Windows Me was rubbish IMO. A less stable version of Win98 with a few extra bells & whistles bolted on. For older machines, Linux seems to be the best bet in terms of speed & stability, although it does take a little getting used to.
-rant- Many programmers have got lazy these days, that's what it is. The modern PC has so much raw grunt at its disposal that they simply don't bother to optimise their code, with the inevitable result that if your machine is more than about 18 months old it runs with the alacrity of a three-toed sloth on low-grade smack. -rant over-
-rant- Many programmers have got lazy these days, that's what it is. The modern PC has so much raw grunt at its disposal that they simply don't bother to optimise their code, with the inevitable result that if your machine is more than about 18 months old it runs with the alacrity of a three-toed sloth on low-grade smack. -rant over-
Hi Scott, you are 100% right. Bloated code is soaking up the "extra" computing power delivered by Moore's Law. So we haven't gained much, as most tasks take just as long as they did 5 or 10 years ago.
It's lots of fun to see a 5-year-old computer running a "lightweight Linux" outperform a brand-new Vista machine on typical tasks (though of course nothing's perfect, Linux included). By tweaking parameters etc., you can improve battery life (e.g. 2 hours on Vista to 3 hours on a lightweight Linux). Sorry this is very OT but at least it's DIY!
It's lots of fun to see a 5-year-old computer running a "lightweight Linux" outperform a brand-new Vista machine on typical tasks (though of course nothing's perfect, Linux included). By tweaking parameters etc., you can improve battery life (e.g. 2 hours on Vista to 3 hours on a lightweight Linux). Sorry this is very OT but at least it's DIY!
You almost have to talk Computers to stay on forums. Not 3 minutes ago this bugger just ate all my saved e-mail folders from letter C - letter R !! Why? Where are they?
Been told the same about ME from many. Tempted to pull out my old Aptiva with 95 on it. That thing never gave me any trouble but was pretty antiquated. I've added Ram to this thing and gone DSL , it's still slower than molasses and a new problem daily.
We had the new one built by a guy I met on the Net. Works like a dream and the guy worked for peanuts. I stay off of it as needless to say we know who got blamed for wrecking this Dell. Anyone want a heads-up on a new Computer ... let me know, Guy is good.
I'll get back on topic now ... Sorry.
Bluto
Been told the same about ME from many. Tempted to pull out my old Aptiva with 95 on it. That thing never gave me any trouble but was pretty antiquated. I've added Ram to this thing and gone DSL , it's still slower than molasses and a new problem daily.
We had the new one built by a guy I met on the Net. Works like a dream and the guy worked for peanuts. I stay off of it as needless to say we know who got blamed for wrecking this Dell. Anyone want a heads-up on a new Computer ... let me know, Guy is good.
I'll get back on topic now ... Sorry.
Bluto
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Had some time so I added my Dayton tweeter I had laying around with 2uF capacitor, took out some stuffing out of the compression chamber while I had the front open. Now it has more air and high notes have improved.
Bass is impressive with Pioneer cheapie A11, although experts have designed the cabinet for Fostex FE 126, I had the Pioneer and Dayton laying around. May not upgrade to Fostex.
Sounds more than satisfying in my guest room (slowly evolving into speaker room, wife will catch on soon though...)
thanks for audio engineers who design these things...
gychang
Does anyone have a cut list for the mikasa or a visual of how the pieces are layed out on the sheet stock?
Is there a meaningful reason not to use mdf and possibly veneer it?
I've never done veneer so I don't know what I'm getting into there.
I think MDF is less expensive and has less sound propagation through?
Thanks,
Spence
Is there a meaningful reason not to use mdf and possibly veneer it?
I've never done veneer so I don't know what I'm getting into there.
I think MDF is less expensive and has less sound propagation through?
Thanks,
Spence
mdf AND Birch plywood
Gychang..... your speakers are beautiful..... I made a pair of Mikassa' with the Fostex 126's, and they sound great..... but I have yet to put a finish on them......
EmergencyDpt..... as you look at the picture of Gychangs speakers, make the internal parts and all black parts out of mdf..... then make the top, bottom, sides, and speaker plate out of birch plywood..... you will then have the best of both worlds.
Lornie
Gychang..... your speakers are beautiful..... I made a pair of Mikassa' with the Fostex 126's, and they sound great..... but I have yet to put a finish on them......
EmergencyDpt..... as you look at the picture of Gychangs speakers, make the internal parts and all black parts out of mdf..... then make the top, bottom, sides, and speaker plate out of birch plywood..... you will then have the best of both worlds.
Lornie
GM,
By "acceptably" I basically meant that, while my B20s were stock, I was able to EQ better sounding treble from then than from the Kenwood KFC-6949s they replaced, and yes, I claimed that the phase plugs and then later the enabling increased the sound quality up top in noticeable fashion. I never claimed it was good (my references being B&G Neo3PDRs and Dayton RS100S-8s), but it was better than the car audio bicones I was replacing at the time.
I still don't think we're disagreeing ;-p
Kensai
By "acceptably" I basically meant that, while my B20s were stock, I was able to EQ better sounding treble from then than from the Kenwood KFC-6949s they replaced, and yes, I claimed that the phase plugs and then later the enabling increased the sound quality up top in noticeable fashion. I never claimed it was good (my references being B&G Neo3PDRs and Dayton RS100S-8s), but it was better than the car audio bicones I was replacing at the time.
I still don't think we're disagreeing ;-p
Kensai
Re: the horn part.
Does anyone have an oppinion on leaving out the stepped horn and sliding a sheet of ABS plastic or very thin plywood up in there? I mean, you could even go so far as to build the outside of the box with acrylic and the horn part with a thin ABS or acrylic and have as complex a folded horn as you like.
One draw back would be less stability I guess since your center of gravity would be higher. You could of course leave the lower steps in place, cover them with something bendy, take the upper steps out totally and replace them with said bendy stuff (abs or plywood) and that would make your wieght bias toward the bottom of the cabinets. You would be shaving off wieght from the top.
I know the steps are supposed to do something but...I just wonder if the benifits outwiegh the gains or just break even. The gains, in my oppion would be a different look and a lighter cabinet.
Does anyone have an oppinion on leaving out the stepped horn and sliding a sheet of ABS plastic or very thin plywood up in there? I mean, you could even go so far as to build the outside of the box with acrylic and the horn part with a thin ABS or acrylic and have as complex a folded horn as you like.
One draw back would be less stability I guess since your center of gravity would be higher. You could of course leave the lower steps in place, cover them with something bendy, take the upper steps out totally and replace them with said bendy stuff (abs or plywood) and that would make your wieght bias toward the bottom of the cabinets. You would be shaving off wieght from the top.
I know the steps are supposed to do something but...I just wonder if the benifits outwiegh the gains or just break even. The gains, in my oppion would be a different look and a lighter cabinet.
Re: mdf AND Birch plywood
thanks for the compliment, they look good only if u look from far... From the sound of the cabinet, may not be any obvious air leak.
I have listened to the tweeter added combo for few days now and the sound is very good, There may be a mild emphasis on very low bass, like having a hometheater subwoofer turned on, may not be ideal for pure music playing... I am driving with 80w/ch Harmon Kardon receiver.
Like to encourage others to build this excellent setup, somewhat labor intensive but speaker parts are total of $40 for the pair, just add cost of plywood or MDF.
Excellent idea to make the combo of MDF and plywood as suggested by Lornie.
lornie said:
thanks for the compliment, they look good only if u look from far... From the sound of the cabinet, may not be any obvious air leak.
I have listened to the tweeter added combo for few days now and the sound is very good, There may be a mild emphasis on very low bass, like having a hometheater subwoofer turned on, may not be ideal for pure music playing... I am driving with 80w/ch Harmon Kardon receiver.
Like to encourage others to build this excellent setup, somewhat labor intensive but speaker parts are total of $40 for the pair, just add cost of plywood or MDF.
Excellent idea to make the combo of MDF and plywood as suggested by Lornie.
I'm working on it right now.
I'm excited to pair them up with my homebrew AMP10 amplifier I built. It really has excellent sound. The best my admittedly inferior ears have ever heard.
Ah, too have a matched set of cutting edge amp, and speakers to sit back in the comfort of my listening area and reexplore my music collection with a cup of tea and my dogs at my side. Simple wishes for complex times, eh?
Two nights ago I rebuilt the spring motor in my Victrola. The lo-fi recordings bring with them an air of memory. They don't reproduce the sound so much as filter it through a viel of time. The muffled sounds are reproduced inside the brain as crystal clear with imagination!
Ha ha. So the Victrola horn is a good primer to these more high tech horns I'm working on now.
I'm going to experiment with putting something bendy like ABS plastic or thin plywood over the steps to see if there is an improvement or deterioration in sound. Can't wait to experiment.
I'm excited to pair them up with my homebrew AMP10 amplifier I built. It really has excellent sound. The best my admittedly inferior ears have ever heard.
Ah, too have a matched set of cutting edge amp, and speakers to sit back in the comfort of my listening area and reexplore my music collection with a cup of tea and my dogs at my side. Simple wishes for complex times, eh?
Two nights ago I rebuilt the spring motor in my Victrola. The lo-fi recordings bring with them an air of memory. They don't reproduce the sound so much as filter it through a viel of time. The muffled sounds are reproduced inside the brain as crystal clear with imagination!
Ha ha. So the Victrola horn is a good primer to these more high tech horns I'm working on now.
I'm going to experiment with putting something bendy like ABS plastic or thin plywood over the steps to see if there is an improvement or deterioration in sound. Can't wait to experiment.
In english, are you saying that the stepped horn rejects more of the high frequencies that are coming from the back of the driver? This leaves the lower frequencies to be amplified by the horn? The smaller drivers need help with lower frequencies due to thier diminutive size? Lower frequency sounds don't matter as much for phase?
I'm sorry, I probably have this wrong.
Is there any way you can leave out the abreviations because I'm having just a little bit of trouble understanding all of them.
Sorry for hijacking this thread btw (grin).
I'm sorry, I probably have this wrong.
Is there any way you can leave out the abreviations because I'm having just a little bit of trouble understanding all of them.
Sorry for hijacking this thread btw (grin).
It's not difficult:
HF = high[er] frequency
BW = bandwidth or back-wave depending on context (the former in this case)
BLH = back loaded horn
POV & WRT don't need any explanations...
Anyway, what GM is explaining is that a smooth horn path will allow more in the way higher frequencies to pass unhindered (HF, with its short wavelengths, hates sharp bends & angles). This is not a good thing because as frequency rises, so its output will be increasingly out of phase with that from the front of the driver, & you will get destructive interference.
HF = high[er] frequency
BW = bandwidth or back-wave depending on context (the former in this case)
BLH = back loaded horn
POV & WRT don't need any explanations...
Anyway, what GM is explaining is that a smooth horn path will allow more in the way higher frequencies to pass unhindered (HF, with its short wavelengths, hates sharp bends & angles). This is not a good thing because as frequency rises, so its output will be increasingly out of phase with that from the front of the driver, & you will get destructive interference.
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