Custom Crossover Testimonials
Mark Vradenburg, Great Yarmouth, UK, 8 Ohm Hiraga circuit networks , including the supertweeter network, for Altec A7-500-8 loudspeakers with the Altec 511 tweeter horn:
Hi Pete, "Your crossovers go much deeper than the rebuilt Altec units I got with the speakers. I can hear every note of the stand up bass now whereas before they were muffled. The sound in general of your crossovers has improved too with every hour played."
From Marks post on What's Best . . . whatsbestforum.com
"In regards to Vintage Speakers; last week I replaced my Altec A7 stock crossovers with some custom Hiraga design units by Pete Riggle in Kennewick, Washington. I wired them to the speaker posts with Duelund Dual DCA16GA tinned copper multi strand wire in cotton and oil, which I must say is about as large a gauge as one should try to get into the Altec speaker wire clips. The crossovers and wire are still burning in, and the sound is still improving, but already the difference is as great as night and day. I believe the improvement in sound is due to two things, first the proven Hiraga design, second Pete's use of large NOS oil-filled capacitors.
The crossovers follow the Hiraga design mostly, as they also have switchable notch filters, allowing the ability to remove a wide shallow notch in the band from 800 Hz to 9 kHz, centered at 3.5 kHz. The toggle switch selected setting for the notch are: flat, -2db, or -4db. I found they sound best on my system set for flat response. The crossover is at 525Hz. There is also a separate circuit for adding a Super Tweeter at some stage.
Here is a gallery of photos of Mark's crossovers. Click on any image to enlarge it to full screen. We tried both white and black labels on these crossovers. They were shipped with the black labels. Either style of label is available:
Hi Pete, "Your crossovers go much deeper than the rebuilt Altec units I got with the speakers. I can hear every note of the stand up bass now whereas before they were muffled. The sound in general of your crossovers has improved too with every hour played."
From Marks post on What's Best . . . whatsbestforum.com
"In regards to Vintage Speakers; last week I replaced my Altec A7 stock crossovers with some custom Hiraga design units by Pete Riggle in Kennewick, Washington. I wired them to the speaker posts with Duelund Dual DCA16GA tinned copper multi strand wire in cotton and oil, which I must say is about as large a gauge as one should try to get into the Altec speaker wire clips. The crossovers and wire are still burning in, and the sound is still improving, but already the difference is as great as night and day. I believe the improvement in sound is due to two things, first the proven Hiraga design, second Pete's use of large NOS oil-filled capacitors.
The crossovers follow the Hiraga design mostly, as they also have switchable notch filters, allowing the ability to remove a wide shallow notch in the band from 800 Hz to 9 kHz, centered at 3.5 kHz. The toggle switch selected setting for the notch are: flat, -2db, or -4db. I found they sound best on my system set for flat response. The crossover is at 525Hz. There is also a separate circuit for adding a Super Tweeter at some stage.
Here is a gallery of photos of Mark's crossovers. Click on any image to enlarge it to full screen. We tried both white and black labels on these crossovers. They were shipped with the black labels. Either style of label is available:
Zach Cowie, Hiraga Circuit networks for Altec A5 loudspeakers with 1505 tweeter:
Hi Pete! Just a quick note to let you know the crossovers have arrived safely. Huge thanks for such a good packing job! I’ve wired them up and they’re sounding quite good already- my friend is coming by this evening to help me dial them in to perfection! I will report back with listening impressions once I’ve had some time with them. Thank you again for everything- impeccable craftsmanship, communication, and shipping! I couldn’t be happier. Zach
Hi Pete! Just a quick note to let you know the crossovers have arrived safely. Huge thanks for such a good packing job! I’ve wired them up and they’re sounding quite good already- my friend is coming by this evening to help me dial them in to perfection! I will report back with listening impressions once I’ve had some time with them. Thank you again for everything- impeccable craftsmanship, communication, and shipping! I couldn’t be happier. Zach
Here are photos of Zach's Hiraga circuit crossovers:
And here are photos of Zach's listening room. Nice, yes? If you look carefully you can see the crossovers peeking out from below the Altec 1503 horns.
Dick Joslyn, Pete Riggle Altec N800 circuit crossovers. Speakers are Altec Malibu, with dual 414 woofers and 811 tweeter:
Hi Pete, The N800 crossovers arrived safely, are all unpacked, and are in perfect condition. I have hooked them up. First impression--they are excellent right out of the box! I expect them to get even better as my new wiring harnesses burn in, and the rest of the system which has been powered down since Sept gets up to speed. Mancini and other small combo jazz sound spooky- real, even in the next room. Thanks again, and I'll keep you posted on further listening. Cheers, Dick J
Here are images of Dick's N800 crossovers. Dick chose to have them stand with the long axis vertical. Bookshelf arrangement. They can also be arranged flat, as shown below:
Below you see the crossovers lying flat, which is more conventional.
And here is a photograph with the covers removed showing the internals.
Denny Voss: Pete Riggle consulting on crossovers for 10" Tannoy Monitor Gold loudspeakers
The End Result
The photo below shows Denny Voss's gorgeous speakers which use 10" Tannoy Monitor Gold coaxial loudspeakers with crossovers built by Denny in consultation with Pete Riggle, and which use Pete Riggle Selected Loudspeaker Crossover Capacitors. Please note the gorgeous cabinet work Denny did on these speakers. Congratulations, Denny.
The End Result
The photo below shows Denny Voss's gorgeous speakers which use 10" Tannoy Monitor Gold coaxial loudspeakers with crossovers built by Denny in consultation with Pete Riggle, and which use Pete Riggle Selected Loudspeaker Crossover Capacitors. Please note the gorgeous cabinet work Denny did on these speakers. Congratulations, Denny.
Denny's Preliminary Testimonial
THEY WORK!! Oh yes, that's not very significant news. But it is how they sound that's the good news story, and the first impressions are very good. The two descriptive terms which keep coming to mind are "nuanced" and Yazaki san's favorite "Real Sound." That is the headline. I'm sure the speakers will improve as more hours are accumulated.
I have confirmed that the crossovers seem to be working as planned but have chosen to leave them at their most "straight through" setting during the burning in period. I've tried raising and lowering the energy settings but mostly to confirm the autoformer is working correctly.
I can't thank you enough for all your generous efforts and time with the crossovers.
Take care, and enjoy the music!
Denny
THEY WORK!! Oh yes, that's not very significant news. But it is how they sound that's the good news story, and the first impressions are very good. The two descriptive terms which keep coming to mind are "nuanced" and Yazaki san's favorite "Real Sound." That is the headline. I'm sure the speakers will improve as more hours are accumulated.
I have confirmed that the crossovers seem to be working as planned but have chosen to leave them at their most "straight through" setting during the burning in period. I've tried raising and lowering the energy settings but mostly to confirm the autoformer is working correctly.
I can't thank you enough for all your generous efforts and time with the crossovers.
Take care, and enjoy the music!
Denny
The Crossover Project for Denny's Speakers
Denny Voss contacted me (Pete Riggle) for consultation on a brand new build of crossovers for a pair of 10" Monitor Gold loudspeakers, using a schematic provided by the Tannoy company. I looked over the schematic and saw that the design relies on an autoformer (a tapped coil with silicone steel laminated core). This posed a bit of a problem for me as I had not before designed a tapped coil autoformer. I did some research on how to model a tapped core coil using the SPICE electrical circuit analysis software, and then I did calculations of the response curves at the various tweeter output level (ENERGY) switch settings associated with the tapped coil and the various tweeter (ROLLOF) switch settings settings associated with the adjustable tweeter rolloff filter.
Having done the calculations, I advised Denny to pay me for consultation and to purchase my Pete Riggle Selected Loudspeaker Crossover Capacitors for the project. I advised Denny where to buy parts and how to use them. I advised Denny on how to use a commercial coil with a grain oriented steel core to build the tapped coils. In addition to the two end connections of the coil there are four intermediate taps. The process involved unwinding each inductor destined to become a tapped coil, until reaching the inductance of the lowest tap on the coil, bringing out a loop of wire at that point for use as a tap, rewinding wire to reach the inductance of the next tap, bringing out a loop of wire for use as a tap, and so on. On my advice Denny purchased an inexpensive inductance meter (actually capacitance and inductance) to use in monitoring inductance as the coil was unwound and rewound. Denny was a stalwart craftsman, and did a great job of turning the magnetic core inductors into tapped coil autoformers.
The Circuit
Below is an image of the Tannoy circuit. You need to print this off if you want to read it in detail. We would not have had enough information to proceed if we had not had access to information about the inductances of the various taps of the Tannoy tapped coil (Tannoy Item 3112A) provided by a Danish audiophile named Troelsgravesen. See www.troelsgravesen.dk/Tannoy_IIILZ.htm .
Denny Voss contacted me (Pete Riggle) for consultation on a brand new build of crossovers for a pair of 10" Monitor Gold loudspeakers, using a schematic provided by the Tannoy company. I looked over the schematic and saw that the design relies on an autoformer (a tapped coil with silicone steel laminated core). This posed a bit of a problem for me as I had not before designed a tapped coil autoformer. I did some research on how to model a tapped core coil using the SPICE electrical circuit analysis software, and then I did calculations of the response curves at the various tweeter output level (ENERGY) switch settings associated with the tapped coil and the various tweeter (ROLLOF) switch settings settings associated with the adjustable tweeter rolloff filter.
Having done the calculations, I advised Denny to pay me for consultation and to purchase my Pete Riggle Selected Loudspeaker Crossover Capacitors for the project. I advised Denny where to buy parts and how to use them. I advised Denny on how to use a commercial coil with a grain oriented steel core to build the tapped coils. In addition to the two end connections of the coil there are four intermediate taps. The process involved unwinding each inductor destined to become a tapped coil, until reaching the inductance of the lowest tap on the coil, bringing out a loop of wire at that point for use as a tap, rewinding wire to reach the inductance of the next tap, bringing out a loop of wire for use as a tap, and so on. On my advice Denny purchased an inexpensive inductance meter (actually capacitance and inductance) to use in monitoring inductance as the coil was unwound and rewound. Denny was a stalwart craftsman, and did a great job of turning the magnetic core inductors into tapped coil autoformers.
The Circuit
Below is an image of the Tannoy circuit. You need to print this off if you want to read it in detail. We would not have had enough information to proceed if we had not had access to information about the inductances of the various taps of the Tannoy tapped coil (Tannoy Item 3112A) provided by a Danish audiophile named Troelsgravesen. See www.troelsgravesen.dk/Tannoy_IIILZ.htm .
Cesare Dini, Bologna Italy: Pete Riggle custom designed and constructed 3 way passive crossover:
Cesare has assembled a remarkable speaker system using , JBL 4550 woofer/mid horns for 2 each Altec 416 woofers, Sato horns with a 4'-2" square mouth using the Lamar M1 compression driver, and JBL 2426 compression drivers on JBL 2370 tweeter horns. The crossover half power points specified by Cesare are; woofer 300 Hz, mid 150 Hz and 2 kHz, tweeter 2 kHz. The crossovers are second order, with the exception that the tweeter can be switched to operate only capacitor blocked. Cesare appreciates being able to filter the tweeter either first or second order. Here is the circuit for Cesare's crossover:
Cesare has assembled a remarkable speaker system using , JBL 4550 woofer/mid horns for 2 each Altec 416 woofers, Sato horns with a 4'-2" square mouth using the Lamar M1 compression driver, and JBL 2426 compression drivers on JBL 2370 tweeter horns. The crossover half power points specified by Cesare are; woofer 300 Hz, mid 150 Hz and 2 kHz, tweeter 2 kHz. The crossovers are second order, with the exception that the tweeter can be switched to operate only capacitor blocked. Cesare appreciates being able to filter the tweeter either first or second order. Here is the circuit for Cesare's crossover:
My translations of Cesare's exquisite prose in French leave much to be desired. Suffice it to say that Cesare has been very gracious in his praise of my crossovers and the capacitors used in the crossovers.
Here is a photo showing one of Cesare's front panels, in my shop before being shipped to Bologna:
Here is a photo showing one of Cesare's front panels, in my shop before being shipped to Bologna:
Here is a photo of a rear panel of one of Cesare's crossovers:
Cesare converted an abandoned masonry bakery on his property to a small auditorium. The following are photos of Cesare's speakers during the shakedown cruise. At this time the room was in a bit of disarray, which is not surprising during the installation and shakedown of an audio project of this magnitude.
Here is the kicker . . . Cesare, now in his mid nineties, is doing more adventurous audio than most of us have done at any age, and . . . he is marvelously ebulient! I love him so much.
Here is the kicker . . . Cesare, now in his mid nineties, is doing more adventurous audio than most of us have done at any age, and . . . he is marvelously ebulient! I love him so much.
Pete Riggle Audio
2112 S. Olympia Street, Kennewick WA 99337, USA
shop phone: 509 582 4548 email: peteriggle@msn.com
VTAF™ Trademarked. U.S.Patent No. 7630288. Website content Copyright © 2019 Pete Riggle Audio, All Rights Reserved.
2112 S. Olympia Street, Kennewick WA 99337, USA
shop phone: 509 582 4548 email: peteriggle@msn.com
VTAF™ Trademarked. U.S.Patent No. 7630288. Website content Copyright © 2019 Pete Riggle Audio, All Rights Reserved.