My Father's Continuing Saga........

Gepetto · Jul 11, 2014

At about 0.45uH per foot for 16AWG a 20 foot pair would have less than 18uH total which will start affecting the signal at about 70KHz into 8 ohms.

Not much to worry about there.

premiumplus · Jul 11, 2014

Gepetto said:

Yep, I think resistance is the primary quality that's of concern for a speaker wire.

Phase Linear Phanatic · Jul 12, 2014

Gepetto said:

At 70kHZ? I don't even think if dogs listened to music; that they'd notice the affect.

Thanks for the advice. That's a pretty good idea with the extension cord thing there Dave. Great jacketing and your + and - wrapped up nicely going to the speaker. I never thought of that? Instead of eight wires running all scraggly along his floor, you can have four nice heavy cords that lay straight.

I shall employ this suggestion to my father and see what he thinks! I love this forum. :thumbleft:

orange · Jul 12, 2014

Nipper wasn't listening to his master's voice, it was the horrid inner groove distortion...

laatsch55 · Jul 20, 2014

orange said:

That's funny shit right there, I don't care who ya are...

laatsch55 · Jul 20, 2014

premiumplus said:

For speaker wire I look for a few simple things.
1.) Low resistance per foot.
2.) Needs to be fairly flexible.
3.) Capacitance and Inductance should also be low, but (and here is where opinions get wild) they are not of great significance at audio frequencies and at the typical lengths we use in our stereos.

Right now I am using some 12 gauge electrical extension cords that I got at a hardware store. Pure copper, nicely jacketed, and flexible for their size. I think that any good copper wire that is heavy enough will do a great job for speakers...and if you like I'll look up a white paper written by one of the principle designers at MacIntosh Laboratories that pretty much blows away the "boutique" wire industry.
If you've got good connectors and quality wire, you're good to go. The law of diminishing returns applies very well to this topic!

I have HUNDREDS of feet of 10/3 sjow cord from a yard cleaning.....how much ya need...pay postage....

Phase Linear Phanatic · Aug 10, 2014

laatsch55 said:

I haven't been on in a while. My apologies. Been very busy at work wiring this stuff. And no I'm not allowed to take home any of the wire in any "usable" length. :sad1:

Lee, that's INCREDIBLY generous of you!! How about I start by asking "how much ya got"?

laatsch55 · Aug 10, 2014

I could get you 100 fet easily, then I'd have to check after that. We've been using some.. It's actually 10/4 SJOW

laatsch55 · Aug 10, 2014

Any panels for the oilfie;ld yet?/

laatsch55 · Aug 14, 2014

Dave....how much 10/4 Sjow do you need...??? With 4 conductors you can make 2 runs with one cable...

Phase Linear Phanatic · Aug 29, 2014

Lee; once again my sincere apologies. Seven days a week. Work's been kicking my arse! I haven't been on in a while.

I will take the 100ft. friend. Let me know the postage, and I shall pay you. Send me a P.M. with the details. And 4-conductor is even better!

And No, nothing for the oil fields. That trailer I mentioned? One day it was gone. And I asked around what happened. Some fellow co-workers said; "the engineers couldn't figure out how to make it work". I'm thinking that was a snide jest at the engineers, and it was more to it than that, but I think it was "supposed" to be some sort of trailer we built panels into and then wired them. From total concept to fab-to wiring-to delivery. Some how I think the scope of work and time frame turn around that was being asked; didn't pan out. That's more likely to me. As in; "once we crunched the numbers and saw reality.........we decided nope"!

I didn't ask any actual engineers the real reason. It's just been so busy, they don't let me poo! :laughing5:

Again, thanks for the wiring! Props to you!!

-PLP

Phase Linear Phanatic · Aug 31, 2014

Visited my Dad for the holiday. He's putting the hold on the speaker wire. I mentioned the wire from Lee but he said he didn't want any "specialty goofy wire". He just wants to go to lowes and buy "plain ol' standard 12awg lamp cord wire". "It's plenty fine." He's a stubborn one!

He also wants to investigate into obtaining a Carver m1.5t. See what it sounds like. I know I haven't seen people here have the m500t but I have seen several posts about the m1.5t. I wonder if it's even WORTH it? I don't have any first hand experience with that model. This guy needs to make up his mind!

:roll:

If he wasn't my dad.............................................

jbeckva · Aug 31, 2014

Phase Linear Phanatic said:

Visited my Dad for the holiday. He's putting the hold on the speaker wire. I mentioned the wire from Lee but he said he didn't want any "specialty goofy wire". He just wants to go to lowes and buy "plain ol' standard 12awg lamp cord wire". "It's plenty fine." He's a stubborn one!

He also wants to investigate into obtaining a Carver m1.5t. See what it sounds like. I know I haven't seen people here have the m500t but I have seen several posts about the m1.5t. I wonder if it's even WORTH it? I don't have any first hand experience with that model. This guy needs to make up his mind!

:roll:

If he wasn't my dad.............................................

Still got that one m1.5t I ditched for a WOPL... Not the one for Ron, but another one. Collecting dust bunnies... :wave:

Phase Linear Phanatic · Sep 1, 2014

jbeckva said:

What's your personal take on it Jer? Positives?.............Negatives?..........Worth a s&^!? Wanna release her for a trial run for Mr. Stubb..........uh, I mean my father? :toothy9:

I'll take any feedback I can get on that model.

jbeckva · Sep 1, 2014

Phase Linear Phanatic said:

Man I dunno... The Carver does have a (very) faint buzz because of the design, and to be honest I think Blacky had some issues .. at least when I got er back from ya. Speaking of Blackie HEY CJ.. ya got that dang amp UP yet?? LOL..

I should pull it out of mothballs and see what I got.. hmmm...

CASSETTE DECK · Sep 1, 2014

jbeckva said:

Yes, I tested it for the first time last week It was absolutely fine sounding, no issues, but I had to be very careful because my speakers and crossovers will need to be upgraded to handle the full power continuously. I'm going to be testing the Blackie WOPL 500 amplifier again with another pair of higher power speakers, in the garage very soon. It will be a while before I can set up the WOPL 500 amplifier permanently with my main stereo system. I will have to wait for my new workshop to be built before I can do any serious electronic work or set up any high power electronic equipment. I'm very short of space at the moment.

jbeckva · Sep 1, 2014

That's great.. wow.. ole Blackey halfway 'cross the globe, in New Zealand. That's awesome.. hehe.

Well when ya get a chance to set 'er all up, let's hear it mate! :glasses1:

CASSETTE DECK · Sep 1, 2014

jbeckva said:

I will let everyone know how the second test goes fairly soon.

I'm going to leave the front panel black, That's what I prefer.
I will be making a light-up display to be mounted between the light-up meters.

Later on I will be installing large DC fans and a temperature sensitive Pulse Width Modulated speed controller of my own design to keep the operating temperature relatively constant. It's not a good idea to fan-cool amplifiers any more than necessary.

Phase Linear Phanatic · Sep 6, 2014

jbeckva said:

To clarify........there are TWO amps you call blackie? Blacky with a "y" refers to the faceplate you swapped to yours right? And that's the one you sent me. And Actual blackie with an "ie" refers to the amp you rebuilt and is being discussed with Cassette deck here in this thread right?

On the one you sent me with the black faceplate; nothing was done to it except hooking it up properly for five minutes to my dads speakers and unhooking it and shipping it back? Aside from the meters laying loose inside the amp which I siliconed into place based on our discussions, the internals never got touched? So as to "having some issues when you got it back from me"...........I'm not sure what you are insinuating there?

Agreed on the buzzing. The carver amps ALL have a faint buzz in my experience. The four M500t's I have do, and from what I read on the carver site its normal. Also read up on the design in the original 1980's brochure and manuals I also have. It has something to do with the magnetic field coil design. The faint buzzing is typical it seems. But I understand if you are hesitant to let it go.

All I want are some opinions on the amplifiers fidelity, sound, design and performance. Anyone?....................

Gepetto · Sep 6, 2014

Phase Linear Phanatic said:

To clarify........there are TWO amps you call blackie? Blacky with a "y" refers to the faceplate you swapped to yours right? And that's the one you sent me. And Actual blackie with an "ie" refers to the amp you rebuilt and is being discussed with Cassette deck here in this thread right?

On the one you sent me with the black faceplate; nothing was done to it except hooking it up properly for five minutes to my dads speakers and unhooking it and shipping it back? Aside from the meters laying loose inside the amp which I siliconed into place based on our discussions, the internals never got touched? So as to "having some issues when you got it back from me"...........I'm not sure what you are insinuating there?

Agreed on the buzzing. The carver amps ALL have a faint buzz in my experience. The four M500t's I have do, and from what I read on the carver site its normal. Also read up on the design in the original 1980's brochure and manuals I also have. It has something to do with the magnetic field coil design. The faint buzzing is typical it seems. But I understand if you are hesitant to let it go.

All I want are some opinions on the amplifiers fidelity, sound, design and performance. Anyone?....................

I am quite sure you will find the origin of the slight buzzing in this statement below from the service manual (underscoring triac controlled primary).

My Father's Continuing Saga........

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