You're not alone guys -I miss Terry too. We all do, his restless enthusiasm was infectious, and he was a great stimulous of debate too.
HDD playback = good. My friend Ed (Vitalstates -he of the Vofos) uses a Squeezebox as a primary source for much of the time. Even stock, no tweaks, it lays waste to most sub £1,000 silver-disk spinners. Not bad for £150.
Couple that to a good valve-amp kit, buy a pair of decent 6 1/2in Fostex drivers & 2 sheets of BB ply, and for ~£750 you've got frightening good sound. Who was it who said high-quality audio has to be expensive?
If you're over in the UK later this year Dan, let me know -we'll have to meet up for a few beverages.
HDD playback = good. My friend Ed (Vitalstates -he of the Vofos) uses a Squeezebox as a primary source for much of the time. Even stock, no tweaks, it lays waste to most sub £1,000 silver-disk spinners. Not bad for £150.
Couple that to a good valve-amp kit, buy a pair of decent 6 1/2in Fostex drivers & 2 sheets of BB ply, and for ~£750 you've got frightening good sound. Who was it who said high-quality audio has to be expensive?If you're over in the UK later this year Dan, let me know -we'll have to meet up for a few beverages.
dmason said:
I have also been playing with USB digital, a Scott Nixon CHIBI UFO, this with a JFET buffer, which made all the sense in the world, especially with our beloved but tweaky flea amps. Color me converted.
Hard disk streamed audio is to CD player, what SET is to bipolar transistor, AFAIAC...
Interesting. I have started to play with USB DACs too but just using a PCM2706 with its internal DAC and opamp buffer. Not a good enough setup to realy compare - next version will have a TDA1543 in NONOS with a solid state I/V stage.
Opinions seem divided as to whether an HDD source is truely better than a CDM source so I am very interested in opinons - especialy from somebody with a 168 BIB! What are you using as a HDD source, are you using ASIO4ALL etc? What CD player are you comparing to?
Bit off topic I know but its in context of using in a system with a BIB
The only context I could refer to would be the way in which my brain interprets what is going on. It sounds good. Really very good. I am a musician first, and as such I either like it or I dont. This, I like. These brand new Nixon DAC's are getting some great feedback, for good reason. The JFET buffer as I said, made alot of sense to me. Such value here.
Wideband drivers I find also like NONOS DAC sound. This is a jitter free vibe no doubt; music floooooooows. I have had a couple quite nice CD players, Arcam FMJ, Theta Miles, but I somehow prefer this. The price of admission is pretty reasonable as well. And, you can stick the DAC in a side pocket of a laptop carrying case.
'Puter is a new Acer laptop with Philips HD, I am using EAC for ripping, and Foobar for playback. Works well. I can work it, so it is special, to me... Foobar also has a decent 1/2 octave EQ which comes in very handy. My ears dont want much to do with anything over ~10KHz anyway, due to advanced tinnitus, and hyperacuisis, so I have no interest really in the ultra high rez super upsampling etc. Just know that the Nixon DAC with SET with the BIB's is fantastic. I also prefer the sound of the SEX amp with the $3 Speco autoformers to the spendy Magnequest ones, @ $300/pr. CLark [Blumenco] took his out, and concurred. The amp has Mundorf oil caps and a DacT attenuator. Killer little amp. Great DAC and speakers.
I will have a pair of the third run of the V.3 HempTone 8's, which I am going to mount on a narrow baffle of ~16", use two little monkey coffin Axiom speakers for bass, and see how that sounds. I already know it will be great. Relieve the amp and the drivers of any bass duty, and they thank you kindly.
Wideband drivers I find also like NONOS DAC sound. This is a jitter free vibe no doubt; music floooooooows. I have had a couple quite nice CD players, Arcam FMJ, Theta Miles, but I somehow prefer this. The price of admission is pretty reasonable as well. And, you can stick the DAC in a side pocket of a laptop carrying case.
'Puter is a new Acer laptop with Philips HD, I am using EAC for ripping, and Foobar for playback. Works well. I can work it, so it is special, to me... Foobar also has a decent 1/2 octave EQ which comes in very handy. My ears dont want much to do with anything over ~10KHz anyway, due to advanced tinnitus, and hyperacuisis, so I have no interest really in the ultra high rez super upsampling etc. Just know that the Nixon DAC with SET with the BIB's is fantastic. I also prefer the sound of the SEX amp with the $3 Speco autoformers to the spendy Magnequest ones, @ $300/pr. CLark [Blumenco] took his out, and concurred. The amp has Mundorf oil caps and a DacT attenuator. Killer little amp. Great DAC and speakers.
I will have a pair of the third run of the V.3 HempTone 8's, which I am going to mount on a narrow baffle of ~16", use two little monkey coffin Axiom speakers for bass, and see how that sounds. I already know it will be great. Relieve the amp and the drivers of any bass duty, and they thank you kindly.
Thanks Dan - this is the stuff I wanted to hear!
I have just about maxed out on mods to my Philips CD880 (TDA1541A S1 dac, NONOS, Super clock Pedga Rogic AD844 I/V) and VERY please with it. To move on from there with CD would be building a CDP from scratch which I am considering. However I intend following the PC/HDD path for a bit to see what it can give me in terms of sonics. To compare fairly I would really need a comparable DAC I/V stage basically the difference then is simpley the source feeding the I2S bus.
FWIW rest of system - DIY Autoformer passive pre and 41hz Amp11, moded with high qual 5v regs and Spargue PIO (2.5mf + .27mf Vit-Q) input caps.
My PC steup is very similar new Acer laptop(!), ASIO4ALL, Foobar, rip with EAC, compression via Monkey's Audio. Shall definitely persue upgrading the USB DAC, first with a TDA1543 (that would be very similar to the Scott Nixon I think) and ultimately with a TDA1541A - my fav DAC of the moment.
Looking forward to hearing about the HempTones as a possible next BIB project. Keep us posted won't you Dan.
Cheers
I have just about maxed out on mods to my Philips CD880 (TDA1541A S1 dac, NONOS, Super clock Pedga Rogic AD844 I/V) and VERY please with it. To move on from there with CD would be building a CDP from scratch which I am considering. However I intend following the PC/HDD path for a bit to see what it can give me in terms of sonics. To compare fairly I would really need a comparable DAC I/V stage basically the difference then is simpley the source feeding the I2S bus.
FWIW rest of system - DIY Autoformer passive pre and 41hz Amp11, moded with high qual 5v regs and Spargue PIO (2.5mf + .27mf Vit-Q) input caps.
My PC steup is very similar new Acer laptop(!), ASIO4ALL, Foobar, rip with EAC, compression via Monkey's Audio. Shall definitely persue upgrading the USB DAC, first with a TDA1543 (that would be very similar to the Scott Nixon I think) and ultimately with a TDA1541A - my fav DAC of the moment.
Looking forward to hearing about the HempTones as a possible next BIB project. Keep us posted won't you Dan.
Cheers
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
http://www.decware.com/newsite/DFR6.htm
Steve has added his modded fe166e to the site for sale. I'd love to do his Corner Horns but don't have the room.. I'm thinking these would be great in a BIB.....
Dave
Am I the only one that can picture ringing with higher frequencies?
40Hz bass 'weight & control unheard of in the single driver world' in those corner horns. Er, I don't think so. I dare say it's good. Probably excellent. But hardly unique, or something that hasn't been done before, just as well, or better.
40Hz bass 'weight & control unheard of in the single driver world' in those corner horns. Er, I don't think so. I dare say it's good. Probably excellent. But hardly unique, or something that hasn't been done before, just as well, or better.
I don't think it would make any sence to offer up a modded driver if it had ringing treble etc. Steve does have ears after all and says it's his reference 6.5inch driver. I would think given that many of his products are very good for the money invested, this driver should work as claimed and so should the C Horns in the right room. Anyhow if I tried these drivers I'd go with a BIB for my room.. Dave
Hmm, tap a socket mounted tube......... Anyway, even the best tweeter's upper BW is nothing but controlled break-up modes ('ringing'), so I don't see a tube's microphonics as being inherently bad and may even give wider dispersion. One of the better sounding phase plugs IMO I've tried was a very large 300 W light bulb. Unfortunately, protecting it from breakage makes it probably not worth the effort.
Scottmoose said:
We didn't notice any probs with that... the pins offer very little coupling surface for the magnet and you are up everyother song centring the tube, and without clipping the pins you still end up with a cavity resonance.
Demetri?
We were listening to Demetri last night (with our modded FE167) and i can't help heading towards the conclusion that the 4-5" drivers are the sweet spot for the midrange.
Dave, after living with the FE108eS i'd almost bet you'd be dissappointed with FE166/7 of any type... (despite Steve's market speak -- as well as building nice amps he is a master of the latter)
dave
I know, the 108 is a thing of beauty for what it is, and I've yet to ever get fatigued by them.
The tube on the modded driver is attached to a socket so that would fill the cavity etc...
BTW I'm happy with my 108 BIB's for now and just wanted to post about the new driver so people can check it out.. Dave
The tube on the modded driver is attached to a socket so that would fill the cavity etc...
BTW I'm happy with my 108 BIB's for now and just wanted to post about the new driver so people can check it out.. Dave
dmason said:
but does the lack of grammar / spell check add or detract from the appeal?
it's one thing to get sloppy with forum banter, particularly on rapid-fire "flame wars", but when you're composing permanent ad copy, or "White papers" that you know will be cited in the future, I'd think you'd take a bit more care.
Who could agree more? I think it is part of the appeal. It "ordains the corners," as Vonnegut would say. It paints the background.
What writer would not endeavor to use spell check... indeed.
On a musical note, Nixon USB.DAC + SEX + BIB168, all products of formal education, continue to sound fanastic. Any reader thinking of assembing a killer, cost effective new system really ought to look into exactly this combo. You can rip albums while listening to music, while surfing the net, with this Acer Laptop, which is not an expensive unit. I am a convert.
The V.3 HempTone 8's arrived yesterday. I have some MDF clinkers in the garage, large enough to rip up 18 inch baffles. It would seem the current research indicates that ~18in wide is the best width for open baffle. With Foobar DEQ, I have no fear of the apparent rising response, likely due to the use of shorting rings. With contouring, this will be a superior driver to the older iteration.
What writer would not endeavor to use spell check... indeed.
On a musical note, Nixon USB.DAC + SEX + BIB168, all products of formal education, continue to sound fanastic. Any reader thinking of assembing a killer, cost effective new system really ought to look into exactly this combo. You can rip albums while listening to music, while surfing the net, with this Acer Laptop, which is not an expensive unit. I am a convert.
The V.3 HempTone 8's arrived yesterday. I have some MDF clinkers in the garage, large enough to rip up 18 inch baffles. It would seem the current research indicates that ~18in wide is the best width for open baffle. With Foobar DEQ, I have no fear of the apparent rising response, likely due to the use of shorting rings. With contouring, this will be a superior driver to the older iteration.
Richard Allan CG10 BIB
Richard Allan CG10 BIB:
http://fullrangedriver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=15452#p15452
Greets!
Well, your limitations weren't very specific and to get most of the bass capability out of this driver requires a large cab. Lots of folks are enjoying simple 'BIB' pipe horns: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthre … ost1245325
Basic layout info: http://www.zillaspeak.com/bib-howtobuild.asp
L = 138"
zdriver = 30"
Sm = 604.082"^2 (recommend ~20.668" W x 29.228" D)
a-b-c = 14.614"
Round off the dims as required and search the thread for folk's stuffing experiments to get you started.
If these are too big, then as size shrinks, so goes bass response with F3 rising.
GM
-----------
FYI, enhanced specs:
Fs....................58
Qms................3.58
Qes.................0.63
Qt....................0.536
VAS(cu ft/L)........2.63/74.473307
No (%)............2.2
Cms (M/N).......5.34
Mms (gms)......14.11
BI (Wb/M)........7.8
calc'd:
Sd (in^2/cm^2).......... 48.3291/311.8
dia. (in/cm)............. 7.8445/19.925
Re (ohms) ....... 7.46
sens (dBa)........ 95.48 dB/W/m
Richard Allan CG10 BIB:
http://fullrangedriver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=15452#p15452
Greets!
Well, your limitations weren't very specific and to get most of the bass capability out of this driver requires a large cab. Lots of folks are enjoying simple 'BIB' pipe horns: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthre … ost1245325
Basic layout info: http://www.zillaspeak.com/bib-howtobuild.asp
L = 138"
zdriver = 30"
Sm = 604.082"^2 (recommend ~20.668" W x 29.228" D)
a-b-c = 14.614"
Round off the dims as required and search the thread for folk's stuffing experiments to get you started.
If these are too big, then as size shrinks, so goes bass response with F3 rising.
GM
-----------
FYI, enhanced specs:
Fs....................58
Qms................3.58
Qes.................0.63
Qt....................0.536
VAS(cu ft/L)........2.63/74.473307
No (%)............2.2
Cms (M/N).......5.34
Mms (gms)......14.11
BI (Wb/M)........7.8
calc'd:
Sd (in^2/cm^2).......... 48.3291/311.8
dia. (in/cm)............. 7.8445/19.925
Re (ohms) ....... 7.46
sens (dBa)........ 95.48 dB/W/m
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