Updated:
08-Dez-06
BI-wiring with the "2
Headed Dragon"
A Double Secondary Winding Output TX ......
New projects: The 2
headed Dragon !!
This little project for the Golidav Amplifiers is called the "2-HEADED
DRAGON" What the heck should that mean than ??? Some time ago I "silver"
wired my loudspeakers in BI-Wiring mode. When connecting the silver wire to the LS
Terminals at the amplifier, I realized there is a lot of wire in the secondary winding in
the output transformer. So, the filigran currents for the tweeter were still "pushed
under" by the brutal currents of the low mid range..... Haha, I know the
answer, BI-Amping ! Well, very expensive I must say. So my first thought was to have at
least 2 Output transformers. Some experiments were done, but not successfully. Till I
spoke with Will Blaauw , the Dutch Transformer
Wizard, who delivered the amorphe transformers, on getting new coils with secondary silver
windings. Suddenly I realized, that if you put a BI-filair winding at the secondary, the
solution was there !! So..... Will started to produce this unique piece (I have never
heard of any thing actually being made and tested) Output transformer with 2 secondary
windings. One in Copper and one in Silver. Why the 2 different materials? Simple reason: 3
possible combinations to experiment and really COMPARE what the influence is on the sound
reproduction.
It is no rocket science to change the transformer unit, but never the less, I made some pictures to show how it looks like (Lesson one for a well designed homepage is: put pictures in it !!! even if you do not need them........)
The 2 coil chambers, winded under the microscope ( !!! ) Swiss precision... Here you can see very clearly the silver and copper winding on the sec....
the dismantling and the re-construction of the Transformer is a piece of cake, thanks to the construction with the two half cores and the steel bands, holding the two core parts tightly together. Do take care of small splitters in your fingers, sharp as glass, it really hurts !
now I am glad, I made the construction in such a way, it is extremely easy to disassemble the TX from the amplifier top panel. For the testing I use short wires with croco clips, for quickly changing the output windings
OK, how does it sound ????
OK, let me try to make
a kind of table / summary of the main 3 combinations:
Please do not forget, this is all relative: An amorphe TX with copper is a GREAT
component !!
The best of the 3 combinations gets 100 points, so the score is always relative
Sound Parameter | Copper only | Copper Low/Mid & Silver High | Silver only |
Lows | Normal tight Bass | Strange enough, the Bass seems to become tighter ?? | Comparable with Copper |
Points | 95 | 100 | 95 |
Mids | Present, but disconnected from the highs, little coloration | Voices are very clean, very neutral balance, high fluency | Mids are very clean, neutral and VERY homogeneous, extremely fluent ! |
Points | 80 | 90 | 100 |
Highs | Sparkling, fresh | Oh, so sweet, high detail | filigran, high detail |
Points | 70 | 100 | 95 |
Dynamics | Normal | VERY dynamic, transparent ! | Better than copper |
Points | 80 | 100 | 90 |
Soundstage | Open, spatial, somewhat diffuse | Very open, extreme pin point, lots of micro detail | Very open, better pin point and micro detail |
Points | 80 | 100 | 95 |
Conclusions !!
The Copper version is a very good transformer, no discussion, If you change to the
silver winding, wowwwww, sweet as honey, very fluent and homogenous. Absolutely worth it.
The same great leap, when I changed my 10 meter interlinks from copper to pure
silver...... The next step is the dual sec windings. What surprised me, was the extra
tight bass (??? who has an idea? write me !!) What did not surprise me, was the improved
dynamics/power and the extra pin point and detail richness, this is what you get with
BI-Wiring your speakers also, but now, you go back the whole electric (secondary) circuit
!! That helps for sure. Only little minus part was that the 2HD was beaten by the single
silver winding when it comes to fluency and homogenous sound.
My end conclusion ?? If you do not care for dynamics and the extra cubical meters in the soundstage, but you like vocals ?? take the single silver. If you you like to be surprised by extra dynamics/power and soundstage/pin point and have much better mids than copper, take the dual windings version....
May be 2 sec windings of silver would be the ultimate, may be should talk another time with with Wil, hahaha !
All in all I enjoy now the 2 headed dragon, and if I play music with vocals ???? I simply switch to single silver output.............
Happy building, listening AND testing.......
Doede
IMPORTANT: The information provided on this page is intended as guide for DIY activities and therefore free to copy and or publish. If any one wishes to use any of the information from my WEB site, please make sure to refer and footnote to my URL Link as source! Doede Douma