Fling Poo at Wu

This rant is based on actual listening experiences with a designer who wants to hear the noise. The author demands velvet silence, but admits that the Flingpoo system described, in use, at concert levels, was unlike any other. Since this author listens to music at a volume that is much more moderate and does so as a general rule, it is impossible for him to create this experiece. Back during the "loft" days, it was. But the author's loudspeaker of choice, the ESL-Gradient combo could never reproduce the 100+ dB levels that Joe likes to boogie at.

 

The "Relationship Amplifier" 15 watts/side Class A. Conversational with a speaker such as the one described below, but normally unobtrusive and illluminative. The B&W loudspeaker offers an efficiency of about 100 dB/W. It was far more engaging than an 8B in a one on one test. Owner was upset, as was Joe, since he had 'worked' on the 8B. It is unstable when used with the Quads.

A B&W P2H/E loudspeakers that utilizes a little known plasma tweeter driver that saw its origins in the USA. I had an opportunity to listen to the P2H/E before Joe purchased the pair, since the owner offered them for sale to me before Joe grabbed them. I was impressed with how clinical the speaker sounded and how it made any amplifier connected to it sound better than it would sound with any other loudspeaker. It edged out the Quads due to its minuscule point source. This feature makes the P2H/E, when coupled with its transmission line that utilizes an oval cone with a butyl surround, the most advanced dynamic speaker at the time. Few loudspeakers can outdo it today. None can in the treble region.

I have heard truly remarkable performance when his 'conventional' amplifiers (and there are two systems extant that are so equipped) drive Quad ELS and Martin Logan electrostatic loudspeakers. The amplifiers do so with authority (with polypropylene elements in their power supplies, thus with as much transparency as you can possibly expect within an unreasonable budget). He has also pulled a rabbit out of the hat with aplomb with such designs as the Kawabunga, but he frequently falters on the esoteric, but no more than anybody else might. There's no doubt that Joe has pressed hard against the limits of the art.

Like any other designer around today, he makes what he can out of a dwindling supply of tubes.

His designs, mated with an efficient loudspeaker, are noisy. When I first heard what was at the time his primary system I was astonished with how noisy it was. Joe claimed that the noise wasn't really an issue, and it wasn't once we started to listen at a volume level that easily exceeded 100 decibels, or, shout to communicate across a distance of four feet... Joe admits as much in his system description on the Audio Asylum Web site, but he soft-pedals the matter.

Joe Rosen's main system was much like being backstage at a rock concert. There's something alluring about the gentle, relaxed noises that emanate from the system. As I have written elsewhere, listening into the noise floor is the way to go. Were Rosen's components capable of being silent down to -140 dB, he would have it made and I would use his preamplifier design instead of my own in my system and I too would listen (through the Wharfedale W3's) far down into the noise floor, instead of listening down to -100 dB (or far less) along with the rest of the High End.

.... (emphasis) ....  Like any other designer around today,
he makes what he can out of a dwindling supply of tubes.

Joe would reach his goals with much greater ease, were he to have a supply of tubes that were so free of noise that they became microphonic, and did do in a uniform manner from envelope to envelope.. Low noise tubes, in which a small impurity is added to the vacuum as part of its initial getter flash, are designed to supply a very low level source of noise that prevents the tube from being so quiet that it might become microphonic. Joe spent months seeking out microphonic tubes out of an inventory of about 5,000 for the two chassis preamplifier. One out of 100 tubes would offer the desired characteristics in both envelopes.

Post Caveat Disclaimer: This critique does not apply to Joe Rosen's other systems. Joe Rosen is an exemplary designer working with the finest materials. His circuits and their implementation may produce peculiar results in one instance, and his desire to listen to his circuit in this manner, is fun for an evening of listening, and, indeed, listening to the noise floor can be educational. The microphonics tests were certainly a blast. And after a while, the background noise fades away. What?

(This is the first in a series of second-rate satire of Audion staffers. In this instance, ed. is the clinician. For those who are curious, ed. has fabricated at least as many high end audio components as has Joe, and for the curious, maintains that he has yet to build a passable power amplifier. How is that for self-effacement?)