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RE: Chokes for MMG

When I first realized (back in early 2009) that Al Sekela's chokes would likely do what I had already observed from another tweak, I got very excited. Then, I got very frustrated when I tried to order them right away. There were none available in stock anywhere, at least of the same make or style.

One result was that I tested other available choke designs (toroidal, air core, etc.) of the same value in the meantime...but was not impressed. Meanwhile, Mouser took its time but finally served the backordered "genuine" chokes... and they proved to do the trick that I so coveted (and more).

At that point I realized that regardless of similar values, not all chokes would well, at least for me.

So, thereafter, I've tried to keep track of some supplies of suitable models so that others could find them more easily. Davey mentions one, the Vishay IHA series, which shares the same design features that I've found to work best.

In addition, the one in Amazon, mentioned by DreamOperator, is the exact same thing as the Bourns-branded ones (listed in my original datasheet copy). As Neolith said, the minimal extra DCR makes no practical difference. I tried them both, this 5502 and the 20A model (5522) years ago. I only kept the 5522 because I had 4 of them. (I use one each of these 5522 for the tweeters and the mid-bass drivers in a biamp setup).

Also, Mouser still carries a small stock of part 546-1538M22 (link below). It is listed as made by "Hammond" but the table listed via their "Datasheet" link, shows a perfect copy of the Bourns table that I have ( including all the values). So, that's the 20A rated version of what was sold as JW Miller/Bourns. BTW, Hammond seems to be based in Canada, in case our "Nord des lignes" inmates need to contact them directly.

In recent weeks I've spent many chunks of time to re-evaluate the validity of using the chokes, in light of other changes to my system. (I do this kind of "challenge the existing" every so often.) Happily, just as it has always been since I acquired them in 2009, they belong where the are. I did keep a list of music pieces that I used repeatedly to test and compare. If someone need a reference to SQ changes, I may dig it up when I get home and post.

Al's chokes can do meaningful things for many Maggies, probably not all. Finding out if yours would benefit is not much of an expense. In fact, I consider this as the cheapest meaningful tweak I ever did.


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