Bob,
You have a great opportunity here. Once you learn that you can make your own stuff it's a whole new world.
While you are mostly posting in these Lounge threads where a large number of posters don't DIY anything, this is the DIYAudio forum where you can indeed Do It Yourself.
It's just that getting started can be a bit of a daunting prospect. I know. I was once there. I started by building a kit amplifier from Hugh Dean, aka Aksa, back in 2003. It was a great way to learn techniques and procedures. Sadly there are really no longer kits with excellent instructions to get started with. However, don't let that stop you. Just find something easy to get started. You might consider just getting fully built and tested amp modules and just doing assembly. You have to get started somewhere. And then it's a great journey.
Thanks,
And I agree with most everything being said......in a perfect world i’d find someone within driving distance (two to three hrs or less) that I could trade knowledge/skills with.
I’m a hands on learner and have a hard time learning ‘techniques’ from a book or remote instruction.
I also suppose identifying what aspects of a amplifier produces the sound I prefer......then there’s the hurdle of ‘all properly designed amplifiers sound the same’.
I think a list of what topology/component make what sound would be nice (like the grainy sound no one seems to be able to identify) but when someone tries to describe a sound it’s all downplayed as subjective mumbo jumbo ......a big part of it is to submit to the fact our hobby is very subjective even after the objective criteria has been met.
And I agree with most everything being said......in a perfect world i’d find someone within driving distance (two to three hrs or less) that I could trade knowledge/skills with.
I’m a hands on learner and have a hard time learning ‘techniques’ from a book or remote instruction.
I also suppose identifying what aspects of a amplifier produces the sound I prefer......then there’s the hurdle of ‘all properly designed amplifiers sound the same’.
I think a list of what topology/component make what sound would be nice (like the grainy sound no one seems to be able to identify) but when someone tries to describe a sound it’s all downplayed as subjective mumbo jumbo ......a big part of it is to submit to the fact our hobby is very subjective even after the objective criteria has been met.
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And they show all kind of esoteric measurement of the amp output as if we could connect the wires to our head or something to directly perceive the high fidelity they like to advertise but prevent access to any measurement results of the acoustic output on any speakers. Most probably their target customers are distortion analyzers, robots or the gullibles and care nots like most regular consumers. But the strategy seems to work well so far feeding people of the far shores and stunt growth of manufacturers of quality audio products in your backyard. I really admire the effort of Jason Stoddard & co. in this respect.
When was the survey taken?
People listen to speakers. If you know of a way for us to actually hear the amp directly to evaluate, please share.
Who prevent access to any measurement results of the acoustic output on any speakers? Can you name one?
Who is in that "Most" group? Can you name one?Most probably their target customers are distortion analyzers, robots or the gullibles and care nots like most regular consumers. But the strategy seems to work well so far feeding people of the far shores and stunt growth of manufacturers of quality audio products in your backyard. I really admire the effort of Jason Stoddard & co. in this respect.
Hi Bob,
Not sure if you really understood my post as I was just trying to encourage you to start into the world of DIY. You seem more interested in just the end result, or getting a satisfying product. Good Luck.
Well yes, it, DIY, is one of those journey is the destination things, though it's not really. You just don't know the destination, it's changeable.
As always, if you know the real destination it's usually easy to get there.
Enuf.
stvharr,
I can see and appreciate your perspective on this.
At present my primary interest is building horn speakers out of paper driven by really cheap, but actually quite good battery powered chip amps. Sooner or later, I will turn my attention to building mono-block valve amps - as brutally simple in design and construction as possible, and where the spec of every component counts. First as a breadboard, then finally as point to point wood and metal chassis versions. I would take my time, constantly take measurements and listen to lots of music. It could take several years, then that would be it. A movable feast of a closed system tailored for specific purposes.
I think one has to be very determined to build a good amp that works well and lasts a long time. Not everybody has that, and frustrating as it is, a lot of DIY’er’s never will.
ToS
Most probably with another set of paper horn speakers, followed by another and another - why do you ask?
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Paper appliqué - which by definition is:- ‘the lamination or layering of paper’. Very versatile medium somewhat conceptually akin to 3D printing. A very precise and immensely capable way of working.
And yes Bob, otherwise known as paper mache.
ToS
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Bob,
Yep, you got it in one. Paper mache always has had a bad rep, because it is supposedly messy kids stuff, or puppetry stuff, or cheesy artsy crafty stuff. Nope, paper mache goods manufacturing was a huge industry throughout Europe and Russia for about 175 years.
But, back to talking about speakers. You can put the layers of paper exactly where it is needed, and the resultant laminate often has very useful sonic properties. Yes, I know the audio dogma that says a loudspeaker is merely a reproducer of music, but that doesn’t stop the likes of me from making a loudspeaker as if it were an actual musical instrument in itself. This is why I am attracted to horn speakers.
I can see the myriad attractions of designing and building amplifiers, but to me the real cutting edge of audio is loudspeaker design, room acoustics, and ultimately what happens between the ears of the listener as a musical experience.
ToS
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Granted, a lot of people are not interested in making an amp. But when you get really bitten by the bug, you never stop at just one.
Why not move up? Say, wood horn coupled with compression driver?
As far as I am concerned, laminated paper is wood, and compression drivers are not necessarily obligatory in their use with horn speakers.
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