Stereo Photograph

[Ronman]

I've been studying a bunch lately, trying to figure out how everyone gets the great photographs that are posted here. I'm also in the market for a new camera and I'm begining to get a handle on that. I was reading today about RAW files, why you would want to use them and how to do it. I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it is amazingly similar the way audio files and picture files are handled.

In both you try to manage the noise, which can be introduced at every level. I use an external digital to analog converter because of the less than ideal units that are standard in playback units. Signal to noise ratios, JPEGs vs MP3, a lot of similar terminology.

So here's a stereo photograph. This is a vintage setup I put together for a friend. Killer sound.

JVC XL-R5000 CD player
APT Holman Preamp
Hafler DH 200 Amp
Audio Alchemy DDE v3.0 DA Converter
Audio Alchemy DTI Reclocking device
AR TCW 5 Speakers on trial
KLH 17 System speakers on floor
Dual 605 Turntable
Zoo Cable Power cords
Silver Interconnects 99.99999 % pure
Hand braided 56 wire speaker cables
Custom non resonant equipment rack

Do you think this sounds Crazy?

 

[Sideburns]

Ya, why would you want hand-braided speaker wire? We all know a machine can do a better, more accurate, more uniform job.

 

[Ronman]

Even if I new of a commercial wire like that the cost would have been prohibitive. This is a budget system.

 

[Ronman]

I hand braided it. 20 hours and sore fingers.

 

[TLI]

its actually a good way to reduce electronic noise, thats why network cables have twisted pairs

 

[Sideburns]

its actually a good way to reduce electronic noise, thats why network cables have twisted pairs

I'm in school for networking. I knew that already...lol. But twisted pair wiring has a spec for how many times per unit of distance it's twisted. It doesn't really reduce noise, though. It makes the noise even across all pairs, so that it is easier to cancel out at the other end.

Anyways. I just figured it would seem kind of weird that it was hand braided.

But, if it works...it works.

 

[Ronman]

This speaker wire is very low impedance also, I think it worked out to something like 7g awg. It sounded as good as some expensive wires we tested it against. It was constructed from Belden xxx Cat 5 cable stripped out. Braid 3 wires together, braid 3 bundles of three together.....making so many twists per inch. All the tweeks on this system made small improvements in noise reduction, analogous I think to small noise reduction increments in photos. Most of the time you wouldn't hear anything in particular that sounded better, but it would be cleaner, you knew you had gotten rid of a noise that you didn't even realize was there, until it was gone.

This was a long process with a great deal of expirimentation. This was the first time I had put a system together from scratch. My system has been more evolutionary.

The thing that surprised me the most was the rack. Vibrations in equipment, particularly 25-30 year old stuff, cause some components to become microphonic, adding more subtle noise to the background. The rack is made from Ikea end tables whose construction just happened to be a foam core material that is very nonresonant. That was a big improvement.

To stay on topic, how do you like my photo?