Lightspeed Attenuator a new passive preamp

[Audionutz]

Originally Posted by gootee

Oh dear! Implying that making money or that making a (gasp!) profit is somehow untoward, or wrong, is promoting a political agenda (and is most-utterly misguided, in my opinion), which is not tolerated, anywhere on diyaudio. I am profoundly offended by your post. Please, cease and desist from posting anything else with any implied or overt socialist or communist dogma.

Ha ha ! Socialist or communist !

You suggest censoring my comments, yet defend those who are against censoring off topic comments on this thread ?

Last time I looked, this thread was titled "Lightspeed Attenuator a new passive preamp"

Not any other members product or idea.

Differing opinions as to the merits, or otherwise, of Georges design are always welcome and should be encourage IMHO. But, not when they are obviously designed to drive business to another members product, whether it be DIY or not.

As stated before by others, if that's your agenda, why not simply start your own thread ?

Cheers

'Nutz

[Audionutz]

Originally Posted by mike_mcf

Woah! Gotta jump in here.

This is not a vendor bazaar thread. Presumably, George started this thread to help DIY build their own LDR attenuator. If he wanted to promote or support his own commercial product (which isn't even DIY, so why would he be here?) then he should have gone to the vendor bazaar. This thread is for DIYers who want to build their own LDR attenuator. George provided the schematics and then said "Hey go get your own parts."

For a long time Uriah was the only source for matched LDRs, although now there are others and we know how to match our own using low cost devices. In contrast to George, Uriah does sell parts and kits to assist DIYers in building an LDR attenuator. In general, he takes commercial traffic off the forum, although some users ask questions about his products here. He typically replies via PM. Uriah does have a signature link to his website, which I consider to be a service, not an annoyance.

Hey, I will promote him: If anybody wants to look at a variety of LDR solutions, including switching and remote control, check out Build An Amp. I am in no way affiliated with Uriah. That is a service to members of this forum and in no way hurts George.

Both Uriah and George are vendors of LDR products and both promote their wares in this forum (Uriah subtly, George not so subtly). Since it is a non-commercial forum, if you think that is violation of DIY Audio rules, then report it. At least Uriah has a DIY product.

Think about this for a second: George makes a commercial product, but he comes on this thread to tell us how to make our own and not buy his product. What's the marketing logic of that? Not exactly an A+ in business school. Perhaps some will decide not to build their own and buy George's product -- there's some marketing strategy in that. Most of us DIYers were not going to buy the commercial product anyway, so we're not hurting George any more than he hurt himself by starting this thread.

I also recall that some suppliers have asked George if it is OK to post in this thread and he long ago gave permission for that. Hats off to George a true friend of the DIY community.

Keep in mind that both George and Uriah have done a great service in assisting us DIYers in constructing and designing our own LDR attenuators. Don't screw it up for the rest of us who gain valuable information from Uriah's posts. Nutz, you Uriah an apology.

As stated in another answer, the title of this thread is "Lightspeed Attenuator". If it had been an open discussion of the relative merits of various LDR designs, no problem. But its not and never has been. The fact that George has seen fit to be so honest and open in his dealings with the DIY fraternity comes more from a desire to see people achieve something they would not otherwise have done, and to further the improvement of sound quality in systems in general, rather than any commercial agenda. He is due all the accolades, and then some.

My personal view is that others are using the obvious popularity of this thread to further their own interests/products/reputation. My personal view is that this goes against the spirit of this thread, as established by George in the first place.

No offense to anyone else was intended.

As some (famous or infamous, I don't recall) once said "I'm responsible for what I say. I'm not responsible for how you chose to interpret it"

Cheers

'Nutz

[mike_mcf]

Originally Posted by Audionutz

My personal view is that others are using the obvious popularity of this thread to further their own interests/products/reputation. My personal view is that this goes against the spirit of this thread, as established by George in the first place.

No offense to anyone else was intended.

As some (famous or infamous, I don't recall) once said "I'm responsible for what I say. I'm not responsible for how you chose to interpret it"

Cheers

'Nutz

You are welcome to your personal view, but I will decline to thank you for sharing it.

[Audionutz]

Originally Posted by mike_mcf

You are welcome to your personal view, but I will decline to thank you for sharing it.

I'll do my best not to be too disappointed

See C. below ....

fo·rum (fôrm, fr-)
n. pl. fo·rums also fo·ra (fôr, fr)
1.
a. The public square or marketplace of an ancient Roman city that was the assembly place for judicial activity and public business.
b. A public meeting place for open discussion.
c. A medium for open discussion or voicing of ideas, such as a newspaper, a radio or television program, or a website.
2. A public meeting or presentation involving a discussion usually among experts and often including audience participation.
3. A court of law; a tribunal.

Cheers

'Nutz

[AudioLapDance]

Yikes! Economic theories, excessive Canadian politeness, and now ... definitions.

Guys, ... this is turning into one of those interwebs flaming threads!!1!!

I feel a bit responsible because of my "which are the REAL lightspeed LDRs?" post.

This thread does read a bit funny and it's unclear as to who is pushing what to where with the permission of whom?

So please, can we keep the personal issues out of this thread. I think that if we can get an "ok" from georgehifi and udailey as to the situation then we can move forward.

So, is georgehifi's recounting of the history accurate, udailey?
Then, is the current situation acceptable to both parties? If not, what would be?

Really, I think it is up to them to decide (or to clarify to those of us who are confused) and then we should accept their wishes or start a different thread.

Cheers,
Jeff

[udailey]

I'm sorry but I dont feel compelled to justify myself or to argue with George on the cue of any other DIYaudio member. If I had a personal argument with George I would keep it personal and he and I have both communicated many times by email. I'm not inclined to justify this argument further so please interpret my silence as my desire not to litter this forum with more vitriol rather than acquiescence to whatever is said and not responded to.

[tinitus]

I still can't figure out what the problem is here, or the reason for this 'debate'
other than someone must have been too bored with nothing to do

George got his brand and name protected
and his product happens to be the topic/subject of this thread

thats all there is to it
there is no patent on using LDR's, or leds and resistors for that matter
its all been sorted long time ago

[bobbysdad]

No wonder the World doesn't get on, with too many hellbent on arguing just for the sake of arguing.
Ridiculing is easy, but to criticise constructively without having to belittle someone, now THAT's hard.

In the words of Bill and Ted, ".... be excellent to each other."

[nautibuoy]

I'm planning to implement a 'Lightspeed' attenuator using Paul Hynes VCCS modules. The context seems to fit; a source with output impedance of about 40ohms and a power amp with input impedance of >50K. I've been successfully using switched passive attenuators for years.

The potential fly in the ointment is that I want to use the attenuators on the input of two monoblock amps. Logistically it is simple enough to build two sets of VCCS modules and if I can even retain the balance function if I use the right L/R input/output in each amp. I want to integrate the attenuators into the amps to keep cabling very short from the output; it's also a lot neater.

The potential problem, compounded by the absence of a visual level readout/meter, is control and keeping the attenuators sync'ed. The IR receivers will operate over +/- 45degrees so, if the amps are 2.5metres apart, I should be able to control both as long as I sit centrally more than 1.25m back and point the IR transmitter straight down the middle. The problem would seem to be if I don't do that.

A not very elegant solution would be a centrally located single IR receiver pod, connected with umbilicals - the problem being that there is a fireplace between the amps. I've also considered using the spare input/output on each VCCS board to display a level, perhaps based on the resistance across an LDR?

I have quickly skimmed the considerable content of this thread so forgive me if this has come up before but I didn't spot it - just seeking thoughts/experiences/observations.

Thanks

Ray

[georgehifi]

Looks like no one will have a say on this Ray, because what your asking is too hard and complex.
Use a single external box, search eBay (worldwide) for remote volume control and there's any number to choose from, between $30-130 some with level readout. Some of the DIY'ers I know have used these nearly all of them say they are a little course in their action, but hey they come for China and are cheap, some even have mulitple input relay switching. These can be adapted to serve the Lightspeed circuit, just a little surgery to the PCB tracks around the pot needed

Cheers George