Posted by Bill Epstein [ 75.143.208.132 ] on August 24, 2008 at 18:50:39:
Cooling down after almost a full day in the sun with one fully veneered speaker to show for it. Just don't have the strength I once did.
Yesterday I couldn't make it to work, actually I did get there then sat in my truck on the phone with my boss while I waited to feel well enough to drive back home. These episodes that I blame on withdrawal from a psychotropic, Effexor, (Wyeth labs and my former doctor should burn in hell) are suddenly becoming more frequent and severe even after 6 weeks off the stuff and now I'm thinking that the damned pills damaged me neurologically. Welll ,as Eye-gor said in Young Frankenstein, "could be worse,...could be raining..."
Feeling better last night but bored I actually got out the Hi-Fi News test record which I had tried once and tucked away a few years ago. Couldn't quite get the image centered on several recordings and thought it worth a go. The phase test made sense to me this time and I confirmed that the new crossover phase was correct. The pink noise at the beginning, middel and end of side one to check tracking distortion is essentially worthless cause I don't know what it's supposed to sound like.
I did, however, manage to zero in the image by moving the left speaker an inch or so. Go figure. I've moved the speakers all over this zip code in the past and couldn't get this result until last night. This is BIG NEWS 'cause I had shelved the ARC pre-amp and built the passive thinking the ARC had an imbalance and I bought the Classe amp thinking the 45 was similarly afflicted; haven't felt much like listening to anything lately and turned to building the Pro 4s as a palliative.
It was actually the anti-skating test that turned the trick as to which speaker to move; The Sonata couldn't track the second test track w/o the right channel buzzing, meaning I needed more anti-skate. When I increased it enough for the stylus to sail through it
and both channels failed the third test track, I knew anti-skate was eliminated as a possible cause of the channel imbalance. Skeezix!
The resonant frequency test is great fun except that I had to uncomfortably 1/2 squat (don't you just hate half-squats?) to see the stylus finally dance at 13 Hz. I know thats a smidge above optimum but nobodys perfect. Actuaslly, there was some warbling well above 13 Hz but the stylus didn't cut loose and dance until 13. I wonder if that warbling is a contributor to the lovely mid-range of the Sonata? Distortion works for SETs, don't it?
Back on the shelf went the test record and on the table went an OJC copy of Finally had to get some sleep but when I awoke at 5AM., back I went to the listening chair, but not before I removed the passive and retrieved my ARC LS-1 from the woodshed. I played the same records as last night and kept feeling better and better 'cause there were no gremlins at all; none of the problems that had caused so many changes and audio angst! And the LS-1 with my mods kills the passive in every category. About 10 O'clock I shlepped the tools out in the backyard, applied additional bracing to the cabinets and got to work cutting and gluing the veneer. This NBL (no black line) stuff from Tape-Ease is great; the first veneer I ever used that trimmed so well with the router. It also went from tightly rolled in the box to nice and flat in no time. Plus, guess what? No Black Line, that's what! Gee...I feel so much better.
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