Go it alone

~ kris

“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery–isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.”
— Charles Bukowski (Factotum)

Home Theater HiFi progress

~ kris

The grand experiment of combining the two side-by-side stereo systems continues. Still waiting on the second Schiit amplifier. The initial setup with the new-to-the-house Yamaha receiver with pre-outs is functional. Now pulling wires for extending a second zone for the office basketball TV (Go Lakers!). Once the second amplifier shows up we can shorten the wires and encapsulate them.

Xterra done

~ kris

The new todo list is as follows:

  • Install new dishwasher Done
  • new Guibo bush on the 128
  • new center bearing support on the 128
  • implement new home-theater amp to eliminate double stereo
  • Trip to IKEA
  • Deport virtulized XP machine from my world. First test tomorrow
  • Implement UnRAID and Plex all the things.
  • So messy after a real project
  • Lightroom export
  • Testing out Luminar 4

Heil + Horns

~ kris

Heil has arrived

Crossover Build

Pair Backloaded Horns + Single AMT-1
AMT-1 Re=3.4Ohm
FE126 Re=7.2
Parallel FE126 = 3.6Ohm

ESS claims to use a 800hz, 3rd order crossover. Let’s investigate what capcitor and inductors we can actually get, and calculate where the x-over point ends up using parts I can find.

Lets pick out some components….

  • L1 = Jantzen .5mH 18AWG $7.98
  • L2 = Jantzen 1.1mH 18AWG $11.48
  • L3 = Jantzen 0.37mH 18AWG $7.29
  • C1 = 40uF 250v $11.98
  • C2 = 2x60uF 250V $20.48
  • C3 = 75uF 250V $22.98

Let’s proceed to set this up though, let’s model these values in software and see where the x-over point is…

Looks like it hits 806hz at these components, good enough for me.

Update:11-19-19 The Heil has arrived. After some deliberation, constructing a dedicated passive crossover for this setup is inflexible, and given the consideration that I am unlikely to stick with ‘The Horns’ for much longer, I am better served moving to a solution that I can re-use in the next speaker I use. Active digital crossover inbound, and another amplifier.

Semi-productive weekend?

~ kris

Good news, the Xterra runs great. Bad news, I continue to never ever get a water pump to seal on the 1st try. Every time, I follow other people’s advice, and use ‘recommended’ sealants, applied in a neat (thin) way. It always leaks. This always results in purchase of a new gasket, followed by gooping the living shit out of it. Bet it works this time. New timing belt is re-installed, hasn’t been tensioned, need to roll the crank a couple times and put my 22lb on it.