Hello everyone,
My name is Ian and I've been interested in audio since I worked a part time job at QSC Audio in HS. I don't remember much but I did get to work on a 10,000W amplifier. Since then I've been to college and have finished a MS in physics and just recently finally finished my clinical residency as a Medical Physicist. Now that I can finally get my career going and will have some money to toy with I can't wait to give my ears a long awaited gift. I have interests in almost every category on this forum and hopefully I will get to be involved with many of these projects and share some of my own.
My name is Ian and I've been interested in audio since I worked a part time job at QSC Audio in HS. I don't remember much but I did get to work on a 10,000W amplifier. Since then I've been to college and have finished a MS in physics and just recently finally finished my clinical residency as a Medical Physicist. Now that I can finally get my career going and will have some money to toy with I can't wait to give my ears a long awaited gift. I have interests in almost every category on this forum and hopefully I will get to be involved with many of these projects and share some of my own.
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Welcome aboard, fellow dork!
I speak for all the losers here when I say "Neef nerp quintakk!", which of course is Zarbelorian for "May your radishes be well-fermented."
Seriously, though, welcome aboard, and enjoy the ride! I suggest starting with a speaker design as a first build- the wood skills translate nicely into building attractive chassis' for amps and such, and there's a lot of reward in doing a speaker. A BIB, TL (Nelson Pass did a design, "Pioneer" B20 search should bring it up), or Chang (see frugel-horn.com) with a pioneer B20 would be a great start.
I speak for all the losers here when I say "Neef nerp quintakk!", which of course is Zarbelorian for "May your radishes be well-fermented."
Seriously, though, welcome aboard, and enjoy the ride! I suggest starting with a speaker design as a first build- the wood skills translate nicely into building attractive chassis' for amps and such, and there's a lot of reward in doing a speaker. A BIB, TL (Nelson Pass did a design, "Pioneer" B20 search should bring it up), or Chang (see frugel-horn.com) with a pioneer B20 would be a great start.
Thanks for the tips. noticed you are from Tustin, I grew up in Costa Mesa, lived there until I was about 24 then moved to Honolulu for three years while doing my BS in physics finally moved out here to continue my MS and do my residency. Hopefully we'll (my wife and I) be able to get back out there eventually. That's the goal anyway slow economy jobs are drying up a little.
Welcome!
Welcome Ian...
So you want to take up this hobby Huh?
It IS all about gifting the ears when you think about it..
The world of audio gear IS quite fascinating, and it has really gone downhill in recent years. It really wasn't like this not too long ago. Perhaps it is the move into the mass-market.
In the fifties it was very much a DIY market....most all the enthusiasts made their own gear. It was later the "masses" discovered HIFi...much to the disappointment of the die-hards' in us.
So...are you going to do some research into this or do you want to jump right in??
You will need some infrastructure....A "lab"...A separate room in the house, your sanctuary as it were for you to experiment...blow things up!
A good test bench, good lighting, a basic two trace o-scope, a DVOM, an analog meter too. perhaps an AF generator. a solder station, reels of wire...et.al. A white labcoat would round it out, safety glasses. "where is my calculator!"
Myself I like tube amplifiers.....I have done a dozen or so DIY speakers...so I have changed gears now so to speak.
Right now i am listening to Miles Davis thru my thirteen year old DIY speaker towers.....it sounds they are RIGHT THERE!
Again welcome...pardon my ramblings.
____________________________________________________________Rick...........
Welcome Ian...
So you want to take up this hobby Huh?
It IS all about gifting the ears when you think about it..
The world of audio gear IS quite fascinating, and it has really gone downhill in recent years. It really wasn't like this not too long ago. Perhaps it is the move into the mass-market.
In the fifties it was very much a DIY market....most all the enthusiasts made their own gear. It was later the "masses" discovered HIFi...much to the disappointment of the die-hards' in us.
So...are you going to do some research into this or do you want to jump right in??
You will need some infrastructure....A "lab"...A separate room in the house, your sanctuary as it were for you to experiment...blow things up!
A good test bench, good lighting, a basic two trace o-scope, a DVOM, an analog meter too. perhaps an AF generator. a solder station, reels of wire...et.al. A white labcoat would round it out, safety glasses. "where is my calculator!"
Myself I like tube amplifiers.....I have done a dozen or so DIY speakers...so I have changed gears now so to speak.
Right now i am listening to Miles Davis thru my thirteen year old DIY speaker towers.....it sounds they are RIGHT THERE!
Again welcome...pardon my ramblings.
____________________________________________________________Rick...........
I'll be moving in a month or so to start my new job. I'll be getting about an 8 times pay increase so I'll finally have some fun money. I have access to alot of really good EE test equipment and have lots of construction equipment as well. For the next month or two ill probably be doing some research into what I want to build but i think I have a pretty good idea of what I want. As far as the lab coat goes I wear one all day at work so when I get home I can;t wait to take it off hah. This will probably be a basement experiment room and then once completed if they sound good will move selected projects into my home office. I guess some of my first questions to be answered are how many watts will the speakers need, I'll probably try and build a really nice set of speakers first and then move on to some amps, maybe small valve amps and then probably a high end valve preamp feeding a larger solid state or chip amp depending on how much power feel I need.
Spl
Ian:
You should reformulate your question as to " I need speakers with XXX decibels of sound pressure level"
Speakers have a published rating of sound pressure level notated as
XXX Db @ 1W1M..One Watt of input power, measured at one meter distant.
These specs are available for commercial speakers and component drivers.
Familiar with the Decibel system? I'm sure you are. Driver 'sensitivity' values vary wildly, from a low of some 82Db all the way up to 102 Db....per Watt!
This means you can design a loudspeaker with an upper "Rock Concert" value of 115Db that can be obtained with very little amplifier wattage. This highly sensitive loudspeaker frees you up so you can now focus on amplifier quality rather than quantity(Wattage). Note during your calculations some drivers cannot obtain 'Rock concert' levels(SPL) without exceeding their maximum power ratings (Thermal and/or mechanical). Conversely some can easily break thru 115 Db to make your ears hurt. Surf thru www.partsexpress.com checkout all the drivers available.
________________________________________________________Rick......
Ian:
You should reformulate your question as to " I need speakers with XXX decibels of sound pressure level"
Speakers have a published rating of sound pressure level notated as
XXX Db @ 1W1M..One Watt of input power, measured at one meter distant.
These specs are available for commercial speakers and component drivers.
Familiar with the Decibel system? I'm sure you are. Driver 'sensitivity' values vary wildly, from a low of some 82Db all the way up to 102 Db....per Watt!
This means you can design a loudspeaker with an upper "Rock Concert" value of 115Db that can be obtained with very little amplifier wattage. This highly sensitive loudspeaker frees you up so you can now focus on amplifier quality rather than quantity(Wattage). Note during your calculations some drivers cannot obtain 'Rock concert' levels(SPL) without exceeding their maximum power ratings (Thermal and/or mechanical). Conversely some can easily break thru 115 Db to make your ears hurt. Surf thru www.partsexpress.com checkout all the drivers available.
________________________________________________________Rick......
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