https://www.bcspeakers.com/en/products/coaxials-hf/1-4/8/DCX464-8

 

 

 

On their way,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,more than twenty seven hundred AUD.

 

Edited April 30, 20241 yr by playdough

Suspicious this is a record rip,,,,,,,,,,,thunders through the house though, raises the hairs on the back of the neck, expansive imaging, lovely production.

Another one of pure velvet and a killer bass line

An Aussie Girl

 

Enjoying exploring youtube music and doing paperwork sadly chained to the couch 🙂 could be worse.

Installed a dedicated power circuit from the Alternate Supply Switchboard for the HiFi Rig. The home is served, mostly, by  stand alone Inverter derived power supply.

It's a 2.5mm2 circuit for 16A, about 3m long as the switchboard is fairly well directly below downstairs, with its own RCD and a Clipsal dark brown GPO, I don't think we can call them ***** power points these days 🙂, should be low impedance and free of switch noise that can generated by other appliances. 

 

Result is a "feeling" that the new dedicated power circuit sounds better,,,,,,,,,,,,,? But that's all folks 🙂 

 

 

Edited May 6, 20241 yr by playdough

On 6/5/2024 at 12:25 PM, playdough said:

a "feeling" that the new dedicated power circuit sounds better

Feelings are reality these days, playdough

I'm mid-reno, putting in the same kind of thing. Let's agree that it sounds awesome 😃

Edited May 8, 20241 yr by ICUToo

On 6/5/2024 at 12:25 PM, playdough said:

Result is a "feeling" that the new dedicated power circuit sounds better,,,,,,,,,,,,,? But that's all folks 🙂 

I did the same a while back.  It's far better bang for your buck than a power conditioner.  I have 2 phases here so I made sure the circuit was on the phase that the solar inverter wasn't on.

On 08/05/2024 at 7:14 PM, ICUToo said:

Feelings are reality these days, playdough

Yea true, however being from the XGeneration feelings are an electrochemical construct of the human imagination/brain, local to within the brain 🙂, with little basis in science or fact 🙂. 

Antiphony realised when there was a few cloudy days, the battery went down to the point an automatic (Winter Solstice approaching)  change over occurred and, suddenly the "power supply" is the ugly Retail mains, charging the battery at 5Kva, providing actual power.

Yikes, audible, most likely not measurable and lacklustre flat, veiled. Resumed playback after the battery recovered.

 

On 08/05/2024 at 7:34 PM, DVDHack said:

 I have 2 phases here so I made sure the circuit was on the phase that the solar inverter wasn't on.

Agree

The Inverter/Battery charging here is based around an ac coupling type, with, a normal domestic (SMA Sunny Boy) operating on the single phase, of the power supply.

Listening experience here is better at night when the ac coupling inverter is off/not operating, fact. It's very subtle, however different.

A little bit more than a "feeling" if you will.

 

Upgrading the Power System as it stands would include the de commissioning of the ac coupling and the introduction of a DC/DC Solar Controller, that, charges the battery directly, rather than using frequency/driving up ac voltage as the battery charger AND being on the only phase available, from the off grid Power Inverter.

 

playdough

Edited May 21, 20241 yr by playdough

Lounge is ongoing, a built in CD rack made a difference to the area in general looks and organisation of the media. Made from solid wood and painted. A set of overhead cabinets went in breaking up the rear wall and the stove  is finally going.

 

 

My Grandniece asked me 'what's a CD'....  

12 minutes ago, DVDHack said:

My Grandniece asked me 'what's a CD'....  

Silver or blue spinny thing that goes in the Oppo,,,,,,,plays music and video without ads 🙂  

Mrs still uses cassettes 😉 in the VW Camper.. 

 

I thought you would ask, what's that white Azura Horn doing just sitting on the floor,,,,?

Edited August 4, 20241 yr by playdough

13 minutes ago, playdough said:

I thought you would ask, what's that white Azura Horn doing just sitting on the floor,,,,?

Edited 10 minutes ago by playdough

 

Nah, I just got into horns myself, I had them laying all over the floor myself when I put them back together after transport.  I have been rather surprised at the difference amplification makes to horns.  My TADs are really a bit ambivalent to amps but the same comparison pair (Anthem STR and Luxman M-10X) show starkly different results with the horns, I was gobsmacked.  

 

As for CDs, I asked my sister, niece and nephew and none of them had a single CD, they didn't even have DVDs anymore.  Everything was on line.  I still have a drawer full but havent played one in ages.

24 minutes ago, DVDHack said:

Nah, I just got into horns myself, I had them laying all over the floor myself when I put them back together after transport.  I have been rather surprised at the difference amplification makes to horns.  My TADs are really a bit ambivalent to amps but the same comparison pair (Anthem STR and Luxman M-10X) show starkly different results with the horns, I was gobsmacked.  

Interesting, yes finding natural sounding and dynamic amplification is a key to great sounding horns, using A/B class mainly. There are a pair of B&C dual coaxials to test, setting up a remote test rig.  Quite like the horns and building another speaker set for fun with these.

Yea, have been listening/watching online content however the old CD/BVD still pips it for consistent quality and have been fun to collect and display. Finding I do both and haven't seen a TV broadcast for a very long time, actually might be time to unbolt the antenna, pull out the coax,,,,,,, 

The new cabinetry and rack have done favourable things to the acoustic properties in that area has given me some inspiration to make a few more ceiling panels and finish the kitchen job.  

 

3 hours ago, playdough said:

Lounge is ongoing, a built in CD rack made a difference to the area in general looks and organisation of the media. Made from solid wood and painted. A set of overhead cabinets went in breaking up the rear wall and the stove  is finally going.

Luv how you incorporated the CD rack into the acoustic panel frame = looks awesome.  I recently bought some IKEA ones that now only come in white.

6 hours ago, JkSpinner said:

Luv how you incorporated the CD rack into the acoustic panel frame = looks awesome.  I recently bought some IKEA ones that now only come in white.

Thanks Mate, was surprised how many disks it holds, integrated on an otherwise unused wall.  Can collect a few more CD's again, love looking for them.

Been away for a bit. 

Home again and finding using the kitchen with new overhead cabinets has created a bass node just below these cabinets, so the room has changed a little with how it reacts, from being essentially, empty other than the Belling 900mm hob and large table.

The listening couch had to be moved away from the speakers, closer to the kitchen cabinets,  500mm to make use of this new bass node as at the couch, there is at present a bass null, which was to ne honest a bit of a let down.

Surprisingly these nodes and nulls in bass response can be heard and measured at down to less than half meter microphone placements and in particular close to boundaries, corners and intersections in the room.

 

Kick drum sounds full frequency and with oomph of the lowest octave again after the couch move,,,,,,,,,,,was something noted after the break away as while cooking at the hob, the bass bode was evident ! 

All fun and nice to be back in the presence of a finely calibrated and sweet sounding full frequency ranging HiFi.

Peace

playdough.

 

 

 

In  the meantime a BT Douk audio amp (2 x 50w and 1 x 100w) was installed with a 20a fan less  24v smps for the Bedford bus. 
surprised, well yea. After a dial in setting up the sub crossover, attenuation. Integrated for easy listening pleasure sub/open back speaker set. 
Full power shakes things, although only for testing, beyond that, low level listening, mainly. She loves it, had to be compact and not use any space.   House building is going ahead in a month so this little rig will have to entertain while that’s on. 3 months all hands on deck. I’ll be wiring, painting, tiling, building and chief cleaner, so no time for the other love of my life, speaker building, albeit love home building and multi trading as well and welcome it from the first shovel to the last brush stroke. The view never gets old
playdough

Edited September 4, 20241 yr by playdough

Been a while, but there is another lounge

I've a few questions of the Forum to help answer, have ideas thrown at,,

1. Where to place the Stereo ? Window end or door end ? Both areas had their own "stereo outlet with accompanying circuit

2. What sort of speakers/system would suit the area ?

3. Has to be approvable by the more feminine part of Family, so no 21's. or gear racks and probably no black things.. no monitors, just a record player.

Built a house in the last year ! Went on from the renovation and well, here it is ! Nothing too flash or large, 2 bed looking over Hobart. About to move out of the Bedford and sell it. Registered runner.

Just about to sand and finish the floor I laid last week,,,

Acoustics in the area are terrible, but will improve as things move in, it has a vaulted ceiling which is nice

Had to show someone,,, !!

playdough

System to be based around a Rega Planar 3, with a Houston mimic pre amp and a FIIO CD Player, which I have and donated.

Edited January 3Jan 3 by playdough

1 hour ago, playdough said:

Rega Planar 3

Is that wood floor the bouncy kind on a wooden frame or layed on concrete? I remember when i had a turntable and wooden floors, not a great match if theres a lot of traffic on the floor.

That room would benefit from my latest project ... Im sure you will not use these though. Need to paint them and add insulation.

Edited January 3Jan 3 by DVDHack

1 hour ago, DVDHack said:

Is that wood floor the bouncy kind on a wooden frame or layed on concrete?

Gday

The 12 x 75mm hardwood floor overlay was bonded with polyurethane to the 25mm chipboard floor, clamped and discreet nailed. Chipboard floor has a LVL ply frame of 300 x 75mm, bonded to the chipboard.

Under are steel 90 x 90mmx 6mm steel posts 2400mm centers. Well braced. Internal to the floor were R2.5 bats and clad under with cement sheet. All nice and tight, floor is solid, overkill. Jumping up and down inside, nothing moves at all.

Undersheets were a PITA :) to install

1 hour ago, DVDHack said:

latest project

Nice, my brain tells me they would have a good positive coefficient for frequencies below 100Hz,,,, they will work well, stuffing with sheep fleece, fairly tightly packed ? Corner loading for the traps ?

Good work.

Edited January 3Jan 3 by playdough

Bonus photo of the Laundry,,, wiped the grout haze off today... need a Plumber and I'm moving in,,,

Edited January 3Jan 3 by playdough

10 hours ago, playdough said:

Nice, my brain tells me they would have a good positive coefficient for frequencies below 100Hz,,,, they will work well, stuffing with sheep fleece, fairly tightly packed ? Corner loading for the traps ?

They are 450mm deep so will have ceiling grade pink batts for absorption. The specs show a very low flow resistivity resulting in very good bass absorption, I have 4 of these for each corner of the back wall and there will be a 400mm space behind them, so it will be 1200 x 2400mm face in each corner 850mm total depth. I bought commercial panels originally but they are too dense and not thick enough. Im moving the commercial units to the front and they will be doubled up to create more depth. the scatter plated on the front will stop too much deadening in the room but diffused.

If you do have issues with the turntable I solved my problem by attaching a shelf to the wall.

2 hours ago, DVDHack said:

The specs show a very low flow resistivity

Yes, the smaller the holes the higher the co efficient leading down to lower frequencies.

Very well though out layout for the traps and panels, at or the 450mm outside the boundaries/corners seems to be a common place where the bass nodes tend accumulate.

Hopefully the enclosures themselves, particularly the sides and rear panels do not resonate and I'd be tempted to glue some pine 75 x 35, across/between the centers of those elements, just to be sure.

3 hours ago, DVDHack said:

If you do have issues with the turntable I solved my problem by attaching a shelf to the wall.

Sound advice and in all practicality, probably the best idea for isolating not only the TT, but all the equipment, say wall mounted cabinet/stand mounted speakers, that can be placed further into the space, as in 1500mm from any boundary.

I'm leaning toward micro sized components and using Tas Oak to blend in with the rest of the room scape.

A while ago there was built an 8 channel amp with a blackwood front, which works sounds rather analogue sounding with a slight hum here and there (never quite finished that one, needs a lid), with an old miniDSP 2 x 8. Thinking this set up might do well in helping to deal with the untreated lounge and be calibratable as things change.

All a bit junky as far as some might be concerned, however, might best fit and sound ok.

Edited January 4Jan 4 by playdough

Great thread! And awesome handy skills demonstrated.

I came to the forum today because I'm intending to build (ie pay somebody else to build) a big shed this year with a "studio" room that's 10% optimised for working from home and 90% optimised for my stereo. So I'm very interested in seeing your steel frame and hearing about your flooring strategy... my studio will be a mezzanine so suspended a bit like yours. I want serious thermal and acoustic insulation on all six sides of the studio space.

On 18/01/2026 at 6:49 PM, kdoot said:

I came to the forum today because I'm intending to build

Gday, thanks for the kind words !

Only too happy to help with simple things, regarding strategies with suspended floors in particular.

Over the last 5 years or so I've built 3 sound lounges, 2 of them on suspended floors.

Your Shed

When you have a plan, which you might already, please show it as it helps me to understand how it goes together.

Main thing with steel strictures is their tendency to resonate ,,, there some fairly easy things your builder may do as a matter of coarse or omit due to shortcutting.

Being a mezzanine things as simple as bonding (as well as fixing with nails/screws) the flooring to the supporting frame/joists, with some sort of goop, like polyurethane, is a must,

Any cyclone bracing that intersects with other steel, also must be glued between, simple separate the 2, then insert goo.

Another valuable thing I've learned is to use CSR Perforated plaster for the ceiling ,,,,,,,, saves treating the ceiling after the fact. Double thickness plaster walls ,,,, the list goes on.

Hope to see a plan.

As a word on Builders and Contracts, My Wife and I have had a rough go with a dodgy Builder and a terrible contract doctored up to suit over the last 2 years.

Have any contract looked over by a Lawyer, first, it might just save you lots,,,.

Ensure it has an end date and penalties for late finish. Ensure you won't be paying for the Builder to make mistakes, which they do and charge variations for.

Ensure a clean site,,,,, clean up yourself at every opportunity.

Ensure they stick exactly to plan, every minor detail and have the works inspected, as often as practical, all trades involved..

Have weekly meetings with the Builder and works progress reporting at the meeting. Have this written into the Contract.

If the Builder cannot do this,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they are dodgy, be well advised, learn from others who have had homes/expensive outbuildings done. IMHO as a Senior Contractor of 40 Years in the Electrical Trades, there is nothing wrong with the Building Industry, plenty wrong with Toxic Building Signatories (Middle Men) and non experienced numpties on site who give no trucks at all about your building.

To any good honest Builder out there, this has nothing to do with you,,, My Wife fairly well went grey over the last year and a half with a really bad deal, thankfully I've been able to put almost a year full time into finishing, everything, from the ground level up pretty well. We were lucky, some are not so.

Thanks playdough... I might start a new thread with some plans when the large structural details are fully locked in. Briefly though, I'm planning a steel shed with 12m x 8m footprint, 6-ish metres high with a skillion roof. One half of the shed will have the "studio", fully enclosed, on a mezzanine level. So 6m x 8m x 2.5-3.5m high or thereabouts. For examples of the construction style, see the gallery at Stockmans Sheds website. (They will do the steel parts, everything else I have to figure out and find a builder.)

Access via external stairs only, to maximise the internal space and avoid weird acoustic shapes. Floorstanding speakers will be facing down the long axis, from the end with the lower ceiling height, placed well away from the back and side walls. I said "studio" because on the opposite wall I'll have a work space with sit/stand desk and some storage.

It's a pretty great location with lovely views so there'll be some wide fixed windows but not too tall. I want to thoroughly insulate all six planes, thermally and acoustically, and use absorption/diffusion treatments to manage internal reflections. Probably some heavy curtains to cover the glass when doing serious listening. There'll be aircon of course, but I haven't figured out how provide ventilation without compromising insulation too much – suggestions there would be really welcome.

On 21/01/2026 at 8:26 AM, kdoot said:

I might start a new thread with some plans

Sorry late reply, finished the Mrs 's house in the meantime and having a few weeks to myself.

How are things going ?

On 21/01/2026 at 8:26 AM, kdoot said:

12m x 8m footprint,

Nice big shed, something I wish for

On 21/01/2026 at 8:26 AM, kdoot said:

So 6m x 8m x 2.5-3.5m high

Yea, having a high ceiling is a bonus. Using CSR Perforated for the ceiling is a must if you are serious. Solid, insulated plasterboard walls will trap a lot of reflected energy, particularly above the Schroeder frequency. It'll literally be a full ceiling bass trap. and high frequency absorber, pending type co efficiency I know this as the new home I've built has shocking acoustics (solid plaster box with angled ceiling), speech intelligibility is difficult if there is another source of sound, the echo is shocking, from one side of the living area to the other. It's so bad, the Mrs is actually open to suggestions of how to "make it more comfortable to the ears" as a comparison to my own lounge room.

Still thinking about that, however going to start with furniture more the better :). Window furnishings are a must, the heavier and more layers the better.

Gyprock | Perforated Plasterboard for Internal Ceilings -...

Gyprock's perforated plasterboard range, featuring Gyptone™, Rigitone™, and Standard 6mm Round for superior acoustic performance and aesthetic ceiling solutions.

THe rest of your plan is solid. Bass in the light weight construction will be not really an issue unless it livens up some building members, resonation is a curse :)

Ventilation would be facilitated by opening windows and doors, or provide a vent in the door/walls,. it's easy to underestimate the value of being able to ventilate an area, via opening the room doors/windows.

Sounds like a nice place.

Cheers

EDIT, being back in front of and in the envelope of a "treated zone" is a luxury for sure.

Never goes out of fashion, on the RHS of the system a little TT system is growing in it's hardware count

Edited March 10Mar 10 by playdough