Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

You're the kind of pusher I've been warned about :) Next you'll be selling me the phono stage to go with it.

I'm not using my trichord dino atm ;)

ha - I wasn't going to sell it to you.

Try turning the speaker upside down or at 90 degrees. If this fixes the rubbing then you may be able to re-mount the woofers to counteract sag.

I've got a mc dynavector and I think that they're better than mm for everything. I listen to all sorts including house and techno. Mms have a sort of euphonic blur that just goes away with a mc.
Obviously they're expensive, easier to break and often difficult to set up, but they're worth it. Denon DL 103 are very reasonable. The only thing I think mms are better for is tracking really weird and stereo bassy records.

Thank you all for ruining my enjoyment of MM carts and making me regret not having built MC capability into my phono pres!

I tried the MP110 in the deck that normally has the AT95e in, its the more resolving system but the MP110 has been in the desktop deck for needle drops. The AT95 does not stand up well and the MP110 is fine as long as the arm height is right for the record thickness. I'm pretty happy with it but of course now I've opened the box and I'll either have to take my mind off it or try an MC cart.

So, Dynavector or the DL103(r) which I've heard a lot of praise for.

timmahl, thanks for bursting my bubble regarding house and techno, I needed that like a hole in the head. I do have an extensive collection of weird stereo bass records though so maybe I should just roll a fat one and forget about it all for a while :)

Anyone tried a Pioneer XDP 100R? Since getting a streaming subscription I haven't kept up a decent digital collection, but my Pixel XL sounds like shit through the headphones.

I was also considering an HTC 10 but a whole additional phone seems overkill (though useful redundancy)

Just picked up another HiFi related book. Electronics For Vinyl - Douglas Self. Amazing depth of knowledge backed up by rigorous testing with lots of real world examples you can build and tons of detailed information about how it all works in minute detail.

Interesting that he shines a light on the inescapable noise of a cartridge and explains in detail why an MC cart head amp can not be made to be as quiet as an MM phono pre.

If only quietness was everything?

(Haven't read the book, sure it's ace)

Some form of USB DAC may be cheaper.

True, he's totally obsessed with 'blameless' amps. Got to hand it to him though he does the boring research to back up his hunches.

To output from the USB-C port? True. Though that's a lot of dangling cables.

Yep. The USB c to headphone cable is effectively a shit DAC so replacing it with something neat like a FiiO or Audioquest Dragonfly mini-DAC should be an improvement. The challenge will be getting a neat cable to connect them.

Alternatively, FiiO also do a portable hires music player.

Original Pixel XL does have a 3.5mm jack, never tried the USB-C to 3.5 adapter.

I think having to plug something in line with the phone will just put me off listening as much tbh, and I'd rather avoid any unnecessary stress on the port. Though having had a look through FiiO's site, the BTR1 Bluetooth DAC seems like an interesting option.

Spotted a second hand Pioneer on Amazon marketplace for £250, so I've ordered that and will see if it satisfactorily blows my ears off

Anyone got a Ruark R2 or R4? I am tempt.

Just de-bi-wired my B&W 685s. Can't hear any difference, so that's proof it doesn't do anything. Although I do have a bit of a cold.

I asked tech support at PMC about bi-wiring some of their speakers, he chuckled. Decent manufacturers like B&W spend a lot of time and money on crossovers, taking into account all the testing of cabinet and driver response etc. it does seem unlikely that any one of us might just stumble on a better crossover combination. I think the main advantage would be to reduce the power requirement of the amp to the tweeters and still have something beefy concentrating on the woofers. Or just to allow you to have pure Class A amps running smaller wattage without compromising volume too much.

Anyone here into fixing stereo amps?
I have a Marantz PM7000 that gets intermittent static through both left and right channels. Normally resolved by a thud to the unit.
Anyone know what the issue is and can I/someone fix it fairly easily? Loose soldering somewhere? dirty connections? I have bought a new amp but would like to give this a go.

It is likely to be a connection on the front ... volume, balance, etc. Some switch cleaner (or pure alcohol) applied to these parts might sort it. Obviously don't do this whilst plugged into the mains, and let it dry (evaporate) before using again.

Could be carbon wipers on the volume pot or balance as Phil(Picard) has mentioned. Problem is spraying electrical cleaner down the spindle often doesn't reach the wipers. If you're handy with a screwdriver you can lift the lid and take the pot out, prise the back off them and clean the wipers directly.

It would easier to find the problem if you dismantled the unit, waited for the channels to fail and poked around with a multimeter to see where they go dead. Don't do that unless you have a clue about the potential dangers lurking inside.

Should have read your post properly, intermittent static would be difficult to diagnose with a multimeter.

Great info, thanks.

I should have mentioned that only the left channel had a problem to start with, so I switched to mono and only used the right channel but then the right channel inherited the same problem after a while.
Does that help narrow the problem? :/

I'm happy to get stuck in as I'm essentially going to try and fix this for fun/as a project.
I'm not going to do anything when the unit is left on though as I have no idea what I'm poking.

I have a set of Royd Minstrels, an awesome (rare) Denon DL109D Mm cart and a (also rare) Denon DL300 MC left to move on in the great hifi clear out.

Have some quality Interconnect cables too.

Let me know if you are interested.

My cd deck (20ish yr old wharfedale 901) has begun occasionally not recognising CDs. Can the lenses on these be cleaned at all like tape decks could?

Sometimes it's not the lens (although that's a good place to start). Capacitors in the power supply can also cause that problem. If you open the case and identify the power supply you can check for bulging caps or the tell tale smell. Successfully fixed this problem on a Tascam recording cd deck by replacing the caps.

I've cleaned the lens roughly with a q tip on a pencil in a computer drive but eventually replaced it as they're easy to do and cheap. If you open up the case you can eventually get to the lens to clean it but it's a pain.