Commercial — MAC/DIY

JFcomponents my new adventure.

hifiside — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 02:18:27 +0000

A few of you may know that a big change in my life has occurred in the last few months for me and my family . I sold my business of 23yrs to another company, and for the last 10 months or so I’ve been working on building a new but somewhat slower pace business. As this tread goes on it will be our place to post ideas and products. Please give your honest opinion on anything in this tread.
Julefidelity.com
(Pictures to follow)

The start many months ago!

The most coveted vintage gear

Turn2 — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 19:14:54 +0000

Skylabs Audio is a vintage shop in West Des Moines, IA.

The TL;DR version is:
1. Marantz 2270
2. JBL L-100 speakers
3. Klipsch Heresy, Cornwall speakers
4. Cerwin Vega speakers
5. Pioneer SX-850, SX-980
6. Harman/Kardon 430, 730
7. Sansui G Series

There are some nice tidbits within, including some commentary about the iconic maxell ad.

Arylic streamer good?

rjj45 — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 18:35:38 +0000

I just got my WIIM Ultra running, and it looks and sounds great, but my only streaming source is my phone, which uses Bluetooth to play music. This means that I can't leave the room (with the phone), or the music stops.
What I want is a high resolution streamer that can connect to Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon music, my local NAS music share, and then play that through my WIIM.
Can an Arylic streamer do this, do I need something else?
Don't want to set up another home theater PC or Raspi if I don't have to.
thanks!

FRFR speaker cab

Nicholas_23 — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:41:54 +0000

I guess I wasnt familiar with the acronym and when it became a thing. I bought a Spark 40 amp little while back and have been pretty happy with it , tons of shit you can do with it. Then I bought the cab and had to figure out what FRFR was.

Getting back in the Groove!

hifiside — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 20:59:59 +0000

Hope everyone is staying warm. It’s time for me to get back in the groove of building stuff, I have a lot of ridiculous ideas brewing in my head again. Now that my new job (UPS) has slowed down for a few months so I took next week off. I have lots of speakers to build for Julefidelity.
Thinking of setting up a little listening room in the shop and trying to find a place for my IEC baffle. Stay Tuned I have some interesting products to test also in the next few months.
Next week is Saw Dust time.!

Bose system

Analogkid455 — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 15:20:17 +0000

My coworker brought in a big Bose system and had listening fatigue in about 5 minutes. Sounds like a 12 db boost at 12k and a huge boost at 60 hz with the midbass cut out about 12 db. The distortion levels had to be 50% or more and compression was making it sound like mud and it was cutting out on big bass drops and even the mids and highs were distorting so bad that it sounded like static. Everybody got on me for saying it sounded like sh!t. Everyone thought it sounded great! Very strange. Thoughts?

Heavenly Soundworks...

Wolf — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 02:38:25 +0000

Came across this in the Audio Voice today, and was surprised at the retail cost. I know R&D cost, overhead, etc add up- but not that much when the drivers are what they are. Being the images are renders, there is a little room for interpretation, but I'm pretty sure I have the correct drivers. PRs are up for debate. The veneer is man-made reconstituted type zebrawood, etc, not the REAL stuff.
https://audioxpress.com/news/heavenly-soundworks-to-showcase-five17-loudspeaker-system-at-t-h-e-show-2021
Dayton ND25 $10.49
Dayton ND91 $24.98
TB W5-1138 $51.90
That is only $174 retail in drivers. Even if the plates are $1k each retail, that is likely less than $2k all in for OEM pricing. Looks like good profit for every pair....

MBL 126 mini-review

rjj45 — Tue, 14 May 2024 20:11:12 +0000

I heard for several months that a friend of a friend had some awesome speakers, and finally got over to his house.
He had a pair (plus an amp) of MBL 126 speakers.
The story was that he had an old friend in San Francisco who wrote for Absolute Sound, and they sent him these to review,
then never asked for them back, so his friend loaned them indefinitely.

Mini-review - as you would expect, very omnidirectional - I moved way off axis, about 15 feet, and just lost a little treble.
Bass was really pretty outstanding - looked like a 6 inch woofer in a ported box.
Apparently the stands were integral, but I could not find any ports in the stands - perhaps they were just used for extra volume.
Midrange was very good, but I think my Fountek NeoCD 3.0 ribbons have more detail.
Trying to figure out how we can A/B both side by side.

We listened to Sgt Peppers remastered, Mozart's Requiem, U2 Joshua Tree and more. All sounded great!

Opinion Needed

meniscus — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 13:06:46 +0000

Cabinet builders, help me out with your preference.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5ZKrlDSuA7xX0WIR4ucSs_IgDO9E5_6bbvqUAHV49VD1u2w/viewform?usp=pp_url

I have some thoughts

Turn2 — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 17:50:05 +0000

All our projects presented here, or at DIY events, would carry so much more gravitas if we would just tell their story with a Brit accent.

These may well sound fabulous, but, smallest 3-way? I wonder if he's familiar with KennyK's briefcase 3-way pair. FYI, these list at $1400/pair.

Dayton Audio SIG180-4 6.5” Signature Series Woofer

Gowa — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 18:41:31 +0000

Doesn't look very good to me. What do you think?

Walnut Stain for sale.

R-Carpenter — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 19:29:24 +0000

Hi All.
I've been playing with making Walnut stain from the husks from my walnut trees. It came out so nice that I ended up making a few gallons and selling it online.

In comparison to commercially available stains.

CONS:
Less concentrated. Darker shades require multiple applications. Grain has to be raised. 24hour dry before finish application.

PROS:
Very even coverage, less prone to blotching. Does not stink. If higher absorption required it can be thinned with alcohol. Can be mixed with other ware-based or alcohol-based stains.

$35 a qt including USPS ground.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186096734050?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=VOQKNIylSPS&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=VOQKNIylSPS&widget_ver=artemis&media

PP directly to YT vze2frh5@verizon.net $30 including shipping.
If you hate it, I will issue a refund.

Thanks.

Eminence gets bought out by B&C?

hifiside — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 15:35:39 +0000

I heard Eminem got bought out by B&C speakers is that true?

CSS Audio's Flagship Audiophile Speaker into an Absolute Monster! 20Hz !

Gowa — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 15:55:18 +0000

Bowers and Willkins 5" Midrange Driver . . .

Steve_Lee — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 03:37:14 +0000

Link to product Purchasing site --> https://encompass.com/item/12314493/Bowers__Wilkins/LF27170/

Link to PETT discussion concerning ^ driver with FR & HD plots --> https://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/tech-talk-forum/1494633-some-fun-with-fst#post1494657

Looks great but the price is out of my space for now . . .

For my future reference

hifiside — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 20:58:38 +0000

For some of you that have made kits and sold them to Parts Express meniscus Madisound, ect. Do you sell the design to these places and get a royalty’s or a one time check or maybe a deeper discount on their website. I’ve always been curious of that.

High Quality Audio Streaming Services . . .

Steve_Lee — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 03:47:58 +0000

I just tested out the free trial of TIDAL after re-configuring my speakers & Crossovers in the basement drum recording room and was impressed enough to sign up for a HiFi service ($9.99/mo - free for 3 months until free offer expires).

I had noted that my PC desk speakers sounded raspy in the tweeters and once I logged into TIDAL and played the same songs that everything sounded so much better - I removed all the EQ I had previously applied while listening to SIRIUS/XM streaming and am quite pleased with the response.

Just thought I would share the experience here - disregard if uninterested.

https://tidal.com/

Fisher Sound Panel 1972

rjj45 — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 21:10:03 +0000

This has certainly been a period in my life when strange speakers walk in the door looking for a doctor.
Latest patient - the Fisher Sound Panel ca 1972

The "R" denotes the "baffle" pattern

Inside is interesting:

I wanted to like these a lot - I had experimented with PE "exciters" a few years ago and found the sound field to be engaging,
and seemingly pretty balanced low to high. But I didn't like what I was hearing.
A quick session with Omnimic showed the problem:

Playing with EQ on Windows 10 made them sound almost acceptable, but in the end I will be glad to return them to their owner.

But it was an enjoyable excursion.

too good to be true? Turntable clearance

rjj45 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 17:20:46 +0000

When a sale appears to be too good to be true, it usually is a ripoff.
Any idea whether this site is legitimate?
https://www.turntablelab.vip/BEST-SELLERS-rc160414.html?fbclid=IwAR2lxV2TpwDdB4SvWvxi2yarlaW51D0SRrcU2OasCttCifhuhmCSgsK9CRw

Ohm Walsh 2

rjj45 — Sun, 06 Jun 2021 16:57:44 +0000

Life never ceases to surprise these days!
I dated a woman who is a professional harp player, and sent her a picture of my current 3 way speakers.
She responded back with a picture of some small towers. Wow, they looked special.

Yep Ohm Walsh 2

Port on the bottom, along with contour switches for tweeter and woofer levels

Something funny going on under the metal mesh up top:

Listening impressions:
I can't say that the heavens opened, but they were very listenable, with a wide sweet spot.
Not true omnis, from what I've read.
The woman said that several contractors who had been in her house all wanted to buy them!

Comsol

dcibel — Wed, 19 May 2021 23:15:15 +0000

Maybe some of you guys would be interested in this:
https://www.comsol.com/events/comsol-days/comsol-day-acoustics-91432?utm_source=audioXpress&utm_campaign=us_audioxpress_may21&utm_medium=Demail&utm_content=3

Safiniea Rival paper cone and ScanSpeak tweeter for RAD

isaeagle4031 — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 22:09:57 +0000

Safiniea is Greek for clarity and that seems to describe these pretty well. Once again, Rival has produced an absolute gem of a midwoofer with the R176P08. Excellent response, linear, and smooth. This is the first ScanSpeak R2604/8330 I have used on my own and found it quite easy to work with. No real suprises here and nothing concerning about it. As this is a kit for RAD, I won't post the crossover here. It does use a 2nd/3rd order electrical topology that crosses at about 1.8k. I will post more measurements soon. Enclosure is a combination of 3/4 bbply (baffle, top, bottom and brace), mdf (sides, rear) and 1/2" bbply baffle. Port is 2"×6"L fir a 40hz fb. RAD has baffles already cut that will accommodate the Taured 2way and Safiniea builds as well.

Safiniea 2 Way Speaker Kit - ON SALE NOW!

RAD — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 22:28:02 +0000

Hey Folks,

Just a heads up that the Safiniea kit (Designed by Chuck Morris) is currently on sale, it's an amazing sounding Kit and will sell out fast at this price!

https://rhythmaudiodesign.com/collections/speaker-kits/products/safinea-2-way-paper-kit-pair

Cheers

Zabi

Gershman studio tour

Gowa — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 22:39:42 +0000

Gershman studio tour

New leap in audio awesomeness

dynamo — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 03:41:20 +0000

Check out this cool setup

Featuring: “outstanding resonance”, “ultra super woofer”, and “air quake bass”!

Blends seamlessly and tastefully in any decor

Vanishingly low distortion

Amp question

dynamo — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 13:15:22 +0000

I scored a good deal on a JBL Synthesis S400 amp. Thing is built like a tank. It is a bridgeable 2ch and is full range but was used as the sub amp in the big JBL home systems.

I hooked it up and it sounded good for 2ch full range. I haven’t had time for a critical listen but I’d say initial impressions are neutral to a touch hard sound. Played it for an hour at normal levels and it never got even remotely warmer than when it was off (4 ohm load too).

Anywho, on to my question. The amp has a 4/8 ohm switch, to switch voltage rails I assume. It’s rated at 200x2 rms at both 4 and 8 ohms, and 400x1 into 8 ohms bridged.

Why is it rated at the same power at 4 and 8 ohms stereo? Why not the doubling of power? It has enough power for what I plan to use it for, but I’m just curious. It certainly isnt lack of power supply, the torroid is huge with 60k uF power caps, and iirc it is fused at 10A. It says dynamic headroom is 1.8db.

Brock Adamson - Parnelli Audio Inovator Award

Gowa — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 21:39:40 +0000

https://vimeo.com/311097384

LD22 aluminum faceplate upgrade

cssaudio1 — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 22:07:03 +0000

Good news for LD22 fans - we've upgraded the polymer faceplate to CNCed aluminum with integral gasket and they look/feel great. Dimensions and performance are identical to the polymer version, so they are complete drop in replacements. There's a price bump involved with this upgrade, but we feel that it's well worth the improved quality. As a side bonus, we're clearing out the polymer version for $45 shipped each on our website. Pics of the aluminum version below.

Raal Headphones

dynamo — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 02:27:55 +0000

Maybe this is old news and I finally heard about it under my rock.. So raal (or raaaaaaaaaal if you prefer) has headphones now. $3500, BYO 50-150w power amp.

https://raalrequisite.com/sr1a-earfield-monitors/

CSS Cyber Monday

NavyGuy — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 15:53:09 +0000

Hey guys, not sure if you saw or not but we are running a Cyber Monday sale today - Use code CYBERSALE for 20% on drivers or BLACKFRI10 for 10% on anything else. We've also updated to free shipping on all our products.

www.css-audio.com