So what  I am processing is a sound which is rather dry, yet very clear and highly detailed.  And yes, even with a wall that close in front of me, with my eyes closed, I was convinced of a setting many times larger than what my audio room really is.  The music did not come from the direction of the speakers. The music was alive within the room without restraint. I was experiencing a soundscape expansion which made me believe I was in a very large space.  There was no directional point source. You could not determine exactly where the sound was coming from.

 There was now a presence of holographic projection which made my perception of time and space much closer to reality as one hears in nature. What I did not like, was that the lower frequencies which I hoped to be strong, were indeed, nowhere near what I expect. On a positive note, the bass notes were very clear and well defined. There was none of that "one note bass" which is so common in untreated rooms. I was fascinated by the superb control in which the bass response provided. The more power fed into it, and the better it sounded. It was as if you could visualize the bass player in front of you, imagining each and every note as the player's fingers manipulate the strings, providing a new course of vibrato that is simply mesmerizing with how clean and detailed the progression of chords are as they unravel.  The perception of pitch is indeed solidly intact in a way that was never revealed this well before.

But, the level of dynamics were just not what I expect to feel. Visceral response is where the music takes on a life with physical involvement. I need to feel the music, as well as hear it for the full experience. Good music should provoke an emotional response in order to become truly involved within the music and its depth.  This factor is largely the core motivator for experiencing a strong degree of emotion as you connect to the music as one.


I had to advance the volume in order to get a reasonable sense of bass that I like. At that level, the decibel factor can be a bit harmful to one's hearing, so not wise for long term listening.. I did not feel that this level of amplification should be necessary to get a good low end response. I believe at that point, this amplifier was being pushed to its limits of output. The Visaton woofers that I used are not very efficient, so they did limit that situation to a large degree. They produce nice low end when given enough power, but that huge array of eight 10 inch woofers just did not meet my expectations overall. As I said before, there could have very well been some heavy bass cancellation going on as well.

After extensive listening, I decided to reverse the sitting arrangement and move backward to the 38 percent area from the BACK wall. This placed me about four feet from the rear wall binary/ternary diffusers. Now I am listening at far-field and things have changed in some aspects. I would not say that I noticed any bad changes to the sound quality, but as I recall, the bass extension seemed to be stronger and more even with the rest of the system response. My perception of space as how we gauge separation of instruments and position was somewhat different, perhaps a bit more restricted as a result of increased reflections which occur  at the back section of the room.  By dialing in the right placement of the sidewall diffusers, this does actually make a noticeable difference in tailoring the perceived width and depth of the soundstage.  With that readjusted, the balance of the room response became more natural, and focus became favorable.

As for high frequency response. Overall, the high frequency response had a very open and clean presence. I have used these same HiVi drivers in other designs with great results, so I am very familiar with their performance characteristics. There were details that center upon cymbals and high hats that was not as clear as I have heard in the past on some recordings. Something was a bit off and I knew it could be improved upon.

Now as for the lower midrange. I was not feeling that physical connection to  where percussion can have a strong impact upon your senses. Something seemed to be lacking. It became apparent that some changes will need to be made within the crossover networks. With some tailoring, I wanted to see if this could be improved to give the midrange more body.

So the next step is to completely disassemble the crossover networks and start from scratch with Xsim.  I came up with a revised design which should make a difference. This time, I upgraded to much higher quality parts. Very expensive close tolerance foil inductors were used along with 1 percent tolerance high grade capacitors and resistors.

I will show you those upgrades and then get back to the evaluation once the upgraded networks are in place.

The updated version for rebuilding the new crossover networks.






































































So with the newly revised design with upgraded parts, it is time to reevaluate this system.

Sorry about the bad quality of the graphs. When I reduced the size for posting on this forum, it really degraded the image. Part of it was cut off. I will try to repost a better image if I can.


This graph represents the frequency response after the revision from 30 Hz to 20 kHz.















That came out a little better, but still not clear enough. That is the best I can upload. Hopefully, you can read the data and make sense of it.

JB,

With X-sim, I get real world results instantly. It doesn't always sound as good in reality as it does on a graph, but then again, the sound system, room acoustics, and quality of recordings will absolutely be the main factors in which to convey what this really sounds like as a whole. If it isn't right, back to the drawing board and remain disciplined until the correct answer is found.  As I say, it is all about discovery and process.


No, absolutely no padding!  That would be like introducing negative feedback within a refined SET amplifier!  Would become rather pointless in the end.

Circuit boards have their place, and they certainly make things easier during production, but you know, it is all about the end result. The quality factor is always the most important thing to consider when building audio projects.  Point to point soldering keeps things direct and short. That is proven to make a significant difference with high end audio.

I had my reservations about implementing a Zobel circuit to stabilize the impedance. I know that this can degrade the sound quality, but I felt it was important to this design. After testing it, I do not regret doing so. I like to keep things as simple and direct as possible, but this array is complex, so there was no short and easy solution to maintaining such a smooth frequency response. This response is nearly ideal when all things are considered. This is not an easy thing to achieve.  The only concern that I have is how it sounds. If I like it, then I am satisfied.

We shall have a discussion concerning this graphene project.  I do want to find out more about this.  I try never to downplay what I cannot prove.

Now just where did I put that mixture of deuterium and tritium!




I am not getting your email messages. After your first one, I never saw anything else. Not sure what is happening with my account, but for some reason, yours does not come through. Try sending again. If that does not work, then try a text or PM me here. I checked the spam folder and everywhere else, nothing shows up.

As for that listening session, After the intense and SO gratifying listening experience I became enthralled with last night, I thought about how you are going to react once you have experienced this. I intend to stir up some real emotion within your perception of music so that you won't stop thinking about it for some time to come.  If this does not somehow become something special for you, then I give up....everything is going to Goodwill! If you experience what I did last night, I guarantee that you are in for a real epiphany.



Anyway, get back with you later.

I am now going to resume posting. I am near the end of this phase.

Quote:


This has happen to me before. If you replied using my e-mail contact  info embedded in this forum it adds an additional identifier to your e-mail address line which causes what you describe. When I replied to those e-mails the responses most likely ended up in your spam folder.

I will text my e-mail to Val. You then should copy it from the text and paste it in your e-mail application that you use and send me an e-mail message. I will use the address from the sent e-mail for future communication.

I have just hidden my e-mail in this forum to eliminate this from happening again, hopefully anyways!

Quote:


Replied with your request in the e-mail.

Thanks mrchipster, I certainly did go to great lengths to find the answer to that experiment. It was worth it while it lasted. But things change, and sometimes we have to move in different directions then what we set out for.

It is a good thing that I had my reference speakers on standby. Once that I put them back into service, I instantly knew that this was what was meant to be.

As for the equipment, not only do you get what you pay for, but also, the results are the sum of the correct parts working together in the right combination as you pointed out. It only makes sense that if you focus upon the parts that are used in the higher end models, then you should effectively mimic the performance characteristics of that selection. That is a good thing about audio forums all over the internet. Eventually, one gets valuable information from other peoples projects which end up with great acclaim.

Had I never read so many rave reviews concerning the Zero DAC, I would have never bought one. That unit is the best purchase I ever made in audio. The guy who designed and built this unit makes them to order much like Decware does.  Choices of DAC chips were optional so that you get the ones that you prefer. Having a choice of Burr-Brown DAC chips made this an easy choice. That particular DAC chip is well known as a great sounding choice. I am extremely pleased with the sound quality it produces. This unit stands out over the stock Tascam with 24 bit 192 kHz dual D/A conversion. The difference is better dynamics, better sound-stage, and better clarity. The transport in the Tascam unit goes straight out, bypassing everything directly via fiber optics. So between the great TEAC CD-5020A transport and the Zero DAC, this makes a combination which is very hard to beat, let alone equal.

 Unfortunately, since the COVID 19 period, he is no longer selling this unit online. He just disappeared and his store is not to be found. I have no idea what happened to him, but apparently, this unit is no longer available. It is a shame when you consider the quality factor at such a low cost. Just an unbelievable value to say the least!

Again, this is something that must be heard to fully understand just how good this combination sounds.

As for the old stock Philips rectifiers that I swapped for a short while to test, well let's just say that they are not right for this amplifier. Those tubes got high acclaim from users who left reviews on the Upscale Audio website. Those tubes are hard to get now, and command a high price. They are of no value to me.

After I swapped the Electro Harmonix ES rectifiers for the Philips, I noticed that the smooth full bodied sound that I had was now brittle and somewhat harsh sounding. The dynamics clearly dropped off, and the sound-stage just seemed to collapse. I never thought that rectifiers could make or break the sound quality of the amp to any large degree, but this was clearly an undeniable case. I can tell you, that rectifiers absolutely make a difference within the sound signature of these Torii amplifiers.  Just goes to show how influential the power supply really is as a crucial part of the amplifiers sound.

I put the Electro Harmonics ES tubes back in, and PRESTO, everything was restored back to normal. The funny thing is that the Electro Harmonics ES rectifiers are inexpensive, while the old stock Philips are now demanding huge sums of money if you can find them. My advice is to stay clear of these and save your money.

So, glad you are enjoying my audio adventure. I think that you will find the next segments very interesting and most likely quite entertaining.

I will start advancing into the next phase shortly. I have been extremely busy, so finding time to be here is not easy. I am usually so exhausted from working all day that I just start to nod off when I get online. I am making great progress, and hope to have this house project completed within the next three weeks if weather permits.

I have ideas waiting to be built and tested in this audio room. I am looking forward to having time devoted to working on these ideas. So you can see that things never really stop. I will eventually be experimenting with new additions (acoustical treatment) to the room, and that means continuing into another phase for this thread. I am certain that this is going to continue for an extended time into next year. Winter time means more time in the shop. Something is bound to come out of that time period.  I do plan this winter to begin building my next set of speakers with full range 8 inch drivers based upon the rear loaded horn concept.





Check this out. As I was writing this post, this warning was directed to my attention.

Error: Posting this fast is considered spamming, you are warned!
You are only allowed 6 more attempt(s) after which you will be banned as spammer!


WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ABOUT???





If I get banned for something this stupid, I am going to be really upset.



Anyway, I will get back to this next audio phase.  (that is if I don't get banned)

This is the beginning of the second stage. The in-wall speaker array has been removed and the wall is now solid again (at least in appearance).  Just remember, you can't see the built in midrange bass absorbers that make up a huge part of this wall.  This wall may look normal, but it is anything BUT normal! A good portion of that surface is actually metal for the face plates of the diaphragmatic absorbers.
































So now we will focus upon what is going to fill that space for audio speakers.

Steve,

The funny thing is, I was not posting anything in rapid succession.  I was simply writing and refreshing to see changes that I made to the pending post. I had not even posted anything yet at the time of that warning.

I completely understand the problem that these AI bots are creating here. I would love to hunt down the source of this code and be the one to terminate it's presence with MY form of persuasion. Behind that code is a sleaze bag who doesn't deserve the oxygen given that POS!

People need to wake up and be aware that the rise of AI is going to be the total downfall of humanity. There will be a point of no return.

I had discussions about this 30 years ago concerning the potential of this very thing. We knew back then about the warning signs, and being part of the military with a high level security clearance, I was aware back then of more than I cared to know about the impending future, and what will become of technology. This is just another reminder of how mankind simply feels the need to self destruct.

I hope this can easily be rectified to get me back on if this ever does ban me from the forum.

I will be aware of this, but as I said, I did nothing wrong to trigger this response.

Sometimes I wish that I could hit the reset button and restart life again around 1978. Life was so much better then.

And life goes on in this world of uncertainty.

I've had the "System" lock me out also.

It ended up that I was previewing my posts too quickly as I was editing them.  It counts the preview button the same as the posting button.

Just slow down! Don't preview more than once a minute.

So here we go with the start of the new speaker system. What you are about to see are the basic details and build images of my reference grade models which I designed and built. These are the Qforce speakers which I am currently using in the audio room.

The entire cabinets are built at a de-greed rate of rake. Not just the front, but the entire unit front to back are slanted equally. Just as if the entire assembly was warped backward. Of course the top and bottom are on perfect horizontal level to the floor.


These are built using high grade Baltic birch plywood. The crossover networks were designed using the Xsim simulator software. Actual driver testing was completed to create the necessary FRD & ZMA files for the design. The final result of the frequency response is not only efficient, but extremely accurate and very well balanced across the entire spectrum from 40 Hz to well past 20 kHz. There is still a very strong presence down to 30 Hz with an Fs of 27 Hz.  I enhance these with an external bass reinforcement system which blends in perfectly to produce really tight low end response which boosts the lower end enough to equalize everything out.

These speakers are a two part design which mates a transmission line enclosure to a passively enhanced rear loaded horn concept. This design allows for adjust-ability between the two sections which allows for fine bass tuning in any room.

As I stated before, I am being careful not to divulge technical details in order to protect my design from being copied and manufactured. Even though the images themselves show much of the detail behind this design, it will be tough to copy without actual measurements. I put way to much time, effort, and cost to just give this information away freely. My purpose is not to instruct someone on how to build these. This is only to give you an idea of what I am using now in this room.


Here is a view of the blueprint for the Qforce design.  Again, NO measurements.  








This view shows the layout for the front grill covers which are machined from hardwood.





The bass extension housings are made from .75" MDF which you see drawn out here.





The following images of the primary speaker enclosures are not the actual images of this build, but they are nearly identical. I did not have images of this internal view, but just happened to have images of another set of speakers which used the same design. My actual speakers as seen here have more reinforcement, plus the top and bottom are constructed with double layers of .75 inch Baltic birch.  The following images will however give you an idea of how these are constructed.

Here you see the internal view showing the front part of the enclosure forward of the T-line.




And here you see the rear portion of the enclosure where the passive radiators will couple with the bass extension section.





And this image showing the DADO joints for very strong structural integrity.












This shows the back of the primary enclosure where the passive radiators are being machined to fit.






This is a fit check for the passive radiator surrounds and grills.










I will be back to continue this build review soon.  There is much more to come.

Picking up where I left off, here are some more images of the Qforce speaker build.

















This was the original crossover network when the speakers were built.






Since then, I redesigned the networks using Xsim and completely upgraded with a revised design. The current network uses all premium parts which are mostly 1 percent tolerance grade. Only premium foil inductors are used for this design.





This next view shows the rear of the main quarter wave enclosure. You see the three passive radiators which couple with the rear base unit for extended bass tuning.





Here you see the main enclosures with a view of the rear loaded section which mates to this.











Here you see the set of rear bass sections which cradle the main enclosures with airtight seals for extended bass response.






These rear sections come apart by means of fasteners for transport or storage. The entire back section can be removed from the bottom platform.






The two sections are mated together as seen here.
















































































That should be enough for now.  To be continued.

Here you can see the left side corner bass absorber pulled away from the doorway. Now you know why this unit required wheels for quick and easy movement.






The poly-cylindrical diaphragmatic bass absorber rolled back into position for listening.

In a bit of a different direction, I shall take the time now to show you some of the music titles that I listen to in this room. This will give you a very good idea as to what I am experiencing if you know these titles. If you were at least 16 years of age back in the 70's, then you should relate to everything here.


I talked about the importance of reducing or eliminating "interaural-crosstalk" from the music as it is played back through a stereo set of speakers.

Back in the early 80's, I had a new copy of this album (Dark Side Of The Moon), both on vinyl, and on CD. They were audiophile recordings on the Mobile Fildelity label. Those of which demand very high prices today if you can find these original gems. The following title is the remastered version from 2011 on the "experienced" works. I also have "Wish You Were Here", "Animals", & "The Wall" that were remastered during this "experienced" release in 2011.

When I had the original release on Mobile Fidelity, I played it using the Carver Sonic Holographic Generator back during the early 80's. Everything that works to meet my current audio goal manifested itself from this very album being the core driving force. It truly is the holy grail of creativity for which to challenge any respectable hi-fi system. This album is a superb reference recording which will unveil an incredible 360 degrees of dimensional imaging if your system, and your room, has what it takes to make it happen.

Unfortunately, without the removal of cross-talk contamination, you will never know the true perception of how this actually sounds as intended from the studio engineer. With the Carver circuit, which works by means of complex phase inversion and delay configuration, the original sound is played back minus the two confusing phantom signals that cause "cross-talk".


Here is a block diagram showing how the cross-talk elimination works by form of injection and cancellation.





Without this unit, once you have experienced it with the circuitry correction, you will never be satisfied listening to this album again knowing what is missing.

It has been several decades since I discovered that magic within this album. I had sold the unit with that circuit when I started buying Decware products back in the late 90's. I have regretted letting that pre-amp go every since. There is nothing that has ever even come close to what that unit does for TRUE music playback.

During that time period (1986), a friend of mine just bought a set of the flagship Polk Audio SDA speakers which used a different scheme to counter this effect by means of internal crossover enhancement and a cross-link cable to rectify speaker cross-talk. They worked okay in my opinion, but not as well as the Carver circuit did from my perspective.


Polk Audio now has a revised version of that speaker which uses a completely advanced form of that technology. That speaker is the Legend L800 SDA with adjustable bass tuning. This speaker design gave me an idea as to how I can approach a way to reduce cross-talk without the addition of this circuitry.


This is an old design technique which Polk Audio used in the original SDA speaker system with the cross link cable.






TODAY: Polk Audio is accomplishing this correction by means of having a mirror imaged set of mid-range drivers in a focused array, offset at 2.5 degrees from center. There are two rows of these drivers which angle away from each other at 2.5 degrees. What this does is to delay the timing of the second set of drivers so that they come around and cancel out the cross-talk signal before it reaches your perspective ear. They are using timing delay tactics along with inversion of that second mirror array. Again, it seems that by using the "Inversion-Time Delay approach", this seems to be the golden answer. I am not going to buy these speakers, nor any type of additional electronic device. Just know that there are means out there to rectify this problem. The most complex technology is the "Binaural" tactics which are very costly, and very sophisticated, but are the best solution to date.

Just remember, with the removal of cross-talk, you are also adding artifacts and coloration from this additional circuit. There is always a trade off. I want to focus upon keeping my signal path as clean and simple as possible. I am researching this, and eventually, I will come up with an acceptable solution within the speaker design itself. All that needs to be done in order to correct inter-aural cross-talk is one simple thing.


The solution: Block the two unwanted signals from reaching your ears. (These crossover in front of your face, causing information to be heard in the wrong ear from the wrong channel.) Why is it so simple? Because this is done mechanically by an actual barrier which the signals can not pass through.  The problem with this: It is not feasible to run a full size barrier between the speakers and your head. That certainly does the trick, but nobody will actually do this. When you hear the results though, it will change your perspective on natural audio forever. If you have never experienced this experiment, then you have no idea just how bad the normal perception of audio really is.


So why am I bringing this issue up again you may ask? Because what I am about to tell you stems directly from the barrier experiment.


I have not heard this level of true holographic imagery coming from this album in so long, that I never thought I would experience it again. I had an extremely intense relationship with this album last night which took me way back to that golden experience of past. What I experienced was not 100 percent of how good it really can be, but so close that it took me deep within its alluring effects for a powerful emotional feeling within.

I am talking pure joy to have been reunited with such a great memory of this album.

How did I do this? Well, let me go back and reveal a thought I had while sitting in the audio room listening to music. I suddenly had this thought in my head that made me wonder why I had not done this before.  I had leftover rolls of R13 fiberglass sitting in the closet space behind the baffle wall. I also had a large package of ROXUL insulation still in the bag.  So being the experimenter that I am, I pulled those items out and set them up as barriers between the speakers and my ears. The ROXUL was just big enough to extend to the height of my speakers. It extends four feet fwd of the speakers. This package is about a foot thick and compressed. The speakers must be as close as possible with this barrier between them.

Knowing that for this to work, this barrier is supposed to extend all the way to your head in order to be effective. So being that was not possible, I substituted the six rolls of R13 as an extension of that barrier. I stacked them up to a height of over six feet and centered them directly in front of my position, centered so that only the left and right half of each speaker channel could be visible from my position.

I reasoned that this won't block the signals entirely from reaching my ears, as the flow can actually find a path around and between the physical barriers when there is a gap. Knowing that, I thought I would give it a try anyway and see (or hear) what happens.

Now mind you, I am comparing this same album without any other form of change what-so-ever. I listened to this album with the speakers set at the same exact distance as what was used in the experiment. The only thing that changed was the introduction of the fiberglass barrier acting as a huge absorber.

Without the barrier: Nothing special about the imagery considering what I knew was possible. Yes, the sound stage was wide and expansive, but it should extend beyond that with studio special effects which I simply was not satisfied with. If I had not experienced this effect before with the processor, I would have never known what actually existed within these soundtracks. This album should sound Quadraphonic, as if you had a surround system playing. Except that surround systems do not sound natural like what happens in a 360 degree sound field which can be revealed with the right equipment or speakers that are designed for this in a two channel stereo system.

At best, I was only getting 180 degrees of expansion WITHOUT the barrier. That is considered pretty good as far as imaging goes, but like I said, something has stopped short here, and I am being denied the true expansion of this recording. I will relate to this as being a form of compression, pushing everything back in restraint from the listener.

Sure, it seems very satisfying, everything does project a nice sense of expansion and detail. BUT, when you hear this WITH the barrier in place, things begin to unravel, and some very special things begin to happen. So much that it will shock you with that realization as it unfolds.

BTW: in order to perform this experiment effectively with good results, the speaker drivers have to be in a centered-inline configuration. The speakers must have a full barrier between them, and everything sandwiched together without gaps. The speakers are NOT to be toed. The length of the barrier must be longer than the width of the speaker set-up. For the full effect, the listener has to place their face so close to the barrier edge that each eye cannot see the opposite side of the barrier. Now you have total elimination of the cross-talk signals.

This works well with small speakers to make the experiment easier. Not every album will produce as dramatic of an effect as what this one does. I am confident that just about every album will benefit from its use to a high degree.

This is the remastered 2011 version of this release. I still don't find it as good as the original Mobile Fidelity release, but that is what I have.








Let's jump ahead to my experience last night with this barrier in place. Remember, not a true barrier as recommended, but just the use of heavy absorbers placed in a strategic manner.

Cue the soundtrack and sit back centered between the set up.

The first four tracks of this album are what produces the most dramatic effects that you may ever hear from a recording. This is the only album that I have played so far which has such intense low frequency information, that something in the room actually vibrates from being excited by resonance. This only happens when the first four heartbeats are pulsing through the room. They definitely make an impact.After that, there is no more resonance issues. I think it is my window cover vibrating at that frequency.

Before, the running man only projects a distance of 180 degrees, barely being offset from my ears to the side. The sound effects of the flying saucers seemed to come close to that point, but failed to go beyond. With the impending crash, it sounded centered and too far forward from where it should be. The heavy breathing was noticeable, but restrained. Once the clocks began to tick and come into focus, the spread was decent, and quite realistic within the definition of the layout. Normally, I would think this is great. But you know, I heard better before and I know what I should be hearing from experience. All in all, I perceived the sound stage to be restricted to no more than 180 degrees of my position, with an apparent width of maybe 20 to 30 feet across.

NOW:

After: Somebody gave that running man a shot of adrenaline! He has come full circle as he realistically passes around me and runs BEHIND my head and off into the distance. His breathing is much more intense as he is being chased. Now, the flying saucers are passing by me with sonic force which sounds like they just flew down the center of the room over my head. The crash segment now is heard behind me and with a widespread decay of the explosion. And when those clocks come into play, this is a real treat to behold! I was literally submerged within a sea of clocks which sounded stunningly real, extremely vibrant, and highly detailed. This will make you look around to see where the sound is coming from. An absolutely superb illusion to say the least.

I can tell you that as good as this result is, it is still not as good as what I remember using the Carver Sonic Holographic Generator. It is however, good enough to satisfy me, especially when I know that the purity of the music signals were not compromised in any fashion by using mechanical means.

That was the only test that I needed to verify what the real problem is here. I really hate it and I want it eliminated for good!

I see no reason why some proportionally correct absorbers on a portable system with wheels can't be considered here. Just roll them in place during listening sessions, and roll them out of the way when finished. A very simple low cost solution which is easy to fabricate. The results far outweigh the excuses here.

This resurrection of the music gave me an incredible high which took me to a vary high level of satisfaction.

This can only be surmised as one final conclusion. Your music is not revealing itself for what it really contains if your system does not have this cross-talk under control. In a sense, your ears are being deceived!


This was a very special moment for me to experience once again. I wish that all of you could experience what I did last night.

I shall show you some more titles shortly. I felt that story was relevant to the foundation of how everything must be in sync to really appreciate this thing we call audio.

First, I will show you some of the HDCD titles that I currently own and highly recommend. I will be covering each of these in individual evaluations later on.































The next images are of another special format called HMCD.









Dire Straits (Love Over Gold)





And now, these are some of my K2HD mastered titles that are very high quality.












And a few Telarc titles:




I have a good size library of Classical music on the Telarc audiophile grade label. I will cover those at another time.



And then there is that Qsound recording technology which is really quite special to experience.





The remainder shown here are of my premium grade recordings in the standard CD format. Some of these are so well produced, that they compare with High grade HDCD titles. These are the examples of CD's which have proven just how good a standard CD can sound if mastered correctly.










































































































That is just an example of my better titles within the inventory. I have many, many more than this.

So with that, I shall wrap it up tonight and get back to continue this another time.

I want to make a comparison between two different versions of the same title. What I am about to discuss clearly shows how gimmicks within marketing are purely driven towards profit, with actual quality being an afterthought.

When it comes to this whole deal with "remastered releases" which have been a huge marketing push in the industry over recent years, it has come to my attention that many of these re-releases are actually inferior to the original release or at best, absolutely no better. As long as these studios continue to insist on heavy compression, and the use of limiters within the process, the end result is always going to be absolute garbage!

They promote these as being something "special" with the promise of being superior to the original. They seem to market these releases for the mainstream who prefer using downloaded music anyway. Most people who buy these CD's don't know the difference and don't really care due to their systems not having the potential to hear beyond these recordings anyway. This compressed recording probably sounds great to most people with average systems.

But when a real system puts one of these remastered titles to the test, we find out with bitter disappointment just how much of a let down this so called superior recording really is.  I have discovered this with several titles. Not all re-releases are bad, as some actually do offer an improvement over the original release.  The way I see it, this is just another excuse to market the same old recording over again to generate new sales from it.

What I am about to review is a prime example of this situation.

I discussed in the previous post about purchasing the series of remastered titles from the "experienced" set of Pink Floyd in 2011.

The remastered version of Dark Side Of The Moon was decent, but as I said, I found earlier versions on the Mobile Fidelity productions to be better. They did something in the process that actually took something special away from the studio master tapes.  I believe much of this is lost in the process of going from pure analog to pure digital. The original versions were 100 percent analog.

Now as far as this title is concerned, I still find it to be very good, but I would still prefer to have the original.

For the remastered title (The Wall) which was originally mastered in November of 1979, there was never anything wrong with that original release in my opinion. But when it was remastered/processed in 2011 and re-marketed with this experienced marketing ploy, it clearly was not mastered correctly. It suffers from heavy compression and limiting across the entire frequency spectrum. There is a huge loss of dynamic range and tonal balance. It seemed to me that a good deal of delicate spatial information was lost as well. Trying to listen to this version was dull and uninteresting. This is one good example of what I am talking about. I found this to be very disappointing to say the least. Just another example of how corporations take advantage of the consumer.

Fast forward to the present.

I showed you the new version of this title which was created by a new technique called LPCD 1:1 masters. I recently aquired a copy of this title and hoped that it would sound far better than the previous remastered release in 2011.

Now here is the funny thing. From what I can gather, this new version was derived from the same studio that created the 2011 offerings. The remaster was created by James Guthrie and Joel Plante at das boot recording in 2011 as is stated on the back of my current version. I am going to assume that since the experienced sets were also marketed in 2011, that this mastered version must be the one and the same.

So if this being the actual case, this baffles me as to what went so wrong from one version to being so superior many years later. That tells me that the actual remastering process did not fail, it was due to something else. That version released in 2011 was a complete failure by comparison of what I have today in the LPCD form.

I am going to discuss the differences between these releases now.

I need to state that I accidentally showed this album version in the previous post for premium standard recordings with an A rating. Obviously this was a mistake as this title should not have been there. Just ignore that I did that.


Here is the remastered release from the experienced edition marketed back in 2011.







If you look, you will see that this title has the same studio credits as the current one created with the LPCD process.

So this confirms that both of these versions used this very same master tape created back in 2011.  What I can tell you is that they did a spectacular job in the studio as proven by the recent release. So I have no idea where this release failed down line of the master tapes. Why someone would make the bad choice of marketing this album with deliberate reduction of quality is beyond me. I am sure that the average consumer thinks that the experienced release sounds great, but audiophiles with high end systems know the difference all too clear.

This is not something that just sounds a little bit better with what someone might describe as certain little things that are noticeable, no, not by a long shot.

I think that most listeners will find this version okay from their perspective. I thought it sounded good enough, but it clearly was lacking dynamic range. An album like this without dynamic range is pointless to experience because it simply lacks what should be there. I would have to turn up the amplifier volume well beyond what I normally use just to try and get some dynamics out of it. Increasing the volume only goes so far before it becomes apparent that the gain level is quite limited in output.

Now here is what makes the realization of this all too well. Let's just see how much of a difference between the two versions can possibly really be.

Here is the recent release created with the LPCD technology.





I expected the dynamic range for these LPCD titles to be very powerful, so I restricted the volume level to less than what I normally use. Definitely far less than what I was using with the "experienced" release.

When the music began within the very first moments, I think that I may have been stunned a bit by what I was now experiencing. What this title produces goes way beyond what I thought was generally missing from the other version. It sounded as if Nick Mason's kick drum was in the room in front of me....tight solid whacks so deep and powerful that I could feel my guts vibrating with every vibrant attack hit. It seemed so realistic that it was easy to imagine him playing drums in the room.  This was with reduced volume set to around one third or less of the ToriMK3's power range.

His drum line keeps your mind well focused as your body feels the percussion with absolute realism. Cymbals as clear and focused as one could expect. Detail...Let's talk detail.  Mind you, I was 18 years old when this album was released. I have heard this album on many different sound sytems over the years, most likely several hundred times. So I have every detail of it well memorized and burnt into my brain.

Now, for the first time, this was like hearing a new album altogether.  My initial impression and response from what I was feeling from this new recording was very strong from a somewhat surprised perspective. After I took in a few chords from the bass guitar, and felt the rhythm and power of the percussion, I just kind of thought...DAMN....UNFREAKIN BELIEVABLE!!!!  I was extremely gratified with what I was hearing and feeling now from this new title, quickly realizing just how fortunate this find really was.  What immediately came to mind was this. Why could the other studios not have even come close to what I am hearing now? What kind of losers do we have that are responsible for creating such weak trash from the other labels!! Finally, I have heard the reality of this album's depth and detail with absolute full bodied tone and dimension. The dynamic range extends beyond human hearing I am sure. There is so much hidden detail flowing effortlessly from this new version that it is hard to believe I never heard any of it before in all those countless times I listened to this album.  It seems as if they added these effects and extra detail in the recent mastering, but I know that did not happen. That information was always in the original studio recording. It was just never revealed to me before. For all of you that have heard this soundtrack many times like I have, I can tell you that very few if any of you have ever heard it the way this title sounded to me when I first heard it on this new LPCD format. I imagine that only the people who have heard the original master tapes would have heard this information prior to this LPCD release. This experience will really enlighten you as to what is going on in the record business.

It goes way beyond just dynamic range and detail with this version.  For the first time, I was allowed to hear the three dimensional detail which extended way beyond the 180 degree sound stage, well behind me just as with Dark Side Of The Moon. I never realized this information even existed before hearing this title in the LPCD format.  There were a few times that I just looked with disbelief at what I was hearing from around the room. Talk about being deceived. I had been run off the rails of deception with this album over the years. This is one remastered version that any Pink Floyd fan needs to hear in order to find out what it really contains within the studio master tapes. There was a new breath of air in the higher frequencies with extended focus which I know was heavily masked in prior versions of this album. When you experience David Gilmour's guitar playing in "Comfortably Numb" there is a strong presence of vibrant embodiment which just takes over your senses, tugging deep within your emotions.

That alone makes this album far superior to any other release on the market. Music that connects and takes control of your inner most feelings.

This is what this album had done to me as I sat there totally engaged by its mesmerizing connection within my mind. I believe that is the emotion which Roger Waters and David Gilmour had hoped to be so apparent within the listener as they created it. There is something about Gilmour's playing that releases my mind from everything else, as if I had an out of body experience, free from all boundaries. To this day, he is still my favorite guitar player and vocalist.

Between "Comfortably Numb" and "Wish You Were Here", I can't think of any other song ever created which effect me with such strong influence the way these titles do. Simply my go to place when I need to just get away from the nonsense in this world.

I think that I got my point across and well received about this issue. I am sure that I am not the only one who notices this situation.

Not all albums are created equaly, that is a fact. The label most guilty of inferior mastering comes from MCA in my opinion. The majority of my bad CD's that aren't worthy of listening to are on the MCA label. I have some that are acceptable from that label, but many more that are quite shameful to say the least. I try not to buy anything on the MCA label if I can help it. They have no clue as to what it takes to produce a high quality recording from my experience.

An example of this would be the third album released by the group Boston. The first two releases were produced on the EPIC records label. They sounded fantastic, as good as any standard CD I have heard.  Then they switched labels with MCA producing the album "Third Stage".  I am pretty sure that the poor mastering of that album marked the end of such great promise this band had.  The dynamics simply are not there. The detail is limited, really sounds like someone pulled a sweater over the speakers. Just a complete letdown by quality standards. Had some great songs on that album, too bad I can't enjoy them the way they should be heard. As I recall, it seems that the vinyl version of that album sounded better, but nothing as it should be if mastered properly.  That type of thing is inexcusable. The consumer deserves better.

So moving on, I will continue to review other CD's that I feel are at least upper B grade and mostly A grade. These range from being standard mainstream titles, on to limited release audiophile recordings.


Always know that when life can be a bit too much, there will always be good music as your best qualified therapist.

Well good evening mrchipster.

Thank you for the compliment, that does mean a great deal.

I pulled out all the stops when designing that model. This was created for commercial purpose, but I never pursued it due to funding. I truly believe that if my current audio room with these speakers were to be an open audio shop for people to come experience, I would conservatively say that perhaps 8 out of ten people would want to buy them, but most likely that figure would actually be around 4 out of ten. Not because they don't like them, but because of the high cost of manufacturing these at this quality, then adding up the retail markup, my profit margin...etc. These speakers would easily demand a retail price of $7500 minimum to perhaps close to ten grand. They are very complex and they take a great deal of man hours to complete. With double wall construction as planned using expensive Baltic birch plywood, this alone drives up the cost tremendously.  Every time that I hear these, I am reminded of the fact of how much these would be in demand if I ever placed them on the market. If I personally built each and every pair sold direct to a customer, then I could reduce that price per pair substantially. When I compare other speakers on the market and the price they demand, I know that my design is better than many of these, and far better built. Naturally I would price them accordingly by actual value. But as it is today, I just take pride in knowing that these are the only set in existence, and they belong to me. That makes owning them a very unique experience. The future is optional as to where this direction goes.


As for my intentions for a reduced modified version of the lil headwreckers. I have decided to let that idea go for now. I recently had an engineering epiphany that is calling me in a different direction.

This was not my intent. It is something that just hit me and I instantly began forming images of a new design in my head. A new design which will make up for the in-wall dissatisfaction. Now just know that I am extremely pleased with my Qforce speakers in the room now, but I just can't keep from coming up with new ideas. So I am not doing this because I feel the need for new or better speakers. I simply want to try something else and compare notes.

Let me tell you what happened the morning this all came into mind. I received a flyer from parts express with the latest buy out drivers. I live only 35 minutes from parts express, so I can actually drive there anytime that I want. I have amassed a large surplus of drivers and other items from them as a result of annual tent sales where items can be picked up at a fraction of the original cost. This helped me to realize what I have in stock, and what I could design and build from what I have.

From that flyer, I noticed that they had some very interesting Eminence woofers being sold at very low prices being a buy out of inventory. I locked my eyes on target with one certain 15 inch woofer from Eminence that started it all. Neodynium magnets, paper cones with cloth surrounds, 8 ohm ratings and get this, a whopping 98.9 db rating @ 2.83 v/1m !!  Oh yes baby, this just became the basis for my new design. I am going for extreme efficiency in the new system. One that will produce high levels of sonic bliss being driven by something as small as a SET amp under 10 watts. I love that idea, don't you?  So what to do for a design...let's think about that.

I just happen to have boxes full of drivers, but what can I actually use to maintain the high level of efficiency that I want. For that, I have two choices. First, I have a set of 8 Dayton Audio PT2C-8 Planar 8 ohm drivers rated a 94 db @ 2.83v/1m. These are brand new and still in the original packages.  Second, I have 8 Peavey RD 1.6 ribbon drivers that are intended for arrays, originally designed for use in the Versarray systems that Peavey sold for professional stage settings for live performances.  These are actually built by Fountek for Peavey.

These are the Dayton Audio planar drivers.





These are the Peavey ribbon drivers.






The Peavey ribbons are the better choice here, and a better match to go with my new design.

These are rated at over 97 db 1w/1m. That clearly makes these the winner.

Now the Peavey ribbons have to be crossed over above 2500Hz, and we don't want to tamper within the 3000Hz range or higher as it is the critical midrange area.  So what that means is that a suitable midrange driver is called for to fill in within 800 Hz and 3000 Hz as a minimum.

The Eminence drivers extend up to 4000 Hz with a very smooth response. I will be crossing them over at 800 Hz with the midrange driver.

So choosing a great midrange driver that can pull this off seamlessly is going to be a challenge. It has to be at least 93 db efficient or higher, and it has to perform with a nice full bodied presence with clean imaging and a smooth frequency response.

Again, back to my personal stash of drivers. There are two choices that come to mind. I have a huge box full of Aura Sound NS6-255-8a midrange drivers that I got on a close deal. These have neodymium magnets, are 6 inches in diameter, copper voice coils and paper cones. They are 91 db at 1w/1m. That sensitivity rating goes up as you double the drivers. I would make an array of four drivers which would be wired in a series /parallel configuration. That would bring the sensitivity of this driver array up to match the other drivers. Technically, close to 6 db higher. This would also maintain an 8 ohm load rating. The reason I am considering these is because I am considering a scheme which deals with crosstalk elimination by means of driver angles in a mirror imaged offset configuration with one bank of the array being phase inverted with a time delay circuit built in to the crossover. This is intended for cancellation of the crosstalk signal. In other words, there are two rows of midrange arrays which are angled by a small degree offset from center. The outboard array would be phase inverted. The other which faces the listener would be normal phase.

The other consideration would be a much better choice for this design, but I can't use it if I decide to proceed with crosstalk cancellation. I can guarantee you that this next choice is the ultimate choice when seamless integration and a high quality factor is the main consideration.

That driver is something that I just happen to have a pair of ready for use.

The Tang-Band W8-1808 full range drivers.

8” OF FULL RANGE SPEAKER DESIGN
NEODYMIUM MAGNET SYSTEM, ALUMINUM PHASE PLUG
UNDER HUNG DESIGN, VERY LOW DISTORTION
(LOW THD)
SPL=93dB / M / W, QTS=0.44
PAPER CONE WITH FABRIC SURROUND

With a Qts of 0.44, this makes these drivers ideal for use in an open baffle system. Being at 93 db efficiency, these will mate up perfectly for my need if I choose not to pursue the other method. These don't require crossovers, but they should be rolled off gently above 10K to let the Peavey driver arrays handle the higher frequencies. They have a free air resonance of 45 Hz. Rated at 45 Hz to 20 kHz with a very smooth response within the range that I will have them crossed over at.

This is the Eminence 15 inch bass driver.

They are currently at reduced price to eliminate stock for a very short time. I got a sweet deal on them for a mere $89.00 per driver. That is a fraction of the retail value. They will not last long at that price.






And here are the Tang Band 8 inch full range drivers.






So with the bass sections. These will be designed in independent enclosures which will have a sliding insert to adjust and tune the volume to the room for perfect frequency response. They will be ported with an adjustable vent for tuning. This allows me to place each section within the room independent of the main system, where standing waves won't interfere with the performance. They can be placed anywhere within the room as long as standing waves are avoided in certain areas. This allows the main arrays to be placed where they should be and not have a conflict within the room.

This design will hit hard and with some very intense db levels. This makes these drivers a great choice for low powered amps for some respectable power levels and full bodied sound. Drive these with a Torii amp or the ZMA, and these speakers are going to sing into the stratosphere with absolute authority.


Anyway, since you got me to thinking, this was just a hint of an idea which I thought might be interesting to build.

Of course, everything is subject to change.  I doubt that I will begin working on this project until January, but you never know. I have the parts, I have the design. I just need to find the time to build them.

I will keep you informed of that progress when it unfolds.


As for the LPCD titles. These are ordered direct from Aliexpress coming from China. Takes about three weeks to get them, but very well worth it. If you check ebay, it might be possible to find one or two titles. Just do a search for LPCD and see what comes up. I have not seen any more copies of The Wall since I bought mine. Seems kind of hard to find these. My advice, if you find them for sale, grab them quickly and don't hesitate.

Interesting that you came up with the same conclusion concerning SACD's. I'm sure that they could be finessed with better DAC units, but I am satisfied with high quality HDCD's which I feel are a better choice. It is a matter of taste, and every listener has to decide what sounds best for them. I think you will do fine with your current CD system. Life is about choice. If you make a bad one, there is always another choice.

Thanks for chiming in.

Enjoy!