But I was glancing at the index for the completed year of 2005.

Amplifiers were well represented in article content.

But speakers were not. Even the speaker articles when seen in review
had little how-to-build content with the exception of Bill Fitzmaurice
and a few others.

For this kind of content, I cannot see how I could resubmit my
subscription. This is disappointing because aX was the magazine
that sparked my interest in hand crafted audio.

Glad we have this website.

OK, sarcasm off.

aX is just not my cup-o-tea anymore. I hate to let my subscription run out, but I just don't find it enjoyable anymore.

I'm thinking of picking up the set of Audiocraft reprints. Have you ever seen an issue? Worth getting?

.....Colin

• http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/books/lac1.htm

IIRC Ed Dell was going to make the whole history of
Speakerbuilder, Audio Amateur and Glass Audio available
on the net-- maybe for a subscription fee for research or
some plan like that: scan all the content and properly
index it. I'm sure that there's a wealth of stuff in
the back issues. I like paper mags myself and find
going over print articles for builds much easier than
having my brain addled by hyperlinks.

There should be a Fine Woodworking mag for speakerbuilders.

But the depth of interest is not there to make a publishing venture
succeed.

Are there publications of this type in Europe or Japan? A
language problem would certainly exist, but the print format
is still superior to googling for how-to articles in
particular.

I don't believe that handcrafted audio is a completely dying
art. There are new components being introduced and new
designs based on solid reproduceable theory being done all
the time. Plus there's the ability to accurately reproduce
designs using the technology that is available now. I showed
the Layertone CNC link a while back. Mr. Layertone uses a
CNC machine to build up layers for backhorn cabinets. This combined with the design skill of an audio engineer has given birth to
a new technique.

Elsewhere there has been new information on the photographic
technology which would allow circuit boards to be photographicaly
etched and printed in a device which looks like a photoprinter.

Such customized micro design combined with desktop computing
programs is a new paradigm for the advancement of the
art and engineering of audio.

For me, the DIY world is about doing more with less.

The little ad copy that remains in audioXpress features things
like 4 ft audiocables for $600. This is the old elitist audio
paradigm which says if it's good it should cost a lot and if
it's better it should be unaffordable for all but the few.

The Sonic Impact is an example of the new paradigm over the
old. That amp (for all accounts) gives great sound, runs
on little power which is ideal for playback of digitized files,
has been modded and customized (or can be by replacing the
plastic shell) and is very inexpensive. The Sonic Impact was
sold out at retailers such as Target, Parts Express and Buy.com
but now is back in availablility again. I believe the bulk
of the purchasers were audio enthusiasts who found out about
it from places like this forum. Far as I know, the Sonic Impact
has never been in aX.

All I can attribute this to is a disconnect between the
publishing world and internet content. There should be
another way.

My subscription expires this month. I thought long and hard about not renewing but eventually signed up for another year. I made my wife write the check. I don't know why I renewed, other then I have every issue of Speaker Builder which means I have been reading this magazine for almost 25 years. Momentum. It gets more disappointing with every issue and takes less then an hour to read. I don't see it continuing much longer. I remember when SpeakerBuilder was my best source of information and Audio Amateur/Old Colony was the place I ordered classic texts. Maybe I won't have to make the tough decision next year if they just go under.

Martin

On the Sinuc Impact front I got fro a friend as a Christmas gift.

As he plays with it, I'll learn more.

I dunno. I'll be going to the theatre tonight as staff for
The Nutcracker. When I usher for those shows as a volunteer
I try to listen for that large theater effect and how anyone
sitting in a house could reproduce it. It's all over with
little pin pointing and is effectively screwed by the house
speakers above and the orchestra pit below. But that is a
_live_ show.

The Sonic Impact should be a good experiment to use with
computer files.

One thing I've wondered about is why no SACD fileshares.

Thats a good use for the Sonic T-Amp as a computor system since it sounds worlds better than the standard computor fare.

I don't know about SACD; maybe because there are no programs as yet to read SACD to the soundcards on the computor?

But now with streaming audio for news picking up some steam
and the fact that I now have a new but modest computer build
about 6 times faster than what I was using It seems like
a good experiment.

Building speakers got me interested in high efficiency systems
to use low power with larger boxes.

I still have this thing about having the audio source "too close"
and prefer nearfields that aren't _real_ near.

There is something out called mp4 I think and so digitized
audio standards could be improving.

To your point, the MLTLs I built from a good plan give the
sound of an intimate guitar solo such as Martin Taylor
that's right in the room.

There's also listening to music from broadcast late at
night when you can be startled by a sound-- like there's
someone in the room with you. This is not concentrated
listening of course, but having the background music grab your
attention because of the subtleness of the quality.

Don't get me wrong on the Sonic; it's a damned good sound for 30$; but it isn't the giant killer they originally said it was in my opinion, and the faults are not those you can overlook.
Sort of like trying to voice loudspeakers using a portable CD player.
I like the class A SS amp that Nelson Pass wrote about in this months AE.
It sounds similar to the old threshold class A amps from the 70's. Cheap to build also.

So; now that you have a better and faster computor what will you be doing musically; a better soundcard like the Creative hot rod models?