MC39693

Maybe destroyed the polar vortex in Ohio, but Calgary is now in the deep freeze for the next week. -25 C for hi, -30 C for low. Gotta plug the truck in! Likely will have "low tire pressure warning Will Robinson".

On the topic of do it yourself ... we gave (sold?) our 2 daughters nearly identical VW Jetta cars. They both developed an annoying fan noise, rattle and bizarre sounds. VW wanted $1K to fix. Electrician son in law does You(fix it)Tube, finds exactly that problem, finds cheap Chinese replacement part, receives part, watches You(now do it)Tube repair video and done in 15 min. Total cost $25. Even if the thing only lasts a year, we can replace a few of 'em. Good grief, I don't mind a bit of cost to pay for all that overhead, etc., but really $25 vs $1,000?

I have an x4300h running 5 speakers and 2 subs ... I don't ever feel it hot and they have an "eco mode" which keeps the power consumption down. So unless you intend to crank it to the max for long periods, I'd try it without a cooler (although the AC Infinity is fine). Just a thought.

There was a small chance I would purchase some PS Audio equipment in the past. Not now. Voicing an opinion is one thing, but to name other companies in a (somewhat?) public forum as having lost their way, is not a good idea, especially given the limited information I have to form my own opinion. Sorry to hear @Chief bonehead has a different job than he thought, good luck with the fishing! I hear the trout fishing in the mountain glacier water fed rivers here in Alberta is good ... or Salmon/Halibut off the west coast, come on up and enjoy the scenery (in the summer!).

Instrument techs in our refinery business everywhere I audited (all of Canada) only use Fluke. Son in law gave me (loan?) a Fluke 87 V. Seems to work fine for what I need. Any meter can "wander" so testing against a known value is a good idea if you want accuracy.

Thanks for the note. The seller did not note if it is the standard or upgraded power supply. I'd only be using 2 channels and keep the 3rd installed but as a warm backup. Will see what happens, the good being the amp is already here in Calgary which removes foreign exchange, duty and freight from the costs.

At -45 both F and C scales are the same which I think is physics speak for "stay inside!"

Calgary heading for -24 Celcius daytime hi and -30 Celcius low for about 3 days over the weekend. I've seen/been in -51 Celcius in Northern Alberta. That wasn't fun.

Question: Has anyone used a Class D Audio, SDS amp (models like SDS-120)? There is an amp here in Calgary for a good price using these class D amps ... 3 channel which might be interesting. Likely not quite as good as Hypex, but the cost and specs on their web site seem interesting.

More important re. Josh Gordon, the news said the Pats are paying for (at least some, I guess) his rehab. Call me a sucker. I hope the young man gets his life straightened out, whether he ever plays football again or not. He needs to fix a lot of personal problems!

Having seen this thread some time back ... I finally tried this out. For those with a slightly lower budget ... Broke my 5.2 HT into a 3.1 HT and a 2.1 for 2 channel music (all digital). I have a BlueSound Vault 2 optical out to DacMagic Plus connected to a cheap little Chinese Class D amp then to Martin Logan Clarity (sub is a Velodyne DD10 off the BlueSound). It sounds actually very very good. Gain control is available physically on the little amp and logically via the BlueSound app on my Apple devices (phone or iPad). The handy thing is the flexibility of both the music server (streaming, USB, CD, Bluetooth and ripped CD to FLAC) and the DAC (USB, Bluetooth, digital in). I need a mini-sereo to USB cable so I can plug in devices that only have a mini-stereo out. This would let me plug those devices into the music server so I have logical control over the gain. I'd like to try a slightly better amp, but this test shows the sound and flexibility of connections is good. If I could find a used Oppo or Cambridge CXU at something less than crazy high prices ... then I'd be very happy.

Very nice. May I ask did you build the mid wooden horn or purchase?

@ClaudeJ1 very helpful. Thanks again and best wishes on the next 6,000.

I believe these are E2 crossovers, not E type with the oil cans. These Heresy are V1.5, that is somewhere just newer in 1984 than the V1 with the E crossover, and should have K701/K53 midrange. GLWS

So, for the last 10 years or so, I've placed $10 on each of 2 x NFC and 2 x AFC teams in April or so ... straight bet to win SuperBowl. I've had both teams 3 times, including this year, Rams and my Pats. So I'll pretty much break even if Pats win and will make a tiny bit if Rams win. It keeps the season interesting. In 10 years of doing this I am pretty much break even. I think NO was robbed, due to that call, but really their coaching is not good. That team had no business allowing the Rams to win. I really like KC, esp. Andy Reid. But, I love the Pats. Yes, some people are bored with their constant attendance in playoffs. I want them to tie the Steelers for most SB wins (one more will do it). Then, Brady and BB need to ride off into the sunset with their megamillions and let the youngsters take over. NE will need a pretty big overhaul and I'll have to cheer on the Bears for a few years until recovery sets in. Go Pats! (or Rams for the money).

I did a lot of work for about 14 years in and around refineries, with lots of noise and some places requiring double hearing protection. I did not have any problems and was religious about wearing hearing protection. Then, I went to one too many concerts. It wasn't so much the band/sound system, but the crowd noise. I have what I think is slight tinnitus in both ears but it does come and go. Really interesting, I never hear it in the shower or other places with running water ... must be something to do with the frequency? For people who wish to listen to my meager system I pretty much keep hold of the volume controls. No need to test the limits of glass in the basement windows/door. I may have to get a sound meter to check how loud I listen, but I really try to keep it down, although sometimes when the boss is away ...

How to cause butt plug commentary on a public forum ... TB12, BB hoodie.

I am ok with cold ... TB12 seems ok with cold. Mostly it is a matter of receivers being ok with their hands freezing off. And the kickers ... wait now ... PV=nrT ... T ... hmmmm if T goes down then P seems to go down ... Roger can you explain that one to me please? Check those KC balls!

Am I the only Pats fan in Canada? Go 41 year old QB! Second would be Da Bears. I once saw Jim McMahon and Refridgerator Perry on spring training camps. Fridge was ridding a scooter to the practice field ... it was squashed!

Yes Windows 10 ... and any security software like McAfee, Norton etc. can really mess up the "network" view. I cannot get my BlueSound Vault 2 to connect to shares on Windows 10 PC nor can I get the Windows 10 PC to find the Vault 2. I've talked with BlueSound help desk and ...well I'm not willing to turn off every single layer of security (little as they are) and keep trying the infinite combinations. I just put all my music files onto a USB and attached to the Vault 2's USB port which seems to work well. Having said this ... I like @oldred's comment, get a Windows 7 server and use it for audio file serving. Get a good backup of your files and off you go?

@babadono the link you provided returns the wonderful 404 error, aka file is not there (moved or deleted) so a broken link. The AES link provided by @Edgar may require membership in AES or cost to read? I'd like to read PWK's article and see if I might affect a 3rd channel from 2 channel amp, but understand if the article is a AES pay service article. To the OP, as mentioned if you are used to two channel music, a center might muddle the sound to a "wall" with the center channel. I use 3 Martin Logans, and 2 Klipsch Heresy, but tend to turn off the ML center channel a fair bit when using multi-channel audio from an AVR. Keeping the stereo image seems better than having the center active for music... again unless you have a hole somewhere in your sound stage? Good luck.

Mike, Welcome to the forum. The small terminal block you show is the original and there will be two small screw holes in the back panel. Hence there are holes already. If you want ... as noted above wire into spades should make it work just fine. If you want to have binding posts, I have used these ... from Parts Express ... on sale for $5 USD per pair until end of day today ... regular $7.78. Dayton Audio BPA-38G HD Binding Post Pair Gold Just drill the existing hole(s) out a bit more for the size of the binding posts, although you may have to change the spacing a bit. It also means you have to open the back hatch to attach the inside wiring to the posts. This isn't bad, as you should tighten all the connections to the terminal block on the crossover anyhow and generally have a look around, clean inside a bit and be sure no loose connections to the drivers. Crossover change out is up to you. If you solder, you can do the change outs or purchase ones e.g. from BEC. Otherwise, only change things if you want to get into that ... there is a ton of information on this forum ... all the way from the simple changes above to lots of time / minor money, changes in drivers etc.

Rosewood or Zebrano! Only because those would be my choices and I want you to go first. Walnut is plentiful out there, so something different might be nice? Seems like you have two buckets ... lighter less dramatic grain or darker fairly impressive grain? Maybe pick between those and then hone in on the specific one. Good Luck.

Back to the OP, as a Canadian I'm not sure what countries I can travel to anymore. I guess I'll keep my low value currency at home, although I consider Napa Valley part of Canada.

Merry Christmas to all from Calgary. Thanks for all the contributions to the forums and helping me to learn and enjoy this hobby.