Recent content by Mal P

On an anecdote, yes. The Dynaudio Confidence C1 with it's inverted driver configuration, is meant to be heard with the woofer at ear axis, with the tweeter below that. The reason? Time-alignment. Due to simple geometry, the tweeter is further away than the woofer, thus imitating a sloped baffle...

As a reccommendation on tube single ended amps, can I vouch for the Midwest Audio "Classic" 300B amps: http://www.audioweb.com/Store/StoreI...oreitemid=1136 (the stereobloc version is about $800 cheaper and they discount). Unfortunately, the owner of Midwest Audio has passed away, but the...

G'day Chu, I agree absolutely, Single Ended Amplifiers do generally tend to have higher distortion levels in some areas (like even order HD) than amplifiers with different topologies. In some areas, they have a little less distortion (such as the crossover from class A to B power, when...

G'day Michael, Anything that strips away the un-natural harshness and grit from many recordings has to be doing something right :) There are actually some very decent single ended amps out there for good prices... like the Billie kit, at: DIY HiFi Supply That one has been garnering great...

G'day Michael, Some good points indeed. With an 8 watt amp, my speakers (which have a steady impedence curve which rises at the bass - hence relatively easier to drive) can hit 99dB peaks quite well, and even more than that since most amps can handle temporary overloads without much...

In my opinion, I've always found that more of the "magic" of tube sound lies in the direct interaction between power tubes and a speaker, in preferably single-ended mode. For example, I've played around with numerous tube pre-amps in front of high quality 2ch Solid State power-amps, and while...

G'day Chu, It's good to see someone from overseas familiar with the work of VAF Research :) Their top of the line speaker has a frequency response from 21hz to 20khz +/- 1.2dB, with a phase deviation of +/- 5 degrees. Whoever said good sound couldn't be measured. I think that perhaps we're...

Yes, absolutely. Driver parameters certainly do change from "out of the box" and therefore speaker parameters can change. Is this audible? It depends on the degree of change. But I do have evidence to prove my claims, or at least, evidence provided by a popular speaker manufacturer: Driver...

G'day Peter, Contact Axiom and have them send you a replacement tweeter. It most likely won't cost that much, and err there could be FR anomalies with using bicyle grease instead of ferro-fluid ;) Cheers, Mal

Hi David, 1. Using a separate pre-amp and amp combo will usually yield slightly higher dynamics (bass transients etc) as the pre-amp stage is usually 'active' (as opposed to integrateds, where the pre-amp stage is usually passive). 2. Yup. I have an old Sony 555ES receiver, whose L/R...

Danny, From Dynaudio's website for the Evidence, crossover description: The crossover unit is located behind the mid/high enclosure. Each separate frequency divider network (eight individual networks for each separate driver) are configured on double-thickness, fiberglass reinforced...

What was the reason for the cessation of production of the 950? Cheers, Mal

Hi Bruce, I agree, it takes a lot more than just the drivers to make a good speaker. A lot of people start off in DIY with kits, designed by professionals. For example, Joeseph D'Appolito, the Godfather of speaker design himself *bows head* designs many kits when invited to do so by speaker...

What would be interesting are distortion figures between the CS+ vs. the CS Ultra at say 20hz... Cheers, Mal

I agree with Chris, most of these high-end companies tend to use the same drivers (or slight variants) as those that are available to the DIY community. Even then, since high-end speakers have generally low volume sales, these companies can't justify customising a lot of the drivers, so they are...