Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Got my SP/DIF opticlal lead today - 3M for only a fiver incl. delivery (20% off for chrimbo!)

I have to say... WOW.

I know theres some 'novelty factor' involved but its so small as to be insignificant - the difference is night and day!

Funny how you can get used to a sound and not realise what you are missing. Even using my crummy Rotel receiver with all-but-dried-up caps, my setup is just utterly changed.

The bass is 'punchier', and the treble actually exists! what a difference - now I need to replace all those 128kbit mp3s with 'sssssylablessss that have sssssesss in them'...

The midrange seems crisp and even too - how festive of it.

Oh yeah, and I can discern no difference whatsoever when I press the 'phase' button save for a brief faint click ;-)

I give the Arcam Delta Black Box 3 an A+ rating - clearly my best audio purchase this year, and I shall be keeping an eye out for other arcam bits, it was pretty nicely built, I thought.

I still dont know what the aux outputs are for, but my nforce2 seems unwilling to output 4 channels, so I guess I will never know ;-)

Orinoco flow sounds incredible - the bass is 'right up close and personal', and the treble gives a lovely image.

Oh yeah... and Quake3 sounds rather nice too ;-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with
ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with
ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:29:29 +0000, Ian Molton wrote:

I still dont know what the aux outputs are for,

Probably just duplicates of the main outs because the BB is a 2
channel device.

Kal

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:29:29 +0000, Ian Molton wrote:

I still dont know what the aux outputs are for,

Probably just duplicates of the main outs because the BB is a 2
channel device.

Kal

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Wally
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

You will see various recipies for this. My own experience is that it
is very variable. Generally good to have speakers away from walls, and
the listening position away from walls. For good stereo, a more
symmetric arrangement can be desirable. Beyond that, it all becomes
dependent upon things like the directional behaviour of the speakers,
effects of room furnishings, etc. The best advice I can give is the
obvious, "be prepared to experiment". :-)

Which is a bit of a pain with the big boxes.

And with ESL63's on spiked stands! :-)

In general, firing along the longer dimension tends to give more scope
for having space behind the listening position. However factors like
the above and how the speaker's resonances relate to those of the room
have an effect.

Having just demonstrated to myself that there's a dip in the low bass, I
feel that I need to address that before I look at the room.

Did you make the measurements out-of-doors to avoid overlaying room
effects?


The good thing about clutter behind an ESL is that it helps to break
up the reflection from the rear radiation. ;-

Piles of cushions? :-)

In our case it is currently things like flowerpot stands with large plants,
a workbox for needlework, and a subwoofer. The plants seem quite good as
combined decorations and primary room-mode dissipators. ;-

I have to lay on the floor to adjust the sub, but fortunately it seems to
be approaching 'about right' now so this should cease as an activity quite
soon! :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Wally
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

You will see various recipies for this. My own experience is that it
is very variable. Generally good to have speakers away from walls, and
the listening position away from walls. For good stereo, a more
symmetric arrangement can be desirable. Beyond that, it all becomes
dependent upon things like the directional behaviour of the speakers,
effects of room furnishings, etc. The best advice I can give is the
obvious, "be prepared to experiment". :-)

Which is a bit of a pain with the big boxes.

And with ESL63's on spiked stands! :-)

In general, firing along the longer dimension tends to give more scope
for having space behind the listening position. However factors like
the above and how the speaker's resonances relate to those of the room
have an effect.

Having just demonstrated to myself that there's a dip in the low bass, I
feel that I need to address that before I look at the room.

Did you make the measurements out-of-doors to avoid overlaying room
effects?


The good thing about clutter behind an ESL is that it helps to break
up the reflection from the rear radiation. ;-

Piles of cushions? :-)

In our case it is currently things like flowerpot stands with large plants,
a workbox for needlework, and a subwoofer. The plants seem quite good as
combined decorations and primary room-mode dissipators. ;-

I have to lay on the floor to adjust the sub, but fortunately it seems to
be approaching 'about right' now so this should cease as an activity quite
soon! :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:30:25 -0500, Kalman Rubinson
wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:15:20 +0000 (UTC),
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 09:12:56 +0000, Glenn Booth
wrote:

I tried to find Maggies in the UK a while back, and couldn't find a
distributor. If anyone knows of an importer, I'd be really interested.
My last quest for speakers drew a blank; I guess I'm looking for planar
type sound without the required ESL budget (or space for that matter).

Sorry, but it's simply not possible to achieve the sound of a large
planar speaker without using a large planar speaker in a large room.
Perhaps there should be a 'duh' in there somewhere..... :-)

Certainly for stereo or for the front channels in MCH. OTOH, the
smaller Maggies (MGMC1?) are bracket-mounted and gain front the
boundary proximity. With the right wall setting, they go down to
nearly 80Hz and occupy no floor space at all. I am using them now as
rear channels with more conventional speakers up front but I would
think they might be a dandy complement to bigger dipoles up front.

Such an arrangement *can* be made to work if your speakers have
particular characteristics - such as a ribbon tweeter down one edge
(see my page on http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/ for an example), but
this doesn't work with the Quads or the Martin-Logans. OTOH, the M-L
Stylos was specifically designed to function in a wall-bracket
situation. OTGH, M-L never did properly solve the problem of the
centre channel in a video context.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:30:25 -0500, Kalman Rubinson
wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:15:20 +0000 (UTC),
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 09:12:56 +0000, Glenn Booth
wrote:

I tried to find Maggies in the UK a while back, and couldn't find a
distributor. If anyone knows of an importer, I'd be really interested.
My last quest for speakers drew a blank; I guess I'm looking for planar
type sound without the required ESL budget (or space for that matter).

Sorry, but it's simply not possible to achieve the sound of a large
planar speaker without using a large planar speaker in a large room.
Perhaps there should be a 'duh' in there somewhere..... :-)

Certainly for stereo or for the front channels in MCH. OTOH, the
smaller Maggies (MGMC1?) are bracket-mounted and gain front the
boundary proximity. With the right wall setting, they go down to
nearly 80Hz and occupy no floor space at all. I am using them now as
rear channels with more conventional speakers up front but I would
think they might be a dandy complement to bigger dipoles up front.

Such an arrangement *can* be made to work if your speakers have
particular characteristics - such as a ribbon tweeter down one edge
(see my page on http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/ for an example), but
this doesn't work with the Quads or the Martin-Logans. OTOH, the M-L
Stylos was specifically designed to function in a wall-bracket
situation. OTGH, M-L never did properly solve the problem of the
centre channel in a video context.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 18:20:53 +0000 (UTC),
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

Such an arrangement *can* be made to work if your speakers have
particular characteristics - such as a ribbon tweeter down one edge
(see my page on http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/ for an example), but
this doesn't work with the Quads or the Martin-Logans.

That is exactly the design of the Maggies. Also facilitates
adjustment for listening position nicely.

OTOH, the M-L
Stylos was specifically designed to function in a wall-bracket
situation. OTGH, M-L never did properly solve the problem of the
centre channel in a video context.

Maggie has a horizontal device for that, too, the CC3 but I am less
enthusiastic about that one for real high-end work.

Kal

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 18:20:53 +0000 (UTC),
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

Such an arrangement *can* be made to work if your speakers have
particular characteristics - such as a ribbon tweeter down one edge
(see my page on http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/ for an example), but
this doesn't work with the Quads or the Martin-Logans.

That is exactly the design of the Maggies. Also facilitates
adjustment for listening position nicely.

OTOH, the M-L
Stylos was specifically designed to function in a wall-bracket
situation. OTGH, M-L never did properly solve the problem of the
centre channel in a video context.

Maggie has a horizontal device for that, too, the CC3 but I am less
enthusiastic about that one for real high-end work.

Kal

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:30:51 +0000, Ian Molton wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:30:51 +0000, Ian Molton wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)

I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)


--
Wally
www.art-gallery.myby.co.uk
Latest addition: Early Works gallery

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)

I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)


--
Wally
www.art-gallery.myby.co.uk
Latest addition: Early Works gallery

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 20:12:59 -0000
"Wally" wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)

I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)

OMG, ROTFL :-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 20:12:59 -0000
"Wally" wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)

I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)

OMG, ROTFL :-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 11:44:00 -0500
Kalman Rubinson wrote:

Probably just duplicates of the main outs because the BB is a 2
channel device.

ahh ;-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 11:44:00 -0500
Kalman Rubinson wrote:

Probably just duplicates of the main outs because the BB is a 2
channel device.

ahh ;-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Ian Molton wrote:


I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)


Bandpass enclosure - The enclosure goes in the loft
and the bass emerges from a tube.
Just a small hole in the ceiling required.

--
Roger.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Ian Molton wrote:


I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)


Bandpass enclosure - The enclosure goes in the loft
and the bass emerges from a tube.
Just a small hole in the ceiling required.

--
Roger.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 20:12:59 -0000, "Wally"
wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)

I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)

Big sod-off drivers like the Adire Tempest mounted in the ceiling, or
if suspension sag worries you, mounted in a manifold in the loft. You
can have 110dB at 20Hz for around £350 with one Tempest and a
200W/4ohm plate amp. Try that with a commercial sub!
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 20:12:59 -0000, "Wally"
wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...

Very true - and self-cleaning, too! :-)

I live in a top-floor flat and have a loft - what are my options? :-)

Big sod-off drivers like the Adire Tempest mounted in the ceiling, or
if suspension sag worries you, mounted in a manifold in the loft. You
can have 110dB at 20Hz for around £350 with one Tempest and a
200W/4ohm plate amp. Try that with a commercial sub!
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Ian Molton
writes
On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...


Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....
--
Tony Sayer

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Ian Molton
writes
On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...


Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....
--
Tony Sayer

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:45:24 +0000
tony sayer wrote:

Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke

Thats what I was hoping foe ;-)

and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....

'rubbish' ? isnt that the point of a sub [low frequency]

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:45:24 +0000
tony sayer wrote:

Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke

Thats what I was hoping foe ;-)

and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....

'rubbish' ? isnt that the point of a sub [low frequency]

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Ian Molton
writes
On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:45:24 +0000
tony sayer wrote:

Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke

Thats what I was hoping foe ;-)

and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....

'rubbish' ? isnt that the point of a sub [low frequency]

Well below say 20 ish hertz, there isn't a lot of useful info there
apart from some wind noise and other junk, but then again this may float
your boat!....


--
Tony Sayer

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Ian Molton
writes
On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:45:24 +0000
tony sayer wrote:

Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke

Thats what I was hoping foe ;-)

and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....

'rubbish' ? isnt that the point of a sub [low frequency]

Well below say 20 ish hertz, there isn't a lot of useful info there
apart from some wind noise and other junk, but then again this may float
your boat!....


--
Tony Sayer

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:20:05 +0000
tony sayer wrote:

'rubbish' ? isnt that the point of a sub [low frequency]

Well below say 20 ish hertz, there isn't a lot of useful info there
apart from some wind noise and other junk, but then again this may float
your boat!....

well rather depends on what you're listening to, surely? watching lord of the rings on the plains of rohan you might expect a little breeze ;-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:20:05 +0000
tony sayer wrote:

'rubbish' ? isnt that the point of a sub [low frequency]

Well below say 20 ish hertz, there isn't a lot of useful info there
apart from some wind noise and other junk, but then again this may float
your boat!....

well rather depends on what you're listening to, surely? watching lord of the rings on the plains of rohan you might expect a little breeze ;-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:38:08 +0000
Ian Molton wrote:

well rather depends on what you're listening to, surely? watching lord
of the rings on the plains of rohan you might expect a little breeze
;-)

heh, I write some junk sometimes. Of course, I was watching it in my
living room ;-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with
ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:38:08 +0000
Ian Molton wrote:

well rather depends on what you're listening to, surely? watching lord
of the rings on the plains of rohan you might expect a little breeze
;-)

heh, I write some junk sometimes. Of course, I was watching it in my
living room ;-)

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with
ketchup.

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Jim Lesurf wrote:

Which is a bit of a pain with the big boxes.

And with ESL63's on spiked stands! :-)

The idea of being able to pick up a small box and its stand, and put it into
'the serious listening position', without having to mess about with
logisitics and heavy lifting equipment sounds like a luxury. ;-)


Having just demonstrated to myself that there's a dip in the low
bass, I feel that I need to address that before I look at the room.

Did you make the measurements out-of-doors to avoid overlaying room
effects?

No, but I tend to have the internal doors lying open.


I have to lay on the floor to adjust the sub, but fortunately it
seems to be approaching 'about right' now so this should cease as an
activity quite soon! :-)

You keep your bass control stashed behind one of the speakers? ;-) I don't
have any tone controls, of course... ;-)


--
Wally
www.art-gallery.myby.co.uk
Latest addition: Early Works gallery

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Jim Lesurf wrote:

Which is a bit of a pain with the big boxes.

And with ESL63's on spiked stands! :-)

The idea of being able to pick up a small box and its stand, and put it into
'the serious listening position', without having to mess about with
logisitics and heavy lifting equipment sounds like a luxury. ;-)


Having just demonstrated to myself that there's a dip in the low
bass, I feel that I need to address that before I look at the room.

Did you make the measurements out-of-doors to avoid overlaying room
effects?

No, but I tend to have the internal doors lying open.


I have to lay on the floor to adjust the sub, but fortunately it
seems to be approaching 'about right' now so this should cease as an
activity quite soon! :-)

You keep your bass control stashed behind one of the speakers? ;-) I don't
have any tone controls, of course... ;-)


--
Wally
www.art-gallery.myby.co.uk
Latest addition: Early Works gallery

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:45:24 +0000, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Ian Molton
writes
On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...


Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....

Not a problem with CD..............
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:45:24 +0000, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Ian Molton
writes
On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:58:10 +0000 (UTC)
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote:

partnered by the 'killer' sub I'm building.

I had a nice idea for a sub... Many UK houses have chimneys... with
suitable blocking off and a clean, it'd make a very interesting bas
cabinet...


Did just that in our old house a couple of KEF B139 drivers fed by a sub
amp with a active x-over quite well, earth moving, especially on Organ
musicke and gave a great deal of depth to almost everything else. But
you will need a sub sonic filter of some sort to cream off the low
frequency rubbish.....

Not a problem with CD..............
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Wally
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

Which is a bit of a pain with the big boxes.

And with ESL63's on spiked stands! :-)

The idea of being able to pick up a small box and its stand, and put it
into 'the serious listening position', without having to mess about with
logisitics and heavy lifting equipment sounds like a luxury. ;-)

Fortunately, one of the pairs of speakers I use are LS3/5A's. These are
dead easy to move about, even when also using stands.


Having just demonstrated to myself that there's a dip in the low
bass, I feel that I need to address that before I look at the room.

Did you make the measurements out-of-doors to avoid overlaying room
effects?

No, but I tend to have the internal doors lying open.

Ah. You may therefore find that the results you get are affected by the
room in the mid/low bass even with doors open. One of the rooms I use has a
stronger resonant bass peak with the door open than when it is closed.


I have to lay on the floor to adjust the sub, but fortunately it seems
to be approaching 'about right' now so this should cease as an
activity quite soon! :-)

You keep your bass control stashed behind one of the speakers? ;-)

The sub is near the wall, behind one of the ESL's. It has a set of controls
(level, roll-off, and 'phase' sic) that I have to twiddle until I decide
the settings suit the speakers and room about optimally.

I don't have any tone controls, of course... ;-)

I arrange to always have some available. :-) They are not needed most of
the time, but I find them very useful on occasion. I particularly like the
style of controls on the Quad 34, but do modify them a bit as I feel that
the requirements depend upon the room and the speakers. With good material
they aren't needed - for example, the DVD of 'Tosca' with Gheorghiu and
Alagna which we were listening to last night. However with some other
recordings, particularly more 'historic' (marketing-speak for older :-) ),
recordings they can be very useful.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

In article , Wally
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

Which is a bit of a pain with the big boxes.

And with ESL63's on spiked stands! :-)

The idea of being able to pick up a small box and its stand, and put it
into 'the serious listening position', without having to mess about with
logisitics and heavy lifting equipment sounds like a luxury. ;-)

Fortunately, one of the pairs of speakers I use are LS3/5A's. These are
dead easy to move about, even when also using stands.


Having just demonstrated to myself that there's a dip in the low
bass, I feel that I need to address that before I look at the room.

Did you make the measurements out-of-doors to avoid overlaying room
effects?

No, but I tend to have the internal doors lying open.

Ah. You may therefore find that the results you get are affected by the
room in the mid/low bass even with doors open. One of the rooms I use has a
stronger resonant bass peak with the door open than when it is closed.


I have to lay on the floor to adjust the sub, but fortunately it seems
to be approaching 'about right' now so this should cease as an
activity quite soon! :-)

You keep your bass control stashed behind one of the speakers? ;-)

The sub is near the wall, behind one of the ESL's. It has a set of controls
(level, roll-off, and 'phase' sic) that I have to twiddle until I decide
the settings suit the speakers and room about optimally.

I don't have any tone controls, of course... ;-)

I arrange to always have some available. :-) They are not needed most of
the time, but I find them very useful on occasion. I particularly like the
style of controls on the Quad 34, but do modify them a bit as I feel that
the requirements depend upon the room and the speakers. With good material
they aren't needed - for example, the DVD of 'Tosca' with Gheorghiu and
Alagna which we were listening to last night. However with some other
recordings, particularly more 'historic' (marketing-speak for older :-) ),
recordings they can be very useful.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

Added a DAC to a cheap CD player - and got a result
 

Keith G wrote:

"Ian Molton" wrote in message
...

theres a switch labelled 'phase'. Wonder what that does?

Inverts the phase which can sometimes improve the sound. (Buggered if I know
how or why though......)

I understand that S/P-DIF spec allows for data to be sent "normal" or
"inverted". I have no idea why, but some of my equipment can send the
S/P-DIF info either inverted or normal. The other gear seems to
auto-switch in order to deal with it.

--