Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitors finished.

The Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitors were finished this week but not without a bunch of extra delicate work.

I choose to use black foam surrounds as I like the look better than the red foam that were original.

The crossover got two new Solen caps in 3.3uf and 4,7uf value. The build quality is pretty good as there is a brace from the front baffle to the rear baffle.

I was all ready to audition these speakers through the tube amp only to find out the right tweeter was non functional. These horn tweeters with the black face are hard to come by and I did not want to buy a silver one from Ebay as they would not match.

I opted to take the horn tweeter apart and carefully remove the old voice coil. I found a donor voice coil from another pair of tweeters kicking around.

It was a very delicate operation to get the two very thin wires from the new voice coil to attach to the leads on the tweeter. Once I got them soldered I used model glue to attach the new voice coil to the diaphragm.
After several attempts I got the tweeter centered and working.

I really like these speakers when paired to the tube amp, I believe the sensitivity is north of 95db @ 1 watt so they sound nice and full when powered by the tubes.

Aesthetically I think they are gorgeous, the bottom end is full and the compression horn tweeters are spot on.

Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitor

These speakers followed me home today, Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitors. I am happy to have another pair of these wonderful speakers that match up very well with my tube amp.

I sold off my Sound Dynamics 10S a while back and kind of regretted it since. I am happy to have an updated pair of the same speakers fall back into the rotation.

Of course this pair will get re foamed with black foams instead of the orange originals as I like the look of the black foams. Also new Solen caps will be put in place along with new speaker terminals.

These 500 Concert Monitors are the later version of the 10S, they still have the 10" woofer and horn loaded tweeter, they come in a mirror image set and the cabinet is just a bit smaller.

I really look forward to listening to these speaker again.

Merak Mk1speaker update

So I have been listening to the Merak's on a pretty constant basis the past week and when hooked to the Creek 4040s2 amp the Merak's sound incredibly deep and full.

As with some speakers I get fatigued listening to them after an hour or so but the Merak's are as smooth as silk. They give a very deep image in where the instruments are laid out in front of you in a very 3 dimensional way and that is what I mean by depth.

The mid range is very smooth and the highs are just perfect without the brashness.

These speakers really do remind me of my Mission 770 Freedom IV's, they are just not as forward in the mid range as the Missions.

Matched with the Creek Merak Mk1's are a great find and a real pleasure to listen to and almost rival my tube amp/Tannoy combo in openness and clarity, and that is very high praise.

JBL L16 Decade finished

It was a bit of work but well worth the effort for this beautiful pair of JBL L16 Decade speakers.

I first hooked them up to a solid state amplifier and thought they sound good but not great, then I connected them to the tube amp and Oh My Goodness..... completely different speaker. These little speakers were meant for tube gear, not as good with the imaging as the Tannoy Oxford Gold.

The 8" JBL 116A woofer is from the same pedigree as the L26 and L100's that use a cast basket and Alnico magnet.

I could not source the proper surrounds locally so I turned to my good friend Audio Dogs Vintage Stereo in Comox for my hard to get parts, Thank you guys for the prompt and expert service.

The woofers where re foamed using a 50 hertz sine wave from my iPhone.

This is a really simple way of re foaming your drivers without cutting to dust cap off and shimming the voice coil, so far I have had a 100% success rate with this method.

The cabinets which were in excellent condition just got a light 220 grit sanding and a coat of Circa 1850 wood oil to bring out the grain richness. the small dimples in the tweeter were pulled out with a pin and re sealed with a dab of glue.

I have been really enjoying this set of JBL L16's through the tube amp, the bass is nice and deep for an8" woofer, the mid range is spot on without the fatigue I got from the JBL L26's that I have had in the past. It is a shame as the the bigger brother L26 gets more press than these speakers do.

I really like these speakers and I have a feeling they will be in the rotation for quite some time, absolutely amazing through the tube amp.....

Single Ended Tube Amp

A little update on the Electrohome tube amp that I recently picked up, first off it is a Single Ended tube amp as opposed to a Push/Pull tube amp. There is a tone of debate on which sounds better and for the price I paid for my amp there is no debate.

The 6BQ5 tubes run around 5.7 watts per channel of pure Class A power, plenty of power for very efficient speakers at a normal to semi loud listening level.

I have run the gauntlet of speakers through this amp and only two pairs really shine and bring out the best in the audio signal and believe me this amp is extremely revealing, open and absolutely clean and clear, so much I hear things I never heard before.

So, which speakers sounded best with this amp?

Tannoy Oxford Gold, hands down winner....

There is something about the horn loaded tweeter that is spot on with this amp. The Oxford Golds are 93db efficient and the 10" woofer rounds out the solid bass perfectly. The tweeters are nearly time aligned with the woofer, so the sound is great. The highs sparkle, the mid range is spot on as if you are in a studio with the musicians and instruments right in front of you, it really is amazing to listen through these speakers. When listening to my audio sources through solid state equipment, the Tannoy's do not shine as well as they do with tubes.

Another great speaker to run with the tube amp is the Sound Dynamics 10S, once again a very efficient speaker at around 96db, the bass is much fuller with the Sound Dynamic but the overall sound is more like you are at an 1000 seat concert room.

The recessed horn loaded tweeter throws out a wider sound stage and is not recording studio precise as the Tannoy's. These speakers are time aligned due to the recess of the tweeter, smooth across the mid range and deep in the bass. Like I said these are like you are at the concert where as the Tannoy's you are in the studio.

I am absolutely  awe struck in what I am currently listening to and feel that I have reached a peak in performance and I will find it hard to top this set up.