DIY Audio Projects Forum

Hi,

First time to this forum and I look forward to picking up new ideas.

A little about myself:

I am lead QA for a software company, but grew up interested in audio and as a very young boy, broke many a toy trying to figure out how it worked. My first project at 7 years old was a crystal radio kit.

In '93, I built Aunt Corey's Buffered Passive Pre. It's been a while and now the bug has bitten me again. Right now on my project list is the Nelson Pass B1 Preamp. Photos to come.

Next, I hope to get the Nelson Pass F5 built and maybe build a pair of full range speakers to go with the new amp.

Sonidos

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Rega P25 and LFD Mistral phono (analog) or Oppo DVD Player (digital) > Aunt Corey's Buffered Pre > Adcom GFA 535 > Spica TC-50

Hi Sonidos, welcome to the forum.

What are your plans for the B1 (PCB, point to point)?

Cheers,
Gio

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[ DIY Mains AC Power Cable Cord ] - [ Gobo LM1875 Amp Kit ] - [ Tang Band D4-1 Horn Speaker Kit ] - [ Monoblock Push-Pull KT88 Tube Amp Kit ]

Sonidos,

Welcome to the forums. I found this forum a few months ago but have busy with the hurricane repairs. I too, am from Austin. I built the first drive thru Whataburger that was ever built. It was at Oltorf @ IH 35. Now I'm an electrician and have become very ill with the audio disease. It's very difficult to cure.

I love this forum because it has a lot of tube amp information here and now that I've finished my speakers after so many years and dollars, I thought I'd look at tinkering with some tube amps. I used to go to an old auction house on Burnet Rd in N. Austin and buy those old tube tvs and radios and make guitar amplifiers out of them. We had a little band going and loved it. I was 15 or 16 then.

Don't be bashful about asking questions. I can't help you much with the amps yet, but if you have any speaker questions, I may be able to help you out or point you the right direction.

Cheers,
Mike Cason

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www.SpeakerHobby.com

Mike,

Thanks for the welcome. I hope everything is coming out okay with the rebuilding after Ike. I have a few family and friends that live in H-town and some fared okay, some not so well. I had a government client scheduled for a software installation and they were shut down for several weeks.

Here's something you need to know. I was born in Austin back in '63 and the two of us can probably share a few memories of Austin going back several years.

I'll definitely keep you posted when I'm ready for a speaker build. My budget is tight (this is 2008, right?) so I hope you can help me with something that is reasonable. I won't be looking for the successor to WATT speakers, but I know I can get something really satisfying if someone can point me in the right direction.

I too was in a band at 15 down in the Valley at the time. My coworkers laugh at the thought because I'm laid back, but we were a rockin' bunch back then.

Javier (Sonidos)

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Rega P25 and LFD Mistral phono (analog) or Oppo DVD Player (digital) > Aunt Corey's Buffered Pre > Adcom GFA 535 > Spica TC-50

Gio, thanks for the welcome. I plan to go with P2P on this version. I'm mounting it on a vectorboard. I'll post some photos soon on my progress.

Several have reported success going this route on diyaudio.com. This weekend, I want to update my sig with my current list of modest equipment and will welcome feedback and comments.

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Rega P25 and LFD Mistral phono (analog) or Oppo DVD Player (digital) > Aunt Corey's Buffered Pre > Adcom GFA 535 > Spica TC-50

Good stuff, I look forward to the pictures. I like the buffer idea and will eventually give it a go with a tube or an opamp.
Cheers

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[ DIY Mains AC Power Cable Cord ] - [ Gobo LM1875 Amp Kit ] - [ Tang Band D4-1 Horn Speaker Kit ] - [ Monoblock Push-Pull KT88 Tube Amp Kit ]

Sonidos,

Memories of Austin, let's see.....if you were at the Elvis concert in 1977, I may have you on film. I was a pro photographer at the time, (hobby), and was priveliged to get tickets to one of his last ever concerts and have many photos....I went back in 1995 after my dad passed to take care of his business and whew...it's a different place now, fast & expensive! Ever remember the "Vulcan Gas Company" on Congress ave @ 4th? (Late 60's). I guess you never attended at the ripe age of 7 or 8. Those were the hippie days and I was a regular there......How about hippie hollow? I'm a co-founder of that unique entertainment site on Lake Travis. I beleive it's still open and I'm not receiving royalties from the county because they are making bucks off of it. Ironically, they are the ones we were fighting to get it going!!!!

Back on topic here.....yes when you get ready I would suggest that you take the route of a DIY already designed and tested cabinet and speaker design. They come with the cabinets assembled or not, drivers, pre-designed and built crossovers, and you get the joy and fun of assembling them. There is a whole lot more to just slapping in a couple of drivers into a cabinet and thinking they are going to sould great, cause they won't. I learned the hard way as usual. I have many rebuilds in mine and way too much money.

Their plans and kits have been designed by well known speaker builders who have been at it a whole lot longer than I have so they already have theirs sounding at their best. My center speaker is one of the finest I have ever heard and I have plans available on my website for it that I provide for free. Drivers and materials will run $800 to $900 smackers though, but darn well worth it. As the high end speaker designers do, I just got through re-designing another crossover for that center speaker because I thought it needed tweaking, and boy what a difference it made with just a few hundred hz changes in the band pass region. I also changed the tweeter portion of the crossover to a 3rd order for a sharper roll off and lowered it's frequency. The system can be seen on my website.

I'm always here to help and answer questions.

Looking forward to seeing any of the projects you tackle!
Mike

p.s. Here is a link to some of Hurricane Ike's damages: http://www.tpicks.com/

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www.SpeakerHobby.com

Hi Sonidos and Welcome!
I have seen and read many of your posts on DIYaudio.
Glad you are here as well!
Uriah

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DIY Lightspeed Passive Attenuator

Uriah,

Glad to be here! I'm looking forward to sharing with everyone here. I'm still thinking about that speaker project after I have my F5 built. It's going to take some patience with my hands full taking care of the little boy.

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Rega P25 and LFD Mistral phono (analog) or Oppo DVD Player (digital) > Aunt Corey's Buffered Pre > Adcom GFA 535 > Spica TC-50

Mike,

Very funny that you mention that Elvis concert. I was a bit young to remember those things you mention, but I have a story for you about that concert.

My Mom has convinced herself she is one of the biggest Elvis fans in the world. She has lots of competition. She and my father scored 3 tickets and she invited her sister. My mom and aunt crawled on hands and knees to get close to the stage.

A stagehand tipped them off to Elvis' last song and he commented that if they left soon enough, they might be able to catch him leaving in his car. My Mom noticed the big limo to the side, but she also noticed a very old car located to one side of the auditorium. Her hunch was that the limo was too obvious, so she and my aunt staked out the old car. Sure enough, his handlers brought Elvis to the car and my Mom got a second to say hello. She still remembers how dazed he looked and we all know what happened a few months later.

I'll definitely post questions because I plan on building the Pass F5 amplifier this spring and I need a set of efficient speakers. My budget is limited...maybe $400 to $700...and my Spicas run at 84 dB/W/m, which is not recommended for the F5. So I hope I can build something satisfying on a shoestring budget that will also pass the WAF test.

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Rega P25 and LFD Mistral phono (analog) or Oppo DVD Player (digital) > Aunt Corey's Buffered Pre > Adcom GFA 535 > Spica TC-50