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Courtiestown - Naim Amplifier (Avondale) Upgrade Project

Good Evening All,

Life is very busy this period of time at home.

Attended my bi-annual offshore/ marine medical this morning so that's me good to keep working and Wednesday - Friday I will be attending the GWO Basic Safety Course which should give me access to more wind related work.

I'm currently installing 10off 11yr old Canadian Solar PV panels on the shed roof having collected them from the other side of Inverness:-

8Rq0t7m.jpg


I'm now in a position to install 10 channels of SE amplification so will be hoping to progress this this coming weekend. It depends on whether work calls or not. I'm sure Kate is looking forward to moving the Isobariks again........

Regards

Richard
 
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Good Evening All,

There should be a big change tomorrow as I'm setting time aside to get the 10 channels set-up along with the Isobariks.

Listening to the Moody Blues EGBDF - I had completely forgotten the frequency(s) the synth goes down to on Procession - a good bass test.

Finished installing Solar PV:-

zG8dLus.jpg


Having completed my GWO Basic Safety Course I spent 3hrs this afternoon 'wrestling' with getting the replacement myenergi zappi car charger communicating with myenergi's server. Somebody at their technical department wasn't able to resolve the issue and suggested changing over to using the hub integral to the new zappi. Predictably the wi-fi didn't want to connect with the unit on the exterior Utility Room wall which meant I needed to run a ethernet cable.......... The myenergi instructions neglect to mention that you need to wait for a period after powering up the integral hub before it connects with their server and provides you with the necessary information to get their app. back up and running........

Regards

Richard
 
Good Morning All,

OK so today is primarily all about getting 10 channels of SE amplification lined up to drive my modified Isobariks.

I'm having to put off a guy who is very kindly assisting me in setting up Home Assistant to control inverters/ batteries etc. and focus entirely on this project today.

I've had to transfer the transformers out of my 'old' stereo 'Voyager' NCC300 amplifier to the one I'll be installing the last pair of SE boards in. They were set-up for 51.5V and I'm not going to make any changes or adjustments to them so these are the current transformers removed:-

bffiKHY.jpg


These are the ones going in:-

DulW1hV.jpg


Bolted in but 40V outputs still to be insulated:-

PW9CgV6.jpg


Work ongoing in the Hi-Fi Room - modified Isobariks already back in place:-

0Vb11UG.jpg


That's 8 channels of SE amplification in place. More to follow......

Regards

Richard
 
Good Evening All,

Well it took a little longer than expected to get everything up and running. It really is a nightmare making sure you have everything connected properly - the wiring behind the amplifiers is absolute chaos. Linn K600 and K400 doesn't lend itself to tidiness!!!

It is good to have the modified Isobariks back in the room - they leave the standard items 'some way behind'.....

That is 10 channels of SE amplification up and running:-

ZhdEk5w.jpg


and :-

LXToLeg.jpg


I am going to have sort the Hi-Fi Room door rattling when the low bass stuff hits it - I did order the product Martin Clark suggested but haven't fitted it........

There is subtle detail I've not heard before in well known tracks - it's difficult to know how to put it into words - something like musicality???

Definitely worth the effort/ expense. I really do need to get back to listening to it.......

Regards

Richard
 
flashgo said:
I know it's heresy :eek:, but try moving the 'briks closer together and even angling them towards the listening chair.
Click to expand...

Whilst I can state I've not tried toeing the Isobariks in I have tried them in a variety of distances apart (although I reference them to the adjacent side walls) literally moving them out 5cm at a time and the 'sweet spot' remains 75cm off the side walls and it doesn't seem to make a difference whether that is them shooting down the length of the room or across as they are now.

As you'll determine from my Isobarik thread the current position of speakers/ listening position is pretty 'optimised'.

To date I've only used SOv1 (with manually modified curves) as I'm using custom Exact filters BUT it is supposed to be possible to use SOv2 now. I asked Neil Hallworth about this the other day but he hasn't tried it yet and I've not seen anybody post they have tried it - I guess there won't be too many people with customised filters???

Regards

Richard
 
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Good Morning All,

One of the recent postings by LesW on his FB page showing a slack handful of, very shiny, EI pattern transformers (manufactured by ETC and apparently intended for this new range of amplifiers) has me wondering as to whether I should look to change over from my existing toroids.......................... The biggest issue, after the cost, will be that they likely won't fit the existing ModuShop cases!

I'm advised ETC have a minimum order level of £2000 (+VAT) so it wouldn't be a cheap move.

Regards

Richard
 
Mike Hanson said:
With your many channels, wouldn't you be getting close to that?
Click to expand...

I have asked ETC to quote for 5off 240V primary, 35-0-35V secondary 500VA (based on a larger former a la LesW) devices. I note that LesW commented on the laminations so presumably thinner ones would be available at greater cost. They have indicated different shapes are available but a 3U Modushop case limits you to 120mm.

It's one thing ripping out two toroids to make way for another transformer but having to replace 4off 3U cases and 2off M130 with 5off 4U cases would make it a very expensive exercise.

Regards

Richard
 
You might be in diminishing returns territory here Richard, and as you say, this could end up being a very expensive and time consuming exercise. (be happy with where you're at ;)). That said, if you have the disposable to experiment with then full steam ahead and we shall watch from the sidelines :)

I saw that post on facebook as well, tasty looking things those transformers.
 
Happiness? What's that?!? :D

I just got the Klipsch Cornwall IV for my family room, replacing the temporary Vandersteen Model 3A. It sounds fantastic, but I'm already pondering whether I should perhaps consider experimenting with different amps for that perfect synergy. :rolleyes:
 
@Mike Hanson - buy your self two 10w, 0.68 to 1-ohm resistors: wire in series with either speaker lead, one per side (two resistors, two banana plugs, two sockets, solder altogether into matching pairs.)
That'll fatten things up a bit cheaply and effectively to play with, before you go the expensive way round ;)
 
martin clark said:
@Mike Hanson - buy your self two 10w, 0.68 to 1-ohm resistors: wire in series with either speaker lead, one per side (two resistors, two banana plugs, two sockets, solder altogether into matching pairs.)
That'll fatten things up a bit cheaply and effectively to play with, before you go the expensive way round ;)
Click to expand...
Interesting! So that's one resistor per channel, perhaps on the positive lead of each?
 
Yep.

What it does, is slightly increase the output impedance of the amplifier. Small values work well to plump-up the LF in high-sensitivity, high-efficiency speaker designs if you find it a bit 'thin' on the end of a SS high-feedback, low-output impedance amp. This is 98% of the physical effect of swapping to a low-power, valve PA, with an output transformer; and often - quite large values of output impedance (lowish 'damping' of the loudspeakers motional impedance).

Cheap to try, simple enough to live with/play with a few small values for <<$10 until you've worked -out what it 'does', and whether you like the altered presentation; you can play with higher values too, but by the time you are at 2-3-4ohms, the effect will be quite gross - I expect. If you like that sort of thing, then yes, maybe a low-power valve amp beckons.

If you want cheaper than that - just use hilariously-skinny bell wire to hook-up to the amp ;)

Explication:
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/t/spkrcable.html
 
Understood, thanks. I'm actually quite pleased with the overall sound right now, with perhaps three areas of note:
  • The overall tonal balance is rather good--no "thinness" at all. If anything, there's a bit too much in the mid-bass, but I suspect that will be solved by positioning. (Haven't played with that much yet.)
  • It's very dynamic and lively, while surprisingly non-fatiguing. This is so pronounced, that my friend and I initially suspected there was an issue with high frequencies. However, playing the clanging clocks on "Time" from DSOTM showed that there's no shortage of HF, when present in the recording. We've revised our initial assessment to be a shortage of "sparkle" or "edge", however you want to take that. :D
  • The sound from the speakers comfortably pervades the house (2500ft² / 230m²), without any sense of being "pushed", which it was with all earlier speakers. The ease of presentation is really quite remarkable. At no point has my wife said it "felt too loud", which is a very important metric. ;)
 
+1 to all that, but the last point especially; it also means the sound delivered is low distortion.

Good high-sensitivity speakers are a joy all of their own - you'll soon wonder why you settled for less... ATB

ETA - to be clear - I've always used my Impulse H2s with v.v low-output impedance, SS amps out of preference, too: while people usu suggest low power, esp valve amps - and I was lent a couple of highly -regarded ones to try - I felt something , no - a lot, that matters to me, went missing ;)

whereas - playing with a few resistors is an easy/cheap/no-less accurate way to test - where your sympathies may lie, before committing to change.
 
Good Afternoon All,

I've been pleasantly surprised at the price I've been quoted by ETC. They don't have a minimum order level apparently and seem happy enough to do one-offs.

I've been quoted for a transformer sized 136 x 136 x 115mm which is the maximum sized former they have available with the 120mm height limit. I'll be placing an order for the one to be starting off with and taking it from there.

Regards

Richard
 
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