The Audiophile Thread

[rcarlberg]

Wikipedia has an article on this. I'd never heard of it before. I guess, with careful engineering (properly matched drivers) it could be something.

I don't quite understand the wiki article -- this sentence makes no sense to me:

The volume of air between the speakers has no acoustic function so that the saved space is less than 50%.

However the next sentences make perfect sense:

All other aspects are unchanged like resonant frequency and maximum SPL. The new driver will have the same resonance frequency, Qts, distortion, excursion etc. as one driver with the same applied signal. Because the impedance is also halved, this performance is achieved with twice the power. The new efficiency is thus 3 dB lower than with one loudspeaker.

In other words, you can use a smaller cabinet (useful for car sub-woofers) but at the expense of half the efficiency. Your distortion and SPL remain unchanged. And of course if your woofers aren't exactly matched (every driver has a unique impedance curve) your distortion will skyrocket accordingly, since you're acoustically linking two of them.

On a 6.69" woofer the woofer excursion ("throw") will limit your SPLs pretty severely, even in an acoustic suspension cabinet.

[Dave (in MA)]

I can call a turd a “flapdoodle” if I want but it’s still a turd. Or as someone mentioned to me two days ago, “a turd rolled in glitter is still a turd.”

You can't polish a flapdoodle.

[simon moon]

If the second woofer has a magnet and electronics, it's not moving "in unison with" the first woofer, it's a second driven woofer. And with two driven woofers, your pressure isn't going to be constant.

And a "sealed chamber" means acoustic suspension.

But nevermind, it doesn't matter.

Isobaric is real woofer enclosure technique, that has some real world positive effects. It is not just a buzz word.

It measurably lowers distortion, among other results. The region of constant pressure, reduces (almost eliminates cone flex), lowering distortion

[rcarlberg]

Okay, if you say so. Like I say, it doesn't matter. I'm not here to school you in physics.

[3LockBox]

I've seen a lot of isobaric applications in competitions where space inside a small car is at a premium and the car owner is trying to maximize the amount decibels he can squeeze out of his tiny car. I've never heard any I've ever liked. Now a push-pull configuration does have benefits and I've implemented that design to great effect but that's both speakers occupying the same baffle pointed the same direction. If that sounds a little unconventional, it's because it is. Very low WAF.

[simon moon]

Okay, if you say so. Like I say, it doesn't matter. I'm not here to school you in physics.

No, please. By all means, tell me what is wrong with what I said about distortion being reduced...

Isobaric enclosures:

Cancel out even order harmonic distortion.
Averages out suspension non-linearities.
Trapped air between divers adds rigidness to cones without adding mass.

[Jerjo]

So I usually listen to music while in my home office with the PC feeding audio into that small system. It sounds OK but I always figured I was missing some nuance. I just ran audio outs to my big system in the living room and played a few tracks. There's a LOT of music I have on my PC - boots, playlists, etc that I don't have access to (Unless I started burning CDs like a madman). Anyway, I made the mistake of trying to do an A/B comparison switching between the CD player and the input for the computer, keeping the volume equal, using a lossless FLAC file. Level of difficulty: Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues". It wasn't a win for the computer.

It seemed like there was less bottom end and the room shrank, the percussion lost some attack. Now, would a DAC correct this?

[Firth]

So I usually listen to music while in my home office with the PC feeding audio into that small system. It sounds OK but I always figured I was missing some nuance. I just ran audio outs to my big system in the living room and played a few tracks. There's a LOT of music I have on my PC - boots, playlists, etc that I don't have access to (Unless I started burning CDs like a madman). Anyway, I made the mistake of trying to do an A/B comparison switching between the CD player and the input for the computer, keeping the volume equal, using a lossless FLAC file. Level of difficulty: Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues". It wasn't a win for the computer.

It seemed like there was less bottom end and the room shrank, the percussion lost some attack. Now, would a DAC correct this?

It’s not hard to sound better than a PC analog outs. I have played lossless music on my Iphone and used an adapter from lightning digital to analog. First was adapter with a cable which would spilt the analog out, second was a lightning to mini, to headphones. PCs have crappy analog outs. There are better DACs, but those Apple adapters (which have Cirrus Logic DACs) sound good.

[strawberrybrick]

I just go digital out from my computer directly to the preamp. Both USB and optical.

[rcarlberg]

So I usually listen to music while in my home office with the PC feeding audio into that small system. It sounds OK but I always figured I was missing some nuance.

I tried using my computer's Bluetooth to port the music over to my big stereo's Bluetooth receiver. It worked swell....

Except in so doing I disconnected my mouse (which I'd forgotten is Bluetooth too) and without a mouse I couldn't do ANYTHING on my computer!

[Guitarplyrjvb]

From Bloomberg...the tactile feel of reel-to-reel tapes enhances the audio experience?! I don't think so.

The Ultimate Analog Music Is Back - Bloomberg
https://apple.news/AqXNq_9FaQ1e4SES2_haXYw

[rcarlberg]

From Bloomberg...the tactile feel of reel-to-reel tapes enhances the audio experience?! I don't think so.

Having wrestled a good bit with reels back in the day — and having had to revisit that world very briefly a decade ago to dub off my tapes into the digital domain — I can unequivocally state I won’t be anywhere near a tape recorder in the future.

But I can see exactly why the manufacturer is doing this:

The sleek machines, some of them customizable, will retail from about 9,500 euros ($11,400) for the basic version to about 24,000 euros for the high-end model, which features three direct-drive motors, an editing system and walnut side panels.

Millennials have reached the stage in their lives where some of them have $28,476 to spend on an “experience.” Why NOT tap that.

[Firth]

Maybe a new way to extract classic records.



https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-histo...am-bells-voice

[Garyhead]

https://youtu.be/wX65iSZTI7E

If this doesn't bring back RCarlberg and his tales of Woo.....I'll eat my Slate turntable!

[BobM]

An Audiophile quarry with audiophile slate, solid cast metals that are powder coated, then audiophile wood with furniture quality joinery, constructed using aerospace quality components put together by hand. Who could question why it costs $300K?

Oh and they need to pay their Brooklyn rent.

[markwoll]

I took a short look at that video last week. SMH.
Those who buy from such purveyors of Art deserve what they get.
A much lighter purse and a WTF listening room.

[Zeuhlmate]

Apparently they dont know that the whole thing will sound so much better placed on spikes made of oval shaped diamonds.

[Buddhabreath]

Pertty junky looking stuff for $300K imo. I'd go for MBL or something if I had that kind of money to spend. Better yet maybe squeeze by and suffer with $100K speakers and give the rest of the money to a worthy charity.

[markwoll]

Sort of reminds me of this Artisanal Toilet paper

[Jerjo]

I wouldn't mind hanging out in their listening space but um, no. There is a LOT of labor in building that equipment but um, no.

Thinking about finally getting a DAC for my home office, probably a Schitt. We'll see if it makes an audible difference.

[Jerjo]

Going down the YouTube rabbit hole I found this:

[rcarlberg]

If this doesn't bring back RCarlberg and his tales of Woo.....I'll eat my Slate turntable!

Why in the world would you want to do that???

[Dave (in MA)]

Can anybody recommend a gizmo that'll let me play audio over bluetooth to an older stereo that doesn't have bluetooth? There are a number of bluetooth receivers on Amazon but they all seem to have a non-insignificant number of complaints about the reliability/sound quality/etc., so I was wondering if anyone had experience with one.

[Garyhead]

Why in the world would you want to do that???

[EdWiser]

Can anybody recommend a gizmo that'll let me play audio over bluetooth to an older stereo that doesn't have bluetooth? There are a number of bluetooth receivers on Amazon but they all seem to have a non-insignificant number of complaints about the reliability/sound quality/etc., so I was wondering if anyone had experience with one.

After buying several ones that lasted a few months and then stoped working I bought this Bose model and it has worked wonderfully.
Bose Wireless Audio System Adapter, works with Alexa, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K6P08FA..._7-6tCb37BGCDV