My_Ref Fremen Edition - Beta build/Fine tuning

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O.K. I'll give it a try. If I can wire my clogged up dishwasher into the circuit maybe I can get two birds with one CD. :D

BTW: If anyone has any extra money sitting around, I'm starting "The Bomac FE Beta Testing Funds Replenishment Foundation" :bawling: Here's your chance to become a founding member. :grouphug:
 
O.K. I'll give it a try. If I can wire my clogged up dishwasher into the circuit maybe I can get two birds with one CD. :D

Maybe... :D

If your BG are not yet burned in don't be surprised if after first run bass disappear...

Other two runs and bass is back.

BTW: If anyone has any extra money sitting around, I'm starting "The Bomac FE Beta Testing Funds Replenishment Foundation" :bawling: Here's your chance to become a founding member. :grouphug:

I should make a foundation too... :D
 
PRPs, while fine, are a bit too harsh in that positions I largely prefer KOA PR1 and best Caddocks MP915.

Darn, I went with PRPs too. But a Riken for the 390R.
I have no doubt that some components would work better in a certain position than others but it seems that at some point we're tuning the amp for our speakers instead of just tuning the amp. Speakers are part of the circuit, right ? So would an amp respond to a 88dB three way design with a ribbon tweeter the same way it would respond to a 102dB Xover-less 8" full range ?
Sometimes I wish we could all build a 3" full range like Siva's as a point of reference.
 
Darn, I went with PRPs too. But a Riken for the 390R.

Don't worry too much about it.

Just use some sockets so you can determine the right direction.

One is snappy and harsh, the other fuller and softer, the latter is the right one.

Then you can solder them.

If you find them still too harsh and you have some carbon films at hand you can use those, usually they'll do (determine the direction for them too, same thing).

I have no doubt that some components would work better in a certain position than others but it seems that at some point we're tuning the amp for our speakers instead of just tuning the amp.

The risk is real.

But I have the luck/bad luck to have ceramic dome tweeters that get harsh with the minium trace of harshness so, usually, my selection suits all.

My RevC is behaving the same, first hours very nice bass, after few tens of hours bass is shy. I hope my bass will be back.

Don't worry bass will be back but you need to wait for a few tens of hours more.

After that BG get harsh... :D

I've reached that phase today...

After a few tens of hours more they open and become fantastic loosing that harshness.

According other people reports BGs settles after 300 hours but they still changes a bit till 500 hours when they open-up completely.

You can shorten a lot (10x) the time using the IsoTek CD.
 
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Small World - Goggle coughed up an IsoTek retailer a few miles away right here in Michigan. Lining up all my DIY amps, speakers and the dishwasher for spring cleaning.;)

This should be very useful as I've done so many LM3886 projects in the last year and a half that no single build has been online long enough to be fully burned in. I was lucky to have bought several pair of BGs before they disappeared.
 
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Small World - Goggle coughed up an IsoTek retailer a few miles away right here in Michigan. Lining up all my DIY amps, speakers and the dishwasher for spring cleaning.;)

Don't forget the refrigerator... ;)

Please, after trying it report if dishes get more shiny. :D

I was lucky to have bought several pair of BGs before they disappeared.

Yes.

There are some German and Polish eBay sellers that have still some at decent price.

Is anyone else interested in creating such a baseline for testing?

Isn't that driver too much limited as frequency response?

Dario
 
Wrong answer, Try Again.:whazzat:

No, I feel the same pinch but am hoping there might be a suitable low cost driver or a "Midnight-Blue light" special that fits into a simple MFB box. Still looking.

and FYI - I had to sell the refrigerator to be able to buy the True Copper Caps.
 
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Siva, what driver are you using?

Fairly low and middle-of-the-range commercial 2-ways. One is a pair of JBL LX2001 bookshelves with a 6" woofer, 1" tweeter and 2nd-order XO; another is a Jamo Compact 60 with a ~4" woofer, 1" tweeter and 1st-order XO; and the third is a Kenwood LS-M33V bookshelf with ~4.5" woofer, 1" tweeter and 1st-order XO.

A speaker upgrade is on my wish-list, but I have lots more stuff on my plate now, so it will have to wait for a bit.
 
Dario, I'm hearing lots of "fuzz" on things like Wynton Marsalias solo trumpet work in the upper regesters. Is that what you meant by HF distortion with the Elna Cerafines? Everything else sounds pretty smooth,warm and punchy. Cymbals are clean and bright and the drums and bass are distinct.
 
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Dario, I'm hearing lots of "fuzz" on things like Wynton Marsalias solo trumpet work in the upper regesters. Is that what you meant by HF distortion with the Elna Cerafines? Everything else sounds pretty smooth,warm and punchey.

I wouldn't call it distorsion but there's something wrong with HF.

It depends a lot on recordings, if HF is on the hot side in my systems high hats and sometimes voices and trumpets get a bit of hardness and harshness.
 
Dario, I saw in post #11 that you are using r-core transformers. I've been reading on a few sites and the consensus appears to be R-cores for DACs and Preamps - toroids for power amps. Is there anything about the FE that would dictate a preference for either type?

And - other than the standard LM3886 specs, what would be your recommendation for the highest allowable trani rating for this design? Just thinking ahead on final build/chassis configuration.
 
Hi Siva, Sorry for a bit of misunderstanding. I was following squalor's lead. Thought you had a FR.
..
P.S. Did you settle on a name for project X yet?

Actually, I had done some auditioning earlier with a friend's speakers which had Fostex FE206 FRs, so that's what Squalor may have been referring to.

MyRef_X2 sounds fine, unless some objections crop up. I'll wait for another couple of weeks at least, until the prototype PCBs show up.
 
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