I would like to learn to solder and do little audio projects. That is cool that you added little heat sinks. I'm getting back into analog and actively setting up my old Linn Sondek LP 12 turntable and trying to identify the source of hum from my old Linn K9 cartridge. My all Bryston system is getting tweaked with upgraded power cords. I am still actively "auditioning" my new Bryston MM 1/3 phono stage which I have running into the same outboard power supply as my BP-26 preamp. I was considering special ordering some upgraded umbilical cords for the MM stage and the preamp from a place in Canada called Take 5 audio. My Linn turntable is about the get the new Karousel bearing, a Green Street audio CNC aluminum subchassis, a Trampolin subbase, a Radiakal power supply upgrade and a new tonearm cable. So a lot is happening all at once that is quite exciting. |
What have I been working on? Well, let's see....
Sold a bunch of stuff, used the proceeds to buy Tekton Moabs, which I promptly tore apart and tweaked with Mats and Taytrow TDF. Coated all the system AC wire from the panel to the room, and parts of the meter box. Used almost a full sheet of fO.q tape on the Herron phono stage, inside and out, circuit boards and chassis, then coated all the tape and caps and tube holders with TDF. Taped a couple eCards in there as well. Some more Mats were cut up and shaped into tubes. These now cover all power cords, interconnects, and speaker cables. Pulled the Conqueror tone arm, put a strip of fO.q tape running along the underside of the arm tube, counterweight, and a number of areas along the base of the arm. Coated the phono leads with TC, slid them inside battery grounding strap, connected that to a Michael Spallone modified MPC, and created my own Active Shielding. Wrapped the Teres Verus motor pod (already previously modified) with TDF coated fO.q tape. Experimented with different materials under the Pits under the motor. And table. Planning on opening the Moabs for a lot more, including adding fO.q tape speaker gaskets, basically a lot more of what has already been proven to work so well. Now working with Rick on suspending my system on springs. We'll take a proof of concept graduated approach testing them first under subs, then Moabs, and we will just have to see how far it goes. Eventually will take some new system pics, as these are getting a bit out of date. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367
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Mostly just enjoying the music but upgraded the computer I run my music servers on a few months ago.
Also adjusted placement of the kef ls50s a tad and adjusted bass levels on Ohm F5s.
Everything else is locked in so I leave it alone. |
I dust everything relatively frequently. I started using an old but unused set of Sovtek KT88s in my single ended amp...great sounding tubes...put better footers under my Heresy IIIs (Vibrapods on top of perfectly matched for size rubber/thick felt sliders...look great, work great). I took a fuse out of my amp, looked at it, and put it back. Not sure why. |
That reminds me! Replaced fuses, Blue to Orange. Took system pics. Built some cable elevator risers to help dress the cables with better spacing. Put fO.q tape, TC and Mats on the drivers in the old Khorus speakers. Forgot about that since they are gone now. Got the Walker Enzyme cleaning system and cleaned a lot of records. Bought a slew of Hot Stampers. Had a couple audiophiles from Portland up for a listen. One of them, Michael, for a second time. Improved my turntable mat clamping system with fO.q tape. Went through a series of interviews about joining Petrolicious to write a series of audiophile oriented articles, but they were unable to meet my terms so had to pass on that. Started the epic Tekton Moab thread.
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Bought and built a Nelson Pass Amp Camp Amp kit and both the experience and the outcome were very satisfying. The marketing for the kit claims that anyone can build it. Since I had some soldering/kit experience, starting with a Dynaco SCA-35 kit more than fifty years ago and a few other very small projects through the years, plus a lot of time on my hands, I went for it.
It does require a decent soldering iron and accessories, good quality solder and an assortment of basic tools but anyone with those, some patience and the ability to carefully follow directions and not get in a hurry could do it.
It was a big success, no smoke came out when I turned it on. The casework is very attractive and the sound is astonishingly good for the price of less than $400, better than many of the amps I’ve owned at multiples of the price. It's not quite up there with my Raven Audio Blackhawk but you could buy ten of the kits Highly recommended as a way to pass the time with the addition of a great piece of gear. |
1. I rebuilt the crossovers on the speakers in my secondary system.
2. I added additional treatments in my dedicated room.
3. I ordered a Swarm system for the dedicated room. Duke gets the cabinets this week. I hope I will have the Swarm in my room before the end of the month. I expect to spend most of September dialing in Swarm placement and finishing room treatments.
4. Today I ordered SR orange fuses to try out on my M-60 amps.
5. I really need to sell my Frankenstein amps. I just hate selling stuff and keep putting it off.
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Swarm was last year for me. You are gonna love it. Way easy to set up- put em near corners, adjust levels, enjoy. I hate selling stuff too but turns out its worth it if you use the proceeds to buy Tekton.
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Changes to my main system thus far :
Sold my Aqua Acoustic LaVoceS3 and replaced it with a Mojo Audio EVO DAC. Sold the Cambridge Audio CXC cd transport that was in my second system, moved the one from my main system to the 2nd, and have a SimAudio 260d transport on order; hopefully will have that by end of August. Added a CIA LPS to my Wadia 171i transport, LessLoss Firewall for Speakers , a couple of Audio Art Cable power 1 eplus Cryo power cords, and have some Daedalus speaker DIDs on the way.
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I relentlessly video my violin playing in a quest to to get fully at ease in front of the camera. I sit at the piano and patiently tackle Scott Joplin and Frederic Chopin. I scour my way through Primephonic and Qobuz in a quest to hear every recorded performance of pieces that push my emotional buttons. As for the stereo itself? Apart from minor tweaks in speaker placement (I'll move a speaker a couple of degrees inward, then outward, then put 'em parallel), I just sit there and enjoy.
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Forgot to add above - sold off my headphone system due to lack of use: Ray Samuels Raptor HP amp, Beyerdynamic & AKG phones, Mood Audio HP cables, Sieveking HP stands
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Truly, I hadn’t thought I had purchased or done much this year, then, per this thread, went and checked. Dang, how time flys and you forget what you have done....
Bought by Belles 400A amp at the first of the year
Sold by beloved B&K 125.2 amp
Purchased and installed both absorption and diffusion panels
Bought a hospital grade power tap
Repaired one of my acoustic couplers on my Vandy 2CE Sigs
Bought an additional used sub to match my existing, set them up stereo
Bought my Parasound ZPre3 pre-amp (should have done that sooner)
Bought a cork mat to try on my acrylic platter
Bought an LPS for my Schiit Mani
Purchased 8 Viprapod Cones for my Belles and ZPre3
Bought a pair of Sennheiser head phones, which I never use
Bought some dense foam blocks to create dampers for my subs ports
Bought some isolation feet pads for my Vandy 2CE Sigs
Just bought a Record Doctor VI vacuum cleaner, yet to arrive
Bought a pair of Mogami RCA cables to try out
Bought a new azimuth protractor and gauge
Bought a bunch....a bunch...of vinyl thus far
Bought a bunch of outer sleeves for my albums
Have bought some CD’s, but focusing on vinyl
Have bought some cassettes, most of which I’m thrilled with the SQ
I think that’s it, thus far......
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Create controls device for the room acoustic...
Very powerful..... |
I’ve been "working on" listening to a lot of music. I’m not tearing my gear apart and stuffing it with duct tape and baling wire to make it sound better. Since March music is on 12 hrs per day and it’s offsetting a bit of the darkness created by the pandemic. Music is good for the soul - meditative and fun. |
Going thru old equipment, seeing it's time to unload some ... |
Product development (loudspeakers).
Duke
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Getting huge. Working out with my 18 yr old while jamming tunes. Coaching baseball for my 10 yr old. Playing hockey with my 10yr. Old. Enjoying being a father and husband.
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Bought 2 custom BDR shelves to complete my wall decoupling system
Bought some new interconnects
Bought some KLE RCAs to replace the RCAs on the new interconnects
Bought some KLE RCA jacks to replace the ones on my subs
Had my Funk Firm FXR rewired straight through with Audio Note 38 gauge silver/KLE Absolute Harmony RCAs
Bought a nice Shelter 501 Mk II
Bought a Phoenix Engineering Falcon PSU
Installed Stillpoints under all my front end components
Bought a Shunyata Hydra 8 and a V-Ray
Bought a Vibrato US cleaner
Lots of records |
Sold my Bel Canto evo 200.2 amp. Sold my 2 Macintosh C-26 preamps. Purchased a new Audio Technica TT and upgraded cartridge. Replaced all the stock power cords with new Pangea cords and replaced interconnects and speaker cables with new from Morrow.
All new improvements have produced better SQ.
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I've been listening to music. |
Redecorated my listening room,bought a new comfy chair for the sweet spot,discovered a lot of great blues music being performed and recorded outside of the US. |
Got my Atma Sphere MK 60 amps upgraded from 2,x to 3.3 back in march, Listening music from 8am till 11pm. Next I’ve got to send my 20+ year old SME V tonearm to England for a rebuild. Also upgraded my cables to Audio Envy.
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I built a touch screen Raspberry Pi 4 with a Hifiberry Dac. Really enjoying Tidal. Also built 2 iron pipe audio racks with butcher block shelves. The shelves are a work in progress. Built several DIY cables with mixed results. Rebuilt several amps with higher quality capacitors and speaker bindings- also cooked a Vintage Nikko amp I have had for decades somehow😖 |
Erik, I’m trying to figure out if it would be worthwhile to upgrade power cords on some of my components. Doesn’t really make any sense to me to do so, but that doesn’t mean it might not make for some improvement for reasons I’m unaware of. I thought I might start with upgrading the stock cord on my Luxman 507uX MkII integrated amp first. I read somewhere here you upgraded the power cord on your Luxmann integrated. Did you notice any improvements in sound after you did so?
Mike |
Built two pure Class A power amps, built a state of the art tube hybrid power amp, redesigned our preamp making it sound even better than before, experimented with capacitors and resistors in critical places. Repaired at least 50 pieces of audio equipment. Other than that read to much BS like this on Audiogon. |
My projects:
1. Tired to build a high quality DH Labs and Wattgate power cable. I need to work on that. It’s not quite right. 2. Added two REL T/9i subs to my Maggie 1.7i system. What a humongous improvement! Also added another (1) REL T/9i I got for a steal on my Magico A3 system. Not as big an improvement. But not bad. Those A3 handle bass pretty well already.
3. Discovering lots of new (to me) jazz artists on Roon. If you like jazz, I have discovered a plethora of great Israeli jazz artists. Who knew?! Wow. |
Spent most of the last 6 months working in the hospital. The rest of the time I have been setting up room changes/treatments. Much better with room size change and new flooring installation. Also spent a lot of time trying to understand how to optimally set up streaming with my system but just don't get it yet. Everything I read discusses hardware/software with a lot of numbers and letters that seem completely foreign to me. I just don't get it yet. Not gonna give up however.
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Bought noise-cancelling Bluetooth headphones and then travel went away after two trips.
Decided not to listen to music while on the bicycle.
Bought a bunch of guilty-pleasure CDs.
Played mostly Bluetooth speaker. Other times, a Walkman with new earphones.
Barely remembered I have "a system".
Just received a power cord. The rubber band holding the old one at appropriate length broke so I decided to buy the cord of appropriate length. I splurged ($60ish). I would not have done it had the rubber bands holding bunches of curly parsley lasted longer on the power cords.
Observed what goes through the minds of audiophiles when placed in an unexpected and unusual situation. Thanks for the song. |
Building small electronics lab. So far I have:
Soldering Station
Microscope
Oscilloscope
Arbitrary Function Generator
Bench and portable multimeters
Logic Analyzer
Power supply
Antistatic work mat
I started to play a little bit with the smallest of Arduino micros: Seeeduino XIAO
This tiny 3/4"x5/8" $7 module can be soldered directly to PCB and reprogrammed by USB-C connector. Small micros are always present in modern gear to control display, keyboard etc. My first exercise is to build tiny voltage standard that is extremely accurate and temperature compensated. I had such large standard at work, but it was "old fashion" with big box and large rotary switches. I plan to use tiny rotary encoder and tiny display (0.91"). I'm also learning to write programs. Ideas for the larger projects will come later, I'm sure. |
Building the Pass Amp Camp Amp with my 10 year old boy! |
Sold my nice Hanns T-60 tt with vpi 3D arm and cartridge. Sold all of my vinyl albums.
Sold my newer McIntosh C47 preamp because I stopped using vinyl.
Now I’m going directly from my PS Audio DS sr dac to my PS Audio BHK amp. Simpler system with better SQ |
@skyscraper
I thought I might start with upgrading the stock cord on my Luxman 507uX
MkII integrated amp first. I read somewhere here you upgraded the power
cord on your Luxmann integrated. Did you notice any improvements in
sound after you did so?
Oh, some one brought up a DIY project, so very very glad you asked... I made a DIY cable from DH Labs shielded power and I thought I heard something akin to break in. Goosebumps, but now that I'm used to it, I'd have to remove it and go back to the original to really say. I do think going shielded is the way to go, and it looks big and powerful and stuff, so I'm happy I did it. Best, Erik |
This is the real stuff right here:
Building the Pass Amp Camp Amp with my 10 year old boy!
Way to go @au_lait ! : Also, don't forget the girls. They need to solder too. |
I built a touch screen Raspberry Pi 4 with a Hifiberry Dac. Really enjoying Tidal.
@ovinewar That's really super!! I really like Tidal a lot better with Roon for some reason. It makes the difference between my modest CD collection ( ~ 650) and Tidal vanish. |
*L* While most have has to suffer under C19 isolation, our/my occupation has continued unabated. I have finally built the 'audio only' 'puter that had been in stasis for too long and integrated it into my....well, it acts like and sounds like a 'system'....and we'll leave it @ that...
Too much of the 'other' demands time, so general 'audio fun' is listening while I annoy y'all... "esoteric amusement".....;) |
Since I moved to a new house, I setup and decorated my sound room.
Set up proper placement for my Vandys 2CE sig
Bought a stereo futniture
sold my Rogue Cronus magnum
bought a Belles virtuoso power amp
bought a Audible Illusions 3MA preamp
bought Audioquest RedRiver interconnects
purchase a lot of vanilla and some cds
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Buying and selling... integrated to separates back to integrated... thinking about trying some DIY interconnects. Looking at Furutech cabling and RCA’s... for a 10’ run still looking at 400ish for the parts/cable alone... ouchy bro.
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slaw- Shelf, or Source Shelf? Music Direct? I have several by the way, different sizes, and a pile of MkIV Cones, Round Things, etc some used some NOS I guess you would say. |
Research into eliminating RF noise in Ethernet cables and it’s effect on sound quality. Very enlightening. Have now developed a product that works very well to get rid of it.
In the process I’ve also made two identical Ethernet cables, one made from OCC copper, and the other OCC silver. Listening to the two, the silver one is so much nicer to listen to. I just wish I knew why! |
Reigniting an old passion (which only took me as far as buying a mid-fi stereo) and pressing it into high gear, I’ve had a busy 2020: - I’ve put together a system: speakers, amplifiers (tube), DAC, CD transport, cables, power elements. Every element was researched and discussed with many people. (Thanks!)
- I’ve experimented with three different high-res sources: Amazon HD, Qobuz, Tidal.
- I joined two forums (Audiogon and Audiocircle), a local club (Colorado Audio Society) and had many private exchanges with hobbyists, dealers, friends.
- I’ve started to learn room acoustics, uses of room correction software, and various possibilities such as absorbers, diffusors, and other room or system tweaks.
- I’ve started looking into issues regarding aural memory, and the psychological effects of thrilling musical experiences ("frisson", as the literature calls it), and the relationship of deep attention upon the appreciation of high quality sound.
The next step is to push a lot of these things into the background and just sink into music. |
Sold off some gear:
Tannoy Revolution xt 8 speakers
Polk Lsim 703 speakers
Hegel H 80
older NAD power amp
Bought some gear:
Tekton Enzo 2.7
Dynaudio emit m20
Musical Fidelity m3si
Audiolab 6000 CDT
Denefrips Ares 2
various power and preamp tubes for my 2 tube amps
more CD’s
DIY:
speaker cables - various experiments, braided ect.- currently enjoying Mogami coax - next up - cat 5 based cables
room treatment - bought and installed 7 absorbing panels
built decoupling platforms for the Enzo speakers
upgraded AC outlet
I’ve been listening to new (to me) artist and composers.
Creating play lists and burning CD’s from hard drive
Switching between amps and speaker combos just for fun
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ErikI believe you helped me with loading the software on the RPI and mentioned you had a squeezebox type of setup at one point. That inspired me to build my own. Now I am looking at a few software options- Logitech media, Picore, possibly Roon, to expand the capabilities. Appreciate the ability to control from phone or touchscreen. Also considering a house wide rpi solution for streaming. I realize many want a more refined streaming approach, but for me, I haven’t seen any significant weaknesses that need improvement. The Hifiberry is also quite decent at DAC capabilities. |
Breaking the audio upgrade cycle
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My audio equipment is all packed up in the original factory cartons, as we are having a new home built, with a "bonus room" over the garage for my "man cave".
I worked with the builder to adapt their "standard bonus room" to make it useful for my listening room, it's about 19' x 14.5' and has two small slopes where the front & back walls meet the ceiling. They were able to adapt the trusses to provide an additional closet (for my CDs and supplies) and were able to also provide a separate HVAC system, a more "traditional" one with extra ducting, so the sound of the unit running would be minimal, this upgrade instead of the usual "ductless" design they normally install.
Hope to be into the new house before the end of the year! |
Building "listening room" for my three garage systems. Hope to have it done by October 1st. Then it is DAC time for my reference system. But first got to understand digital land and make a plan.
Joe |
Working on a dedicated room over a garage, 16.5x27. Just passed ZBA but haven’t gotten passed the building department yet. LOL.
220v with step down transformer or battery ps for low draw components. Maybe both? |
Added a pair of Clayton M300 amps, upgraded Schitt Freya, added a new loom of Huffman interconnects and speaker cables, power cords from JPS Labs and Nordost.
I am 2/3rds through the Great Course, Music and the Mind. Fascinating and illuminating. As we know, music is the bomb. No other sensory input simultaneously excites and inhibits more brain areas and activity than music. I do not believe in a big bang theory. I believe the universe began with a perfect chord that is still resolving. But then, I also believe that each of us is born with a single song that we then spend our lives either endeavoring to give it full voice or conversely avoid singing it at all. The gift and the wound inextricably woven. When enough of us are singing our song, the universe moves toward resolution. When we don’t, it implodes toward chaos. By my accounting, too many of us are silent, off key or holding the wrong libretto theses days.
The course is one of a dozen in my queue. I mirror them up to the HT big screen. Take notes as though I’m in school
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@millercarbon,
One of each ( 48 x 18) through Music Direct, 3 month wait. |
Lots of things this year.
I spent the last few months slowly building a pair of class A monoblocks - about 60 watts per channel based on the FirstWatt F5 design with lots of embellishments. Just finishing them now - first sound test was last weekend.
Finished the acoustic treatments to my listening room with drapes and lots of GIK panels - ceiling cloud, art panels with scatter plates on the side walls, bass absorber/diffusors behind the speakers.
Built a Roon ROCK server in a fanless case, now with a linear PS.
Added an EtherRegen with LPS. Upgraded ethernet cabling to Cat8.
Replaced my Yggdrasil with a Denafrips Terminator.
Added Qobuz to the mix (along with Tidal through Roon). Listening to a LOT of music since my home office is at the back of my listening room.
I'm not experimenting with direct USB connection between my Roon server and the DAC vs using my Bryston BDP-2 connected via AES/EBU. The jury is still out, but I'm leaning toward selling my Bryston streamer.
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ErikI believe you helped me with loading the software on the RPI and mentioned you had a squeezebox type of setup at one point. @ovinewarI did have a SB setup. I tried PiCore as well. They all pale to Roon. At the same time, the PC requirements for the Roon core are much more severe, and there is no ARM/Pi version. What I wish I had was a Pi based Roon streamer that has a touch screen. Right now I have a Pi end point that works great, but I kind of miss seeing the music scrolling like I did on the Squeezebox Touch. Best, Erik |
