What did you do to your stereo rig today?
Options
Comments
-
Basement system temporarily complete until Marantz 2245 is returned to owner. Connected to pair of Mission MS-50 speakers.
The speakers were paired with a Denon UD-M50 receiver/cd player.



Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 * -
Got this Pioneer CT-F950 from my dad's collection up and running...replaced all four belts and did a little cleaning.

Plays and sounds great. I'll also test the recording functionality.
There is a CT-F1250 and 850 waiting in the wings for the same treatment."This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
This content has been removed.
-
Ever since the Snake River demo, I have been wanting to try more power cables in my system. Today I found a vintage used power cable that raised my eyebrows at a decent price, so I added it to my watch list. The seller was motivated to move it and offered a discount, so I purchased it. I remember KCI making some good interconnects (silkworm), so I imagine this power cable will be equally well made. Now I can't wait for it to arrive. Has anyone here used a KCI power cable? @marvda1Enjoying the journey while never attaining the destination.
-
NiceFound a Salamander cabinet on Craigslist for all of $20 to put in my office.
$1200 new is a ridiculous price.
But so is $20!

FWIW, I sold my TA-500 last spring at the big NEVEE regional swapmeet. Don't see too many of those in the wild!
So, you know, I rarely post to this thread because I rarely ever do anything to my hifi -- other than the occasional rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic kind of thing. But in the past couple of weeks, I've done two things!?!
I traded my beautiful but never used Allison Ones to a nice fellow from upstate New York for a new-to-me, kitbuilt ss balanced preamp from the Hypex folks, sold under their "DIY/Class D" brand. No, it is not Class D, but that's the name of the company.
It is actually amazingly good sounding.
This past weekend, I met up with hifi buddies Joseph Esmilla (https://jelabs.blogspot.com/) and "Redboy" (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152614846@N06). As it happens, Joseph designed, and Redboy built the SE 2A3 amp that I use most of the time, so there's that.
As it further happens, the SE 2A3 amp had a lingering bit of "deferred maintenance" that really needed to get done... someday. Way back in 2017, during a rather frisky listening session, a loud pop followed by silence of one channel (as well as a wee puff of smoke and an acrid aroma) indicated that a capacitor had undergone rapid unscheduled disassembly.
Quick postmortem analysis revealed it was one of the two cathode bypass capacitors, 100 uF @ 250 V electrolytics
The root cause was probably the toll taken by heat on the 85 degree rated cap in very close proximity to the cathode resistor (see photo below).
Since I the other bypass cap was probably living on borrowed time, I replaced both with cheap-Jack NTE 105 degree electrolytics, fully intending - someday - to replace the cheap electolytics with some... not electrolytics.
A regional enabler even enabled the swap by passing along a nice pair of EC 100 uF at 600V non-electrolytics. Of course, they're rather larger than 250 V electrolytics.

Well, Redboy had some time to kill Sunday afternoon, so I cajoled him into helping with doing the transplant. I served as scrub nurse and scrambled around in danker parts of the basement looking for helpful bits and pieces. "We" figured out a fairly good place to put the new bypass caps, he did all the work, and we enjoyed the fruits of our his labors listening to the big-boy Altecs with the newly upgraded SE "Simple 2A3" amp and the aforementioned new-to-me preamp.

(for now just using some simple balanced to unbalanced interconnects)
Here we see the three amigos in a selfie (kickin' it 2010 style) taken on Saturday.
-
@newbie308 , I reviewed the interconnects but never the power cables.Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
Puritan PSM156 -
mhardy6647 wrote: »
NiceFound a Salamander cabinet on Craigslist for all of $20 to put in my office.
$1200 new is a ridiculous price.
But so is $20!

FWIW, I sold my TA-500 last spring at the big NEVEE regional swapmeet. Don't see too many of those in the wild!
So, you know, I rarely post to this thread because I rarely ever do anything to my hifi -- other than the occasional rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic kind of thing. But in the past couple of weeks, I've done two things!?!
I traded my beautiful but never used Allison Ones to a nice fellow from upstate New York for a new-to-me, kitbuilt ss balanced preamp from the Hypex folks, sold under their "DIY/Class D" brand. No, it is not Class D, but that's the name of the company.
It is actually amazingly good sounding.
@mhardy6647 What are your thoughts on how your Sangean HD tuner sounds?. Only curious because I'm currently using one of the exact same model. It replaced my Sansui TU-317.
2ch rig: Speakers: LSi9s with VR3's Fortress mods Preamplifier: Parasound P5 DAC: Fiio K13 Amplifier: Parasound A23 CDP: Pioneer DV-563A Cables: Wireworld Equinox 7 XLR ICs, Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB, AudioQuest Q2s, AudioQuest NRG X(preamp)
Standby: Magnepan LRS w/Magna Riser stands -
Ripped it all out and put something new.
New
Old
- Living Room Music-2.1 Polk Legend L800 | SVS SB1000Pro | McIntosh C70 | McIntosh MA5200 (Treble) | McIntosh MC452 (Bass) | Sublimeacoustic K231 Active xover | Denon DP-2500A | Denafrips Ares II | Marantz HD-CD1 | Belkin Soundform Connect | iPad Pro USB to DAC
- Home Theater-9.7.6/15.1 (Atmos/Auro-3D) Polk LSiM707, LSiM706c, LSiM702 F/X [x6], Height LSiM703 [x6], HSU ULS-15Mk2x4, VTF-15HMk2x2, VTF-TN1 | Trinnov Altitude 16+4 (2024) | Rotel RB-1590 (L/R) | Appollon NC500 11ch | Martin Logan MP500x2 | Topping DX7s, E50 | AppleTV 4K | Zidoo Z9X | JVC RS2100 | 150” Elite Screen Acoustic Pro UHD
- Game Room-5.1 Polk LSi25, LSiC, LSiF/X | Marantz SR7009 | AppleTV 4K | Sony UBP-X800 | Xbox One S | Sony PS2, PS3 | Nintendo Wii | Gaming PC | Sony 75" LCD
- Master Bedroom Music-2.0 Totem Hawk | Marantz PM-10 | Marantz SA-10 | SONY PS-HX500
- Office-2.1 B&W Formation Duo and Bass
- Daughter's Gaming Rig-2.0 Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX | Martin Logan Forte
- Orphans DSW microPRO3000x2 | Rotel RA-1570 | Marantz AV8805A
- Guest Room 2-2.0 Klipsch RP-600M | SMSL DO100 Pro 2 | Pass ACA v1.6 Monoblocks
- Guest Room 3-3.0 Martin Logan Motion 40, 50XT | Onkyo TX-SR705 | Apple TV | Samsung 55" TV
- Guest Room 4-2.0 QAcoustics 3030i | Sansui AU-6900 | Sansui FR-1080 | Fire TV
- Maintenance: Pro-Ject VC-S Record Cleaning Machine
-
Is it a new camera?- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
-
This content has been removed.
-
@pitdogg2 22” Apple Cinema Display (ADC), I think around 2004, and PowerPC Dual G5. Both still work, I spent 5K on the combo was my most expensive computer purchase at the time. All stock except it boots from SSD.
BTW its amazing what DSP does. Yea my room sucks at 40-60hz or so…
- Living Room Music-2.1 Polk Legend L800 | SVS SB1000Pro | McIntosh C70 | McIntosh MA5200 (Treble) | McIntosh MC452 (Bass) | Sublimeacoustic K231 Active xover | Denon DP-2500A | Denafrips Ares II | Marantz HD-CD1 | Belkin Soundform Connect | iPad Pro USB to DAC
- Home Theater-9.7.6/15.1 (Atmos/Auro-3D) Polk LSiM707, LSiM706c, LSiM702 F/X [x6], Height LSiM703 [x6], HSU ULS-15Mk2x4, VTF-15HMk2x2, VTF-TN1 | Trinnov Altitude 16+4 (2024) | Rotel RB-1590 (L/R) | Appollon NC500 11ch | Martin Logan MP500x2 | Topping DX7s, E50 | AppleTV 4K | Zidoo Z9X | JVC RS2100 | 150” Elite Screen Acoustic Pro UHD
- Game Room-5.1 Polk LSi25, LSiC, LSiF/X | Marantz SR7009 | AppleTV 4K | Sony UBP-X800 | Xbox One S | Sony PS2, PS3 | Nintendo Wii | Gaming PC | Sony 75" LCD
- Master Bedroom Music-2.0 Totem Hawk | Marantz PM-10 | Marantz SA-10 | SONY PS-HX500
- Office-2.1 B&W Formation Duo and Bass
- Daughter's Gaming Rig-2.0 Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX | Martin Logan Forte
- Orphans DSW microPRO3000x2 | Rotel RA-1570 | Marantz AV8805A
- Guest Room 2-2.0 Klipsch RP-600M | SMSL DO100 Pro 2 | Pass ACA v1.6 Monoblocks
- Guest Room 3-3.0 Martin Logan Motion 40, 50XT | Onkyo TX-SR705 | Apple TV | Samsung 55" TV
- Guest Room 4-2.0 QAcoustics 3030i | Sansui AU-6900 | Sansui FR-1080 | Fire TV
- Maintenance: Pro-Ject VC-S Record Cleaning Machine
-
mhardy6647 wrote: »
NiceFound a Salamander cabinet on Craigslist for all of $20 to put in my office.
$1200 new is a ridiculous price.
But so is $20!

FWIW, I sold my TA-500 last spring at the big NEVEE regional swapmeet. Don't see too many of those in the wild!
So, you know, I rarely post to this thread because I rarely ever do anything to my hifi -- other than the occasional rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic kind of thing. But in the past couple of weeks, I've done two things!?!
I traded my beautiful but never used Allison Ones to a nice fellow from upstate New York for a new-to-me, kitbuilt ss balanced preamp from the Hypex folks, sold under their "DIY/Class D" brand. No, it is not Class D, but that's the name of the company.
It is actually amazingly good sounding.
@mhardy6647 What are your thoughts on how your Sangean HD tuner sounds?. Only curious because I'm currently using one of the exact same model. It replaced my Sansui TU-317.
I think that it sounds pretty darned good. I don't think I am supposed to think that -- but I do.
That HD tuner was acquired from a well known denizen here at the Polk forums. As it turned out, shipping had loosened up an internal connector, which I was slow to diagnose correctly
but which was worth the effort to straighten out, as I was pretty surprised by how well it works! 
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2649992#Comment_2649992 -
At first I preferred the sound from my Sansui but the Sangean HD tuner has grown on me and has been in the system for a couple of years now. It picks up a decent amount of HD stations as well.2ch rig: Speakers: LSi9s with VR3's Fortress mods Preamplifier: Parasound P5 DAC: Fiio K13 Amplifier: Parasound A23 CDP: Pioneer DV-563A Cables: Wireworld Equinox 7 XLR ICs, Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB, AudioQuest Q2s, AudioQuest NRG X(preamp)
Standby: Magnepan LRS w/Magna Riser stands -
I set up the LRSs and blended the sub in with em'. Spent the weekend listening to music.2ch rig: Speakers: LSi9s with VR3's Fortress mods Preamplifier: Parasound P5 DAC: Fiio K13 Amplifier: Parasound A23 CDP: Pioneer DV-563A Cables: Wireworld Equinox 7 XLR ICs, Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB, AudioQuest Q2s, AudioQuest NRG X(preamp)
Standby: Magnepan LRS w/Magna Riser stands -
This content has been removed.
-
They have a nice big sound stage when you're in the "sweet spot", and it is sweet. I'm not going to need to boost the highs on the LRS either. They aren't offensive just way more forward than the LSis.2ch rig: Speakers: LSi9s with VR3's Fortress mods Preamplifier: Parasound P5 DAC: Fiio K13 Amplifier: Parasound A23 CDP: Pioneer DV-563A Cables: Wireworld Equinox 7 XLR ICs, Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB, AudioQuest Q2s, AudioQuest NRG X(preamp)
Standby: Magnepan LRS w/Magna Riser stands -
Upped my SET amp game with this Ayon Crossfire III.

-
Wow, congrats! What kind of power tubes are those?
-
-
Hope you bought some spares.
Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
Puritan PSM156 -
"Replacement AA62B tubes cost $900 each, and are rated to last 5000 hours, but have been known to last much longer than that."
-
-
I ordered a couple of power cables to try with my amplifier. The audioquest Blizzard, and a vintage KCI Fireball. I will be comparing these to the Pangea AC9 that I have been using for the last year.



Enjoying the journey while never attaining the destination. -
This content has been removed.
-
Might want to clean the contacts on the KCI Fireball....
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
So, I got in a couple of days ago a product from Veri Fi called the "Snubway". The results so far have been interesting. I just swapped locations, after it being plugged into the same circuit for 2 days upstream in the circuit. I just moved it into the audio room to see if there is any other change.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I did clean it. The Fireball cable is heavily shielded with an overall copper braid. It completely hollowed out the midrange, gave the high frequency a nice sparkle, and emphasized the bass slightly. It wasn't bad, but it's not the sound I'm going for. It would probably be a good cable for a tube amplifier. I'm trying it on my subwoofer now. The AQ Blizzard is by far the most balanced sounding power cable, within my budget, that I have heard on this amplifier. The soundstage is a little wider a lot taller, and I can pinpoint instruments more precisely. I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing! The top end is just ever so slightly grainy.Enjoying the journey while never attaining the destination.
-
If you just cleaned it? It's gonna have a "characteristic" for a couple of days. FYI.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
So, I got in a couple of days ago a product from Veri Fi called the "Snubway". The results so far have been interesting. I just swapped locations, after it being plugged into the same circuit for 2 days upstream in the circuit. I just moved it into the audio room to see if there is any other change.
Tom
Expect a post and review on this one. I'm not very impressed with many things in a snake oil versed audio world but I have been sursprised at this relatively inexpensive unit.
Key words - more in the music, not in the reproduction. Tommy like.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
There is a review by Tom Gibbs of Positive Feedback (positive-feedback.com) of the Snubway. Tom has also reviewed other Vera Fi products. Based on his review, I’m tempted.










