Dedicated Stereo/Audio/Video thread

[tsmith1315]

Wayne J was a great resource before forums were popular, but at some point, he moved on to other stuff. Its a shame, as he was super helpful

The name sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Was that a design published by P.E.?

 

[hobie1dog]

I've never heard of that name before.

 

[tsmith1315]

Parts Express, like Madisound, Old Colony, Speaker Builder magazine, etc., had regular design contributors for DIY projects. I’m thinking he was one of them.

 

[Sandy H.]

Parts Express, like Madisound, Old Colony, Speaker Builder magazine, etc., had regular design contributors for DIY projects. I’m thinking he was one of them.

Yep! Back in the day, the PE Tech Talk forum was an amazing resource for new DIY-ers. Regretfully, the forum server crashed and everything was lost at some point. It isn't nearly the forum it used to be.

 

[hobie1dog]

Parts Express, like Madisound, Old Colony, Speaker Builder magazine, etc., had regular design contributors for DIY projects. I’m thinking he was one of them.

I had a subscription to Speaker Builder magazine for many years, but they didn't survive one of the moves.

 

[hobie1dog]

I had a mind blowing experience with a pair of these around 1988. Enormous chest pounding bass. It was making the big pane of glass on the front of the store bow out 3/4".

 

[hobie1dog]

 

[hobie1dog]

 

[jderimig]

What are those hideous looking things?

 

[hobie1dog]

What are those hideous looking things?

I have no idea. Almost like everything else, as everything has been done that you can think of, and this person wanted to try to come up with something unique.

 

[Tobor]

I have no idea. Almost like everything else, as everything has been done that you can think of, and this person wanted to try to come up with something unique.

Someone spent a TON of money to make those things look like that... just say'n

 

[tsmith1315]

If they’re real, I dunno about that.

 

[lawn dart]

I'm new around here, been been playing catch-up on some threads/posts. This one even turned out to be sort of rocketry related, to me anyway. Back in school one of my best friends, a fellow audio geek and rocketeer, had one of these.

In a life of dorm rooms and tiny apartments, finding surface area for a standard turntable was always a bit of an issue. Not a problem for the Mitsubishi. Last time I saw it in action he had it on the mantle over his fireplace.

vertical tracking turntable

 

[hobie1dog]

I'm new around here, been been playing catch-up on some threads/posts. This one even turned out to be sort of rocketry related, to me anyway. Back in school one of my best friends, a fellow audio geek and rocketeer, had one of these.

In a life of dorm rooms and tiny apartments, finding surface area for a standard turntable was always a bit of an issue. Not a problem for the Mitsubishi. Last time I saw it in action he had it on the mantle over his fireplace.

highly collectible

 

[OverTheTop]

I have a Sharp vertical turntable. Must fire it up and see if it still works. Linear tracking, and even has track search (forward/reverse) using light bouncing of the flat area between tracks. Lift the stylus, find the gap, back up a bit, lower the stylus, listen for the end of the track, unmute...

Oh, it even plays both sides without flipping the vinyl.

Not bad for something from the early '80s.

 

[hobie1dog]

I have a Sharp vertical turntable. Must fire it up and see if it still works. Linear tracking, and even has track search (forward/reverse) using light bouncing of the flat area between tracks. Lift the stylus, find the gap, back up a bit, lower the stylus, listen for the end of the track, unmute...

Oh, it even plays both sides without flipping the vinyl.

Not bad for something from the early '80s.

I'd like to see that

 

[ghostfather]

 

[hobie1dog]

View attachment 582184

Altec VOTT, great effeciency, shy on bass for their size.

 

[jderimig]

Altec VOTT, great effeciency, shy on bass for their size.

Me thinks you bass freaks would hate speakers that are flat down to 20Hz.

 

[ghostfather]

Me thinks you bass freaks would hate speakers that are flat down to 20Hz.

I have a pair of self-built clones of the Klipsch LaScala's, also horn-loaded, like the Altec VOTT. Mine get down to about 30-35 Hz with an 15" woofer, which is good enough, and are very efficient. The woofer can go down further, but the cabinet shape would need to be bigger. The VOTT and some of the horn-loaded speakers from the 60's were developed when most amplifiers were tube amps, and put out maximum 20-30 watts per channel. My LaScala's are so efficient I can drive them with just the pre-amp with a 1W signal, at listenable volumes. If I were to turn them up to the 150w per channel I have on mono-block amps, I'd blow down the walls.
The Altec VOTT was developed for movie theaters in the 50's. What kind of amps do you suppose were available at the time?
Most of the VOTT speakers, if you can ever find a set for sale, have been bought up and refurbished for Japanese buyers, and have become a collector's item. In Japan, it's a status statement if you have big speakers taking up lots of floor space, as most houses in Japan are relatively tiny.

 

[ghostfather]

These are the mono-block amps that I use, but have mounted the circuit board and a 230v power supply inside my LaScala's, making them powered speakers, with SLR inputs, and a switch to run thick speaker cables from an external amp if I should want.

 

[ghostfather]

 

[ghostfather]

 

[tsmith1315]

 

[John Kemker]

View attachment 582513

These are the mono-block amps that I use, but have mounted the circuit board and a 230v power supply inside my LaScala's, making them powered speakers, with SLR inputs, and a switch to run thick speaker cables from an external amp if I should want.

I've got Orchard Audio's RCA-to-XLR converter to feed my Mani 2 into balanced inputs on my Freya S. They make good stuff.

 

[hobie1dog]

I've got Orchard Audio's RCA-to-XLR converter to feed my Mani 2 into balanced inputs on my Freya S. They make good stuff.

you sure have lots of gear

 

[ghostfather]

you sure have lots of gear

Some of us have lots of rockets, or lots of tools. I walked in this afternoon with a small (used) air compressor to paint rockets with, and my wife was like "what's that?" and "what is it good for?" The only saving grace was that I got it for free, as a friend of mine just bought a bigger, better compressor.

 

[John Kemker]

you sure have lots of gear

Not really. I'm just close to my end-game with audio:

A pair of Magnepan 1.6
Schiit Freya S
A pair of Schiit Vidars
Schiit Modi DAC
Schiit Mani 2 phono stage
Orchard Audio RCA-to-XLR converter
Schiit Sol turntable
Audio Technica VM95EN (came with Sol, mounted on arm)
VAS Audio Ebony DL-103 (not yet mounted on second tonearm)
Goldring E3 (mounted on a third Sol tonearm, currently most-used)

Want list:
A decent CD transport to feed the Modi
Replace the Modi with a Bifrost

 

[hobie1dog]

Not really. I'm just close to my end-game with audio:

A pair of Magnepan 1.6
Schiit Freya S
A pair of Schiit Vidars
Schiit Modi DAC
Schiit Mani 2 phono stage
Orchard Audio RCA-to-XLR converter
Schiit Sol turntable
Audio Technica VM95EN (came with Sol, mounted on arm)
VAS Audio Ebony DL-103 (not yet mounted on second tonearm)
Goldring E3 (mounted on a third Sol tonearm, currently most-used)

Want list:
A decent CD transport to feed the Modi
Replace the Modi with a Bifrost

having to sell my Magnepan 3.7 speakers was one of the most sad days of my life.

 

[hobie1dog]