Subjective testing of AR-11 speakers

[Pete B]

Thank you,

I like the Leach designs.

I took a look at the straightwire web site and couldn't find the gauge of the wire, they sound like fairly heavy gauge based on your description which is the main characteristic I was looking for.

If I read your discussion here correctly you found that the correct value original electrolytics sound the same as the polys that you used to rebuild another crossover. You provide an excellent description but I just wanted to confirm that I correctly understood your conclusions.

It's difficult to follow all the discussion on this site, have your conclusions changed since this comparison, if you don't mind my asking?

Pete B.

>Power Amplifiers: A pair of Leach Super Amps

>Speaker Cable: Straight Wire “Waveguide 8”

>

>The cables were made by Straight Wire and are composed of 8

>individually insulated conductors - 4 gray and 4 white for

>positive and negative. The conductors are braided inside a

>clear jacket.

>

>Looking at the speaker cables on the Straight Wire web site,

>(straightwire.com) they look like an early version (if I

>remember correctly, the original version) of their Stage 2

>cables. These do not have a "non-conductive core".

>

>Rich

[r_laski]

>>I like the Leach designs. <<

Still a popular design discussed and built by members of diyAudio forum. I was fortunate to get a pair when they were commercially available products.

>>I took a look at the straightwire web site and couldn't find the gauge of the wire, they sound like fairly heavy gauge based on your description which is the main characteristic I was looking for. <<

My cables came pre-terminated so I do not know the gauge of an individually insulated conductor or four individual conductors combined. Just looking at the cable, I would say it is a heavier gauge than zip cord, but less than the original, clear jacketed, very heavy gauge, Monster cable I replaced.

>>If I read your discussion here correctly you found that the correct value original electrolytics sound the same as the polys that you used to rebuild another crossover. You provide an excellent description but I just wanted to confirm that I correctly understood your conclusions. <<

That is a correct summary of one of my conclusions for this test. The other conclusion was that the original electrolytic caps do degrade over time and with the degradation and associated deviation from rated capacitance, the “voice” of the speaker audible changes.

>> It's difficult to follow all the discussion on this site, have your conclusions changed since this comparison, if you don't mind my asking? <<

My conclusions for this test have not changed.

I also rebuilt a pair of AR-90s and insofar as polypropylene caps are concerned, I found one brand of poly caps (Dayton) that had no discernable audible difference in “voice” compared to original, aged caps.

When I replaced the Daytons with a combination of North Creek Zen and Solen poly caps, the results where essentially the same as those I documented in this test when I conducted similar listening tests with one AR-90 having the original, aged NPE caps and the other with the poly cap rebuilt crossover.

Rich