Building the Pass Amp Camp Amp with my 10 year old boy!
What have you been working on in 2020?
New system? Getting into DIY? New bands?
I’d love to know what you’ve been doing that is audio-related this year. Dare I hope some of you have gotten soldering guns? Heat guns? Cables or caps?
For me, I’ve gotten into Roon and the Pi 4. Finally set up my combined 2-ch/HT set up with a new HT processor, and done a little blogging on Roon and subwoofers. Last night I took my Pi 4 apart and added tiny little heat sinks to the RAM, USB and Ethernet chips.
I’d love to know what you’ve been doing that is audio-related this year. Dare I hope some of you have gotten soldering guns? Heat guns? Cables or caps?
For me, I’ve gotten into Roon and the Pi 4. Finally set up my combined 2-ch/HT set up with a new HT processor, and done a little blogging on Roon and subwoofers. Last night I took my Pi 4 apart and added tiny little heat sinks to the RAM, USB and Ethernet chips.
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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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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 |
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😖 |
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 |
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. |
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...... |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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 |
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. |
