Local Custom Speakers
Comments
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Details I received yesterday on the crossover design for these three-way, four driver, Dayton Audio Reference speakers.
As I recall from memory, the woofers are wired in parallel in 2nd order (12db electrical) crossing at 300hz; low frequency response of woofers based on the box volume is around 55 hz at f3. The midrange is crossed at 300 and 1600 third order 18db to minimize ringing and beaming with the aluminum midbass, and the tweeter is crossed at 1600 fourth order (24db) with a LRC Leg in parallel to suppress the rise at around 7k hz. Physical time alignment was based on the sizes of the drivers, 15 degree tilting baffle was a sufficient compensation.
The 55Hz woofer response sounds right based on my listening over the last week. The speakers obviously don't go very low, but what bass they do has sounds very good and natural. After playing the with subwoofer last night, I found I can't cross it too much higher than 60Hz because you very quickly hear the competing woofers. More testing to come this weekend... -
Sealed woofers tuned to a Q(tc) of .7 roll off @ 12db, opposed to ported cabinet's 24db per octave. Depending on placement and your room size, once you add in room gain, you may not be missing much at all. What you may be hearing now is flatter bass resonse instead of a booted bottom end. But in case you still crave more, another advantage of sealed designs is that they are easier to integrate with subs."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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I was hoping for a little room gain from the woofers, especially with the opposed woofers, but the proximity required to the rear walls for decent gains had an adverse effect on sound quality and sound stage. At the point where distance from the back wall, distance from the side wall, and toe-in sounded the best (so far anyway), the bass response was not significantly boosted by the room. I do feel like I'm missing the bottom of the frequency range for listening to music (stand-up bass, organ, symphony), but my reference is corner horn-loaded 15" woofers, so I clearly need to adjust my expectations. :rolleyes:
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Depending on placement and your room size, once you add in room gain, you may not be missing much at all.
I'm interested to see what you come up with after modeling the speakers in my room. Thanks for the help! -
With the need for more current, I'm going to check out a Carver A-500x which can deliver 400wpc into my 4 ohm speakers; stable to 2 ohms and 750wpc. The amp looks like the last of the real Carver designs with classic VU meters and THX certification. Hopefully the amp will wake-up the bass in my speakers a little more, and be a quality pick overall.
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With the need for more current, I'm going to check out a Carver A-500x which can deliver 400wpc into my 4 ohm speakers; stable to 2 ohms and 750wpc. The amp looks like the last of the real Carver designs with classic VU meters and THX certification. Hopefully the amp will wake-up the bass in my speakers a little more, and be a quality pick overall.
Be wary of the THX knobs, they have a COMMON habit of breaking and just stink compared to other gain knobs on amps (like B&K)."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Since they are simply set knobs used during the HT calibration process, I would adjust them all the way open (I would assume would be the best option) then let them be. I'll make sure to check them for damage when I look at the amp as well.
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Mike was awesome and ran calculations for me based on these Dayton Audio Reference speakers and the specifics of my room. The bass response looks better than I think they sound, but they also have had very limited power, so more testing and tweaking is necessary.
Black line is the naked speaker, the blue line is the added room gain.
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The guy was moving and had his system apart, so I only got to power on the A500x tonight and toggle the VU meters. Everything seemed to work well, so I couldn't pass it for $200.
I'll hook it up with a passive preamp tomorrow and see what I have! -
The guy was moving and had his system apart, so I only got to power on the A500x tonight and toggle the VU meters. Everything seemed to work well, so I couldn't pass it for $200. I'll hook it up with a passive preamp tomorrow and see what I have!
Holy crap for 200 its a STEAL of a deal. Just watch those THX knobs on the back, like I said they are BRITTLE."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
That's what I thought. I originally passed on the deal because I didn't want a Carver amp, but it figured it was worth trying for the money. No matter what, it is a great looking amp.
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That's what I thought. I originally passed on the deal because I didn't want a Carver amp, but it figured it was worth trying for the money. No matter what, it is a great looking amp.
Yeah, and there is meat on the bone there for sure if you decide to sell it (and I can probably find you a buyer for it)."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
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Looks pretty, hows it sound.
BTW I envy you living up in Carver country where the Carver amps grow on trees "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Haven't hook it up yet, just snapped that picture last night when I brought it home and plugged it in. Tonight I'll get everything configured, and do some testing.EndersShadow wrote: »BTW I envy you living up in Carver country where the Carver amps grow on trees
That is an understatement; there are currently 9 Carver components on CL, plus a set of 5.1 HT speakers and a pair of Amazing Platinums for $500... -
That is an understatement; there are currently 9 Carver components on CL, plus a set of 5.1 HT speakers and a pair of Amazing Platinums for $500...
Man, whats your zip up there for use in SearchTempest lol...
Daddy needs him some Sunfire and Carver love lol...."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
98109, and I don't mind doing some local dealing for trusted Polkies.
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98109, and I don't mind doing some local dealing for trusted Polkies.
Rock on. I will keep that in mind if I stumble across something I just gotta have.
Would love to rock some additional Carver gear."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
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There is a local Classe CA-200 amp I'm eyeing...
Nice piece. If I was in the market for a Carver I would try to buy the one you just got off ya lol... but I am not right now (just picked up a Sunfire TGP-II for my 2 channel system that drained the bank)"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
I also don't think either of us want to shop a large amp across the country; can be done, but not fun.
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I also don't think either of us want to shop a large amp across the country; can be done, but not fun.
Agreed, can be done if necessary, but not fun and only at high risk. I prefer the smaller M and TFM series amps, lighter, easier to pack and ship.
That said it is possible you can sometimes end up with a totally refurbed amp (that was due for a re-cap anyway) on the carriers insurance dime due to said in transit damage."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
The amp all hooked-up with new passive preamp. Listened for a few minutes last night as the bass is improved with the additional power, still getting a feel for the voicing and sound stage, but first impressions are enjoyable, dynamic, and very detailed.
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The amp all hooked-up with new passive preamp. Listened for a few minutes last night as the bass is improved with the additional power, still getting a feel for the voicing and sound stage, but first impressions are enjoyable, dynamic, and very detailed.
I'm tempted to think that anything would look nice sitting on that stand, but that is a very pretty amp. -
blairfrischx wrote: »I'm tempted to think that anything would look nice sitting on that stand, but that is a very pretty amp.
It's a really crappy Fred Meyer component stand, but I'm glad my pictures are flattering. :cool: The stand only holds 70lbs on the main shelf, and the door are cockeyed, so take my advice and buy a good one the first time! -
I had the opportunity to pick up what could be a very good sounding, unique custom amp. Can anyone guess the design or the builder?
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Hypex,I have several.Looks like a re-purposed Adcom chassis.http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?57733-Hypex-Class-D-build&highlight=hypex+belles+chassis
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Bingo! Here is what Gary Dodd had to say about his amp:
This thing is built into and old Adcom GFA-555 chassis. The rear plate has been remade out of 3/8" thick aluminum for rigidity. It is based on stock Hypex UCD-400 modules! The power supply rails are plus, minus 60 volts and that is coming from an 800 VA transformer, dual windings feeding 2 full wave rectifiers in a pi configuration. As you see in the pics I have included the bottom toroid in the center is the main transformer. There is a 18mh 16Amp toroid choke on eachside of the main transformer,1 for each rail. There are 4 6800uf/80v nichicon cans on each side of the chokes for a total of 54,400uf per rail. You'll notice another large toroid on top of the main toroid, that's for the full balanced power supply that is built into this amp. There is also an input filter on the IEC connector into the fully balanced toroid. That's how this amp creates the sonics that it does. It makes 200 watts at 8 ohms and 400 watts at 4 ohms continuous; actually it measures more than that and is incredibly quiet! Great for driving a pair of Maggies, or another low impedance, hard to drive pair of speakers. -
Interesting power supply.The Hypex modules sound quite good even with a basic bridge/filter cap supply.As well their small size and ease of implementaion make them well suited to multi amped active systems. I'm currently using a 1/2 dozen Ucd 180's to drive a fully active setup.Their(Hypex) latest development the Ncore's are attracting a lot attention but unfortnately the price of admission is very steep.
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So did you or not? :biggrin:I had the opportunity to pick up what could be a very good sounding, unique custom amp. Can anyone guess the design or the builder?"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
