how does one go about assembling a system that can qualify to be listed in the category,"ALL OUT ASSAULT." One way is to read up on a few years of "recommended components" lists from the high end magazines and venture out, with a fat wallet, to visit a few premium audio salons. By just BUYING the top products on the lists, you'll certainly make the audio salons happy , and hopefully, even you may be satisfied by owning the best money can buy. Having years of personal experience in owning many types of excellent audio gear adds a level of surety that only experience can add. Going through this process often enough, you may come to the conclusion that you may never get "THE MIXTURE " that you've been looking for. As the saying goes,"If you want it done right, do it yourself". There is also a saying that tells us, "Do what you do best ,and leave the rest to others." Time has also taught me the importance of another saying, "Do what you think is best." This submission i am presenting is based on preferences I have developed since I built my first piece of audio gear back in 1955 . Back then you could build just about everything in the audio chain yourself. Technology is just a bit more complicated in this day and age, but nevertheless, I feel the possibility still exists to build what you cannot buy, at least in the field of loudspeakers. The following system concepts are those I adhered to when i decided to start this project . Now to begin.-- Restraints of size, cost , or time would not enter into the equation. The room should always comes first, and mine did. Determine the size room you want, and design it along sound acoustic principles. Electronics; Having owned solid state amps for 20 years, along with the power requirements of the system i had in mind , there was no other choice . Solid state ,discrete topology, pure Class A analogue design throughout the entire audio chain. Crossovers; electronic crossovers were employed throughout due to the flexibility needed in designing and building a loudspeaker system that might sail into uncharted waters. All 7 channels would be bass restricted below 60 hz, via the processor , with the subs handling everything below. Electronic equalization; multichannel parametrics operating below 300 hz would be employed on all 8 channels to augment the reduction or elimination of low frequency room resonances not fully addressed by the use of acoustic panels , traps, and diffusers. Loudspeaker design; 3 front towers, identical 9 ft - 4 inch line sources in a horizontal D'Appolito array, four side and rear surround towers, 7 ft- 4 inch line sources in left and right mirror image configuration. Drivers; 15 inch metal cone -high excursion drivers for the subs. Front channels; 7 inch kevlar cone dynamics for mid bass, planar dipole for the midrange, leaf tweeters for the dipole highs. Surround towers; 8 inch kevlar cone drivers for the mid bass, 5 1/2 kevlar cones for the midrange, Revelator domes for the highs. All dynamic drivers, except for the subs, sourced from the same manufacturer to maintain a coherent sonic sign, ature. Drivers and electronics identical to the four surround towers would be in place when processing becomes available for the rear center channel, an 8.1 system configuration. All the dynamic drivers within the system to be in their own separate, sealed enclosures. Baffles for all the dynamic drivers, except the subs , to be either 1 1/2 or 2 inch thick high gloss, black, cast polymer. [ The amount of time I logged from start to finish for construction of the loudspeakers only, amounted to a bit over 5400 man hours spread over 3 years of time. ] Interconnects; XLR type balanced cables used exclusively from the processor through to the 12 stereo amplifiers that are used to drive the 7.1 system; after all, balanced interconnects are what's used to record everything we listen to. Fine tuning of acoustic treatment and and installation of the decorative woodwork trim in the room would be performed after ETF measurements were taken when the complete system was in place , and up and running. At this point in time, both the trim and acoustic treatment are being completed. Upgrades; The 135 inch, widescreen formatted, Stewart electroscreen is to be replaced with a 155 inch, letterbox formatted, Microperf with side electromasking. The Sanyo PLV 70 will then be replaced with a Runco or Vidikron projector with the Cinewide and Autoscope lens features. The last upgrade will be more enjoyment and less work.
this 7.1 processor sends all signals to the amplification chain via balanced interconnects
Krell Krell DVD Standard
full featured , progressive scan dvd player
Krell sacd standard
plays 2 channel and multi channel sacd's
Krell FPB-200
two fpb 200 amps handle the leaf tweeter banks in the three front channels
Krell FPB-300
four fpb 300 amps handle the 4 surround towers. one fpb handles the rear center channel in the eventual 8.1 system
Krell FPB-600
Three fpb 600 amps handle the mid bass and mid range sections of the three front channels. two fpb 600 amps handle the two sub woofer channels
Krell KBX
four KBX 3 way mono electronic crossovers, and two kbx 2 way stereo electronic crossovers.handle frequency division within the system.
Krell Krell Link Controller
Three krell link controllers are used to synchronize remote control operations where multiple amplifiers are used in various situations(stereo, ht 5.1, 7.1 etc)
Krell KPE Reference
solid state phono head amp
Rives Audio PARC, & PARC PLUS
3 Parametric analog room correction equalizers tame room anomolies on all 8 channels in 3 chosen bands per channel
DOMINION VIRGINA POWER 26KVA LINE XFORMER
Audiophiles that have neighbors with noisy appliances have one of 2 choices; put up with it or use power conditioners that clean the power . Since we had a current demand that made power conditioners out of the question, 12 Krell fpb amps , plus source components, the best solution was to have our own line transformer installed by virginia power. When the quality of the power source was considered, this was the only choice.
American Power Conversion APC Smart UPS 2200VA USB
This conditioner/ battery back up is utilized to maintain the coherance of the operation of the sequenced krell link system with the hts 7.1 controller, the 12 fpb amps in the system, along with the various signal devices in the event of a power outage. We typically have at least 6 or more power outages in virginia durring the course of a year. two-6 outlet conditioners are used in the system protecting all signal and control components
APC APC Smart UPS 1100 UPS
one ups on the krell links- one ups on the PVL 75 projector
Personally designed and built Four- 7ft,4in surround towers,
These mirror image line sources each contain 6 scan speak 8 inch kevlar cone bass drivers operating from 60 to 500 hz thru a krell kbx xover @12 bd per octave. 6 scan speak 5 in kevlar cone mid drivers operating from 500 to 3500 hz @ 12 bd per octave. 6 scan speak revelator tweeters from 3500 hz and up @ 12 db per octave- passive xover between the mids and tweeters. a fpb 300 drives each tower thru a krell kbx xover. all drivers are mounted in their separate sealed enclosures. The mirror image baffles are hi gloss black cast polymer weighing 175 lbs and were manufactured by the author.
Personally designed and built, 3 identical front channels
3 way , 9 ft 4 inch line sources configured with a horizontal d'appolito array. Each tower contains the following drivers; 24 scan speak 7 inch kevlar cone mid bass drivers each in their own sealed baffle. 4 Bohlander Graebner rd-50 planar mid range drivers operating in a dipolar configuration, and 40 panasonic eas 10 th-400a leaf tweeters, 30 facing to the front and 10 facing rearward,wired out of phase for dipolar radiation
Personally designed and built, 3 way rear center channel
This horizontal d'appolito array speaker is identical to the 4 surround line arrays with the exception that it is in a horizontal configuration at the rear of the room 8 feet above the floor . It will be put into service when processing is available for an 8.1 surround configuration
Personally designed and built, Sub woofer towers
The two mirror image sub towers EACH contain 8- 15 in high excursion, metal cone drivers sourced from tc sounds. a krell fpb 600 is used to drive each tower with 4 woofers driven by each side of the amplifiers. the sub towers handle all the information below 60 hz for the 3 front and 4 surround towers. The 60 hz crossover frequency and 24 db slope is provided by the krell hts 7.1 processor.
Sota Millennia
vacum table with electronic speed control
triplainar 12 inch series vII
latest version of this legendary tonearm
Shelter 90X
Shelter's top of the line moving coil cartridge
Stewart Tech screen 130 microperf
The 135 inch , widescreen formatted , Stewart electroscreen is triggered by the krell hts 7.1 controller
Sanyo PLV 75 projector
2200 ansi lumen, widescreen , hi def lcd projector
Pioneer Elite CD CLV laser disc player
This model was the last, reference level, laser disc player manufactuted by pioneer befor the death knell of that format.
Direct TV HD DVR HR 10-250
DSS Hi Def receiver-DVR directly feeding the sanyo hi def projector via the digital -DVI input
Thompson DRD 486DH
Two - dss receivers facilitate simoutaneous viewing and recording of different channels
TIVO Tivo series 2
Two -80 gig units, one each on the 2 dss channels for time shift and convenience viewing.
Pioneer DVR 510 H
Two- 80 gig dvr recorders for archiving programs from the two tivo series 2 dvr's
Belden-neutrik Belden 8014 Quad star-2
this tripple shielded, mogami type, rubber coverd cable terminated with neutrik's best xlr connectors carry all the signals, in ballanced mode, from the processor right thru to the 11 krell amps.driving the system.
Luminous audio digital -optical interconnects
digital sources are connected to the hts 7.1 using the above commectors.
Luminous Audio Silver reference
This 8 ga silver litz wire is used to connect the speakers to their respective amplifiers. Since the amps are located directly at the speakers they drive, the lengths are generally less than two feet. terminations are all cardas premiun lugs. speaker binding posts are those used by krell on their fpb amps
carol cable and wire 10-3 neoprene coverd power cord
all the amps are fed with 10-3 copper supply cords terminated with wattgate iec plugs on one end and hubbel 30 amp, 4 prong, 220 volt twist-lock plugs on the supply end.
It's good to hear from you! The Denon will be front and center in the room. I've replaced the Denon arm with an SME 12 inch titanium and fitted it with a Koetsu Platinum Signature Jade cartridge. It's been too long since I've heard music in the room so I am anxious to shake out the cobwebs .
Two years ago, last Thanksgiving, Sue asked me when I was going to start finishing the room. I said I'd need to pack all the gear up and get it out of the room except for the three front speakers as they were too big to fit thru a doorway.
I guess she was tired of looking at an unfinished room so I began to take everything down and pack it away. We had just sold our company so I was officially retired and needed something to do.
I talked to a good friend who worked for us at the company, also retired, who agreed to put up with me five days a week until the room was done. That was two years and four months ago.
It has been a full time job for both of us and we're about 5 weeks from being finished. This week we started on connecting all the electricals to the two panels supplying the circuits for the room. Next we'll connect the 18 banks of lighting in the room to the three Lutron Graphic Eye systems that control them and connect the led light strips in the edges of the accent shelves.
The last thing we'll do is stretch the Guilford of Maine fabric across all the diffusors around the room. The diffusors were designed by Acoustics First after they took ETF measurements of the room. They were fabricated by Owens Corning for us in 2008 and shipped to our plant where they have been safely ensconced while I was putting things off .
I have a few very nice pictures of the room which were taken a short time ago that I need to post to "All Out Assault" which I will do in the next few days if I can navigate the means to do so.
There are new pieces of electronics to bring thing up to snuff and I'll edit the equipment list also.
KFtool: how is the finishing of the room and system coming along? It would be great to see updated pics and any notes regarding the journey you've been on w.r.t. this system build,...it's always been a fascinating read, would love to hear how things are going and how the system and room have turned out.
Yes, 'Stranded On a Planet' is the w/s I visited; however, I see an arc of blue circles and once at 100%, there appears to be no interface other than the social networking and YouTube links on the far right-hand side.
I guess I'm unable to navigate the improved Audiogon site. My email address is [email protected] and my phone number is 804 794 4107. If big brother will negate this message I'll try again.
Scott and I call each other a few times a month and talk about the gear he's looking at or bought. He is a young turk and in the digital realm. A few years ago I bought a pristine Scully 280B 1/4 inch two track machine for him. The Scully machines have a euphonic analog sound that digital won't create. He used it for a while but never got into analog tape.
I had an idea for a Christmas present for Scott, an ATR 102 which I order from Mike Spitz at ATR Services. For those of you not in the pro community, Mike passed a short time ago. His passing will be a loss , however, both Mike and Bette groomed a competent crew that will carry on the ATR legacy. Well, Scott told me he was happy with his digital gear, so I brought home ATR #4.
Regarding the Studer machines; I have a pair of A810 machines and an A80. All are 1/4 inch two track machines and have butterfly heads. I took the A810s to York Pa. and asked a very competent tech to go over them both and bring them up to , or better original factory specs. One is done and the other is in the works. Since there is no money out there to buy great gear, I have been in no hurry to sell. Look on ebay and you will see nothing of value in the RTR category. If however, you're in the market for high end grandfather clocks or grand pianos you have the pick of the litter. Now is the time to buy, not to sell.
Sam, I haven't done much recording lately and don't use a mixer. Choral and orchestral recordings done with an Ampex 440C 1/2 inch 2 track machine. I use the Grace stereo press that both feed the Ampex and a Korg 2000s.
The Studer A810 weighs only 80 lbs, is a stellar machine and can be toted by one person. It has, as you know, four speeds and the EQ can be switched on the front panel. With four Korgs and four Grace Stereo press that weigh less than the Ampex 440C, it will be hard to tote the Ampex from here on out. With eight channels of recording I won't need a mixer as I can do the mixing at home.
I hate to say it, but the Korgs at their highest sampling rate, are as good as my 72 year old ears can can hear. Scott visited a year ago and we did a recording shoot out between one of my ATR 104s and a pair of Korg 200s machines.Both were fed by a pair of Grace press using a pair of Peluso P67 Mics and a pair of their small cap mics, i forget the number. The recording was Scott playing an original composition on our Yamaha C3 conservatory grand. After listening to both recordings I was surprised on how good the Korgs sounded. Things will change on orchestral recordings so we will see.
Sam, i'll email you regarding the Studer machines.
I don't know where to begin but I will start with the GML 9500. I bought it because the devil made me do it. I bought a Crane Song EQ from a home studio in California that was falling on hard times. It was a year old and at a great price so I bought it. I had it sent to Dave Hill at Crane Song to have it retrofitted with the detented controls. They were mechanical and the cost was $1,000. I never used it, and sent it to my son, Scott Fritz, who has a studio in Chicago. He loved it and bought it right away. I sold it due to the results of my audiologist's test. At 72 I felt it was an exercise in futility to make things sound better.
Soon afterword I decided to spend some of my kids inheritance and bought the GML 9500. Not heeding it at the time, I had it sent to Scott for his thoughts. Well He fell in love with it and sold his Crane Song and bought the GML 8400, the unit with potentiometers rather than ladder attenuators.
He loves it and will get my 9500 when I kick the bucket along with my ATR's and assorted microphones.
Your choice of the Korg 2000S is a good one. I bought four of them along with four Grace Stereo press that I hope to use along with my ATRs when I have the time to enjoy them.
Sue and I am lucky to own a Yamaha Conservatory grand that Scott played and recorded simultaneously on an ATR 104 and four channels of the Korg 2000S. The quality of recordings was great on both. I think the Grace press had something to do with it.
BTW, I have a pair of Studer A810 machines that are available. If you are interested, I will provide you with the information as to where and how they were conditioned for sale. They are great machines but with my ATRs I will never use them.
I was interested in the 8200 until I learned about the 9500 a few years ago. Detents appealed to me :-) I bought a pair of matched Schoeps mics/capsules, a Gordon mic pre, and a Korg MR2000s (DSD recorder) to capture musical performances. The Korg will suffice until a suitable A810 is available ;-)
At least, I will be able to establish the provenance of these "masters" - LOL.
Being retired doesn't mean there is time to email, eat chips while watching the TV and just chilling out. I guess that's why I haven't responded to your reply.
To the point; the GML 9500 is a parametric equalizer. It was designed by George Massenburg who invented parametric equalization. It's primary use is in the mastering chain of both analog and digital recordings. It is an analog, pure class, discrete device.
Recording studios use it to set the parameters for their frequency shelves and levels, as the 9500 has stepped attenuators, that can be reset at the mastering studios
I first auditioned one a few years ago thru Mercinary Audio now defunct. It enabled me to fine tune my room which is 26,000 cubic feet in volume. After purchasing the unit I thought it was a wise purchase.
Audiophiles shy away from equalization, but need to realize that just about everything we listen to is equalized; probably through a GML 9500-- It is known as the King Of Equalizers.
Google GML 9500 for some interesting information on the gear that records the music we listen to .
It's been a while since I posted and even longer since I heard music in our music room.
Before last Thanksgiving I packed up all the gear and put it in the factory boxes. The loudspeakers were a horse of another color. Being 9 ft 6 they can't be moved out of the room. So I put them on 1 1/2 thick plywood platforms with 14 castors to distribute the weight. They are moved around the room on 3/4 inch plywood panels to distribute the load on the hardwood floor.
Having said all that, This week we finished priming and painting 4,500 lineal feet of trim and moulding for the room and the annex we built two years ago. Being in Richmond our home is 18th century, colonial Williamsburg from end to end.
The electronic gear has changed to some degree. Parc EQ has been added for the 10 channels-- I know it old stuff but it is analogue. A GML 9500 EQ will be used, if and when needed. Cranesong limiters and compressors will protect the planar mids and tweeters from a blow out, peak limiting only, no compression.
Since I started what I began 20 some years ago, I've been listening to music thru a JVC boom box, It was $400 15 years ago and has a pair of side firing 6 inch woofers. One of my favorite classical selections is Saint Saens Organ Symphony #3. I play it often and the sound is beautiful--- in my music room.
It's not just the gear, the room is as important if not more so. If the room can't support the wave length you just won't hear it. If the room acoustics aren't right, you just won't hear the music at it's best.
If I can navigate the new Audiogon I'll attempt to post some new photos. Bear with me as I still need to learn how to run my Mac Book Pro and I phone 4.5 whatever it is. In 6 days I need to pick up my new I Mac and learn how to use it. Woe is me!!!!
It's good to hear from you again. I too have been lax in posting on Audiogon but that will change.
Having sold our company for cents on the dollar and the building still sitting there, I can finally get back to finishing what I started 20 some years ago.
Within another six months or so the room will be finished. Last thanksgiving I packed up all the audio gear in their factory boxes and moved them out of the room. The only things I couldn't move out were the speakers so I built foam lined boxes around them and put them on movable carts. The ceiling was gutted to the roof decking and R 60 insulation installed. 16 banks of Lutron Graphic Eye controlled lighting and HVAC units went in after that. Then the trusses were blocked with LVL purlins that were glued and screwed in place. All this was done with scaffolds that have been in the room for 5 months.
The ceiling is knotty cedar tongue and groove sourced from a mill in Utah and is just gorgeous. This idea came from the many photos of recording studios in Mix magazine where wood seems to be the surface of choice. We're working our way down from the ceiling with moldings; 120 man hours per week since last thanksgiving have made a dent in the project.
I thought about uploading pictures for a few months but just haven't gotten around to it. I think I'll upload new pictures this week.
Thanks for the reply as it will get me off my ass and send some pictures.
