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Post by user211 on Jul 5, 2020 16:55:18 GMT
Actually they did sound pretty good with Chapter's amps. Which is probably why they were attracted to them. A bit more than I want to spend for a partnering amp but quality class D power and they certainly won't complain;)
That photo does make them look smaller than they really are I think. They will chuck out fairly decent volume levels before they give up i.e. the 5.5 inch driver hits its excursion limit. Which is +/- 1cm I think. A lot for a small driver like that.
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Post by user211 on Jul 5, 2020 21:52:21 GMT
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 6, 2020 3:17:10 GMT
Hah! It was fascinating to read that thread again after, gulp, over 10 years. I still recall my bafflement at everyone else drooling over the rolled off and coloured Exposure amp! And those awful AVI ADM9 active speakers. OMG.
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Post by Firebottle on Jul 6, 2020 5:40:13 GMT
I recall these at the Stoke bake off, amazing little things.
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 6, 2020 6:21:34 GMT
What do you power them with, Justin?
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 6, 2020 8:14:45 GMT
. Failed post
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Post by user211 on Jul 6, 2020 11:41:54 GMT
What do you power them with, Justin? At the moment the TVs optical out runs into a Xiang Sheng DAC, then into an Air Tight passive and a 600 wpc pro amp Alan will know from the Stoke bake off and Jerry knows since he owned one. That amp is a class G/H Apart Champ One. It's only a TV set up and also for a bit of music use really. I must sell that Air Tight passive it's way over the top for that setup.
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Post by user211 on Jul 15, 2020 6:56:38 GMT
I am currently getting an Apogee upgrade done and the Apogee restorer is in residence i.e. staying at my place for four days getting it done.
Details to follow.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 15, 2020 7:08:36 GMT
I am currently getting an Apogee upgrade done and the Apogee restorer is in residence i.e. staying at my place for four days getting it done. Gosh, what does that entail, Justin? Four days sounds like a major strip-down.
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Post by user211 on Jul 15, 2020 7:51:14 GMT
Yes Martin, it is. Basically the bass ribbon clamps in original Apogees were made of MDF, and are in mine. I've never liked that, and about a year ago Jon and I started to think about what else could be used that would be better. Basically MDF isn't that strong. It's not a great support for screws, especially when those screws are subject to a lot of stress when playing at high volume. Also, something more rigid with higher mass I feel would be better. So we're replacing them with a plastic composite material. Here's a pair of Scintillas recently delivered. They have the composite clamps in too, the first to try it in this country. The clamp material was ordered at the same time as mine to reduce costs. This is a from scratch build to all intents and purposes like mine are. I think they look awesome for a pair of Scintillas as they were modelled by Jon in a CAD package before being built, so the geometry has been changed and they have a taller lower lip. This really helps them look more balanced as a design. That's a Gryphon amp that can deliver the required 1.2KW. Yes, that's right, that what Scintillas need. Pure insanity. The clamp material was actually made by the plastics company my father used to work for. He died a long time ago but I think it's a nice touch.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 15, 2020 8:30:45 GMT
Fantastic that you can keep them going and still modify them to improve performance.
Interesting to see that those ones are on Podiums.
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Post by user211 on Jul 15, 2020 8:56:56 GMT
Yeah he has a suspended floor, so it's not a bad idea. Maybe. I'm not really sure but I tend to think it 'probably is'.
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 15, 2020 10:06:30 GMT
Yeah he has a suspended floor, so it's not a bad idea. Maybe. I'm not really sure but I tend to think it 'probably is'. You should try some of these "floating" speaker supports, Justin, the improvements can be very noticeable. Martin's got the "full cream" Townshend, I've gone for a cheaper pro version of the concept, the Auralex ProPad XL, sort of a foam/MDF-layer construct which allows the MBLs to wobble! Distinct improvement in sq to my ears.
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Post by user211 on Jul 15, 2020 11:33:33 GMT
I sat down at a show demoing the Townshend wotsits a while back comparing the same speakers with and without the stands.
They do have quite a profound effect. I decided I actually preferred without.
I don't like the philosophy TBH. Keeping the speaker panel completely static means no loss of dynamics and greater accuracy I think. But that said it also increases the amount of energy reflected back into the frame. So six of one half a dozen of the other really.
Put it this way, I am not going to try.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 15, 2020 11:47:16 GMT
Keeping the speaker panel completely static means no loss of dynamics and greater accuracy I think Just to argue this point: you don't lose any dynamics as the mass of the speakers is many orders of magnitude greater than the driver cones, so a large cone deflection results in such a microscopic movement of the cabinets as to not register. Secondly, the support decouples the cabinets from the room, thus not loading up the floor rather than spikes which couple them to the floor. The effect is that the bass sounds potent and deeper (an effect of cleaning up the room interactions) while dynamics are as good as ever.
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Post by user211 on Jul 15, 2020 12:47:55 GMT
I knew you'd respond to that. Busy at the mo but...
Daniele from Alsyvox quoted me for making the feet he uses on his Alsyvox planars as I asked him to when I was talking with him at Munich.
I might, just might go for a set. They allow lateral movement and his argument is to prevent reflection back into the frame. They are probably better suited for planars than the Townshend but who knows without trying.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 15, 2020 15:17:01 GMT
I was staggered at the difference the Townshend stand made to some Auram Montans and then TAD E1s. Had always spiked, since the mid 80s
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Post by user211 on Jul 15, 2020 19:32:53 GMT
Yeah the A/B demo I talked about above showed exactly what a difference they make and it is much more than you would expect, perhaps. If you like that difference then rock on! Alsyvox use steel frames for rigidity. Mine use an aluminium frame re-infored double standard thickness back frame with very elaborate, thick aluminium stands screwed into the aluminium frame to form a sandwich. I am not using spikes in this new listening room as there's no need. Anyway, tings is 'appnin' in the operating theatre, man.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 15, 2020 20:25:28 GMT
Point of no return!
Good luck with it.
EDIT: interesting that the magnets don't get longer along with the trapezoidal shape at the bottom.
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Post by user211 on Jul 15, 2020 23:24:25 GMT
They do get wider in Scintilla and Diva.
Various different magnet layouts have been tried by Graz, the chap that makes the ribbons and also does custom restorations and builds extremely high spec planar magnetics under the same brand name, which he owns.
He did some Divas recently for around £60K plus. Wanna see?
More magnets certainly doesn't make Scintilla more efficient.
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