DIY speaker Bake Off

yesterday I heard some homemade jantzen floorstanders and they were extremely good ,would have loved to come but tied up . must go next year perhaps

Audion also use toroids.

Was thinking of toroids purely from a cost POV, certainly their saturation characteristics are different, not a problem if suitably specced for the demands made of them of course, though less so where DC offset is an issue.

Toroids, hmmm there are good reasons not to use themā€¦

For OPTs, sure, but Mains?

Kidnapped? Or some sex fetish?

4 Likes

Iā€™d argue that EI/C-core are more tolerant of DC than toroids due to the fact that EI /C-core have an inherent air gap that is hard to eliminate.The downside is efficiency - Toroids are definitely better.

Toroids tend to have nasty leakage where the leads exit. Itā€™s like a laser beaming crap into your amp. They need careful orientation. Not the panacea people would have you believe.

:+1::+1::+1: Agree 100% - the design means their entire operating parameter are much narrower, but get in the sweet spot and theyā€™re good.

True about the leakage but not hard to get round, specially if you GOSS band the fucker. In my more limited experience it matters in phono stages where youā€™re better off sticking the PSU in a separate box in any case.

Think a lot of the issues are down to people using the cheapest examples possible - no headroom, no shielding between windings, no GOSS or other band, badly potted, badly mountedā€¦ etc. ad naus.

1 Like

Not sure this is still my thread, it seems to be about transformers since I checked in yesterday. Anyway Iā€™ll look forward to seeing you all later, buzzing transformers and all!

Stefan

1 Like

Got a bit of time free this afternoon after all, is there room for a small one for the last couple of hours or so?

Great day, many thanks Stefan. Sorry I had to leave early.

1 Like

Thanks to Stefan and family for a fun day. I was impressed with the Linn kit and enjoyed all of the speakers we heard.

1 Like

Great day, thanks for hosting Stefan.

1 Like

Many thanks to Stefan and everyone else who demoā€™ed stuff for a very informative day, and to Olivia and the children for minding and feeding and watering us so generously. I will do my VERY best to get the Linkwitz subs ready for the next one !

VB

1 Like

Graham I appear to have forgotten to pick up the ST-70 I will let you know my address.

1 Like

Sad news Ed, it seems couriers wonā€™t deliver to

VB

1 Like

Enjoyed yesterday.

Loved the 20 minute long organ solo, you know itā€™s a good recording when everyone is stunned into silence.

2 Likes

Many thanks Stefan (and family) for a really interesting day. Nice to meet so many enthusiasts with similar interests to me (sad tho they may be to the rest of the world! :sleeping:).

An impressive array of handiwork (was it 8 sets of speakers?) will shame me into getting at least one of my speaker projects off the ground over the Christmas break. Challenge to self to have something to show next year!

To those who I met - and bored - apologies - to the rest - look forward to hearing from you.

From an even newer refugee from the Reservation.

Greg

2 Likes

Thanks all for coming, I had a great day, I was a bit shattered by the end of the day though. I felt for Phil at the end of the day as he still had to get back to Glasgow! I think we can all agree that Linn have dome something amazing for a large commercial manufacturer, to be dedicated enough to keep engaging with the community is more than admirable. My wife, kids and brother in law Charlie were only to happy to help and Olivia asked me to thank ā€˜the slightly balding blokeā€™ who went out of his way to come and thank her and the kids.:rofl::rofl:

Iā€™d really like to make this an even bigger event, without becoming a Scalford alternative, a sort of DIY Mecca. I like the idea of one room where everyone gets to listen to everything and hear the creators ideas, however it does have its pitfalls if one of those systems takes a long while to set up. Be good to hear folks thoughts on and ideas to improve the formula, even if it means a different venue and folk chipping in to cover a small cost etc. Iā€™ll always make sure to get an industry figure to come and do some sort of demo or presentation. Dave Shevyn from GIK is definitely coming next year!!

Sorry if we missed anyoneā€™s kit yesterday, I think we got through it all? I really enjoyed Eddā€™s little speakers and was genuinely surprised that they really were small. Highlight of my weekend though was spending the entire Friday and Saturday with Phil, it was great watching someone set up a system with the gear he actually created, taking measurements with software he wrote and helping me bore my wife so much in the pub she went to sit with someone else within 2 seconds of sitting with us!

4 Likes

would love to have heard that !!!