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#1
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Iain Churches Web Site
If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was
simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west |
#2
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Iain Churches Web Site
On Apr 1, 6:56 pm, "west" wrote:
If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west Typically, one posts the link when making such a statement. Not that I disagree with your contention. Eventually, you will learn. Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA |
#4
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Iain Churches Web Site
west wrote:
If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Sal |
#5
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Iain Churches Web Site
Sal Brisindi wrote:
west wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Sal Is that listening area totally untreated (acoustically)? Ian |
#6
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Ian Bell" wrote in message news:4610a17b.0@entanet... Sal Brisindi wrote: west wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Sal Is that listening area totally untreated (acoustically)? Ian There are acoustic panels on the ceiling and behind the listening position. In addition there are heavy black velvet curtains which we can pull to close off the test bench area during a listening session. These curtains are wide enough to cover the back wall, behind the Tannoys if required. The floor is carpeted and to the right of the listening area is a large upholstered sofa. Despite (or perhaps because of) its irregular shape, the room sounds good. Iain |
#7
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Iain Churches" wrote in message .fi... "Ian Bell" wrote in message news:4610a17b.0@entanet... Sal Brisindi wrote: west wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Sal Is that listening area totally untreated (acoustically)? Ian There are acoustic panels on the ceiling and behind the listening position. In addition there are heavy black velvet curtains which we can pull to close off the test bench area during a listening session. These curtains are wide enough to cover the back wall, behind the Tannoys if required. The floor is carpeted and to the right of the listening area is a large upholstered sofa. Despite (or perhaps because of) its irregular shape, the room sounds good. Iain A very nice tidy workshop with plenty of test gear, nice one Iain. Looking at the listening room I just wondered if that radiator behind the RHS speaker gave any problems with stereo tonal balance between speakers, guess it acts in some small way like a diffuser. Mike |
#8
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message ... A very nice tidy workshop with plenty of test gear, nice one Iain. Looking at the listening room I just wondered if that radiator behind the RHS speaker gave any problems with stereo tonal balance between speakers, guess it acts in some small way like a diffuser. Hi Mike. We are up on the fifth floor, just below the roof level. That radiator is one of two in the listening room. In the winter it can be -20C outside:-) We talked about taking the radiator out. No-one has commented on any audibly adverse effects. Many people bring their own professionally made recordings to audition. There is a floor to ceiling heavy-velvet studio curtain which can be pulled round behind the speakers if required. Iain |
#9
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Iain Churches Web Site
Iain Churches wrote:
"Ian Bell" wrote in message news:4610a17b.0@entanet... Sal Brisindi wrote: west wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Sal Is that listening area totally untreated (acoustically)? Ian There are acoustic panels on the ceiling and behind the listening position. In addition there are heavy black velvet curtains which we can pull to close off the test bench area during a listening session. These curtains are wide enough to cover the back wall, behind the Tannoys if required. The floor is carpeted and to the right of the listening area is a large upholstered sofa. Despite (or perhaps because of) its irregular shape, the room sounds good. Iain Any bass traps? Ian |
#10
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Ian Bell" wrote in message news:46115477.0@entanet... Iain Churches wrote: "Ian Bell" wrote in message news:4610a17b.0@entanet... Sal Brisindi wrote: west wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Sal Is that listening area totally untreated (acoustically)? Any bass traps? No. |
#11
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Iain Churches" wrote in message .fi... "Mike Gilmour" wrote in message ... A very nice tidy workshop with plenty of test gear, nice one Iain. Looking at the listening room I just wondered if that radiator behind the RHS speaker gave any problems with stereo tonal balance between speakers, guess it acts in some small way like a diffuser. Hi Mike. We are up on the fifth floor, just below the roof level. That radiator is one of two in the listening room. In the winter it can be -20C outside:-) Heck, you have to be warm listening to music, a single malt helps a lot internally, except for critical listening that is ;-) We talked about taking the radiator out. No-one has commented on any audibly adverse effects. Many people bring their own professionally made recordings to audition. I suppose it might resonate a bit at low frequencies? I used to have an electric heater between the speakers but it resonated at volume but the sound appeared to come from the speakers themselves - when I took the heater out of the room it made a big difference. There is a floor to ceiling heavy-velvet studio curtain which can be pulled round behind the speakers if required. ...do you prefer it without? I suppose you could go for LEDE approach with curtains behind the listener. Iain |
#12
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Iain Churches Web Site
On Apr 3, 6:29 am, "Mike Gilmour" wrote:
I suppose it might resonate a bit at low frequencies? A honking-large hot-water radiator such as that one has enough mass to it that it should not resonate at any objectionable frequency. But along these lines last fall we replaced a huge (350 pound/150kg) thick- tube cast-iron radiator in our living room with a Runtal Flat-Plate radiator. The cast-iron beast had a 4 s.f. footprint with the pipe access and was a full one foot out from the wall at its face. The Runtal hangs on the wall and is only 2.5" (60mm) to its face. Yet, both were/are equivalent in heat radiation. The flat face of the Runtal did make a perceptable change to the room acoustics from the curved pipes of the radiator. If I had to describe it, the left channel imaging was a bit sharper with the flat-plate in place. That the CI unit partially impinged on the field of the left speaker may have had something to do with that. So, there is something to the "baffle" idea anyway. http://www.houseforsaleeasternshore....ator_-_300.jpg Something about like this is what came out. http://runtalnorthamerica.com/reside...anel-bed-L.jpg And about this went in. And, yes, we put the old radiator on Craig's List and it was gone within 24 hours. Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA |
#13
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message ... "Iain Churches" wrote in message .fi... "Mike Gilmour" wrote in message ... A very nice tidy workshop with plenty of test gear, nice one Iain. Looking at the listening room I just wondered if that radiator behind the RHS speaker gave any problems with stereo tonal balance between speakers, guess it acts in some small way like a diffuser. Hi Mike. We are up on the fifth floor, just below the roof level. That radiator is one of two in the listening room. In the winter it can be -20C outside:-) Heck, you have to be warm listening to music, a single malt helps a lot internally, except for critical listening that is ;-) This winter has been mild, so we have not really needed the radiator, and it could of course be replaced by an electric space heater, which could be placed anywehere in the room. We talked about taking the radiator out. No-one has commented on any audibly adverse effects. Many people bring their own professionally made recordings to audition. I suppose it might resonate a bit at low frequencies? I used to have an electric heater between the speakers but it resonated at volume but the sound appeared to come from the speakers themselves - when I took the heater out of the room it made a big difference. There is a floor to ceiling heavy-velvet studio curtain which can be pulled round behind the speakers if required. ..do you prefer it without? I suppose you could go for LEDE approach with curtains behind the listener. I usually listen without. There is a studio in Stockholm with a LEDE control room. I like it very much. Cheers Iain |
#14
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Sal Brisindi" wrote in message ... west wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Hi West Thanks. It has been a long journey from the cardboard box full of components on the kitchen table, followed by a bench in the spare bedroom. Then a bench in a corner of the garage then two benches in a room over the garage, then two benches and a lot of shelves in a neighbour's disused basement. The place we have now is on the top floor of what used to be a pharmaceuticals factory. It's a protected building, so the owners rent to small enterprises, sculptors, painters, potters, an architect, an upholsterer, two girls who make wedding dresses, and a guy who makes the most incredible small scale models in brass, copper and stainless steel (steam engines etc) The rent we pay, split four ways, is probably less than most people who smoke and drink spend on beer and cigarettes:-) The place is quite close to where I live, so I can go for a couple of hours fettling in the evening, and be back in time for supper. I watch very little TV, and spend that "armchair time" in the workshop. My job as a classical recording engineer keeps me knee-deep in the digital domain, so things thermionic make a pleasant contrast. Most of the workshop equipment is ex-lab stuff, from Scandinavian broadcast and the UK (Marconi, British Aerospace, Racal-Decca etc etc) It is no longer state of the art, but I don't need to be able to measure distortion to four zeros to the right of the decimal point:-) It's not too difficult with some dedication and applied effort to build an amp the performance of which can equal a commercial product. For me, a big plus is that you can include the features that *you* considers necessary (perhaps one pair of balanced line inputs on a preamp, and one balanced pair of outputs on XLR and one pair of "vanilla" outputs on RCA connectors. That's what I enjoy about homebrew audio:-) But the problem is that often a hand-made amp can also look "home-made". So aesthetics/cosmetics are also importance. When at school, I was struggling with irregular verbs in Greek and Latin while others were learning carpentry or metalwork, so I have had a lot of catching up to do. Fortunately, one of the guys I share with is brilliant in these areas. We work well as a team. I enjoy the exchange of ideas with others, particularly as the see things from a slightly different aspect. The guy with the bench next to mine builds bespoke guitar amps - absolute works of art. I have a good collection of old books (RDH, Tremaine, Lewis Yorke, etc) and participation in a group like RAT is always helpful, particularly when you get stuck:-)) A few very knowledgeable tubeheads, people who have become disillusioned with Usenet, still keep in touch by e.mail. I guess most builders start off with oven baking tins for chassis, and later Hammond or something similar. Sheet metal bending is quite an art. I like to use the "slab chassis" approach. We have recently set up a small sheet metal prep room, so that we can polish front panels etc, and prepare them for anodising. This has to be a separate room because, even with an extractor, the fine dust can be a problem in an open workshop. Regards to all Iain |
#15
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Iain Churches Web Site
Hopefully I will learn not to be a pompous elitist like yourself. What
compels you to poison thread's well so often? ... Notice how your sockpuppet (yeager) follows you so often? Sorry Iain. Not all American are like this. unsigned out of utter contempt "Peter Wieck" wrote in message ups.com... On Apr 1, 6:56 pm, "west" wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west Typically, one posts the link when making such a statement. Not that I disagree with your contention. Eventually, you will learn. Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA |
#16
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Iain Churches Web Site
"Iain Churches" wrote in message .fi... "Sal Brisindi" wrote in message ... west wrote: If you missed Iain's web site, I strongly recommend you visit it. I was simply blown away by his "workshop" that he calls "for his hobby." The only problem, I see, is that it must keep him away from home a lot. west http://www.kolumbus.fi/iain.churches...orkshop02.html Hi West Thanks. It has been a long journey from the cardboard box full of components on the kitchen table, followed by a bench in the spare bedroom. Then a bench in a corner of the garage then two benches in a room over the garage, then two benches and a lot of shelves in a neighbour's disused basement. The place we have now is on the top floor of what used to be a pharmaceuticals factory. It's a protected building, so the owners rent to small enterprises, sculptors, painters, potters, an architect, an upholsterer, two girls who make wedding dresses, and a guy who makes the most incredible small scale models in brass, copper and stainless steel (steam engines etc) The rent we pay, split four ways, is probably less than most people who smoke and drink spend on beer and cigarettes:-) The place is quite close to where I live, so I can go for a couple of hours fettling in the evening, and be back in time for supper. I watch very little TV, and spend that "armchair time" in the workshop. My job as a classical recording engineer keeps me knee-deep in the digital domain, so things thermionic make a pleasant contrast. Most of the workshop equipment is ex-lab stuff, from Scandinavian broadcast and the UK (Marconi, British Aerospace, Racal-Decca etc etc) It is no longer state of the art, but I don't need to be able to measure distortion to four zeros to the right of the decimal point:-) It's not too difficult with some dedication and applied effort to build an amp the performance of which can equal a commercial product. For me, a big plus is that you can include the features that *you* considers necessary (perhaps one pair of balanced line inputs on a preamp, and one balanced pair of outputs on XLR and one pair of "vanilla" outputs on RCA connectors. That's what I enjoy about homebrew audio:-) But the problem is that often a hand-made amp can also look "home-made". So aesthetics/cosmetics are also importance. When at school, I was struggling with irregular verbs in Greek and Latin while others were learning carpentry or metalwork, so I have had a lot of catching up to do. Fortunately, one of the guys I share with is brilliant in these areas. We work well as a team. I enjoy the exchange of ideas with others, particularly as the see things from a slightly different aspect. The guy with the bench next to mine builds bespoke guitar amps - absolute works of art. I have a good collection of old books (RDH, Tremaine, Lewis Yorke, etc) and participation in a group like RAT is always helpful, particularly when you get stuck:-)) A few very knowledgeable tubeheads, people who have become disillusioned with Usenet, still keep in touch by e.mail. I guess most builders start off with oven baking tins for chassis, and later Hammond or something similar. Sheet metal bending is quite an art. I like to use the "slab chassis" approach. We have recently set up a small sheet metal prep room, so that we can polish front panels etc, and prepare them for anodising. This has to be a separate room because, even with an extractor, the fine dust can be a problem in an open workshop. Regards to all Iain Thank you very much for the insight into this part of your life. I pray that you will never get discouraged with this NG. Cordially, west |
#17
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Iain Churches Web Site
Iain Churches wrote:
"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message ... A very nice tidy workshop with plenty of test gear, nice one Iain. Looking at the listening room I just wondered if that radiator behind the RHS speaker gave any problems with stereo tonal balance between speakers, guess it acts in some small way like a diffuser. Hi Mike. We are up on the fifth floor, just below the roof level. That radiator is one of two in the listening room. In the winter it can be -20C outside:-) We talked about taking the radiator out. No-one has commented on any audibly adverse effects. Many people bring their own professionally made recordings to audition. There is a floor to ceiling heavy-velvet studio curtain which can be pulled round behind the speakers if required. Iain I though the radiator was there to give it the warm tube sound during the winter.... ;-) Sal Brisindi |
#18
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Iain Churches Web Site
I though the radiator was there to give it the warm tube sound during the winter.... ;-) Nah, Iain turns off the radiator when the tube amps are on. In the far northern and southern latitudes, tube amps are great little heaters in the winters. Patrick Turner Sal Brisindi |
#19
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Iain Churches Web Site
On Apr 4, 7:04 am, Patrick Turner wrote:
Nah, Iain turns off the radiator when the tube amps are on. In the far northern and southern latitudes, tube amps are great little heaters in the winters. My Scott LK-150 (by calculation) puts out about 850 BTUH, about the equivalent of 4 @ 60-watt light-bulbs. The Dynaco 70 is under a shelf, the cats compete for the above-it privilege when it is in operation. They are not fools. The several smaller tube amps don't throw nearly as much heat as the above two. But, when I am running solid-state stuff, the cats' favorite position is the table front-and-center between the speakers, or a corner of the couch opposite. All that aside, I am quite jealous of Iain's set-up. All that I do comes out of a bench that is ~30" x 70" with shelving on all three sides. And the scope has to live in a closet unless in direct use. No room. Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA |
#20
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Iain Churches Web Site
"west" wrote in message news:aHDQh.3398$_43.1784@trnddc02... Thank you very much for the insight into this part of your life. I pray that you will never get discouraged with this NG. It's worth persevering with RAT. Despite the sometimes poor SNR there is much worth reading, and some very clever and helpful people here. There are also others whose mission seems to be to distract us from our interest in thermionic audio. Quite a few good people have disappeared from RAT, but I am pleased that they still keep contact by e-mail. Best regards Iain |
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