Q: Colin – help required please! Hum and woofer oscillation… I have just rearranged my system and entire room. This has lead me to run my Pioneer PL-707 with Denon DL-301II through an AU-320 SUT to my (freshly recapped) Accuphase C-200 and on to my little Cayin TA30. It’s the smallest amp I have and […]
TECHNICAL STUFF
Found 62 results
Paul McGowan writes: Audio equipment used to be hand wired in a process known as point to point wiring, but now most everything is without wires using thin strips of copper clad to fiberglass instead. What’s better, point-to-point or PC boards when it comes to sound quality? Watch Now
$95 … https://tmraudio.com/speakers/speaker-parts/hivi-research-d10g-10-kevlar-paper-woofer-single-bass-driver/ £49 … https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/home-audio/speakers-and-stands/other/listing-2794838588.htm OFFERS INVITED … https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649649913-seas-p14rc-h-395-mid-bass-driver-from-shahinian-diapason/ £98 https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649648225-803s-bampw-bass-driver/ $234… https://tmraudio.com/speakers/speaker-parts/hivi-research-d10g-10-kevlar-paper-woofer-single-bass-driver/ $120 CAD … https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649614785-kef-b139-race-track-bass-driver/ OFFERS INVITED … https://reverb.com/item/3269605-midrange-speaker-digital-audio-studio-reference-series-ii-5-25-chrome-mid-bass-midrange-driver-pmr $350 CAD https://www.kijiji.ca/v-haut-parleurs/ville-de-montreal/tannoy-3112-td12b12-12-320-watt-12ohm-super-bass-driver-woofer/1490405740 Please click HERE for all the Audio Miser groups PRIVATE AND TRADE ADVERTISERS CAN ADVERTISE FREE OF CHARGE British / European loudspeaker members’ group
Paul McGowan writes: Dipoles are unique. Sound comes out of both sides of the speaker. How close to the rear wall should the dipole be placed? Watch Now
Dear Colin, Computer grade parts? What are computer grade parts.. such as Computer grade power-supply caps? Are these type of parts an upgrade and/or better than audiophile grade parts? For example, I’ve heard some people say, “I’ve upgraded my power supply caps in my amp to computer grade caps”. I don’t think I’d want computer […]
Q: Hello Colin. The unit in question is a Lafayette 4 channel decoder. When turning off my system, there is a popping noise from the rear speakers unless I turn the volume down on the decoder first (I’m only using the rear outputs). I’d like to eliminate the problem. I’ve searched bypass capacitor and coupling […]
REEL TO REEL: BUY / SELL / TRADE
Dear Colin, Top resistors. Many threads with opinions on boutique coupling capacitors, but very little consolidated information on the sonics of resistors. Do you care to share your thoughts on the attributes of their favorite brands & types for specific tube and SS applications? How much of a difference does a good resistor make? My […]
Dear Colin, impedance match of preamp and main amp. I am considering mating a McIntosh Mc602 with a Bat Vk 51se. I noticed the input impedance on the Mc602 is 10K. While most Bat amps are much higher. Do you see a problem with this? It seems I remember at Stereophile I used to know […]
Have you ever had a CD or CD/DVD player that will oscillate audibly, especially near the end of a disc? I have and I have contacted those in the know and the only thing I have been told is that the little magnetic disc clamp may be getting weak. I am not so sure.
There’s plenty of different models of loudspeakers on the market. How do some become recognized as audiophile quality while others do not? British / European loudspeaker members’ group
Dear Colin, Accurate & cheap capacitance meters – are there any? Have decided a capacitance meter will come in handy for taking some of the ‘guess work’ out of cartridge loading, in terms of being able to measure the real-world capacitance if my phono cable/head shell wires/connectors together. Only problem is one of budget :/ […]
Dear Colin, I write for the USA.I have a worn out slider pot that I opened to inspect. I found the contact fingers had slid over the conductive coating of the resistor track that it has worn thru it down to the bare PCB. I wish I could find a replacement, but I have not […]
Hello Colin. Can you enlighten me please? I’m building a LM3886 Gainclone design for a second system, and have a few questions on the best types of passive components to choose. As it’s a second system, not looking for any exotic/expensive components, just want to make best choice of sensibly priced options, while trying to […]
Hi Colin, Pls can you help me? Can I safely run a USA spec amp designed for 110v 60Hz in the UK on 240v 50Hz, with a step down transformer (but it will still be 50Hz). So many conflicting views across the web. I think a lot of people believe it can work ok the […]
Paul McGowan writes: If for some reason your power amplifier puts DC into your loudspeaker you’ll wind up letting the magic blue smoke out and killing your loudspeaker. ”Magic blue” smoke is engineering humor: it’s what we jokingly say when a component blows up and smoke spews from its innards – “oops, we let the […]
Dear Colin, Generally speaking, what is it that causes output transistors to blow? Do they tend to die a natural death? Bad drivers? Emitters? Problems with the rectifier circuit? Assuming there wasn’t shorted speaker wires or excessive moisture. The amp bias and the +/-77 voltage was fine before they blew. It happened on power up. […]
Dear Colin, Zero autoformers; how to measure impedance please? I got a pair of Speltz zero autoformers recently but when I measure the total impedance, my multimeter sees only 0.4-0.6 ohm no matter what I do. It seems the multimeter could only read the DC resistance from the autoformer itself but not the total impedance […]
We all love our vinyl but let us not forget its many flaws. In particular, inner groove distortion. When vinyl spins the stylus follows in a spiral pattern. That spiral brings us ever closer to the center of the record where there is less and less room for modulation (think of the difference between the […]
Audio cables / buy / sell / info and … more British / European loudspeaker members’ group
When we think about distortion products we are generally referring to the harmonic kind. Harmonics are naturally occurring byproducts of sound: a plucked string will generate the intended frequency (called the first harmonic) and then higher versions of that note, each slightly less loud than its predecessor. These higher frequencies are all integers (whole numbers) […]
Hi Colin. Fashions, come fashions go and from time to time the market has been presented with battery powered devices from preamps, phono stages and power amps. As far as I’m aware you’ve never thought of anything battery driven. Is any particular reason for this? I’m wondering if you think the claimed sonic benefits are […]
Paul McGowan … Describing what we hear as having a texture is an interesting Audiophile term. What’s the texture of a violin or a tuba? Do these instruments even have a texture? Not really, this is yet another term used to describe something we hear in a manner that is easier for us to relate […]
Paul White writes ….. No sooner had I opened a new file to write this leader column, aimed squarely at the annoyance of external power supplies, than I received an email from one of our long-time readers asking if he could submit a Sounding Off piece in favour of them. His argument was that by […]