Acoustic Portrait

Acoustic Portrait


Received info from Siva of Acoustic Portrait this morning that their website has now been updated with their latest range of Hi-Fi gear.

Website: http://www.acousticportrait.com

I just visited the website and found the picture in the about-us page. This setup looks beautiful and someone care to explain the specs of the component.




Their Product includes below :

Thiyaga DAC
Thiyaga CD transport 
Swara Preamplifier 
Swara power amplifier 
Thallam cables 

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -9

More pics with the newly made rack. I also started spinning some Vinyl on my Pioneer PL-15 TT of 1973 Vintage:

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -8


Finally, the speaker was ready for a listen. Quickly connected the gear and found that the HF driver was more sensitive. After several combinations and not much success in reducing the gain on the HF, I connected it to a less powerful amp and used a doubly powerful amp for the LF driver. Sound much better but the Low Frequencies were not that great....


So, I removed some damping and I could hear the LFs much better. Removed damping from the lower porting through the bass reflex port. At the moment, the mids and highs are to die for. Fantastic Tone and Timbre!!. Will continue to tune it for more bass, but first need to reduce the gain on the HF by a few dBs.

I plan to listen to it this way until I decide on the crossover and make one myself...that is after I figure out how to make one .

Btw, I am having issues with the Behringer Active Crossover that I had mentioned earlier, hence I am in this situation without a proper crossover..just a matter of time .

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -7

Been unwell and down with viral conjunctivitis, so no progress last few days. Today, I was feeling better in the afternoon and decided to do a bit.

Moved the A7s upstairs with the help of a friend. Damn!! Are these heavy?!! Easily weigh over 60 kilos I am guessing.

Here they are along with the W.I.P Audio Rack that I am making. Just wanted to ensure I got the measurements right and the rack still fits between the speakers  .


I then fitted the Altec 416 woofers and also connected the HF drivers and played it Open Baffle (?) while I dampened the cabinet. Open baffle was not bad, but there was zero bass - understandable as there is no rear wall....just a sloping roof about 12 feet behind the speakers:


So, I started with the dampening. I tried the Synthetic equivalent of Glasswool. It is a product called Synth made by Anutone. Safer than Glasswool for sure, not sure if it sounds just as good. Spoke to member sunilj and he swears by Synth, so decided to go ahead with Synth as I had an unused roll at home:


Managed to cut and staple the Synth into the rear door with my trusty old Stanley Stapler:


Dampening the inside portions:


Dampening the inner side of the horn flare:


and some more..

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

The devil's double - blu-ray review

The devil's double - blu-ray review


Hi all,

I got the blu-ray "The Devils Double" thru Mr.Satish who is an aspiring director.

I enjoyed the film very much and the atrocities done by Saddam Hussein son in Iraq.  

This film is based on the "true account" of an Iraqi soldier who was forced to fill in as the double of Saddam Hussein's evil elder son Uday acted by Dominic Cooper,. The cruelties that Uday inflicted on the Iraqi populace are legendary, as are stories of his limitless debauchery, torture of prisoners including players of the country's national Olympic team, and rapes.Devil’s Double is gripping when it needs to be, enough that it’s held together by an intense dynamic between two main characters. 

Latif Yahia, who wrote a book by the same name, says he was threatened that his family would be killed if he didn't agree to Uday's demands. Cooper, in one of his biggest roles, essays the characters of both Uday and Latif.It's just that this film views Iraq and the Hussein family with such coloured lenses that only one hero can fit the frame. And that hero is Yahia, whose account has itself been questioned for its authenticity.The Devil's Double' spends more time inside Uday's personal life, including on a woman who not surprisingly guesses Yahia's secret and falls for him, taking unbelievable risks in the process.

The Devil’s Double is driven almost entirely by Dominic Cooper’s memorable turn as both Latif and Uday. Though there are differences between the two that help viewers tell them apart – they have different voices and teeth – it ends up not mattering, as Cooper communicates which person he is via body language alone. The two men can be in the same room, wearing the same clothes, standing perfectly still and yet you’ll have no trouble picking out which one is which. Though each character is different and complex, Cooper completely embodies each one he seamlessly interacts with himself. You’ll never consciously feels like you’re watching Dominic Cooper play two roles, which is everything you can ask for in a film made like this one.


For me it is worth an watch..

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -6

Since the plywood surfaces are huge, they require a lot of bracing:





Cleats made of strong jungle wood were used to reinforce the structure:


To improve WAF, some teak wood veneer and beadings were added. Altec made a model called Altec Magnificent which had the same dimensions as the A7, except that the cabinet was inverted and the horn was fitted in the bass reflex port. I have tried to copy the side beading design from that but had to change the top and bottom beadings to suit an upright cabinet:





Bass Reflex port has been reduced to 220 Square inches as per the Sound Practices article:


contd....

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -5

This is the location in my home, I want to place those speakers after they have been built. I wanted to do a trial run of the drivers using a Behringer CX-2310 that I had bought for the purpose. The bookshelf speakers are only acting as a stand for the horns and are not part of the system.
Many thanks to fellow member, Soundsgreat helped me set it up with the crossover, offered me some tips, explained/taught me a few technicalities and also loaned me a pair of 20uF capacitor. Currently facing some issues with the crossover, hopefully will be ironed out soon:






contd....

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -4

The speakers are being built in my basement, so my 1955 Willys Jeep basks in the hot April sun (excited that he is gonna soon have company - a younger brother from the same era, same country (my Jeep is an original US import, not the one built by Mahindra).

 

Work progresses....:


Bracing/Support for the horn flares:


Right from the start, I knew that getting the plywood to bend as per the flare would be the biggest challenge. However, I managed to get some imported 12mm thick flexible plywood after looking in 5 different shops. The shopkeeper was thanking his stars as he has been having it in since 3 years and not a single query and then a mad man appears asking specifically for it .


Thanks to Anilva, I managed to buy another pair of Altec LF drivers. This time, the mighty Altec 515b for my next project  

The ones on the right are the 515b's. They are from a Theater and need to be refurbished. Thankfully, Greatplainsaudio supports Altec owners by supplying recone kits:




Trial fitting of a Altec 515b driver that I bought that day:




Also managed to win these original Altec Lansing Speaker Badges on eBay the same day. Had to get up at 3AM to bid for these, but was well worth it :


contd....

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -3

Here are some pics of the build:

19mm Marine Grade Plywood has been used throughout the build:




Look, I managed to fit into them...should give you an indication of how large they are 


To get the flare right, I needed a compass of ~31 inches. Here is what we used - a compass made of wood beeding 




The baffle being cut at the wood work shop:




T-nuts have been used where ever there was a need to unscrew them often:


contd....

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh