Відео

Since that video I have replaced the Ayon with a Soundgate Ongaku replica. Presently I am playing with the super tweeters shut off as I can not hear a benefit with them on.

@@Rensselaer1586 Is the soundgate amp a little better ? I like trying a few tweeks, so I would try either the Lessloss speaker filters or the Bybee speaker bullets. Tweeks can be expensive, but they are fun IMHO.

Also, the speakers are those with AlNiCo magnets, sound better than the ferrite options.

I don’t recall the choice. I think I saw a fifteen cell, red-stained horn with cork glued to exterior surface (to help deaden vibrations), on his website and asked if he could make me one like it except with just two rows instead of thee (for wife acceptance factor).

I suppose with. I “suppose” because I have high frequency hearing loss. I can’t hear the high frequencies that the super tweeter emits, however I perceive something which seems to be an improvement with the super tweeters that I think is some sort of psychoacoustic effect.

Dana?, Sorry, I thought I had recorded everything in earlier posts. The speakers are Altec A7's I bought used from a guy in Germany for 3400 Euro's. He had already removed the fibreglass batting inside as it releases micro particles into atmosphere (breathing!). The bass speaker was a 416-8B Alnico unit, the treble a 902-8B ferrite with tangerine phase plug that I replaced with new Great Plains Audio Altec 802-8G Alnico magnet compression drivers. I additionally changed the two Altec 511B metal horns for two rows of 5 exponential horns (like RCA type but with two rows instead of three for WAF) made by Marcus Klug in Germany. The speaker cabinets rattled with bass because the rebuilt Altec crossovers were mounted to a thin particle board sheet that was screwed over a large hole in the back panel, it held on with wood screws in the same holes they always were. I changed the back panel for new with new holes drilled so tight. I reinforced the insides with 1"x2" wood beams glued and screwed to inside surfaces in irregular patterns to prevent standing waves, then lined the entire inside with 2" thick wool felt (which I stripped off from one opposing side from another padded as it was too damped). Then the Pete Riggle crossovers connected to the speakers inside by Duelund Dual DCA20GA tinned copper multi strand wire wrapped in cotton and oil (lessens capacitance) which is copied from the legendary Western Electric WE20GA tinned copper wire. The crossovers I keep outside and pass the wire through a small hole cut in the top of the cabinet (to keep wires the same length and to allow removal of back panel without tearing the wire out with it). Is it only the speakers you wanted to know about?

Oh yea, I forgot, on Pete's recommendation I added a pair of JBL Selenium ST400 super tweeters atop the cabinets, pointed to reflect off the back wall of the room so as not to cause interference waves (the wavelengths in those frequencies are very small and misplacement by a mm or two can be a problem).

Merci pour vos e’loges

Le bras (Reed 5A) est un bras pivotant a suivi tangentiel, qui a l’air de la vieille e’cole, mais beaucoup plus.

Thanks for the kind comment. I had audiophiles over to compare (live) the sound of the pure analogue (true “one step”) of tape to acetate, with the DSD-64 to DAC to acetate to stamper “one step” Mobile Fidelity Ultra Disc of the same recording. Outcome, all (eventually) agreed that the pure analogue sounded better, easier to relax to, the digital MoFi was more “Hi Fi”, clearer more sharply etched voice and sound stage whereas with the pure analogue acetate one could more easily hear each and every instrument and more natural sound and decay of each.

You can buy one for less, really.

I have not measured the frequency response of mine but would guess 60 Hz is about right. Pete told me that adding super tweeters somehow improves the bass but couldn’t explain why. I have read where people who have added sub-woofers to the A7’s never felt they meshed well. Using two 15” horn loaded bass speakers per side does work, but I am not sure how this crossover would work (unless 16ohm compression driver then two 8-ohm 15” bass speakers wired in series?). Personally, I don’t really miss the deep bass as, if the rest great, the music played, through my speakers anyway, is coherent/seamless, and through some “Audio detail 211 mono-blocks” I recently auditioned, competitive with the best-sounding systems in the world.

Thanks for the reference, I am not very familiar with Classical music in general, much less specific performances. My recording was part of an effort to compare two current manufacturers of AAA records, the very esoteric Electric Recording Company of London and the old and established Deutsche Grammophon that is selling a new product called the Original Source in which they are using original four channel 1/2" tape masters to cut stereo records in pure analogue.

@@Rensselaer1586 interesting I am aware of this project , just think there r issues with their Down mix , think ERC is all tube chain, OS is slid state , to me the DG is a meh recording

Slightly soft, oil-filled caps I believe, but then could be my cartridge (see what Michael Fremer wrote about the Phasemation PP-2000).

The Reed 5A is the tonearm (hand tree?), the cartridge is Phasemation PP-2000

@@Rensselaer1586 Cocobolo?

@@Rensselaer1586 Thanks a lot

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vtaf.com/index.html#/

I do not know what “small format” means. The crossover is crossed at 500Hz without the super tweeters engaged it is as Hiraga designed, switching on the super tweeter circuit diverts upper treble. Since changing my compression drivers to the new 802 8G AlNiCo units from Great Plains Audio, I am leaving it two-way (no super tweeters).

They are AlNiCo. They are brand new, Altec 802-8G compression drivers now made to spec by Great Plains Audio. They replace older ferrite units (902-8B compression drivers) that came with the used units I bought.

When I bought these speakers I asked Great Plains Audio how I would know if the magnets needed re-magnetism and they told me if they worked at all then they didn’t need to be re-magnetised.

I may not want to remove it, the bass sounds fine with good recordings. It may sound more pronounced if I remove most of the wool felt, but I worry it would then not sound as balanced as now. The crossover frequency is at 500Hz, Hiraga design. The super tweeter only cuts in if turned on, pure Hiraga two-way crossover if left off. I need to find time to make videos with and without, please forgive me for the delay.

Thanks

Ayon Spitfire, thirty watts per channel Class A Single-ended Triode integrated

The early days of audio were of low-powered SET amps and high efficiency horn loaded (magnet and field coil) speakers. Those engineers were concerned with getting the sound correct, to sound real. The horns were built large in order to reproduce sound waves that were at least as big. As time passes, people want smaller speakers (for their homes, studio etc.) which, though smaller, were inefficient so needed more power. The triodes were then paired up into push-pull designs that doubled the power with a loss of sound quality associated with splitting the signal, power each half separately then re-combining it to a less-natural but greater-powered signal. Then valves (predominately even order harmonics, like musical instruments, quite high in 2nd and fourth, but that masks higher order even and odd order harmonics) were replaced with solid-state transistors (lower level but predominately odd order out to the higher level harmonics, causing listener fatigue, but helping struggling bass from smaller speakers). Then adding sub-woofers, super tweeters, with separate amplifiers with elaborate crossovers, cheap electrolytic capacitors and resistors, wire, etc to save on costs. In the end, some systems project better sound stages, some more extended highs, some more bass slam, all those “hi-fi” aspects, but at the cost of natural sounding music, and have not IMHO, surpassed the “warmth” of those early designs.

I am using an Ayon Spitfire, cheaper version of the Crossfire. It is a 2x30 watt pure class A SET (which is rare, most Single Ended Triode (SET) amplifiers use WE300Bs which typically put out 8 watts per channel, or 2A3 or 45 which put out even less power respectively. The Spitfire (and Crossfire) are able to put that much out because of in-house valves they make that look like huge WE300Bs. Mine uses two AA62B Triodes, others on it are 12AU7's and 6H30's. The Scorpio you are looking at I presume is the first version (they sell a series II now), and I believe that was a push-pull configuration? I have never heard one so can't really comment on the value of buying a used series I other than to say SET's sound more real, lush, less hi-fi than push pull usually (see exotic and fantastic Audio Tekne TFM-9412 as the major exception). My Ayon also uses no solid state devices in the signal path either, which cause odd order distortion. The problem with SET's is that you need a fairly flat impedance output, and speakers with fairly high sensitivity, hence my Altec horns. I'm sorry I can't help further.

@@Rensselaer1586 Thanks so much for the information - really informative and helpful and has probably given me the answer I needed. Thanks again.

My apologies for not describing what you hear better. My starting this UA-cam channel was so I could send holiday vids to my family living in the US (DVD there made and played back with NTSC system, here in UK PAL), but started adding hi fi vids as and when I made upgrades predominately for friends to comment. I did put a couple on the “What’s Best “ forum, done with my Sony camera and was told the only way to accurately compare is if all recording done with a mobile telephone. My telephone is the iPhone 8 which doesn’t seem to do sound recording very well as they sound inferior to other peoples recordings and no way like my system sounds live. There is no sound treatment in my listening room.

Yes, I made the video if that is what you are asking?

The framed black and white photographs on the wall that you show at the end

@@wendybillings some, yes. Some I bought. The stone face, the British Intelligence officer with Prince Faisal and the kid with the pet rhino I bought, the others I made, developed and printed.

I believe there are before and after vids you can listen to, but in answer to your question: I bought the speakers without any fibreglass wool inside. I was told that the Altec crossovers (mounted to the back cover by thin plywood sheet) were rebuilt to stock specifications. The variable resistor/attenuators (L-pad) were from different units, the wire thick stranded in some sort of plastic insulation was soldered at the crossover posts inside and a few fibres of the other ends pressed into the push button speaker clips respectively. When first played I turned up attenuation on the treble speakers to max so that only the woofer was playing, then gradually decreased attenuation until the treble and bass sounded balanced. I was a bit taken back at how little bass there was at full attenuation so contacted Great Plains Audio (Altec experts) to see if this was normal or would I need to send my Alnico woofers in to be re-magnetised? The person I spoke to assured me that if I heard anything that re-magnetising would not be necessary. When I first installed the Pete Riggle Hiraga-style crossovers, a huge increase in bass was noticed. Even after balancing it with the treble it was now part of the music (whereas before, hard to discern). The bass also caused something in the back panel to vibrate or buzz with the lowest bass notes, which themselves did sound smeared or woolly. Treble was much sweeter too, no harshness. A friend of mine who prefers digital music over analogue (I’ll say no more), preferred the brash (harsh) sound of the Altec crossovers (with mylar caps), thought it more immediate and thinking the sound of the Riggle crossovers (oil-filled caps) sounded smeared or out of phase. He suggested I put the Altec crossovers back in! I instead built a new set of back panels from spruce plywood, sans the holes for the Altec crossovers (the Riggle crossovers are outside the bass speakers, the wires to such passing through a small hole in the cabinet I drilled and sealed with silicone). The mounting holes of those were relocated too (with all new wood screws) as the previous holes were loose from screws being loosened and tightened, often with mismatched wood screws, too many times before. The inside of the cabinets were then reinforced with 100mmx50mm beams screwed and glued on end in unequal angles so that equal parallel surfaces do not result. The cavities formed, and the gaps behind the horn flairs, were then stuffed with 50mm deep sheep wool insulation sheets cut to size, another over the floor and stapled to the inside back covers. Now the sound is a tad bit softer but the bass notes are full and crisp, not woolly, and no buzz or cabinet resonances now exist to distort the sound. I changed the metal treble horns to two rows of five exponential horns made of wood by Markus Klug in Germany and the help make the sound of my 902 ferrite compression drivers as sweet as can be expected. I am enough pleased with these crossovers that I have purchased a pair of JBL Selenium super tweeters in order to utilise that circuit of these crossovers as well.

@@Rensselaer1586 mark thank you for the description of your experience with your Altecs and the Riggle crossovers. It is helpful to my understanding of how I might proceed with my own Altecs

@@reggie2717 Reggie, I have today attached the JBL Selenium ST400 Super Tweeters, using Duelund 16Ga tinned stranded copper in cotton and oil as on the other speakers, to the super tweeter circuit of the Pete Riggle "Hiraga-style" crossovers, turning both the treble and super tweeter volume pots to 9:00 O-clock positions and turning on the circuit. I placed the super tweeters on their magnets (on a dense foam pad) pointing up to the inclined ceiling. I did that so that the sound from the super tweeters arrives far enough away from the signal that there is no chance of cancellations because of phase difference. It works. I have listened to one side of three favourite jazz recordings so far (none special, D2D or anything like that) and although this Duelund wire is supposed to sound terrible until one puts 100 hours through them, I am very pleased indeed. The biggest improvement is in presence/air. I am in the jazz bar up close to the musicians now. Weight of piano notes depends upon the recording, but some tracts are startling. My high frequency hearing is damaged and I really did not believe that I would hear a difference so had my wife help me dial them in, but I do hear a big difference. Not sure what is happening, I suspect it has something to do with psychoacoustic effects that CD can not provide because of the cliff edge filter at 22,000 Hz (or there about's). So, my recommendation is to buy the super tweeters and use the circuit, as you are not getting what you paid for until you do. Mark

Nice mark, after more discussions and research I believe my original crossovers are working as they should so I probably won’t be buying all new crossovers but I might try to add a super tweeter! I appreciate your comment and I’ve heard elsewhere that a super tweeter does add more air and I believe you that it could impact even if your hearing doesn’t go into those higher frequencies

Yes, Altec A7’s

This was a brand new Degritter sent to me to replace one whose Ultrasound emitter burned out while still under two-year warranty. Unfortunately, the power supply unit within the brand new replacement had come loose (small screw in video fell out) making the noise when tipped back and forth. Degritter promptly returned a new replacement for that unit too. The video was for Degritter as this situation had never happened before.

Radiator fine, equipment works better warmed up.

@@Rensselaer1586 nice radiator cover would be nice

@@redhatterful Perhaps a project for next time your in our neck of the woods?