damonrpayne Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 ALK has written an extreme slope crossover article now hosted on KlipschCorner.com. You can view it here: http://www.klipschcorner.com/Articles.aspx?guid=1fa4dc07-08ba-4bc9-b5ac-28c909c65f12 Just a reminder: if you have something cool you've done that you would like immortalized on the internet and much easier to find than the ever-broken Forum search feature, contact me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Dang, nice article. (though I haven't read it...just a lot of nice pics). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Thanks "Doc". It was intended to be an easy read as technical articles go. At least it's not loaded with a lot of math equations! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 This article came up on a search quite awhile back which led me to AL's site. But for some reason, it seems easier to read on the klipschcorner website....was the article re-rendered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 fritz, Actually yes. The article was originally written and submitted to AudioXpress magazine. It was accepted for publication with some "revisions". When I got the changes back from them they had completely rewriten it in "active voice", or something like that. Where I would write "It can be shown that ..." they would rearange to say "I saw that ...". I refused to allow them to publish it like that and they would not yield. I simply converted the article to "pdf" format and put it up on my web site for download. This is probably what your search led you to. Klipschcorner is accepting articles without trying to bend them to their personal concept of how an article should be worded. I offered the article to them and simply converted it again from pdf format to HTML. I quickly cancelled my subscription to AudioXpress after learning how they interfere with the writing style of their authors. If you read that magazine keep in mind that the authors are required to sound like "good old boys". It isn't by choice! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 It is certaintly a great peice of work. I refer folks to it frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted October 12, 2006 Author Share Posted October 12, 2006 I'm not in the position of trying to "increase circulation" by presenting super technical subjects in a sugar coated fashion. Also, individual authors might be trying to make a name for themselves so it is important to keep their own personal style consistant across things that they sign their names to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 fritz, Actually yes. The article was originally written and submitted to AudioXpress magazine. It was accepted for publication with some "revisions". When I got the changes back from them they had completely rewriten it in "active voice", or something like that. Where I would write "It can be shown that ..." they would rearange to say "I saw that ...". I refused to allow them to publish it like that and they would not yield. I simply converted the article to "pdf" format and put it up on my web site for download. This is probably what your search led you to. Klipschcorner is accepting articles without trying to bend them to their personal concept of how an article should be worded. I offered the article to them and simply converted it again from pdf format to HTML. I quickly cancelled my subscription to AudioXpress after learning how they interfere with the writing style of their authors. If you read that magazine keep in mind that the authors are required to sound like "good old boys". It isn't by choice! Al K. Al, Writers are the worst. Every time someone tells me they have an English degree I shudder. They are basically saying that they have an excuse to be completely arbitrary with a loose set of rule so that thye can say that their way is the correct way. You would not believe how many attorneys waste huge amounts of client funds (at $250 to $700 and hour) to change wording. I agree with changes that make a legal difference, but I'm talking about changes that make no difference at all except "I just like it better this way." Glad you stuck to your guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Damion, I think it's more than just an author seeking a particular "style", it's more like a "convention". Technical articles are always written in passive voice. If you keep saying "I did this", and "I did that" and "I think that..." you quickly start sounding like a fat head! Passive voice presents things in a fassion more in keeping with presenting your point and not trying to show how smart you are! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 As a technical writer and someone who wrote three (I think) articles for Speaker Builder (Ed Dell was the editor of SB as well as AudioXpress) I'd like to contribute some perspective. From what I can tell, Ed's approach to his mags has been to make them friendly and accessible to a wide range of experience levels. This has lead to some articles that I would not have published, but, hey, it's not my mag, and also the AA stable are not peer-reviewed journals like JAES. As a writer, I use the passive when it's appropriate, but, increasingly in commercial and government writing, passive voice is discouraged. I sympathize with any writer who feels an editor mangled his manuscript. I've been in both roles and my first law as an editor is Do No Harm. I never change the meaning of a draft, only try to polish it and make it flow. I'm sorry AX, through irrelevant stubborness, has lost a very talented contributor. Al, please keep posting here and Klipschcorner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 That is a problem. Personally I think there is too much "dumbing down" going on across the country in lots of avenues. For instance, look at the "quality" and education of the typical government employee, etc. It's not very hard to understand, is it? One should aspire to learn and grow, if the value of the information is to be comprehended and appreciated. I have had enough of the lowest-common-denomenator - none of them has ever improved my life one iota. I come down on Al K.'s side on this, after all, technical discussions, that is, discussions of technical issues which are not specifically conceptual in nature, are not capable of being "dumbed down" or the technical information is lost. In a technical work, what is left other than sounding downright like a layman, i.e., UNPROFESSIONAL? Al is indeed quite right IMO. I too would tell the editor in question to perform certain specific rituals of an unsavory nature upon himself. The lesson I take away from this is that AudioXpress is far too pedestrian in nature to competently present technically-oriented material (which I would want to read), even if it is written in a "generally understandable" form to start with. Sometimes technicality is required to get the facts across. I don't NEED or WANT to feel all warm and fuzzy reading an audio magazine, I want to learn something that I didn't know. Otherwise, its just another bloody fanzine, isn't it? DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Guys, I think the conclusion is that I simply submitted it to the wrong magazine. The problem is that I probably would not have been taken seriously by the kind of journals that published works written by PWK, for example! Al k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Agreed. But correct me if I'm wrong, but its the only magazine left that has anything to do with DIY?! That stinks! It only leaves professional journals which are much more expensive! DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Dana, Yep. That was the problem I faced when I started looking for a magazine to publish it. AudioXpress was all there was! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 ""It can be shown that ..." they would rearange to say "I saw that ...". I've been in this situation several times, but realized sometimes such publications as this often have very limited space, and may have been trying to maintain the essential meaning of "It can be shown that" with fewer words as in "I saw that..." Too bad it didn't work out.... I've been a subscriber to the magazine for many, many years, and think it is a very well done -- considering its budget and the many other factors that come into play in terms of accepting, and out-of-necessity having to edit manuscripts for possible publication. It was a compliment to your work if they accepted it as a future feature article -- IMO and IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 Having read the ALK article, and carefully followed the thread (actually a pair of high end crossovers is next on the "agenda"), everyone, and especially D-Man, has some great points and is quite accurate on his remarks regarding how this material is presented/ disseminated (or for some of us..., the ole' casting the pearls issue...[]). That is a problem. Personally I think there is too much "dumbing down" going on across the country in lots of avenues. For instance, look at the "quality" and education of the typical government employee, etc. It's not very hard to understand, is it? Now as far as that there govamint employee remark, let it be said (why not, everyone else says it...) "I'm not dumb, but I shore am ignorant....",... and this probably applies probably to a bunch of us that read the Forum (to me anyways...), and especially when we are confused (quite often for me) when it comes to the real mechanics (or physics) of how we hear what we hear. [] Now, that being said, "I've done got me one of them thar college degrees" in the liberal (not in the political sense, please!) arts... looks great, get paid extra (your government tax dollars in action...[]) but, after embarking on my retirement hobby of playing with my Klipsch speakers that I collected along the way, I have learned that "the one thing I'm gonna have to do is get edumacated". [:$] So D-Man has a point!, but.... One should aspire to learn and grow, if the value of the information is to be comprehended and appreciated. I have had enough of the lowest-common-denomenator - none of them has ever improved my life one iota. What about us lowest common denominators... We are really appreciative of what's written on the forums. Even if I only "understand" 10% of what's being written, that's still 10% more than when I asked the question, besides, if I get lucky (or overcome my ignerance), I may get 20% the next time 'round! So, looking at it from another perspective, I think we we do improve D-Man's life (if but indirectly), because we've begun to take the challenge!! [{] With tribute to the "dumbdown" requirements of editors worldwide (especially my wife who's an exec editor for a major newspaper chain...[]), I'll attempt to use third person active/ passive voice on this one before she gets back in the room. [:-*] What it boils down to is that when someone (with no idea what they have really asked), asks a technical question, or a question with "severe technical implications", they will likely get a really technical answer among the many responses (trust me I know, I've had my head handed to me a number of times...), Now, if they have any sense, they should arrive at the "I guess I'm gonna have to figure it out" conclusion, and at some point, regardless of how many articles, posts on the forum, technical bulletins they may read, etc., and if they really want to understand how things work, they will have to simply take the time and start the process of learning. If they don't, well..... oh well... the unwashed masses still clamor and scream out into the shortwave ether of the night for companionship...[] I come down on Al K.'s side on this, after all, technical discussions, that is, discussions of technical issues which are not specifically conceptual in nature, are not capable of being "dumbed down" or the technical information is lost. In a technical work, what is left other than sounding downright like a layman, i.e., UNPROFESSIONAL? You are mostly right, and the crux of the matter is the challenge. If I don't at least take up the challenge, what's the point?[^o)] Al is indeed quite right IMO. I too would tell the editor in question to perform certain specific rituals of an unsavory nature upon himself. Unfortunately, it's not usually the editor, it's the publisher who sets the "level". Someone once told me to have what I thought was, "an unnatural ax with a sheep", so I went and got me a hatchet, chased me down a sheep, and made it watch me cut firewood (never understood that for awhile....) The lesson I take away from this is that AudioXpress is far too pedestrian in nature to competently present technically-oriented material (which I would want to read), even if it is written in a "generally understandable" form to start with. Unfortunately (or fortunately, dependent upon one's perspective), it is a good place to start when one want's to start learning.[Y] Sometimes technicality is required to get the facts across. I don't NEED or WANT to feel all warm and fuzzy reading an audio magazine, I want to learn something that I didn't know. Otherwise, its just another bloody fanzine, isn't it? True, but they have a place, and for most of us, it's where we get the "spark" to go further. Had one of them state "atturnies" tell me many years ago, "Son, if the jury cannot understand what you just said in that ballistics report, don't expect them to believe you and convict that boy...."[:$] The current analogy is when I sit down on the throne and read a news magazine (without mentioning names, it's one of the three big "standard"), I know it's been dumbed down, lots of crap, cheezy graphics, panders to the "me, me, me" bunch. Well, it sells, and that is important, I suppose... But after reading an article, and then going to the AP or Reuters, then to other sources and reading the stuff, etc., etc., I have a better "picture". Point - it started the process. The greatest challenge for a technician when attempting to explain what they are talking about, is the ability to put it in a perspective, or viewpoint that can be understood by the layman. That is extremely difficult, and I have some experience in this with other subjects not germane to Klipsch speakers...., and the "curve" is, unfortunately, exponentially related to the complexity of the material. Some of the Forum contributors, bless their hearts, just lose me after about a sentence; others however, when discoursing on the same subject, make so much more sense. Love' em all, just have to read some about three times....[8-|] Oh well, after reading everything, and in particular thinking about what everyone has said, I'm saving my money for a pair of Mr. Klappenberger's ES's for my 85' Klipschorns.... Everything else, however, has Bob's rebuilds (and boy, can we tell the difference)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 "The lesson I take away from this is that AudioXpress is far too pedestrian in nature to competently present technically-oriented material (which I would want to read), even if it is written in a "generally understandable" form to start with" IMO, this is not accurate. Over the years, there have been a significant number of extremely sophisticated and technically very advanced pieces published in the pages of AudioXpress. This was in the form of highly complex circuit concept, design, application, and evaluation. There have been articles written by well-known audio engineers who evidently didn't consider AudioXpress in any way 'below' them or too 'pedestrian.' Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Well, points taken. Unfortunately, it is a desert out there. There ARE no choices. In a monopoly, you get to dictate... DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Well, in this day and age, D-Man is right; it is a desert, an intellectually black and lightless field of desolation, etc... I can say without equivocation (or to rephrase it for those of us at or below the common denominator: without any reasonable doubt...), that without the Forum, it's members (all inclusive, the "techs", the afficionados, and all of us in the "great unwashed masses - toiling in the fields as we must do" bunch...), and the resources it provides us in the realm of beginning to understand why the Klipsch sound is what it is, we would surely be in sore, or worse, dire straits. Philosophically, one (love that third person stuff), could say that on that desolate field of audiophile desolation lie the blackened bones of the now countless numbers, who when, given a moment of respite (listened to Klipsch), simply gave up, bought the Bose crap and died.... In any event, Forum's great stuff; best reading I've done in a long while!! Hope everyone keeps it up!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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