There's a lot of exciting audio projects coming up which I think you'll find very interesting.
The one that's occupying a lot of my attention right now is the upcoming Altec Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre project.
In my introductory post I mentioned that I had chosen the Altec Lansing 515E ceramic magnet low frequency driver for the project, which was also the choice of John Stronczer in his A5 project that he wrote up for Sound Practices way back when.
There was good reason for that particular choice, as the 515E goes 5Hz lower than the classic 515B Alnico low frequency drivers, and its lighter cone paper reportedly makes its response smoother and more articulate, and from a maintenance standpoint you don't have to worry about remagnetizing it like you do with the Alnico magnet 515B drivers. The 515E ceramic magnet drivers are also less than half the price of the Alnico magnet 515B drivers. All good.
Fickle hi-fi nut that I am, I changed my mind and decided to go with the classic Alnico magnet 515B drivers used by Hiraga-san in his A5 VOTTs, even though that choice involved a considerable cost penalty. My reason was that I simply wanted to hear what the classic Alnico 515B driver sounded like in the A5 VOTTs.
The crossover for the A5 VOTT is getting a lot of discussion right now between Yazaki-san, Daryl-san & Gary-san (of Arizona Capacitors), Ron-san, and myself.
Below you can see the Jean Hiraga A5 crossover schematic with some of the Real Sound ideas that Yazaki-san has been thinking about highlighted upon it.
Daryl-san (Arizona Capacitors) also shared some extremely interesting ideas that I'll tell you more about in a future post.
Suffice it to say that between these two gentleman some of the most exciting capacitor design ideas that have ever been discussed are taking place right now, and you will be the very first to hear about it all here at Jeff's Place.
Did I mention how exciting these ideas are? We will try various custom experimental designs to start with, and you all will be the direct beneficiaries of the research that will take place. Stay tuned!
Hiraga-san crossover with Yazaki-san ideas for capacitors.
I'll have a lot more news on this topic before long, but suffice it to say there's some very exciting things in the works, which will be breaking new ground in capacitor materials & design, and their correlation to aural properties. I think you'll be as intrigued by what's happening as I am.
It's a developing story you will not want to miss!
Another project that you'll be hearing more about soon is the ongoing success story of the Duelund-Westminster project.
WRSE with WE16GA internal wiring.
As you know, rewiring the Duelund-Westminster project with vintage Western Electric WE16GA wire turned out to be splendidly musical, which I documented in detail in the Adventures in Real Sound with Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki article that I wrote for Positive Feedback in Issue 81.
Duelund CAST 6.8uF copper capacitor (top), and Duelund CAST 6.8uF silver capacitor (bottom).
If you read my original Duelund-Westminster project article in Positive Feedback Issue 70, you read how in collaboration with Frederik Carøe of Duelund Coherent Audio in Denmark, I replaced the stock internal Tannoy Westminster Royal SE crossovers with custom external crossovers utilizing a full suite of the artisanal handmade Duelund CAST capacitors, inductors, and resisters, with breathtaking results.
Duelund CAST Mylar 200uF capacitor.
Frederik Carøe also developed some very special Duelund CAST Mylar 200uF capacitors specially for the project, which are amazing in their own right.
Duelund CAST Silver Autotransformers
I reported in Positive Feedback Issue 74 that Frederik had made up very special pairs of Duelund CAST silver 6.8uF capacitors and Duelund CAST silver autotransformers for me to try. Those exclusive silver Duelund CAST components were staggeringly expensive, more valuable even than many a complete audio system, and their performance was out of this world! They remain my benchmark for what is possible, and I marvel at their performance every time I listen to my Westminster Royal SEs.
Unfortunately, not too many people were able to experience the considerable charms of those handmade silver Duelund CAST capacitors & autotransformers, and a few friends & readers were as dismayed by their high price as they were excited by their high performance.
This was not lost upon Frederik Carøe, who has been quietly working on a solution that would deliver a big slice of the silver Duelund CAST capacitors' performance for very close to the cost of the copper Duelund CAST capacitors.
Frederik told me yesterday that he is building a pair of these new 6.8uF Duelund CAST capacitors for me to try in the Duelund-Westminster project crossovers, so I'll be able to compare them to the copper & silver Duelund CAST 6.8uF capacitors I have here now. I'll be telling you a lot more about these new Duelund CAST capacitors in the very near future - stay tuned!
As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you're as excited by all these projects as I am ... and I haven't even mentioned the half of them yet! Much more to come ...
