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Thread: Carlos' Nearfield System Blog

  1. #1
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: London UK

    Posts: 28
    I'm Carlos.

    Arrow Carlos' Nearfield System Blog

    Hello Guys, I started this system just over 3 months ago (Dec 2015).
    It is a Mac Mini based setup, that I use everyday. Here are a few photos that show my experiments (good & bad). I'll update here as regularly as I can & will answer any question the best I can & appreciate any comments.


    My Mac desktop setup, with my 2nd 'tube amp', a APPJ PA1501A with 2 GE 6AD10 tubes.

    After that my collection of tiny SET tube ams grew:


    This is the little SET amp that started my interest, the MiniWatt S1 (I wanted tubes, but they had to be small enough for a desktop based system)


    I was happy for about 6 weeks, but I wasn't in 'Audio heaven', so I was lucky to upgrade my speakers, and that's when I kind of got hooked on trying to get the most out of my system (It is one of the reasons I'm here at AOS):


    Next came the speaker stands & various cables (that is another story)


    And here is a photo of 'Today's variation':


    I hope that gives you a small intro of my 3 month journey; I will try to update with more detailed images, and welcome any question & comments (I will do my best to explain myself)
    Last edited by Carlos-UK-2016; 13-03-2016 at 16:09.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

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    Pictures not showing I'm afraid Carlos.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: London UK

    Posts: 28
    I'm Carlos.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Firebottle View Post
    Pictures not showing I'm afraid Carlos.
    Thanks Firebottle, everything worked when I created the post (it previewed & published ok). I have had to create an FTP folder, and I'm linking directly to those images now. Thanks for the heads up

  4. #4
    Join Date: Aug 2010

    Location: Torquay, Devon.

    Posts: 5,684
    I'm Shane.

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    That is a nice system, Carlos.

    I like that small wooden figure shown in the first pic. If I may ask, where did you purchase it from?

    S.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: London UK

    Posts: 28
    I'm Carlos.

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    Quote Originally Posted by southall-1998 View Post
    That is a nice system, Carlos.

    I like that small wooden figure shown in the first pic. If I may ask, where did you purchase it from?

    S.
    Hello Shane, It is a little bronze of the Laputa Robot from the film 'Castle in the Sky'. I bought it on a trip to Japan, from the Ghilbli Museum in Mitaka.
    They have a giant bronze statue in the garden, and I was lucky to find a nice small version in the Museum's gift shop.

    Here is a photo (someone elses) of the real one.


    And a link to one that someone is selling (if you don't fancy a shopping trip to Japan): http://loveghibli.ecrater.com/p/1988...e-laputa-robot

    I've put him back in my system now, I can use him to dampen vibrations on my DAC

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

    Posts: 11,519
    I'm gone.

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    Fantastic desk top system, just love all those valves

    Interesting the way it is slowly changing into a 'normal' hifi system with speaker stands.
    Last edited by jandl100; 15-03-2016 at 07:45.
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  7. #7
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

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    Can you tell me what the power amp is Carlos?

  8. #8
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: London UK

    Posts: 28
    I'm Carlos.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Firebottle View Post
    Can you tell me what the power amp is Carlos?
    The amp in the last picture is an APPJ mini2013 (updated version of the MiniWatt S1 from 2009). I bought two of them for a very good price on MassDrop - link here: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/appj-mini2013-6j1-6p1

    The other tiny preamp with the single (double triode) tube is a Schiit Vali 2, link here: http://schiit.com/products/vali-2

    I have single wire speakers, and was thinking of trying to convert them to bi-wire (I'm not sure if that is possible? will have to open them up to take a look at what is there), and then bi-amp (one amp for the woofers, and one for the tweeters), I would probably use Telefunken 6AK5W tubes for the tweeters, and GE Jan or Tung Sol for the woofers.

    It would be an interesting experiment to try. The only issue is that I only have one set of Nordost SPM speaker cables, so I might have to use something copper/cheaper for the 'woofer amp' speaker cable; I think the SPM would be great for the tweeters (will have to experiment).

    Using one low powered tube amps to drive the single wire B&W speakers, I am very impressed with the sound... So I was curious to see how bi-amping (doubling the power) would help get more out of my speakers.
    But as with all 'experiments' I will need to find the time, and the motivation to take a happy working system apart

    If any of you guys can help/advise me about converting single wire speakers to bi-wire, I would probably have a bit more confidence to give it a go
    Last edited by Carlos-UK-2016; 16-03-2016 at 23:37.

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