Do you build anything for your high fidelity system? If so, what do you make?
After some self assessment and introspection on my own high fidelity habits I discovered that I build or make things for my stereo/audio room. Some examples of these things are;
1 Tore out carpeting/padding/floor tiles in the addition to my house (audio room) and painted the cement floor with epoxy paint and clear coat. Placed out a Turkish area rug.
2 Made cherry wood speaker stands on wheels.
3 Had made custom speaker covers and stereo stand covers for when I am not listening to audio to keep away dust. Thanks to my seamstress....
4 Custom made Paduak wood cover (with legs) with two low speed exhaust fans for my tube amp
So curiosity got the best of me. Have you made anything for you stereo system or room? If so what did you make and why?
Hello 2psyop! I made passive "preamps," power amps & power supplies, speakers (from Linkwitz plans & others), passive crossovers, and speaker cables & interconnecting cables. Why? It's less expensive & more educational. It's also easier than you think. You can buy the output modules from PuriFi that NAD uses, build your own power supply and have fabulous performance for around $1200. Or you can buy the Starke AD4-320 for about the same price and save a lot of work. Shielded power cords are available from Parts Express for under $5! You don't have to go broke to have great sound in your home. Electronic crossovers are available for under $100. Your speakers will sound better directly connected to the amps fed by the elect. xovers. Yes you do need more amps, but power amps are relatively cheap, especially if you build them yourself. Check out Atikita and EleKit.
I'm a furniture guy, so mostly I've built consoles and speaker stands. This is the latest version of the main room system, though the Mrs has taken to transitioning party games in there. 🤨 It was not built for separates so I guess it is also in transition... Kicked out the home theatre set up and am enjoying 2 channel for that. The speaker stands were house jacks I rescued from a dumpster, did a little adjusting and put a nice finish on them.
I've been on a simplification kick, so trying to get the gear down to an absolute minimum. Will go integrated next. That will leave just the integrated, Node 2i and router. Once that happens I can get the gear out of the corner and let that left speaker breathe better.
I hope this thread will inspire more to boldly go the extra mile. For my system and room, it would be much easier to list what I did not modify or build or design myslef.
Well, that list contains 0 items - I have nothing "stock", all the purchased items are heavily modified, and are in strong minority compared to what designed and built.
One thing I would like to point out is the room treatment: walls are treated with the triple system of: mass loaded vinyl - green glue - quietrock drywall. This is the method used in movie theatres to isolate one room from the other. Each layer provides isolation at different frequencies, the end result is astonishing, provides approximately 65dB additional isolation for the walls.
Here in the US, most homes are built with absolutely no respect for sound-proofing, and in every single apartment (here in HI) this has been a vital issue for all my friends systems. The soundproofing allows me to play music at any time and at any volume. Pretty sweet as my neighborhood has strict quiet hours policies.
The difference is not just for loud music. It also dropped the noise floor tremendously, which allows listening to music more quietly with more enjoyment, and also listening at super low levels.
The third HUGE advantage of proper room treatment is DEEP BASS. Finally, I can enjoy not only deep bass, but infrasonic bass - while untreated homes are basically midbass sources, have problems reaching down to deep bass, and not a chance for infrasound. (My room supports down to 13Hz).
I built my power amp using the Neurochrome 686 units using a 1000 VA medical grade transformer and 4 x 51,000uF 100V 18,000 hrs at 85C of filter capacitance using 160 amp bridge rectifiers, which has about 0.6 volts fwd V drop so that their heat generation was virtually non existent even at very high currents.
Since Orchard audio has recently introduced v3 of his Starkrimson Ultra class D GaN amplifiers, and since those also work with only +/- 36 volts DC (exactly the same voltage the Neurochromes were working with), I am planning on changing the Neurochromes with those to see how much difference in the sound and/or heat generation there is.
Lol long list. The stereo room in the last two homes the current one has 5/8 OSB then a layer of 5/8 fire rated drywall. Six dedicated powerlines with the wire crossed over it self so nothing runs parallel. All the wires the same length. The wall behind the speaker has a slight upwards angle the front corners of the room are angles off as well the ceiling rises a bit for the first eight feet. Stands under speakers. Diffusion panels bass traps absorption panels. Equipment stands furutech receptacle s put in power cords assembly. Amp stands arial mounting bracket. Lp holder cd cases. 78 case. Wall mount turntable shelf. Lol that's just the shortlist. As far as why i believe dense wood makes the best equipment stand that being said I make them out of thick slabs of either rosewood or purple heart. Also I have used walnut and bamboo planks in secondary system s. And of. Of course monetary reasons as well. Cheaper to make than to buy the ones built in lessor material. The base traps I made so I could vary the amount of suction they have so they are tunable. Signs telling people not to touch LoL. Spikes for stands as well.
i too used the hifiberry hat. I think DAC+. I see they have a new version out, wondering if it’s worth an upgrade? As for Volumio, I use the free version.
I have built a few racks, some sound absorbing panels, and a long time ago, I built everything Hafler sold and I still have my Dynaco Stereo 400 amp. I also built some speakers and 6 subwoofers.
Speaking of Dynaco units, I have the ST150 that was personally built by the person who wrote the very first technical article in the very first issue of the JAES, January 1952. (Journal of the Audio Engineering Society). One of those accidents of fate, where you see an advert and you answer it. And then run into this given person....
Years ago, I made a 6 shelf equipment stand using oak plywood (from Lowe's) and applied edging, stained it many times, applied some Urethane clear coat. Used 6-foot long black anodized threaded rods (McMaster Carr), wide stainless steel washers, nuts, and a rubber washer underneath them at each joint. Added casters (need larger ones now). In the rear I added some PVC conduit to route the cables to keep it looking "neat" for WAF. If I had to do it over, I'd probably go for a 4-foot or 5-foot tall one instead.
Just wanted it to be on casters for easy access to the rear for cable hookups/changes and for cleaning ease.
After spending great time and effort looking for the 'right' stand to hold my gear, I finally designed and built a stand to meet MY standards/size/needs. Frame consists of angle iron. Shelves are 1.25" thick cherry wood. Bottom unit has two drawers for basic storage, vinyl brush, stylus cleaner, zerostat etc. Each shelf can be adjusted in 1/2" increments. Each shelf is isolated with Isolatit rubber disks. It is quite heavy and on appliance wheels to allow it to be rolled out, making it easier to hook up equipment. Very solid.
Back in the 80's a friend built for me a retro looking equipment cabinet using 3/4" solid oak plywood. After I moved in my home, I built two storage cabinets and record shelves (hold about 800 records) on top of them using MDF. Recently, I re-build the basement dedicated room, install all new drywalls, new drop down ceiling (wife not let me use drywall) and re-wire 5 outlets to a dedicated circuit. Ran wires ready for 7.2.4 HT speakers, outles for a ceiling mount projector and electrical drop down screen. Also install smart light swithes to control two lighting zone. While doing the demo, I found out the drain tile contractor did not re-pour concrete under the two outside walls and only nail metal brackets on the floor joint and the wall frame to hold up one long wall (19') and let the other shorter wall (12') just drop down more than an inch!! Besides that, the previous home owner only use 2x2 to frame these two walls!! So, I have to take them down completely, pour concrete before rebuilding them. But the worst, was the egress windows, the two old windows have metal rough frame and some spots were rusted through. No window installers were willing to touch the metal frame, they only replace the windows. Contacted some welders asking them to cut out the rusted metal and weld new metal sheet on the cut out spots, only two are willing to do that but asking for $3000 and $6000!! So, I bought a Dremel and some metal cutting wheels, a 12"x8" stainless steel sheet, lot of sanding papers, some J-B Weld steel reinforceed proxy, and a bottle of rust converter. With a harmer, a metal filer and lot of elbow grease, I got the frames fixed for less then $150!
I built two sets of speakers. Bill Fitzmaurice Davids, because I wanted a flat response speaker with good bass extension at a good price. And Linkwitz LXMinis, because they are so unique, they fit in the space I had available in my office, and I wanted to try an active crossover.
Interesting topic. While I didn’t actually sit down with a soldering iron and perform the work myself, I did have a long discussion with the engineers at Jolida Audio (now Black Ice) about modifying a Jolida Glass FX DAC DSD to my exact specifications. We settled on a blend of mods starting with a factory Level 1 upgrade which is simple upgrades to resistors, diodes, capacitors and vacuum tubes (the Glass FX DAC uses 12AX7 tubes in the analog pre-amp section to “sweeten” the D/A conversion) upgrade. Then I requested that they add a ByBee Rail. The ByBee Music Rail reduces the noise floor with internal power conditioning. Last, I replaced the standard Mullard Gold Lion tubes with Tung-Sol Gold Tips for a slightly brighter output.
Feeding the Glass FX is a Cambridge Audio CXC CD Transport. The CXC does not have a built-in D/A converter, so it requires an external unit. The accuracy of the sole purpose transport is amazing and the sound signature is breathtaking. It beats the doors of any streamed musical source.
Two things got me into building my own starting at an early age. 1) money, and 2) Getting screwed hard from just enough audio specialists. It isn't always about doing the job better myself, it is more about knowing what actually goes into the finished product.
So, speaker building, and preamps, power amps, crossovers, phono preamps and so much more have kept me busy over the years. I wouldn't have it any other way looking back on the whole thing.
BTW, I would love to post photos, and have done so for my audio system page here, but at the forum, forget it? Make something that serves all of us, not the just the tech crowd. Just something that I can drag a photo from my desktop.
You say, 'it's easy, all you gotta do is this, then this, then that, then more.... Same thing that I could to someone in my woodshop, or my electronics shop. It's easy.
What a great thread! I’m not sure if I’m breaking any rules but I would personally like to share some thing with everyone that I’ve been working on for the past 2 1/2 years.This thread seems like the perfect opportunity.
Some of you know me some of you don’t, i’ve been around now for about three years. I’m fully retired, 55, ended up becoming handicap five years ago and I’ve been looking for a project Since I can’t do my first love, mountain biking. I guess this thread is a great place to announce it.
When I was a kid in the 1980s I loved all things audio. I took about a 30 year hiatus and just listen to whatever systems were in my vehicle. My wife didn’t like the whole speaker system thing in the living room so I just gave in and sold it. After my accident I sold one of my businesses and kept one. I’ve been pretty fortunate and worked hard through the years. I still like to work, just not at the same pace I used to.
So,here’s what happened. While driving myself nuts (after purchasing my 4th speaker system in 1 year) I decided to do what I’ve done many times in the past. Woke up one day with my own idea. I asked myself what was missing from audio that mountain biking had. The answer for me was, since I’m not an electronics wizard, I can’t get my hands involved in the hobby except for turning a couple knobs. So I asked myself how can I get my hands involved in this hobby?well, I think I solved it.
The name of the new business is Blueprint Acoustic llc. The website shares the same name and social media. I’ve looked hard and I don’t think it’s ever been done quite this way before. It’s an affordable, expandable, collapsible, changeable, modular speaker system. We even have built a CONFIGURATOR on the website that lets you build one of over 10,000 variations of speaker systems. You can start small…and add on later, order different modules and switch them out, experiment with different driver modules….. We have been building all different sizes and have been astounded at what we’ve learned and how great they sound.
We are moving into the marketing phase.everything is ready to go, we are stocked up, everyone is in place, we are open for business. I’m looking forward to building what will probably be my last successful business. I hope you keep an open mind and find the idea as fun as I do. Never second-guess your speaker purchase again!
@4krowme I felt the exact same way about incuding photos. Why don't they make it easy? Well, someone gave me the steps to use ImgPile and I though it was complicated. Turns out it is only one extra step from importing directly from your computer. You just have to make a free account with ImgPile and pop your picture into there. Then it's one cut & paste of the image address and the picture is there. You can see mine a few post above. If I can master the technology, anyone can. Stop fighting it and start posting all the photos you want to. 😁
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