To All,
I would like to start off by saying "I apologize" that I haven't posted much on this forum. I am an avid reader, but don't post often. I am educated in electrical theory but don't work in the electronics field and I haven't come up with any groundbreaking designs in TPC, TMC or any new take on folded cascode design... But I do love to reading threads on this forum!
I've especially enjoyed this thread. It's near and dear to my heart. Everyone here is a member because they are avid lovers of music and/or audio equipment. I am both. There is true magic in the sounds that emanate from our audio systems. Music can accompany almost any emotion you are feeling and is one of your greatest achievements (almost a language?). Forums like this have been a true achievement in the internet era, where people can come together and converse about there favorite hobby (or career).
There is also something magical about creating something from scratch with your own two hands, whether its your own design or a design someone has shared. It is absolutely gratifying, very fulfilling and brings much joy to my life.
When this forum was created it was a dream come true. It featured my favorite pastime and some of its members were famous audio designers of my era (like rock stars to me) Nelson Pass, John Curl, Walt Jung, Cordell, Self, and Didden just to name a few.. Truly exciting to have that level expertise to be able to read their words of wisdom!
Nelson Pass has given so much too this forum and its members, a truly generous human being. His legacy in this community of Audio Fanatics will NEVER be forgotten (as JC would state it ;-). Honorable mention to Jan Didden also for all his work and publications that he has been a part of over the years!
I started my audio journey nearly 40yrs ago. My parents were avid listeners of 60s and 70s rock, pop and R&B. I grew up in the 70s We had a Lloyds (I believe) combo receiver complete with a turntable and 8track. (My parents enjoyed music but they weren't audiophiles ;-) It was still pure magic. I would mow lawns for peopIe would save up my money to buy 8tracks to listen on that old system when may parents would allow.
I started a little part time job when I was 16. I needed money too get a 'real' hi-fi system (and a car of course). One of my first purchases was a second hand Fisher separate system. I would play my music at the appropriate loud volumes (when no one was home). This was the 80s and Fisher quality was already somewhat compromised (I 'helped' it along with my desire to listen at high SPL's). Sadly one of the STK modules succumbed to my abuse and let out all of the magic smoke. Luckily my father was an aerospace engineer and let me know there was a cure for the left channel of my now defunct amplifier. There was an actual electronics store not too far from where we lived (before they went the way of the wooly mammoth) and we were able to obtain a replacement for the poor STK. Life was good again..
Even now, though I am much older, I still get that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach when I read threads on this forum. All the little nuggets of audio electronics wisdom. I love it all, thank you!!!
Best Regards,
Brannon
P.S. Senior Members and Mods. Please keep this in mind: Be nice to NOOBS, younger members and people that aren't native English speakers. This is 'DiyAudio', they are the future!
I would like to start off by saying "I apologize" that I haven't posted much on this forum. I am an avid reader, but don't post often. I am educated in electrical theory but don't work in the electronics field and I haven't come up with any groundbreaking designs in TPC, TMC or any new take on folded cascode design... But I do love to reading threads on this forum!
I've especially enjoyed this thread. It's near and dear to my heart. Everyone here is a member because they are avid lovers of music and/or audio equipment. I am both. There is true magic in the sounds that emanate from our audio systems. Music can accompany almost any emotion you are feeling and is one of your greatest achievements (almost a language?). Forums like this have been a true achievement in the internet era, where people can come together and converse about there favorite hobby (or career).
There is also something magical about creating something from scratch with your own two hands, whether its your own design or a design someone has shared. It is absolutely gratifying, very fulfilling and brings much joy to my life.
When this forum was created it was a dream come true. It featured my favorite pastime and some of its members were famous audio designers of my era (like rock stars to me) Nelson Pass, John Curl, Walt Jung, Cordell, Self, and Didden just to name a few.. Truly exciting to have that level expertise to be able to read their words of wisdom!
Nelson Pass has given so much too this forum and its members, a truly generous human being. His legacy in this community of Audio Fanatics will NEVER be forgotten (as JC would state it ;-). Honorable mention to Jan Didden also for all his work and publications that he has been a part of over the years!
I started my audio journey nearly 40yrs ago. My parents were avid listeners of 60s and 70s rock, pop and R&B. I grew up in the 70s We had a Lloyds (I believe) combo receiver complete with a turntable and 8track. (My parents enjoyed music but they weren't audiophiles ;-) It was still pure magic. I would mow lawns for peopIe would save up my money to buy 8tracks to listen on that old system when may parents would allow.
I started a little part time job when I was 16. I needed money too get a 'real' hi-fi system (and a car of course). One of my first purchases was a second hand Fisher separate system. I would play my music at the appropriate loud volumes (when no one was home). This was the 80s and Fisher quality was already somewhat compromised (I 'helped' it along with my desire to listen at high SPL's). Sadly one of the STK modules succumbed to my abuse and let out all of the magic smoke. Luckily my father was an aerospace engineer and let me know there was a cure for the left channel of my now defunct amplifier. There was an actual electronics store not too far from where we lived (before they went the way of the wooly mammoth) and we were able to obtain a replacement for the poor STK. Life was good again..
Even now, though I am much older, I still get that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach when I read threads on this forum. All the little nuggets of audio electronics wisdom. I love it all, thank you!!!
Best Regards,
Brannon
P.S. Senior Members and Mods. Please keep this in mind: Be nice to NOOBS, younger members and people that aren't native English speakers. This is 'DiyAudio', they are the future!
The promise that you can do better for cheap> What a mistake... Better for cheap is a used gear and DIY is only an entertainment for the sake of it.
The best example being a guy who assembled his system, hooked up bass channels to the output of midrange active crossover , both channels out of phase and was so happy with his system that he invited the whole audio club in the city to celebrate it. Since nobody said a word enjoying free cigars , booze and snacks I had to clarify the situation that while the system and the room looks great it sounds like a POOOP and something is seriously wrong. That's the usual problem with DIY systems . They only sound good in the obsessive mind of proprietor ...with few exceptions
So true...haha
It all begun when I heard the Cougars on stage, "Our man in Siberia" in 1963.
30W amps with 807´s were the rigor, pre-amps with spring delay lines and loop tape for echo. Trix P-PP for 60W upwards using 6L6´s but cannot find any record on these amps. With overuse, most of these did go wrong, electrolytic capacitors in their infancy were the culprits..
BB
30W amps with 807´s were the rigor, pre-amps with spring delay lines and loop tape for echo. Trix P-PP for 60W upwards using 6L6´s but cannot find any record on these amps. With overuse, most of these did go wrong, electrolytic capacitors in their infancy were the culprits..
BB
When I designed and built my first audio power amplifier, I got it to work after some tweaking and debugging. I turned it off, and the next time I turned it on, the emitter resistors of the output transistors went up in flames after a few seconds - not just smoke, actual flames.
I had a '68 VW Squareback that I mounted some cheap 6x9s in a particleboard enclosure. They were 'permananently' stationed on the rear seat and in the way of any passengers that happened to be unlucky enough to sit back there..🤣🤣60 years ago a pair of car speakers in cardboard enclosures...
Oh yah, I too remember a transistor getting red hot as I watched it destroy itself in a Superphon preamp. I stole a transistor from the phono section and it surprisingly worked. Yes, yes, I had shorted the output of one channel by accident. Many more to come over the years. At least you got to see the candle burn.
Age 13. I rode the bus downtown and went all over town listening to speakers. I really loved the Boston Acoustics A60's which were $200 a pair - a TON of money for me at the time. I asked the salesman there, Jim, if he knew anything about building speakers and both he and his boss did - and they were kind enough to give me a fair bit of advice despite the fact that they weren't getting any money out of me.
I got my hands on the McGee Radio speaker catalog and bought the same Tonegen cone tweeter that was in the A60s for $3.49; a Peerless polypropylene 6.5" woofer for $15.95, some crossover components. Bought a jigsaw and made a box out of particleboard.
When I was done, my new speakers were ugly but they sounded as good as the A60s - I even took them to the store and showed them off.
A few months later I made some more speakers in shop class and sold them to a guy with a classified ad in the newspaper.
An ad in the McGee Catalog for speaker builder magazine said "It may be that the only way you can get the system you really dream of is to build it yourself, because you don't have to deal with the compromises of a commercially distributed product" which certainly can be true.
By the time I was 17 I was selling my own brand of speakers in a different stereo shop in town, who also sold KEF, Morel, B&W and Denon.
Went to college and got an EE degree. Designed speakers professionally at Jensen in Chicago for 2.5 years.
Since 1995 audio has been a hobby, not a profession, and I prefer it that way.
I got my hands on the McGee Radio speaker catalog and bought the same Tonegen cone tweeter that was in the A60s for $3.49; a Peerless polypropylene 6.5" woofer for $15.95, some crossover components. Bought a jigsaw and made a box out of particleboard.
When I was done, my new speakers were ugly but they sounded as good as the A60s - I even took them to the store and showed them off.
A few months later I made some more speakers in shop class and sold them to a guy with a classified ad in the newspaper.
An ad in the McGee Catalog for speaker builder magazine said "It may be that the only way you can get the system you really dream of is to build it yourself, because you don't have to deal with the compromises of a commercially distributed product" which certainly can be true.
By the time I was 17 I was selling my own brand of speakers in a different stereo shop in town, who also sold KEF, Morel, B&W and Denon.
Went to college and got an EE degree. Designed speakers professionally at Jensen in Chicago for 2.5 years.
Since 1995 audio has been a hobby, not a profession, and I prefer it that way.
Mid to late 70s for me. I remember reading this article in school: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4042983. When I saw the schematic, I thought "I could do this". After that semester, I had a summer intern job at Bell Labs in Columbus, Ohio. My first time listening to "real" high end was a shop there that featured Spectral Audio equipment. I had never head of Spectral before; prior to that, I thought I was living large with my Koss Pro 4AAA "head-clamps". I had no idea what true high end stuff sounded like until that experience. Then, the shop opened the equipment and let me see and study the insides. That was the hook for me. I don't remember what speakers they played. I just remember how realistic the system sounded and it wasn't even playing loud. When I was back in school the next semester, I wrote to some marketing guy in Hitachi and got a bunch of lateral MOSFET samples (companies used to LOVE to donate to college students if you ask for parts) and built my own DH-200 clone after seeing the schematic in a magazine.
But, my very FIRST audio project was MUCH earlier, maybe late 60s: a discrete JFET preamp from Popular Electronics with tone controls. It was a fabulous noise generator.
But, my very FIRST audio project was MUCH earlier, maybe late 60s: a discrete JFET preamp from Popular Electronics with tone controls. It was a fabulous noise generator.
As a young teenager, my older sister had a portable record player which she destroyed and threw out after only a few months. I kept it, took it apart, and saved the circuit board simply because it looked interesting. Later got the idea to see if I could make a guitar amp with this stuff. Didn't even own a guitar but I was 12, liked music, and had just began my first electrical class in school. So I built a wooden box that resembled an amp, got an 8" speaker, figured out the pcb input, output and power connections, and wired it up. My friend brought over his guitar and the thing worked. Of course not much power - probably milliwatts, but it worked and I was hooked. Quickly moved on to building real amps and speakers from articles in Popular Electronics etc. The hobby turned into a career, from which I'm about to retire, and I still enjoy the hobby, 50+ years later.
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Reading bout speakers in cars brougth back some memories, please forgive it is a bit off topic...
1974, shortly after i left Philps and started my own busnes, one of my first customers was my former employer. I took the job to install some measuring equippement abroad, in the former USSR controlled Checoslovakia. Went there through half of europe with my car. In the trunck i had built a big speacker box. One weekend, when i wanted to leave the country to visit my relatives in near by Austria i got troubles at the border. Bordercontroll insisted they had to brake open the box to make sure there is no one hiding inside the box. Now, this box i made with 27mm nordic plywood, glued, screwed and brazed as sturdy as can be and firmly bolted to the car. Speaker was backmounted, so they wanted to rip out the cone so they could look into the box, but i loudly protested. So they took me in custody and called for a mechanic. It took hours before someone finally arrived. He soon left to fetch some tools, came back hours later. By then i was totally pissed and barely able to keep my temper. He removed the box, opened it. The box was stuffed with the old kind, the VERY itchy kind ofl glasswool and i was happy to see an officer putting his searching hand inside. Nothing was found, so they put it all back together and i was frée to go. By then it was to late for my planned visit, half the weekend was gone...
Just some memories of n old guy about border controll USSR style...searching for smuggled humans in speakerboxes...
Working there was a absolute nitemare...people utterly poor...everything not screwed down got stolen... nothing worked...except bordercontrol...
1974, shortly after i left Philps and started my own busnes, one of my first customers was my former employer. I took the job to install some measuring equippement abroad, in the former USSR controlled Checoslovakia. Went there through half of europe with my car. In the trunck i had built a big speacker box. One weekend, when i wanted to leave the country to visit my relatives in near by Austria i got troubles at the border. Bordercontroll insisted they had to brake open the box to make sure there is no one hiding inside the box. Now, this box i made with 27mm nordic plywood, glued, screwed and brazed as sturdy as can be and firmly bolted to the car. Speaker was backmounted, so they wanted to rip out the cone so they could look into the box, but i loudly protested. So they took me in custody and called for a mechanic. It took hours before someone finally arrived. He soon left to fetch some tools, came back hours later. By then i was totally pissed and barely able to keep my temper. He removed the box, opened it. The box was stuffed with the old kind, the VERY itchy kind ofl glasswool and i was happy to see an officer putting his searching hand inside. Nothing was found, so they put it all back together and i was frée to go. By then it was to late for my planned visit, half the weekend was gone...
Just some memories of n old guy about border controll USSR style...searching for smuggled humans in speakerboxes...
Working there was a absolute nitemare...people utterly poor...everything not screwed down got stolen... nothing worked...except bordercontrol...
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Hmmm... when I was around 3 (or 4 or 5) our family visited our cousins on Boxing Day (a fairly traditional thing to do in Britain) and my much older cousin had an electronics kit - I was fascinated by the shapes and colours of the circuit board. Next day I 'built' a 'circuit' using lego of all shapes, sizes and colours on a large Lego board - I never understood what the original (or mine) was intended to do except look interesting.
Fast forward a few years and my parents bought me the Ladybird book on 'building a crystal radio' (I think that was the title). The radio only worked when hooked up to an amp, and the variable capacitor was faulty and as luck would have it stayed tuned to BBC Radio 3. From that moment on I was hooked into music and audio gear - another couple of years and my fascination with the glowing valves in the radiogram my Dad had made (from a Rogers Cadet III and a Thorens TD150) persuaded me to buy every valve radio I could get my hands on from local jumble sales. Some worked, some didn't and some caught fire - all part of the fascination! I still have the Rogers and the Thorens
Fast forward a few years and my parents bought me the Ladybird book on 'building a crystal radio' (I think that was the title). The radio only worked when hooked up to an amp, and the variable capacitor was faulty and as luck would have it stayed tuned to BBC Radio 3. From that moment on I was hooked into music and audio gear - another couple of years and my fascination with the glowing valves in the radiogram my Dad had made (from a Rogers Cadet III and a Thorens TD150) persuaded me to buy every valve radio I could get my hands on from local jumble sales. Some worked, some didn't and some caught fire - all part of the fascination! I still have the Rogers and the Thorens