Well, the job done..

I started with about 1" polyester stuffing, leaving the front baffle without any of it. Inner wiring A23 green stuff..

First listening at home..pretty decent, but I did expect more liveliness, hmmm...so I contacted JELabs's JE himself and he adviced me to line the side walls and rear cover only, so I removed the stuff from top and bottom. Now we're talking! Big change in sound - for the (much) better, no doubt about it. It's obvious that with the 755A you must 'tune' the drivers and the sound by finding the right amount and (perhaps?) right places for the stuffing inside the cabinet. I'll certainly experiment some more in the future. Now I'm going to enjoy what I've achieved so far. Cheers!

The cabs are now finished

Can't wait over the Christmas holidays to get the drivers installed and the whole job done..sorry for the lousy iPhone pic quality..

JE Labs..WE..Altec..Line Magnetic..

When I purchased vintage Stephen Trusonic 80FR drivers a few years ago, I studied different box alternatives and read very carefully Joseph Esmilla's blog. Very interesting blog and recommend reading if vintage audio, tube amps, old turntables, music etc. are of your interest. From there I also found plans for building simple open baffles for suitable drivers. I figured you can't lose much trying those baffles. So I built them - all in all, a very easy and rewarding project. FR80s really sang at those baffles. I also learned a lot and got used to a different way of sound reproduction. Wow!

At that time, when reading the very same blog, I also got interested in other vintage drivers, mostly Altec, WE..you name it. Along with those legends Goodmans, some exotic japanese drivers and others got my attention too. Exciting stuff! Unfortunately - some of those have become very rare and - terribly expensive to acquire for a regular guy like me :). Well, not all of them..I found original Altec 604Cs fitted in quite massive, over 200 litre cabs. I bought them! Highly educational and for sure - what a huge fun I had with those drivers.

Back to LM755As which I recently acquired. I can't afford a pair of original WE755As. Furthermore, I have never heard original ones either and to be honest, as long as LM keeps producing its fantastic remakes for a price almost every common man can afford, I don't care. The feel and fit'n'finish of these drivers are something spectacular. So is the sound. Spec says: 70 - 13000 Hz..one should never ever judge speaker by its specs..so back to JE's blog and the story about WE/Altec 755As and other variants. To make this story short, before I rush into bigger br cabs with the LM755As, I probably should try and build these 2 cf sealed cabs first..also suggested by Joseph himself after a brief chat on Instagram. Thanks, Joseph!

Sealed, BR..which way to go..

I've been trying my LM755As fullrange drivers in Swissonor B.A.C.H.8e cabs, both br and sealed mode. Please, don't ask how did I proceed that, but I did anyway..;) I think I've got the answers and I have a strong feeling, that building br cabs is for me to way to go and get the most out of the 755As. Those are real great drivers and I think to get them really sing and real fullrange use is to build big enough cabs, perhaps like these..

Ideas about enclosures for LM755A

Besides JELabs OB, I'd fancy trying to put the LM755As into these cabs..these are of course Swissonor B.A.C.H.8e tractrix horn speakers from Switzerland. Bass is adjustable from the bottom and the inner volume is about 55-56 ltrs..which is about ideal recommendation for the LM755A. Hmmm.. ;)

Awakenings..

Almost three years since my last post here. Not much (?) happened during this time, except listening music. Sold A23 Hommage 755s eventually (!?), sold 401 w/ Schick 12" arm, bought full Swissonor (more about that perhaps later) system w/ Thorens TD160 and being trying to keep everything that way. Now, a pair of LM755As are taking a new entry into my rig..:) I've been missed those chinese remakes ever since I sold them. Let's see what happens this time..at least I'm excited as a rabbit, haha :).

Pilot SM-244

I've owned numerous amplifiers during last twenty or so years. Both solid state and tube ones. Which ones are my favourites - guess..;-) No, I'll save you from guessing, the ones with glowing bottles have intrigued me since I bought the mighty Graaf GM50. My first tube amp ever. Warm, fullbodied, powerful and detailed, musical sound. Everything one could wish for. Everything one could live forever with. But I wanted to 'learn' ;-) more, so I eventually sold it.

After that I've owned several push pulls, SE pentodes, SETs, you name it. Power amps, integrateds, tubed pre amps etc. A common story. Every amp have had their own strenghts and weaknesses, but all have shared the very same nature of tube amps - a lovely, lively, natural, warmish sound character - which every single sand amp lacks. Lack of life, excitement and drama.

One of the best tube amps that I have encountered during recent years has been the Pilot SM-244 integrated I bought last spring from a croatian fellow. It was a totally restored piece and represented the '59 vintage. 18 watts of EL84 power in very handsome package; four EL84's, three sets of 12AX7's, one 12AU7 and one rectifier tube, GZ34, so total of 12 tubes.

When I connected the amp and swithched it on for the first time in conjunction with my Garrard 401 and DeVore Nines speakers I was simply stunned. Never heard such a crystalline clarity alongside with  the power and bass control from my DeVores. Midrange was very liquid, articulate and the treble was very silky and extended. The combination simply made fantastic music together.

The Pilot's iron had been held untouched (big part of the amp's fabulous sound lies there for sure), it was a 115V machine and I used it with a step down transformer without obvious negative shortcomings. I still can't anything but wonder how they builded such amps over a half century ago..which equalled or bested their modern siblings in sound quite easily. Amazing stuff!

Anyhow, the Pilot isn't for all loads and speakers..well, that's not necessarily true, but..even though it sounded stunning with 8 and especially with 16 ohm speakers I found it not so stellar with 4 ohm Auditorium 23 Hommages which are equipped with 4 ohm legendary WE755A driver..and they'll need , once again, quite presumably, even more delicate SET power..but that's another story. ;-)

When writing this, I've just sold my Pilot. That might be one of the biggest mistakes in my audio hobby so far. Only the time will tell. In the meantime, congrats for the new owner! I'm really happy for ya'!

(Zelimir, I hope you don't mind using your original pics.:-) )