Kevin's "I Want a Phase Linear 700 B White Oaked" thread

[NavLinear]

Wow - I finally got through the entire thread. Fantastic job Lee. This gave me a woody but the wife is asleep - I'll be right back..........................................ok I'm back.

I still have to know what analyzer you used for the measurements you took (SNR, Freq Response, ect...) as I do love test equipment! I have been around test equipment most of my life but never equipment designed specificly for audio. Most of the equipment I have at home and work will work for audio but I'm excited to learn a little more about what works in the audio arena.

I must say this was a well documented thread with the photos, plots and good text to explain what was transpiring at the time. I must admit it was a joy to read - thanks to all that participated.

I'm happy this site was recommended to me - thanks again Joe and thanks Lee for a well documented and informative thread.

Dennis

 

[laatsch55]

First of all you need some kudos for making it through this whole thing, that in itself was an accomplishment!! We do things a little different here. We go off on tangents and unrelated stuff, but it keeps things going. Thank you for recognizing the extra effort it takes to document one of these conversions.
If you love test equipment you'd love the AP>

 

[ksrigg]

If I'm reading Kevin right, he intends to drive the pair of Linus Arrays with the WOPL 1000. Each Linus Array has 12 mid drivers (MCM Part#55-1855),

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/55-1855

4 YAG Planar Tweeters (Parts Express Part #275-085)

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=275-085

and 2 Hi-Vi Planar Tweeters (can't find them available anywhere)--The Hi-Vi Planars are located in the center of the tweeter array.

If my math is right each tower is rated to take about 1000 watts RMS continuous and probably around 2000 watts peak, so I think Kevin and I will both be alright running them with a WOPL 1000 and probably bi-amping with the WOPL 1000 on the mid-woofers and a WOPL 550 on the tweeters. I'm sure the Arrays will be pushed to their limits, and I'm sure there will be some upcoming reviews..

 

[kevin]

Yea yall !!!! What he said !!!

 

[laatsch55]

And that is one I can't wait to hear.

 

[NavLinear]

That is one serious piece of test equipment. I did some researching on the internet and you have one of the finest - nice job. I'm assuming that the thick binder is the manual - it looks like about the right ammount of reading material. You'll have days and weeks of fun with that - if not a lifetime. I've seen audio specific test equipement that could perform a subset of the tests the AP ATS-1 does but this one is sweet - I'm impressed.

Is the hard copy generated via a printer port or some sort of serial port? The plotted results are typically easier to interput - as a table of numbers takes more time to see the trend at least for me.

The frequency response curve delta of the before and after the WO mods is incredible. It looked as if someone took a straight edge to engineering paper and drew a line. I can't beleive how linear the system is now. Good job Lee and Joe and anyone else that contributed. The low end must sound dramaticly different. Amazing!

 

[laatsch55]

It ha a DB-25 printer port and supports IBM and HP platforms. The drawback? had to buy an 8 year old HP 2300 Jet printer.
The low end response is what finally relegated my Spec 2's to back up duty, it's THAT GOOD. In fact I've stated the WOPL 1000's are like a Spec 2 on steroids.

 

[jbeckva]

I'm sure there will be some upcoming reviews..

And the "fuzz" called too. Most excellent!

 

[ksrigg]

Just saw this...in Absolute Sound..The Ten Most Significant Amplifiers of All Time..
And the Phase Linear 700/400 is listed in the top three...thought you might get a kick out of this...

http://www.avguide.com/review/the-ten-m ... s-all-time

 

[ksrigg]

Anybody have this review? I'd love to know how these legendary monsters compared..back in the day...and then how they would stack up against the White Oaked version of the same amp today.....WOW !!!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Super-Ampl ... 2ebcd6b712

 

[speakerman1]

I know where there is a pr. of line arrays with 15" subs built in. Epiphany 20/21s. Rosewood. 9000.00

Larry

 

[ksrigg]

That's what you need Larry. A pair of big line arrys. You can put the PL 700B on the woofers and the Cary tubes on the top end. You would never come out of your stereo den ever again...

 

[laatsch55]

Having a hard time unhooking this 700 to box up.Sounds better as time goes on.


QAUESTION!!!!!!?????" How valid is the held belief that certain "Audio Grade" caps have a break in period whereby they sound better after a hundrred hours as opposed to when they are first energized?????

 

[Gepetto]

Valid and measurable.
You can see that when you form an electrolytic cap Lee. Its leakage current will continue to trend downward for a long period of time, weeks. This is the aluminum oxide plating fully forming for its environment and evening out.

 

[laatsch55]

And that affects the sound how???/

 

[Gepetto]

That is the tough and subjective question Lee

...short and opinionated answer. The cap stops acting like a resistor in parallel with the capacitor and starts acting more like an ideal capacitor after the burn in period.

At end of life, this will go the other way too.

 

[laatsch55]

So it's measurable and valid, but when it comes to the ear it's still subjective and opinionated,-------HMMMMMMMMm-------- It's a strange, stgrange world we live in Master jack------

 

[Gepetto]

Kinda like the discussions we have about interconnects. Something is there and measurable given equipment with whatever those capabilities are. Most of it is we have our traditional harmonic and intermod distortion measurements but they are likely not adequate for measurement of this type of parameter. The human ear and brain is a complex system that not much is known about even though we think we know a lot about them.

My system sounds better on some days than others. Nothing has changed in my system but something in my ears or brain has. Especially after 420

 

[jbeckva]

My system sounds better on some days than others. Nothing has changed in my system but something in my ears or brain has. Especially after 420

Hear hear (pardon the pun). Whenever I get a hold of something new whether it be an amp, speaker, whatever, my second and third impression is usually more favorable. Kind of like a new Rush album, for me...

 

[soundude]

Thats a good subject to explore, i've encountered sonic changes with my phono and preamp by changing the interconnects, did some tests on this and measurements and pf and resistance were different for each pair, the interconnects act as a r/c network and changes the sound...
I made pair of interconnects with twisted 20ga stranded copper and got the least resistance and pf readings for the purest unaltered sound...doesnt work well with the phono stage though need the full shield to reduce rf interference...