The pre-production sample crossovers for the XSD just got made. I should be receiving them soon. I might have to rotate the middle air core coil 90 deg on its edge to make all three axis orthogonal to avoid crosstalk. It might not be a big deal as the two larger ones are on the same driver (mid range). The iron core is far enough away I think. A high quality all MKP film cap solution though. This XO board is pretty big at 220mm x 130mm. Perfect size for the “back porch” of the speaker though.
Will the crossover be open, as in your prototype, or will it be sealed inside the cabinet?
It’s going to be located in the space on the base I call the “back porch” and covered with a piece of tinted plexiglas held on with screws. It is open otherwise for the wires to come from the 3 pairs of Faston spades up to the drivers. The cover will go approximately where I have the red crosshatched sketch here. I will have a machined aluminum plate with the binding posts (8mm solid copper threaded shaft) that connect to the M8 loop crimped speaker input wires (14ga).
Pre-production crossover samples just arrived. That is a big crossover board at 220mm W x 130mm D. All MKP film caps.
Oh did not know that. I wonder if the rest of his discography is the same. "Vietnam" is one of my favorites by him, and not just because I'm Vietnamese 🙂
The album is called Wandering and only has 4 tracks. I would imagine all 4 are recorded the same way. Not sure about the Vietnam track as that’s on a different album. I’ll have to check that out. On “Wandering” track - the sounds of the crunching gravel under the footsteps are too crisp to me to have been recorded binaural. Maybe an XY mic on boom would be my guess.
XSD powered by my dual mono 40W Class A amp. This is a pathfinder amp and I will be basis of commercial amp by VeraFi Audio. The commercial one will be a little different with PSU on board most likely. It sounds really amazing. Super wide soundstage and deep depth of field of the image.
Is this your favorite pairing so far with the XSD? I might have to build an AN as well if so. My amp game is kinda lacking these days haha
The AN is a beautiful sounding amp but sometimes it’s nice to have 150w on tap. 😀
The XSD has a nice higher sensitivity so a 40W amp like the AN can play it to satisfyingly loud levels. I believe the smoothness of Class A is special. The AN has amazing high damping factor in the bass region for great oomph.
If you haven’t built a hot running class A amp before, this one is easy as there is no bias setting to do or zero DC offset to adjust. It’s all automagically done for you. Having output MOSFETs on flying leads and quick connects makes assembly much easier.
The XSD has a nice higher sensitivity so a 40W amp like the AN can play it to satisfyingly loud levels. I believe the smoothness of Class A is special. The AN has amazing high damping factor in the bass region for great oomph.
If you haven’t built a hot running class A amp before, this one is easy as there is no bias setting to do or zero DC offset to adjust. It’s all automagically done for you. Having output MOSFETs on flying leads and quick connects makes assembly much easier.
Oh neato. It seems to me like a really nice option! How does it compare in your mind to say the Warp 1? (Even before I knew who you were I had been considering buying a Warp 1! 🙂)
What are you using as a preamp presently? I have been thinking of doing something tubey
I have been using the HyperDrive 2 as my main preamp. It is a tube hybrid pre/headphone amp.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/hyperdrive-2-headphone-amp-preamp.383708/#post-7014018
Warp-1 has a lot more power but I would give smoothness and soundstage to the Alpha Nirvana. Both are superb amps but Warp-1 can drive 4ohm loads with ease. You would have to build the 4ohm specific Alpha Nirvana which has a higher bias current. I am actually using the 8ohm version in the 4ohm XSDs.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/hyperdrive-2-headphone-amp-preamp.383708/#post-7014018
Warp-1 has a lot more power but I would give smoothness and soundstage to the Alpha Nirvana. Both are superb amps but Warp-1 can drive 4ohm loads with ease. You would have to build the 4ohm specific Alpha Nirvana which has a higher bias current. I am actually using the 8ohm version in the 4ohm XSDs.
Good to know! I am big on soundstaging, so I will look more closely at the AN. Thanks!