My first amplifier came from a chap named Sugar. It was a disaster!
The next one was an obscure Japanese 'Olson' and was just fine.
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My first amplifier came from a chap named Sugar. It was a disaster!
The next one was an obscure Japanese 'Olson' and was just fine.
ha... amstrad... not the best gear about but made him millionsQuote:
Originally Posted by walpurgis
Not seen that brand before? I had a garrard Sp25 II early on, bit plasticky if I remember?Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Interesting isn't it how we have all gone through a succession of amplifiers over the years and probably tried an assortment of technology, valves, Solid state, Class A, Class A-B and maybe now Class D. Amplification is a funny thing as it is difficult to know when you have got it right as there are always compromises along the way. With Class A it could be power. With valves it could be current and power. Sometimes we think we need loads of grunt and then other times we can hear an EL34 single ended Class A amp with flea power and be in heaven.
I suppose over the years we try a great variety of gear and come to conclusions what suits our ears best and this maybe divided between Transistor or Valve or Class A or Class A-B etc. I know I have settled with all valve preamp and phono stage and a Hybrid OTL power amp but to me they give an insight and presentation of the recording that sounds just right to my ears. I expect some of us a have different ideas of what sound we are trying to achieve and are dictated by power and speakers to go down a particular route.
I started out with a flea bite early transistor amp then leaped to a Quad 405-2 100 watt channel amp. I found the Quads a little plain vanilla for my liking but it did not stop me for going back for more later when they released the 606. It was a sweet sounding beast that just did the job but was not spectacular in any way.
In between I really liked a Leak Stereo 20 that had been re capped and upgraded by Glenn Croft which I used with his tiny Croft Micro. Very sweet and revealing sound and for me contained a little audio magic which I held in my thoughts for many years into the future when eventually I ended up with my current set up of Croft 25R and Series 7 power amp. I was indeed fortunate to live near Glenn and between 1986 and 2015 I heard most of the models of amps that he built along the way, some of which were very rare and short lived liked the Dakshini all valve OTL. His amps always got to the heart of the music and with vinyl seemed to take you right into the recording.
When I get some time I would like to write a little about his amps starting with the Micro and running through all his various models over the years as I can remember pretty well how most of them sounded. I am still very sad till this day that he is no longer with us. A true Gent and genius of the hifi world and his values and principles were a fantastic model for us audiophiles who wanted high end sound at low end prices!.
Mitsubishi had a hand in teleton... quite decent stuff
Don't think Mitsubishi are doing electronics much nowadays, more cars and air conditioning systems?Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Mitsubishi? Or as I call them 'Shake it to bitsy'.
If James were to replace the sofa with a rocking chair for when he plays his Val Doonican records it would be like Val was in the room :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
He also has a world class collection of Max Bygraves 33s and 45s :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
your worst nightmare?Quote:
Originally Posted by brian2957
https://images-cdn.bridgemanimages.c...75/7255456.jpg
thats a lot of teeth
Jumper over a polo-neck - classic. You don't see that no more.
I am sure Pigmy Pony wears that everyday.:)
As seen on the British Legion juke box! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
You do in my house at this time of the year. :ner:Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
It's important to keep the old traditions alive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
If a change of speakers is on the cards, Heco's "The Statement"/"The New Statement" might be just the thing. Probably give you everything you like about the Celans, and then some.
I may go for a different brand, maybe something from Dali. The Statements did not go down too well I believe at Chris's house?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
I think the problem is the fact his speakers look like they are in the loft, so they could be heard throughout the house.
Ah I got you, that was the reason he sold them?Quote:
Originally Posted by CageyH
That plus I think in the end he just preffered his Martin Logans.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
These are on my list of speakers to investigate.
https://www.dali-speakers.com/en-gb/...beron/oberon-9
Out of interest Jimbo, what feet do you use on your current speakers?
I ask as I went from the rubber spikes supplied with my Antal EZ, to IsoPucks (which the speakers just sit on) and they really opened up the sound, without the HiFi price tag of the Gaia feet, and it looks like your house is likely to have a suspended wooden floor.
I use the rubber feet that came with the speakers which are very small but I sit them on two pieces of very heavy compact laminate which is a bit like slate. The spikes were terrible especially as you have guessed correctly I have a suspended wooden floor. The combination I have works very well but I must admit I would like to try something like the Gaia feet so may look at those Isopucks. Thanks for the recommendation.Quote:
Originally Posted by CageyH
Only Monday to Friday, I have this for the weekend :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
https://static6.depositphotos.com/10...dor-posing.jpg
"Gimme that Windfield cartridge, I'll set it up for you"
Cracking set of moobs. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
hey, i said that was for private use only :ner:
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
How many Isopucks are you using under each speaker Kev?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
4, based on the weight of the speakers.
My speakers are just over 27Kg each, so I needed to use 4 as they take about 9Kg each, and it is best not to use them at maximum rating.
Mine are about 30Kg each so I would need four under each.:hmm:Quote:
Originally Posted by CageyH
:thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
~Something in here is causing a lot of distortion and buzzing ---- occasionally!:doh:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...440a49c1_h.jpg0E52429B-D788-4940-B21F-D9EA3795F68E by , on Flickr
The main culprits I believe from the research I have been doing are the caps. They are situated on removable boards but to get too them is tricky and requires a fair strip down.:eek:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f6573db5_h.jpg253CD887-47AA-4268-AC80-8AFFAA33CC13 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/[/url], on Flickr
Ascertaining values etc and replacement equivalents maybe also tricky.:eek:
[
Plenty of Youtube videos on recapping these old beasts so just need plenty of patience and a good soldering iron.
Take plenty of photos (no, not of yourself :eyebrows:) before you start taking it apart mate :eek:
Now where's my hammer!:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by brian2957
If only you knew a local valve amp specialist….
blue one with the corrosion looks your best bet
Thanks Grant this will be first on the hit list!Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
I can recommend the Hakko FX-888D. It is a good bit of kit, but beware, there are plenty of fakes on the market.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
Yesterday I started to Investigate improvements to my listening room acoustics as I have already found significant changes can be affected with increasing the amount of general furnishings in the room. However the next stage will have to include deliberate "audiophile" acoustic solutions. If the listening room was absolutely under my control and I did not have to share it as a living space I could go very extreme and build into it all the significant room acoustic architecture I would need to control the acoustic signature of the room. I have gained an extensive knowledge of how to do this from my friend Steve who has taken this approach to the extreme. But I have to share the living space with family and it has to be seen as an "acceptable" living room although I have been granted it is our listening room.
Last year I removed everything from the room and observed that is was indeed a big echoey space. even though it was carpeted and had decent underlay. At one end of the room I have a large window and at the back of the room behind my head I have two large glass panelled doors exiting into the kitchen diner. These have now been sorted with very thick super insulated and thermally lined curtains at the one end and to get around the door problems at the other I just open them. No reflection there.
Moving three sofas into the room then damped down the acoustics significantly and when the curtains are drawn I get a very good controlled end to that part of the room with the speakers. Further up the room towards the listening chair I start to notice the room reflections and reverberation. Simple hand claps will tell you how reflective the room gets.. I have absolutely no problems with bass issues and probably even lack a bit of bass but midrange is excellent. However the treble/ top end information as is quite common has issues. The amount of furnishing in the room has taken away any grain and harshness to the sound. It certainly does not sound overly bright and cymbals etc ring true and clean without any glare or over emphasis.
So you might think as I did what are the issues with the acoustics regarding the top end. Well in order to understand this I have had to start implementing some first reflection point acoustic absorption. You sometimes don't know how things can sound better or what you are missing until the improvements happen and this its certainly true of room acoustics. When you start implementing acoustic control you influence the sound of you system and what it can achieve significantly. I am keen however to not go to far and take away anything that I have that I feel is good.
So the first issue was to prevent the glass in the bookshelf from reflecting and influencing the treble coming from the right and speakers. So a panel of very thick padded material with sound absorbing properties is being made for this. On the other side of the room I will have to install another panel of probably rock wool covered either in plain material or maybe art work. I know how to construct this but in order to understand the effect it would have I tried a make shift panel. I may need another smaller panel on the left hand side too bit will assess how the book case glass panel works first.
As I mentioned I did roughly install some make shift panels and there results were as follows.
1. The imaging became much more precise and everything in the sound stage could be observed far more clearly.
2. Treble was not rolled of or reduced but greater levels of detail were exposed.
3. Soundstage was not changed in size but way more controlled. Where as before it was a bit fuzzy round the extremes and a bit effusive it snapped into focus. There was again more precision as to what was happening and where in the sound stage and the depth and edges were far easier to ascertain.
4. The combination of a lot better imaging and more detail produced some astonishing effects. These being information in the recordings that were hither to unintelligible or missing snapped into focus and were revealed. Harmonies and layering of information in the recordings were suddenly perceptible. It was as if all the information was there before but mixed together so some parts of the recording obscured others. The effect of sorting the first reflective points untangled all parts of the recording mix and made them much more obvious and clear cut.
I can only liken it to looking through a camera lens and then turning it to focus on the subject.
To be honest it was not a surprise that controlling the first reflection points had a significant outcome but what was a surprise was what it actually did. I have heard acoustically treated rooms but until you do it yourself with a system and room you know well you can't quite get a handle on what the effects were. I found they were profound and once heard cannot be unheard.
I will post up some picture when I have the finished the reflection point acoustics when they are made properly and installed as they are only prototypes currently for me to certain if they were worth doing and what effects they had.
From what I heard they are absolutely worth installing and have made a huge difference to that critical part of my system where you hear most of the information that is going on in the recording. It just goes to show how important it is to pay attention to your system and its interaction with the room acoustics as you can miss out on so much potential you never realised was there.
The problem with acoustic panels is having the WAF acceptability criteria fulfilled, at the same time as having the audio criteria at an acceptable level.
My listening space is certainly not as attractive as yours, as I have my home working space, my UK TV, Hifi, sim racing rig and the Sofas squeezed into it.
I have a wall just behind my head, but as long as the volume levels are kept reasonable, the system sounds fine. I don't have any sidewalls next to my speakers, so my first reflection point is likely to be the wall. I really should try and do something....
As my "cave" is on a mezzanine floor, speaker isolation was a priority, but also the volume needs to stay reasonable. The IsoPucks made a big difference. I let a friend borrow them, and he has since ordered them, as he could not believe what a difference they made.
I don't have WAF to take into consideration, as she never spends an extended period time in my man cave. But sticking rockwool on the wall behind me does not appeal to me.
It needs to be something aesthetically pleasing. I started to look at GIK panels, but getting the right images is always a challenge.
Yes the WAF appeal does have to be taken into account but even without WAF I agree it does have to fit in with your living environment and look acceptable. I would definitely recommend trialling some rock wool battens, you will be surprised at the result. Try and reduce any reflective surfaces lespecially glass and hard surfaces if you can. Biggest differences are around imaging and the details contain there in.Quote:
Originally Posted by CageyH
I am almost certainly going to try the Isopucks Kev when I get round to it. I am sure they are going to add something significant or take something significant away? I need 8 x 9Kg weight bearing picks so that's £200 which sounds reasonable price.
Just to show you what can be done to make room acoustics look appealing. This is my mates place and shows some construction of some of the individual panels. sorry there are quite a few pics but scroll through to the end to see finished result. It is amazing!
https://sonoritydesign.co.uk/index.p...-so-long-then/
just needs the long table and the stucket pig:D
:eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
I am planning to finish my cinema room this year, but there is no way that I am going to that level of sound proofing.
I plan on doing some, but my challenge is going to be the floor, as it is a suspended wooden floor. The joists are visible in the lounge and kitchen, so if I don't want a step into the cinema room, then I have to insulate in the main living areas.
Options are, do nothing, or spend a lot of time making things look nice downstairs. The wife wants me to paint the wood white downstairs, so this may be an opportunity to improve the acoustic insulation in the cinema room, and keep her happy.
I should also decouple my sub from the wooden floor.
It does have that feel. With all the furniture etc he has now installed there is a steam punk vibe!Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
The Room: The most important and most overlooked part of the audio chain. I have posted many photos (sorry for so many but I forget a lot if I dont photograph it). I have been in this room for over 23 years and did not seriously attack the "room" issues until about four years ago. It was the biggest and most satisfying improvement ever in my over 40 years of listening rooms. I have been in every position on every square inch of this room and after years of placement and positioning of things it was worth it all. I will say also that the textbook answer or theory is not always what ends up working as each room, gear, and pair of ears are different but there are plenty of places to read and at least get started. It may save you unnecessary money and more importantly to me it saved me time. There are no more hours of switching speakers, or positions, and on and on. just fire things up and listen. I and "WE" are types that will still always try new stuff and new ideas but once I knew this room and what it took to help it give me the best it possibly could the reward was huge. Anything now that is new or unrecognized like a component and even sometimes a cable is noticed also, and sometimes not in a subtle way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
Cheers
https://sonoritydesign.co.uk/index.p...-so-long-then/
That room is incredible BTW!
Right tonight is the night to read this thread !!