Chris,
Good info and pics as usual. Begs the odd question, has Feastrex given any thoughts or testing around a silver-wire voice coil?
Regards, KM
Good info and pics as usual. Begs the odd question, has Feastrex given any thoughts or testing around a silver-wire voice coil?
Regards, KM
KM, if you can introduce some elves with tiny anvils and hammers, it might happen . . . I'm sure the folks at Feastrex would love to try silver but the first step would be to get silver ribbon of the appropriate dimensions. My gut reaction is that it wouldn't be easy to experiment with silver. (By the way, that's copper-clad aluminum we're looking at above.)
I wonder if it might be possible to keep the same wire, but also add a layer of silver over the copper? And I also wonder if that would make any significant difference to the sound . . .
Mr. Teramoto tells me that he thought silver made wonderful-sounding lead wires, but they were prone to breakage. IF a silver VC of the appropriate dimensions could be combined with durable copper lead wires, the result might be very interesting. But to date, apparently Mr. Teramoto has never encountered a source of appropriate silver wire for voice coils with startup costs that he could justify.
-- Chris
{EDIT} P.S. Mr. Teramoto says "KM, stop giving me ideas! It's dangerous!"
I wonder if it might be possible to keep the same wire, but also add a layer of silver over the copper? And I also wonder if that would make any significant difference to the sound . . .
Mr. Teramoto tells me that he thought silver made wonderful-sounding lead wires, but they were prone to breakage. IF a silver VC of the appropriate dimensions could be combined with durable copper lead wires, the result might be very interesting. But to date, apparently Mr. Teramoto has never encountered a source of appropriate silver wire for voice coils with startup costs that he could justify.
-- Chris
{EDIT} P.S. Mr. Teramoto says "KM, stop giving me ideas! It's dangerous!"
Chris,
Interesting... did not realize that was copper clad aluminum, it does help reduce moving mass of course. Silver conducts better than copper (or gold) so could probably gain a benefit. Maybe the same source of his current VC wire could supply the same in silver? Fostex has used silver in some of their limited edition drivers, maybe investigate where they get theirs?
Also had another idea... as the Feastrex drivers have a fairly long excursion. In the old days (70's and 80's), larger computer disk drives (real stuff... with removable packs) used a special flat copper tape adhered to a mylar backing material which was very flexible to drive the voice coil which moved the head pack across the disk surface. Perhaps something similar could be devised... and then silver-plate it.
Tell Hal I'm sorry for the suggestions.... and I'm still thrilled with the D5nf drivers!
Regards, KM
Interesting... did not realize that was copper clad aluminum, it does help reduce moving mass of course. Silver conducts better than copper (or gold) so could probably gain a benefit. Maybe the same source of his current VC wire could supply the same in silver? Fostex has used silver in some of their limited edition drivers, maybe investigate where they get theirs?
Also had another idea... as the Feastrex drivers have a fairly long excursion. In the old days (70's and 80's), larger computer disk drives (real stuff... with removable packs) used a special flat copper tape adhered to a mylar backing material which was very flexible to drive the voice coil which moved the head pack across the disk surface. Perhaps something similar could be devised... and then silver-plate it.
Tell Hal I'm sorry for the suggestions.... and I'm still thrilled with the D5nf drivers!
Regards, KM
kmaier said:
That's an interesting idea for the lead wires. For that matter, the current woven lead wires could also probably be made from silver-plated copper wire . . . I'm pretty sure Hal takes the mass and other physical (kinetic) characteristics of the lead wires into account when voicing the drivers.
Can aluminum be clad directly with silver? Or would it require a layer of copper first?
-- Chris
Chris,
Good question... not sure if you can clad silver to aluminum... need input from an experienced metallurgical guru on that one. If possible, maybe magnesium could also work... and be even a tad lighter.
Silver-plated copper wire is very common in mil-spec cables. I use 20ga SPC in teflon for much of the wiring inside electronics. Easily withstands high temperatures and no worries of insulation burning or melting.
Just not sure if plating the woven lead wires would make them more brittle leading to premature failure. Silver also has a tendency to soak up solder (and heat) quickly, more so than copper.
Still... some options to explore.
Regards, KM
Good question... not sure if you can clad silver to aluminum... need input from an experienced metallurgical guru on that one. If possible, maybe magnesium could also work... and be even a tad lighter.
Silver-plated copper wire is very common in mil-spec cables. I use 20ga SPC in teflon for much of the wiring inside electronics. Easily withstands high temperatures and no worries of insulation burning or melting.
Just not sure if plating the woven lead wires would make them more brittle leading to premature failure. Silver also has a tendency to soak up solder (and heat) quickly, more so than copper.
Still... some options to explore.
Regards, KM
))
The copper covered with silver does a sound sharp and dirty.
I very much like the copper covered with an alloy rhodium-platinum.)
The copper covered with silver does a sound sharp and dirty.
I very much like the copper covered with an alloy rhodium-platinum.)
))
Teflon at temperature above 400С starts to allocate poisonous fluoric connections)
I like sounding of wires with a covering from a clap much more )
Teflon at temperature above 400С starts to allocate poisonous fluoric connections)
I like sounding of wires with a covering from a clap much more )
copper silver
I too have experienced silver coated copper as not having good sound, but I think that is due to the particular conductors and the quality and thickness of the plating. I can envision silver coated copper that has excellent sound if the formula is right.
I too have experienced silver coated copper as not having good sound, but I think that is due to the particular conductors and the quality and thickness of the plating. I can envision silver coated copper that has excellent sound if the formula is right.
I´m sure the type of wire used has been carefully chosen, still it would be interresting to hear other ones! My first choice of something else to try would be copper clad alu wire, copper clad for solderability mainly, i have to many old Lowthers with bad connctions between the coil wire and the lead-outs. That would make a light and reliable coil. I would also like to try a unit with the coil wound on the inside of the former to see what that will do for the extreme highs, in fact that would be more interesting than trying a different wire.
/Anders
/Anders
Anders,
The current voice coils are indeed Cu over Al.
Are you suggesting Feastrex try winding the voice coil ONLY inside the former? or on both sides? When I suggested the latter idea in the past, Mr. Teramoto said "I don't want to make the gap any larger than it is now."
HOWEVER, going to a smaller gauge of wire -- such as a pair of 32-ohm voice coils (one inside the former, one outside the former) wired in parallel -- might be an interesting idea.
(No doubt Mr. Teramoto will curse me if he reads this.) 🙂
-- Chris
The current voice coils are indeed Cu over Al.
Are you suggesting Feastrex try winding the voice coil ONLY inside the former? or on both sides? When I suggested the latter idea in the past, Mr. Teramoto said "I don't want to make the gap any larger than it is now."
HOWEVER, going to a smaller gauge of wire -- such as a pair of 32-ohm voice coils (one inside the former, one outside the former) wired in parallel -- might be an interesting idea.
(No doubt Mr. Teramoto will curse me if he reads this.) 🙂
-- Chris
Thanks for correcting me Chris!
Yes, i meant only on the inside. I see no real benefit in winding on both sides.
BR,
Anders
Yes, i meant only on the inside. I see no real benefit in winding on both sides.
BR,
Anders
Constantine Soo's review now available
We can read Constantine Soo's review for "Feastrex Makoto loudspeaker system" on the "Constantine Soo's
dagogo Review" web page.
http://www.dagogo.com/FeastrexMakoto.html
"Makoto" is the first name of "Mr. Tanaka" designer & builder of Nagaoka's Nessie type enclosures "Urussie-J".
(As Chris seems to be hesitating to post this news, I do it on behalf of him.)
Bunpei
We can read Constantine Soo's review for "Feastrex Makoto loudspeaker system" on the "Constantine Soo's
dagogo Review" web page.
http://www.dagogo.com/FeastrexMakoto.html
"Makoto" is the first name of "Mr. Tanaka" designer & builder of Nagaoka's Nessie type enclosures "Urussie-J".
(As Chris seems to be hesitating to post this news, I do it on behalf of him.)
Bunpei
No hesitation -- I just figured someone else would mention it, and someone did. Thanks.
-- Chris
-- Chris
Glad to see the shout-out to our man in Japan Christopher Witmer at the top of the review. While I enjoyed the review, it would have been even better to hear more (lots more) about how they sound.
I think Feastrex should shift its PR off the craftsmanship, the materials, the who's who of the company, the status symbol aspect (*yawn*) and get the focus on how they sound, especially direct comparisions. Just one person's opinion...
I think Feastrex should shift its PR off the craftsmanship, the materials, the who's who of the company, the status symbol aspect (*yawn*) and get the focus on how they sound, especially direct comparisions. Just one person's opinion...
Agreed, but Feastrex had nothing to do with the review, only seeing it after it appeared on the Internet. And all I did was clarify some possible misconceptions that had crept into a previous draft of the article. (Because I'm bilingual and am familiar with Feastrex products, I was asked to point out any such problems.) All decisions on the content of the review were made by the reviewer.
-- Chris
-- Chris
Hi Chris, do you know of any detailed comparision type reviews out there? Like "I listened to this song/album on my D9nf's and then on my PM2A's, and here's the difference" or something like that?
No such comparative reviews come to mind on the Internet, that I can recall off the top of my head. One person who could probably say a lot about Lowther drivers in particular versus Feastrex is Mr. Anders Baptist, who represents Feastrex in the Scandinavia-Baltic region. He is one of the most knowledgeable people I know about Lowther drivers, certainly right up there among folks who are regarded as authorities on Lowther drivers. Another person who could probably say quite a bit if he felt so inclined is Nelson Pass -- at least with respect to use of his particular Feastrex drivers on OB. No doubt there are others as well that I am not aware of or who have slipped my mind.
-- Chris Witmer
-- Chris Witmer
Hi Christopher, thank you, I appreciate it. I might have to go to RMAF and try to hear them all myself. If so, I will post!
cdwitmer said:
I am still in the process of living with the D9nf's and the PM5A's in
3' X 5' big open baffles (BOB) with a 15 inch Eminence Beta on the
bottom.
It's a horse race, as they would say. I find that I also have to switch
different amplifier designs in and out to fully flesh out the differences.
I like them both very much, and as with my children, I doubt that I
would ever announce a preference. I do have an article in preparation
comparing a series of FR drivers in BOBs, but it's slow going.
By the way, Joe, any chance of borrowing a pair of D5nf's for a bit?
😎
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