DIY valve kit/set up for classical music

btw, what does SET stand for, and push-pull, does that mean anything or is it just a nickname for old valves?
thanks

 

My tuppence worth:

I would certainly start with the speakers and fit the amp to the speakers rather than the other way around. Speakers are, IMHO, more than any other component a matter of personal preference (and room matching) so it is of primary importance to find a pair of speakers to suit you. The rest of the system will follow.

If you are keen on DIY speakers, then I would echo (no pun intended) the vote for Lowther. Alternatively Fostex will give you much the same at a lower cost. Either way, buy the drivers, build the cabinets and Bob's your uncle. There is a lot of gen around on building both Lowther and Fostex speakers on the interweb - Google should suffice.

Alternatively, as you have mentioned that you enjoy the sounds reverberating all around you, I do wonder whether shahinian speakers could be for you - maybe the "shahinian starter". Should be available on the second hand market within budget if you are patient. These are omnidirectional speakers - in laymans terms, rather than firing music at you, they fire music at the room so the effect is of music coming at you from all around. It can be a very nice way to listen to music. These are not especially high sensitivity speakers however, so are probably not so well suited to a DIY valve amp. A good quality second hand transistor amp should provide excellent results within your budget though.

One final thought regarding radio as you have mentioned this as a source and have not had much input on that point so far. My very personal feelings on this are that radio at the moment is in flux (with the switch over from analogue to digital) and that serious money spent on radio is wasted money. My personal recommendation would be to go to eBay and purchase a Leak Troughline 2 or 3 (you will need a proper FM aerial) and use that until analogue radio is no longer broadcast. At that point, hopefully someone has built a decent digital radio and you can upgrade then.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-ended_triode

if u have time on your hands - -

http://homepage.mac.com/tlinespeakers/vaughn/downloads/SE-v-PP-Part1.pdf

 

Omni's really are a ''love or hate'' way to put music into a room, aren't they?

I remember a huge arguement amongst the staff at my local shop (knew them well) over the Castle Harlech when it came out.

It was an equal split between people who loved them, and hated them.

I'm of the ''hate them'' variety (mostly, exceptions are there) but that's just one opinion

Funnily, I think they are suited to classical, so might be worth a listen.

There are a pair of Castle Harlechs here - but VERY expensive for a used pair IMO.... and also a pair of Quad Electrostatics (63's). Tones - the biggest 'classical fan' on the board (probably) swears by these for reproduction of classical music. You wouldnt want to make a pair but can get a pair used circa £700 like these.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...ox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&sa=N&um=1


I love Lowthers, especially in the Acousta cabinet. - they are so direct and energetic.. I could listen to them for hours... but they are not uncoloured so I'm always hesitant to reccomend (one of my favourite speakers)

Here are a pair of Hornings on Ebay which use Lowther driver. I havent heard this model.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/horning-arist...14&_trkparms=72:1690|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

I havent heard any Shahanian speakers yet.

 

Quads

Quads might be an issue in a very large space. I have no problem in a largish room (25'x17'), but it has modern ceilings (ie approx 7') and I'm using Gradient subs to relieve the Quads of low frequencies. Presumably your room in a converted chapel will have a larger floor area and higher ceilings, so you might have problems getting sufficient volume. It would certainly be worth trying some before taking an irrevocable decision.

Although Quads can be bought quite cheaply now, you can spend almost as much again having them overhauled.

Caveats aside, they are great for classical - especially vocal.

 

Caveats aside, they are great for classical - especially vocal.

Quads ROCK! too and can be made to sound totally awesome in most rooms. They are in no way fussy, but to get the best from them will take a bit of time with placing and of course amplification that can handle a moderate to difficult load. Apparently they are excellent with valve amplification. I use mine with two monarchy audio SM70 pros.

 

Is volume really likely to be a problem? i mean, if my silly little jap boogie box with four inch speakers can make enough noise to fill the place, (it's 10mx7mx10m high) surely the stuff we're talking about here will? i'm not trying to replicate an early Pink Floyd concert experience! just trying to get a bit of special occasion volume with no loss of quality.

Ps. thanks for the reading links Bottleneck, i'll get onto those over the next day or so, what i've read so far is very illuminating.

 

"Is volume really likely to be a problem?"

I don't know whether it woudl be in your situation, but Quad have recommended a second pair placed at 90dgrees to the original to customers who wanted them to play louder. Driven too hard they can arc causing damage or the potection circuits can take out your amp. I don't believe I've ever got anywhere near this possibility, but they are so clean I can see how one might. If you are thinking about 63s, I'd get some on dem if you can.

I agree 63s can also be good on rock (well, as much as I listen to- including PF), but they don't deliver the visceral punch of some cone speakers. For me that's not a problem and more than compensated by the fine nuances they convey. I agree Quads and valves can be an excellent match, I also think Quads and TVCs are natural partners.

 

many thanks for the replies so far, i'm away for three weeks as of this weekend, but will pick up again when i'm back.
then i think it'll be time to start narrowing down speaker/amp combinations.
many thanks once again
stumbler

 

Hello all,
I found this such an interesting topic I had to sign up!! and to a forum totally new to me (I normally frequent computer forums)

If you have a diy bone or two in your body those diy speaker kits on the market must surely be of interest here. The company I looked at for this was IPL, more particularly their transmission line kits. http://www.iplacoustics.co.uk/ipl_acoustics_____transmission_l.htm

I would love to be able to say I tried these but 1 divorce and a much smaller listening room later I am only now starting to look at this again. so without wanting to hi-jack this thread I too would be interested in comments about these. Would a sensitivity of 91db suit in this instance? (one of the options)