steve u Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 (edited) Today I was lucky enough to get to hear Full Range's La Scalas and share a coffee with him. First things first the coffee was very good, the care taken with the cabinet upgrades and the cross over design and construction is reflected in every shot the FR pulls on his espresso machine. A beautiful lever operated unit that works magic in the hands of the owner. To the speakers. I don't have a pacemaker but FR checked just to make sure, before he pressed play on his special test CD. The crescendo literally whacked me in the chest with solid, fast bass. These speakers have really got some oomph. The dynamics of well made horns is something to experience. The mids were pure and engaging and the highs were sweet and lingering. I really enjoyed the whole presentation, some people talk about "horn colouration", but I found the cellos and tympani's were about as real as I have ever heard them on recorded music. And if this was horn flavour, then I said yummy. (That sounds a bit "fruity", but I'm ok with that) I think that @@Full Range had a very good vision with these speakers and he has very good ears to work on the time alignment and integration of the 3 drivers. He then had the help of @@Green Wagon to assist with design and construction of the cross overs and then have the luxury of cross overs that he can tweak to his preferred setting. Great room, great set up and great speakers, you should be very proud and very happy with what you have done Paul. Thanks for the listening session today and I hope we get to do a few more soon. Cheers, Steve Edited July 17, 2014 by steve u 3
Gee Emm Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 Works of art those crossovers, should be framed. They are
Full Range Posted July 18, 2014 Author Posted July 18, 2014 Today I was lucky enough to get to hear Full Range's La Scalas and share a coffee with him. First things first the coffee was very good, the care taken with the cabinet upgrades and the cross over design and construction is reflected in every shot the FR pulls on his espresso machine. A beautiful lever operated unit that works magic in the hands of the owner. To the speakers. I don't have a pacemaker but FR checked just to make sure, before he pressed play on his special test CD. The crescendo literally whacked me in the chest with solid, fast bass. These speakers have really got some oomph. The dynamics of well made horns is something to experience. The mids were pure and engaging and the highs were sweet and lingering. I really enjoyed the whole presentation, some people talk about "horn colouration", but I found the cellos and tympani's were about as real as I have ever heard them on recorded music. And if this was horn flavour, then I said yummy. (That sounds a bit "fruity", but I'm ok with that) I think that @@Full Range had a very good vision with these speakers and he has very good ears to work on the time alignment and integration of the 3 drivers. He then had the help of @@Green Wagon to assist with design and construction of the cross overs and then have the luxury of cross overs that he can tweak to his preferred setting. Great room, great set up and great speakers, you should be very proud and very happy with what you have done Paul. Thanks for the listening session today and I hope we get to do a few more soon. Cheers, Steve Steve @@steve u - It was a pleasure having you over for a coffee and music - mini meet - to give you a taste of music from horn speakers I'm sure yours will be just as superb when they arrive Thanks for your honest review and if I get a chance to have a listen to your new system we can compare notes. 1
Full Range Posted October 24, 2014 Author Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) A heads up to Telecine (@@Telecine ) The Garrard 401's referbishment, beautification and optimisation is now complete It is now ready and working fantastic The only thing I need to do is to fine tune it and swap out a few cartridges for best to my ears sound So when you are ready to compare with your Garrard 401 - make a date and time Here are some plinth build section photos for now Edited October 24, 2014 by Full Range 2
Telecine Posted October 24, 2014 Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) @@Full Range Looks formidable. I will have to be on my mettle. Edited October 24, 2014 by Telecine 1
Full Range Posted October 25, 2014 Author Posted October 25, 2014 OK a few more photos and build info of the completed Garrad 401 I believe it was built in 1967 ( based on the serial number info I got on the net ) I have owned it since the 1970s New plinth is a skeleton type made with a part recess and also used hardwood inserts for rigidity and strength Timber is Crows Ash - It's a soapy wood that smells like sauce when cut or drilled Crows Ash was often used for premium quality dance floors in music halls Stained and protected with Cutek CD50 - a deep penetrating oil I hand made a bearing end piece from high density alloy to marry better with the alloy bearing housing and overall construction of the deck itself Also fitted a new bearing I have placed all the plinth feet on Wally tuning feet Then I added the Trans Fi Terminator 3 - Air Floating tangential arm on the arm board Then I finished it off with new face plate and new knob plates 4
Telecine Posted October 25, 2014 Posted October 25, 2014 (edited) Looks great Paul. Edited October 25, 2014 by Telecine
Full Range Posted October 25, 2014 Author Posted October 25, 2014 (edited) Looks great Paul. When can you fit in your busy scedule a visit to have a look @@Telecine Edited October 25, 2014 by Full Range
Full Range Posted October 25, 2014 Author Posted October 25, 2014 (edited) Now all that is needed is to find a cartridge and more importantly the stylus cut - that suits straight tracking of the tangential arm as opposed to arc type arms Some research has given me some information but I need to do more reading So far research has revield that some manufactures of Tangential TTs use a Shibata Edited October 25, 2014 by Full Range
Green Wagon Posted October 25, 2014 Posted October 25, 2014 Am I the only one that sees that arm and thinks its going to rise up and kill us all - aka terminator style........ :o 2
Telecine Posted October 25, 2014 Posted October 25, 2014 Am I the only one that sees that arm and thinks its going to rise up and kill us all - aka terminator style........ :o It might. Let's see if it can kill my Analogue Instruments Apparition 12 first ; ) 2
Full Range Posted October 25, 2014 Author Posted October 25, 2014 I have just spent some time changing over some cartridges and played around with the VTA ( that can also be adjusted on the fly ) Boy it's good to be back playing music from vinyl again Current cartridge fitted is the Stanton 681 EEE and sounding very nice, but I will give it a run for its money tomorrow at a more respectable hour 1
hochopeper Posted October 25, 2014 Posted October 25, 2014 Looks like great work Paul! It might. Let's see if it can kill my Analogue Instruments Apparition 12 first ; ) Good to hear about analogue gear murdering analogue gear. I thought it was only digital gear with extreme bloodlust. Chris 2
Full Range Posted October 25, 2014 Author Posted October 25, 2014 My research has progressed with me finding a Shibata stylus that fits the Stanton EEE cartridge http://stylus.export-japan.com/product_info.php?products_id=1361 Any SNA forum members tried the Jico Shibata stylus for Stanton carts
Full Range Posted October 26, 2014 Author Posted October 26, 2014 Fitted the digital VTA gauge and the wire outrigger this morning And then had an extended listening session while fiddling about and calibrating ect Now the search goes on to either consider a Shibata stylus replacement for the Stanton 681EEE or try a few different cartridges to find a good match Thanks to @@Telecine for offering a couple of cartridges to try out 2
Newman Posted October 26, 2014 Posted October 26, 2014 Did you buy a spare wand, to try out additional carts?
Full Range Posted October 26, 2014 Author Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) Did you buy a spare wand, to try out additional carts?Sorry no - but I am considering another newer version Tomahawk arm for that very reason However it's pretty easy and straight forward to swap a cartridge and another few minutes to setup At first set up I took my time but when I changed to the Stanton it was a 15 - 20 min job inc setup Edited October 26, 2014 by Full Range 1
valvedude Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 I went through a few but simple dog box ( bass ) tweaks And after many many hours of listening and getting second opinions I settled for this Normally unnecessary but due to the addition of the bass box section I felt it prudent to help the sound waves as much as I can First I sourced from Spotlight (a craft type shop) some styrofoam cones of a suitable size to fit inside the cavity and attached them to the back of the driver magnet ( think aerodynamics ) At first I wasn't sure if this tweak would work but listening tests confirmed that it made a difference in a wholesome way to the sound and especially tighter bass image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg my friend has the originals and this is a very good eminence speaker 1
Full Range Posted October 28, 2014 Author Posted October 28, 2014 my friend has the originals and this is a very good eminence speaker @@valvedude The La Scalas are a great speaker and all the modifications I have catalogued in this thread have made them superb But I am biased because I'm in love with them
bullet Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 Ok so now after reading the whole thing and seeing everything (feels like i was there) i can conclude that i now hate you. Im gonna take my xovers out and tweak the **** outta them til they are perfect lol This was an awesome build. i have no idea what else to say. Jaws on the floor. excellent work FR.. seriously awesome stuff 1
Full Range Posted January 29, 2015 Author Posted January 29, 2015 Ok so now after reading the whole thing and seeing everything (feels like i was there) i can conclude that i now hate you. Im gonna take my xovers out and tweak the **** outta them til they are perfect lol This was an awesome build. i have no idea what else to say. Jaws on the floor. excellent work FR.. seriously awesome stuff You are most welcome to take any ideas and make something fantastic for your own build Just remember follow tried and tested principles In this crossover build I did just that but also overlaid it with sound mechanical engineering principles Again thanks to @greenwagon for giving me the latitude and incorporated ideas when they looked feasible and stopping me from going to far 2
Full Range Posted April 30, 2015 Author Posted April 30, 2015 (edited) Hi folks Just another quick update - As its been previously posted about the custom crossover build I have decided to make one small but expensive change on the capacitors I have decided to change over the Sonicap capacitors and replace them with Jentzen Superior Z caps with a slightly lower value to trial a hunch I have - if the lower value does not work, all that's needed is to add a capacitor to equal the current value In this custom crossover build , the Sonicaps feed the mid and tweeter. So in effect their about the most critical caps in the whole xover. ( I know I know ) This is fine tuning to the ninth degree but that's the audiophiles lot in life I have placed an order for a set to be made for me by Jentzen from Speaker Bug - http://speakerbug.com.au , as I have been looked after by them for all my other build parts purchases during the build Will keep you all informed with the progress when the parts arrive and installed The Sonicaps that will be replaced shown in the photo below Edited April 30, 2015 by Full Range 3
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