Not trying to hijack but...
What's a "Swarm system"?
What's a "Swarm system"?
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.
80 responses Add your response
Recapping the crossovers in my Infinity Kappa 9’s, doing this myself. Also having my Phase Linear gear gone through and upgraded. Although that’s not being done by myself. I don’t have the electronics background for such. I do have mad soldering skills though... I can pull & replace. Oh yea, Working on getting my vinyl back up and spinning. New to me the past 6 months are a Sony PS-x75 & Kenwood KP-9010. Am dancing I never sold my vinyl... |
Found that the 30+ year old half round vibrapods (about 2" diameter) work great as speaker cable lifters and stabilizing/anti-vibrational pucks. Hoping to replace my speakers with near SOTA speakers that my custom room and high end equipment/cabling deserves (that I deserve, heck I'm closer to 65 and have great hearing). A new cartridge is pending as mine is long in the tooth but not mistracking, just too many hours on it. |
Constrained Lagrange optimization software for quantum computers... oh wait... had my genius Roger Modjeski RM-9 rebuilt and an octet of Hyper precision matched EL-34 installed and broken in - Phat! conducted extensive listening evaluations between AEA and Royer vocal ribbons for recording studio project. Finished results = released album :-) sponsor the arts!!! wading thru Rettinger - Acoustic Design and Noise Control ( Vol. 1 ) trimmed .04 off the consequential RT-60 using “ stuff “ Working a nice walnut slab into an amp stand, down selecting to constrained layer and feet. HRS selected for stand to amp interface |
Oh boy. Covid hit my retired lifestyle hard leading me to seek refuge in exercise and music to stay semi-sane Biggest change was upgrading my Primaluna Prologue Six monos to Dialogue Premium after eight or so years. Other "work" was done to my Uptone JS-2 powered Roon Nucleus+ streaming setup. USB out via Cerious Link to an Uptone ISORegen to Synergistic Reference USB to aJS-2 powered Matrix X SPDIF 2 to Audioquest Mocha HDMI I2S into my PS Audio DirectStream DAC. Upstream of that I added a Sonore opticalModule powered by an HDPlex LPS via fiber to my EtherREGEN powered by an Sbooster LPS then via Synergistic Reference CAT6 to the Nucleus+ A couple of Synergistic Atmosphere power cords and all Blue Fuses replaced by SR Orange. Happy boy... |
I was finally able to get a low-angle jack and a block Veritas planes from Lee Valley in Canada and have mostly smoothed out some glued up white oak and cherry. I'm about to stain them black and aqua before I apply finish and attach some legs. The audio stand should be a stunner. And I'm shedding old Sonos amps and getting new Sonos amps. I just added a Frank Zappa station to my playlist. |
Built a Pass Pearl phono preamp. I was mostly curious to see how much more is in my LPs, and it turns out there is indeed more in those grooves. I thought my Rogue Sphinx Phono stage was pretty darn good, and it is, but there’s just more through the Pearl. It also has more gain, 55 dB, than the Rogue and was being overloaded occasionally by my 5.5mV MM cart. So I switched to a LO Grado Timbre Opus3 (1mV) And very happy with the combo. now adding LPs off Discogs. |
I built a pair of Linkwitz LXMinis and made them completely voice-controlled. Chain is Alexa/Amazon Music HD > DTS Play-Fi skill > Paradigm PW Link preamp > MiniDSP 2x4 HD > two stereo power amps > biamped LXMinis. All equipment is plugged into an Amazon Smart Plug so turning it all on is voice-controlled with the command "Alexa, turn on stereo." Can also stream wirelessly from PC using DTS Play-Fi. |
I’ve gone a bit in the opposite direction perhaps, somewhat counterintuitively I’ve found myself working more and with less free time in COVID times so I’ve gone the “time is money” route and invested in some expensive upgrades (speakers, amp, preamp, cables - only the DAC has survived) to get closer to “happily ever after” and not have to tweak and fuss so much. I have to say the plan has been a success and the system is sounding really wonderful. It was a lot of money but I’m happy with the returns. |
This year with both of us working at home full time, I got a beyerdynamic A20 and DT770 headphones. So she can watch her TV in the family room while I bliss out in the living room. I swapped out my speaker cables and most of my old interconnects from Monster for Marrow SP4 and MA4. (Only the long interconnects from pre to amp remain. Saving $$$ to replace those eventually) When I installed the new cables I took everything out of the cabinet the system lives in and added isolation feet under all the components and rerouted all the cables to get the AC away from the interconnects. Updated my cartridge from a Denon DL103R to a Hana EL. Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! When I installed the new cartridge I retuned my Linn LP12 Valhalla and M&K/Rabco tonearm. That thing is a bear to get just right but when you do it's delightful. (Reminds me: I need a new battery) And as always, I spent the entire year that I have a wife who loves the music (if not all the gear) as much as I do! Cheers... |
Hi Erik! Nice of you to mention the things we can do ourselves! Eagerly waiting for 4 Auricap capacitors. Their designated spot in life will be coupling the EL 34 power tubes to the splitting/driver section of my Copland CTA 401. My system is not finished yet, but when all is said and done the system will be very much a DIY effort. The last action worthy of note was rebuilding a phono cable to a semi balanced layout. The screen completely removed form all signal. It works quite well. Of late I started to appreciate the SQ by using a SR Blue fuse. And, with the use of a lot of strong words (which can be typed freely in our hemisphere) I was slowly very much convinced of an unexpected improvement! Kind Regards, StefV |
Hoping to turn a pile of cherry wood planks of 1/2" and 1/4" that I milled and joined into something resembling quadratic diffusers before 2021. It’s only taken 6 months (as my eyes roll at how much work it was that I wasn’t prepared for)! Got inside my amplifier after blowing bad money on "budget pre amplifier solutions" to attach my sub - costly and wasteful mistakes. I know now, do it right or just don’t. Finally got my sub attached, using an interconnect geometry from an Audiogon user (sorry I can’t recall his name) who posted a page on helical ground coil spiraling round twisted pair interconnects. Anyway it worked a treat inside my amp. Purchased a Jensen summing transformer and connected my single double opposed firing sub - and smugly thought this is great. Only to have Adiogon users espousing the superior merits of a DBA bass array, so yeah guys - thanks for the extra work I’m going to have to do (heheheh) to implement one, because I can’t just ignore you all. (seriously thanks for sharing). Thanks Agon - I do appreciate the sharing, and entertainment. |
Like lots of others I rekindled one of my oldest but dormant loves this year: --got a cheap turntable (shout out to my buddy, Chris, for pushing me): this began it all in January --realized my AVA dynamo pas III pre-amp phono stage was gone, got AVA vision Q, February (thank you, Frank) --got a PS Audio P3 and a Monarchy 22B DAC from by brother (thank you, Eric!), February --put in dedicated circuit, line, and PS Audio plug (myself), March --Isoacoustic Gaias under my Abbys, March --cones and carbon fiber pucks under everything else, except Isoacoutics under sources, March --My old stereo 70 blew (still figuring out if I can fix and upgrade it); researched/stressed out about a new amp, picked a trade-in LTA ZOTL 10 (so happy! Mark was terrific), April --made some isolation plinths out of marble and out of solid mahogany (that I found in the house when I moved in 20 years ago), May --replaced AUs with 1961 Amperex 6085s (Brent Jesse) and ATs with 1962 Amperex 7062s (Andy at Vintage Audio): again much research/stress, but worth it, June --Full HFT/FEQ treatment (thank you, Peter from Cable Co!), July --replaced 30 year-old cables with SR Foundation (ditto, Peter), July --ordered Audiokinesis Swarm (learned lots from Duke on this forum) --ordered Townsend super tweeters Everything mentioned made a very noticeable improvement in SQ. Everyone was super generous with their knowledge and very helpful along the way. Except for Van Alstine, others turned me on to everything above, many on this forum. Thank you (still plenty to do). |
Parted ways with my legacy B&W + Rotel setup of 15 years to enter the world of seperates with a Schiit Saga+ and Vidar combo. I know it's sacrilegious around here, but I took a chance on a no-name phono preamp made in China with incredible results. In fact, after some tweaks, my vinyl setup officially sounds better than my digital setup. My last project for the rest of the year is to find new ways to enjoy my current setup without new tweaks or purchases. |
...since you asked for music.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK3cm-xO2XY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5lwBr0qg44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Jlqz9p8_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8BnYNUVC40 (@ 12:36, 'Peacock Tail'...bliss out for a moment....;)....) ...damn ads.... |
@skyscraper Though I do not own a 507MkII, my close friend does. A power cord can and does make a very hearable difference. We demo’d an older Pangea 9, Nordost Blue Heaven, and Nordost Heimdall 2. It got better as you moved up the line. I’d say the Pangea was not worth the money though because there was little improvement and the sound was still grainy. The Blue Heaven makes a nice difference at $330 but the Heimdall 2 was much better. If you can swing it, or something comparable, that’d be the one to go with. Another power cord that is even better for nearly similar money to the Heimdall is the Isotek Optimum. The Isotek is better value for money to me. |
Hi Erik! Mundorf MKP capacitors replacing the rectangular pink caps on the Parts Express YuanJing 2 x 68w LM3886 and NE5532 board makes a big difference. Better yet, run you audio into the second cap and skip the NE5532 stage completely.
DIY forever!
After reading (AudioXpress July 2020) about the new amp module (1ET400A) from Purifi Audio in Denmark (by the same fellows that built the nCore amps), I bought their EVAL1 package made for evaluation by potential purchasers (like NAD and others) consisting of two Class D amp modules (400 wpc @ 4 ohms, very low noise & distortion, unmeasurably low output impedance) and a front end with protection circuitry, extra gain, and input & output jacks. You have to build a suitable power supply to use it. Got it right on the second try. The amp is getting sensational reviews and I must say it's the best I've heard. Great specs and performance! You can own it for about $1000 with the power supply (you must build). Extremely good. Linkwitz LX521-4 speakers, DAC upgrades (SMSL cute little red rectangle), lots of music, speaker builds & mods, ukulele groups, performing, and being grateful for a wonderful wife and church involvement fill the rest of my life. Keep smiling! |
ErikI believe you helped me with loading the software on the RPI and mentioned you had a squeezebox type of setup at one point. @ovinewar I 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 |
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. |
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 |
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! |
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. |
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 |
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:
|
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! |
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 |
*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".....;) |
@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 |
