John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier

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#12,282
gerhard said:


Working in a little childen school takes its toll.
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Few years ago I started a new job. It turned out to be in a really loud environment. At the place I lived in at the time, there were practically no other job alternatives. Nevertheless, I quitted that job, left with no income. It was a sheer luck that shortly later I got another job.

From my present perspective, I'd rather be hungry than half deaf. In few more years, my perspective may change (for there will be nothing I may do about my hearing). Meanwhile, I'd like to enjoy music.
 
#12,283
Joshua_G said:



Few years ago I started a new job. It turned out to be in a really loud environment. At the place I lived in at the time, there were practically no other job alternatives. Nevertheless, I quitted that job, left with no income. It was a sheer luck that shortly later I got another job.

From my present perspective, I'd rather be hungry than half deaf. In few more years, my perspective may change (for there will be nothing I may do about my hearing). Meanwhile, I'd like to enjoy music.
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A wise decision my friend. You only have two ears and they will be with you the rest of your life, so take care of them.

Stinius
 
#12,284
#12,286
scott wurcer said:


Wow that is obscure, one hit on Google. The reason I looked is that I still miss an old HP spectrum analyser and forgot the number. The screen got so dim it was useless and it was excessed without my knowledge. Old style ultra narrow crystal filter IFs, offsetable LO so I could do Dick Heyser style swept responses. Also liked the optional calibration in true nV/rt-Hz and 6-7nV noise floor.



Thanks for understanding my round about point. If one really wanted to look some postulated effects the process could be very difficult. E Brad Meyer tries to make the point that when using tedious equalization the effects disappear. Other say the equalizers added to the path destroy the test. Seems like no win to me.
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The HP (Altec) 8054 has a bank of 1/3 octave filters and a scanning circuit that displays them on the CRT, which is why I made the reference. Mine also has a very dim CRT. It was made by HP Germany and finding a replacement CRT will not be easy. And a mostly analog system.

I use Praxis for that task today, and its almost real time. The HP is true real time but only on the screen so really less useful.

I appreciate your point about getting lost in the process (happens to me all the time. . .) and losing the goal.
 
#12,289
john curl said:
Oh, that 1//3 octave analyzer. Used one in 1973, working on the 'Wall of Sound; for the Grateful Dead. Worked well enough, missed a few things, though.
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Been there don it, but when it comes to live sound I have tried a lot of analyzers and personally I don’t like any of them, I prefer to use my ears and body (yes not only the ears, but the whole body).

Stinius
 
#12,291
1audio said:


The HP (Altec) 8054 has a bank of 1/3 octave filters and a scanning circuit that displays them on the CRT, which is why I made the reference. Mine also has a very dim CRT. It was made by HP Germany and finding a replacement CRT will not be easy. And a mostly analog system.
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Oh. I version of the analyser I am building that uses a CRO for the display does not have octave filters though. It's basically a low frequency (long duration sweep) DSO coupled to a swept triple conversion DDS/PLL superhetrodyne receiver and ~90dB logarithmic detector. This unit will not miss much.

It's the two more primitive SVGA versions which use octave filters. The
1/2 octave unit is up and running; a 1/6 octave unit is on the way.......

Cheers,
Glen

Edit:
BTW, I also have old equiptment with a dim unobtanium CRT (a 40GHz spectrum analyser). I get around the problem by tapping of the X/Y signals prior to the hor/vert deflection plate amplifiers and displaying on a modern CRO.
 
#12,292
G.Kleinschmidt said:


Edit:
BTW, I also have old equiptment with a dim unobtanium CRT (a 40GHz spectrum analyser). I get around the problem by tapping of the X/Y signals prior to the hor/vert deflection plate amplifiers and displaying on a modern CRO.
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I’m also having a problem with a dim CRT, well to be honest it’s so dim it’s useless, it’s not buried so I will try you advice Glen

Isn’t it a good thing to learn something new everyday?
And to be proud enough to say thank you.

Thank you Glen

Stinius
 
#12,299
vuki said:


If that's not a joke you are one of the luckiest audiophiles.
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It is not a joke. It is also not very special. It happens more than you think with live, acoustics-only (classical) concerts.
Amplified live rock concerts are another category yet. My experiences (personal only) are that sometimes I like the live sound better, sometimes I like the CD better. That is understandable, since there is always the mixing and manipulation that sits between whatever is recorded and whatever ends up on the CD. There's no reason why one version would consistently be better (or worse) than the other - you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Jan Didden
 
#12,300
Joshua_G said:



Agreed.
I was never lucky enough to ever enjoy reproduced music close to a live concert.
Attempts to come closer to live music cost me a lot of money …
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Well, that is one of my points. I don't think it is possible to 'come close to live music' , experience-wise, no matter how much money you spend. And why would one try it anyway? Reproduced music is now at a state where it can give you better *sound* than you can have at a live concert (which is not the same as a better experience from the whole event). Better balance in freq response, better soundstage, more dynamic range (sometimes).
Personally, I spend more time to try out different CD's than different cables. There is so much badly recorded music that it shames the equipment. Differences between CD's (quality-wise, I am not talking about the type of music one prefers) are even bigger than between reasonable speakers.

Jan Didden
 
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