Gentle reader,
Just yesterday morning, September 24, 2017, I posted the following article:
What can one do with a single speaker? Why not make a monophonic system! Mono? Sure Mono LP records!
WHILE it appears that the speaker is tilted to the right, it is not. It's a result of using a wide angle lens. When I first took photos and then looked at them, I thought that it was tilted. So, I pried the speaker off and checked with a level. It IS level. When the speaker is pointed straight ahead, it does not look so tilted.
I have two and they were originally bought to hold the BOSE 301 speakers my wife bought for me. The image below is from 2010. You can see the "umbilical cord" speaker cables. My wife came up with that moniker. The big speakers are DCM models with 12" woofers. I don't recall the model number.
The photo below was taken without flash because with flash, many components are too bright in some parts and too dark in others. Thus, the "photoshopping" of the image to lighten it has digital noise. Nonetheless, as shown in both photos above, I chose to position the PROTON D540 beneath the wider Dynaco Stereo 200 amp for the simple reason that the ST-200 amp's left channel gets warmer than the right, thus the muffin fan. Plus, the speaker switch is semi-permanently attached to the amp with Blu Tack. So, even though it is wider than the D540, it needs to be on top.
BEFORE I GO FURTHER, THE SOUND is MUCH better than the previous setup. To begin with, I rooted through my wiring drawer and pulled out a section of plain-old lamp cord. Sometimes called zip-cord. About six feet long. For the D540's end I simply stripped it about 1/2 an inch The Nakamichi "bent pin" plugs, while of great quality, stick up above the back of the D540, so I did not use them. The D540's speaker terminals are not banana plug capable. The speaker's end of the cord has a pair of Nakamichi banana plugs.
There are many that strongly feel and have even done double-blind testing to prove to themselves, that there can be no improvement in the sound of music by replacing inexpensive wires and cables with aftermarket "audiophile" versions. Some have stated to me that they use solid core house wiring, the kind that's inside the walls and ceilings of your house, as speaker wire. That is of course their choice. If they think that is the way to go. More power to them.
In the case of my recreated 1976 stereo and now this mono-only offshoot, I have had to use what I feel are inferior cabling. Yet, it does not sound bad! In the stereo, I am using top-of-the-line Monster Cable Z-Series speaker cables. I KNOW they sound better than almost anything I have tried over the decades.
Yet the prime example here, I proved to myself with the twisted pair Monster Cable twisted-pair speaker wire, sounded lousy. And the simple lamp-cord wires do not.Who knew?
This photo is a stark contrast in signal carrying choices. The thick, braided THX Certified interconnect cables which tie the PROTON 1100 preamplifier to the Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier are within inches of the simple lamp cord that I am using from the PROTON D540 to the solo Dynaco A25 speaker in this monophonic subsystem.
In my task to neatly incorporate the mono amplifier into the already crowded shelves I decided to try something different. At first, as stated in the previous post, I took the signal from the Dynaco PAT-5 preamp (the silver one) OUTPUT 2 terminals to the CD (marked DAD, Digital Audio Disc) inputs of the D540. For this iteration, I decided to take it from the TAPE 2 outputs to the DAD inputs. My thinking was this: the PAT-5 simply converts the weak signal from the turntable and amplifies it to be passed to a power amplifier. Using the tape-outs bypasses any adjustable amplification and/or modification by the PAT-5's controls. This eliminates the volume, balance and tone controls. Thus allowing the D540 to use it's own controls and circuits. In other words, the PAT-5 is a straight wire with gain. The signal from TAPE OUT is of a constant level of volume.
You may be thinking, "Why doesn't he take the cable from the turntable and hook it directly to the D540?" I thought about that, but that would entail reaching around the back of the PAT-5, unplugging the cable by feel, threading it up to the phono inputs on the D540 every time I wanted to play a mono record. Not practical. Plus, I don't have room for yet another turntable.
I mentioned "shorting" plugs, sometimes called "dummy" plugs. Those are the objects plugged into the Phono inputs on the D540. You can see clearly the "cheap" RCA wires here as well.
This photo also contrasts the cheap RCA wires and the when-new expensive Liberty Cable RCA cables. Note also the PANGEA AC-14 power cable that supplies AC power to the Dynaco Stereo 200 power amp. PANGEA products are excellent upgrade items for a tiny fraction of the competition's costs. They perform well and have rave customer reviews.
I've written, in the past, about the connection between NAD, PROTON and the Panor-era Dynaco components as having all been made in the same Taiwanese factory. And that in at least one case and probably more, that certain components were sold with the same model number with either the PROTON or Dynaco nameplate. Look at the two serial number stickers and how the unit's name/number is the beginning of both serial numbers. The fonts are the same and both stickers are yellow. One appears lighter, but they are the same yellow. Coincidence? I think not.
The following photos are shots that show some of my established ways of connecting everything and the choices of cables. The first photo shows what the Legend LE412 speaker switch looks like from the rear. I made changes to it. Originally, all the terminals were like the ones beneath the "Amplifier" label. Note that "R" is on top and "L" below. Well, the terminals, top-to-bottom are the industry standard 3/4" apart to allow use of "double banana" plugs. I rearranged all the wiring and plugs years ago so that red was on top and black on the bottom. Note the double banana plugs in the amplifier inputs. Well, over time and my constantly trying different things, the inexpensive three-way banana-binding posts, that the Legend people chose started breaking. In the past, I replaced them with heavier duty ones. As you can see. Their plastic knobs were to thick to be so close to each other, so I had to make them smaller in diameter. Looks lousy, but it works.
The grey speaker cables are part of the Monster Cable M-Series. This particular series had no markings for polarity. Red Sharpie to the rescue.
Above and closer in the shot below, shows the details of the rear of the Southwest Technical Products Company compact stereo power amplifier. See how they used "phone" (mono headphone/microphone) terminals for the speaker cables? Someone replaced the factory AC cord with the white one in the past, too. Again, the contrast in size of the cheap RCA wires at the left and the thick Liberty ones at the right. Yet both do the same job.
I should have properly made new cables using the shiny phone plugs soldered directly on the M-C Z Series speaker cables that send the amplified signals from the SWTPC amp to the speaker INPUTS on the PAT-5. But, I was in a hurry to get it together and simply crimp-spiced the two pairs of cables together. I will correct that in the future.
To take the strain off the phone plugs above and the PAT-5's plugs on the bottom, I decided to support the loops of heavy cabling as you can see with a loop of Velcro-type binding wrap over the framework of the shelves.
You can see the difference between the well made, attractive and grippy Nakamichi banana plugs and the much simpler (and insulated!) banana plugs from Parts Express. Why Nakamichi chose to make what is normally insulated covering for banana plugs out of metal, I do not know. I found out they are all metal when one channel cut out and I found two Nakamichi plug bodies had briefly touched. Fortunately, the Stereo 200 has high speed circuit breakers that reset themselves after such incidents. I believe the Dynaco PAT-5 is the only preamplifier made to incorporate speaker terminals and switching into a preamplifier.
A NUMBER OF readers have brought up the question of why I would bother to set up a strictly monophonic system when I can listen to them through two speakers.
Well, I have over 2000 LP records and a few ten inch and 7 inch ones too. OF that number, over 400 are monophonic. The majority of my Big Band records are mono. Thinks about it, stereo was not commercially available until the late 1950's. So, until then and much later for most people, music coming out of ONE speaker is all those people knew.
Today, I was picking out Big Band records and listening to them through that one A25 speaker. I was getting into the spirit of the times when that wonderful music was what SO many people listened to.
So, that is why.
Well, that's it for now. The weekend is over so back to work on redoing the kitchen.
Thanks for looking,
Scott
There are many that strongly feel and have even done double-blind testing to prove to themselves, that there can be no improvement in the sound of music by replacing inexpensive wires and cables with aftermarket "audiophile" versions. Some have stated to me that they use solid core house wiring, the kind that's inside the walls and ceilings of your house, as speaker wire. That is of course their choice. If they think that is the way to go. More power to them.
In the case of my recreated 1976 stereo and now this mono-only offshoot, I have had to use what I feel are inferior cabling. Yet, it does not sound bad! In the stereo, I am using top-of-the-line Monster Cable Z-Series speaker cables. I KNOW they sound better than almost anything I have tried over the decades.
Yet the prime example here, I proved to myself with the twisted pair Monster Cable twisted-pair speaker wire, sounded lousy. And the simple lamp-cord wires do not.Who knew?
In my task to neatly incorporate the mono amplifier into the already crowded shelves I decided to try something different. At first, as stated in the previous post, I took the signal from the Dynaco PAT-5 preamp (the silver one) OUTPUT 2 terminals to the CD (marked DAD, Digital Audio Disc) inputs of the D540. For this iteration, I decided to take it from the TAPE 2 outputs to the DAD inputs. My thinking was this: the PAT-5 simply converts the weak signal from the turntable and amplifies it to be passed to a power amplifier. Using the tape-outs bypasses any adjustable amplification and/or modification by the PAT-5's controls. This eliminates the volume, balance and tone controls. Thus allowing the D540 to use it's own controls and circuits. In other words, the PAT-5 is a straight wire with gain. The signal from TAPE OUT is of a constant level of volume.
You may be thinking, "Why doesn't he take the cable from the turntable and hook it directly to the D540?" I thought about that, but that would entail reaching around the back of the PAT-5, unplugging the cable by feel, threading it up to the phono inputs on the D540 every time I wanted to play a mono record. Not practical. Plus, I don't have room for yet another turntable.
I've written, in the past, about the connection between NAD, PROTON and the Panor-era Dynaco components as having all been made in the same Taiwanese factory. And that in at least one case and probably more, that certain components were sold with the same model number with either the PROTON or Dynaco nameplate. Look at the two serial number stickers and how the unit's name/number is the beginning of both serial numbers. The fonts are the same and both stickers are yellow. One appears lighter, but they are the same yellow. Coincidence? I think not.
The following photos are shots that show some of my established ways of connecting everything and the choices of cables. The first photo shows what the Legend LE412 speaker switch looks like from the rear. I made changes to it. Originally, all the terminals were like the ones beneath the "Amplifier" label. Note that "R" is on top and "L" below. Well, the terminals, top-to-bottom are the industry standard 3/4" apart to allow use of "double banana" plugs. I rearranged all the wiring and plugs years ago so that red was on top and black on the bottom. Note the double banana plugs in the amplifier inputs. Well, over time and my constantly trying different things, the inexpensive three-way banana-binding posts, that the Legend people chose started breaking. In the past, I replaced them with heavier duty ones. As you can see. Their plastic knobs were to thick to be so close to each other, so I had to make them smaller in diameter. Looks lousy, but it works.
The grey speaker cables are part of the Monster Cable M-Series. This particular series had no markings for polarity. Red Sharpie to the rescue.
Above is a very clear shot of the rear of the PAT-5 and the cheap RCA wiring. It is patently obvious just how close together the RCA terminals are in this shot.
A NUMBER OF readers have brought up the question of why I would bother to set up a strictly monophonic system when I can listen to them through two speakers.
Well, I have over 2000 LP records and a few ten inch and 7 inch ones too. OF that number, over 400 are monophonic. The majority of my Big Band records are mono. Thinks about it, stereo was not commercially available until the late 1950's. So, until then and much later for most people, music coming out of ONE speaker is all those people knew.
Today, I was picking out Big Band records and listening to them through that one A25 speaker. I was getting into the spirit of the times when that wonderful music was what SO many people listened to.
So, that is why.
Well, that's it for now. The weekend is over so back to work on redoing the kitchen.
Thanks for looking,
Scott
No comments:
Post a Comment