Interesting subject
I also do all three things: simulation, measurement & blind listening test.
This month I had an experience with this, we did cone correction with a tapped "kick" horn and everyone agreed that the sound was much more controlled, tight & seemingly "flat".
But at a measurement it was not like that.
In this case I trust our ears, after all they're what the speakers are built for, the simulation agreed with the ears.
Perhaps the better measurement without correction could be due to more distortion "flattening" the dips in response...
I also do all three things: simulation, measurement & blind listening test.
This month I had an experience with this, we did cone correction with a tapped "kick" horn and everyone agreed that the sound was much more controlled, tight & seemingly "flat".
But at a measurement it was not like that.
In this case I trust our ears, after all they're what the speakers are built for, the simulation agreed with the ears.
Perhaps the better measurement without correction could be due to more distortion "flattening" the dips in response...
I had an inguinal hernia repaired back in March....the surgeon is a Serbian. Really excellent job on what was a pretty big protrusion; a Scottish friend described it as "hanging out of him like a sheep's udder!" I was later told that the surgeon has a few pretty radical procedures which are at present in well advanced testing stage and are very likely to be adopted as standards. (He was extremely surprised that I did not need a catheter after the op! 
)
[I too had an Armstrong 22 series receiver - back in the 60s - with a lenco TT + Golring 800, Goodmans three way reflex in 1" solid mahog. reflex boxes.......sound was breathtaking at any volume setting. IF memory serves me right some 50 years later I could easily live with it now.]
)[I too had an Armstrong 22 series receiver - back in the 60s - with a lenco TT + Golring 800, Goodmans three way reflex in 1" solid mahog. reflex boxes.......sound was breathtaking at any volume setting. IF memory serves me right some 50 years later I could easily live with it now.
]
Orthopedic surgeons are farmers, they talk as one, behave like one, hack as one, the butcher of the surgical galaxy.
Never met one who wasn't a country hick.
(Before the age of MRI, lymphograms were made by contrast fluid injection and Xray imaging. Required tracking down a decent lymphatic vessel, surfacing and clearing it with a surgical blade, before inserting a tiny catheter needle, phrased a wing in pro lingo btw. Required a really steady hand when absolutely needed, and total concentration, which rare few possess both. Save those with a knife obsession before puberty, who practiced clean cuts on steak for fun. Added to a resumé, one sure guarantee not to be hired in the first place.
)I also practice clean cuts with no hacking every time I make a roast.
AS for surgeons, I agree, most of them are not quite right in the head, not unlike some of Altman's MASH people. But I also know a few who are old city folks and very cautious, as they say if they make a mistake, there's no "rewind" function.
AS for surgeons, I agree, most of them are not quite right in the head, not unlike some of Altman's MASH people. But I also know a few who are old city folks and very cautious, as they say if they make a mistake, there's no "rewind" function.
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AndrewT,
The secret in Ireland (where many Scottish customs are still extant) was to put out the smallest denomination coins....the old Farthings with a wren bird on them were perfect. (Said to be a 'method' from Aberdeen.
Happy Christmas!
Our money was divided into 960 Farthings to the Pound or 1008 to the Guinea. 20 Shillings to the Pound and 21 to the Guinea. The Crown was 1/4 and the Half crown 1/8 of a Pound. The Florin was two Shillings. The 4 Penny was a Groat amd the 3 Penny I think a Joey ( some were silver ). There were Half pennies and 10 Bob notes ( 10 Shillings ). Half Crown was "two and a kick" from 2/6d and the Crown a Dollar when the US Dollar was worth about that. The Crown although legal to use was seldom spent. They were struch to mark an event. Sovreigns were gold Pounds that were impossible after the fixed price of gold was abandoned. The six pence was a tanner. The Farthing the size of the now 1 pence. All people could manipulate the money in their heads unless the types who find any money tricky. This proves maths is about needing to and wanting to. I miss that money.
Being almost 74 now I am still more adept at working in fractions, old Sterling monetary units and Imperial measures! (Conditioned reflex thinking / action being a benefit of early and thorough training).
OTOH my ex-wife although intelligent enough was totally unable to count change in the old units, yet could look at a handful of change given at a shop till and instinctively know if it was wrong. I saw her on several occasions challenge , and although unable to actually count the coins was on every occasion correct in her challenge!
I miss all of the money which I have wasted!!
OTOH my ex-wife although intelligent enough was totally unable to count change in the old units, yet could look at a handful of change given at a shop till and instinctively know if it was wrong. I saw her on several occasions challenge , and although unable to actually count the coins was on every occasion correct in her challenge!
I miss all of the money which I have wasted!!
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NIgel, the one time I was grateful for the british system of madness related to their currency was in April 1970, when I spent the return trip from USA to UK on a Boeng 747 explaining to a bunch of American retirees travelling to the UK the convoluted monetry system. They were amazed and totally stumped, being used to the dollar, quarter, dime and 5 and 1 cent denominations.
I got used to the UK system really very easy, it all becomes quite easy once you start associating products with monetary denominations. I believe the UK system was called "eccentric" by finer people.
Whatever it was called, it still bought me some of the finest biscuits, jams and marmelade I have ever had anywhere. Not to mention some heavenly cider.
I got used to the UK system really very easy, it all becomes quite easy once you start associating products with monetary denominations. I believe the UK system was called "eccentric" by finer people.
Whatever it was called, it still bought me some of the finest biscuits, jams and marmelade I have ever had anywhere. Not to mention some heavenly cider.
Coin is an interesting word. It means corner from even now French. The silver coin could be cut in fours using the cross of it's design. People in time though it better to have a specific 1/4 coin. Now we get into maths where 10 is bad and 12 is good. We then have 3 and 4 penny pieces. 1/4 1/2, 1( penny), 2, 3, 4( groat issued by John of Groats ), 6, 12 ( 1/- shilling ), 24 ( 2/- two shilling or florin ) 30 ( 2/6d two and six ) 48 ( 4/- double florin) 60 (5/- shillings or crown) 120 ( 10/-) 240 ( £1 ) 252 1 Guinea ( 21/-). I think smaller coins existed like half farthing ( 1920 to the £1 ).
Coin is a stone for coners of buildngs. Coincidence is things that will meet at a point or corner coming from an unseen angle. Two things destiny has put on these paths. An old French farmer told me so I hold it to be true. Because we use the Frence word in bad translation we don't understand that coincidence is no conincidence as we English use the word. That's absolutely right and science is about proving that patterns in things and say the magic is knowing what's what and nothing more mysterious.
Good hi fi's are like our old money. Bits and pieces that with care sound better than an off the peg system. When the old money went from this country we lost something. When I see people text it is a similar thing. Like when fast calulating often in the head the old money. The old lady would race the shopkeep to the answer. " That will be two and trupence happenny " I think you will find " or similar was often heard. I think it also told the shop keeper not to think of cheating. 90% of people seemed to be able like texting to do this. It is said the text mode was for engineers to test systems. The phone makers thought it worth adding as it in principle already existed. Little did we know it would be for most the prefered way to talk. It costs me the same to text as call. I prefer to text.
Over the year gone by I have started to build things that if not built now possibly never will. I have learnt some big truths. For example filtering a speaker is not a great idea. Even though the sound can be rough the unfiltered sound is more emotionally charged. Like food we do as little as possible in the ideal world ( which it never is ). To my mind paper is the better choice for cones even now.
CD. I now have a CD player that can sound much like LP. 90% of my CD's somehow are not mastered to the same standard as LP's. The ones that are shine. It's almost like the photographer doesn't exist in CD, whereas the artist exists for LP mastering. Some friends have silly money CD systems. Mostly mine is as good or better. Very sadly some films in MP3 make CD sound second rate very often. OK I can hear what's bad in MP3. Good balance, mike position and a trained ear still come through.
Coin is a stone for coners of buildngs. Coincidence is things that will meet at a point or corner coming from an unseen angle. Two things destiny has put on these paths. An old French farmer told me so I hold it to be true. Because we use the Frence word in bad translation we don't understand that coincidence is no conincidence as we English use the word. That's absolutely right and science is about proving that patterns in things and say the magic is knowing what's what and nothing more mysterious.
Good hi fi's are like our old money. Bits and pieces that with care sound better than an off the peg system. When the old money went from this country we lost something. When I see people text it is a similar thing. Like when fast calulating often in the head the old money. The old lady would race the shopkeep to the answer. " That will be two and trupence happenny " I think you will find " or similar was often heard. I think it also told the shop keeper not to think of cheating. 90% of people seemed to be able like texting to do this. It is said the text mode was for engineers to test systems. The phone makers thought it worth adding as it in principle already existed. Little did we know it would be for most the prefered way to talk. It costs me the same to text as call. I prefer to text.
Over the year gone by I have started to build things that if not built now possibly never will. I have learnt some big truths. For example filtering a speaker is not a great idea. Even though the sound can be rough the unfiltered sound is more emotionally charged. Like food we do as little as possible in the ideal world ( which it never is ). To my mind paper is the better choice for cones even now.
CD. I now have a CD player that can sound much like LP. 90% of my CD's somehow are not mastered to the same standard as LP's. The ones that are shine. It's almost like the photographer doesn't exist in CD, whereas the artist exists for LP mastering. Some friends have silly money CD systems. Mostly mine is as good or better. Very sadly some films in MP3 make CD sound second rate very often. OK I can hear what's bad in MP3. Good balance, mike position and a trained ear still come through.
My mailbox is full. Russell Dawkins asked me about my OB speakers. Here are some thoughts. Sorry Russell to show the world.
Hi Russell.
Pano sort of guided me and was very honest about it being a guessing game with helpful warnings. I use a 15 inch bass much like the Alpha 15 with Qts of 1.2( Spare part for a Chinese PA speaker ) and 12 Lta ( no electrical filtering ) with DT74/8 that crosses at 6 kHz with no added attenution. The 15 inch has a mysterious choke from my collection that is of goodness knows what exact value. My test meter seems to give odd readings on it. It might be 3.5 mH and is good for 20 amps ( it's a mains device although built to audio principles using M6 alloy ). The 15 inch is 5R7 so it looks to be 250 Hz. The bass is EQ'ed to both the 15 and 12 inch units. I guess + 12 dB 30 Hz with 100 Hz turnover ( standard tone control, sounds almost OK without EQ ). Even at high volume the cones are very controlled. The tweeters use one single 3u3/250V polyester capacitor. The Fane full range has a tweeters unit. The Fane is a mechanical crossover which is interesting. The Fane fails to my mind in having a narrow listening window due to horn loading of the dome at the driver centre. The tweeter on mine almost seems to be doing nothing except the window is wider than many panal speakers. Without the tweeter the sound is in a narrower field and slightly unpleasent. Not what I would have thought. That is the opening of the sound field > 6 kHz is what we call stereo. All these ideas were just to get it running. Truth is they work fine so a full active version might never happen. I use a small bit of 5 kHz treble lift. Strange thing is even 78's need this ( and the tweeter is more obvious if 78's ! ). 1930's films come alive with this speaker. Road noises, locomotives and even bird song, it lets me know the time when my parents were children as if I am there ( both are 85 ). DT74/8 was that on paper that it could work. The very low price was a bonus. Most tweeters would need an active solution. If I added anything it would be a subwoffer pair ( stereo, not mono) from 15 to 50 Hz. It should be that even 50 Hz is felt more than heard. Mostly what people call 50 Hz is 100 Hz.
The baffle is 50% plywood and 50% MDF. It is 4 x 2 foot x 1 inch. The PVA gluing bent the wood towards the ply to a 3/4 inch bend. It looks rather good and might be doing some good. The prop is a 2 x 2 fence post and gate hinge about 3/4 the way up. It is cut square to the floor. There is a gate hook to hold it ridged. Sometimes it vibrates ( very loud if so ). The ply has a simple oil and beeswax finish. The 12 Lta is exact centre. The 15 inch fills the space to the floor. The tweeter sits at an equal gap as the 15 inch bass for looks alone. Gap between drives is about 1 3/4 inch. Slope might be about 3 degrees ( 3 inches out to the 48 inch length approximately ).
Bass is very different to the usual. For example Beatles Seargent Pepper has so many subtle notes. Also the power and depth of the notes. 78's have notes like this. Some Spendor BC1' I was playing with sometimes show nothing on these sources. The music goes missing. Strange thing is you don't realise. Some music sounds less impressive than you would think. I think this is just because it is. Someone has choosen to filter the bass. The speakers are very very fast. The drivers are massive so this comes as a shock. That sometimes means a note is finished quicher than you are ready for. The old boombox might be what you remember as the real version. This is quickly unlearnt. They can sound rough at times. Filtering this away even when very subtle lost the magic. Listening to TV at low levels is sublime. It is TV without the compromise. Exactly the usual sound with moments of real life thrown in. Not something the Spendor would be better or worse on. The Spendor was used for this exact reason. The ITT 4001G supertweeter added to hear 625 line imformation getting into the audio signal at just under 16 kHz. The BBC version was without the 4001G and was FM only. The 4001G was I believe a 1959 AKG microphone capsule. Later called STC and Coles.
If I were to build a full active set up it would need much thought. I have no preference tube or transistor. Both can be made to work well. Most tube amps loose sight of what's good with the tube, that is ultra simplicity of the signal path. I have a two tube 8 watt design I could use ( 0.2% THD 1 watt and 1 % 8 watts, no feedback except no cathode caps. Falling harmonics in an expontial curve ). I also have a simplified Hitachi design for the 15 inch. The preamp would be a problem. If the EQ and gain were fixed by the amplifers a simple switch box could be used. If the Hitachi amp had a bootstraped input the volume control could be unbuffered. On paper the preamp needs a gain of about 3. If so a buffer seems in order. Buffers of gain 3 often sound a bit wrong to me. Possibly a two transistor stage with current source collector loads and bootstrapped inputs could sound OK. To be honest that can sound exactly like a tube version and should. Some op amps will eqaul that. It is a quest to find one. Nearly all op amps to my ears dislike that gain range. 1 or > 10 is best. 2 being worst. 50 sounds fine. I think this is to do with being made unity gain stable. It dominates. NE 5534 can be adjsted. Problem is, it is about 80% as good as the better designs. I have already built an ultra simple phono stage which really works.
Best wishes also.
Nigel
Hi Russell.
Pano sort of guided me and was very honest about it being a guessing game with helpful warnings. I use a 15 inch bass much like the Alpha 15 with Qts of 1.2( Spare part for a Chinese PA speaker ) and 12 Lta ( no electrical filtering ) with DT74/8 that crosses at 6 kHz with no added attenution. The 15 inch has a mysterious choke from my collection that is of goodness knows what exact value. My test meter seems to give odd readings on it. It might be 3.5 mH and is good for 20 amps ( it's a mains device although built to audio principles using M6 alloy ). The 15 inch is 5R7 so it looks to be 250 Hz. The bass is EQ'ed to both the 15 and 12 inch units. I guess + 12 dB 30 Hz with 100 Hz turnover ( standard tone control, sounds almost OK without EQ ). Even at high volume the cones are very controlled. The tweeters use one single 3u3/250V polyester capacitor. The Fane full range has a tweeters unit. The Fane is a mechanical crossover which is interesting. The Fane fails to my mind in having a narrow listening window due to horn loading of the dome at the driver centre. The tweeter on mine almost seems to be doing nothing except the window is wider than many panal speakers. Without the tweeter the sound is in a narrower field and slightly unpleasent. Not what I would have thought. That is the opening of the sound field > 6 kHz is what we call stereo. All these ideas were just to get it running. Truth is they work fine so a full active version might never happen. I use a small bit of 5 kHz treble lift. Strange thing is even 78's need this ( and the tweeter is more obvious if 78's ! ). 1930's films come alive with this speaker. Road noises, locomotives and even bird song, it lets me know the time when my parents were children as if I am there ( both are 85 ). DT74/8 was that on paper that it could work. The very low price was a bonus. Most tweeters would need an active solution. If I added anything it would be a subwoffer pair ( stereo, not mono) from 15 to 50 Hz. It should be that even 50 Hz is felt more than heard. Mostly what people call 50 Hz is 100 Hz.
The baffle is 50% plywood and 50% MDF. It is 4 x 2 foot x 1 inch. The PVA gluing bent the wood towards the ply to a 3/4 inch bend. It looks rather good and might be doing some good. The prop is a 2 x 2 fence post and gate hinge about 3/4 the way up. It is cut square to the floor. There is a gate hook to hold it ridged. Sometimes it vibrates ( very loud if so ). The ply has a simple oil and beeswax finish. The 12 Lta is exact centre. The 15 inch fills the space to the floor. The tweeter sits at an equal gap as the 15 inch bass for looks alone. Gap between drives is about 1 3/4 inch. Slope might be about 3 degrees ( 3 inches out to the 48 inch length approximately ).
Bass is very different to the usual. For example Beatles Seargent Pepper has so many subtle notes. Also the power and depth of the notes. 78's have notes like this. Some Spendor BC1' I was playing with sometimes show nothing on these sources. The music goes missing. Strange thing is you don't realise. Some music sounds less impressive than you would think. I think this is just because it is. Someone has choosen to filter the bass. The speakers are very very fast. The drivers are massive so this comes as a shock. That sometimes means a note is finished quicher than you are ready for. The old boombox might be what you remember as the real version. This is quickly unlearnt. They can sound rough at times. Filtering this away even when very subtle lost the magic. Listening to TV at low levels is sublime. It is TV without the compromise. Exactly the usual sound with moments of real life thrown in. Not something the Spendor would be better or worse on. The Spendor was used for this exact reason. The ITT 4001G supertweeter added to hear 625 line imformation getting into the audio signal at just under 16 kHz. The BBC version was without the 4001G and was FM only. The 4001G was I believe a 1959 AKG microphone capsule. Later called STC and Coles.
If I were to build a full active set up it would need much thought. I have no preference tube or transistor. Both can be made to work well. Most tube amps loose sight of what's good with the tube, that is ultra simplicity of the signal path. I have a two tube 8 watt design I could use ( 0.2% THD 1 watt and 1 % 8 watts, no feedback except no cathode caps. Falling harmonics in an expontial curve ). I also have a simplified Hitachi design for the 15 inch. The preamp would be a problem. If the EQ and gain were fixed by the amplifers a simple switch box could be used. If the Hitachi amp had a bootstraped input the volume control could be unbuffered. On paper the preamp needs a gain of about 3. If so a buffer seems in order. Buffers of gain 3 often sound a bit wrong to me. Possibly a two transistor stage with current source collector loads and bootstrapped inputs could sound OK. To be honest that can sound exactly like a tube version and should. Some op amps will eqaul that. It is a quest to find one. Nearly all op amps to my ears dislike that gain range. 1 or > 10 is best. 2 being worst. 50 sounds fine. I think this is to do with being made unity gain stable. It dominates. NE 5534 can be adjsted. Problem is, it is about 80% as good as the better designs. I have already built an ultra simple phono stage which really works.
Best wishes also.
Nigel
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I know it's not hi fi but typical of the problems we face when people ignore science. Water has the highest specific heat capacity of suitable engine collants. It isn't a great conductor so needs help circulating. Antifreeze seems about 68% as good which is remarkable in itselt as oil I seem to remember is about 25%. Having seen UK show Wheeler Dealers ( strongly recomended ) I was alarmed to see water being said to be an inferrior coolant. Within reason the best on the planet. I also suspected the magic formula was just pure antifreeze. I was mostly right. The problem is bad science sometimes covers up real advantages of a cheap solution. I prefer thin speaker cables which I keep short to keep DCR low. 0.25 mm being one I really like, 0.6 mm being typical. My system has far more bass than most. 101 dB/watt helps.
The Celts of Ireland might be The Lost Tribes of Israel. A friend proposed that as his degree. He used words found in Hebrew and Celt. Most interesting is all seemed to come from what we now call Iran, Arians also. Research shown on BBC text this week talks about the early Irish DNA and makes similar observations. What seems likely is after the Iceage very few people formed the basis of all the people we see today. This will change as people are now more mobile. When I asked Howard if the lost tribe were Jews he said he didn't think so ( his tribe ). They were neighbours. The Welsh might be even more so. Hungarians being his prime example of the lost tribe and Fin's in his oppinion. The Irish told stories exactly like the Greeks. England forced the Irish to use English. This has made for much of the very best that is written in English. It is English said in a different way. And where does Dejan like to holiday? Greece. Me too, they can be hard work as they are a very proud people. They should be.
No-Rosion Products Technical Questions and Answers
The Celts of Ireland might be The Lost Tribes of Israel. A friend proposed that as his degree. He used words found in Hebrew and Celt. Most interesting is all seemed to come from what we now call Iran, Arians also. Research shown on BBC text this week talks about the early Irish DNA and makes similar observations. What seems likely is after the Iceage very few people formed the basis of all the people we see today. This will change as people are now more mobile. When I asked Howard if the lost tribe were Jews he said he didn't think so ( his tribe ). They were neighbours. The Welsh might be even more so. Hungarians being his prime example of the lost tribe and Fin's in his oppinion. The Irish told stories exactly like the Greeks. England forced the Irish to use English. This has made for much of the very best that is written in English. It is English said in a different way. And where does Dejan like to holiday? Greece. Me too, they can be hard work as they are a very proud people. They should be.
No-Rosion Products Technical Questions and Answers
Dejan. Did you ever see Father Ted? Although not the best this version is topical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zkL91LzCMc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zkL91LzCMc
No Nige, I didn't catch that series, the only father series I have is Father Brown, a who-done-it series.
But I often think of a master of mine, one father Davis, a man I dearly loved for his good cheer and complete lack of fear to solve what he saw as a problem. An outstaning shoolmaster, trust me, and guess what he taught me - latin! An incredibly elightened person and priest, a priviledge to know him.
But I often think of a master of mine, one father Davis, a man I dearly loved for his good cheer and complete lack of fear to solve what he saw as a problem. An outstaning shoolmaster, trust me, and guess what he taught me - latin! An incredibly elightened person and priest, a priviledge to know him.
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