Battery PS Heaven

[q]

To be honest I wasn't expecting this level of performance. I am glad I ordered 2 of them for sure.
Thanks to you all for this insanely easy awesome product. The tubes need some vibration control which is an easy fix. This problem was greatly reduced by me digging out my old Misson Iso-plat. Thought I'd never use the silly thing again, glad I didn't toss it. Sometimes it's good to be a pack rat?!
Any way here she is resting in the Foreplay 3 surround

The Foreplay needs another round of trouble shooting. I didn

 

[Grainger49]

I'm convinced, without an audition, the magic is in the power supply having no AC.  Just my gut feeling.  I use an Ack! dAck! that uses +/-12V batteries for the power supply.  It is very open and clean.

BTW, nice build and a great dog!

 

[q]

I'm convinced, without an audition, the magic is in the power supply having no AC.  Just my gut feeling.  I use an Ack! dAck! that uses +/-12V batteries for the power supply.  It is very open and clean.

Agreeeeeed! I've tried differant PS fro the Charlize amps and hands down the SLA batteries are the best
Now if there was a battery power amp/with glass...hehehe                     

BTW, nice build and a great dog!

That's Bear is she says thank you ..ah oh dogs talking to me again, time for my meds
q

 

[Len]

One last thing, I

 

[q]

Wow thanks so much for sharing
It will take a noob like me awhile to digest this info and when you get a chance some pics would help (went to California Public School so I do better with pictures). 127hz is almost perfect for the B200's and the Auggies. I could probably dial them in with more width across the B200's. Oh no more baffle building
thx again can't thank you enough
q

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I'm convinced, without an audition, the magic is in the power supply having no AC.  Just my gut feeling.  I use an Ack! dAck! that uses +/-12V batteries for the power supply.  It is very open and clean.

BTW, nice build and a great dog!

A big part of the magic is also, IMO, that the tubes are directly heated.  The batteries seem to really polish that off, as there is no complicated and expensive DC supply, although the modification bug is hitting me, and I think I am going to build a Quickie in the coming weeks with an AC power supply, just to do it.

-Paul

 

[Grainger49]

I will be eagerly awaiting your report on the AC PS.

 

[Len]

... when you get a chance some pics would help

Not a problem. It's nice when others duplicate my mistakes

I'll try to get to it next weekend, though it may take another weekend if things get hectic.

This is for low pass only. I'm taking out the high pass portion, since I want my Lowthers to run full range. I'll need to drop the LP frequency later on to between 80 and 100 Hz, but by then maybe I'll have the adjustable setup. If you want a full crossover, you'll need 2 quickies (maybe on one chassis?). I can send you schematics for both with the pics.

The chokes could be hard to find. I got mine from Heybour or something like that. I'll look it up if you need it.

Hopefully, we can contact each other through an email function here.

 

[Grainger49]

You should be able to Private Message (PM) any other poster here by clicking on his/her Moniker.  Then exchange email addresses.

 

[q]

[[/quote]

This is for low pass only. I'm taking out the high pass portion, since I want my Lowthers to run full range. I'll need to drop the LP frequency later on to between 80 and 100 Hz, but by then maybe I'll have the adjustable setup. If you want a full crossover, you'll need 2 quickies (maybe on one chassis?). I can send you schematics for both with the pics.

The chokes could be hard to find. I got mine from Heybour or something like that. I'll look it up if you need it.

Hopefully, we can contact each other through an email function here.

[/quote]

Great minds think alike mate!
I love the B200's to run fullrange. The system I have the Quickie in is not my best system. My best drivers is a pair of Hawthorne Audio Sterling's and they need to run full range. Basically all of the fullrange drivers i've tried are best when they are allowed to run unfiltered
AN8's Hawthorne Siver Irises Fostex FE166E etc.
thx
q

 

[Len]

... when you get a chance some pics would help

I hope this pic comes through. It's 128K worth of my original sketch.

 

[Len]

You should be able to Private Message (PM) any other poster here by clicking on his/her Moniker.  Then exchange email addresses.

Thanks Grainger. I found it after you let me know to search for it.

 

[Paul Joppa]

I hope this pic comes through. It's 128K worth of my original sketch.

Guess I should point out that you must leave the high-pass section in if you want to retain the 500 ohm impedance as presented to the source (Quickie). You don't have to use it - go ahead and take the output to the fullrange in parallel with the input. But the highpass section acts like a Zobel to keep the impedance of the whole crossover constant.

As shown, the lowpass 500 ohm load will pull the Quickie output down about 3-4dB in the bass, but unload it above the crossover for full output. So there will be a modest shelving filter going to the fullrange.

 

[Len]

I hope this pic comes through. It's 128K worth of my original sketch.

Guess I should point out that you must leave the high-pass section in if you want to retain the 500 ohm impedance as presented to the source (Quickie). You don't have to use it - go ahead and take the output to the fullrange in parallel with the input. But the highpass section acts like a Zobel to keep the impedance of the whole crossover constant.

As shown, the lowpass 500 ohm load will pull the Quickie output down about 3-4dB in the bass, but unload it above the crossover for full output. So there will be a modest shelving filter going to the fullrange.

Thanks Paul!

It's still sitting on my bench at home, so I can put the high pass section back in.

The shelving effect is the reason for the Quickie. I get to boost the low end back up using the Quickie, which goes to Paraglow II's, and send the full range to the Excite II's, which go to the lowther front horns. As a bonus I get to adjust the low end for different listening volumes. Speaker leads from the Paraglow II's to the pi cornerhorns get swapped, since the Quickie inverts (since it's only one triode stage). I hope I'm getting this right.

I guess then an adjustable low pass using an autoformer would be pretty complex.

Thanks again for trying to keep me out of trouble.

EDIT: Oh! I missed that you said there is a shelving that goes to the LOWTHERS! That actually should help pull a little load of the paper cones and add some clarity. I was assuming you meant that the low passed signal was cut by about 3.5db, which was the reason for the Quickie. Still, it all works.

Do you have room here for a short explanation of why the full range output gets a drop below the LP frequency?

 

[Len]

One last thing, I

 

[q]

Sorry been distracted by some other projects. I'm starting to understand how this is going to work.
Eagerly await your listening experience. This might be what I've been after
thx again
q

 

[Len]

Sorry been distracted by some other projects. I'm starting to understand how this is going to work.
Eagerly await your listening experience. This might be what I've been after
thx again
q

Just listened to my system, using the Quickie as an active low pass. I just had to post.

My system has an Excite II feeding lowther PM6A's in Aussie front horns, and Paraglow II's feeding Pi Seven Cornerhorns set up with only woofers for the bass. It had previously had a passive LC crossover at 127 Hz. I put the Quickie in front of the crossover, left the high pass hooked up to nowhere (as per PJ's instruction), and bypassed the Quickie for full range to the Excites.

For the first ten minutes it was awful. Maybe it was because I hadn't used my system for about six weeks. I couldn't get any volume on the bass. I cranked the Quickie all the way up. Almost nothing. Then it started to build.

I listened to one side of Volunteers, Grace Slick sounded kind of screechy until the last track. That last track got me interested. I put on John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things". Things started to happen. By the second run through, I was in heaven.

Not only was the sax right there and just right, everything was perfect from the brushes to the double bass. This is a major improvement to my system. And the music doesn't beam at me anymore. Even though I'm using front horns, if I close my eyes I can't place the speakers anymore. I guess before, either the fact that the crossover was passive did something bad or just the high pass getting in the way of the Lowthers messed with the music. But it also sounds so much better than the Lowthers alone.

Without putting any meters on it, I knew I was getting lots of bass because the pads of my thumbs vibrated when the double bass was plucked. That was the only way I knew to turn the Quickie volume down a little. There is no booming whatsoever. I guess what I'm trying to say in my tired way is that there is nothing out of proportion in the music. It's just all there. Musical and clear. Turn up the volume and it gets bigger. And it sounds like one speaker.

I kept turning the main volume lower. When using the passive crossover, I had the volume set at about 1 o'clock, now it's down about 8. At first I thought it was just because I no longer have the 3.5dB attenuation to the Lowthers. Then I realized that I don't need high volume to hear all the instruments anymore. Even at lower volume, it's all there.

I don't believe that I'll be able to hear any difference with the Hammond chokes. This bass just fills in the bottom, almost invisibly. But I already ordered them, and hey, I've been wrong before. I'll put them on standoffs over the bank of 9V batteries. As you can see from the pics, the top looks pretty clean, whereas what's underneath doesn't. I didn't snip any wires yet. The only clean part of the underside is under the 9V bank, and hopefully next weekend I'll make that side look equally revolting with the Hammonds.

I don't know anyone besides q who might be interested in using the Quickie the way I did. But man, it's definitely worth the effort. For an active crossover, I could see using a pair of Quickies, one for the low pass and another for the high pass, and ripping out the crossover in the speakers.

 

[q]

Wow great post mate
I guess i'll be ordering another Quickie soon
Wish i could take advantage of the latest special offer. But I want to stick with these Spud amps for awhile
q

 

[Grainger49]

I hope this pic comes through. It's 128K worth of my original sketch.

Guess I should point out that you must leave the high-pass section in if you want to retain the 500 ohm impedance as presented to the source (Quickie). You don't have to use it - go ahead and take the output to the fullrange in parallel with the input. But the highpass section acts like a Zobel to keep the impedance of the whole crossover constant.

As shown, the lowpass 500 ohm load will pull the Quickie output down about 3-4dB in the bass, but unload it above the crossover for full output. So there will be a modest shelving filter going to the fullrange.

A couple of comments.  Bottleheads have been looking for a buffer stage from Doc and PJ for years now.  Looks like there is something in the family that will work as that now.  Great move guys!

Paul, I wondered, and maybe this isn't timely as Len has done it already, when used as a crossover should the high pass section have a dummy load on it rather than being left open?  I just wondered.

And I think it would be good for you, PJ, to have an Avatar.  I'd suggest a picture.  You are quite distinctive.  I mean, you look just like you should.

 

[Paul Joppa]

...  Bottleheads have been looking for a buffer stage from Doc and PJ for years now.  Looks like there is something in the family that will work as that now.  Great move guys!

Paul, I wondered, and maybe this isn't timely as Len has done it already, when used as a crossover should the high pass section have a dummy load on it rather than being left open?  I just wondered.

And I think it would be good for you, PJ, to have an Avatar.  I'd suggest a picture.  You are quite distinctive.  I mean, you look just like you should.

Yeah, the buffer has been difficult. We go back and forth about whether a cathode follower is adequate for a general purpose buffer. Sonically, with shunt regulated power and current source load, they are OK and I don't have any problems there. But while a cathode follower will have a low impedance, it can't drive any more current than the same tube as an amplifier. You need a transformer to provide a current increase - or else a beefy power tube. And in many cases, a buffer would really benefit from having at least a little gain. We've used Foreplays as buffers in some custom applications.

There are a wide variety of crossover circuits, so it is impractical to generalize. If the crossover is a constant-impedance type, then all the sections must be properly terminated to maintain the constant impedance. I think that's the case for this particular example. I hope to put some attention into this area eventually, but there are still a bunch of projects before it in the pipeline.

Thanks for the compliment (I think...); I'll look into the avatar thing. But I don't look like you think I do any more - I cut my hair and shaved off the beard a few months ago. Most of my recent pictures are from dance - you don't really want to see me in tights!