Describe your HIFI -system

[SEAWOLF97]

well, its a continual changing thing....

OHM F main speakers
CV sub
JBL 4412 "b" speakes

BGW 250d amp
Yamaha C-4 pre
(soon) Musical Fidelity Nu Vista pre
Carver tl3100 CD
Nu Reality SRS
ADC ss eq
Sony mini disk
XM roady 2

[Ian Mackenzie]

Becoming more civilised in the past few years.

Initial JBL attempt 1979, recently restored

Formerly a Phase Flame Linear user..
Most recently Pass Labs X2.5 pre, Lavry Dac, Pass Labs X250.5, PS600, Custom active crossover,Marantz 6600 DVD, Kenwood KD 650 TT, Pass Pearl phono stage. FR cartridge.

[SEAWOLF97]

Becoming more civilised in the past few years..

VERY NICE !!!!





(Is that a cassette deck I see ?)

[Ian Mackenzie]

Thanks,

Didn't happen over night but things do come to me in the most mysterious ways.

If you are referring to the deck in the rack its a Teac 3440 metal auto setup job as I recall. I was quite a good sounding deck using metal TDK tapes.

A short story.......
The initial work was and still is my defining moment with JBL's. At the time ..cc1979 I was about 20 and had been collecting 4343 brochures for about 2 years and decided I just had to have them so I built a pair up from nothing. I wrote to JBL at the time asking for the schematic and the tuning and this guy called Gary (Margulius?) wrote back very politely saying there were unable to assist.

I mean where was Giskard? You guys have got it easy now...LOL

All I had was the brochures and a few measurements in dealers showrooms and hifi shows. My brother would distract the reps while I got out the tape measure. It is quite funny because this happened all over again with Bo 25 years later doing the original work on cloning the 4345's. Fate you might say!

They were a biamped 3 way system initally with a passive two way crossover and I started out with text book filters for the 2121 and the 2420 and the horn/lense..the 2121 was not padded back at all so it was a real kick butt system using 350 watts aside on the woofers and 100+ super clean watts with a Quad 405 on the midrange array. The 2405s came later and I tweaked the horn network by ear using the other channel as a reference to get the horns and the slot to blend properly. The 2405s were really expensive (AUD$650) but they really made a big difference. The best bit was I was allowed to have them in the lounge room at home. Mum thought they sounded pretty good! I then went semi pro and hired them out for special events for about 7 years using the same rack in the picture. It was fairly serious system in those days and still is.

You do things like that at that age but I am glad the interest has survived all these years. I have toned it down a bit over the years.

Just a bit mind you!..LOL

Ian

[4313B]

Nice Ian!

[Ian Mackenzie]

Yeah well this thread is just that ...a thread and a few words about your system ... the journey that is can be quite intriguing.

Ian

[ChopsMX5]

Here's a quick run-down of my system. The entire front end of the room is going to change very soon though. I am getting ready to build not 2, but 3 Usher Audio D2 "clones". That means I'll have six 10cf ported enclosures tuned to 28Hz, stuffed with no less than six Usher 15HM drivers. The main channels will naturally be in the MTM configuration with the Altec 511B in the middle. The matching center channel will be the same exact way, only horizontal with the 511B being flanked on either side with a 15HM. This also means that I will no longer have a sub due to the lack of space in the room. I'm hoping that with six of the 15HM drivers, I won't need a sub and that I'll get usable output down to at least 20Hz, maybe lower around 16Hz... I hope.



511B horns with 902-8B drivers mounted on top of a pair of '78 Klipsch Cornwalls. The only operational driver in the Cornwalls is the K33-E 15" drivers. The mid and tweet are disabled. In fact, the Type B crossovers (which have been heavily modded) are now resting peacefully in my closet.






That big black thing is a 51uF Solen just to suck up any extra turn-on juice the Crown D-75A may put out when turned on. IOW, it's soley there for protection. I believe this also rolls off the 902-8B drivers around 400Hz @ 6dB, which is below the 600Hz crossover point.




Here's another 511B with a 902-8T driver for the center channel. Here you can also see one of the modded Klipsch Type B networks. This one has be converted over to 2-way operation and seeing the 902-8T driver as a 64 ohm load to bring its output down closer to the 15" woofer's output.




This is where the heart of the system is. The Rane AC 22B crossover allows me to dial in the delay of the K33-E woofers and 902 drivers to get everything sounding just right. The Behringer DEQ1024 is used to flatten out a small peak around 1.2kHz. Also, because these 902-8B drivers are 30+ years old and came out of a large theater in Atlanta, GA, they have seen lots of action and power over the years. For this, their diaphrams are a little work-hardened, which gives them a little more than desired rolled-off top end. So I am also using the DEQ1024 to boost the top end a little as well to help things out.




This is the Technics SU-8099 integrated. My father bought this amp brand new back in '78 along with the Cornwalls, for the Cornwalls. He gave both the speakers and this amp to me. Anywho, this amp provides 115 very strong and very HOT watts to the K33-E drivers. And if you look closely to that meter, that's not peaking at 7-10 watts. The meter is in the 0.1x range, which makes that about 0.75 - 1 watt peak! And let me tell you, I had it playing pretty darn loud in there while taking these pictures!




This is my little gem right here. The awsome little Crown D-75A amp. This amp can pump out a whopping 35 watts into 8 ohms and is rated at 0.05 THD at full power. I bought this amp on eBay for $75 shipped! The guy that had it said that it was untested and that the gain knobs were real loose, so he was selling it as is.

Turns out that the amp was in MINT condition and the nuts on the knob shafts had worked loose. All it took was a couple minutes snugging down the nuts and that was it. As you can see, the gain is only at 2/3, and the output from the Rane crossover is just over half. The signal LEDs never light up unless I'm really hammering it, so I'm guessing I'm barely getting a 1/2 watt out of it most of the time, and maybe 1-1.5 watts max! With its excellent specs and super clean power, it is a perfect match for the 511B/902 combo.




Just for fun, here's the business end of the system. The Music Hall Cd25.2 is long gone. I upgraded the opamps to Burr-Browns, but it never really impressed me that much. In fact, it's really didn't sound any better than the Panisonic DVD player, so I ended up selling it.

One thing you can't see in the photo is a Rane BB22 Balance Buddy. It's behind the DVD/crossover/eq stack. The MIANS pre-out from the Pioneer Elite VSX-54TX goes into the BB22. From there, it enters the DEQ1024, then to the AC 22B crossover, then to the Technics amp and small Crown amp. No hum, no buzz, no hiss, no nothing, just music and movies.




BTW, the silver Crown XTi 1000 is for the DIY push/pull sub I built. It has two Dayton 15" DVC drivers in a 6.3cf sealed enclosure. With the sub in its current location and with 2.83V input with pink noise at 1 meter, I measured 99dB, both with my SPL meter and TrueRTA!! At my listening position, I still get between 95-96dB. Gotta love that room gain! Nominal impedance is 8 ohms, and the amp is bridged mono for a healthy 1000 watts of power. This amp has a built-in DSP, digital crossover, digital EQ and other various things (none of which I am using), but the really great thing about it is the cooling fan. The cooling fan stays off and only turns on when things really heat up. Generally, durring normal music and movie playback, the fan never comes on. It's only if I'm watching a live concert or a movie like "War Of The Worlds" where there's lots and lots of sustained, deep bass when the fan comes on, and I have to be really cranking it to get the fan to come on. Even then, I only know it's on if there's a sudden quiet spot in the music or movie that I can here the fan running.

[mikebake]

How about some photos?

Here's an update listing of my gears since last years post

SPEAKERS
4350A UPGRADED WITH LE 375 HI MIDS AND 077 HIGHS
4333A
L50
HP 580(HOME CINEMA)
B&W CENTER SPEAKER (HOME CINEMA)
MISSION 772(HOME CINEMA)
CANON WIS 50 (HOME CINEMA)
TSUNAMI SUBWOOFER(HOME CINEMA)
2405H (SPARE UNITS)

PERIPHERALS&PROCESSORS
2 X 5233 MONO XOVERS
5234 XOVER
BEHRINGER ULTRA CURVE
PEAVEY ULTRAVERB
YAMAHA GC2020C COMPRESSOR LIMITER
DBX 266XL COMPRESSOR
COURTS EQ
SOUNDCRAFTSMEN EQ
NUMARK BPM COUNTER

AMPS
NAKAMICHI PA 5
NAKAMICHI PA 7
DAVID HAFLER DH 200
CREST AUDIO AMP
DENON 3802 (HOME CINEMA)

TAPE MACHINES
TEAC A480 TAPE DECK
TEAC V1010 TAPE DECK
REVOX B77
REVOX PR 99
TASCAM BR 20 T

TURNTABLES
3 X TECHNICS SL 110A FITTED WITH SME 3009 TONEARMS AND SHURE V15 CARTS
1 X TECHNICS SL 11OO
2 X TECHNICS SL 121O
1 X TECHNICS SL 12OO

CD&DVD PLAYERS
TEAC VRDS 10
2XPIONEER CDJ 500 S
DENON DVD 3900
PIONNER DV 717
SONY MINIDISC PLAYER

HEAD PHONES
AKG K240
BEYER DT 160
SONY V 900
SONY V300

PROJECTORS&SCREEN

SONY VPL PX 32
SONY VPL FX 50
PROCOLOR MOTORISED SCREEN 240X180 mts

MIXERS

SOUNDCRAFT SAC 200(BROADCAST)
SOUNDCRAFT D MIX 1000
PIONEER DJM 600
CITRONIC (1977~VINTAGE)

Special thanks goes to my brother Danny's contribution,one of the rare audio and broadcast enthousiastic in uk without whom this modest listing wouldn't be possible.Thanks also to my wife Ruby for her huge tolerance and supports towards my growing passion.
Thanks also for this great site and it's wonderful people.

[Fangio]

Impressing system, ChopsMX5.

How about some photos?

Yeah - and please don't forget that recent acquisition..

http://www.audioheritage.org/photopo...6&limit=recent

[ChopsMX5]

Impressing system, ChopsMX5.

Thanks Fangio. I don't know how impressive it is now, but it will be pretty soon. I just purchased 4 of the Usher 15HM drivers last night, so the "big" D2 clone project has begun!

[jblbgw_man]

Just finished renovating the lounge room and very glad to get the main gear back in, although still finishing off the Equipment Rack/CD/DVD storage cabinet.

Main Gear
2 X 4435's
1 X BGW 750 C
2 X BGW 250 D
1 X BGW 203 Preamp
1 X Aphex 124A
1 X Aphex 204 Aural Exciter
1 X Aphex 108 Compressor/Limiter
1 X JBL 5235 Active Crossover
1 X Pioneer DVD Player
1 X Sony Playstation 1
1 X Hitachi 42" Plasma

Removed equipment
1 X Australian Monitor AM1200
1 X JBL MPX300
1 X BSS FDS 360 Active Crossover
1 X Harmon Kardon CD Player

Spare Speakers
2 X JBL 4430
2 X Auratone cubes (somewhere)

Still deciding what to do with the 4430's and the removed equipment. After many hours of listening I have decided to go back with the original set up using the BGW Amps and Pre Amp and JBL Active Cross Over. Just can't beat Bi Polar output devices IMHO and the 5235 is probably the best match for the 4430/4435. Still need to install the Rack hardware into the equipment rack and put the gear in there but working on that now and I want to remake the 4430 stands .... will it ever end!

Cheers

[hjames]

Wow - VERY nice looking space - I love the light and windows.
I'll bet the sound is fine too!

[pos]

Yes very nice! And with an high WAF I guess!
I've used the photo with the 4430 to convience my wife that a 4430 can be a nice piece of furniture!

Looking at the first picture, are you not tempted to soffit mount thoses 4435?
The corners around the fireplace would be very adequate! You would just have to raise them a little bit and then build a floating wall around them, with maybe a bass trap inside with air entrances on the top and bottom, and a rack for your amps and gears.

[jblbgw_man]

Yes very nice! And with an high WAF I guess!
I've used the photo with the 4430 to convience my wife that a 4430 can be a nice piece of furniture!

Looking at the first picture, are you not tempted to soffit mount thoses 4435?
The corners around the fireplace would be very adequate! You would just have to raise them a little bit and then build a floating wall around them, with maybe a bass trap inside with air entrances on the top and bottom, and a rack for your amps and gears.

I had thought of soffit mounting them infilling the spaces either side of the fireplace as per your pic but thought the wife would probably go bazerk at the idea, so I will let that one lie for 12 months or so and let her get used to them as they are and if we are still here then I may modify things then, little steps at a time... lol

The 4430's are just sitting there not connected .... I know it's a bit of a crime, they are expensive flower stands. I suppose the obvious answer is to use some of the removed equipment to drive the 4430's and run a couple of balanced lines from the lounge room to the games room for the 4430's but the acoustics in this big room are'nt the best. The wife actually prefers the 4435's in the lounge than the 4430's as they "fill the space better" Either way they are both nice pieces of furniture, I wish you luck in convincing your wife of the 4430's, you will never need to buy another loudspeaker system in your life, LOL unless your like me and got adicted and went one better with the 4435's.

Cheers

[coruphius]

As you see in my Pictures, i have started my jbl collection and plan to get more.

heres what i have

2X 2225H's in 120 Litre enclosures each tuned to 40 hz (upgrading boxes soon to 140 litres)

2x 123-a's (black cones)
2x LE5-2's (faded cones)
2x 044Ti
2x 4312 x-overs

Thats all so far, wanna get the big guns one day! my 2225's will hold out the bass for now goes down to 32hz with a nice rumble to the house so im happy (with only 80 watts)

BTW the rest of the setup isnt mine apart from the smaller yamaha speakers on top of the other yamaha speakers (just there for looks)
it's my fiances grandparents house and we looking after it till they come back home in November!!