So Jan -
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Silver Member Username: W00bPost Number: 267 Registered: Mar-05 | It's apparent to me that you sell audio, and you are very smart and careful about what you do for good reason. I have read several posts, but I don't think I have seen this question asked before - Jan, what kind of system do you run? What components and speakers did you choose, and why did you choose each of them? If you could/are going to upgrade, what would be your next purchase(s) and why? What does your current system deliver that your previous system(s) did not? What do you feel your system is lacking, if anything? |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14097 Registered: May-04 | . I don't mention my system much since it's not relevant to most of the threads. The majority of what I own you can't really buy at this point. It uses tubes and single driver loudspeakers, a turntable and CD player. I chose all of the components because I thought they best suited my priorities for the amount of money I had to spend. My system has always been pretty stable and no upgrades are planned though going to a pair of Lowthers would be nice but I'd give up my dipoles and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that. It's been so long since I had a "previous system" I can't remember what it would have been other than a different CD player since they don't seem to have the longevity of any other component. I did use some LS3/5a loudspeakers for years, they were built back in 1976. So, yes, this system does most everything I need, good midrange, good timing and good timbre - the rest is red sauce. I haven't sold audio in over ten years now but I had sold for about 25 years. . |
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Silver Member Username: W00bPost Number: 268 Registered: Mar-05 | That's interesting! I don't think I have ever heard a full range driver.. unless it was a goofy 6x9 in someones car. You say you have a tube amp so what company/model? I looked up the Lowthers and they look like some nice drivers.. apart of me wonders about how efficient one driver can be.. but for the price i'm sure they do their job very well. Did you put your system together the same way that you recommend to others on this forum? |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14098 Registered: May-04 | . McIntosh MC240's. I don't understand your second question. . |
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Gold Member Username: ExerciseguyFort Hamilton, NY United States Post Number: 3005 Registered: Oct-04 | Your opinion of SDRF's has evolved, I think I remember you once describing their fans as odd balls that wear pocket protectors & drive Citroens. I still think that's funny. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14100 Registered: May-04 | . I don't remember quite that description but I would say my opinion of neither the speakers nor the users has changed all that much. The SDFR folk are still a small, largely unknown minority in a tiny corner of a subset of a minority portion of a cliqueish hobby that involves less than 2% of the predominantly adult male, (sh*t! this is sounding like Republicans!) population of the US. The speakers and their owners barely get mentioned in the US audiophile press in any way, shape or form. I would guess most of the SDFR users are either DIY'ers or they are buying from an internet based supplier who builds their product in small quantities and sometimes in their garage - someone like Bob Brines; http://geocities.com/rbrines1/. They like back loaded tri-folded horns and quarter wave terminus enclosures, that means they need that pocket protector or nowdays the carrying case for their Solar Hp 48gII Programmable Graphing Calculator (3-D, Differential Equations, Histogram, Parametric, Plot, Shade, Zoom) that snaps onto their belt. They can and do discuss Fs, Xmax, Hyperbolic Wave theory, Derivation and Correlation of the Viscous Damping Coefficient and lots of them understand this math; http://www.quarter-wave.com/Horns/Horn_Physics.pdf Of course there's the folks who just follow the formulas and build and listen - like me - but I would say the "typical" SDFR user in the US is a bit of a geek about some things; http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/42428-modelling-reflection-tl-bends.html. If I've evolved in those opinions, it's because the SDFR's have risen from near obsolescense to a mostly cult 1980's Japanese audiophile curiosity to a slowly broader acceptance of speakers without crossovers and along with that more competent SET's which make good companions. Quite a bit of that in the US was accomplished by one man, Dr. Gizmo; http://www.meta-gizmo.net/intro/BEACON.html, with a bit of assistance from David Berning; http://www.davidberning.com/reviews/siegfried-gizmo-dht. Admitting in the early days of Krell and Apogee that you knew about either one of these two guys got you looks as if you had just mentioned Che Guevara's birthdate with reverence - actually even less so if you couldn't also discuss Bebel's theories. I became interested in single drivers when I first heard the Lowthers in a small high end shop in St. Louis alongside some stacked 12 driver Bozak Concert Grands; http://stereophile.com/historical/1005bozak/index.html. And I mean so alongside they all but touched since the shop was so small and didn't do either speaker justice even when driven by Scully open reel tape decks and McIntosh amps. I never thought much about them again until I heard the original Quad panels back in the '70's but at that point systems such as the Lowthers were very much out of vogue and hardly even discussed in passing in the British press. I saw the Lowthers again back in the 1980's in a Japanese audiophile magazine that was simply gorgeous with illustrations of audio products that appeared to be woodcuts done by some highly talented artists. Unfortunately, neither the Lowthers nor the magazine were available in the SouthWest US at that time and the Quads were a sometime product in the shop I sold for since Quad wanted a full line dealer and their speakers were the best part of the line in the '70's solid state days. I settled for good two ways; Advents, Spicas and Rogers until the Merrills came along. I haven't even seen a Citreon in I can't tell you when so I might have to revise that portion of my opinions. Maybe a restored Triumph TR4; http://tidentenn.com/cars/tr4.htm, or a Honda N600; http://thisoldhonda.org/ads_detail.php?ID=1159, eh? http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/136211-no-holds-barred-lowther-design.html . |
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Gold Member Username: ExerciseguyFort Hamilton, NY United States Post Number: 3007 Registered: Oct-04 | Sounds like I might fit RIGHT in  There does seem to be more potent full-range drivers on the market today than there were even a few years ago. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14101 Registered: May-04 | . Yep, if I didn't like them so much in my dipoles, I would tell you you shouldn't have sold those drivers. I listened to some TajMahal and Charley Patton last night and they do a wonderful job of doing nothing. . |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14102 Registered: May-04 | . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpPXgjsjgAw http://www.myspace.com/themaskedmarvelakacharliepatton . |
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Gold Member Username: StryvnWisconsin Post Number: 1182 Registered: Dec-06 | I'm still searching to get a couple of those Merrill drivers without much luck. |
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Silver Member Username: HawkbillyNova Scotia Canada Post Number: 705 Registered: Jul-07 | There is a pretty amazing amount of SDFR options out there now and more it seems coming out all the time....from the fairly expensive (Gemme Audio) to the very inexpensive (Tekton) and all points in between. And as Jan mentioned, lots of DIY options as well. I've only had the opportunity to hear a couple of versions of these unfortunately. One I hated (DIY Fostex design) that sounded very thin and aggressive, and one that I rather enjoyed (Ed's Hornshoppe). I've read nothing but good things about Bob Brines and his products, and Steve Deckert has some interesting designs which from all accounts works wonders with his amps (and likely other amps as well). There are also a growing number of "hybrid" designs which have a wide band main driver, and a tweeter which only comes into play at a very high frequency (above 10,000 Hz). Zu Audio comes to mind for these types. What are your thoughts on that approach Jan ? |
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Gold Member Username: ExerciseguyFort Hamilton, NY United States Post Number: 3008 Registered: Oct-04 | http://diyparadise.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id =112 I actually had a link to the Chinese OEM of the DCA 5.5, but I can't seem to find it? |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14104 Registered: May-04 | . Tim Forman did the original Ling as a SDWR (single driver wide range) with a nice tweeter entering above 10kHz. Good idea but implementation is still key. The original Ling disappeared after the driver designer brought out a full range design. The point in these designs is to not chop up the reproduction at the point where your ear is most sensitive, around 2-3.5kHz and to maintain a point source, timbre consistent driver for the first nine octaves. Any SDFR still suffers from a narrow sweet spot and the tweeters are meant to open that up somewhat. How effective they are is up to the deisgner, when Tim did his next design he lowered the entry point of the ribbon tweeter to something like 5.5kHz but still had the main driver running full range to its natural limits. . |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14105 Registered: May-04 | . Someone just linked to a new driver in the Brines catalog that appears to be similar to the Merrill. http://geocities.com/rbrines1/Pages/Product_Upgrades/Main.html Now that I look at it it's not that close to the Merrill. But I did hear this driver in one of Bob's cabinets this year. Nice, not a Lowther but better than the average Fostex. The treatment minimizes the typical SDFR "shout" which was the aim of the Merril in the first place. Unfortunately, the price for the Brines driver is way higher than Merrill asked for his product. . |
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Gold Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 3161 Registered: Feb-07 | How often (generally) do you need to change the tubes in the 240's Jan? |
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Silver Member Username: HawkbillyNova Scotia Canada Post Number: 706 Registered: Jul-07 | That was me that linked to the enabled drivers from Planet 10. Bob really likes them in his FT-1600's. Planet 10 also does enabled CSS drivers. And, lookee there, a familiar name appears near the bottom of the page. http://www.planet10-hifi.com/css.html |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 13751 Registered: Dec-04 | I own that vey pair of Ling ported speakers. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14108 Registered: May-04 | . I probably average about 5-6 years on the output tubes. The small signal tubes last longer and other than a 12AU7 that crapped out I don't remember the last time I changed any of those tubes. A lot depends on the quality of the tubes, I had some Golden Dragons a long time ago that sounded great but didn't last. The Svetlanas seem to hold in there well. . |
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