John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

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JC actually uses IC's in some of his designs. In almost unbelievable fact I have one of his designs that is almost entirely ICs! The only discrete parts are in the power supply!

As the design is fairly recent I will not post it. Sorry. However as I am building something not quite the same, I will post that.

Now Scott has never said he doesn't believe in Bybees Quantum Purifiers. He just seems to be of the strong opinion that they don't work. :)
 
JC actually uses IC's in some of his designs. In almost unbelievable fact I have one of his designs that is almost entirely ICs! The only discrete parts are in the power supply!

His IC designs that I've read about get rave reviews too. I don't think there is anything wrong with high quality ICs in a well designed circuit. I just think a little pleasant distortion can help a system sound more "musical."


Now Scott has never said he doesn't believe in Bybees Quantum Purifiers. He just seems to be of the strong opinion that they don't work. :)

Sorry, I don't see the difference???? :) or maybe that's your point?
 
Pavel, the process is, extract the audio from the YouTube clip at the highest resolution possible, convert that to a WAV file, and then playback using the optimum software, etc. This works well, the intrinsic audio quality of the clips can be excellent - undetectable compared to the 'proper' source.

I have already run the WAV file through in a totally non-optimised system state, and it presents very well - a good sign ...

Edit: the YouTube clip run native adds a type of "nervous" noisiness to the sound, an artifact most likely from the simultaneous processing of video and sound.
 
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Frank,
I know you have differential software so high resolution wave file vs sound from your pc speakers and then compare them. No taking the sound from the speaker and then running that through your speaker. Use your best CD and then compare that to your sound output from your speaker. No cheating allowed.
 
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Someone mentioned paper cones. I'd just like to remind you that paper cones were used with considerable success by AR and many others, and in fact, some argue that's the best material for bass drivers.

The fact that Frank's speakers use paper is not a problem, as I see it, what probably is a problem is that those paper cones are paper thick ("thick" is being generous). I dug up two woofers from my Korean made car some years ago and was astounded at their "thickness". But it sure explained why they sounded paper light.

Out they went and in came some JBL gear, and lo and behold, the sound improved no end.

On Belgian Frank's 2 1,500 VA transformers in two monoblocks. I am not really impressed because, as you said yourself, you use what is probably one of the most inefficient topologie around, meaning that you need them big and hefty for it to work properly. But respect to you for taking the time and trouble to use some high quality items, not just any old big transforemrs. That was, in my view, an excellent decision, if transformers are what our hearts are to us, it seems reasonable to me that you would not ask a man with heart problems to run a marathon.

On Australian Frank's PC speakers. I note that now they have problems not just up to 100 Hz, but up to 200 Hz. Over the next 10-15 pages of posts, I expect to learn that they are not so hot up to 500 Hz, and that there are some problems above 10 kHz as well. That reminds me of how my wife reports of expenditures after a trip. First report, oh, just a blouse. Second report, well, there was that pair of shoes as well, and the next day, yes, there were those T shirts too. She returned from Barcelona on Tuesday, and just yesterday, I was informed that she bought two pairs of shoes and two shirts for my son who was with her, as well. I expect to discover the actual damage done by Sunday.:D

You can't fool me, Aussie, I'm a made man who's seen the whole shebang many times. :p
 
Excellent, Karl - that one was fine, I was able to run it at full volume without any audible glitching from power supply issues. No below 100Hz probably helped but I didn't feel any loss of bass 'foundation' in the sound.

Since that is now easily available to all in good quality format, I might start off with some takes of that. Note, my recording device is quite primitive - check my blog - but provided I take some care I should be able to do a reasonable capture - my biggest problem is that the AGC can't be turned off, and it overloads beyond certain SPLs. So, I need to point the mic in the 'wrong' direction, or do it from another room - I'll see how I go ...
 
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