I have MANY drivers and amplifiers. Time to upgrade and re-arrange. On the low end; I have the SB23MFCL45-4 single in a closed box just under 1 ft^3 powered by an older Hypex DS 2.0. I will eventually add a second one but will have to wire them in series for 8 Ohms. The Hypex does great with 4 Ohms but no way could it do 2 Ohms. This won't increase my overall sensitivity I realize but I will still have twice the surface area and I'm guessing I would increase the SPL's because the Amp will have an easier load. I never have to turn the main "gain" control up past the half-way point. With all bass EQ settings, in room response goes all the way down to 14 Hz! Remarkable for a single 9 inch sub. in a small, closed box! The Hypex has a non-defeatable 12 Hz high-pass (I think 4th order?). Moving on up from there...
I just received 2 SB29NRX75-6 10 inch woofers. These will go into separate closed boxes for stereo. Box size about 1.2 ft^3 (33 l). This should give me an f3 in the low 40's. I like pipe organ music; including the bigger ones that do 16 Hz. I will use the subs for everything under 40 Hz ONLY (monoral) and the 29NRX for 40 to about 300 Hz or so (to be determined). I have these in test boxes right now for break-in (not ideal but close enough for starters). I am using the Dayton APA 150 amp. for this test. It is actually a very nice amplifier for the money. It can be bridged mono, run stereo or mono, switchable low-pass that has a variable X/O frequency. My next drivers naturally drop off below 150 Hz without any X/O so I set the Dayton for stereo and 150 Hz X/O (3rd order if memory serves). There is an obvious match up problem here as the 150 Hz to 150 Hz doesn't blend very well, a gap if you will. So I set the Dayton for full range and things started to sound better. I have some inductors on order and have many values "in stock" already so I will go passive here. It may just be that the 3rd order rolls off way too quickly; I'll figure that out eventually. I'm going to try the X/O here at 300 Hz first. 1st order then 2nd order if need be. Could be a 1st order on the woofer and 2nd order on the low mid-bass...to be continued; starting a new veggie and flower garden during the Covid stay at home...time to get some much needed Sunshine and fresh air...
Break-in period still VERY early. However, my previous "dedicated woofer" were single (one per stereo side) 6 inch Satoris. The new 10 inch SB are not nearly as accurate or focused as the Satoris! This is still way too early to tell obviously but I may have made a major mistake here!?? I was in pursuit of more SPL's in the 40 Hz to maybe 400 Hz range. To be continued as I said earlier...New idea already forming; a pair of 7 1/2 or 9 1/2 Satoris instead of a single 29RNX75??? It just doesn't seem to be nearly as accurate or "musical" as any Satori I have currently...to be continued...
Moving on up to mids. I have a Satori 6 inch mid. (MR16P-4) and a MA Pluvia 7PHD (P7PHD). My current system has these running almost full range; no passive or active X/O on the bottom at all. The Satori has a custom 2 nd order low pass with Zobel. I can use the P7P full range or with a small inductor for a low pass (switchable in or out of circuit). These are each powered with separate amplifiers so I can use one or the other or both at the same time and adjust the "volume" of each independently. NOT a typical set up I realize but the Satori and Pluvia used together covering the same wide-band mids. is very satisfying musically. I will stick with this arrangement but now use a passive high pass on each to match up with the new SB29NRX anywhere from 200 to as high as 500 Hz. Most likely I'll end up in the 300 to 400 Hz region. There has been a lot of discussion about comb filtering, etc. having 2 different drivers outputting the same signal but separated in space obviously. I really don't notice this effect very much at all so I am not bothered by the pure science that says otherwise. Remember; I can use the Satori by itself, or the Pluvia by itself or both together and with variable "gain" control over each independently. This is why I am calling this a 3 1/2 way instead of 3 way. 2 different mid range (wide-band, near full range actually is more technically correct) covering the same band width. The upper roll off on these as I am using them is above 6 KHz (natural and/or electrical depending on the Pluvia inductor "mode"). I also realize most people would never use a 6 inch driver all the way up to 6 KHz because of beaming, etc. I am not bothered by this either; a narrower sweet spot is a non issue for me as I am the only listener other than the dog! From there, I go to the Fostex T90A super tweeter with a custom 2 nd order high pass. Details later, still waiting on more parts to arrive...
The SB29's are still in the test box; it is obviously too small because the Q is too high. No surprise so I can't judge the sound quality too harshly until these go into their intended box. As for playing around with the X/O; 1st order won't do; 2nd order also won't do so I added a Zobel with the 2nd order. Not bad but there is still plenty of energy well past 2 KHz; I'm hoping to NOT have to go 3rd order but I will if necessary. I have most of the correct L and C parts values on hand to do that; the inductors are 13 and 14 AWG so the DCR is reasonably low. Right now the low pass approximates BE2 with a -3dB at 400 Hz. My Zobel R and C values are a little higher than some calculators suggest but I found that there several different Zobel calculators that give different values so no worries here. I have a hand held DMM with LCR; I think I will try to measure the VC inductance myself. My meter does this at 100 Hz which is OK for woofer frequencies. I wish it would also allow LC testing at 1 KHz and 10 KHz but it's only an inexpensive meter. The SB spec. sheet says the Le is 1.8 mH. Anybody out there know of which Zobel calculator is the best (most accurate)? When I do Zobels for higher frequencies; I usually fudge and raise the R and C values because most spec. sheets give the Le as measured at 1 KHz. For very high X/O's; the inductance is most likely going to be higher (at 10 KHz for example).
I just lowered the R value and raised the C value of the Zobel; closer to ideal now. I am using 4.5 Ohms with 82 uF now; better than 6.0 Ohms with 68 uF
I just ordered 2 Scan Speak "Flow Resistors" (Dynaudio called them VarioVents). This is just in case my intended box also has a higher than expected Q. I know I could make my own flow resistors but the ready made ones are a quick, simple fix.
I will line all of the walls with a poly'/felt blend pad and do about 75% stuffing with poly' fill. I can adjust from there; more or less stuffing, with or without flow resistor. The problem is this is a smallish living room and there is really only one location for the speakers that works well. I think there is a room mode right around 40 Hz. The current woofers "excite" the room in this region. With the new woofers; I can tweak this out easier I'm guessing because they will be closed box, not vented. The padding, stuffing and flow resistors give me some flexibilty here. The subwoofer plate amp has multiple bass EQ and management settings so I can null out any deep bass room peaks. It even has a polarity switch which I haven't tried yet.
More parts and materials delivery expected today and throughout the rest of the week. This gives me more break-in time on the SB29NRX's before they go into the final, finished boxes.
I will line all of the walls with a poly'/felt blend pad and do about 75% stuffing with poly' fill. I can adjust from there; more or less stuffing, with or without flow resistor. The problem is this is a smallish living room and there is really only one location for the speakers that works well. I think there is a room mode right around 40 Hz. The current woofers "excite" the room in this region. With the new woofers; I can tweak this out easier I'm guessing because they will be closed box, not vented. The padding, stuffing and flow resistors give me some flexibilty here. The subwoofer plate amp has multiple bass EQ and management settings so I can null out any deep bass room peaks. It even has a polarity switch which I haven't tried yet.
More parts and materials delivery expected today and throughout the rest of the week. This gives me more break-in time on the SB29NRX's before they go into the final, finished boxes.
Tweaking both mids. this afternoon. Received the flat pack boxes for the woofers but that will have wait until the neighbor can help with lifting; carrying, moving, etc.
I think they should probably call the SB29NRX 11 inch instead of 10 inch. These things are massive and built like a tank! I'm sure in the right room; they could SERIOUSLY rock out!
Back to the mids.; The Satori MR16 is one of the best sounding drivers I have ever heard in the 300 Hz to 3 KHz band; The MA P7PHD is one of the best sounding drivers I have ever heard in the 600 Hz to 6 Khz band. Together; they are UNBEATABLE as far as I am concerned! They complement, supplement and blend together "perfectly". Of course, it all comes back to personal tastes but, seriously, for the money, I really think these can't be beat. I have heard the best of the best; these are right up there for sure!
I am currently fine-tuning the balance of these together. I will now use these in parallel with my best amplifier (but still have separate speaker switching available to choose 1 or the other or both); I have very high quality series resistors "in front" of the P7PHD (between the amp and driver). This serves 2 purposes; it attenuates the P7P to better match the MR16 and also keeps the total, parallel impedance of the 2 pairs of drivers within the limits of the amplifier. I have approximately 4.4 dB of attenuation on the P7P; I have also modified the Zobel and custom 2nd order low pass X/O on the MR16 "slightly" (I was very close already; this is just another fine tuning attempt). I am doing this (mids. tweaking) ALL at near field; once the entire system is put in place in the final room configuration, more minor tweaks could be required. The P7P is currently running TRUE full-range; the only thing between the amplifier speaker terminals and the P7P terminals is a short run of OFC twisted, 10 AWG twin lead (ZERO X/O); only the series resistors as I already indicated above.
The only thing left here is to put a series Capacitance in front of the MR16 as a low frequency, high pass filter. The capacitors are still on order and I will need to tweak the values to match the SB29NRX low pass X/O so that is for another day.
I did modify the MR16 boxes slightly as well. These are the PE BR-1 box. I have further modified them so now they are a true SEALED box of about 15 Liters. I capped off the tuning pipe inside; stuffed the pipe with high density foam and pounded in a tapered, rubber stopper from the outside. Before; I only had the foam in the tuning tube so I was getting "some" leakage; the tuning of 37 Hz or so would actually show up! Even though the MR16's are "midrange"; they are very capable of doing 40 Hz! As I said earlier; I am quite sure I have a room mode at about 40 Hz so this killed that particular problem. ( just have to further treat that with the woofers and sub now...to be continued...)...
I think they should probably call the SB29NRX 11 inch instead of 10 inch. These things are massive and built like a tank! I'm sure in the right room; they could SERIOUSLY rock out!
Back to the mids.; The Satori MR16 is one of the best sounding drivers I have ever heard in the 300 Hz to 3 KHz band; The MA P7PHD is one of the best sounding drivers I have ever heard in the 600 Hz to 6 Khz band. Together; they are UNBEATABLE as far as I am concerned! They complement, supplement and blend together "perfectly". Of course, it all comes back to personal tastes but, seriously, for the money, I really think these can't be beat. I have heard the best of the best; these are right up there for sure!
I am currently fine-tuning the balance of these together. I will now use these in parallel with my best amplifier (but still have separate speaker switching available to choose 1 or the other or both); I have very high quality series resistors "in front" of the P7PHD (between the amp and driver). This serves 2 purposes; it attenuates the P7P to better match the MR16 and also keeps the total, parallel impedance of the 2 pairs of drivers within the limits of the amplifier. I have approximately 4.4 dB of attenuation on the P7P; I have also modified the Zobel and custom 2nd order low pass X/O on the MR16 "slightly" (I was very close already; this is just another fine tuning attempt). I am doing this (mids. tweaking) ALL at near field; once the entire system is put in place in the final room configuration, more minor tweaks could be required. The P7P is currently running TRUE full-range; the only thing between the amplifier speaker terminals and the P7P terminals is a short run of OFC twisted, 10 AWG twin lead (ZERO X/O); only the series resistors as I already indicated above.
The only thing left here is to put a series Capacitance in front of the MR16 as a low frequency, high pass filter. The capacitors are still on order and I will need to tweak the values to match the SB29NRX low pass X/O so that is for another day.
I did modify the MR16 boxes slightly as well. These are the PE BR-1 box. I have further modified them so now they are a true SEALED box of about 15 Liters. I capped off the tuning pipe inside; stuffed the pipe with high density foam and pounded in a tapered, rubber stopper from the outside. Before; I only had the foam in the tuning tube so I was getting "some" leakage; the tuning of 37 Hz or so would actually show up! Even though the MR16's are "midrange"; they are very capable of doing 40 Hz! As I said earlier; I am quite sure I have a room mode at about 40 Hz so this killed that particular problem. ( just have to further treat that with the woofers and sub now...to be continued...)...
Sorry, not used to new photo software or attaching images here. As you can see; "close shave" (i. e. tight fit)! This is the knock down box from PE (Denovo Audio; PE part no. 300-7076). I knew it was "quite narrow" for the SB29's. I have some 12 X 12 inch MDF panels and 12 X 12 inch high density cork panels. These will mount to the baffle board; MDF on baffle, cork in front of that. This gives the woofer extra distance/space off of the narrow baffle, allows for better mounting and provides a better seal and damping as the woofer frame compresses the cork slightly. Because the internal dimension is very close to the cut out diameter of the woofer; having the woofer "out" an extra 1 inch from the inside will help allow me to get more pad damping material on the walls the full depth of the box. I would normally never have a box width so narrow as compared to the driver size but as I said earlier; I no longer have a shop with lots of tools handy so I go with knock down boxes mostly these days and modify them to suit my needs.
I left one panel off when I glued up the rest of the box. I will make this a removable panel. I will add "cleats" (wood blocks) to the inside edge of all panels so I have a better and stronger fit for the remaining panel to screw into. When I glued this up; I also used fasteners. I used special point (self starting) screws that don't require a pilot hole to be drilled first. I used number 10 screws; I really wanted no. 8 or even no. 6 screws but couldn't find any in stock at the correct length with self start points. I chose flat head, "TORX" drive screws. No. 8 or no. 6 were not in stock with the torx flat head either. At first; screwing these in caused some splitting in the MDF. I increased the drill/driver torque setting, speed up the drill speed and "pushed" in with more force. This gave better results and stopped the splitting. I think this would have been much less of an issue with smaller diameter screws. These splits cause me no concern as there is plenty of adhesive (high quality wood glue) in the joints. I also added more adhesive at the joints as one would normally do with caulk and a caulking gun. So, a very tight and strong bond and seal; I am not worried about anything rattling or shaking loose.
More later...
One side almost finished; details and photos to follow. These SB 29's are very well designed and built; if you want some serious kick-*** rock and roll woofers; these are a great choice. For more refined tastes; highest quality HiFi, serious jazz, classical, etc. I think these will NOT be my final choice! I have Satori 6 inch mids and woofers both; also the MA P7PHD, etc. The Satoris and Pluvias just do music MUCH better than the SB29; closed box and vented both.
Inside the box; I have all of the dampening padding installed. I also installed the SS "Flow Resistors" (for Aperiodic). The bass IS much improved in this box vs. the test box. Boominess is gone; a bigger box, damping, Aperiodic ALL contribute to this MUCH better in-room behavior!
What I find lacking is a quick and precise transient response; finer details; nuance; pick your own terms, are just MISSING! I am running them full range now; no X/O, one side only. I think for 40 or 50 Hz up to maybe 150 Hz; these are probably good enough for most people. I really want 40's to low 50's well up to 300 to 400 Hz WITH quick transients; articulation, detail, accuracy, Musicality, etc. I am now leaning toward the Satori 9 1/2 inch or even the ETON 11 inch.
Speaking of ETON 11 inch; I am finding 3 different model numbers online; VERY confusing indeed!
I want the lowest possible fs matched with an appropriate total Q that will agree well with my 33 liter closed (Aperiodic or not) box. As I said earlier; I have a sub-woofer for below 40 Hz; I don't have a large enough room for a vented 9 inch to 11 inch stereo pair (2 ft^3 up to 4 ft^3) will NEVER fit this smaller room unfortunately!
Inside the box; I have all of the dampening padding installed. I also installed the SS "Flow Resistors" (for Aperiodic). The bass IS much improved in this box vs. the test box. Boominess is gone; a bigger box, damping, Aperiodic ALL contribute to this MUCH better in-room behavior!
What I find lacking is a quick and precise transient response; finer details; nuance; pick your own terms, are just MISSING! I am running them full range now; no X/O, one side only. I think for 40 or 50 Hz up to maybe 150 Hz; these are probably good enough for most people. I really want 40's to low 50's well up to 300 to 400 Hz WITH quick transients; articulation, detail, accuracy, Musicality, etc. I am now leaning toward the Satori 9 1/2 inch or even the ETON 11 inch.
Speaking of ETON 11 inch; I am finding 3 different model numbers online; VERY confusing indeed!
I want the lowest possible fs matched with an appropriate total Q that will agree well with my 33 liter closed (Aperiodic or not) box. As I said earlier; I have a sub-woofer for below 40 Hz; I don't have a large enough room for a vented 9 inch to 11 inch stereo pair (2 ft^3 up to 4 ft^3) will NEVER fit this smaller room unfortunately!
Getting back into the project again; had to take a few days off to give the muscles and arthritis a rest! I have pretty much finished up one box; I can still tweak the stuffing, damping, Aperiodic vent, etc. as needed.
For today; I am going to start fine tuning the X/O's (all passive except the sub plate amp). My brother is coming over to give a hand. I played electric bass back in the day along with many of the lower voiced woodwinds. He also; but, he is still an active musician where as I am not. He also learned to play the acoustic (up-right) bass which I never mastered. We also have a cello player and a few piano players in the extended family so now it is time to get the "trained ears" involved.
As I said earlier on; I tried 1st and 2nd order low pass; with and without a Zobel and even played with different Zobel values. Right now; I am trying the 1st order again with the modified Zobel. The idea is to blend seamlessly with the next drivers up the line; the combination Satori mid and Pluvia FR. I don't have a calibrated microphone (coming soon I think!??) but have some very well recorded bass and cello CDs and LPs. I have been using test tones and sweeps available free online; time for more MUSIC!
I have 4 amplifiers total including the sub-woofer plate amp. The sub is totally disconnected and out of the room for now. The "woofer" amplifier is the Dayton I mentioned earlier (APA150). It is bare bones; a power amp with a "volume" control only on front. I have it set for flat, mono (but NOT bridged mono) so I am by-passing the built in sub X/O. This will eventually be set for stereo so these two SB 29's will be a stereo pair (woofers only). I have control over the gain here. The next amplifier is feeding the combination Satori/Pluvia "mids" so I have gain control there also. The super tweeter is now on it's own amp. as well with, yep; gain control.
Well, that was fairly quick! We decided the best blend of bass including harmonics, overtones, etc. is just the 1st order passive low-pass all by itself (NO Zobel, etc.). I am using a 3.6 mH inductor; 13 AWG (Jantzen "P-core"). This is a Ferrous powder type core instead of layered steel or regular Ferrite (they call it "Permite"). Looking at the SB29NRX75-6 impedance curve; I estimate the Z to be approximately 6.7 Ohms at 400 Hz; 6.5 Ohms at 300 Hz. 3.6 mH would then give me a -3 dB point at just under 300 Hz. [Without a Zobel; the HF roll-off will be somewhat less than a true 6 dB per octave (most likely anyway)].
While this may fly in the face of some; I have ALWAYS preferred the sound of a 1st order X/O when I can get away with it. The SB29 drops sharply at about 900 Hz so this is obviously helping me get away with 1st order.
I do eventually plan on getting another calibrated microphone (it's been over 20+ years since I had one). I have the REW software now on my laptop so it's only a matter of time before I can do real, in-room measurements.
I'm happy to say that these SB29's have FINALLY loosened up! Break-in took a lot longer than I anticipated. I think I would probably still prefer the 9 1/2 Satoris or maybe even the ETON 11 inch woofer. At least now I can be satisfied with these SB29's! Originally, they sounded WAY too relaxed without much definition or resolution. The f3 is around 37 Hz; VERY respectable for a closed box of only 1.2 ft^3 (33 l) and that INCLUDES the SS "Flow Resistor" for Aperiodic. As I said before; the calculated Qtc should be almost exactly 0.707 not counting for the stuffing, padding, vent, etc. (Of course; there is also my room gain).
They are starting to open the bars and restaurants on a limited basis as a trial phase in. Many places are reporting more COVID infections after they phased in re-openings so we all must still be careful. BUT; I have a nice place right across the street (literally) with an outside patio. It is Saturday afternoon and there is a cold beer over there with my name on it! ha ha ha ...
Cheers; more later...
For today; I am going to start fine tuning the X/O's (all passive except the sub plate amp). My brother is coming over to give a hand. I played electric bass back in the day along with many of the lower voiced woodwinds. He also; but, he is still an active musician where as I am not. He also learned to play the acoustic (up-right) bass which I never mastered. We also have a cello player and a few piano players in the extended family so now it is time to get the "trained ears" involved.
As I said earlier on; I tried 1st and 2nd order low pass; with and without a Zobel and even played with different Zobel values. Right now; I am trying the 1st order again with the modified Zobel. The idea is to blend seamlessly with the next drivers up the line; the combination Satori mid and Pluvia FR. I don't have a calibrated microphone (coming soon I think!??) but have some very well recorded bass and cello CDs and LPs. I have been using test tones and sweeps available free online; time for more MUSIC!
I have 4 amplifiers total including the sub-woofer plate amp. The sub is totally disconnected and out of the room for now. The "woofer" amplifier is the Dayton I mentioned earlier (APA150). It is bare bones; a power amp with a "volume" control only on front. I have it set for flat, mono (but NOT bridged mono) so I am by-passing the built in sub X/O. This will eventually be set for stereo so these two SB 29's will be a stereo pair (woofers only). I have control over the gain here. The next amplifier is feeding the combination Satori/Pluvia "mids" so I have gain control there also. The super tweeter is now on it's own amp. as well with, yep; gain control.
Well, that was fairly quick! We decided the best blend of bass including harmonics, overtones, etc. is just the 1st order passive low-pass all by itself (NO Zobel, etc.). I am using a 3.6 mH inductor; 13 AWG (Jantzen "P-core"). This is a Ferrous powder type core instead of layered steel or regular Ferrite (they call it "Permite"). Looking at the SB29NRX75-6 impedance curve; I estimate the Z to be approximately 6.7 Ohms at 400 Hz; 6.5 Ohms at 300 Hz. 3.6 mH would then give me a -3 dB point at just under 300 Hz. [Without a Zobel; the HF roll-off will be somewhat less than a true 6 dB per octave (most likely anyway)].
While this may fly in the face of some; I have ALWAYS preferred the sound of a 1st order X/O when I can get away with it. The SB29 drops sharply at about 900 Hz so this is obviously helping me get away with 1st order.
I do eventually plan on getting another calibrated microphone (it's been over 20+ years since I had one). I have the REW software now on my laptop so it's only a matter of time before I can do real, in-room measurements.
I'm happy to say that these SB29's have FINALLY loosened up! Break-in took a lot longer than I anticipated. I think I would probably still prefer the 9 1/2 Satoris or maybe even the ETON 11 inch woofer. At least now I can be satisfied with these SB29's! Originally, they sounded WAY too relaxed without much definition or resolution. The f3 is around 37 Hz; VERY respectable for a closed box of only 1.2 ft^3 (33 l) and that INCLUDES the SS "Flow Resistor" for Aperiodic. As I said before; the calculated Qtc should be almost exactly 0.707 not counting for the stuffing, padding, vent, etc. (Of course; there is also my room gain).
They are starting to open the bars and restaurants on a limited basis as a trial phase in. Many places are reporting more COVID infections after they phased in re-openings so we all must still be careful. BUT; I have a nice place right across the street (literally) with an outside patio. It is Saturday afternoon and there is a cold beer over there with my name on it! ha ha ha ...
Cheers; more later...
Currently on the CD player Shostakovich Symphony 1 & 7. This is a DG recording with the Chicago S.O. under direction of L. Bernstein. It won a Grammy in 1991. On Symphony 1; there are some very loud bass drum "thwacks" that really impress (obviously quite a large bass drum)! These SB 29's certainly show their stuff here! I don't have the sub-woofer back online yet but you wouldn't know it here! Yes; there is something to said for more surface area and moving more air in the room. These really should be called 11 inch instead of 10 inch woofers. The basket outer diameter is 290 mm or about 11.4 inches. Seas and SS 10 inch woofers are about 269 to 272 mm for comparison. They do have a larger surface area than the SB29 but has a 3 inch VC and LINEAR X of 22 mm peak to peak! Comparably priced Seas and SS have a linear travel only half to a third of that!
The recording is DG 00289 477 7587
I had the Atlanta S.O. Telarc CD of Stravinsky's Firebird; I remember it also had a huge bass drum. That CD got lost somewhere in my many moves but not since then do I remember a recording with such a loud and low frequency bass drum! One of my old buddies said he read that Telarc had their own giant bass drum and it was used on many classical recordings regardless of which orchestra, conductor or city.
I do like the larger pipe organs so I will still need my subs for the 16 Hz to 32 Hz octave!
The recording is DG 00289 477 7587
I had the Atlanta S.O. Telarc CD of Stravinsky's Firebird; I remember it also had a huge bass drum. That CD got lost somewhere in my many moves but not since then do I remember a recording with such a loud and low frequency bass drum! One of my old buddies said he read that Telarc had their own giant bass drum and it was used on many classical recordings regardless of which orchestra, conductor or city.
I do like the larger pipe organs so I will still need my subs for the 16 Hz to 32 Hz octave!
Currently on the CD player we have bass player Eddie Gomez. "Power Play" and "Street Smart" both. Back in my US Navy days; I traveled the world (literally). My favorite place on Earth is the district in Tokyo known as Akihabara. This translates loosely to "electric town". It is the big boy toy electronics and stereo capital of the world! Me and a few of my buds had the weekend off so there we went. We took several CDs and hit all of the "high end listening salons". This was in the 90's but even then we heard stereo systems costing in excess of $500,000 US. To this day; I still have an aural memory of that experience!
Then; we went back to Yokosuka to the exchange and did even more listening...Klipschorns, B&W, Infiniti, etc...the best available on base; top of line that most Sailors and Officers could afford anyway.
What I now have meets or exceeds these experiences in almost every way and well within a reasonable price range!
More later; critical listening and evaluation moment of "ZEN" going on now!
(ps; I forgot to add; on the streets of Tokyo; you can buy beer out of a vending machine and walk around drinking it so that was real bonus for ANY Sailor for sure!)
Then; we went back to Yokosuka to the exchange and did even more listening...Klipschorns, B&W, Infiniti, etc...the best available on base; top of line that most Sailors and Officers could afford anyway.
What I now have meets or exceeds these experiences in almost every way and well within a reasonable price range!
More later; critical listening and evaluation moment of "ZEN" going on now!
(ps; I forgot to add; on the streets of Tokyo; you can buy beer out of a vending machine and walk around drinking it so that was real bonus for ANY Sailor for sure!)
Gary Karr: J.S. Bach Solo Suites- Complete
On the CD player now. JS Bach Suites for Cello as played on double bass. Excellent recording!
Brian Bromberg - Brian Bromberg
On the wish list; I had the original CD; also lost in the shuffle. This is a remaster. His "My Bass" is a great electric bass demo track; check it out on YouTube
My moments of "ZEN" bass and cello critical listening days continue...
On the CD player now. JS Bach Suites for Cello as played on double bass. Excellent recording!
Brian Bromberg - Brian Bromberg
On the wish list; I had the original CD; also lost in the shuffle. This is a remaster. His "My Bass" is a great electric bass demo track; check it out on YouTube
My moments of "ZEN" bass and cello critical listening days continue...
sure, the cello suits played by Rostro. is one of my disc for critical listening and loudspeaker or devices benchmark, as the jazz Bass... piano (one I like is the 15 first minutes for the test of K Jarreith La Scala. And voices of course. Indian tablas for the rythm and speed consistency... Triangle and drums ... We are difficult!Like the description and story and follow the thread, thanks for all the details
Like the description and story and follow the thread, thanks for all the details
Thanks!
I always said if you got the piano and female singing voice just right; you've really done something! Now, about the upper overtones and harmonics of the violin; THAT gets really tricky!
What are some of your other favorite music testing tracks? I have a CD player and a turntable; both very good sounding for their given price range. Like everything else; I'm always wanting to improve things!
Cheers!