What style of panel do I have?

[Carl Van Camp]

Please see photos.  They say Rick Beveridge at one end and Black Magic at the other.  Which version are these?

Thank you.

[Joe Curcio]

I'm not a panel expert - have you contacted Rick B?

On Mon, Feb 17, 2020 at 6:41 PM Carl Van Camp <carl.v...@gmail.com> wrote:

Please see photos.  They say Rick Beveridge at one end and Black Magic at the other.  Which version are these?

Thank you.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "beveridge-audio" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to beveridge-aud...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beveridge-audio/ca7851ee-7583-496c-a440-746329b38752%40googlegroups.com.

[Rich Morin]

You have a set of 2nd-generation panels made by Rick, up in Forestville, CA.
These panels are generally far superior to the originals, because Rick had
worked out a way to use silicone molds (and thus avoid bending the panels
to remove them from the old, solid molds). Rick also improved the electrical
connections to the mylar, so they are less likely to come loose. Enjoy!

-r

[Carl Van Camp]

Thanks.

I'm not 100% sure yet but I think I have one bad panel.  Does anyone reading this know of one that might be available?  I'm in Chicago.

On Monday, February 17, 2020 at 9:03:13 PM UTC-6, Rich Morin wrote:

You have a set of 2nd-generation panels made by Rick, up in Forestville, CA.
These panels are generally far superior to the originals, because Rick had
worked out a way to use silicone molds (and thus avoid bending the panels
to remove them from the old, solid molds).  Rick also improved the electrical
connections to the mylar, so they are less likely to come loose.  Enjoy!

-r

[Standish Marks]

 I have had two System Three's since new in ...'83?  I used them in my home for about six years or so, then they were banished to the basement,  there to  rest in stately elegance (and no damp) until this very day...I loved them , but some other people just do not have the excellent character required to appreciate them!

I would love to de-mothball them. They worked fine as I recall, and I have a couple of the revised extra circuit boards as they came out...woofies are a bit bedraggeled but I also have an Entec which was very reliable despite its reputation, which excels as much in its field as Harold's Cylinders do in theirs...

What should I do? The towers are in perfect shape, but I feel the panels should be inspected at least, and perhaps re-mylared, as I recall a few spark marks , probably due to dust allowing some arcing (but not much)...I also worry about the black stuff, which I fear must have gone all rigid over time....

Any advice would be welcome....I'm in San Francisco, and it's possible I could transport the speaks or just the panels to a field hospital.....

Thanks!

Standish  Marks

415 621 3332

stanc...@yahoo.com

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "beveridge-audio" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to beveridge-aud...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beveridge-audio/5e736c7d-2a62-4c92-9b42-aa193cd6d4f1%40googlegroups.com

.

[av]

If you're sure there was no damp environment, place them in the room for several days/a week. Then fire them up via a VARIAC - slowly, patiently, from zero, 5-10 minutes small incremental step, up to the full voltage. If you hear no hissing, pops, etc. at any stage, you may well be good to go (if you do, wait a minute to see if it disappears; if it doesn't - stop). Disconnect from the mains, and connect audio. Then reconnect mains.

Like you, I also have two pairs, working nicely.

For those with the Model 3 - technology has moved on. It is now possible to directly drive them with power amps - even Class D - and with DSP units, a much better option than passive xover. You can get rid of all the passive xover "forest" in both the speakers' bases with a small DSP unit (2x4 miniDSP jumps to mind) and two class D amps, one for the panel which can drive 2 ohms. The crossing over is still done at 200Hz/18db octave, in software, and the balance between bass and ES panel can be adjusted. With the miniDSP you have the luxury of choosing several filter algorithms (Bessel, Butterworth, Linkwitz-Riley), as well as the Q-factor of your speaker and many other parameters. Plus, you can EQ the entire speaker/panel and compensate for any frequency response aberrations. The amps reside in one base only together with the DSP unit, therefore you need to run 4 wires (low and high) to the other speaker. (But you would have done so anyway if you had previously bi-amped the speakers). I have upgraded one of my 3s and even included an option to Bluetooth drive them. Just make sure you don't drive your amps more than c.50% each of their total power (currently class D tend to distort heavily when pushed beyond 85-90% of rated power - so you want to avoid that; elsewhere they are down to c.0.5%). This means choosing beefy amps, c.200W/channel for the base and c.300W/channel for the panels (but drive both amps at 50% in DSP).  Worth a try. Anyone interested, please drop a line here.

There are reasons why this is not a straightforward option for Models 2/2SW - though it's not impossible. One reason is that anything done to discard the old tube amp will involve having step-up trannies (+/- 3200V) and some are reluctant to go that way. The 3s have them built-in (+/-1700V).

PS. For those who asked -  the 2/2SW sports a 12u thick, aluminized DuPont mylar. The 3's mylar is c.half that thickness (5u). The problem would be tensioning it in a stretcher, flop over measuring, etc. (There are of course other measurements today involving software, resonance, etc. to ensure consistent tension).

Arthur