What did you do to your stereo rig today?

gmcman

Currently debating a preamp upgrade, either stay with the RLD-1 or try a few others and compare as this stock unit is 21 years old and still performs admirably. This is the only component in the current chain that hasn't been messed with and is also the oldest.

So I removed the lid and looked around to get myself into trouble. I figured I would try a small DIY project and replace one of the main outputs solid wire leads as well as the CD input.

Perhaps when it was new, the solid leads were what was best for the performance of this preamp. By solid leads, I'm referring to these.



Best part of this hobby is to experiment so I had some 15.5 ga Cardas Litz laying around and while not the ideal gauge for this application, I had to give it a try.

The stock leads are about 22-24ga so the 15.5 won't stay but will for this week.

I have some Jupiter solid silver 23 ga, Mundorf silver /gold 23ga, and also more Cardas 23.5 ga on order to try as well.

The 15.5 won't go through the hole in the board but I have a good bond for now, sorry, no pics.

I let everything warm back up and was PLEASANTLY surprised at the increased detail. Initial observations are the vocals seem to further seperate from the instruments with a darker background in between.

This needs more time before I can make a ruling, as well as the current time of day which won't allow me to crank it up.

Will keep you posted.

Gardenstater

These diamond points for a dremel type tool work great for me for drilling holes in PCB. Just pick the right one for the wire you are using by measuring with a caliper or micrometer. I would think that the 15.5 litz should be best and there is no worry of skin effect.

https://www.harborfreight.com/diamond-point-rotary-bit-set-20-pc-69653.html

GlennDog

Gardenstater wrote: »

These diamond points for a dremel type tool work great for me for drilling holes in PCB. Just pick the right one for the wire you are using by measuring with a caliper or micrometer. I would think that the 15.5 litz should be best and there is no worry of skin effect.

https://www.harborfreight.com/diamond-point-rotary-bit-set-20-pc-69653.html

I really hate to say it, but that’s my next Made in Wuhan purchase

mantis

Today my stereo rig play the L200 Polk's Legends. I have been running them for 2 days now and I'm digging them to a point.
My 2 channel rig right now is a Rotel RX1052 in silver, a Sony DVPNS-9000ES SACD player, Pananmax 5100 Surge, Rocket 33 speaker wire single ended, Makenzie RCA Stereo cables for the SACD to the Rotel which are audioquest for those who don't know those model numbers.

gmcman

Gardenstater wrote: »

These diamond points for a dremel type tool work great for me for drilling holes in PCB. Just pick the right one for the wire you are using by measuring with a caliper or micrometer. I would think that the 15.5 litz should be best and there is no worry of skin effect.

https://www.harborfreight.com/diamond-point-rotary-bit-set-20-pc-69653.html

Thanks for the link! This is surely an option, as I don't need to enlarge the hole too much more.

Will have to try the others first though.

motorstereo

GlennDog wrote: »

Gardenstater wrote: »

These diamond points for a dremel type tool work great for me for drilling holes in PCB. Just pick the right one for the wire you are using by measuring with a caliper or micrometer. I would think that the 15.5 litz should be best and there is no worry of skin effect.

https://www.harborfreight.com/diamond-point-rotary-bit-set-20-pc-69653.html

I really hate to say it, but that’s my next Made in Wuhan purchase

Then don't do it. Make it a priority to buy American. Wuhan has given you plenty of time to do the research.
FWIW I used a very small drill on a dremel when I had to enlarge a hole on a circuit board.

Gardenstater

There needs to be some sort of law passed by Congress to make it easier to distinguish and search for Made in USA vs Made in China products. Maybe even point of origin prefixes for the SKUs or something, I don't know.

marvda1

Gardenstater wrote: »

There needs to be some sort of law passed by Congress to make it easier to distinguish and search for Made in USA vs Made in China products. Maybe even point of origin prefixes for the SKUs or something, I don't know.

why don't we just stop doing business with any U.S business that deals with China
see how far that will get you.

Gardenstater

That's a thought too of course. My point is that in order for those so inclined to try to buy american to do so easily (because people are lazy), there needs to be some facilitation involved, so that people don't have to spend hours doing research. In your case, there would have to be a law passed that it was up front in some way, how much of a companies business was associated with China. I guess you are saying that you wouldn't even buy a made in america product from harbor Freight, even if you could possibly find one?

marvda1

what I was saying was tongue and cheek, where do you draw the line? this is a worldwide economy, you say buy American, great but what if that American company uses electronics made in china or the Korean company that the American company buys from uses Chinese parts in their products. see how it would be impossible to find 100% "American".

here's one for you, let's say you were looking to buy a pair of speakers from Salk and they have a speaker, model a and model b, both the same exact speaker.
model a is made in the u.s. and model b is made in china, the only other difference is model a is $2500 more, which would you buy?

Sorry for derailing the thread, my last thoughts on the subject.

Gardenstater

Very true. This topic definitely deserves its own thread (which will get taken down by Alma in short order). I did recently buy a MADE IN AMERICA gas can for $20 instead of the other one for $10

Gardenstater

gmcman wrote: »

Gardenstater wrote: »

These diamond points for a dremel type tool work great for me for drilling holes in PCB. Just pick the right one for the wire you are using by measuring with a caliper or micrometer. I would think that the 15.5 litz should be best and there is no worry of skin effect.

https://www.harborfreight.com/diamond-point-rotary-bit-set-20-pc-69653.html

Thanks for the link! This is surely an option, as I don't need to enlarge the hole too much more.

Will have to try the others first though.

Yes since it is all about the joy of experimentation you might as well! These diamond points were just something that I already had on hand for enlarging some cracks in my exterior stucco, prior to injecting two part epoxy, so since fiberglass is very abrasive and should really be drilled or ground with carbide or diamond tools or the like rather than high speed steel I figured I might as well use them. The pointed ones worked very well for drilling brand new holes and especially for rectangular shaped holes for cable ties to secure the capacitors in my crossover mods for my 7B's.

pitdogg2

My Leaf blower is made in Arkansas by way of Sweden

Gardenstater

Nice! Make and model? Any sound improvement? What do you use.....bananas or spades or bare wire?

motorstereo

I installed a 2'' base for my tt which replaced the 3/4" plywood base it had been sitting on forever. I wasn't expecting a change but there is no doubt an improvement with the much more solid base

treitz3

You don't know what you dont know until you discover what you didn't know is possible. Enjoy.

Tom

Clipdat

Very nice @butterbean, rock on! Good for you for being open minded and willing to experiment. A lot of people never venture beyond that regular 12-14ga wire unfortunately.

Clipdat

I don't have a ton of experience with speaker cable, but this was a pretty interesting experience for me: https://theaudiobeatnik.com/review-acoustic-zen-sartori-speakers-bring-music-to-life/

I went from a $120 pair to a $~900 pair.

Thorton

Added a subwoofer to the pontoon boat. Definitely helps out the low end and driving capabilities of the 6-1/2 inch speakers. Actually sounds pretty good right out of the box. Can’t wait to hear the difference when I have it in the water in about 1-1/2 weeks.

audioluvr

butterbean wrote: »

I can only imagine what high end wire does!

What I like about good cables is you don't have to have the volume very high to hear micro-details.

gmcman

I removed the recent trial of Cardas litz 15.5 ga wire from the CD input and one of the outputs of my RLD-1 preamp, and swapped in some Mundorf silver/gold 24ga solid wire.

I let it play overnight and it may need more time, but I did expect this wire to possibly be brighter. While I can easily tell it's "brighter", just not in a fatiguing way. The overall clarity from maybe 1kHz on up, is noticeably improved and the extensions and sparkle are evident but not overwhelming to the point it sounds like a treble knob was turned.

The only drawback as of now is the slight absence of lower midrange weight and soul. I really do like it, the cymbals, snare, both have that slight airy extension. Also the electric guitar sounds much more accurate. The overall upper frequencies are very clean, detailed, and smooth. Maybe it needs more time, but I feel the smaller gauge of the wire are likely attributing to the lower frequencies being affected, not sure though, but had to try it.

Parts Connexion has the 18ga and I may need to try that as well.

I have a few more wires to use and next up is 21ga Cardas Litz. The 15.5 is too large at the moment to use without modifying the PCB slightly.

Dr_Wu

I've been enjoying new for me WW Silver Eclipse speaker cables. This past week, thanks to our old friend Skip, I was able to add High Fidelity's Reveal interconnect. Another big step toward the ideal sound I've been chasing.

The CRS+4.1TLs continue to amaze. I was starting to doubt that they were capable of the clarity I want. No more. Now, I'm thinking that a touch of silver in their internal wiring might pay big dividends.

machone

Rolled to Tung-Sol tubes in my Modwright preamp. The Raytheons had a lot of hours on them as I use my system for music, tv and games. Holy cow what an improvement!

GlennDog

Dr_Wu wrote: »

I've been enjoying new for me WW Silver Eclipse speaker cables. This past week, thanks to our old friend Skip, I was able to add High Fidelity's Reveal interconnect. Another big step toward the ideal sound I've been chasing.

Nice!
I’m curious about the Reveal cables. Did you roll them and the Silver Eclipse in at the same time?

If you rolled them in a staggered fashion, can you tell us what you heard from each.

TY Dr

Dr_Wu

@GlennDog

I had a few weeks with the SE cables before adding the Reveals. I had been using Zavfino Nova (OCC) before the SE. What I noticed immediately was more, and more accurate bass, and improved clarity. The Nova cables aren't bad, mind you, just not as bright (in a good way) and transparent as the SE.

The Reveal ICs replaced Zavfino Arcadia Mkii (also OCC). Again, similar steps forward in SQ. Nothing earth-shattering, but discernibly clearer, better sound. The Reveals are supposed to be burned in already, but I sense they are still getting smoother.

Overall, both were upgrades, and I wouldn't be as happy as I am without both. Hope that makes sense.

jumpindick

Finally put together the entertainment center I have been building for months. It took way longer than I wanted it to be. Work and family and the Florida heat in summer kept me away. But finally done.



The shelves are hard maple and legs are black walnut. It is not perfect, but I am happy with the way it turned out. A lot of sanding and three coats of Arm-R-Seal oil based satin polish made it smooth with some really nice looking grain pop ups.

Clipdat

Wow, gorgeous. And I bet it feels even better that you did it yourself. Nice job.

indyhawg

Very nice work.

gmcman

Very nice work @jumpindick, I want to speculate that maybe one more support could help if used in the rear at the mid point.

I'm limited in my knowledge of what types of wood can span distances under load without sagging, so maybe others can chime in, so just a friendly suggestion.

audioluvr

Dr_Wu wrote: »

I've been enjoying new for me WW Silver Eclipse speaker cables. This past week, thanks to our old friend Skip, I was able to add High Fidelity's Reveal interconnect. Another big step toward the ideal sound I've been chasing.

Lucky bastage! I've been eyeing upgrading my Mini-Eclipse's with the Silvers for a while now. Just hard to dump a couple grand on anything right now with the way the world is... Maybe I'll contact D to see what he has. Been meaning to ask him what his impressions were when he upgraded his demo cables from the Mini's to the Silvers. Love Wireworld stuff!