Dreadnaught Avel-Lindberg 1000VA Transformer Group Buy?

westmassguy

I use through-hole Rubber Feet on the ones I make, others have spiked them. You can buy the stick-on Rubber Feet too, if you never intend to move it. I don't like using that type, because they tend to shift around, and the adhesive isn't usually that strong

Moose68Bash

I have spikes on one Dreadnought and through-hole rubber feet on the other.

The one with spikes sits on 3/4" MDF on am industrial shelf system that holds my heavy gear in the basement.

The one with rubber feet sits on a wire shelving system whose shelves I shall one day cover with 3/4" MDF. Then, I shall also replace the rubber feet with spikes.

nspindel

I used spikes

Mr_Hz

Picked up my A-L xformers today from the Post Office after finding the weathered USPS notice that had blown in to the landscaping. Have most all parts ready for assembly. Need to find time to get assembly done.. work hasn't been kind.. but I need to burn a bunch of vacation before year's end so should find time to 1) assemble the dreadnoughts & 2) assemble the 2C's with all the upgrades during this last two months of the year! Happy Christmas to me!

motorstereo

I presently have my dreadnaught sitting on it's own shelf and on it's side. Is this the preferred resting position or should I spike it on the wider and more stable bottom?

DarqueKnight

motorstereo wrote: »

I presently have my dreadnaught sitting on it's own shelf and on it's side. Is this the preferred resting position or should I spike it on the wider and more stable bottom?

Some people hear an improvement in sound quality with the Dreadnought on its side. If you do not hear a difference between the two orientations, then there is no reason to put it on its side.

TNTsTunes

Mine has made a huge difference. It has about 5 days of time on it now.

Great upgrade to say the least!!!

TNTsTunes

It's surprising how much of a difference 3 more days made to the sound quality.

It think it should be almost be fully burnt in by now.

My tenant just loves me... My rigs been running 24/7 plus some.

DarqueKnight you nailed this mod dead on, plain and simple... Great job!!!

Now I just need to save up for the next group buy. I picked up some 3.1TL's and it totally transforms the sound of those also.

motorstereo

Mine has just over 150 hours on it now. I haven't really noticed much change over the last few days. But I do continue to be amazed at the upgrade in sound the dreadnaught has given me.
Yesterday's project was to make a sturdy stand for it as the wall shelf just wasn't cutting it. I also spiked the box and soldered all my connections. Thanks once again to everyone that made this happen. One very happy camper here to

Moose68Bash

Would you mind describing how you built that stand?

It looks pretty cool!

motorstereo

Moose68Bash wrote: »

Would you mind describing how you built that stand?

It looks pretty cool!

Thanks but it's really nothing fancy. I wanted something stable and a wall mounted shelf just didn't look right to me. I also think the dreadnaught certainly is deserving of it's own stand to.
The base is one of those ubiquitous stands with the adjustable belt used for keeping people in line at banks, turnstiles etc. It's heavy yet the base is not too big around so I can get it close to the wall. Some fellow had several of them at our local flea last week and I took home 3 of them. I used a pipe cutter to cut the top retractable belt piece off. Then I mounted a leftover seat base from my boat for the top. I rattle canned the seat base and screwed a piece of scrap mdf to it. I've got to adjust the height down a bit then I'll rattle can the top and fill the tube with sand for even more stability.

Moose68Bash

Improvisation! I love improvisation! Well done.

Now, let me betray my ignorance: What does "rattle can" mean? Does it mean that you painted the seat base with spray paint?

Thank you for the detailed description of the "build." All I need to do is to find some surplus "line control" stands -- for lack of a better term.

I want to build stands for a pair of vintage Allison 6 speakers that need to be elevated and backed up against a wall. Yours look very sturdy and about the right height. And, I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on them!

Thanks, again.

drumminman

Rattle can = spray paint in a can as opposed to using a gun with a compressor.

motorstereo

Moose68Bash wrote: »

Improvisation! I love improvisation! Well done.

Now, let me betray my ignorance: What does "rattle can" mean? Does it mean that you painted the seat base with spray paint?

Thank you for the detailed description of the "build." All I need to do is to find some surplus "line control" stands -- for lack of a better term.

I want to build stands for a pair of vintage Allison 6 speakers that need to be elevated and backed up against a wall. Yours look very sturdy and about the right height. And, I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on them!

Thanks, again.

Yes just like drumminman mentioned it's just a can of black spray paint. And yes thanks; that's a good description of the stand as "improvised". It does serve the purpose quite well, didn't cost much, and it was a fun build as well.
If you're ever down this way I have a pair of those line control stands (minus the boat seat mounts) that are excess to my needs. They're yours for the asking. I'm sure with a little "improvisation" they would work great with your Allisons.
I do believe it's time for me to give back a little karma to another polkie after all that I've received mostly from this thread.

motorstereo

Does anyone else have a pic of how they have their dreadnaught mounted?

Moose68Bash

Here is a picture of one of my Dreadnought's before I soldered the connections to the binding posts, but after I mounted the transformer in the enclosure. As you can see, I used spikes on the bottom, and the enclosure rests on "bottom" rather than the side. The enclosure itself is anodized 3/8" aluminum plate.



Following is a picture of the fully assembled Dreadnought sitting on a set of wire shelves I used to test my rig before I put all the components in their permanent locatio


ns.

westmassguy

You could conceivably hang it on the wall, up and out of the way. The Bose WB-3 Wall Brackets I used for my surrounds would hold it. The part that attaches to the wall would have to have blocking behind it, or a stud.

crispybrown

I'm just assembling the dreadnought today after finally getting around to ordering all of the screws and connectors, so no pictures of the mounting/shelving arrangement yet. I plan to put it in the basement below the listening space! To illustrate what I mean, here is a diagram:

Basically I plan to put my electronics in a sideboard type cabinet on the edge of the room to increase the WAF, and run the speaker wires under the floor through orange 'resi-gard' tube and 'brush' wall plates that allow the wires to pass through. The dreadnought does not need to be located near the amp - it's ideal location in terms of wiring is centred between the two speakers. It also does not have any kind of controls or display, so it does not need to be very accessible. I'm planning to buy a grey plastic electrical junction box slightly larger than it, connect the orange tubing to that box, and install the dreadnought inside it

Moose68Bash

The permanent "resting place" for my Dreadnought is also in my basement, centered under the speakers on the floor above. It sits on 3/4" MDF on industrial shelving. My monoblock amplifiers are also on this shelving, along with a Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One 5.0 power conditioner. My DAC, CD transport, and preamp are in a built-in cabinet between the speakers in the room above.

motorstereo

Thanks for showing the pics Phil. 3/8 aluminum! Wow now that is one heckuva solid box. I like your idea of using the weight plates for a secure base even though it is only temporary.

Moose68Bash

The Dreadnought, as built, weighs in at about 45#. I designed it, ordered the aluminum plate, and commissioned the machining before I learned about Larry's enclosures, one of which I used for my second Dreadnought.

I went a bit overboard on the 3/8" aluminum because DK's research and testing found that more aluminum shielding produced better sonic performance. I suspect that after 1/8" or even 1/6" you may pass the point of diminishing returns.

But, I suspect mine Dreadnought, like many others not he Forum, is unique and it works!

Scott_Free

If anyone is selling a 800VA unit please message me. Thank you.

allstock

Why stop at 1000va? I have a line on medical grade toroidal isolation transformers up to 2500va. Not cheap, about $350.00 but perhaps even further benefits. I'm waiting to get all the specs. That 1000va Avel unit is way off on inductance in relation to the specs put forward by Matthew Polk. Everyone is raving about how great they sound though. Inductance changes the low freq hand over to the Sda drivers, so the low end is going to be "voiced" by the inductance of the isolation transformer. I think MP said 14mh was ideal, the Avel unit is much higher than that. Maybe it doesn't make an audible difference? I know just enough about this stuff to be dangerous lol.

Mr_Hz

Allstock... interesting development there... Please post when you have more info. At some point I'm sure there's a diminishing return on investment, but where that is, I'm no SME to comment.

Mr_Hz

Run silent, run deep .... ??? Any additional posts on advancement/bringing units up in to service?

Will admit I've got a couple of minor issues before I'm able to complete my Dreadnaughts... mostly what's left is to drill the holes on the machined aluminium face plates around the 1" holes to secure the Speakon connectors. I have the copper & dynamat layers ready to install after applying a layer of primer & paint on the inside aluminum end plates, Peavy rubber feet, some dialetric material and attachment hardware to complete installation. Getting close... more info and pics to follow shortly.

F1nut

Why stop at 1000va?

This is not just any 1000VA transformer, it is a low noise design specifically made for audio. In fact, it was designed for an audio company to be used in an amplifier.

Maybe it doesn't make an audible difference?

It does, for the better.

allstock

F1 I don't think it's original purpose was for a power amp, it's a 1:1 ratio transformer. Perhaps a power conditioner. Other than for isolation a 1:1 transformer does not have many practical purposes. Work has been stupid busy and I haven't had much time to fiddle with the rig lately. I have been doing quite a bit of reading and talking to local companies who manufacture toroidal transformers. There is a lot to learn about this interesting subject.

F1nut

Ya know, I'm probably wrong about its use, but I do know it was designed for an audio company.

Moose68Bash

F1nut wrote: »

Ya know, I'm probably wrong about its use, but I do know it was designed for an audio company.

My memory is the same as F1nut's, and I believe it was DarqueKnight who first procured the A-L 1000VA transformer from Avel-Lindberg's excess production for the industrial customer for whom the transformer was specifically designed and manufactured.

DarqueKnight

allstock wrote: »

F1 I don't think it's original purpose was for a power amp, it's a 1:1 ratio transformer. Perhaps a power conditioner. Other than for isolation a 1:1 transformer does not have many practical purposes.

I agree that the AV-047528 was most likely developed for use in a power conditioning role. Avel Lindberg wouldn't say specifically. This is the answer I received from them:

"This unit is a special power transformer design specifically for an audio application to ensure quiet operation at 50/60 Hz. Specifics about the design would be proprietary."

I suspect that the AL-047528's higher performance is due more to its low noise properties than its power handling capability. I do think the ability to handle higher amplitude bass transients is also an important factor.

allstock wrote: »

Why stop at 1000va? I have a line on medical grade toroidal isolation transformers up to 2500va.

I evaluated a 1000VA Plitron medical grade transformer here:

Plitron 1000VA Transformer Evaluation

Looking forward to your results. I wanted to try a 1500 VA Antek transformer, but I could never get them to respond to my questions.

allstock wrote: »

That 1000va Avel unit is way off on inductance in relation to the specs put forward by Matthew Polk. Everyone is raving about how great they sound though. Inductance changes the low freq hand over to the Sda drivers, so the low end is going to be "voiced" by the inductance of the isolation transformer. I think MP said 14mh was ideal, the Avel unit is much higher than that. Maybe it doesn't make an audible difference?

Maybe. Or maybe it makes an audible difference for the better. It definitely sounds better than all the alternatives I have tried.