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Thread: DIY Equipment Rack Build

  1. #61
    Join Date: Oct 2013

    Location: Wrexham

    Posts: 1,058
    I'm Darren.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pharos View Post
    That is a very interesting autobiography Darren, showing some of your trials and tribulations.

    You seem much more willing than I to take risks, but I have spent much of my adult life trying to overcome the imprinted insecurities resulting from my upbringing, the result of which was to seek security in large corporations, and with my greater understanding and reformed attitudes, I think they are dreadful.

    There are real downsides; little scope for progression because of politics, never really being given the chance to see how well one can do, and IME the resentment of those who callously just 'try to get by'.
    I know exactly what you're saying Dennis. I lived in the shadow of my parents expectations pretty much until my Father died. It's not that my Father was overbearing, but his death was liberating in that it scared me into doing what was right for me and not what I thought would make them "proud". I have subsequently engineered my life to give me the freedom to allow me to take risks, this has meant making sacrifices, but as I look at it, all I've sacrificed is potential mediocrity.

    Having worked for BT and the Welsh Assembly Government, I completely agree with your opinion of large organisation. IMO they are usually controlled by the inept, who are generally only in the position they are due to their contacts and will do anything to retain that paycheque, including extinguishing any bright flames that may shine light on their woeful incompetence. I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with some truly exceptional people but in my admittedly limited experience, they are the exception rather than the rule.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pharos View Post
    Because of self doubt it has only been at the age of 54 that I had the confidence to even try to seriously work at speaker design, and after this the result was praised by an industry professional who said he could sell it for £4k.

    I also love to do things as well as possible, and this does cause some to react negatively for a variety of reasons. girl friends say it is obsessive, and people say that it is irrelevant to do so, when in fact much of it does contribute directly to a better product.
    I'm not a picture of self confidence either (a trait shared with my Father). I used to believe I was, until I made the realisation it was just a defensive wall of misplaced arrogance. This was a bitter pill to swallow, but when I see this in others, I am grateful I had my eyes opened. Moving to rural Wales as a child, I grew up as an outsider, so doing my own thing has been part of my life and I am relieved that I've (apart from a brief period in my mid teens ) never really been bothered about anyone else's opinion.

    Not many of my friends, colleagues or even customers can understand why I pursue my own personal quest for excellence either. But one of the strengths I've learnt I posses in the last 2 years of site work, is the ability to bring out the best in others and it's really nice to see the pride they have in themselves when performing at their best. Not many people will push themselves to the limit, but when encouraged to do so, most achieve a level of satisfaction beyond expectation and begin to understand why I/we do the things we do.

    So maybe it's taken you a while, but I do hope the speaker project has spurred you on with the confidence to march to the beat of your own drum, as appears to have good rhythm
    Darren.
    Listening Room.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    Turn Table. Garrard 401, Reso Mat, 2 Tier Slate Plinth, DIY Hadcock GH242, Nick G modded Lentek, Denon DL-103.
    Pre Amp. Croft Super Micro2. Power Amps Quad 405 Mono Blocks.
    Speakers. TBC

    Home Cinema.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    DAC/Pre Amp. Denon AVC X3700H.
    BDP/Streamer. Panasonic DP-UB820EB / Apple TV4K.
    Display. Optoma UHD51 / DIY False Black Window Screen.
    Power Amps. 2 x Nakamichi AVP1.
    Front Speakers. DIY Baby Celestion Ditton 66. Surround Speakers. Celestion Ditton 11. Subwoofer. BK Electronics P12 300SB PR.

    Old Gallery. http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...-of-the-70%92s

  2. #62
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

    Posts: 1,861
    I'm Dennis.

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    Seven years with BT was the worst experience of my life job wise.

    I am not a graduate, but was the most qualified out of 34 people, and despised for it. Those experiences showed me that very intellectually incompetent people can thrive in large organisations, and blatantly so, and will do all they can to sabotage any aspiration one has to progress.

    Finding oneself, and becoming inner directed (directing oneself), as opposed to outer directed (accepting the dictums of others), is a force majore, and ultimately very liberating after the fear has gone.

    Yes, it's taken a while, and I am at peace with myself as opposed to self loathing and low self esteem, but the loss of what I could have been, and maybe achieved is hard.

    Arrogance can be a pre-emptive defence mechanism, as my Father taught me in childhood, it thus destroying all my confidence. I now realise that he is a weak man, and he used that to cope.

    Having not seen him for 26 years he appeared at my front door in Oct '17, and proceeded to denigrate and deride me for two hours, and then say to me; "Of course you could have done a PhD"

    I've always been an outsider, and had to read in depth on group psychology, particularly ontological security, largely because of group ridicule; the group will outcast an individual whom they feel is a threat.

  3. #63
    Join Date: Oct 2013

    Location: Wrexham

    Posts: 1,058
    I'm Darren.

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    I know where you’re coming from, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have self image issues, but in all probability, this is most likely what makes us strive for perfection. Ignoring all advice from Johnny Mercer, I seem to have an uncanny ability to accentuate the negative. Whenever I experience something new, I’m inexorably drawn to its flaws. I guess this is because it’s the way I evaluate my own actions, constantly focusing on my mistakes whilst reluctantly accepting the successes.

    In all honesty, I’ve never been 100% satisfied with anything I’ve done. Sometimes this is though a stupid mistake on my behalf, which I find very hard to forgive, but when I’ve performed to the best of my ability and as long as I’ve improved upon my last effort, I find solace in the adage that practice makes perfect, and hope that one day I will reach the targets I set for myself.

    Making a move to construction was probably the best thing I’ve ever done for my emotional wellbeing. Having something real and tangible to show for my efforts at the end of a day gives me a greater sense of achievement than I ever felt in IT. Working in IT, you will (generally) receive the gratitude of your client for resolving a problem / creating a solution, with construction you’re helping someone fulfil their dreams and 99% of the time they’re so pleased with the bigger picture they place little value on the bumps in the road along the way, which does help keep things in perspective.
    Darren.
    Listening Room.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    Turn Table. Garrard 401, Reso Mat, 2 Tier Slate Plinth, DIY Hadcock GH242, Nick G modded Lentek, Denon DL-103.
    Pre Amp. Croft Super Micro2. Power Amps Quad 405 Mono Blocks.
    Speakers. TBC

    Home Cinema.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    DAC/Pre Amp. Denon AVC X3700H.
    BDP/Streamer. Panasonic DP-UB820EB / Apple TV4K.
    Display. Optoma UHD51 / DIY False Black Window Screen.
    Power Amps. 2 x Nakamichi AVP1.
    Front Speakers. DIY Baby Celestion Ditton 66. Surround Speakers. Celestion Ditton 11. Subwoofer. BK Electronics P12 300SB PR.

    Old Gallery. http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...-of-the-70%92s

  4. #64
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

    Posts: 1,861
    I'm Dennis.

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    Quote Originally Posted by DarrenHW View Post
    I know where you’re coming from, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have self image issues, but in all probability, this is most likely what makes us strive for perfection. Ignoring all advice from Johnny Mercer, I seem to have an uncanny ability to accentuate the negative. Whenever I experience something new, I’m inexorably drawn to its flaws. I guess this is because it’s the way I evaluate my own actions, constantly focusing on my mistakes whilst reluctantly accepting the successes.

    Our origins and formative years are awash with competitive pressures; we can feel it all the way from very early on, though we may not recognise the pressure at the time.

    It is also a fact of human existence that we tend to take for granted that which is OK, satisfactory or functioning correctly, and concentrate on the aspect which is causing problems - that is what needs to be altered or corrected, and we focus on that, not on what is working.

    The whole of the measurement of me in jobs has been on being adequate, up to the accepted standard, and no attention given to anything better than required. In an Amway lecture they said "You get what your job's worth, not what you're worth".

    In all honesty, I’ve never been 100% satisfied with anything I’ve done. Sometimes this is though a stupid mistake on my behalf, which I find very hard to forgive, but when I’ve performed to the best of my ability and as long as I’ve improved upon my last effort, I find solace in the adage that practice makes perfect, and hope that one day I will reach the targets I set for myself.

    We can go on forever making things better, but the context of any aspect is vital. I once measure the diameter of a bolt on my BMW motorbike which was holding a cantilever cable operating the clutch, and it was within one micron.
    Lovely, but not needed to be so good.

    Making a move to construction was probably the best thing I’ve ever done for my emotional wellbeing. Having something real and tangible to show for my efforts at the end of a day gives me a greater sense of achievement than I ever felt in IT. Working in IT, you will (generally) receive the gratitude of your client for resolving a problem / creating a solution, with construction you’re helping someone fulfil their dreams and 99% of the time they’re so pleased with the bigger picture they place little value on the bumps in the road along the way, which does help keep things in perspective.
    My personal view is that IT is generally not of high intellectual rigour, but any failings can cause chaos, and so a customer will be very relieved when a glitch is corrected. On the other hand producing a complete item for which one is fully responsible allows the possibility to create a high quality fully working product.

  5. #65
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

    Posts: 1,861
    I'm Dennis.

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    SorryI haven't mastered correctly inserting my comments, there are more in the quote.

  6. #66
    Join Date: Oct 2013

    Location: Wrexham

    Posts: 1,058
    I'm Darren.

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    Here it is in situ and fully loaded!



    It comprises of ~70kg Beech, 60kg Slate and ~10kg Bamboo.



    I’m really happy with the look, especially how well the green of the slate works. I’m not sure how the lower left slate has come out lighter and I only realised once everything was hooked up, so now I’ve got to drag it out again, but it will give me something to do one quiet weekend afternoon. The only explanation I can think of, is that I missed that one with a coat of sealer, so hopefully hitting it again will bring it inline with the others.

    The components on the middle shelf look a bit awkward. This is not helped by the placement of the slimmer Xbox beneath the Panny, but it had to go somewhere. The Oppo will be replaced by a Denon AVC-X3700H (if it ever arrives!) which will stand approximately 65mm taller, so hopefully (as this is what the shelf was designed around) this will be a more appropriate visual coupling.

    What has completely surprised me, is that my equipment has never looked or sounded better than it does now. There has always been a muddiness to the sound of the Celestions which I have accepted as inherent to the speakers, as there are plenty of threads that describe them as so. I’m not for one moment suggesting I’ve resolved a 40 year old design flaw with this rack, but what I am saying is that a lot of what I’d assumed was the muddiness was purely down to poor component placement. There has been a massive improvement in clarity across the range, bass is cleaner, if a little lighter, vocals have less distortion/echo/glare and more accent/annunciation and the 3d effect of the soundstage has increased dramatically. These improvements are also obvious in the image sent from the Oppo/Panny/Xbox. The picture is more focused, resulting in better detail retrieval and a far greater sense of depth.

    I should point out that all of this is in comparison to the makeshift way I’ve been housing my equipment, I do have Mana racks, but haven’t used them in the prescribed way for many years.

    There are however some negatives:

    The “twinkly bits” in some songs are not as obvious as they were. In the song “The News” by Carbon/Sliicon, there is a repetitive dinging of a bell that I’m used to being at the forefront of the mix, where as now it takes more of a back seat.



    The bass does seem to have taken on the timbre of timber. This is something I’ve experienced before when experimenting with the placement of timber in the system, most notably with the turn table. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s also not neutral. I had hoped the slate would overcome this, but it hasn’t and makes me wonder if I would have had a better, more neutral result if I’d used a harder timber such as Maple.

    I’m also on the fence as to whether I’ve lost a bit of PRAT. I haven’t had a huge amount of time to spend listening to music since everything was setup and I was quite tired when I did so I’m holding judgement, but there didn’t seem to be the same urgency I’m used to hearing in some tracks. My system never really gets powered down and it had been powered off for a significant amount of time in the migration. I’d let everything warm up for a couple of hours, but maybe this offers some explanation. I feel I’m clutching at straws here and I should get a bit of time to better evaluate this weekend so I’ll report back.

    Overall I am really happy with how this has turned out and I’ve enjoyed the project. The rack looks as I’d imagined it, but it is its efficacy as a rack that has exceeded my expectations. As previously mentioned, I’ve been messing around with CLD platforms for a while, but this has spurred me on to take it further. I'm really interested to find out if the Panny performs better directly on the rack or it's current platform, although if it does I'm going to have to get creative about what I do with it and the Xbox...
    Darren.
    Listening Room.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    Turn Table. Garrard 401, Reso Mat, 2 Tier Slate Plinth, DIY Hadcock GH242, Nick G modded Lentek, Denon DL-103.
    Pre Amp. Croft Super Micro2. Power Amps Quad 405 Mono Blocks.
    Speakers. TBC

    Home Cinema.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    DAC/Pre Amp. Denon AVC X3700H.
    BDP/Streamer. Panasonic DP-UB820EB / Apple TV4K.
    Display. Optoma UHD51 / DIY False Black Window Screen.
    Power Amps. 2 x Nakamichi AVP1.
    Front Speakers. DIY Baby Celestion Ditton 66. Surround Speakers. Celestion Ditton 11. Subwoofer. BK Electronics P12 300SB PR.

    Old Gallery. http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...-of-the-70%92s

  7. #67
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Looks good, mate! But may I ask an obvious question... Why is there nothing on top and everything crammed together on the first shelf?

    Furthermore, you say you're pleased with it (as indeed you should be in terms of how good it looks), yet you seem pretty critical of it, sonically... So it it doing it for you in that area, as you'd hoped, or not? Your review doesn't make that point entirely clear.

    Personally, I think there's more to come with a spike and cup arrangement, as we discussed earlier, which from experience I'm confident will restore the "twinkly bits" you're missing, and add some more 'attack' and PRaT.

    What will also help is using your Mana support, which the Panny is sat on, in the conventional way with some glass, or taking it out the equation completely, as it was never intended to be used that way, mate. Anyway, looking good, but defo more to come with some tweaks and finishing touches

    Btw, I'd be interested in your thoughts on my Lentek thread (thought you might've commented already): https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...entek-head-amp

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  8. #68
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

    Posts: 1,861
    I'm Dennis.

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    Firstly your penetration of the verticals by the horizontals is very much similar to my choice - one third in.

    I am not at all sure about the design intent with regard to the relative masses and implementation of them for sound quality.

  9. #69
    Join Date: Oct 2013

    Location: Wrexham

    Posts: 1,058
    I'm Darren.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Looks good, mate! But may I ask an obvious question... Why is there nothing on top and everything crammed together on the first shelf?
    Thank you. I've crammed everything onto the first shelf because I don't want anything on the top shelf. I want to clean up the aesthetics of the whole AV system and make it a less dominant feature of the room. If I had something pretty to display I would have considered placing it on top, but the half depth Panny or the Xbox would just look silly and I don't want to see all the cables that will eventually be spewing out the back of the Denon.

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Furthermore, you say you're pleased with it (as indeed you should be in terms of how good it looks), yet you seem pretty critical of it, sonically... So it it doing it for you in that area, as you'd hoped, or not? Your review doesn't make that point entirely clear.

    Personally, I think there's more to come with a spike and cup arrangement, as we discussed earlier, which from experience I'm confident will restore the "twinkly bits" you're missing, and add some more 'attack' and PRaT.
    I'm still in two minds about it. It's an improvement in some respects but a downgrade in others. Attack (thank you, I think that's what I really meant by PRAT) for example does seem to have diminished and I'm not really sure that is a sacrifice I'm willing to make. On the other hand the removal of grunge around both audio and visual signals is a very welcome improvement.

    The "twinkly bits" are something that have given me more pause for thought. The difference reminds me of moving from the Techie to the Garrard. As you know I primarily went for the Garrard because I favoured it's "drive" over the Techie, but in doing so it was at the expense of (amongst other things) the "twinkly bits". Reading up, the online consensus was that the high end was some what muted with the majority of idlers, so I put it down to this. However, when the Garrard was brought into play in was on the Target wall shelf, whereas the Techie was sited on the Mana which at the time was used conventionally (MDF & Glass). This makes me wonder how much of the loss was actually down to the Target. At the same time, it raises the question of whether in using the Mana the way I was (https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...ay-and-Radiate visible in the third photo) whether I have been artificially drawing attention to the "twinkly bits" (there's surely got to be proper HiFi lingo for "twinkly bits")?

    I've only had a brief listen, and as mentioned I was tired and the system wasn't at it's usual operating temperature, I'll spend some more time with it this weekend and will hopefully come up with a more concrete conclusion.

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    What will also help is using your Mana support, which the Panny is sat on, in the conventional way with some glass, or taking it out the equation completely, as it was never intended to be used that way, mate. Anyway, looking good, but defo more to come with some tweaks and finishing touches
    The support is there to give the Panny some height and provide somewhere to hide the Xbox, this area will be subject to change and is where experimentation with coupling, isolation and further CLD will take place.

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Btw, I'd be interested in your thoughts on my Lentek thread (thought you might've commented already): https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...entek-head-amp

    Marco.
    I did see it, then I saw Post #3 and just like seeing a floater in a swimming pool decided I'd give it some time to let the water clear.
    Darren.
    Listening Room.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    Turn Table. Garrard 401, Reso Mat, 2 Tier Slate Plinth, DIY Hadcock GH242, Nick G modded Lentek, Denon DL-103.
    Pre Amp. Croft Super Micro2. Power Amps Quad 405 Mono Blocks.
    Speakers. TBC

    Home Cinema.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    DAC/Pre Amp. Denon AVC X3700H.
    BDP/Streamer. Panasonic DP-UB820EB / Apple TV4K.
    Display. Optoma UHD51 / DIY False Black Window Screen.
    Power Amps. 2 x Nakamichi AVP1.
    Front Speakers. DIY Baby Celestion Ditton 66. Surround Speakers. Celestion Ditton 11. Subwoofer. BK Electronics P12 300SB PR.

    Old Gallery. http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...-of-the-70%92s

  10. #70
    Join Date: Oct 2013

    Location: Wrexham

    Posts: 1,058
    I'm Darren.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Pharos View Post
    Firstly your penetration of the verticals by the horizontals is very much similar to my choice - one third in.
    Same rule for Tenons hence a good choice.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pharos View Post
    I am not at all sure about the design intent with regard to the relative masses and implementation of them for sound quality.
    My thought on this was simply that the higher the mass of an object the less it is affected by vibration. The weights I posted are not any kind of formula just how everything weighed in.
    Darren.
    Listening Room.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    Turn Table. Garrard 401, Reso Mat, 2 Tier Slate Plinth, DIY Hadcock GH242, Nick G modded Lentek, Denon DL-103.
    Pre Amp. Croft Super Micro2. Power Amps Quad 405 Mono Blocks.
    Speakers. TBC

    Home Cinema.
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    DAC/Pre Amp. Denon AVC X3700H.
    BDP/Streamer. Panasonic DP-UB820EB / Apple TV4K.
    Display. Optoma UHD51 / DIY False Black Window Screen.
    Power Amps. 2 x Nakamichi AVP1.
    Front Speakers. DIY Baby Celestion Ditton 66. Surround Speakers. Celestion Ditton 11. Subwoofer. BK Electronics P12 300SB PR.

    Old Gallery. http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...-of-the-70%92s

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