HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

He is more of a Soul/Funk/Blues guy. The speakers used to be lighter-coloured and I can't say that the current paint job is attractive.

He trained as an acoustical engineer and had a company making sound-proofing & insulation panels.

Today, this little lot is going on it's merry way to an Avondale lover in Scotland. I hope it gets the appreciation it deserves.







I have used the HCR200 high current regulators for quite a while on the front end of both Avondale and NVA amplifier boards. They are very good as far as regulators go. They can be used to power the output stage as well but who would go to that level of folly (except Naim of course ).

I did briefly use the soft start modules and the Velleman speaker protection boards but that was back when I was paranoid and stupid. It is said these things can't be heard when in circuit. I beg to differ and it adds a whole additional level of complexity and bollox to an amplifier. The soft starts can be useful if the in rush current from big toroidal transformers trip your consumer unit. Otherwise totally unneeded in my opinion. There is a theory that they may actually prolong the life of capacitors but I have no experience of this.

I am sad to see my four 340 VA Canterbury windings toroids go but the voltage is a bit close to the wind for use with nva boards. I have used them with nva boards however but now prefer my small 100VA Avondale supplied EI transformers. The smaller secondary winding on the toroids which is for the front end is too high voltage so can't be used without a regulator and that is just unnecessary with nva. They really are excellent transformers having being wound on an oversized core with interwinding screen and external gauss band. Sadly Terry at Canterbury windings is now semi retired and only takes on a few small jobs when he feels like it.

The money I have recouped from this and the vast array of other stuff I am going to part with is going to be used to fund a foray into streaming and sort my living /listening room out. I'm excited about this. Expect the pleas for streaming advice in the future.

Here is a diy project gallery with lots of interesting speaker designs. Well worth a look through.

http://projectgallery.parts-express ... estyle/

How about this one ?



http://projectgallery.parts-expres ... treme/

The tweeter is set back a fair way. Not sure what the xover details are.

MTM D'Appolito with tubes....



http://projectgallery.parts-express.co ... lar/

Diy thought of the day is - its bloody good fun this

If I had the money I think I would be building the Seas A26 kit. A modern version of the Dynaco A25. 10" mid bass run fully open (no filters) and a 1.5" fabric dome tweeter with single capacitor high pass filter. Enclosure is 28 litres aperiodic . Not huge and a filter arrangement as simple as a Doc speaker but with no doping.

Never heard one (or a Dynaco A25 for that matter) but it has all the right ingredients except xover is right in the region our ears are most sensitive. And the drivers cost a small fortune. It's point and squirt buf I realise after going back to P&S recently that there is nothing wrong with it in some ways it is better

As soon as I heard Cubes I was hooked and could never go back to P&S. To these ears it just seems more realistic from a musical rather than analytical stand point. I think an all important factor is how they interact with the room. They work very well in mine, average ceiling height, large oblong shaped, Cubes positioned close to a wall with the listening position quite close.

Don't get ne wrong , I have not fallen out with seimi omni but i now realise it is not the only way for me to be happy. It's just with these point & squirt i am using now I can find a lot to like. I gave up on the B&W P4 six years ago when I joined this forum and dived into doc mods and semi omniness

I can live with the TL bass response and I seemed to have fixed the things that annoyed me most about them. The dustcap removal, stuffing the voice coil chamber and light doping of the mid bass with gutter sealant has removed any harshness that came from the kevlar cone. The break up resonances were still audible in the undoped drivers with their original first order low pass filter at 3.5 KHz which was done with a single series coil (inductor). If I was into fancy music killing high order xovers and had the skills to design such (i dont) then that would have been a way to remove the harshness. Luckily i am not remotely interested in a fourth order Linkwitz Riley phase manipulator

I originally blamed the 1" metal dome tweeter but I realise now that it wasn't that at fault. I do think that the SB acoustics 2" widebander is a better solution for high frequencies and a first order high pass filter (single series capacitor). Thd original electrical high pass filter for the tweeter was a third order with two series capacitors and a coil to 0V from thd junction vetween the caps. Now it's a first order single series capacitor.

If I could easily make the sides of the cabinets a convex curve then I would do it tomorrow. I find the sonic benefits to such exterior shapes (like my spheres) to be considerable. But it would involve covering the lovely veneer on the sides and back and I am not sure I am ready to do that yet.

Waffled on a bit there, sorry.