larryi

Responses from larryi

Do You Tell Others How Much You Have Invested in Your System?
I keep gear a very long time, but it is not intended to be an investment.  Still, certain parts of my system are probably worth more now than when I purchased them.  The Western Electric compression midrange driver and horn are worth much more now... 
Do You Tell Others How Much You Have Invested in Your System?
I have never discussed the value of my system with any friends or relatives, although my audio buddies have some idea of what my stuff costs.  It would seem crazy to anyone not in the hobby, but, to me the amount some spend on cars or other things... 
How much does rear horn loading add to full range driver?
If you can find it, audition Charney Audio speakers.  They employ a fairly large quarterwave rear loaded horn on 8” drivers.  The bass is remarkably good. Voxativ does the same.  Doing it right involves some fairly complex woodworking for the cabi... 
Boutique caps in oil... reliable?
I have a dealer that has been looking for a long time for paper in oil caps for my speaker.  The particular caps are probably 70 years old or so.  They can last a very long time, and some vintage caps do deliver sonically.  
VPI HW-19 with Graham 1.5 arm Question/Suggestions
Melm, I set vta by ear, and to some extent there are tonal changes.  But, overall, I do agree that one should not make large vta changes for that purpose.  On a nine inch arm, I change the pivot height no more than 1mm or so from the arm being pa... 
VPI HW-19 with Graham 1.5 arm Question/Suggestions
Melm, I set vta by ear, and to some extent there are tonal changes.  But, overall, I do agree that one should not make large vta changes for that purpose.  On a nine inch arm, I change the pivot height no more than 1mm or so from the arm being pa... 
What is your take on high efficient speakers vs. low efficient speakers?
Johnk is not wrong.  High efficiency speakers are much more dynamic sounding, at least in part, because they suffer less from thermal compression.  When playing at any given level, the higher efficiency speaker will be passing much less current an... 
Three videos: SET amps, Chesky, Gould
I watched the one on SETs and it was fun seeing some of the amps he had to show.  I've seen and heard some other giant transmitting tube amps too, but, I don't have a need for that kind of power so it is more of a curiosity thing for me.  I did no... 
VPI HW-19 with Graham 1.5 arm Question/Suggestions
mijostyn, I have heard the arms you mention, and I have heard setups using these arms that did indeed sound very good.  But, I would not make the generalization that a two-axis arm is superior in regards to bass reproduction (implying that uni-pi... 
VPI HW-19 with Graham 1.5 arm Question/Suggestions
It is very hard to predict what a set of compliant footers will do, particularly when the table itself has a suspension.  Now you have two sets of devices with their own resonant frequencies and behavior.  I doubt that footers will be a big help f... 
VPI HW-19 with Graham 1.5 arm Question/Suggestions
I use to have the same table, with a Graham 1.5t tonearm.  That is a nice sounding setup, and one that I would not suspect is the source of a not so warm and rich sound.  I like the idea of trying "free" fixes first, like lowering VTA or changing ... 
THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME DOMAIN RESPONSE MUST READ
One more thing, speaker/driver design involves balancing different performance parameters because there is no one design that optimizes all measures of performance.  Even if one is shooting for a very low Qts (extreme damping), this will affect ot... 
THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME DOMAIN RESPONSE MUST READ
Qts that is being referred to is a Thiele-Small parameter for damping of the speaker--a combination of the mechanical and electrical damping--with a lower number indicating higher damping.  In a simple minded way, a lower number does reflect close... 
Shinjitsu Audio
Thank you for your detailed response.  I do recognize that it is hard to market speakers these days while keeping costs low enough that you can offer what appears to be extremely low prices given what goes into the construction of your speakers.  ... 
Has anyone truly compared Vintage vs. Modern?
It really depends on the component.  I can take entirely vintage parts that are 70 to 80 years old and make a speaker system that will, for my taste, blow away any modern system except those that are essentially good replicas of such parts (e.g., ...