Unused Transporter SE's on eBay.com

[Golden Earring]

Thanks for the tip

You do realise that AES balanced digital I/O was just a kludge to enable studios to use their existing stock of XLR cables? The designer of the Transporter (Sean Adams) has stated that the BNC SPDIF output is actually superior. Just a heads up in case you're interested.

The Mytek has a full range of digital inputs, so I'll get other "cheapo" pro--grade cable from Canford Audio & check this out. Thanks for the tip!

Btw, does anyone know what happened to Sean? I know he used to post on this forum quite often until the Logitech takeover, although I did note that he didn't take many prisoners when refuting b/s...

Best regards,
Dave

[Golden Earring]

Self identity

Sean Adams wasn't femto back then.

I'm not actually sure that I am now - how are you supposed to tell?

[Golden Earring]

Best digital output

You do realise that AES balanced digital I/O was just a kludge to enable studios to use their existing stock of XLR cables? The designer of the Transporter (Sean Adams) has stated that the BNC SPDIF output is actually superior. Just a heads up in case you're interested.

On reflection, since I'm using the DAC as the master clock, I'm not sure it's actually going to matter which link-up I use, unless you think the AES out is actually going to lose some of the 0's and/or 1's...

Might try it later to test out my "golden ears" - if only it wasn't for the tinnitus, LOL

[Golden Earring]

Just a jest

On reflection, since I'm using the DAC as the master clock, I'm not sure it's actually going to matter which link-up I use, unless you think the AES out is actually going to lose some of the 0's and/or 1's...

Might try it later to test out my "golden ears" - if only it wasn't for the tinnitus, LOL

I'm not actually a Golden Earring fan, just for the sake of clarity, but I've been waiting for an opportunity to make the "golden ears" plus tinnitus gag since I chose my forum name. It's not intended to disrespect anyone who actually has tinnitus which I realise is a serious and debilitating medical condition, it's a dig at those folk who claim to have those "golden ears" which enable them to hear things mere mortals can't: I'm 62, I don't have them for sure!

Dave

[Wombat]

I'm not actually a Golden Earring fan, just for the sake of clarity, but I've been waiting for an opportunity to make the "golden ears" plus tinnitus gag since I chose my forum name...

It is often the retired old men in their 70s having to much time and love themself posting long stories of how high bitrate and less ringing at high samplerates is so much better. Lately i realized one very stubburn person posting in different forums is 75 years old with sound panels that max out below 20kHz. The claims follow pretty much the marketing speech or the words of other old men writing in the audiophile press these days. He must have build strong believes over the years. There are many it seems.

[Golden Earring]

The tribulations of age

It is often the retired old men in their 70s having to much time and love themself posting long stories of how high bitrate and less ringing at high samplerates is so much better. Lately i realized one very stubburn person posting in different forums is 75 years old with sound panels that max out below 20kHz. The claims follow pretty much the marketing speech or the words of other old men writing in the audiophile press these days. He must have build strong believes over the years. There are many it seems.

I doubt that my HF hearing limit is anywhere near 20kHz at age 62!

But I do try to stay as open-minded as possible, and usually find the company of my adult daughters' friends preferable to the majority of my own generation. I try to keep learning new stuff, it takes my mind off the discomfort of my arthritic spine...

On a lighter note, a big plus for Bowers & Wilkins Customer Service: they've just turned around the repair of the PV1 subwoofer I bought s/hand in 2009 in less than a week from my receipt of appropriate packaging from them (couldn't fit the original box in the boot of my MX-5) to next day collection of the loaded package back to them, fixing it & couriering it back to me, all for their minimum out-of-warranty charge of £110. They have already sent me two new 5m speaker level cables with their weird (RJ45?) connectors attached at no cost. I don't think I can complain about that, given the money I've saved by buying s/hand in the first place.

Although I sincerely doubt that I'll be able to detect any stereo soundstage at the frequencies they handle (they're configured to fit in with the -6dB mechanical roll-off of my 805S stand-mounts), having two subwoofers in different positions should definitely improve the speaker to room interaction, and each one should on average only be driven half as hard so hopefully they'll last longer. And it's going to look a lot prettier to have one at the base of each stand rather than a single one plonked on the floor mid-way between them. Happy days.

Dave

[Golden Earring]

Slow & steady wins the race...

My repaired PV1 arrived on schedule yesterday morning, accompanied by an unusually grumpy UPS delivery man: after I thanked him for bringing it to my (ground floor) flat & signed the electronic delivery acknowledgement, I politely asked him if he'd mind putting in my lounge for me, an additional distance of less than 6 metres, explaining that I suffered from arthritis in my spine (the box weighed about 21kg). His response was "yeah, and I've had 2 heart attacks!". Slightly nonplussed, I offered to share the load with him. At this point he just grabbed the box off the floor outside my door and barged past me towards the lounge. I just had time to tell him to put it on my sofa, which he did, and then he stormed off. I still haven't quite figured out if he was having a pop at my disability, or was really putting himself at risk of a further heart attack by doing a heavy manual job! It takes all sorts...

Anyway, a friend called by later who helped me unpack it, and also held my flashlight above the corner unit my gear lives on & in, beneath my TV which can be manoeuvred flush against one wall thanks to a double arm bracket. This enabled me to reach through the bottom shelf of the cabinet and hook up 2 new 3m mains leads for the new subwoofer positions. I did have to move a couple of low wattage items onto a 2-way adaptor to free up two adjacent outlets on my primary 8-way anti-surge board, and the exercise was basically accomplished by me lying prone and feeling my way around at full stretch having first established the arrangement I wanted. When I first rigged it up I had all the cables tidy but as you add leads for this and that you inevitably begin to create a Gordian Knot! So I had to pick my way through the maze as sightless as Samson.

Got the main objective achieved after a bit of a struggle and rested a while up to let my body recover. After half an hour, I powered the whole system back up only to discover that I'd inadvertently dislodged the feed to my secondary board. Accepting that fate was not totally with me, I powered everything down again and did a second grovelling stint. It wasn't too bad, and I secured the wayward connector fairly quickly, still working by feel. Although it was awkward, it was much easier than pulling the heavy unit away from the corner and then endeavouring to slide it back into place without dislodging or trapping the myriad of connections. Everything worked again on second power-up, so all I did then was disconnect the working sub-woofer (which I had jerry-rigged just to check that it worked when the seller brought it over, using the flying mains point I sometimes use to connect my laptop into my system) roll it away, and roll in the repaired one and reconnect. Simples! B&W had done their magic and the repaired is good as new. Spheroid sub-woofers rule, OK!

It was at this point I collapsed in my sofa planning to finish the job today, i.e. stripping back the bare ends of Ken's new cables, attaching my double screw banana plugs to the appropriate ends and taping up the two surplus wires on each, rolling the subwoofers to their new locations, connecting them up, and then the fettling. It all seemed so feasible.

THEN I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been run-over by a steamroller. Took PRN painkillers at about 5:30am, and spent 90 minutes being grumpy with the cat whilst struggling to deal with my basic needs and her more extensive and persistent demands. Took another 60mg Codeine + 4mg Diazepam about 6:15am since no real improvement. At 7am, the penny dropped - I had missed the previous night's 300mg (max) dose of Pregabalin (it's a neuropathic painkiller), not to mention my Semi-Sodium Valproate mood-stabilisers (I apologise if I'm coming across as slightly mad today... ). My conclusion is that neuropathic biochemistry is a more sure-fire bet than acoustic neuroscience! A suspect that several forum members will concur...

So a quiet/noisy but restful day today. Stereo subwoofer installation postponed until manyana.

Dave

[garym]

My conclusion is that neuropathic biochemistry is a more sure-fire bet than acoustic neuroscience! A suspect that several forum members will concur...

[Golden Earring]

A much better day

Hi all.

Pain meds have now kicked back in, so no need to overdo the opiates today! Hopefully a little less crazy to boot...

Rigged up my 2 new speaker-level cables to achieve full stereo separation on my PV1 subwoofers, and rolled them around so they're sitting at the foot of my 805S stands. This looks much prettier, enables me to hide the wiring, and it worked first time. Bonus ball!

I'm now listening to a very clean 24 bit 96kHz FLAC file of Hendrix' Electric Ladyland. I still have the original vinyl double album with the contentious artwork. The nice ladies who agreed to pose au naturel in return for some dosh were apparently not at all taken with the strong green tint applied to the resulting photograph for the original LP release! The totally PC replacement cover that was quietly substituted long ago is sadly very bland indeed.

Oh, and yes, I know that the master tapes for this recording are analogue, but they are 2" wide and fly past the tape heads at a fair lick (at least 15"/sec, probably 30). That results in considerable dynamic range above the tape hiss, which I suspect has anyway been magically spirited away by the digital mastering engineer because I can't hear it at all. I don't think my hearing has got that bad yet. Btw, the band's instruments were analogue too, FWIW.

Returning to the PV1's, having two sub-woofers in play has certainly improved the room interface, although I still have some acoustic panelling in my mind. You can get them with any artwork you want printed on them: I rather like Rothko's stuff (and admire his effrontery when exclusive NY restaurants started buying them up, thus denying access to the hoi-polloi), but I think the rhythmic essence of Jackson Pollock's abstracts and the proportions of his canvases may be more appropriate for my walls. I'll have to settle for plain panels on ceiling however, since they don't offer a mirrored finish .

In addition, I'm rather surprised that the low frequency soundstage IS better with the true stereo wiring. This is probably because the -6db LF point of my 805S's is quite high at 42Hz, and of course the PV1s' crossovers will make them function to some extent at higher frequencies than that to flatten out the roll-off of my stand-mounts. The effect would probably not be so pronounced for those with larger floor-standing loudspeakers crossing over to subwoofer(s) at a lower frequency. Anyway, I'm happy, and Jimi & Co are still rocking-out merrily. With four agile 8" metal cones having a greater combined surface area greater than a single 15" speaker, and 1000W of Class D amplification to drive them, they really do sound the business.

Hope you're all having the pleasant musical weekend of your choice.

Dave

[Golden Earring]

Unused Transporter SE stocks getting low

Hi all!

Just a quick update - there are now only 6 of these beasties left for sale on eBay.com, & although the suppliers have "topped up" their numbers for sale in the past (obviously they "find" more units at the back of their warehouses ), they've tended to do it before their stocks got so low so I suspect these stock levels are now genuine. The vendor I bought from has 2 left, & a second vendor has 4. They're both asking $499.99 plus shipping & they're both open to offers.

In the unlikely event that a unit is faulty or gets lost or damaged in transit, you really don't want to have bought the last one!

Please bear in mind that if you don't live in the US, you are likely to be liable for import duties & your own country's sales tax/value added tax on top.

I would highly recommend that any prospective buyer PM me before proceeding...

Dave

[Fizbin]

The seller hotdogtec has way more than 4, trust me. His auctions have shown 4 left (for all four Transporter styles) for the past three years.

[Golden Earring]

Remaining stocks of unused Transporter SE's

The seller hotdogtec has way more than 4, trust me. His auctions have shown 4 left (for all four Transporter styles) for the past three years.

Hi Fizbin!

Roger that.

However, it is the other eBay seller "onlyonedeal" that I got my 2 units from & have the inside line on.

They also have "adjusted" their stock levels in the past but AFAIK have never waited until they got down to 2 units left before doing so which makes me suspect that this time they are really getting low. They led the price reduction round on eBay earlier this year (reduction of $150 in asking price) & have been accepting offers for most of their recent sales which looks to me as though they have made their turn on the end-of-line stock they bought in bulk from Logitech & appear to be wrapping up the protracted process of retailing them one-by-one.

As mentioned, I would suggest anyone considering making an offer gets in touch with me by PM first...

Obviously we all have our own opinions about these matters but it seems to me that large corporations are rich enough already & that governments do not necessarily use the monies they collect in particularly sensible ways so I myself don't feel any particular urge to assist them further. Not sure why I mentioned that it's a bit off-topic, isn't it?

Dave

[StephenPG]

Oh, and yes, I know that the master tapes for this recording are analogue, but they are 2" wide and fly past the tape heads at a fair lick (at least 15"/sec, probably 30). That results in considerable dynamic range above the tape hiss, which I suspect has anyway been magically spirited away by the digital mastering engineer because I can't hear it at all. I don't think my hearing has got that bad yet. Btw, the band's instruments were analogue too, FWIW.

So about 13 bit then... probably less.

https://youtu.be/cIQ9IXSUzuM

[Golden Earring]

Jimi's bits

So about 13 bit then... probably less.

https://youtu.be/cIQ9IXSUzuM

Morning Stephen!

I probably shouldn't mention Cynthia "Plaster-Caster" in the context of Mr Hendrix "bits" but in any event I was under the impression that it's not what you've got so much as what you can do with it!

No recorded complaints about Jimi AFAIK... (apart from the utterly barbaric fade-out at the end of "All Along The Watchtower" - they must have been in one helluva hurry to get down the pub)

Dave

[Getgaff]

Ordered a NOS Transporter SE earlier this week from hotdogtec. My offer was accepted and it's now here in the UK, just waiting for it to be delivered.
Originally had the TransNav knob version, sold it last year and regretted it. Absolutely don't need a Transporter what with owning a SBT/iFi SPDIF iPurifier combo and a Auralic Altair, but WTH .