Home/Computer Audio

Oct 24, 2016
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Started messing around with extreme nearfield subs. I guess you could say it's getting serious. Giving them about 2kw, eq'd for response down to about 10hz.

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doublespaces

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So... Extreme Near field. This means, you're going to set these up behind the couch and blast them, but your neighbors can't hear it?

Or does this mean you have a better delivery of the bass up close without the effect of the room? Brief googling has not served me well this time
 
Oct 24, 2016
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A little of both -being as you're so close they don't need as much power as a traditional positioned. You also eliminate a lot of the room effects (good and bad) sitting so near.

The big thing is that the tactile effect is nuts in the extreme nearfield. Meaning that for a given sound pressure level you feel the music far more. At high volume levels it's easy to put visible waves in the couch. Too much is gimmicky but some moderate amounts make everything far more enjoyable and imparts a live music feel.
 
Oct 24, 2016
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Haha, no, I do have some wall treatments but they're minimal. The foam is just to angle the speakers up, the tweeters are in-line to the ear, and reflections off the hard desk surface are reduced. :)
 

fmorelli

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@Chris@VargasTurboTech I'm not sure audio is any worse than cars when it comes to BS meter stuff lol.

I've not done much on the computer audio side - I'm not an all-in-one stereo kinda guy (i.e., it can play records, it can do AM/FM, it can play cassettes, but it's not that great at any of them). So for me that means, "good" is good enough. You're never going to get a decent amp "on-board" for lots of reasons, including power.

Now ... if you want to get creative, outboard an amp and get some quality monitors (sky is the limit on choices) and feed sound via your soundcard - you can probably get good signal that way. Pre-amp can be done however you tastes desire.

I'm just finishing up the sound system in my car - car is a horrible environment for audio, so it is really just a project for the sake of projects. I've built several tube amplifiers for guitars. I'm a bit of a gear head. In my luthiery shop, I built a modified tube stereo amplifier: a Dynaco ST-70 with all the trick bits - transformers, caps, matched high-end tubes. It powers a rare set of Klipsch Epic CF-4 V2's which took me about 18 months to find - the brainchild of Roy Delgado who was Ray Klipsch's right-hand engineer and prodigy I suppose. My luthiery shop is also a crap place to listen to music - no redeeming features about a room laid out to do work not listen to sound. But that's where I spend lots of time, and it is a pleasure to fire all that stuff up. In my garage I have one of the new Bose Revolve+ setups - superb for the garage by design - 360 sound, rubberized, loud enough and good enough sound. Put it anywhere and its decent.

On my pipe dream list is to build a Tractrix horn in paper mache, and a woofer cabinet. I'd like to have all my sound equipment made by me - would be kinda fun. But honestly I just drool. I have so many projects I juggle all the time that I don't think I'll be stupid enough to execute on the Tractrix horn.

Good luck on your setup, and let us know how it goes!

Filippo
 
Oct 24, 2016
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The CF-4's are awesome and fun speakers! I have an old pair of KG-4's that I upgraded but they're nothing compared to your old girls.

If you are into projects, check out some of the options over on DIYsoundgroup, like for instance:

https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-...eries/titan-speaker-kits/titan-615lx-kit.html

It's not for everyone but definitely a rewarding hobby. I am very passionate about music and enjoy my multiple systems -like you stated, sometimes "good enough" is perfect, depending on the end-use.

Thanks for sharing, those old Klipsch are fantastic speakers.

Also, if you're a luthier... you have a new level of respect from me. Clearly a sir among sirs. Nice man. Respect. My wife just recently left her job running a non-profit school teaching music to disadvantaged children... so you could say music is a household passion. She plays the upright bass and anything else you hand her, I play with loudspeaker designs, together we have a lot of fun. :)

Chris
 

fmorelli

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The CF-4's are awesome and fun speakers! I have an old pair of KG-4's that I upgraded but they're nothing compared to your old girls.
KG-4's were my college wet dream. But they might as well have been $1M back then as I could not afford them. Prior to the Epic CF-4's guess what I had? lol ... a mint set of KG-4's I found locally that had sat on a basement carpet since new. I carried them out.

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KG-4's are some of the best bang for the buck deals - silly good sound. They typically need some rebuild work on the electronics (caps, mostly) - Bob Crites is still doing this work and worth sending the boards in.

If you are into projects, check out some of the options over on DIYsoundgroup, like for instance:

https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-...eries/titan-speaker-kits/titan-615lx-kit.html
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I try to avoid projects lol. I'll check out the link in a weak moment.

It's not for everyone but definitely a rewarding hobby.
Rewarding?! Man all I do is lose money in that pit. You'll have to teach me. :tearsofjoy:

Thanks for sharing, those old Klipsch are fantastic speakers.

Also, if you're a luthier... you have a new level of respect from me. Clearly a sir among sirs. Nice man. Respect. My wife just recently left her job running a non-profit school teaching music to disadvantaged children... so you could say music is a household passion. She plays the upright bass and anything else you hand her, I play with loudspeaker designs, together we have a lot of fun. :)
Very nice of you to say that - honestly the more work I do, the less i feel I know: it is a daunting field. My work can be seen here, if you are curious.

That's awesome, what your wife is doing. If you wouldn't mind passing along the URL of the school, if they have one - I'd like to see that. We had a musical family, and my mother didn't play instruments - she always said, "someone has to listen!"

Filippo
 
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Oct 24, 2016
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Sure thing man! The place the wife used to work is called Rosie's House. https://rosieshouse.org/ She just left to pursue other opportunities, but I always told her I thought she was doing God's work there at RH. I believe the music matters!


I already have the Crites tweeters, crossovers, and of course I added a little mass to the passive radiator to help 'em dig a touch deeper. I actually just put them up for sale, locally, and put a note in there that if an interested person was a young budding audiophile to write to me why I should take less money and I would. Hard to find that right person to help out with stuff like that.

Chris
 
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Oct 24, 2016
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Update, there are some good people out there. I decided I had too many speakers kicking around and while I love the Klipsch... they were first on the chopping block. I posted the normal for sale BS, then added if one was a young audiophile, if they wrote me a letter explaining why I should take less for the Klipsch I'd consider it. I wasn't expecting much.

A few days later I got a very well written, articulate, and lengthy plan to show people the beauty of a low-cost vintage system at a new record place in Phoenix. Time was taken to write this thing. They ended up being a bright young couple -very talented (and she plays the upright bass too!) polite, well spoken, and had a genuine interest/love in the music. Perfect. Exactly who I wanted them to go to. I sold them for half what I was asking and left with a smile. There is a lot of negativity in the world -sometimes very refreshing to see a small piece of beauty/positivity.

Chris
 

fmorelli

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I'll keep a looking for some Klipschorns for you. Just makes sure you get rid of a bunch of something (whatever, anything) in your house - you'll need room :grimacing:.

Thanks for taking the time to share that story - enjoyed reading it over my morning cup of coffee and breakfast. Keep us up to date on the audio updates as you forge ahead!

Filippo
 

R.G.

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I'd like to build an audio system for my inner gaming nerd but understand about 30% of the words in post #1

Any of you geeks in to iracing? I sometimes get more nervous prior to an official iracing run then I do at that the real track. I want the neighbors to feels like their at the track after audio system built.

I'm guessing most have never even heard of this shit. Iracing is a crazy sub culture I stumbled upon during the winter. Info was posted on local SCCA website as "a recognized place to practice". Whatever that means.

Current set up: Triple 28" 4k set up w head tracking (vr makes me puke), accuforce direct drive wheel, heusinkveld pedals and a b.s. Arozzi stand just because it's easy to slide in place of office chair when wanting to run some laps. Have an 80/20 rig ready to build but too lazy atm. Check it out

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Currently running Formula Renault 2.0 series, hence the formula rim but have GT rim as well
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Edit: Tagging @lamia2super after seeing PCars post
 
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Oct 24, 2016
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Man that looks like so much fun!

Finished the computer sub. Four 12's in small sealed boxes, heavily stuffed, DSP done by minidsp 2x4HD and room correction via Dirac. Amplifier is a crown xls2502, which is enough to let the smoke out of these if not careful. So far so good! Ridiculous 60hz peak on first pass, all tamed and good down to about 16hz or so.

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