Looking under the hood
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I like GUTS.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Source: Rotel CD14MkII CD Player - Speakers: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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"Wow, there's a lotta stuff in there!"
All of that circuitry was replaced by one or two integrated circuits within a few years. Dolby Labs introduced a complete alphabet soup of noise reduction systems with "SR" being one of the later. -
KennethSwauger wrote: »"Wow, there's a lotta stuff in there!"
All of that circuitry was replaced by one or two integrated circuits within a few years. Dolby Labs introduced a complete alphabet soup of noise reduction systems with "SR" being one of the later.
Yup.
And now (2020) no one's making Dolby B ICs, and as a consequence the few current production cassette decks use DNR or (perhaps?) generic NR schemes.
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I didn't know that, there's a few Dolby chips for sale on eBay from time to time. I've sort of collected a few: Teac AN180, Sony NR335, Advent 100A (2) Advent 100 and a British Integrex unit that was offered as a kit. I'm going to work on the 100A and see if some new parts can make it better sounding. The Integrex unit sounds quite good after a few minutes being on.
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Is the 100A the little/cheap one from Advent @KennethSwauger ? I still haven't managed to unearth the one downstairs (imagine that).
Oh, PS (and not really on topic, but what the heck!?) -- you might like this collection of brochure images (mostly covers/first pages):
https://aghaken.smugmug.com/Brochures/
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No the 100 and 100A are full sized units only slightly narrower than a standard component width. The 100 was the first unit and there was an optional microphone preamp that could be added. The 100A only differed from 100 in that it added the microphone preamp. The unit you might be referring to is the Advent 101 a smaller unit that I haven't seen around much.
Those brochure images are great, love all the Ampex ones. -
Cambridge Audio Azur 851a integrated amplifier:
Lots of stuff packed into a small box! -
some decent efforts at cooling.
It runs quite hot, even when playing at lower volumes.
Lots of power on tap at 120wpc into 8ohm and 200wpc into 4ohm. -
Aragon 8008bb
Aragon 4004mkii
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who doesn't like some good embly pics?!
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Here's my modded Belles 21A guts.
Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre Upgraded with Mundorf Supremes
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
Thats beautiful!
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Here's my modded Belles 21A guts.
You could further improve on it by replacement of the Russian Electro-Harmonix tubes. Find some nice 1950-60's tubes and let the eargasm begin. -
You could further improve on it by replacement of the Russian Electro-Harmonix tubes. Find some nice 1950-60's tubes and let the eargasm begin.
I have the Raytheon "Baldwin" 12AU7's in there now. They are fantastic! Maybe someday if I get boored and want to try tube rolling again I'll look for some.Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre Upgraded with Mundorf Supremes
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
I want to try this amplifier. SPL Performer s800. 185wpc into 8ohm. 285wpc into 4ohm. MSRP $3,200.
"The amplifier is equipped with an 855VA toroidal transformer. The power supply is equipped with a capacitance of 40800 µF for screening and electricity storage for faithful reproduction of impulse peaks."Post edited by Clipdat on -
Looks pretty beefy for fairly short $ (or ¥, as the case may be).
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Marantz PM11S3 Integrated -
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Audio by Van Alstine FET Valve 600R Hybrid Amp -
That’s a pretty well-regarded amp!
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For good reason...sound is excellent!
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Upskirt of my Cary SLP-98P. I paid through the shnoz for the Jensen caps.
KEF Xq5s / Velodyne DD12 / Apollon Purifi 1ET6525SA / SST Thoebe II / Bluesound Node 130 / Oppo BDP-105D / Technics SP-15 w/SAEC WE-308SX & Ortofon AS-309 arms / Audio-Technica ART-1 & Dynavector XX2 Mk II carts -
PMC twenty.22 stock crossover:
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How do you like the Solen caps?
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I don't know. I don't have anything to compare them to.
I'm not sure how much of a bottleneck the stock caps are, but the iron core inductors and cheap resistors aren't ideal. -
They tend towards the bright in the places I've tried them.
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Here is a Wyred 4 Sound, STI-500 integrated amplifier that I picked up recently. This is a later V1 model.
23 torx screws to take off the cover! You have to really want to see inside!
Inside are two separate B&O IcePower 500ASP modules, each rated at 250wpc into 8ohms and 550wpc into 4ohms.
The back panel has two boards for input switching and volume attenuation. They advertise a true resistive ladder for the volume control, but all I see is a chip for volume control...maybe I'm missing something but that is a bit misleading if it only uses a chip for attenuation.
Otherwise, nicely laid out. Nice quality parts on all the boards. Front panel only has the optical encoder dial, a few buttons and the display. It is connected to the back with a long ribbon cable that actually lets you move the panel completely off and to the rear without disconnecting.
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Musical fidelity kw hybrid preamp
- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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