The Audio Equipment Corner

[Nodak]

Nice! McIntosh was really the cadillac of amps and pre-amps back in the day. My budget back then could only support dynakits.

I saved for a long time to put together the $1500 those cost at the time. It was worth it though they're still working very well. The amp was recently serviced by Mc and I re-foamed the woofers but no other problems.

 

[ejman]

I saved for a long time to put together the $1500 those cost at the time. It was worth it though they're still working very well. The amp was recently serviced by Mc and I re-foamed the woofers but no other problems.

Money well spent since Mac erquipment seems to hold its value forever. As a previous poster, I also went the Dynakit route at about the same time frame. My Dynaco SCA-80 is long gone (although I had a lot of fun putting it together).

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, I like to talk with ya'all about more audio stuff, and to exchange some ideas. But sadly, my effort to revive my 40-yr old speakers has run into a snag. The bipolar caps in the crossovers have indeed dried out, and the responses are all goofy.

I found out the above by measuring the electrical outputs of the crossovers, not the acoustic output of the drivers with a microphone. Amazingly, the speakers still sound half-decent. How could that be? The human ear is so tolerant, or should I say so inaccurate.

Anyway, knowing about this problem, I cannot stand it and must be logging off to look to order replacement caps. I will come back when the order is placed.

 

[eytonxav]

I still have my Revox A77 tape deck which is in great shape, but unfortunately this is one piece of audio equip that quickly became obsolete due to new and better technology.

 

[Mr. Paul]

I always thought that when I retired I'd have a turntable set up in a listening room.

Now I do ! Kinda mid grade compared to some of the gear here ... Harman Kardon table, Rotel pre-amp, Sunfire amp. Stars of the show are the Dunlavy SC-IVa speakers.

I have a pair of Little Advents in the garage ... hooked up to an old cheapo Panasonic receiver and I just love the combo.

Here's a question ... what are some of your favorite high quality recordings?

Sinatra at The Sands ... w/ Count Basie
Mark Knopfler ... Sailing to Philadelphia
Bob Marley and The Wailers ... Uprising and Survival
Muddy Waters ... Folk Singer

Those are a few that come to mind right away.

 

[ejman]

I still have my Revox A77 tape deck which is in great shape, but unfortunately this is one piece of audio equip that quickly became obsolete due to new and better technology.

Some say that a good quality tape on a good tape deck (Which I believe your Revox is) will actually sound better than just about anything else. I really enjoy my Pioneer 701 bought new in 1979 and still going strong.

 

[eytonxav]

Some say that a good quality tape on a good tape deck (Which I believe your Revox is) will actually sound better than just about anything else. I really enjoy my Pioneer 701 bought new in 1979 and still going strong.

It was considered a studio grade machine, but not sure about how it would stack up today.

 

[Keim]

Well, I like to talk with ya'all about more audio stuff, and to exchange some ideas. But sadly, my effort to revive my 40-yr old speakers has run into a snag. The bipolar caps in the crossovers have indeed dried out, and the responses are all goofy.

I found out the above out by measuring the electrical outputs of the crossovers, not the acoustic output of the drivers with a microphone. Amazingly, the speakers still sound half-decent. How could that be? The human ear is so tolerant, or should I say so inaccurate.

Anyway, knowing about this problem, I cannot stand it and must be logging off to look to order replacement caps. I will come back when the order is placed.

Think Auri Cap, NW-B! You won't regret it.

 

[Nodak]

Money well spent since Mac erquipment seems to hold its value forever. As a previous poster, I also went the Dynakit route at about the same time frame. My Dynaco SCA-80 is long gone (although I had a lot of fun putting it together).

That SCA-80 is really a very nice little amp. I put one together to use while I was saving for the Mc equipment. Used it for a couple of years and then sold it for a profit.

 

[Keim]

I know I've shown it before. But, since we now have an audiophile thread I'll put it here. I built this system from Bottlehead.com kits, and some internet speaker designs. Naturally, I modified them a little from OEM design. Cost me about $1500, including phonograph. It sounds outstanding. The amp is a 2a3 based SET amp. Pre-amp uses 12au7s. Phono preamp uses 6dj8s.

 

[ejman]

I always thought that when I retired I'd have a turntable set up in a listening room.

Now I do ! Kinda mid grade compared to some of the gear here ... Harman Kardon table, Rotel pre-amp, Sunfire amp. Stars of the show are the Dunlavy SC-IVa speakers.

I have a pair of Little Advents in the garage ... hooked up to an old cheapo Panasonic receiver and I just love the combo.

Here's a question ... what are some of your favorite high quality recordings?

Sinatra at The Sands ... w/ Count Basie
Mark Knopfler ... Sailing to Philadelphia
Bob Marley and The Wailers ... Uprising and Survival
Muddy Waters ... Folk Singer

Those are a few that come to mind right away.

I must say I've never heard of Dunlavy SC-IVa speakers referred to as mid-fi equipment. For those that are not familiar with these puppies, they measure 72" H by 12" W by 18" D. Weight: 190 lbs ea and their price ranged between $8,000 and $9,000 depending on finish (these are late 90's prices). Good taste in equipment as well as music.

I enjoy Sinatra a lot and have quite a few of his recordings although unfortunately a lot of his original mono recordings were reissued as "electronically enhanced for Stereo" which in my opinion ruined them.

 

[ejman]

I know I've shown it before. But, since we now have an audiophile thread I'll put it here. I built this system from Bottlehead.com kits, and some internet speaker designs. Naturally, I modified them a little from OEM design. Cost me about $1500, including phonograph. It sounds outstanding. The amp is a 2a3 based SET amp. Pre-amp uses 12au7s. Phono preamp uses 6dj8s.

Beautiful! Those speakers must be quite efficient to be able to work with a SET amp. I've always been curious about SET's but never been able to listen to a good setup using them.

 

[Keim]

Beautiful! Those speakers must be quite efficient to be able to work with a SET amp. I've always been curious about SET's but never been able to listen to a good setup using them.

I fell in love with SETs the first time I heard them. At times, when the moon is right, the recording is good and the planets align, this system has "you are there" abilities. Not all the time, but enough.

I've never heard my speakers called beautiful before . Bright, easy to see, loud-yes. Beautiful-no! They are about 95db. The speakers have a VERY simple first order crossover. Simplicity is the key to everything when it comes to SETs. They are all about ensuring a few watts of very high quality power. The amps put out about 5 watts. With that sensitivity they get pleasantly loud. The stereo is in the basement, and I can hear it in the other end of the house on the main floor when cranked.

 

[NW-Bound]

I've got to take a break from what I have done!

I had a hell of a time with my measurement set up. Things just didn't make sense. The low-pass to the woofer still passed signals up to 20KHz. What the h***? So, I had to rush out to the nearby Fry's Electronics to get some bipolar caps to do some substitution because this was driving me mad. Then, when I got home and resumed poking around that crossover (a 3-way job, 2nd order each section with some auxiliary padding for impedance control and attenuation), I found that I had picked up the wrong point for the frequency sweep. Arghhhh!

And then, I saw that the excitation from the amplifier was not flat but varying 1 dB or 2 across the band. What the h***? I thought I swept it a few days ago and saw that it was flat from 6Hz to 60KHz. After fooling around for a while, I recalled that it was another amp that I used. Damn! I am getting senile. This current amp is older, and its tonal control is not really flat when set to flat.

So, I hauled out that other amp. Now, it's not flat either! Arghhh!!!!

Then, by playing with it after a while, I found out that its output was not flat until I cranked up enough volume to get a couple of watts out of it. When outputting very low signals (I do not need a lot to check out the electrical outputs of the crossover, compared to the 1W output for acoustical measurements), the darn thing is not flat either. This is a more modern amp with a sound processor chip that has all the volume/balance/tone control built-in. And then, I had to disable the default "surround enhancement thinggy" for it to be really flat.

So, after discovering all these problems, I was so pooped I turned everything off to get away from it for a little while.

Anyway, I will look into these Auri caps, but suspect that the price will be more than what I want to put into these old speakers I am working on.

 

[NW-Bound]

Hey, by the way these old speakers I am trying to revive have sensitivity of 96dB @ 1W supposedly. They do sound like it, as I get room filling sound with only a few watts, as shown by the real-time power indicator on one of my amps.

 

[Keim]

Hey, by the way these old speakers I am trying to revive have sensitivity of 96dB @ 1W supposedly. They do sound like it, as I get room filling sound with only a few watts, as shown by the real-time power indicator on one of my amps.

You are correct-auricaps are price-y. Well worth it for the upgrade in my system. YMMV. Auricap High Resolution Capacitor Reviews

 

[Nodak]

I know I've shown it before. But, since we now have an audiophile thread I'll put it here. I built this system from Bottlehead.com kits, and some internet speaker designs. Naturally, I modified them a little from OEM design. Cost me about $1500, including phonograph. It sounds outstanding. The amp is a 2a3 based SET amp. Pre-amp uses 12au7s. Phono preamp uses

Have you ever found a reasonably priced source for 2A3 tubes? I have an EH Scott 23 tube radio whose amplifier uses four of them in a push pull cascaded set up. the only sources I have ever found are more than $150 per tube.

 

[ejman]

I fell in love with SETs the first time I heard them. At times, when the moon is right, the recording is good and the planets align, this system has "you are there" abilities. Not all the time, but enough.

I've never heard my speakers called beautiful before . Bright, easy to see, loud-yes. Beautiful-no! They are about 95db. The speakers have a VERY simple first order crossover. Simplicity is the key to everything when it comes to SETs. They are all about ensuring a few watts of very high quality power. The amps put out about 5 watts. With that sensitivity they get pleasantly loud. The stereo is in the basement, and I can hear it in the other end of the house on the main floor when cranked.

You are welcome . I read somewhere that Paul Klipsch - famous speaker designer said something like "what this country needs is a good 5 watt amp" Sounds like you have the answer!

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, I looked. There will be no Auri caps for these speakers. As these crossovers are a bit complex (that was the norm back then), each has 6 caps and high values too, like 50uF and 30uF.

The total cost will be way more than these speakers are worth. I love them, but not that much.

PS. About the measurement setup, I had a hell of a time with the ground loops between the PC output and input. That problem of course does not exist when the measurement input is a mike, compared to an electrical connection directly to the crossover. Took me a bit of time to work around that.

 

[Keim]

Have you ever found a reasonably priced source for 2A3 tubes? I have an EH Scott 23 tube radio whose amplifier uses four of them in a push pull cascaded set up. the only sources I have ever found are more than $150 per tube.

It has been a few years, but I got some Sovteks for about $100 on ebay. They aren't cheap.

 

[Gumby]

Have you ever found a reasonably priced source for 2A3 tubes? I have an EH Scott 23 tube radio whose amplifier uses four of them in a push pull cascaded set up. the only sources I have ever found are more than $150 per tube.

I have purchased tubes from this guy in the past. Reasonable prices and good service.

https://www.tubedepot.com/products?utf8=✓&keywords=2A3

 

[ERD50]

So many comments since I last checked in! I'll try this w/o all the tedious multi-quoting, hope I get it right:

Keim - I'm impressed with that set-up. I planned for so long to build my own speakers, but the 1.6 Maggies finally came along at a price/performance level I just could not pass up. But I kind of regret not doing it.

The Maggies are not high efficiency speakers, so they probably would not mate well with an SET. I recall the SETs were talked about quite a bit when I was reading Stereophile. I'd probably really love an SET with the right speakers for listening to string quartets, or other 'non-bombastic' acoustic stuff.

Mr Paul - I gotta agree with ejman, never heard anyone refer to Dunlavy as 'mid-range'! A friend has them and they are impressive. He likes my Maggies, but always has to kid me that I'm missing the bottom octave (and he's right).

NW-B - Speaker measurements are tedious, crossovers interact with the speaker and that's tedious. I held out a long, long time before getting the Maggies - every time I listened to speakers, I just got confused. These sound different, these sound different - but which sound 'better'? And in no time, my ears would adjust to the sound of one, and I'd get frustrated into analysis paralysis. I think I'd go nuts trying to evaluate crossover changes. What made it easy to buy the Maggies was, it had been so long, the reviews were fantastic for the price range, and I loved the open sound. Being a non-conventional sort, I think I really was drawn to them being different. It's kind of fun to show people that there is nothing behind them just ~ 1" thick, and explain the sound radiates from the entire surface.

You were mentioning the tone controls and other things affecting the flatness of the amp. I feel that one of the biggest improvements to my system was bypassing the pre-amp (OK, an NAD receiver I used as a pre-amp), and going straight to a dedicated power amp from the DAC driven by a netbook and external HDD. My DAC (a NuForce ~ $120?) has a volume control. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but eliminating that stage just seemed to make everything solid and clean. I love the simplicity. If I really need it, I guess I can do balance and tone controls from the computer, but I never bothered.

DFW_M5 & ejman - I bet that Revox has great sound! /1/4" tape at high speed has lots of capability. But if you are OK with CD resolution, I suppose an ADC and DAC and computer really is a more practical solution.

I just got done digitizing some old cassettes. Some of these are from the 80's when I has a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder to do over dubs, and a small recording setup in a spare room. When I compare that to what you can do with a computer, an ADC and Audacity, it just doesn't compare! And my tape decks kept breaking down - I was down to one little Radio Shack player to get the last three tapes done. Once I've cleaned up and edited the digital files, and have everything backed up, I guess the old decks will go to recycling, and eventually the tapes to the trash. The end of an era!

-ERD50

 

[Mr. Paul]

I do love the Dunlavys (had a chance to buy them right) ... the rest of the system though isn't up to their standard.

I was visiting a fellow in Utah that had for years scrounged around the Moab landfill. His audio system was anchored by a beautiful MacIntosh amp ... he'd pulled it out of the dump and put $140 worth of repair into it as one channel was not working. Paired with Klipsch speakers (Heritage, I think) and a killer listening room, that might have been the best system I've ever heard.

 

[eytonxav]

What a bunch of trouble makers. This thread is making me want to put together my old system, except the only piece left is the Revox:

Dyanco 120, PAT4, and A25 speakers
Thorens turntable w/Shure V15
Revox A77

 

[ejman]

What a bunch of trouble makers. This thread is making me want to put together my old system, except the only piece left is the Revox:

Dyanco 120, PAT4, and A25 speakers
Thorens turntable w/Shure V15
Revox A77

All easily obtainable at that bay site I would guess for less than $500 altogether except for the Thorens. But it's a slippery slope and not congruent with the LBYM lifestyle we all subscribe to ( I should be speaking as I bought a Jolida 502P tube amp as my Christmas present...)