Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

---

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Planar Speaker Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Double Inductor Mod

Posted by s.hum (A) on April 28, 2002 at 12:26:22

Hello All.

A while back Mart suggested I try doubling up the inductors, stacking them in parallel, effectively lowering the DCR. (His post beautifully - and clearly - illustrates the configuration with air core inductors).

Being game, I ordered another set of matched custom wound copper inductors from Jensen (www.jensencapacitors.com) which Hans Jensen promptly produced. In fact, they arrived much sooner than I had anticipated and sat for awhile on my desk while I waited for my speaker stands (figuring a combo review might be in order).

But seeing as my dac has been stable for gosh, more than 1 week now, got curious and decided to try it this weekend anyway before my next set of dac tweaks as it might be a couple more weeks before the stands show up.

Adding the inductor was simple - in my case - as my XO is all mechanically wired, so no joints to desolder. Simply remove the allen bolt, nut and washer binding (and loosen wires), then pull the honkin' big original copper air cores out of their external enclosures. Then stack the new (identical) inductors - each pair bound to the other in the same winding orientation with, in the spirit of the natural paper dieletrics used in the Jensen's, thin raw garden twine made of jute. (That the green twine looks nice with the copper coils too is an added bonus - as if it really matters but to the anal, yours truly). I decided against plastic ties as I wasn't too keen on the degree of tension required to bind the inductors together securely - which might cut slightly into the paper windings at the corners (though I doubt it would have damaged the construction enough to cause any problems). Spiral winding the twine around the entire circumference of the air core secured the two massive inductors.

After that, all that remained to be done was trim and polish the copper leads, punch a hole through the two foils of each lead and then drop these back into the XO enclosure and reassemble. The hook up leads this time simply were placed between the two copper foils and the assembly tightened down. That's one honkin' big chunk of copper per inductor (combined) ~ 8 lbs I surmise!

Okay, the sound? Wonderful (benefit). While there aren't many hours on these yet, the effect was immediately noticeable.

On Holly Cole's "Temptation" album, yes the double bass had more authority. But the speed and timbral detail is improved noticeably. An added benefit was the expansion of the soundstage - huge - and imaging, this I presume from the additional low level detail (again the speed and accuracy of it) providing more spatial cues. Vocals even sounded more present and textured with more solid imaging.

Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna" is handled much more easily now. This large choral piece is less congested, the voicings much better placed. Again, I think it is due to the increased sense of the low end speed and detail, providing more accurate spatial information and less blurring in the low end.

Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" is one of my most favourite works. This choral piece has a few moments where the dynamics are noticeably improved - some real jump factor here. The tonality is intact so there doesn't appear to be any downside to the mod. Beethoven's "Triple Concerto" and "Piano Concerto", the same thing - more dynamic fullness
and warmth with an increase to the width of the soundstage.

On Gorecki's "Symphony No. 3", one realizes its benefit. The opening used to be very gradual, rising from an almost inaudible faintness. Now, from the opening seconds, nothing is lost. The bass strings are heard clearly in all their resonant and textured bowing.The dynamic range of the piece is maintained - but there is simply more detail now.

On Keith Jarrett's "At the Bluenote" sessions, Gary Peacock's double bass was already very well recorded. Even so, it is much fuller and present - noticeable especially on cuts where it seemed just a tad less than optimal. The imaging is very solid with a 3D presence to the sound, like you can touch the presentation in front of you. The increased low end resolution seems to open up the presentation across the board, even the top end, which is interesting.

On organ material I still don't get down to the 20Hz reaches. But there aren't many pieces (in my limited collection) where this demand is noticed. The organ pieces I did sample were much fuller with that increased sense of location space.

All of that Magneplanar bass we love - its detail and speed - is there. Only it seems to go down further and doesn't roll off as quickly, and even seems faster and cleaner. There's slam where it used to be fainter bass reproduction. Texture and speed are still there in spades - you just have more of it in the reaches. It's not chest thumping bass, doesn't shake your chest cavity, but nevertheless it's more authoritative, firm and visceral. The increased spatial cues - width and depth - are a real bonus. Overall: A nice tweak to the XO upgrade.

Now to put things in perspective, I re-iterate that this (for me) is a nice tweak to the XO mod. The original XO mod significantly improved the sound of the MG1.6. This inductor mod enhances it even more - not quite as dramatically, of course, but squeezes audibly more out of the passive XO route.

I have been having just too much fun of late (tweaking and listening) with the Audio Note DAC1.2 I added some months ago now. It definitely added substantially to the low end capabilities (and musicality) of the front end. The inductor mod I think helps capitalize on it - in my particular instance, the synergy is working out wonderfully. I suspect that the low end spatial cues I am benefitting from now are a result of both components.

S

PS Tx Mart for the suggestion !!

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---