Listening room system questions

dpat1 · 1613

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Offline dpat1

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on: July 31, 2014, 07:54:14 AM
I finally have the kids off the company dime and out of the house so I’m discovering that I suddenly have quite a few dimes left over. With this windfall of disposable income I am going to build the listening room I have wanted for a very long time. I have decided to go all in with a Bottlehead system. The output side will be a set of 300B Paramount’s driven by a Beepre.

So question number one concerns the input side. I plan to have a turntable, reel to reel and a DAQ for the digital files. For the turntable and the reel to reel, can an Eros be configured to work with both a phono cartridge and tape heads? I would prefer not to have to build an Eros for each.

The second question is on speakers. I am currently leaning towards the Blumenstein Makos. Are these a good match for the Paramount’s? Are there better choices? The room is approximately 14’X18’X8’.

My budget for the build is in the $6-8K range. I already have a Beepre ordered and paid for so that does not factor in. To date I have built two Crack’s, a Submissive and a Mainline which is my current headphone driver of choice.

Opinions and ideas are welcome.

Thanks, David



Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #1 on: August 03, 2014, 08:46:42 AM
Several replies were lost, including mine.

We have a circuit for an RIAA/NAB switch in Eros; the NAB is valid for 7.5 and 15ips but does not work for IEC tapes such as the Tape Project ones. I don't know whether one has actually been built. It's a very tight fit to get all the components and switch installed sufficiently close to the relevant parts of the circuit to be confident there will be no hum and/or noise pickup. I have no record of having developed a specific layout; possibly Doc B will remember.

Paul Joppa


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #2 on: August 03, 2014, 10:18:13 AM
IIRC, one was built, but I believe it used the RIAA operating point and had a reworked EQ for the NAB?

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline Big Al 954

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Reply #3 on: August 03, 2014, 10:51:12 PM
An idea for the different EQ requirements.
What about mounting an additional octal socket on the top plate  and have the required EQ components built on an octal plug in a can in the fashion of the Quad22 preamps for their cartridge adaptors.
Not as elegant granted , but if you really want to do it with a single preamp it's an alternative.
Attention to wiring and possible crosstalk may occur, but, it's just an idea.
Thoughts ?

Alastair Reynolds
Broadcast Radio Engineer


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #4 on: August 04, 2014, 04:46:38 AM
One would need to be very careful about the layout as noise pickup is a potential issue at that point in the circuit.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.