Hi from "The Land Down Under", "The Land Down Under", Tasmania

[sparramc]

Hi, I am Ray, and I reside in Mowbray Heights (Launceston), Tasmania.

I am a music tragic who has suffered from "Audiophile Syndrome" for over 50 years. Current treatment involves the wheeling-and-dealing with such equipment from the late 50s to present day, and collecting albums & concerts from most music classifications.

I am also an Retired Electronics Engineer. Currently I am a Part-time STEM Teacher, specialising in Robotics. Coach and Mentor to First Foundation Robotics Competition Teams, including First LEGO Leage (FLL), First Tech Challenge (FTC), and First Robotics Change.

I also help our repairing & refurbishing mid 60s to late 80s Audio Equipment, along with a never ending stream of computer repairs & tuition.

Thankfully I haven't caught the modern fatal disease of "Boredom", as yet.

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--: Music Systems :---
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-> Headphone Systems (Lounge & Bedroom):

2x Breeze Audio E-200 Valve (Tube) Headphone Amplifiers (Purchased 2019 & 2020)
2x Raspberry Pi's fitted with 'Nobsound 32Bit 384kHz DAC' board, using 'Moode Audio' Distribution as Streamer to DAC
2x WEILIANG AUDIO 25W 5V linear regulated power supply for Raspberry Pi'
1x Sennheiser 414 Headphones (Purchased 1978)
1x JBL E-Series 'Bluetooth' Headphones (Purchased 2017)
1x Beyerdynamics DT1990 Headphones (Purchased 2020)

-> Main Bedroom System:

1x Alchemist Kracken Class 'A' Amplifier
1x Raspberry Pi 4 using 'Moode Audio' Distribution as Streamer to Topping DAC
1x WEILIANG AUDIO 25W 5V linear regulated power supply for Raspberry Pi'
1x Topping D30 24bit 192kHz DAC
1x Pair of Triangle 'Sathis 108' Speakers

-> Main Lounge-room System

1x Raspberry Pi 4 using 'Moode Audio' Distribution as Streamer to SMSL DAC
1x WEILIANG AUDIO 80W 5V linear regulated power supply for Raspberry Pi, SMSL DAC & other devices
1x SMSL SK10 'Sanskrit 10th MKII' (AK4493 24Bit /384KHZ DSD256) DAC
1x Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6
1x Sangean WFT-1D Plus FM/DAB/Network
1x Nobsound Valve (Tube) Premplifier 'Ref Shigeru Wada Circuit' (Sounds great, and looks very smart in black & red)
2x Cambridge Audio Azur 651W Power Amplifier
1x Luxman A-522 with Turntable with Grace (Carbon Fibre) Tone Arm (Gift on Completion of Electronics Engineering Degree 1984)
1x Connoisseur BD-1 with Turntable with Grace (Swan Necke) Tone Arm
1x Micro Seiki MC-4100 Moving Coil (Garrott Brothers Ruby Cantilever) Cartridge
1x Infinity Moving Magnet (Garrott Brothers) Cartridge
1x Pickering XV-15 Moving Magnet (Garrott Brothers)
1x YAQIN MS-23B Valve (Tube) Phono Preamplifier
1x Luxman CX-1 Moving Coil (MC) & Moving Magnet (MM) Cartridge Phone Preamplifier
1x Pair of Triangle 'Antal Ex' Speakers

-> Music Server

1x ASUSTOR AS6510T Server
1x 15 Terrabyte of 'RAID 1 Mirrored' Storage using 30 Terrabytes of Harddisk Storage
25817x Individual Albums in FLAC format (and counting)

-> Concert Video Server

1x ASUSTOR
1x 8 Terrabyte of 'RAID 1 Mirrored' Storage using 16 Terrabytes of Harddisk Storage
672x Video Concerts in MP4 & MKV Formats (and counting)

-> Extras

1x Hafiler DH-200 (I built in 1982) Power Amplifier
1x Proton D540 Amplifier
1x Cambridge Audio Azure 340T Tuner

-> Music

I have around 22,000 albums including about 1000 Vinyl Records left, and the remainder are on Compact Disc. I have another 5000 Digital Download Albums.
I mistakenly, like many, sold off several 1000 Vinyl Records in the early 90s.
I still have quite a few, including some rare Vinyl Albums to Rip and store on the Music Server.


And I still plan to keep up my treatment whilst spending the kids inheritance......

[walpurgis]

Hello Ray. Welcome to AOS.

That's an interesting collection of Hi-Fi you've accumulated. I like the BD1 turntable.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[sparramc]

The old girl still works very well despite being on the wrong side of 50 years. Change the motor suspension rubber bands every 5 years, and a new belt every 10.

I am still hoping get another Luxman PD-555 Sucker Turntable. 30 years ago I used my PD-555, and Luxman L-100 for a deposit on a home.

Now the kids are basically gone, its time to track down a few of those old memories.

[anthonyTD]

Welcome Ray,
I am sure you will share a common ground with many of us here

[Lawrence001]

Some nice gear there. I think I had the HD414s years ago if they're the ones with the big yellow pads. You must have got through a few sets of those pads in your time!

I think they were the comfiest headphones I've ever worn but I did eventually move on to more modern Sennheisers. The sound gets warmer as you get to the 90s, via the HD545, HD560 etc, culminating in the HD650s which I am listening to as I type..

Then they started getting brighter again with the 700s and 800s, but the 650s are probably the sweet spot for me.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Ray,

That is some collection of gear you have there! Were the Garrot'ed cartridges fitted with the Weintz parabolic stylus, or were they modified in another way?

22,000 albums! Again, that is one hell of a music collection - well done!

Enjoy the Forum
Barry