red pill sanctuary
Seasoned Member
Today's misguidance is tomorrow's future!
Posts: 145
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Hey there mrchipster, thanks for the very nice reply!
At least you didn't place any pressure upon me Anyway, let me place a bit of input here regarding your inquiry made with some well respected questions.
Now as far as my skill and craftsmanship are concerned, I am very disciplined in my endeavors. I always place as much of my self into my projects as one could ever imagine. I like taking things to extreme measures. I also like to try things outside of the proverbial "box". I have always been a believer in doing things as well as one can do, and if that fails, keep learning and keep pushing forward. That just seems to be a good strong relationship with life, and it always seems to work well for me.
I am sure that my upbringing had something to do with that. I came from a generation of those that have the passion to seek knowledge concerning things of great interest. When I was a kid, (the 60's), I remember being on our land out in the countryside. It was common for Air Force fighter aircraft to do low level passes across our farm. I now know that these included 107 Star-fighters, F-102 Delta Dagger's, and later on, A7 Corsair II. This observation ignited a passion within me to one day become a fighter pilot, something I desired more than anything as a result of those exhilarating flyovers. The incredible shock waves as these jets streaked through the skies was something I could have never imagined without actually experiencing it.
That was a glorious decade with the developing space missions unfolding. Experience transcends our knowledge straightforward into an admirable level of execution within our future. The Mercury missions leading up to the Apollo program became an extreme inspiration to Americans of that time period. I was always fascinated by technology and what was possible in the future.
Long story short, I was never allowed that opportunity to reach for the goal of being in control of those fascinating aircraft as my eyesight was below standards with strict denial of corrective lenses at that time. So that ended my dream as it became very clear this was not going to happen. I would have at least liked the opportunity to try. The washout rate is high, and many can't hack it. Very demanding both physically and mentally, not to mention the skills which must be acquired. A bachelor's degree is required just to get into OTS, (have to graduate as an officer first) then flight school....damn if that isn't a journey within itself!
I remember being offered a chance to transfer into the army as a warrant officer if I passed combat helicopter training. The Army was needing to fill a shortage of chopper pilots, therefore scouting for candidates. Again, washout rate high, very difficult program to succeed in, and of course, flying a military helicopter is no easy task. The downside, if washed out of flight training, I am stuck in the army, and not for what I was hoping to achieve. NO WAY was I going to risk that. I recall being stationed in Korea back in the early 80's, we were located very close to the DMZ. The army would occasionally land on our base with swarms of Bell attack Cobra's. That was a sight to behold and get swept up in. With the newly advanced Boeing AH-64 Apache, how could one not entertain the idea of being in control of that firepower! Sure, it sounded like an interesting offer, but the stakes were high and I had to say no.
Anyway, my proud heritage as an American and to the country I served to protect, led me to the choice of serving the USAF because my family served, and it was my duty to do the same. Going back to my fascination with military fighter jets, I knew that I wanted to be involved with them technically since I was never going to have the chance of flight status, at least not as a pilot. I continued for almost nine years of active duty service learning and experiencing as much as I possibly could about aviation. It was a thrilling experience to be part of that. With a very specialized background and a high level security clearance, this provided a very interesting path into my civilian future. I will always have that state of mind. That is not something which can be erased after years of disciplined dedication to service. To have experienced first hand and up close highly sensitive projects such as the SR71 blackbird during the early 80's, and where this led up to future technology, very much summed up an achievement for which I am very honored to have been part of. This would have never happened had I never followed my dream as a young kid.
Even though I did not take the exact path of my childhood dream, I found a way to live that experience in an alternative way that was close enough to feel connected.
I suppose in some sense of the way, this seems to be a completely elaborate tangent off the path to relevance here, but I think it does form a pattern of what makes me think the way I do, and what force guides me with the inspiration to make something of interest happen. Why talk about it when I can actually make a difference. We all can if we take the initiative to follow through with what we desire.
Man, did I really just put you through all of that! Sorry, this is what happens when I get to thinking, and memories flash back as if they just occurred. I do think it helps for you to relate to who I am, and what drives me within endeavors such as acoustics.
Okay, enough of life history, let's move forward with what motivated me to take interest in acoustics.
Alright, back on track to your inquiry. I can look back to my journey involving the science of acoustics and why this field intrigued me into an inspirational lesson of the world around me. Actually, I had my first bizarre audio experience back in 1986 when I was stationed in Iceland (The 57 F.I.S. fighter interceptor squadron, the Black Knights), was that ever a fun time!
So imagine this, we have small rooms that are shared by two individuals. Not much space there, bunk beds, side closets, and some space for sitting inside of the room. That sounds horrific for a space that one would want to enjoy listening to a stereo. This is why there is actual significance to this situation. I had my studio grade Akai 747 DBX type 1 reel to reel, my dual carver M-1.0t amps bridged mono, the carver 4000t Sonic Holography Auto-Correllation Preamplifier, and the Carver CD player all in this room. Believe it or not, I had double stacked Acoustic Research AR 98-LS speakers sitting up from the floor with stands against the back wall between the bunk beds and the closets. I also had the DBX RTA (real time analysis)10/20 computerized graphic equalizer and room analyzer with a pink noise generator and calibrated microphone to set the rooms best response curve. That was quite the system for the day!
So after setting the response curve to as "optimal as possible" with the pink noise generator, and utilizing the Sonic Holographic Setting on the 4000t, I recall something that simply stunned me as I had never experienced anything like what was about to happen, ( I can assure you that this was the result of these two units creating this magic). Some recordings have special effects placed into them from the mastering process which can have strange phasing upon playback as intended by the technician, this creating a three dimensional illusion. The soundtrack I am about to play I have heard many times on other systems. I can assure you that this track never sounded anything like this. I played The Eurythmics track : Like A Ball And Chain. During this song, a huge trail of wind surges through the air as an imaginary "ball" going in complete circles around my head, with a distance which seemed to extend way beyond the limits of the room. This really took my senses and shook them up a bit. I just could not believe what I just heard. It really seemed as if this ball was going completely around my head. I think I even looked around as if I expected the ball to be real. The three dimensional illusion was very real!
Now mind you, this took place in a very small room which should sound like total garbage acoustically. Normally, that would have been the case, but the RTA saved the day with real time monitoring and response calibration.
Hint, that alone should relate to some sort of significance as to why room size is not always the deciding factor in acoustic perception of a larger space.
A couple of other prime examples which many audiophiles relate to are two recordings by Pink Floyd. The Dark Side Of The Moon, and my favorite, Wish You Were Here. Oh, it gets really good here! As a prelude to "Time", there are two rows of various clocks set within the soundtrack. Any fan knows what I am referring to. Usually, this sounds just like a direct two dimensional spread in front of the listener. What I experience is much different, and far more interesting.
I am sure that the recording engineer ( I believe that was Alan Parsons), intended for this spacey floating effect of the clocks ticking, and alarms going off throughout the listening space to be realized within a wide dimensional aspect, but most systems do not actually convey this special effect. For the system I was hearing this on now, things were about to change radically for me in how this was about to unfold in a whole new dimension. With my eyes closed as to not allow my perception of sight to influence my perception of time and space, I let this illusion unfold around me as if I had just discovered something completely beyond comprehension.
These were no longer two direct rows of clocks spaced in close proximity. Now, these clocks with pinpoint accuracy and sense of complete reality just began to float around me, as if some were stationary in high corners of the room, others as if in the middle, and then those that seemed to drift all in between, and also beyond to what seemed to the far rear sides of my head. The sound of the gears turning, the ticking of time, and the mesmerizing chime of the alarms going off in unison. Yeah, it really did take me to a much higher level of audio experience. I certainly was baffled as to how this was possible in such a small room, regardless of the electronic enhancements being utilized. Then came that fantastic intro of "Welcome To The Machine" on the Wish You Were Here album. An EMS VCS3 synthesizer was used to create these effects which just lure you into the image of being there on this imaginary journey. The corridors of air lock doors as you would be lured through from one corridor to another is very convincing if you hear it the way it was intended to be heard. You definitely need a system capable of very low frequency response and a healthy supply of power to appreciate this title.
So into the future, back in the USA around 1989, I separated from the military and was now a civilian again. I decided to sell some of my gear for some extra cash to start over again. Unfortunately that decision included the DBX RTA and my superb Akai 747 reel to reel which I still regret today. I did purchase a new set of Carver "Amazing Loudspeakers" in the late 80's.
(A two-way hybrid with a ribbon operating full-range above about 100Hz, and a dipole bass system featuring four 12" woofers in a finite baffle loading. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Sensitivity: 88dB/1W/1m. Maximum SPL: 113dB symphonic music, 110dB rock music.)
I continued to drive these with the twin M-1.0t amps bridged mono, and the 4000t holographic pre-amp. These giant dipole speakers laid back at a 5 degree rake, sounded very open and detailed. Even though I had sold the very piece of equipment which really made the three dimensional perception the most revealing, I was still getting a robust three dimensional spread from these large baffle speakers. As you can imagine from the low sensitivity rating, these demanded very large reserves of power to drive. When that power was delivered, these really hit hard with the low frequency content. Of course the huge array of ribbon elements is what made these speakers sound very good. With this new system, I still brought out some very interesting information from the music in three dimensional space, but never like I experienced with the real time analyzer.
So I accepted things as they were at that time and let it be. I was now building up a decent home theater system so there were some new toys being introduced for that purpose. I had a set of small NHT speakers on pedestals used for the front mains.
Now one day, I decided to experiment in a larger open room. I wanted to utilize the old solid barrier technique with the speakers placed directly on each side of this solid barrier (3/4 inch plywood or MDF). This technique was used to reveal how ambio-phonics worked and sounded in binaural fashion. This separates and removes the unwanted binaural cross-talk from the speakers, therefore eliminating the ear-brain confusion one gets with this detrimental flaw in a normal stereo configuration of the loudspeakers. Now this is only intended as an experiment to provide the listener with what happens when this binaural cross-talk is removed from the speakers. I certainly would not take to listening like this all of the time, as nobody would. Due to the fact that you must have your nose directly at the edge of the barrier to be able to perceive this effect in full form is the only reason necessary to know that this form of listening is not practical or even remotely warranted as a sane thing to do. I could just imagine my wife walking in and seeing me do that. Pretty sure she would be convinced that I have lost it! But what happens as a result is simply mesmerizing, the truth reveals itself, and for the first time, you actually experience what has been suppressed within the music on normal stereo playback. The audio truth had set me free, and I knew this was a newer level of standard that I must achieve if I am ever going to be satisfied with my listening experience using a stereo set of speakers again.
So in this experiment, I simply had the speakers, the barrier, and for amplification, I used my Sunfire Signature Grand 5.1 surround amp in stereo mode. During this time period, I had a set of Decware SET mono-blocks with the radial speakers, a Teres turntable, and a ARCAM Alpha 9 CD player with the Ring DAC. I can assure you that even though that combination sounded very nice, it simply was not producing the effect I required from a system. I knew that huge tailoring of room acoustics was the only hope of doing so.
This story continues on...I shall have to post again to proceed. Sorry for going off the deep end...very typical of my story telling.
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