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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Thank you Raj!!
A very Merry Christmas to you and your family, and indeed, to all people reading the Aspen forum, and good healthy for all of us in this dreadful time of the virus........

This year has passed very quickly, and the pandemic has blotted the landscape all around the world, damaging every society in the planet. Economically many businesses in my country are no longer, and I'm hoping that it will improve in 2021.

It might see that there is not much happening at Aspen, but in truth there are many developments, including a new product coming very soon, a 125W Class AB amplifier to bridge the SAKSA and the Maya.

I have said this before, but I do not believe China will have an easy 2021. I think many countries around the world are very upset with the Chinese, and I think there will be repercussions in their trading world, and this in turn will reduce the Chinese income in 2021.

And a Happy New Year to all, and thanks to my supporters and customers through the difficulties of 2020.

Ciao,

Hugh
 
Season's Greetings to you and your family, Hugh! :xmastree:
I'm still in awe at what the Maya is capable of! Just now listening to a favourite CD that I have not played for a while and I am touched to tears by the beauty and emotion conveyed on some of the tracks ...
I wouldn't put it past you to be able to come up with something that is even better than the Maya, but it's going to be very tough! :D
This is a real winner - a music lover's amp :note::violin::Piano::note::note::note: :sax: :note:
Best wishes to all Aspen followers for a Happy, Prosperous, and Positive New Year - may the world come out of its current crisis soon!

Cheers,

Jens
 
Belated Happy Christmas & Hope for a Happy 2021

Hi Hugh,
Like pretty much everyone else, I've found 2020 as a challenge (to say the least!) and am grateful to be seeing the tail end of it. You are spot on about the likelihood of China being likely to have a hard time of it in 2021. In fact, they may learn they are not the only people in the world who try to think in the context of centuries instead of electoral terms.
I look forward to reading about Aspen's new products in the New Year. Keep on keeping on!! Regards, PJR
 
Folks,

Thank you for the gracious comments and well wishes for 2021.

AudioStar, 1/ Around April, 135W, mid-product between the SAKSA and Maya using lateral FETS and around $US3k, and 2/ Prototype almost finished, doing the wiring now with all components completed. It will be DC protected, active rectified, dual power supplies per module, and well cooled using dual-die Exicons. Rails will be 52V.

I have written about China and the rise of this bellicose 'new' power. They are driven by ideology and history (isn't everyone?) but it is difficult to tell how much their behaviour is the consequence of domestic politics, I suspect rather more than we realise. Their leader is the greatest authoritarian since Mao and clearly consolidating his power. There are consistent purges of CCP officials and heavy HK unrest. The debt installments from the South Pacific nations are beginning to create arrears. The belt and road project and what it means to the merchandising countries has turned finally and military activity at the Spratly Islands is attracting the eyes of the world, particularly US, India and Japan. Taiwan is extremely edgy, India is on the alert and the virus has now mutated into a SARS-like virulence in UK which brings about 2-3 times mortality and is 70% more infectious. Europe, US and UK are in health turmoil at present national debt is increasing everywhere, even in China. With so many bushfires on so many fronts we can expect the world to be a very different planet by end of 2021.

I see huge change in the world in this next year and I think there will be quite a few earthquakes too, another today in Croatia, 50kms from Zagreb. I am grateful I am not a pessimist and I enjoy an absorbing audiophile life, which distracts me from the calamities around us.
I hope Aspen customers, past present and future, feel this way....... music will continue to light out our lives. Designing and building our amps and speakers is a very good way to spend our pastime in an uncertain, dark future.

Ciao,

Hugh
 
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Happy Christmas and New year to Hugh and all aspen family members. Though we are apart from many parts of the world we are united here for passion in audio . Interest in this hobby and technology made me to follow Hugh dean since I joined the Forum since 2005. And when I had Enough money saved, I bought Maya and I am very happy till now. Credit goes to Hugh Dean.
 
Andy my next project is Hugh Dean's class A design . Once completed, will compare both . Until then I am always happy with MAYA.

Aha! Now that will be a very interesting comparison, Suresh! :)

(I am supremely happy with mine! :up: There's something special about Class A.)

Of course the Alpha Nirvana is only 40w (as against 200w!) - so you need to have appropriate spkrs. Are yours 8 ohm ... or do they drop to 4 ohms or below?

Andy
 
Andy It's 8 ohms using usher audio 8945A woofer and 9950-20 tweeter.

Looks like a good woofer, Suresh - goes down to 30Hz! :up:

But - if my own experience is any guide - you might get a better result if you build 2 of the AN 8Rs and run the spkrs active.

You see, in my own spkrs, the mid/bass units hand over to subs at anywhere from 100 to 160Hz, using a 24dB XO (I have 4 configs stored in my nanoDIGI and can flip from one to the other, easily).

At the lowest XO setting (100Hz) ... I find the red 'clip LED' flicks on occasionally, with bass-heavy music; if your Usher 8945As are going to be delivering sound down to 30Hz ... I would expect you will find the clip LED coming on more frequently. In a passive setup this would mean the tweeters are also being fed a clipped signal ... in my case (active), only the channel driving the mid/bass units clips - the tweeter still gets a clean signal.

Andy
 
Looks like a good woofer, Suresh - goes down to 30Hz! :up:

But - if my own experience is any guide - you might get a better result if you build 2 of the AN 8Rs and run the spkrs active.

You see, in my own spkrs, the mid/bass units hand over to subs at anywhere from 100 to 160Hz, using a 24dB XO (I have 4 configs stored in my nanoDIGI and can flip from one to the other, easily).

At the lowest XO setting (100Hz) ... I find the red 'clip LED' flicks on occasionally, with bass-heavy music; if your Usher 8945As are going to be delivering sound down to 30Hz ... I would expect you will find the clip LED coming on more frequently. In a passive setup this would mean the tweeters are also being fed a clipped signal ... in my case (active), only the channel driving the mid/bass units clips - the tweeter still gets a clean signal.

Andy
Have a good one !
 

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Well folks it's now 8:30am on Christmas Day and the 5Kg turkey is in the oven! I have avoided eating any chocolate so far, but can't guarantee I will resist by nightfall...........

I wish Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all past, present and future Aspen members here! Thank you for your interest and support for Aspen in 2021. I have to say that the last couple of years has been a wild ride; but the new virus strain seems relatively mild with few deaths now. Maybe we are into the end of this insane period? Australia is now beyond 85% vaccinated but there are quite a few anti-vaxes in the community. I have some sympathy for them; no one enjoys being forced to take vaccination and this mRNA technology is brand new.

This year has seen a long, arduous development of my middle power amp, the Titan 125W. It is now done, and I'm readying new modules for sale, see the photo below. Oddly one of the issues here was supply line. I'm sure you have all seen this issue; anyone buying a car will know that the supply line, particularly for goods transported by ship, has been damaged in recent months. I find myself asking if this is accidental, or intentional, but it has made it difficult to gather parts for the Titan and some rejiggng has been needed but no performance compromised.

The international politics is now quite different to last year. China is now bellicose, and the leader constantly tells his military to prepare for war. The US is concerned, particularly with her Navy; Middle East and northern Africa are still haemorrhaging people into Europe, Israel has just had a change of government, and SE Asia is aligning member states for territorial disputes with the South China sea. Australia, NZ, US and UK have confirmed their mutual desire to protect the status quo with a treaty. In the meantime, there is serious financial collapse in Chinese real estate and Evergrande is now in international default, although local investors are being given promissory notes. The belt and road project is stalled somewhat, and there are serious financial aspects of China's high speed train system. Chinese labour costs are rising quickly, many international companies are leaving China and there will be huge inflationary pressure. Since the Yuan is tied to the USD this will directly affect the western world. Brexit is all but over, but if Russia moves troops into Ukraine the response from NATO is imminent and could cause military conflict, involving Europe proper. Russia needs the fertile breadbasket of Ukraine, the warm water port of Crimea, and the ongoing concern about 'buffer states' to her west and south. And India is building its military, particularly her Navy. Japan has been transforming its Self Defence to an international Defence Force. No, it seems that we are headed to military conflict and it is worrying because the bigger players own nuclear weapons. Only South Korea is watching quietly, not reacting......

This year I turned 70. After a ruptured aorta in 2012 I never really expected to live so long, but I'm very, very grateful and my love of audio has given me huge pleasure, as much enjoyable I enjoyed as a child. I never stop learning; the more I learn the more I know I do not know. My formal career in the military was as an educator, so someone who loves learning soon realises that a complex technology is fascinating and never ending. Recently I master the Tian probe forexamining compensation of audio amplifiers; that was fascinating and helpful with the Titan! And every week new components are available with huge potential, and LTSpice has given us some wonderful insights we can explore before committing heavy expense.

I wish a lovely Christmas and New Year to all readers here, and good health through 2022.

Hugh
 

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