Audio nirvana on the cheap! скачать в хорошем качестве

Audio nirvana on the cheap!

How I assembled an absolutely stunning (sounding) "sleeper" sound system for well under $1000. Keywords: TOA 380SE; high efficiency speaker; active multiamping; DSP; vintage horn loudspeaker; Cornscala; Kenrick; Dayton DSP-408 FAQ Q: What are the white blobs? A: I stuffed packing foam in the bass ports because they are inactive within the passband I've set for the midwoofers but which being short and close to the midwoofers can leak unwanted backwave sound from inside the cabs. Q: What are the crossover center frequencies? A: 100Hz, 800Hz, 6kHz (subject to change on the slightest of whims... thank you, DSP! ;-) ) Q: How efficient are the drivers? A: The sub is about 96db (with 1 watt at 1 meter); the other drivers are upwards of 100db. Q: How did you dial in the sound? A: Mostly by ear, but with the help of an inexpensive calibrated outboard smartphone mic and an Android audio analyzer app called Audio Tools, which helped me to even out driver levels and to identify frequencies of audible peaks and dips I needed to tweak. Q: Why go to the trouble and expense of active multiamping? Don't the engineered internal passive crossovers do a good enough job? A: Actually, when I first got the TOAs, I ran them passive, and was seriously disappointed by the sound, especially on challenging material like symphonic music. The old Mitchells were MUCH better (and actually quite good) sounding "out of the box" despite having a primitive crossover (one capacitor on the mid), plebeian drivers, and the "infamous" (somewhat undeservedly) Motorola Superhorn piezotweeters. I acquired the active componentry for the purpose of pimping the Mitchells, but one day I took the TOAs out of the doghouse and dialed them in a bit and decided they had serious potential due to much superior woofers and tweeters. Switching in the mid horns that were the stars of the Mitchell sound took the TOAs over the finish line soundwise, vastly exceeding my expectations. Q: What are the major pluses and minuses of the performance? A: Pluses are richly textured tonality, lifelike dynamics, super low distortion, holographic imaging, and seamless sub transition. Minuses are some yet-untamed spot frequencies, some serious lobing of the mid horns at +/- 45 degrees (mitigated by my excellent listening space) and a somewhat disappointing low end extension of the sub (into low 40s) that I hope I can improve to 32hz with enclosure and porting tweaks. Update: a few years in, the sub is now reaching 30hz with no additional tweaks; gotta think a really long break-in is responsible, considering that I barely drive them past idle in comparison to the commercial cinema duty they were designed for. Q: What's next? A: I'm in the process of trying the burly TOA midrange compression drivers on the Mitchell horn lenses in place of the University ID40s. Not sure what to expect as I don't know if it's the ID40s, the lenses, or the combination doing the magic. Inquiring minds want to know, but it's COLD in the unheated barn these days, so it may be some time before I have answers. Eventually I may repackage the TOAs and Mitchell horns in/on some vintage blonde birch Mid-Century Modern (like my house) Wharfedale W70 cabinets I picked up in my usual "larcenous" way. ;-)