanks had its fourth coldest October in 104 years of records. U.S. Geological Survey glaciologist Bruce Molnia reported: "On the Juneau Icefield, there was still 20 feet of new snow on the surface of the Taku Glacier in late July." It was the worst summer he'd seen in two decades. As the Anchorage Daily News reports, "Never before in the history of a research project dating back to 1946 had the Juneau Ice Field witnessed the kind if snow buildup that came this year. It was similar on a lot of other glaciers too." The consequence of melting glaciers and sea ice is supposed to be rising sea levels. The poster children for this phenomenon are low-lying coral islands such as the Maldives and Tuvalu. Again, the facts are ignored in the quest for headlines. The satellite record shows the sea level has actually fallen four inches around Tuvalu since 1993, when the $100 million international TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite project record began. As in other places around the world, sea-level changes have many natural explanations, including geologic changes in the land. The atolls of Tuvalu rest on sinking volcanic rock on top of which new coral grows to replace the coral die-off that occurs as the volcanic rock sinks deeper into the ocean where coral does not survive. Sand is excavated for building material on Tuvalu. Excavation for building material has eroded the beach, thus giving to the casual, or biased, observer the impression of rising sea levels. The strong El Nino of 1997-98 caused the sea level surrounding Tuvalu to drop just over one foot. Patrick Michaels, a research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and visiting scientist with the Marshall Institute in Washington, D.C., notes that Tuvalu is near the epicenter of a region where the sea level has been declining for nearly 50 years. He has written that the decline has been so steep that, even accepting the U.N.'s median estimates of global warming over the next hundred years, Tuvalu would not return to its 1950 sea level until 2050, much less disappear under the sea. None of this, of course, matters to the warming zealots and some major media outlets. If it's too dry or too wet, too hot or too cold, everything is caused by global warming. We believe, as do many reputable scientists, that the warming and cooling of the earth is a natural phenomenon dictated by forces beyond our control, from ocean currents to solar activity. We needn't worry about one day mooring our boats to the Washington Monument.

This book is excellent, and good to read, a long time before you think you will need it. Final Gifts

The carpenter/cabinet maker at the college has some bendable ply that is pretty nice, also lauan. I'm sure he got his locally, but I don't know the source. I was thinking someone told me you could veneer it first, to have a nice wood on the face of the horn. GotHover- How are you laminating the masonite? Epoxy? Bruce

Cool! So it fires toward the floor, which would be a little problematic in my living room. I can't have them straight across the end of the room, it wouldn't be quite wide enough. I can see the use in a theatre, though, with not much space behind a curtain. Thanks Greg... I will certainly file this with my other MWM info. Bruce

Oh yeah... but my room is really too small. Things like that haven't stopped me before, though. The LR is only 13 x 20 or so. I'm planning on the MWM-S. I want to be able to get them through the doorway. []Greg, Do you mean they would actually face the floor? Interesting thought. I was thinking of trying them up on one end... tall and skinny. I have the article by Michael Frye, who took some Altec 210 horns and split them. They stand up that way. Attached is a pic of some nicely finished ones. The MWMs would be easier to build, for sure. Since the MWMs are a trapezoid I would have to make a stand for them. However, they would first go flat on the floor to give them a first listen. Bruce

Have you looked at 'bendable' wood? This may cost a little more, but should speed up the build time, instead of the laminating you are doing. If you go to:http://www.hardwoodgroup.com and save the pdf of the wood section, they have a few things on the last page (28). It's good just for the info in the document, too. Bruce

I would say it's easier to build. I'm just waiting for the cost of wood to drop a little so I can build a pair.

Greg, Great post! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It's certainly hard to convey what we each hear in our own locations and setups. I appreciate you trying to get across what you are hearing. This really makes me wish I could hear Rigma's passives. His are a no holds barred version, and it would really be interesting to hear some that have been tuned a bit more. (Not to knock Dean's work... [] ) I was thinking some of it could be the amp, but Rigma uses some 300B amps on his, too. What a hobby. Bruce

Now you're talkin'. I have been looking at a B&C 6 PEV 13 - 6.5": Nominal Basket Diameter 6.5" / 170mm Impedance 8 ohms RMS Power Rating 120 Watts Program Power 240 Watts Frequency Response 150Hz - 8.0kHz Sensitivity (1W/1m) 99dB Voice Coil Diameter 1.5" / 38mm Winding Material Aluminum Former Material Fiber Glass Winding Depth .28" / 7mm Magnetic Gap Depth .25" / 6mm Flux Density 1.4T Since John Warren used those JBL 10" drivers to replace the K-55/K400 on the Khorn, it has had me wondering. What is the gain you get form using the horn? Bruce

Prayers for Harry, NOW! Thanks for the post, Michae.

I'm with ya, Michael. Next Sunday, the 28th, will be three years since I lost Barbara. The time passes quickly. The house is full of so many memories. I haven't wanted to turn it into a museum, but I also haven't wanted to wipe away all traces of our 30+ years together. Life was good then, but life is also good now. Family will all be together. It's sweet... Bruce

However, a pair will double the mouth area. Here is a set of drawings for the LaScala: LaScala11.pdf

When used with speakers or lamps? That is hilarious, "Things I have learned on my lamp journey." One of the bright spots, no doubt...

We used to drive from Waterloo to Brookfield to go to church. There were some Sundays we just stayed home... three little ones in the car with us, it could have been ugly. Skipped Christmas with the folks up in the Eau Claire area one year because it was 30 below and blowing. One of the bes was arriving for Chirstmas, and it was snowing, but right at 25-30 degrees. The next day was beautiful to take our daughter out on the toboggan, at just under the freezing mark and no wind at all. That was FUN!

My son, Josh, works in our tech support offices. He called support one time, fter they had sent a desktop power supply for a laptop (Latitude, no less). The guy in India told him we would have to pay shipping because it was costing THEM too much money. Josh politely pointed out that it had a warranty and all the mistakes were Dell's. We got the part. It's one of the reasons they pulled a lot of the support back to U.S. call centers. I would call again. They can have those there before Christmas. Bruce

To be blunt, that's a bunch hooey! It's brand new and they won't send the part yet? Call support again...you'll get someone else anyway. What is the warranty for this? The should overnight the screws for the drive.If they won't send them... Those are the little black screws? They are metric, if you know the size (length), tell me and I'll send some. I have extras of different lengths. Bruce

57 and rain right now. Supposed to go to 18 Sunday night.

My LaScalas paired with my Moondogs have more bass than everyone says they should.

Very cool! I'm glad it's working out for you. I try not to sell off gear, 'cause I end up regretting it later on. I loved the walnut cabinet.

You get the BBX back from Mark? Bruce

I do tech support at the college where I work. We normally buy Dell systems, but have on occasion bought IBM, now Lenovo. Their service has been excellent. We also had a student with an IBM desktop, out of warranty, that had a bad MB, with exploded caps visible. IBM replaced it, no questions asked. One of the faculty brought in another model with the same problem and they replaced that MB, even thought it was also out of warranty. I am usually routed to a service center in Atlanta, where the support staff are as hard to understand as the ones from India, though. Just upped my own IBM laptop from 512 Meg of ram to 2 Gig. Cost all of $25. I still think the Dells are a pretty good deal, but the margins for all of them is so slim, you know they cut every corner they can. Bruce

Erik Forker has a column in his spreadsheet that has 'stretch' values for the sides, since those are curved, but I think still along the centerline. If those could be calculated, you should be able to adjust/calculate for the angle of the top and bottom as well, so you could draw out the curves with the wood flat on your table.