prodigal hobbyist returns smiling

[francolargo]

I am delighted to be back from the dawn of USENET!

I am mostly a speaker hobbyist who has dabbled with plug-in stuff. My first DIY MOSFET amp was built & tweaked ~15 years ago with input from kind people like yourselves. It gave spectacular bang/buck but is now sounding tired on one side and seriously ill on the other.

My current agenda is fairly simple:
0) do research while I finish a few non-audio projects
1) remodel the living room to create floor space for my beloved DIY 'bachelor-sized' woofers and install proper wiring to a proper equipment bay
2) consolidate music and video reproduction - make that enjoyment - into the same room and share the sound equipment
3) keep up with the house payments!

My specific interests on this forum will include:
1) media computers and audiophile PCI sound cards, such as those produced by Digital Audio Labs - how do they perform and what kind of amps will they successfully drive?
2) software-based speaker crossovers and acoustical correction, which seems like a speaker-builders dream!
3) building a new DIY amp or amps to power everything - them newfangled chip-amp modules look like a barrel of fun!

As I get around to the various phases of this major overhaul I'll appreciate the generous advice that in the past has been so kindly offered.

Best,

Frank in Minneapolis

[Cal Weldon]

Hi Franco and welcome to the forums. Sounds like you will be busy. I am a speaker dabbler as well.

[francolargo]

Nice to hear from you - it looks like you're one of the 'official greeters'!

I'm hoping that the extensive plans I'm considering can incorporate my existing speakers: Morel tweeters and JBL LE8T-H's sealed in about 1.2 cu. ft. and separate woofers with re-furb'd 2235H's in 4.5 cu. ft. each. They were nice stacked together and bi-amped w/ a passive line-level XO (12dB/o @ 400 Hz) but in the future the boxes will be farther apart. We'll wait and see... Any experience w/ digital phase correction or digital XO?

Best,

Frank in Minneapolis

[Cal Weldon]

Ah yes, LE8T's

No, I have no experience with digital stuff.

[francolargo]

Hey, SWEET! Last I checked, you can still get parts. I had mine refurb'd about 10 yrs. ago. I see yours are crispy around the edges... I know that now they're not the nicest thing out there for face-on radiation, but as the first driver I ever bought (not a bad choice at the time ...) I'm parial and just give 'em plenty of power. Next time mine get 'crispy', though, I'll have to suppress nostalgia and think hard.

I once talked w/ a JBL engineer who told me the LE8s were designed for ceiling installations and that makes sense, considering their characteristics. Part of that theater system I'm cooking up will have the rear channel in the (new) ceiling...
Hey, maybe I should just put them into the living room ceiling!!! ;-) Then when I eventually move on and sell the house I won't have to worry about upkeep on my old friends...

Frank in Minneapolis