newandold

"Bill, you figured out what you needed to do to maintain the "Omni" settings without having to go in and try to rebuild the entire circuitry, and that makes sense. Just set it to the Omni position and unplug the power module; problem solved." Yes Tom, when there is no power there cannot be any shifting, which of course as an "Omni" fan, well, that's perfect. As you well know, I am a HUGE fan of maintaining this particular pair of IC's as close to the factory as possible.To that end, perhaps when I retire, I may act on my own plan to address the weakness of the modules so that they can be used dependably without altering the speaker in any real invasive way. The first two places to start will be trying a higher quality, grounded power supply of the same electrical value as that Chinese transformer that was shipped with the loudspeakers. The other is to add a dedicated circuit to the listening room (isolated ground and home run neutral to the panel). The latter is what I believe is the REAL answer. These things are overly sensitive to interference from other electrical load that share the same neutral. So anyway, no rush and I may never even bother, since I prefer image control via center channel. "I would love to see a comparison of the tweeter output with your NOS 1988 tweeter and one that has been in use for many years. The big question might be if there is any truly significant change in output over time. Maybe you could get DRM or someone to compare that tweeter (if you wanted to chance such a test, which always makes me nervous) with an existing one that he might have. I've got a LinearX LX500 system on order—it's only been on order for the last 4 years—and if it ever gets here I'll let you use it to compare the two with some definitive measurements." It could be interesting, but that tweet is one of my prize puppies, and NOBODY (in reality) is getting it! I'm going to get into parametric eq. in a later post, that in my opinion, is the practical solution for addressing changes to these loudspeakers, no matter what they are (unless blown). Altering crossovers can be done as some have, but is not a solution for most. I have not even used this feature yet, but it's on board my new Emotiva XMC-1 processor. With it, I can do full graphic equalization of up to 7 channels independently, and store those results in one of 3 speaker presets. Additionally, I could save as many combinations as I want onto the flash drive. Bill

Hi Tom, About 2 years ago, I figured out, quite by accident that there was no problem after all with the "electronics", referring of course to the image control modules contained within the IC-20. The problem is with the transformer that is supplied with the IC-20, and/or a combination of the electrical value of that transformer, plus the fact that it is an ungrounded (no 3 prong). Some combination of those factors CAN lead to some "interesting" behavior of the panels switching unexpectedly. The discovery came about when I happened to be sitting there with the power to the modules switched on (I have the transformer plugged into an outlet switch so I can keep it off except for listening sessions when I choose to alter the imaging.) I turned the lights on in the room and noticed that one of the speakers switched to the outside panel with the action of the wall switch! After noticing that, I played around for a while with the remote control AND the wall switch. I could consistently switch the panels from one mode to the other while keeping the button of the remote depressed, while turning the lights on and off in the room, (even doing it by turning the lamp on and off from the switch on the lamp itself.) So, what does it all mean?? Nothin' to me, actually. That of course is because my preferred mode is always "Omni" and the instability is a non issue when the power to the modules is switched off. The system is designed to default with no relay power to the Omni position. Referring to the other comment about "age related" attenuation, In my view that is absolutely incorrect. This whole issue of condition of the fluids and being able to measure the impact with any consistency just isn't possible. There is no ferrofluid in the IC tweeters for starters, they are cooled with silicone grease, and HF himself once said the grease doesn't dry out but the ferrofluid is more likely to do so........what? Your tweeters in the second generation A1 have the same grease. Do you suspect there is a measurable drop off in your tweeters and would this apply to every greased tweeter? Also, what about the "mileage" playing into it? not just the age? I have an NOS A1 tweeter in stock from 1988 with zero hours on it. It would be interesting to measure that tweeter against one that has been up and running for decades and compare notes.....indeed. Bill Mina

Hey Tom, I want to take a step back with regards to Howard's IC's and point out what got him started (at least my understanding) doing any modifications to his speakers at all. Who knows how many years ago, the image control modules on his units began to act up and shift all over the map from one mode to the other. With no "fix" coming from Allison Acoustics on this, Howard pulled all that from the system and just hard wired the things into Omni, wanting to get everything out of all drivers, all the time. Quite a contrast to where his head is now, but back then, quite different. I would bet the farm if the IC modules proved to perform flawlessly as advertised, he would never have done anything to those systems, except to maintain and enjoy. Bill

Hi Carl, It's nice to be on board here, thank you! Howard is aware that I have suggested getting all the Allison discussion back here where It works best, I believe. He's a little worried, with all the classics here for discussion that he may no longer get any sleep! That being said, I don't think he will pass on it, especially when it starts (and it will) to heat up a bit. If I got the story right, the "troll" was talked about quite a bit last week on the "other" forum. Interesting, the upgrade to this website, pretty much coincided with the move of the Allison Forum from Topica.com over to Allison Loudspeakers on Yahoo groups (2006/07). Too bad everything didn't come here right there and then. Best Regards, Bill Mina

Yes, Howard has been on quite the journey with that pair of his. I do take my hat off to him for his amazing woodworking ability and his rather interesting approach to the image control problem. He has also changed with his listening taste in recent years, now being a fan of mainly the "focus mode" inner panels mainly. Although with his latest incarnation, the inner panels run full tilt with nothing at all going to the outer panels. In "stock" form, there is always some output to the opposing panels, though greatly reduced. Always, the output of the system (stock) is the same though shifted. For myself, the whole thing is moot, because I never cared about the image control aspect of the loudspeaker. Only that they would play in "Omni" mode. With the power to the modules switched off, the speakers always remain rock solid with full continuity to all drivers. Bill

Hi J, Thanks for the welcome! Yes, I can understand doing away with the fours with a vaulted ceiling. For around 5 years, I owned a pair of AR 2ax driven by the AR amplifier. Nice clean sounding combination. Completing that system was an XA turntable using a Stanton 681EEE with that rather rare shibata stylus. I would have loved a pair of 3a's but at that time were decidedly out of my reach. That's an interesting thought, comparing the AR-9 to the IC20. I would think the similarity would end with the dual woofer setup. The IC's use the push pull configuration of the woofers to reduce even order distortion. The approach with the 9 was to control the low frequency response of those dual 12" bass drivers with a rather sophisticated electronic crossover network. The forward firing upper array delivers a more pin point imaging over the IC. That of course, is where personal preference comes in. Both systems, ironically, are rated for a max. amplifier power of 400 wpc. Bill

Hi Tom, Here's a few. The picture with the "saran wrap" around the speakers was taken in Mass. before I showed up to retrieve them. Amazing, they were packed that way for the last storage, which was 17 years. Before that, they were in use for about 5 years all together. First used around 2 years, then repacked in the original cartons for 3 years, and again, brought out for another 3 and finally packed away in 1995. As can be seen from the back photo, they are as pristine there, as in the front. The first shot is, as they now sit, with the image control modules powered and running. Bill

Hi Mark, I hope 8 years after the fact isn't too late to get started here with "Allison"! I posted here for the first time this morning and plan to follow up after the Labor Day Holiday. Regards, Bill

Hi All, Just wanted to get started here at The Classic Speaker Pages. My story is almost 3 yrs old now and has posted on another forum, but I believe this is a better place to continue and enhance the discussion of Allison Speakers in general, so anyway here I am. During the coming weeks I would like to revisit that story (from my topic thread) here and just generally, continue the discussion of "anything Allison" here in a more secure web space, along with these other fine classics! Regards, Bill Mina