On another note, regarding the newly deployed double W15 H-Frame enclosure, it has been over a week since I even turned it on.

I have been mostly listening to older jazz music and I honestly do not miss anything from the lowest octave. Yet?

... maybe that is because I have not turned it on, but that question has not even been thought of much.

I have moved it around some, just enjoying how powerful of a bass absorber the loaded enclosure can be, even with the connections shorted at times, but it has not been active in a while.

So, I have not forgotten or neglected its value, but just not felt the need to activate it.

As I mention this, I am intending to replay the last piece and look for anything untoward or mismatched as I power it up for the first time in a while.
This is how I work. Go with for a while and then without for a while then back and re-assess my early conclusions. Then back, then back to re-confirm.
It is my way of weeding through a euphoria of psychoacoustics brought on by any change I have made.
Suffer at first to make sure you don't become one of Einstein's insane.

A fair point to be taken forward is that the run of the mill F15s in a smallish 36" tall rounded baffle with about four or five watts driving them can do most everything I expect out of a speaker system in a small room on their own.

I am always having people looking me up and wanting to dump old gear on me. Mostly cousins, nephews and brothers of old music industry acquaintances. I suppose it is my fault from helping so many make connections to others in need.
Moving amps and guitars, PA gear and rack items into the right hands seems helpful to me.

But I had a guy call me and come by, wanting to drop four old JL Audio 12" car subwoofers on me. One was blown, but I have no need for any of them. I said I can't use them. Find someone who can.
In fact, I have never used any of those drivers except for once loading a Wicked One I had built for someone and they had already bought the big ass clumsy drivers.

Honestly the mid-fi JBLs at half the price worked better in a full sized WO, mainly because they were 14dB more efficient - but could only take 1/4 the power though so that made them "bad" to idiots. I know what I am doing, here!

Why go to a doctor with a booboo and not do what the doctor suggests? Because you're an idiot.

I have been dealing with a plumber (some nonsense with the sprinkler system - crap), an electrician (a few GFCIs acting old and an outdoor fixture in need of parts, several outdoor outlets not working - just crusty, I'm sure. Rather pay and have it all done than to mess with it at my stage in life), the cable company saying my network has some incompatibility problems with upload performance (we aren't youtubers or podcasters - we have no need to ever upload much) and getting my son's car to a donation site.
He broke his Jeep Patriot rear end driving over a parking lot barrier.

Hell, in my thirties, I was scrounging for a Kleenex box, messing with the radio, distracted while driving my new girlfriend from work and did the same thing in an '82 LTD at about 30 mph, jumped a parking barricade and nothing broke. Knocked the hell out of us. Upset us both, but no harm to the car.

I mean if my kid is out there driving some Jeep baby that can't jump a bump, WTF!!?!!
We fixed the ass end and got rid of that POS.

Anyway how am I supposed to do something smart with three useless car audio drivers?

I think Goodwill is going to have something fun on the shelf for some lucky guy tomorrow.

I'm getting rid of stuff! Hell, I still have a little 24x8x2 PM2000 Yamaha board to do something with.

I have tried to swear off plumbing so many times, but I think I have finally gotten there!

No more plumbing!

Funny is that, some of this is just a "Day In The Life" it seems.

I love The Beatles, btw.

Will have to sit down and write up a long list of all the things I´ve been up to in audio last 10-15 years since I was on here...

Well managed to break a ladders top wrung just as I stepped onto it going down of a roof last monday, fell backwards and landed on my shoulder so typing's a little arduous just now, but long story short I´ve always come back to the sen84´s albeit they like grandpas broom now and the HDT´s but guess no upgrades on the Zens in 10 years apart from some tube swapping, mostly on the rectifiers tells me I´m pretty much set in that department. I´ve mostly been having adventure´s in the analogue domain past decade that´s taken me some interesting places and to meet interesting people of which I might go into later. Needless to say the Zen HDT combo is still impressing people but then they can handle some pretty exotic front ends with ease and never leave me wanting for more.
In fact that goes for the front end too, I mostly just buy records these days as that was the whole point of it all, the music.

Best for now, will update what´s been done to the Zens when my shoulder is a bit less sore, Doctors told me I´d be off work for 3 weeks but think I´ll be good to go on Monday so shows what they know but falling 15 feet and landing on ones shoulder with out breaking anything is a pretty lucky escape all things considered.

Rap.

Thank´s Lon,
Well miraculously I´m back at work all this week, still dont understand how I managed to not do myself serious harm.

Well I´m happy to see how well Decware is doing, use to be a well guarded secret that not many knew about but Youtube seems to be sending me a lot of reviews and videos along with story´s of long waiting lists for delivery...
Which suggests a healthy demand and people are willing to wait for their amps and speakers, not common in this age of instant gratification. Well as you know I fell down the vinyl rabbit hole about 16 years ago now and that´s been the main focus in hifi, But think that says a lot about where the Decware amps and speakers in my system where at, not much to improve for my needs so focus moved on to arms and turntables... I think it´s like with my TT´s I started out with an Idler-drive Lenco and having come back full circle to those again, even my EMT or Thorens LB 150 or the TD124 dont have the same charm. There is a frugality to it that seems to tick some boxes for me though when most things have been tweaked or changed as with my SE83 pairs it´s possible to lose what made it special so a little back and forth is also part of it, not all changes are improvements....

I read a bit about your experience with the  Sofia Aqua II´s witch sound pretty amazing til one looks at the price,,,  :P I´m using some dirt cheap Soviet 5U4G´s having changed the power supply to fit better with the lower first-cap needs of the GZ32 flavour...(having burned through a pair of Mullards and a quad of Mazdas along the way...

I hope one day I´ll get round to setting up the Radial diy´s again or finishing the Visatron b200 OB´s but for now the HDT´s seem to fit my needs the best and the room I have...

Oh well maybe if I retire though that´s 20 years off ...

Rap.

Ah, well reading the literature it´s the ability to use a larger value first cap that is the interesting bit. I changed my power-supply to a C-L-C-R type where I dropped the value of the first capacitor value to 20 uF but as chokes typically have lower resistance (think this one is around 50-60 ohms) it´s still a strain on the rectifiers the second Capacitor is a 32 oil in paper (big as a coke-can) and the last resistor is a 50 ohm to drop voltage to the pin-out values given in the schematic of the Zen. Hum at speaker posts is down but at the cost of a little "speed" in attack, no free lunches..

I´m interested in the Aquas as they rate a 47 uF in the first position keep me in mind if your selling your pair Lon...


as always best regards Rap.

I hope you can continue with updates, Rap.
Great to see you back around!

That´s picture under one of the Zens, can see the large 10H choke at the back then a large 32 uF pio and finally the Trancender 3k in the foreground.


hmm seems I could use a refresh of how to post properly sized pictures..


(chaotic as always) Rap.  :o

Ps , those are  special audio dust bunnies under there... helps give it a dryer more ethereal sound  :P

I had talked in the summer about upgrading my outdoor sound, where we enjoy our firepit, to something more permanent. I have done so now.

I had my full range speakers installed by that time. I used JBL 8140 Industrial 8" drivers designed for rough service and Infinite Baffle operation, four of them, evenly spaced along the upper eves of the house. I created three zones by wiring the first and third as Left and the second and fourth as Right.
NO consideration as to which was recorded as L or R; I just wanted some sound out there.

One of the requirements to keep everyone happy was to buy a Bluetooth capable amplifier that could be mounted under the eves as well.

I bought one of these Dayton products:

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-DTA-2.1BT2-100W-2.1-Class-D-Bluetooth...

Honestly, this is about ten times more power than I feel like I need out there, but it was available and cheap, plus it came with a power supply. Many similar do not. So, a turn key deal!

Except, it also has a subwoofer channel, which I really did not want to mess with  -  at first.
So, if you want a self contained Bluetooth solution, you have to buy more tech than you want, as it turns out.

I built a small three foot long, flat as possible subwoofer enclosure with dual slot ports about two feet each, mounted it up tight to the eves and I love it. This little flat woofer got the call. I've spent more money than I wanted, but the results are worth the effort.

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-LS10-44-10-Low-Profile-Subwoofer-Dual...

The sound overall is way better than I had in mind from the first conception of this idea.
I made a little "birdhouse" for the amp with some venting, painted everything the same color as the eves and you can barely even notice anything is going on up there.
Only main giveaway is that the power supply for the amplifier has to be plugged in to an existing outlet, all that got the paint job as well. It almost disappears!

Only problem with that little amp is that it is very popular. When I ordered it they had five left. A few days of goofing with it and my son wanted one for his "work."  But, they were out of stock and still are for a few more weeks.

Now I'm watching for both my neighbors to be gone at the same time so I can crank it a little bit. The coverage is perfect and the sound is wonderful for an evening around the fire. It was a lot more effort, but came out even better than I had hoped!

I can sympathize with that last paragraph Rap. I have a pair of SV83 monoblocks that desperately need to be re-tubed and Lon’s praise for the Sophia products have me intrigued. My SE84 is honed in on Wathan tubes but with the 83’s we’re talking 10 tubes and $1300 for the Cryotone product where the SE84 only needs 4 tubes and sounds just as good if not better.  Not that Sophia’s would be less $ but common sense is telling me to sell the monoblocks and the academic in me wants to spend 3 weeks in the lab and hear both the Cryotones and Sophia’s both.

Indeed DD,

It does help to be to dumb to let a little soldering stop you and changing the power supply is maybe akin to converting a car to run on Methane in that it´s basically the same (car) sound though just a bit more of it and keeping the operational voltages at each stage seems to be the main feature in that. Changing the output transformers does not have as big an impact on the sound as one would think, at least not in this case, probably because the original scramble-wound opt´s were rather good and the Trancender is about same though with a little bit better noise rejection. It´s funny how many circles one can run round to try to end up in the same place...

Most important is it´s fun and one learn´s a bit about amplifier design and traidoffs in said designs.

Sorry if not posting, seems I have a lot of "homework" catching up on what´s been the theme of this thread (am on page 4now...) Still probably better then back in the day when I followed every single thread on the forum and almost every single post..

Rap.

Stop it, Rap!

I started this thread as a way to reintroduce myself after having been gone for so long I was not sure anyone I knew (of) before was even still here.

Then, things had changed dramatically in my own life and were still changing so fast it was hard to keep up at times.  And, instead of starting twelve new threads about things going on, I just kept this one going.

I feel I named it cleverly if it invites long gone/returning members to check in and post about their return. That includes you.

If you read on there is NO theme. This thread has been here for breakfast and the shitter, talked about everything, then to Hell and back with many opinions and "friends" joining in on many avenues and riding out the curves.

One member even referred to me as a "prodigal son" upon my return.  I have to assume that meant that at one time I was almost a fixture that had gone on to seek other sustenance in the vast yonder and finally returned home to where we know the best is yet to come.

I invite you to share all that you have encountered within your travels as another prodigal son seeking some solace from the unclean lands and finally returning back home again, where you belong.

I have just continued to post my update challenges here to keep from cluttering the forum with so many "unrelated to Decware business" threads.

You and all are welcome to post about BBQ or a new dog or the haircut that made you cry or anything you want, right here.
This thread has already been all over creation and back.

Stick around, Pal! That's the main thing.

I found a Luxman preamp I might be able to trade for a couple of cowboy perk ups.

I have it working good things in my system right now, but honestly, I don't really hear much of an advantage over the old multiple 12AX7 pre.

It does have balanced ins and outs, so I want to trade for it, if we can work a deal. I've never had a Luxman anything before.

I don't really want to start a gun discussion, but I am fat and happy and my "friend" is short, skinny and quite shy. Prices for a new/used acquisitions in that realm are completely insane right now.
Luxman prices seem kind of stupid, too.

I am hoping that adding in a K of ammo will tip the scales in my favor.

If so, I will have a more modern higher grade preamp to work in to my rig.
If not, I will consider one more concession, but that one old hunter will be it.

We'll see how it goes. I only have just so much more I am willing to let go of right now.
The Luxman IS enticing!

Well seems I´ve killed this thread...

But these arrived today from Jazzmaster Lon



As can see the big box had a smaller box (the original box sent to Lon from Sophia) but Lon boxed that box inside a bigger box stuffed with bubble-wrap..

I think they wouldn´t have needed to land the plane and could have dropped it on my house from 30k feet with out any damage, such was the level of care Lon took with theses and I am extremely grateful too.

I Stuck them in the amps just to verrify they turn on but have been holding off using them in anger til I got some clarifications from Sophia about their operational specs...



I sent them a mail asking about the specs and explaining the CLCRC stage I´m using but all I got back was:

Quote:


yeah thanks...


I´m going to go over the PS modifications I made before running these.. just in case...

Thanks again Lon, for taking the time to pack these and the hassle of sending it to me up here in Iceland...

Ever since I bought the W15s from Lii Audio, I have wondered if having the W15 and the F15 in the same baffle would solve a few things for me.

As winter hinders some of my efforts, I plan to make another "sandwich" baffle (birch ply/MDF/birch ply) about the same size as the single barrell shaped baffle that I have been using for one F15 per side.

This one will support both a W15 and an F15 on the same plane. Bi-amped, Zens on the F15 and McIntosh on the W15, crossed fairly low, using the speaker outs from the Zens for a low signal, crossed at about thirty Hz or so.

The H Frame subwoofer system is set aside and stored for now. I am hoping to NOT ever feel a need for a third enclosure in my room with this newest configuration of open baffle magic.

We'll see ...

Rap, I have been making our "new" home (two years in, now, so not really new anymore) more livable and up to date with new this and new that, rather than ordering my own Sarah, Phono Stage, ZP3 or ZRock just now.
Every (spendy) project I have orbiting my mind has been sort of back burnered with other priorities favored.

I am on a mission to improve my existing speakers over the winter months. I still love these F15s, but working with the lack of low end performance by adding an additional driver crossed low for some "elevation."

When I get that lowest octave about right all the rest of the music presentation rides a little higher on the room and it is not just a single dimension that is improved in soundstage height.
The depth that was already there, but you had to dig for to hear well, is just more available to the room.

I have gotten my flat glue ups done for my dual 15 baffles. It took a while for the glue to dry, Titebond II, cold and wet out there, and I only have enough clamps to do one at a time.
The goal is that my baffle will support both the W15 at floor level and the F15 at ear level. Instead of a standard barrel shaped baffle or some stylized rectangle plan, I am going to use more of a bell shape.

It will be sort of like Randy's Tombstone shape, but flared out a tiny bit at the area which mates to the floor. I doubt there will be a significant sonic benefit from slightly more floor contact. I believe that the shape will add an aesthetic I tend to reach for more these days.

Think of the typical "notification bell" on your browser and I am making one large enough for two fifteen inch drivers, three ply thick pegged to a glued up base made out of affordable yellow pine (for now, anyway) to keep it upright and stable to the floor.  This is the third mock up version I have done with these drivers.

All subwoofers are removed from the room. As I go forward, I still have several drivers I can substitute for the W15s, always seeking the best blend.
I have to admit that the W15s mate very well with the F15s, as they should. My only complaint might be that they really do not go very low at all.
My first lesson will be to determine if what the W15s do bring to the show is going to be enough for me to not look at another pair of boxes with subwoofers in them in the future.

Only other thing that I would love to see would be a Zen electronic crossover.
I am thinking that some of the old studio microphone preamps that had a cut circuit in them might work without much more than modernization and of course getting the cut range right. But, as with all engineering challenges, if you can not make it perfect, then make it adjustable.

A simple Zen adjustable tube based electronic crossover would not be THAT hard to build. Would it?
Hmm...

Those are some beautiful baffles! I love seeing other's ideas come to life.

I am a little too far in to the bell shaped single baffle idea to support both F15 and W15 per side to go a different direction for right now.

I am expecting that the dual fifteen baffle with be more than adequate for my small room. I am not yet comvinced that the Lii Audio W15 is the better low end answer. It actually does not go very low.

My aged infinite baffle Daytons Fs at 22Hz and the Jamos are 16Hz for the Fs number. Both are lightly built and fairly efficient as fifteens go.

Once this bell baffle has seen some time with the W15/F15 combo, I intend to to do some switching in and out of the low frequency driver arrangement.