John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

[wrinkle]

😱 I bet the maths gets complicated. No wonder they like to use fibre optic cables nowadays.

That is to provide power to the repeaters every 30-50Km or so.

The +1Amp end is usually at approx +5Kv or thereabouts.

 

[wrinkle]

Wayne,
Yes you can purchase some nice snakes for pro audio but I just assumed that everything internal was twisted pairs and such with lots of shielding. They can get rather expensive. I still to this day do an over under figure-8 when I wind cables to keep from breaking any wires, something so many don't seem to have ever been taught when winding a cable. Nothing like seeing someone wind a mic cable around their arm and tie a knot or tie them up like a power cable for construction.

That is also called "French coiling" when applied to large ropes of hemp or wire. when laying 4" diameter wirerope on a deck it is the only way to safely do it.

 

[gpapag]

I am in the next cave over.

Any chance of pointing where? IIRC, he also did some stripline supply stuff decades ago that I was unaware of.
jn

The scanned pic is gone from my PC (so is the file I had all your posts on ground loops, wire issues and diagrams. I am 😡 )
Then I made a search on the site but I couldn’t find Richard’s post.
I did spot a page though that you cross relevant posts.

For cancellation of external fields, yes. The twist does wonders.

The nice thing about the finding is that you were on olives again one year ago but then for Vodka 😉

George

 

[scott wurcer]

Tail wagging the dog

But this was not a system for the faint of pocketbook. The Venture V200A+ mono amps cost $120,000 per pair, and Venture VP100L preamp is $35,100. The Venture Grand Reference Diamond and Diamond Signature interconnects, speaker cables, digital cables and power cords are equally in "If you have to ask. . . " territory, totaling over $150,000 to connect everything. A Phasure NOS1 USB DAC ($4500) and Weiss Engineering Medea+FW DAC ($21,799) and Jason CD transport ($22,707) finished off this very pricey, very refined system.

😱 $150,000 in interconnects and $22.000 just to get the bits off of a
CD. There is no shame in the Hi End.

 

[davym]

That's just ludicrous and I bet the bloke plays Leo Sayer and Barry Manilow through it

 

[Ken Newton]

😱 $150,000 in interconnects and $22.000 just to get the bits off of a
CD. There is no shame in the Hi End.

The rapid escalation of high-end prices over the past decade has been quite shocking to those of us who remember when the most expensive audio component was probably the seven foot tall $20,000 Infinity IRS four tower speaker system. I suspect that this increase is well correlated with the movement of baby-boomers, along with their peak savings, into their retirement years.

 

[davym]

Could be.

Or maybe it's an attempt at relieving some bankers of their bonus payments. Other than the odd Sultan there cant be very many others who could afford to spend that much on hifi.

 

[jacco vermeulen]

just to get the bits off

You skipped the last bit.

(the Venture Audio V200A+ class-A monoblocks use MOSFET output devices, which helps account for their ripe, sweet sound)

 

[scott wurcer]

You skipped the last bit.

(the Venture Audio V200A+ class-A monoblocks use MOSFET output devices, which helps account for their ripe, sweet sound)

Yes, such concise technical justification.

Jason, Medea funny tonight I was trying to watch an old Hercules movie from 1960 with Jayne Mansfield, other than the difficulties posed to the costume department it was pretty bad.

 

[john curl]

Seems that we have a competitor! (Usually, CD's are at the low end of the scale)

 

[john curl]

The Venture power amp is a real competitor. I wish that I had that degree of freedom to design an 'all out' power amp.

 

[john curl]

There is technical info available on the V200A. You just have to look for it.

 

[john curl]

Once, I did have that degree of freedom. I designed a solid state power amp the size of a refrigerator for Dick Sequerra, about 20 years ago. He paid me in advance for the schematic, but he did not go forward with it. He did release a dual mono vacuum tube power amp for $100,000, built by JC Morrison. I heard it at an audio show in NY. It was WONDERFUL sounding!

 

[hitsware]

The Venture power amp is a real competitor. I wish that I had that degree of freedom to design an 'all out' power amp.

What keeps you from designing an 'all out' power amp ?
At least a tacked together prototype ......
Custom parts ?

 

[john curl]

Money, keeps me from designing an 'all out' power amp. Constellation already has a hi end power amp. Parasound is happy around $10,000 retail. I am building a couple of really high quality power amps with others that might give both Parasound and Constellation a good run for the money, but there are limits, even to these designs.
I will, in future, listen carefully to our prototype that we made several years ago in my audio system, as I optimize it. It is a 250W/ch stereo amp that you can carry under your arm. So far, it sounds great! The other one will be perhaps 300W and made to the standards that Vendetta Research operated on. Should make a difference. We are in the schematic phase, now.

 

[scott wurcer]

$120,000 per channel is the goal or the best sound per channel?

 

[hitsware]

> Money, keeps me from designing an 'all out' power amp.

For custom parts ?
Or you're not motivated beyond fiscal gain ?

 

[a.wayne]

Leo Kottke is a frequent guest on this show, one of my faves.

Speaking of Minnesota, Magnepan is still thriving. I quite like their low end speakers, no problems with too much bass there either.

Magnapan , boy you really hate bass ...🙂

That would be the XP 30 pre for Pass Labs. I believe you commented on the review John. It was also ion the cover of Absolute Sound where you had a couple of best ever products listed. It isn't saving lives or making global changes but it I will leave that to my wife.

Good stuff and congrats ....

The rapid escalation of high-end prices over the past decade has been quite shocking to those of us who remember when the most expensive audio component was probably the seven foot tall $20,000 Infinity IRS four tower speaker system. I suspect that this increase is well correlated with the movement of baby-boomers, along with their peak savings, into their retirement years.

Nope, massive devaluation of the dollar is the bigger culprit....

Once, I did have that degree of freedom. I designed a solid state power amp the size of a refrigerator for Dick Sequerra, about 20 years ago. He paid me in advance for the schematic, but he did not go forward with it. He did release a dual mono vacuum tube power amp for $100,000, built by JC Morrison. I heard it at an audio show in NY. It was WONDERFUL sounding!

what was in that fridge....🙂

$120,000 per channel is the goal or the best sound per channel?

which would you pursue ...?

 

[Steve Eddy]

$120,000 per channel is the goal or the best sound per channel?

In the high end, they're one and the same.

se

 

[jan.didden]

That is also called "French coiling" when applied to large ropes of hemp or wire. when laying 4" diameter wirerope on a deck it is the only way to safely do it.

We did French roping with 3-phase mobile radar power cables in the field, ostensibly to prevent inductive cable heating when we would coil it normally.

Jan