Why? I got the Metronomes at BAF24 and the amp is an ACA Mini. One from the auction, another from the raffle. The plan is to achieve 1.4V bias on the Zons of Zenductor this weekend and plug those in.
BAF24 all the way, baby?
Did you get the F6?
BTW, I'm working on changing the speaker posts on the Zons of Zenductor ( Zenductor II to those of you with less imagination). Those posts were a PITA.
Have any of you changed them yet? I'm even thinking of an enclosure for them.. something like an old Dynaco tube cage.
Any recommendations on biamping the Metronomes? Should I just buy my way out and get a miniDSP or dig into the Pass DIY catalog... or, heck -most likely for me- do both?
BAF24 all the way, baby?
Did you get the F6?
BTW, I'm working on changing the speaker posts on the Zons of Zenductor ( Zenductor II to those of you with less imagination). Those posts were a PITA.
Have any of you changed them yet? I'm even thinking of an enclosure for them.. something like an old Dynaco tube cage.
Any recommendations on biamping the Metronomes? Should I just buy my way out and get a miniDSP or dig into the Pass DIY catalog... or, heck -most likely for me- do both?
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To bring us back on topic - do we know where the photos of the proud builders are next to their newly born amps? I remember the gent (but unfortunately not his name!) at the test station where we shook down our amps for the first time took our photos. I've looked around a bit, haven't found them yet. Anyone have any clues?
Glad to hear some others are thinking of enclosure/case designs.. I have been brainstorming a bit. I want to design a cool unit that is 3D printable. Was thinking of ganging up the amps into a single assembly but then I thought maybe a case design for an individual monoblock would be even cooler. What do you guys think?
Odd, I can't quote recent posts; maybe there is some exclusive or-ing between editing and quoting (i.e. while a post still can be edited it can't be quoted)?
Edit: And now I can; still getting the hang of this forum software....
Edit: And now I can; still getting the hang of this forum software....
Anyways, regarding Zon of / Zenductor 2 enclosures: depending on where I end up with the bias, I have been thinking of converting/cannibalizing some cherry wood shadowboxes I made long time ago, for amplifier enclosures. That would mean relocating and/or replacing the power switch and input and output connectors. Maybe the wood enclosures need cutouts for the heatsinks? Or ducted fans? Every 10K (°C) temperature increase halves semiconductor lifetime, give or take. Lower bias might be a win/win: more 2nd harmonic, and lower temperature.
I've been thinking of going to an all metal, perforated top and bottom top. Move the I/O posts to the rear and get some cool, a common ON/OFF switch up front. No blue LEDs anywhere. ;-)
For bling, get some chromed feet.
That way, I don't have to worry about the basic mechanical design of the amps.
Oh, I bought the "sub"woofers for the Metronomes. Now I need to figure out the crossover.
You know, I could try the Sissy SIT on those speakers... and the A5 monos... it goes on and on... my gut feeling is that the Metronomes are a fantastic speaker waiting for the right amp. ( Nothing against @ra7 but why not throw a 1000++ buck amp into that? ). It just tells you how good the Super Mini is.
I could put a Parasound Z on the bottom end.
Ironic. damn! BAF24 is turning out to be sort of revolutionary chez moi. Just when I had achieved semi nirvana with the bridge F4 amps... this thing comes in.
So, what kind of crossover should I use? Mmost likely an active one...
For bling, get some chromed feet.
That way, I don't have to worry about the basic mechanical design of the amps.
Oh, I bought the "sub"woofers for the Metronomes. Now I need to figure out the crossover.
You know, I could try the Sissy SIT on those speakers... and the A5 monos... it goes on and on... my gut feeling is that the Metronomes are a fantastic speaker waiting for the right amp. ( Nothing against @ra7 but why not throw a 1000++ buck amp into that? ). It just tells you how good the Super Mini is.
I could put a Parasound Z on the bottom end.
Ironic. damn! BAF24 is turning out to be sort of revolutionary chez moi. Just when I had achieved semi nirvana with the bridge F4 amps... this thing comes in.
So, what kind of crossover should I use? Mmost likely an active one...
I had some Metronomes based on FE167E. The boxes were large, but I liked the midrange more than the bass of them, and ended up running a sub, with a reckhorn analog active box for HP + sub management (I don't think they make them any more. They were a fantastic buy in 2010, like $50). Eventually I realized that the big box was for the LF, that I didn't like anyway. So I ditched the metronomes and have the drivers in simple ported boxes tuned much higher now (~80 Hz) and the idea is to high-pass them. Not quite WAW but a bit in that direction. But you should probably keep those boxes, they're so nice and not as big as the ones I let go.
I use a computer for active DSP. Seems like a simple option might be passive line level filtration ahead of your amps.
@tonyEE If you don't want to deal with dsp you could use the crossover boards from the diyAudio store or maybe these
https://www.xkitz.com/products/linkwitz-riley-2-way-active-crossover-fully-assembled-xover-2
https://www.xkitz.com/products/linkwitz-riley-2-way-active-crossover-fully-assembled-xover-2
I've also been contemplating enclosure(s) for my Zenductor IIs. My first idea was to build monoblocks in Modushop's 2U Galaxy series; unfortunately, I think the ideal internal width would be about 135mm (mount a 6mm-thick aluminum slab to the interior face of each side panel and then mount the Zenductor II's MOSFETs to that aluminum slab) and the depth about 350mm (100VA toroid at the front, power supply in the middle and Zenductor II at the back -- just enough room), but that size doesn't exist in Modushop's catalog. My second idea is a single chassis, but I haven't come up with a satisfying heatsink solution.
If something creative could be located or engineered, I'd welcome participating in a group buy!
Regards.
If something creative could be located or engineered, I'd welcome participating in a group buy!
Regards.
Member @birdbox helped a LOT of Zenductor-2 builders test out their amps, he deserves the credit and adulation.
I took all the pictures. I'll put them up on a Google drive link later today (I still need to download them from my camera). I'm pondering if I should make that drive link open to the entire world, or have folks individually request access so as to not share folks pictures without their permission publicly. I'll probably start with the later, so don't be surprised that you'll need to request access.
There were a few folks who won a pair of my “white” Aleph J PCB’s that are compatible with SemiSouth, IRFP150’s, IRFP048, etc…. If you need a schematic along with some helpful hints/tips, send me a PM as I have compiled a few notes for your review. Good luck with your builds.
Best,
Anand.
Best,
Anand.
It was all great to me. I have no favorite part. The gear, the people, the lectures, and the people that made it all happen. All really great!
I had a lot of fun geeking out on Saturday. Playing around with different speakers and different amps was fun. It was good to see everyone again, too.
I had fun giving the talk on opamp rolling Sunday as well. Last I taught analog electronics was in 2004 at University of Washington. It was as much work and as much fun this time as it was then. 🙂
Tom
Everything was great, fantastic. Equipment, people, building stuff, no smoke, sound, imagination, creativity, skills... BUT... there was ONE thing that stood OUT. Mostly because I first heard of it in the late 70s. One of those Audio High End Myths. I've been following those almost as long as I've been following Nelson's designs.
The helium tank. It did not disappoint at all. It was all it was supposed to be, and way more.
Oh, the Plasmatronics in front of the helium were cool too. Very, very, very good sounding.
Just like in college... I overslept on this one. 😛
Will the presentation be available somewhere? Do I have to sign up at the UDub?