Speaker Safari

[SEAWOLF97]

I would never pay $200 for headphones that sit ON the ear. That type of headphone is not comfortable long-term. For true high fidelity headphone listening you want a headphone that goes AROUND the ear. Not only for the aforementioned comfort factor, but because putting pressure on the outer ear changes the sound of what you hear, because your pinna is being compressed (and that is a large part of what you hear).

For 'phones that go around the ear, check out models like the 558 and 598.

I agree with what you are saying. I just bought circumaural open back electrostatics and they are great. Every pair that I've ever bought new are
CA/OB*. The HD25's were presented at a very good price and serve well for bed time listening that rarely goes on longer than an hour.

except my Pioneer SE-50's (CA/CB) , the first pair that I ever bought (PX in VN) and audio knowledge was week at 20 y.o.

a pretty good primer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphones

Circumaural headphones (sometimes called full size headphones) have circular or ellipsoid earpads that encompass the ears. Because these headphones completely surround the ear, circumaural headphones can be designed to fully seal against the head to attenuate external noise. Because of their size, circumaural headphones can be heavy and there are some sets that weigh over 500 grams (1 lb). Ergonomic headband and earpad design is required to reduce discomfort resulting from weight.^[12]


Supra-aural headphones have pads that press against the ears, rather than around them. They were commonly bundled with personal stereos during the 1980s. This type of headphone generally tends to be smaller and lighter than circumaural headphones, resulting in less attenuation of outside noise. Supra-aural headphones can also lead to discomfort due to the pressure on the ear as compared to circumaural headphones that sit around the ear. Comfort may vary due to the earcup material.
Open or closed back

Both circumaural and supra-aural headphones can be further differentiated by the type of earcups:
Open-back headphones have the back of the earcups open. This leaks more sound out of the headphone and also lets more ambient sounds into the headphone, but gives a more natural or speaker-like sound and more spacious "soundstage" - the perception of distance from the source. Closed-back (or sealed) styles have the back of the earcups closed. They usually block some of the ambient noise, but have a smaller soundstage, giving the wearer a perception that the sound is coming from within their head. Closed-back headphones tend to be able to produce stronger low frequencies than open-back headphones.

[SEAWOLF97]

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The Van Alstin box ... I think that it may be a tube CD player buffer/amp, but can't find anything online ... Anybody know ??

Wow ..I got a fast answer from Frank himself

it was designed for a Philips/Magnavox CD player

So FVA's return email about the tube box noted that it was for a certain CD player and wouldn't work on anything else. Essentially worthless.
But he did offer to pay shipping if I'd return it to him ,,,, in case some old customer needed one.

But I am a charter member of the "Doubting Thomas" club. Sooo , I wired it into my 24/192 DVD player that gets used as a CD player.

Sound ? WOW ,,,,best that little system has ever sounded. mellow & sharp at the same time , luscious bass. Don't really know the answer to the obvious question

[SEAWOLF97]

So some time back I bought a pair of unnamed speakers , took a look at the drivers and stowed them away in a closet.

Today the house commander suggested that it might be nice (not in those words) if I could organize/remove some of the BFM (beautiful, fine menagerie ) in the extra bedroom.

So these long forgotten speakers appeared from the haze ... I do remember that the drivers were all SEAS, and I reasoned that they could be similar to the L-86's that I'd liked.

The LR system is sweet now with that VA tube amp on the CD input line....so gave them some signal - . Most of my friends would be happy with this as their main system. The little 3 way , 8 incher systems are just so well balanced , but sure make bass when called for.

Cabs need refinishing , but who has the time

those are little Missions behind them , little AR's on the floor , JBL sub under the table and custom sub under the coffee table.

[SEAWOLF97]

picked another one of those 24bit/192khz audio DAC'ed DVD players today (this one is a Toshiba) = $3 . Subbed it in for the Sony ES CD deck ....WOW , what an improvement

looks like it got donated 'cause of a sticking drawer , geeze that was a tough fix , took almost 2 minutes ( 1.5 to find screwdriver and remove case top )

think I'm on to something here , just gotta reprogram the MX-500 remote now.

It handles burned disks, MP3 , etc.

[80sKid]

Congrats on your latest system developments, SeaWolf. I'm curious about those 3 way speakers..... any badging on their rears? Maybe take out the drivers for a moment to check our their labeling and construction (and take pics)? That dome tweeter seems rather small in diameter, in order to keep up with the output of that nice mid and woofer.

[SEAWOLF97]

Congrats on your latest system developments, SeaWolf. I'm curious about those 3 way speakers..... any badging on their rears? Maybe take out the drivers for a moment to check our their labeling and construction (and take pics)? That dome tweeter seems rather small in diameter, in order to keep up with the output of that nice mid and woofer.

It took me a while to see, but in very light blue , in the labels background it says "SEAS"

[HCSGuy]

I remember back in the 80's, Audio Concepts (ACI) had speakers that looked like that - the typical rounded corner speaker kit enclosure of the time. You could buy the speakers assembled or in a kit. I also remember buying some raw drivers from them and they had covered the manufacturer's label with their own typed one, though I don't remember if it looked like yours or not.

[SEAWOLF97]

I remember back in the 80's, Audio Concepts (ACI) had speakers that looked like that - the typical rounded corner speaker kit enclosure of the time. You could buy the speakers assembled or in a kit. I also remember buying some raw drivers from them and they had covered the manufacturer's label with their own typed one, though I don't remember if it looked like yours or not.

this is our best guess for the cab, and they do sell a lot of SEAS

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com...earch_str=seas

they do have some interesting things on the site.

[SEAWOLF97]

great weather today, got out the bike to go on a library/thrifts loop. On the first thrift , I walked in and over to the electronics and immediately noticed an Adcom. Checked it out ..CD player ...GCD-575 ...gawd awful heavy, but condition looked as if just out of the box, new. The front panel said "176.4 sampling rate, dual DAC's, analogue frequency/phase contouring" and had lots of features ...but the manf date was 1988.

Oh well, it was cheap enough and besides my high rez DVD player that's been for CD playback developed an annoying habit. When I open the drawer/door , it only stays open 3 seconds and then closes itself. I'm often not fast enough.

Bungied the deck to my rack and cancelled the rest of the loop , didn't want to go in 2 more thrifts with it on the locked bike. Got it home and swapped in .... WOW that pup sounds fine. Class A amp in it. Gotta dig up my Adcom preamp remote, think it does CD too.

Anyway, wish I was more in an audio "frame of mind" during Adcoms heyday , I'm pretty impressed with all their gear that I've purchased. May wire in that VanAlstine CD tube buffer/amp and see what changes happen

The polarity reverse is new to me (on a CD player) and does actually alter the sound. Hope it lasts a while.

a review: http://stereonomono.blogspot.com/201...-575-1988.html

snippet: A special polarity-inverting switch permits you to reverse the normal positive polarity to negative (inverted) polarity. This corrects playback of CDs in which the polarity was incorrectly recorded (inverted), or for use in systems in which one of the components causes a reversal of correct polarity.
The four special heavy feet installed on the GCD-575 are reversible metal castings. On one side, the flat surface insures a wide contact area. The reverse side is cast with built-in "Iso-points" which, when used in a three-foot configuration, operates as a "tripod" support system.
Sampling rate: 176,4 kHz Quantized bits: 16-bit linear

[LRBacon]

Nice find there, Tom. Here a few years ago I picked up an essentially brand new Technics SL-PD987 5 Disc changer off of the bay for 35 bucks. It has the play back speed adjustment like some turntables had with the strobe light for speed adjustment. What's also nice about, is the fact that it will play most CD-Rs, unlike my Technics SL-PD1010.
I was down in your neck of the woods Memorial Day and had an Ecliptic burger at the Ecliptic Brewery pub. Man that is one tasty juicey burger!! Beer's not too bad either.

Larry

[SEAWOLF97]

Nice find there, Tom. Here a few years ago I picked up an essentially brand new Technics SL-PD987 5 Disc changer off of the bay for 35 bucks. It has the play back speed adjustment like some turntables had with the strobe light for speed adjustment. What's also nice about, is the fact that it will play most CD-Rs, unlike my Technics SL-PD1010.
I was down in your neck of the woods Memorial Day and had an Ecliptic burger at the Ecliptic Brewery pub. Man that is one tasty juicey burger!! Beer's not too bad either.

Larry

Larry ..I'm not familiar with that pub. Portland is a hotbed for micro breweries tho. We seem to be mainly about LP's (vinyl) , beer , coffee and bikes. (and Nike/Intel/Techtronix)

I transplanted the Van Alstine tube buffer/amp over to the Adcom CD player yesterday , gee that's a fun setup pushed through the a/d/s's by the GFA-555.

I kept wondering why such an old CDP sounded so nice. Did a little homework. It's a dual Philips TDA1541A DAC, which was highly regarded in it's time and placed into a lot of high end players.
There are many websites dedicated to it. As far as I can deduct , it was abandoned as the supporting chipset was too expensive . but many think it better sounding than the new/hot 24/192 dacs. Anyhoo, I'm happy.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho....php?p=6441505

[LRBacon]

That brew pub address is 825 North Cook Street. Well worth the trip.

Larry

[SEAWOLF97]

I kept wondering why such an old CDP sounded so nice. Did a little homework. It's a dual Philips TDA1541A DAC, which was highly regarded in it's time and placed into a lot of high end players.
There are many websites dedicated to it. As far as I can deduct , it was abandoned as the supporting chipset was too expensive . but many think it better sounding than the new/hot 24/192 dacs. Anyhoo, I'm happy.

was enjoying it yesterday and it started skipping a lot. crap. Remembered whilst doing my homework on this model that others had this problem (most likely the reason it got donated) and it is quite old.
So pulled the stack and player apart and cleaned the laser lens and retested ... been playing perfect for an hour now. AS long as it was apart, found and photoed the DAC ... yep the web sites were correct.

[SEAWOLF97]

dragged home these little 414's .... sound so nice that maybe I'll spring for some original yellow earpads

Really had no use for these , so shot some pix and posted to CL , asking more than original , new price. Buyer came out, listened abt 3 seconds and handed me the cash, no haggling.

Shortest demo I ever did.

[SEAWOLF97]

.

So FVA's return email about the tube box noted that it was for a certain CD player and wouldn't work on anything else. Essentially worthless.

so I looked up the CD player that the tube filter/amp box was designed for ... turns out to use the same DAC that the "new 2 me" Adcom uses , and matches up fantastically. nice when
unplanned success happens.