What did you do to your stereo rig today?

DaveHo

Looks great! Dust covers for tt's can be rediculously expensive.

ALL212

This fell out of the back of someones truck recently so I had to put it in the main rig.



When I had both Odyssey Audio preamps I always favored the SS one, the Candela was good, just not as good. But the Kismet rig only comes in Candela and it is good. That setup is flexible and I've got the Rogue 99 running as pre now to the mono Odyssey Audio Kismet amps.

I like it better than the Candela.

Guts after a tour to get it upgraded to "super" at Rogue. Tube coolers are Pearls, not from Rogue.

audioluvr

ALL212 wrote: »

Nice pre!

pitdogg2

Tube shields on 6sn7?

Nice pre Aaron what tubes you got in her?

Emlyn

I decided to re-tube a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 SE+ yesterday. Used eight new inexpensive Electro Harmonix 6922 tubes for the non critical circuits. I say new but I have had them for 15 years unused since I bought a few bulk sleeves of them. Good thing tubes don’t go bad sitting in a closet. For the critical spots I used a pair of matched Brimar 6DJ8s that came from a Special Edition Anthem Pre-2L and a pair of NOS 6U8As from Philips.

The old tubes had started to generate some low level whine and clicks after several years. The replacement set is absolutely quiet and the magic is back after a 24 hour warmup. The Sonic Frontiers preamp has a naturally flat solid state like sound quality so bright tubes like Russian ones in the spots in the signal path don’t work so great if the user is after tube warmth.

Jetmaker737

After a few years of jonesing and consideration (especially of the cost) I pulled the trigger on a Mapleshade rack. My former rack looked good but had glass shelves (yuck) and didn't fit very well in my constricted beach bungalow situation.



Former rack shown below. Was located to the right of the right speaker by a door. Goodbye old rack. 9 years of faithful service. Off to a new home.

BlueFox

Nice rack. Love my 400 pound Mapleshade rack.

TEAforONE

Jetmaker737 wrote: »

After a few years of jonesing and consideration (especially of the cost) I pulled the trigger on a Mapleshade rack. My former rack looked good but had glass shelves (yuck) and didn't fit very well in my constricted beach bungalow situation.



Former rack shown below. Was located to the right of the right speaker by a door. Goodbye old rack. 9 years of faithful service. Off to a new home.

Please don’t take this the wrong way,but,nice rack!

gp4jesus

Thursday I positioned Trey’s laser cut diffraction pads on my RTi A7s and CSi A6 - perfect fit.

Took a few PMs before Trey sent paper templates to verify the fit - 1000 thanks to Trey for his zeal and patience! I hafta apply a little Velcro so they’ll stay with grills removed.

Pics to follow. Tony

tratliff

Added a Pioneer TX-9800 tuner. Been wanting one for sometime. Had a opportunity to pick a clean one up yesterday. Now working on my antenna.

pitdogg2

Respectable tuner I might add 👍

tratliff

Might need some help from you guys on antennas.

pitdogg2

Copied from fmtunerinfo.com


Pioneer TX-9800 (1979, $450, photo, block diagram, schematic, alignment guide 1 2 3, ad, Audio review) search eBay
The TX-9800 has 5 gangs and 5 filters, one for the wide IF bandwidth mode and 4 for narrow, and is solidly built. The TX-9800 has exactly the same RF front end as the TX-9100 and TX-9500/TX-9500II, with differences only in the IF and audio circuit areas. From a technical standpoint, however, the TX-9800's complex crystal referenced oscillator sets it apart from those other Pioneers. According to our panelist David "A," although it has excellent bass, "the TX-9800 shows that it was cost-reduced compared to the TX-9500II. The shields for each section that are present on all TX-9100s, all TX-9500s and most TX-9500IIs (ones that I have seen, anyway) are gone in the TX-9800, and the TX-9800's parts quality is worse overall." Chuck Rippel of Audio Video Service Labs describes the TX-9800's circuit that operates the two indicators 'TUNE' and 'LOCKED': "What that circuit is looking for is a null in the discriminator offset. In all tuners, that null should also be coincident with the point of lowest distortion (established, in part, by the adjustment of the discriminator secondary). In this tuner, that circuit works correctly and it's clearly audible. Slowly tune through the station, the red 'TUNE' indicator will illuminate and the 'LOCKED' indicator will illuminate when you release the tuning control. The tuner is then at the point of least distortion. The AFC will maintain lock at that point."

Our panelist Ray, who has owned many tuners, says "When it comes to low end of the band sensitivity, the TX-9800 is my best." Ray did a DXing shootout among his TX-9800, a Kenwood KT-8300 and an Optonica ST-7405: "The TX-9800 won the pure sensitivity challenge, but not by as much as with most [over the KT-8300]. When I tested them for adjacent-channel performance, the TX-9800 and KT-8300 could both ignore the adjacent, but the ST-7405 had lots of interfering hash." And in Ray's shootout between the TX-9800 and the Sony XDR-F1HD, "the Sony would easily find a DX candidate and then, with much tweaking, the TX-9800 would get it also but not as quietly. That is, to a point. If the signal was really weak, i.e., less than 18 dBf, the Sony would be totally deaf and the TX-9800 would know it was there. It seems the Sony has great quieting but more limited ultimate sensitivity."

The TX-9800 has a 3-gang AM section with wide and narrow bandwidth settings, so it may be a good choice for those who listen to AM radio. Pioneer's published specs for AM show selectivity of 50 dB in Narrow mode vs. 20 dB in Wide mode. Our contributor Greg says, "The TX-9800 and TX-9500II have WAY better than average AM sections, both with a TRF section (not common in modern tuners) and good IF sections. The 9800 also has selectable AM IF bandwidth (can't remember if the 9500II has this) which is a great help in DXing on the AM band." Those who want to work on their TX-9800s should read the discussion in our FMtuners group that begins here.

On eBay, the TX-9800 can sell for almost any price depending on condition, fluctuations in demand and whether it has a wooden cabinet, but prices have been trending higher since 2005 and two garden-variety ones sold for $500 and $530 in 10/07 for no apparent reason. On the low side, two sold for $77 and $84 in 7-8/05. Mint TX-9800s can sell for $300-380, the same price range for those with the rare rack-mount tray. See how one stock TX-9800 sounded compared to other top tuners on our Shootouts page, and read David "A"'s Ricochet. Additional information on the TX-9800 is available at classic-audio.com.

Per fmtunerinfo.com.

tratliff

Thanks for the info @pitdogg2

Jetmaker737

tratliff wrote: »

Added a Pioneer TX-9800 tuner. Been wanting one for sometime. Had a opportunity to pick a clean one up yesterday. Now working on my antenna.

Beautiful tuner, man! Congrats.

mhardy6647

tratliff wrote: »

Added a Pioneer TX-9800 tuner. Been wanting one for sometime. Had a opportunity to pick a clean one up yesterday. Now working on my antenna.

so... howzit sound?

GEBBY44

Embarrassed to say this but I've never heard one of these vintage dedicated flagship tuners. What about these old tuners makes them so sought-after? The beauty is undeniable but sound-wise what makes a good tuner vs a great tuner? Because seeing that beauty makes me want to start listening to fm again.

tratliff

I really have not been able to give it a good listen. From what I have heard it was good. But I’m working on securing a good antenna because at my location I just can’t get a good signal with the mediocre combo powered indoor ones. I should receive a dedicated outdoor antenna tomorrow.

pitdogg2

Dedicated outdoor antenna on a tower is the only way to go.
The older turners had more gangs in the air capacitor better filters you could change out (if needed) to grab and lock in stations and reject garbage in the air.
Go to fmtunerinfo.com and read some of the stuff there for better knowledge.
I've not had that particular tuner but do have a Sansui tx719. I've been lucky enough to own the Carver 11b, and several old Yamaha tuners.
Sadly in my parts FM is a joke anymore.

tratliff

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Dedicated outdoor antenna on a tower is the only way to go.
The older turners had more gangs in the air capacitor better filters you could change out (if needed) to grab and lock in stations and reject garbage in the air.
Go to fmtunerinfo.com and read some of the stuff there for better knowledge.
I've not had that particular tuner but do have a Sansui tx719. I've been lucky enough to own the Carver 11b, and several old Yamaha tuners.
Sadly in my parts FM is a joke anymore.

Yeah outdoor antenna is what I am planning but hope that the signal is good in the attic. The HOA will frown on a pole mounted one. I might could get by with it close to the roof. But I am going to see how it works before making a decision. I'm not really out to far.

nooshinjohn

ALL212 wrote: »

This fell out of the back of someones truck recently so I had to put it in the main rig.

And it fires off those lethal blue lasers.... love it!

Jetmaker737

tratliff wrote: »

Yeah outdoor antenna is what I am planning but hope that the signal is good in the attic. The HOA will frown on a pole mounted one. I might could get by with it close to the roof. But I am going to see how it works before making a decision. I'm not really out to far.

I have an electrician coming over tomorrow to run some coax up to my attic and put an outlet next to my stereo. I've got a Magnum Dynalab ST-2 to put up there. My tuner is a Sansui TU-9900. I bought it on this forum. I had it modded by Joseph Chow and he put a special filter in it to screen out the side band signals that radio stations use to put the song title and whatnot. It can interfere with adjacent channels. Anyway, tuner sounds awesome and there's some worthwhile radio stations in my area.

mhardy6647

GEBBY44 wrote: »

Embarrassed to say this but I've never heard one of these vintage dedicated flagship tuners. What about these old tuners makes them so sought-after? The beauty is undeniable but sound-wise what makes a good tuner vs a great tuner? Because seeing that beauty makes me want to start listening to fm again.

IF (!!!) one can find a station broadcasting good quality audio, the sound quality can be superb through a good tuner. Such stations are few and far between, but they're not gone-- some of the college, NPR, and other not-for-profit stations below 92 MHz, and even a very few commecial stations, still care about the quality of their signal.

FM tuners got caught up, IMO, in a 'paper chase' for ever-better sensitivity and selectivity specifications starting in the late 1960s -- and (again IMO) a lot of the "fmtunerinfo" darlings don't sound very good at all, even though they are excellent as radio receivers.

The best sounding tuner at my house is a (vacuum tube) McIntosh MR-67. Mac stuff in general doesn't do much for me, but they knew how to build a good performing & good sounding tuner. Maybe they still do; I don't know.

DSC_0705 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

The Mac is sitting on top of a Kenwood KT-9900 in the photo above. The Kenwood is a more "modern" tuner that also sounds pretty good, if a bit "drier" than the Mac.
EDIT: I should mention that Kenwood had two different tuners carrying the KT-9900 designation. The other one was somewhat snazzier than this one. This one is, in essence, a KT-8300 with a bronze instead of "clear" aluminum faceplate. The KT-8300 was a pretty good tuner, though.

The second best sounding tuner at my house was... much less expensive & much less physically impressive than the MR-67... but it sounds dandy. This is a Sherwood S-3000V (vacuum tube).

Sherwood S3000 V 2 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

I paid twenty times as much for the Mac as for the Sherwood. The Mac has, of course, loads more cachet, and it does have better bass than the Sherwood. Otherwise, they're pretty close sonically.

I realized a couple of weeks ago that I have a "thing" for FM (and AM, for that matter) tuners. There are... a few... of them here and there at our house.

mhardy6647

I do have a Pioneer TX-9500II here, one model year before the TX-9800 mentioned earlier. Nice tuner -- I've yet to actually listen to it, though.

DSC_6307 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

tratliff

Jetmaker737 wrote: »

tratliff wrote: »

Yeah outdoor antenna is what I am planning but hope that the signal is good in the attic. The HOA will frown on a pole mounted one. I might could get by with it close to the roof. But I am going to see how it works before making a decision. I'm not really out to far.

I have an electrician coming over tomorrow to run some coax up to my attic and put an outlet next to my stereo. I've got a Magnum Dynalab ST-2 to put up there. My tuner is a Sansui TU-9900. I bought it on this forum. I had it modded by Joseph Chow and he put a special filter in it to screen out the side band signals that radio stations use to put the song title and whatnot. It can interfere with adjacent channels. Anyway, tuner sounds awesome and there's some worthwhile radio stations in my area.

Please let me know how it works. I got one of the cheap Omni directional ones off Amazon today. It was cheap, only $20, but did a pretty good job. I wouldn’t mind trying one of the ST-2’s if it works well.

Jetmaker737

tratliff wrote: »

Please let me know how it works. I got one of the cheap Omni directional ones off Amazon today. It was cheap, only $20, but did a pretty good job. I wouldn’t mind trying one of the ST-2’s if it works well.

Hi @tratliff ,
I'm not super thrilled with the ST-2. I'd had it mounted to my stereo rack before. Could pull in most but not all good stations, but signals generally not very strong. When I got a new rack I decided it was time to finally get that thing up to higher ground. So today it's mounted up in the attic, about 15 feet higher than it was. Reception has not changed to a noticeable degree. So that's disappointing. But now that I have the coax up there I guess I can start doing some research and try something different. Who knows, maybe it's not the antenna at all. But guess I will find out.

pitdogg2

I used this one on a 35' aerial tower. I can state for both TV and FM it was WONDERFUL. I pulled in stations from hundreds of miles away some days. I could easily get all OTA TV stations up to 75 miles away daily. Of course I had the proper preamp and amplifier made by Channel Master and the COAX was quad shielded and 100% copper conductor.

https://www.channelmaster.com/collections/outdoor-tv-antennas/products/ultra-hi-crossfire-100-tv-antenna-cm-3671

tratliff

Jetmaker737 wrote: »

tratliff wrote: »

Please let me know how it works. I got one of the cheap Omni directional ones off Amazon today. It was cheap, only $20, but did a pretty good job. I wouldn’t mind trying one of the ST-2’s if it works well.

Hi @tratliff ,
I'm not super thrilled with the ST-2. I'd had it mounted to my stereo rack before. Could pull in most but not all good stations, but signals generally not very strong. When I got a new rack I decided it was time to finally get that thing up to higher ground. So today it's mounted up in the attic, about 15 feet higher than it was. Reception has not changed to a noticeable degree. So that's disappointing. But now that I have the coax up there I guess I can start doing some research and try something different. Who knows, maybe it's not the antenna at all. But guess I will find out.

Sorry to hear that.

I mounted the one I got from Amazon in the attic. I got improvement but not sure if a more directional antenna would do better. My tuner has a signal strength meter and I am getting around 60 out of 100 right now.

I am debating ordering a 4 element yagi from Amazon. I can get it for about $50. I’m just unsure if it will do any better and if it does will it be noticeable when I listen.

tratliff

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I used this one on a 35' aerial tower. I can state for both TV and FM it was WONDERFUL. I pulled in stations from hundreds of miles away some days. I could easily get all OTA TV stations up to 75 miles away daily. Of course I had the proper preamp and amplifier made by Channel Master and the COAX was quad shielded and 100% copper conductor.

https://www.channelmaster.com/collections/outdoor-tv-antennas/products/ultra-hi-crossfire-100-tv-antenna-cm-3671

That would be awesome but my HOA would go crazy.

audioluvr

I have one of these. They are awesome! And like @pitdogg2 says, use quad shielded all copper coax.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RCA-Attic-Outdoor-Compact-Design-HDTV-Antenna-ANT705E/303087505