This thread has almost died off after someone changed the title.
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
Two weeks ago from my favorite vintage audio emporium; Kenwood TK-88. Finally got around to testing (and cleaning the controls); works well (and, yeah, those 40-plus year old electrolytics should all be changed...). Good tuner performance, as one would expect from the Kenwood folks; Kenwood/Trio was and (AFAIK) is first and foremost a radio company.
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
I'll give you a hint. It would be extremely ironic to find one of these guys at your favorite equipment fishing hole.
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
I finally reacted to the ironic comment in Post 933
I was thinking real iron, you know, as in Fe and transformers and chokes; but you meant genuine O. Henry-style irony...
Thanks! I'm more the tortoise than the hare when it comes to building something, I clean and check each component before it gets installed. I hope this will be a good sounding amp, I've blended three different modification philosophies along with a touch or two of mine. Very interesting design, opamp input stage, class A driver and class C current dump, eliminating all the current protection and lowering crossover notch distortion.
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
Hey those parts look familiar...hmmm. Ken is rebuilding and hotrodding my vintage Quad amp Mark and doing quite a fine job I must say.
CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
Mark I and Mark II,
I lucked into a swell find on CL, an HP3400A true RMS meter, HP334A distortion meter and B&K4017 sweep generator. Now once I get familiar with using these I can see how this amp measures. I left one of the channels stock until I was sure the modified one worked. That one only showed a small, level of ringing powering 8 ohms in parallel with 1uF cap. I then removed the last of the current limiting protective circuitry and started on the second channel. I finished it this morning and need to connect both channels to the power supply with the two 22,000uF caps.
Audiophile disclaimer: I, the undersigned, fully realize that how an audio component measures bears little on how the component sounds. Meters don't have ears, rabbits don't smoke in Indianapolis and numbers should be crunched not heard.
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
Yeah, but if one can measure it, one might as well.
I actually happen to have an HP RMS voltmeter; dunno the model number, but you can guess from whence it came :-)
Here's a couple from inside the 1964 Fisher Philharmonic console I picked up. Having trouble removing the 6AQ8 tube from position V1 (has the open metal shield around it)- any suggestions? The metal cover around V6 came off without too much trouble and was able to access tube underneath, but this one is spot welded? to the chassis (the round shield) and I'm afraid to break the tube by rocking very hard on the pointed tip. TIA
Travis
Fingertips and gentle wiggling (vis-a-vis removing the 6AQ8).
The pins may bend; if you don't have a pin straightner - well - tell your loved ones that they make great stocking stuffers!
EDIT: Looks like the shield is riveted in place; it is essential for the tube to be shielded; it's the heart of the RF "front end" of the tuner - probably the RF amplifier, and oscillator and mixer, all in one.
holy schnizzle, this thread is over six and a half years old!
This is my daily driver; a stereo SE 2A3 power amp based on the JE Labs/Angela "Simple 2A3" amp, ever so slightly modified to allow more flexibility in choice of driver (voltage amplifier) tubes. Right now it is using 6SN7s (although the first photo below shows 6EM7s). The outputs are rather show-off-y looking Sophia mesh plate "2A3" - actually more like 300B with 2.5V filaments as I understand it. They sound pretty good, and they look cool in an outrageous, "more is more" kind of way :-)
The amp was not built by me but rather by an AKer of some repute. It is a fine sounding amplifier.
There really is some slight differential in the brightness of the filaments of the two tubes. I don't know why is that :-P The effect is enhanced by the long exposure.
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
Thank you sir. Truth be told... I should've built my own... I am fearless when it comes to the wiring, nuts and bolts, but it's just not pretty when I do wood or metal work :-( This one became available for a good price, with decent James output iron and very good quality passives and other hardware - I couldn't resist. I could never build one as nice looking left to my own devices...
We should start a thread where the topic is, "today is 'fire up your reel-to-reel/cassette' day!" Or, "today is listen to some George Harrison day!"
"They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!" S.R.V.
or just 'let's look at the innards of some old tape decks' day :-)
Here's one - harman kardon cd391 (not the three-head cd491, unfortunately). From my favorite emporium; given away a while back. Took some candid photos before shipping it out...
Comments
-- it looks better than a Technics SA-80 inside... :-P
Back panel shots boys!
Sony SS-M9; LSA Statement Amplifier; VPI HW-19 Mk3/Sumiko Premier FT-4/Audio Technica AT15SA; Pass Labs DIY Pearl Phono; Sony SCD-C333ES SACD Changer; TEAC UD-301 DAC; Dell/WYSE 5010 (running Daphile); Sony ST-SA5ES Tuner; Nanotec Golden Strada speaker cables (SR+#79 Shotgun); Audioquest Coral interconnects
"I want a doctor to take your picture,
so I can look at you from inside as well..."
:-P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmJ-VWPDM4
Today's victims:
hk495i
hk680i
The latter is pretty beefy.
PC Rig
I was thinking real iron, you know, as in Fe and transformers and chokes; but you meant genuine O. Henry-style irony...
:-)
EDIT: Those are beautiful boards.
I lucked into a swell find on CL, an HP3400A true RMS meter, HP334A distortion meter and B&K4017 sweep generator. Now once I get familiar with using these I can see how this amp measures. I left one of the channels stock until I was sure the modified one worked. That one only showed a small, level of ringing powering 8 ohms in parallel with 1uF cap. I then removed the last of the current limiting protective circuitry and started on the second channel. I finished it this morning and need to connect both channels to the power supply with the two 22,000uF caps.
Audiophile disclaimer: I, the undersigned, fully realize that how an audio component measures bears little on how the component sounds. Meters don't have ears, rabbits don't smoke in Indianapolis and numbers should be crunched not heard.
I actually happen to have an HP RMS voltmeter; dunno the model number, but you can guess from whence it came :-)
Travis
The pins may bend; if you don't have a pin straightner - well - tell your loved ones that they make great stocking stuffers!
EDIT: Looks like the shield is riveted in place; it is essential for the tube to be shielded; it's the heart of the RF "front end" of the tuner - probably the RF amplifier, and oscillator and mixer, all in one.
This is my daily driver; a stereo SE 2A3 power amp based on the JE Labs/Angela "Simple 2A3" amp, ever so slightly modified to allow more flexibility in choice of driver (voltage amplifier) tubes. Right now it is using 6SN7s (although the first photo below shows 6EM7s). The outputs are rather show-off-y looking Sophia mesh plate "2A3" - actually more like 300B with 2.5V filaments as I understand it. They sound pretty good, and they look cool in an outrageous, "more is more" kind of way :-)
The amp was not built by me but rather by an AKer of some repute. It is a fine sounding amplifier.
There really is some slight differential in the brightness of the filaments of the two tubes. I don't know why is that :-P The effect is enhanced by the long exposure.
I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
They're just enough work to spool up and run that I am usually too lazy to do it.
Picked up another old tube console today. Not even sure what brand it is, but does have a clean Garrard turntable slide out job in it.
Here's one - harman kardon cd391 (not the three-head cd491, unfortunately). From my favorite emporium; given away a while back. Took some candid photos before shipping it out...