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EricS
24-09-2015, 22:48
Hi, Everyone,

I'm Eric and live in central Pennsylvania in the USA. I've been interested in electronics and audio since about the age of 10. I still have vivid memories of how upset my dad was when I burned a hole in my brand new bedroom carpet with the soldering iron. :doh: Fast forward a few decades, add a new house and my interests led to a basement converted into a home theater. (http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantane/movies/movies.html) filled with DIY projects. In contrast with newer digital technologies, I am also interested in tube radios from the 1920s and 1930s. It is the perfect intersection of my interest in antiques and electronics.

I've been lurking since I acquired a turn table in March of this year. I had a BIC 940 belt drive table when I was a kid and didn't really have much appreciation for albums beyond the fact that my choices were either vinyl or cassettes. By the age of 14 or 15, I got my first CD player and left vinyl in the dust and developed a collection of nearly 1,000 CDs over the years. As I got deeper and deeper into DIY audio, I became more aware of people extolling the virtues of vinyl. So, looking to see what all of the fuss was about, I picked up a used SL-1200, installed an AT150MLX cartridge, and build a Pearl II phono stage for it. I also moved the power supply into an outboard box and installed two 21v regulated power supplies (using LT317A based tracking pre-regulators) in the hole where the transformer used to live. I am in the process of completing a new preamp and amp for my new analog setup.

Wow! I have to say that I am impressed by what I found hiding on my childhood albums! To my ears, my 30 year old vinyl outperforms the same title on CD by a healthy margin. What fun it has been picking up used albums at the local flea market for $1-2 each!

I look forward to learning more and sharing with everyone!
Eric

struth
24-09-2015, 22:52
Hi and welcome Eric. Nice to have you here. Plenty of builders in the forum, so sure you will find much to interest you.
Hope to see you add to the collective

walpurgis
24-09-2015, 22:55
Hello Eric. Welcome to AOS.

If you're a DIY guy, you'll be in good company here. Projects are popular.

If you have anything on the go, some photos in our Drawing Board section would be welcome and appreciated.

Tell us what music you listen to and if you have any system changes in mind.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

The Black Adder
25-09-2015, 05:55
Welcome to AOS, Eric.

As previously said, you will be in good company here. It's great to have another DIY fan here.

Enjoy!
Josie

Firebottle
25-09-2015, 06:07
Hi Eric,

Welcome, nice intro. To prevent carpet burns don't forget always catch a dropped soldering iron by the cold end :eyebrows:

I've also been an avid DIYer since about 10 and have fairly recently discovered the amazing performance that can be had from vinyl.

Join in and enjoy the forum :)

Alan

EricS
26-09-2015, 22:41
Thanks for the nice welcome! I realize that I've neglected to include some of my listening tastes. I enjoy classical music, jazz, classic rock, and female vocals. I was especially pleased recently to find a few still sealed Ella Fitzgerald albums from the early 1960s! My current gear is mostly DIY Pass Labs equipment - I have several Class-A solid state amps and am close to finishing a Class-A preamp with a Light Dependent Resistor based volume control. I have an interest in building a tube amp at some point in the future. For some reason, I feel attracted to 2A3-based designs. Moving to vinyl makes a nice tube amp sound all that more appealing. So many choices: interstage transformers, cap coupled, direct couples, AC heaters, DC heaters...

walpurgis
26-09-2015, 22:52
I had a Forte Model 2 pre-amp a while back that was a Pass design. Very good sounding unit. There is interest here in LDR designs. I've ordered some to tinker with. I'm interested in 2A3 amps as well, but I'm unlikely to try building one. My skills are not that good (yet).

We'd love to see photos of your projects in the Gallery section.

EricS
26-09-2015, 23:28
I just started a thread for my DIY audio projects here (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?40712-Eric-s-DIY-Audio-Projects&p=688130#post688130). I'll add some details over time.

Spectral Morn
27-09-2015, 13:43
Welcome to AoS Eric


Regards Neil

Barry
27-09-2015, 19:40
Welcome to AoS Eric.

Enjoy the Forum

Regards
Barry