Jr. Audiophiles- a site for beginners to start their journey in high fidelity

S Clark · « **on:** 18 Sep 2007, 08:35 pm »

Welcome to the Jr. Audiophile circle. This is a forum for students of music and sound to post their questions, seek advice from Audio Circle members, and share their successful and not so successful attempts to enter the world of high fidelity. Although it is true that there are no/few stupid questions, that is especially true here, as this circle is dedicated to encouraging newcomers to solder wires, make some sawdust, and get involved in music related projects.

This site is to be a resource for students of all ages. Please keep responses appropriate and on subject.

KCI-JohnP · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 02:02 pm »

Excellent idea, congrats on this circle! Maybe I can get my son in here....well I wish anyway.

John

miklorsmith · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 02:43 pm »

What speakers should I buy? (just kiddin')

Good luck, and a great idea!

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Sep 2007, 06:23 am »

Teacher, teacher, do wires matter?

Andy G · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Sep 2007, 10:22 am »

Quote from: ooheadsoo on 27 Sep 2007, 06:23 am

Teacher, teacher, do wires matter?

To some people, psychologically, YES

But generally, for beginner systems and ears, any decent wire of the correct gauge will be more than adequate.

1. Avoid any wire that is heavily advertised, because, guess what, you pay for the advertising !!

2. Buy only what you can reasonably afford.

zacster · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Sep 2007, 01:43 pm »

I built systems for my kids, speakers for my son which he uses with a Creek amp (currently dead, blown fuse from turning it up just a little louder than usual), and a T-amp and speakers for my twin daughters. They all use iPods as source. Now, you would think that if something stopped working, or sounded weird, something physically broke, or a wire popped loose, that they would mention it so that it could be fixed??? Nope, they continue to use it the way it is. When the amp died it took my son a week to mention it, he just used headphones instead. My daughters' system is not my best work and it frequently has problems, such as the driver falling out of the speaker box (really, the box is cardboard and it doesn't hold screws well). They just continue to listen to the one remaining speaker. NBD, No big deal.

My point here is good luck. They just don't seem interested. The one glimmer of hope is that my son won't listen to XM on my stereo even though they play some of his music because it sounds 'fizzy' to him. But MP3 is OK.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Sep 2007, 02:14 pm »

Well, not every kid is going to become an audiophile....

I've met plenty that have, so it just depends on who gets the bug.

As for the cables, just buy the brand name cables used! Usually
great deals to be had. The companies that can't afford to advertise
usually can't afford to repair their products either.

Just a thought.

S Clark · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Sep 2007, 05:55 pm »

Zacster-
"My point here is good luck. They just don't seem interested. "

I find that I have 5-8 kids in a class that will realize that there is a whole audio world out there that they are missing- and an equal # that just don't care. It helps to be able to drop them into a well conditioned room with world class electronics, excellent speakers, and revealing material so that they can hear for themselves.

HAL · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 02:48 am »

Looks like this is the place to talk about the physics class in Texas that is doing speaker projects.

If so, just sent Danny four tweeters for the project.

I hear that there maybe a need for a speaker measurement system. Is this the case?

Daygloworange · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 02:58 am »

Great idea.

Hopefully they'll get turned on to the magic of audio, but avoid turning out like us....

Cheers

S Clark · « **Reply #10 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 03:08 am »

Hello HAL,
Thanks for the tweeters, and yes, we could really use a Clio or equivalent to make available to the physics teachers involved. We are setting up an office at a local university (Hardin-Simmons U.) that has given us a lab to use. This location lets us reach out to several high schools and get their students involved. My goal for the expanded version of this project is to involve 5 high schools and up to 150 students creating 25-50 sets of speakers that they can take with them when they finish the project this spring. In the meantime, I am looking to start 3 sets of line arrays with high school volunteers as soon as we have measuring capacity.

Also, we are tax exempt and would be happy to supply you with receipts for the tweeter donation.

Scott

S Clark · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 03:18 am »

Quote from: Daygloworange on 3 Oct 2007, 02:58 am

Great idea.

Hopefully they'll get turned on to the magic of audio, but avoid turning out like us....

Cheers

Who knows, some may get the woodworking bug like you. Al from RAW has sent me tons of cabinetry and veneer info to pass along. As we get further along, don't be surprised to get PM's from teachers and students asking you for tips.

BradJudy · « **Reply #12 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 03:34 am »

I still need to ship out this pair of X-LS tweeters. If they would be of any use, I also have:

broken Ascend CBM-170 tweeter (snapped the wire going from the terminal to the coil when servicing the speaker)
a pair of JBL car component drivers ("GT 5.0" pair of 5.25" and tweeters - unused except the tweeters are mounted to thin wood for a test I did).
a cheap older center channel speaker (Ultimate SC-45, sealed MTM with ~4" drivers).
pair of MiHorn tweeter add-on horns, from when they gave them away for free a while back - might be fun if you want to discuss waveguides/horns
Aperion branded SPL meter - I don't trust it for any type of measurement, but it should be fine for level matching

S Clark · « **Reply #13 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 03:58 am »

We can put to use any drivers, caps, inductors, resistors, wire, etc. that can be used to create a decent quality pair of speakers. I have had donations of a few odds and ends, but will have a hard time utilizing them. And the dB meter would definitely be useful.

I am hoping that many of our DIY members may have unfinished projects sitting in their garages that they will donate. I have already passed along several sets of Audax woofers and tweeters that I had planned to use -just never got around to them. We have used Danny's M130s, Parts Express Vifa 7' buyouts, Dayton drivers, Pioneer, closeouts direct from Gefco, and even Rat Shack stuff.

HAL · « **Reply #14 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 12:19 pm »

Quote from: S Clark on 3 Oct 2007, 03:08 am

Hello HAL,
Thanks for the tweeters, and yes, we could really use a Clio or equivalent to make available to the physics teachers involved. We are setting up an office at a local university (Hardin-Simmons U.) that has given us a lab to use. This location lets us reach out to several high schools and get their students involved. My goal for the expanded version of this project is to involve 5 high schools and up to 150 students creating 25-50 sets of speakers that they can take with them when they finish the project this spring. In the meantime, I am looking to start 3 sets of line arrays with high school volunteers as soon as we have measuring capacity.

Also, we are tax exempt and would be happy to supply you with receipts for the tweeter donation.

Scott

I have an older CLIO dos 4.55 setup on a PC running Windows 98SE to make it all work. Received the CLIO dos H/W and S/W from a friend that I helped setup a CLIOwin system at his place. Also have the original manual. Will have to figure out packing for the setup.

It would probably be best to send the PC setup instead of parts, since this is all working and calibrated. I need the MIC-01 for my CLIOwin setup, but the CLIO Lite version MIC-01 is a good price. I emailed Joe D'Appolito and he was calibrating CLIO mics for a very reasonable price.

No need for the letter for the tweeters.

If this is in line with what you need, let me know. I will put together a list of what I can send at that point.

Daygloworange · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 12:38 pm »

Quote from: S Clark on 3 Oct 2007, 03:18 am

Quote from: Daygloworange on 3 Oct 2007, 02:58 am
Great idea.

Hopefully they'll get turned on to the magic of audio, but avoid turning out like us....

Cheers
Who knows, some may get the woodworking bug like you. Al from RAW has sent me tons of cabinetry and veneer info to pass along. As we get further along, don't be surprised to get PM's from teachers and students asking you for tips.

Tips:

Eat plenty of veggies, get plenty of sleep, drink your milk, study hard, and always listen to your parents.

Both Al and I, and a few other woodworkers have posted lots of tips on the GR Research circle. Maybe what we can do is sift through the posts and make a master page full of links to the threads. We've covered almost every aspect of speaker building and there are plenty of pics as well.

Cheers

BradJudy · « **Reply #16 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 03:07 pm »

Quote from: S Clark on 3 Oct 2007, 03:58 am

We can put to use any drivers, caps, inductors, resistors, wire, etc. that can be used to create a decent quality pair of speakers. I have had donations of a few odds and ends, but will have really have a hard time utilizing them. And the dB meter would definitely be useful.

Okay, I'll send down the X-LS tweeters and SPL meter. I'm not sure the JBL car speakers qualify as components for a decent quality pair of speakers. The single capacitor crossover certainly doesn't qualify as a quality and educational crossover design.

HAL · « **Reply #17 on:** 5 Oct 2007, 04:29 pm »

Scott,
Any feedback on the post above?

S Clark · « **Reply #18 on:** 9 Oct 2007, 01:04 am »

Quote from: HAL on 3 Oct 2007, 12:19 pm

I have an older CLIO dos 4.55 setup on a PC running Windows 98SE to make it all work. Received the CLIO dos H/W and S/W from a friend that I helped setup a CLIOwin system at his place. Also have the original manual. Will have to figure out packing for the setup.

It would probably be best to send the PC setup instead of parts, since this is all working and calibrated. I need the MIC-01 for my CLIOwin setup, but the CLIO Lite version MIC-01 is a good price. I emailed Joe D'Appolito and he was calibrating CLIO mics for a very reasonable price.

No need for the letter for the tweeters.

If this is in line with what you need, let me know. I will put together a list of what I can send at that point.

Sorry for the delayed response. I have been in Big Bend National Park with students since last Thursday. Your offer sounds just like what we need to jumpstart this project!!! I have a mic that I think will work. Should I contact Joe?

Scott

HAL · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Oct 2007, 12:58 am »

Scott,
YGPM