drew_eckhardt

Responses from drew_eckhardt

Question about an external crossover
>Is it possible to modify this unit so that it has true balanced inputs, and without degrading the signal?Sure. Use a Jensen input transformer or build an active circuit around an INA134. If I had an active balanced output I'd just wire + to th... 
Best new loudspeaker
>what i meant to say is that i might be interested in auditioning a non-panel speaker that would fool me into thinking that i was listening to a panel.Try the Orions (I own a pair) - they have a very similar midrange but don't suffer from panel... 
Best new loudspeaker
>if there is a speaker that is a worthy competitor of electrostatics and planar/magnetics/ribbons, with respect to reproduction of timbre, using "conventional" drivers, i would want to audition it, unless i have already heard it.The Linkwitz Or... 
Note worthy Omni Directional Speakers..
Linkwitz Pluto. The mid-bass is in a damped transmission line with a 40dB return loss (Like a B&W Nautilus)with cylindrical enclosure that may be as stiff as 4" concrete. The tweeter is unusually beefy allowing for a low cross over that means ... 
Speaker driver efficiency, series vs. parallel etc
>Drew, seems I am following you but I might be getting a little messy on this so for the example above, my 4 drivers run series-parallel and original single drive at 90 db... Is in fact now a 96 db sensitivity seen by the amplifier?Yes, at wave... 
CD Dead??
>Are you going to carry around the server on your back with some headphones? Definitely. A 160G hard-drive based ipod is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and holds about 270 uncompressed full-length CDs, perhaps 500 with lossless compress... 
Speaker driver efficiency, series vs. parallel etc
As long as the drivers are located next to each other and reproducing wave lengths large relative to their dimensions, the efficiency increases with 10 log # drivers which is to say it goes up 3dB regardless in a pair regardless of how you wire th... 
Classical speakers that do violins well??
What are your speaker + listener placement constraints (distances to walls/speakers), room dimensions, and acoustic conditions like?These things have at least as much to do with what you're hearing as your speaker choice. Placing your speakers wit... 
Cat owner wants speakers
A tall scratching post or board (for horizontal scratchers) wrapped in sisal rope is a lot more fun to scratch than a grill sock. Provide for that cat's scratching needs in the same room as the speakers and you're not going to have problems from h... 
What made you select "audio" as your hobby
I like music.I like building things.That's a good combination when the physics of most commercially available speakers are inherently flawed and the parts cost of top-notch drivers+cross-over electronics yields five-figure MSRPs. 
Speakers and what's between them
Getting the television out from between my speakers and switching to front projection was the best thing I've ever done for sound stage. 
front ported speakers with ribbon tweeters?
If you're looking for front ported speakers because you plan on placing the speaker near a wall, you should be specifically looking for in or on-wall designs with cross-overs designed for that placement.Speakers designed for free-standing use will... 
listening to low quality
> Some of the typical compressed crap issued today (with barely 6 db of dynamic range) You're 10 years out of date. As of 2005 we're down to under 3dB. We've come a long way since 1985 when the average CD had 18dB of dynamic range.Yuck. 
Duh-Forgetting Hifi Basics 101-crossovers
If you're "passive bi-amping" with the speaker's cross-overs you're not going to have a significant power increase.Both amplifiers are seeing the same signal. Their power supplies might sag a little less when feeding only one driver, although a co... 
What speakers can b considered as world reference?
>A bit aside from the question, but I don't really like this common audiophile thing where averyone compares speakers to the "live sound". If you want a speaker to sound like it did live, go get a 15" JBL PA speakerI've never been to a concert ...