Metaxas & Sins solitaire, Manual

Page 1: ...metaxas sins solitaire depuis 1981 ...

Page 2: ...result of my 35 year fascination with the art of music reproduction from concert recording electrical engineeing and ultimately artistic design This solitaire has been totally handcrafted by either myself or one of my sons I consider it an object of art kostas metaxas ...

Page 3: ...solitaire metallic automotive paint option ...

Page 4: ...ductive beauty to an audio amplifier As a recording engineer Metaxas also wanted to voice it for extremely realistic recording playback to be able to reproduce all the nuance and emotion of a musical performance His new SOLITAIRE is the result Machined from a solid block of either aircraft aluminium copper or titanium it s totally bespoke and the modular electronics make it future proof Even the c...

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Page 6: ...oltage gain stage uses considerable local feedback to ensure that large voltage swings from the input stage are accommodated with the least possible distortion An overall negative feedback of only 11dB is required to stabilise the complete D C operating point and reduce distortion at full power to below 0 01 T H D which is primarily composed of second harmonics A D C servo is built around an integ...

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Page 8: ...histicated current limiting protection circuits the SOLITAIR Euses only the short M205 fuse types to protect the high current stages Apart from the fuses is a four pole relay in series with the loudspeaker connections If over 0 6VDC is sensed at the amplifier output the relay is activated until the condition is rectified FREQUENCYRESPONSE DC 5 0MHz 3dB POWER OUTPUT 150WRMS per channel into 8 Ohms ...

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Page 10: ...the making of a solitaire These videos trace the creative and manufacturing process of a SOLITAIRE https vimeo com 164672495 ...

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Page 12: ...uits in the speaker wires then proceed to switch the unit ON For the best results it is recommended that the unit is powered on for at least 15 minutes before critical listening is attempted Protection CircuitsThe output stage of the amplifier is fused with 3Afast blow fuses M205 type which protects the amplifier in case of operating faults Two 4 pole high current relays with DC sensing protection...

Page 13: ...After unpacking don t forget to remove the white foam which holds the modules in place top and bottom panels ...

Page 14: ...future proof modular construction the heart of the solitaire two updateable modules ...

Page 15: ...ain Metaxas amplifiers have been conceived using extensive listening tests with a variety of state of the art ancillary equipment and the systems of customers over a 35 year period Our amplifiers have been designed using a variety of state of the art phono playback equipment over the years but our ABSOLUTE REFERENCE is our library of over 300 in house Master Tapes of acoustic Jazz and Classical co...

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Page 17: ...ct Silvio Delfino FEDELTADELSUONO Italy Provided that the back up components are of good quality listeners can expect lush well produced sounds closely akin to vacuum tubes The unit s presentation of asoundstage is astounding All dimensions are faithfully reproduced with the appropriate focal impact There is enough air around instruments and voices to beguile even seasoned listeners Ernie Fisher T...

Page 18: ...integrated or stereo version ...

Page 19: ...c jazz fusion and even rock the IKARUS is very impressive Its sound is correctly aggressive but at the same time warm and liquid it captivates with the intense fascination of the sound it portrays But it is with the late night listening session at home with the volume control set just right so as not to disturb anyone family or neighbours that the IKARUS reaches the pinnacle of enjoyment Joe Hende...

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Page 21: ...history 4 decades of design 1980 s in Brunswick Street North Fitzroy ...

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Page 23: ...history 4 decades of design 1990 s in Rae St North Fitzroy Macquarie St Prahran 2000 designs Stainless Steel monocoque construction ...

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Page 25: ...our master tapes ...

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Page 27: ...The professional world doesn t share the same vocabulary of soundstage width and depth tonal neutrality and transparency In fact most recording engineers and there are very few exceptions pick their microphones and equipment for the known colorations they impart to the sound And the sound they tend to go for in general has no depth of field as they are used to working in enclosed cubicles Acoustic...

Page 28: ...first experimentation was with microphones Although I liked some of the colourations I could hear with AKGs NEUMANNS SCHOEPS etc some were adversely a ecting the soundstage width and depth of a performance I found that the faster 1 4 or 1 2 diaphragm microphones soundstaged better than the traditional 1 capsules So I started with a B K 4133 which is predominantly used for instrumentation testing I...

Page 29: ...nal path rewired the signal path and the final huge improvement came with the substitution of a Lundahl mic transformer 1538XL for the existing BEYER Apart from one small glitch during a concert the modified SM8 s and AMI48 mixers have worked flawlessly through over 300 concerts testament to the genius of Quellet VIDEO Metaxas speech on recording at the Munich High End Show 2012 https vimeo com 14...

Page 30: ...our PC board HIGH SPEED POWER SUPPLIES Conventional power amplifier use a large high current power transformer which feeds a high current bridge rectifier to convert the AC from the transformer into DC voltages which are then mains ripple filtered using massive computer grade capacitors The rectifier bridge that is normally used is relatively large handles high current and low voltage with very sl...

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Page 32: ...and returns back to the OUTPUT of the TRANSISTOR circuit and VALVE circuit In the VALVE circuit when 10 VOLTS travels across the 50 000 Ohms R towards the power supply impedance of 2 Ohms the 10V signal is attenuated 50 000 2 25 000 times Therefore 10V 25 000 0 0004 Volts of 1 0kHz sinewave On its way back to the OUTPUT of the circuit it is attenuated by the impedance of the amplifier say 100 Ohms...

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Page 34: ... of having an audio signal at the input which is then amplified to become a larger audio signal at the output has a fixed D C voltage reference at the input which is then amplified and becomes a larger DC voltage of at the output The output impedance of the regulator not unlike the output impedance or Damping Factor of a power amplifier is less than one ohm at D C If we use a 2 0 Volt zener diode ...

Page 35: ...speed regulator would therefore treat a signal at 1 0 MegaHertz in the same manner as a signal at 1 0kHz The ultimate voltage regulator would e ectively have a theoretical output impedance or Damping Factor at V of zero ohms at all frequencies as a result of its wide bandwidth before the addition of negative feedback In this way the attenuation of the 10 Volts across the resistor R residual would ...

Page 36: ...est amplifier circuit and add a slow I C voltage regulator with an output capacitor and call it a finished design Our discrete voltage regulators are designed to have the absolute lowest noise reject mains ripple but more importantly to have a speed 1000 V microsecond which is a result of their wide bandwidth design an open loop frequency response greater than 500kHz and output impedance which is ...

Page 37: ...solitaire anodised option any color you like ...

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Page 39: ...o the external current limiting Power Supply with maximum 35VDC output voltage and 100 mA current limiting 3 Generate a 1 0kHz frequency sine wave Connect your oscillator to any of the inputs 1 2 3 and select it with the rotary switch Adjust the VOLUME control to position 9 Connect the Speaker outputs to your Oscilloscope s channel 2 4 Install or replace the 4 fuses with MA205 FAST BLOW 1 0 A for ...

Page 40: ...20 driver transistor is faulty replace both driver transistors Q12 Q13 or Q12a Q13a 2 Check the 30 OHMS resistors in series with the BASE of the output transistors R39 40 39a 40a to ensure that they have not open circuited 3 Connect the BLACK multi meter lead to earth and check for any short circuits on the positive or negative voltage rails 4 If the MAIN FUSE blows check the SF16 rectifier diodes...

Page 41: ...some awards Recipient of 2 AUSTRALIAN EXPORT AWARDS BHP STEEL DESIGN AWARD runner up in AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS USA International Design Award ITALY A DESIGN SILVER AWARD WINNER ...

Page 42: ... design is visual music Unable to a ord expensive Hi Fi equipment he taught himself electrical engineering and started producing which turned into his first business Hungry for knowledge about art and design Metaxas started a magazine so he could interview great artists and designers worldwide learn from them and feed his own creativity For Metaxas designing feels euphoric He enjoys working with v...

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Page 44: ...ld also invoke experimenting and playfulness with infinite possibilities Some advice from Metaxas to young designers Research the breathtaking work of others and wait until your idea exceeds that standard otherwise it has no reason to exist Do your absolute best If you re not motivated don t do it Give life to an object which never existed before That s what he s doing and he loves every moment of...

Page 45: ...his declaration relates is in conformity with the following standard s or other normative document s Directives this equipment complies with LVD 2006 95 EC EMC 2004 108 EC ErP 2009 125 EC RoHS 2011 65 EC Berlin 12 January 2016 Mr Kostas Metaxas Owner Designer Metaxas Sins Rosa Luxembourg Strasse 10178 Berlin Germany ...