Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

I just used this place to fix a Linn sub, he seemed pretty competent and reasonably priced, could be worth an email:

https://www.hifihealer.co.uk/contact-us

If you're interested the drivers are these-
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/433001-REG/JBL_CONTROL_328C_Control_328C_8.html

Although like most ceiling mounted speakers theres generally not enough usable info to use the box calculators.

Question / request double whammy:

Can anyone guess why I seem to have phono stage preamps dying on me? Just found out I've got another one dead.

And does anyone have one they don't need? Looking for a beer-money one really. Giving my lad a turntable for his room, through one of those integrated shelf system jobbies that has a really warm nice sound. Checked via a dj mixer, it's definitely the old phono stage that's a goner.

Thanks

I think Behringer do one for like £15, at least then if it goes you've got the warranty.

Good idea, thanks for that intel

Never had one fail. Power supplies working?

The No sound (or the likes) are all in the warehouse clearance on eBay with 15% off with the voucher if you fancy something fairly cheap with valves. They sound better than the built in phono stage on my amp.

I've had a Project one go before :(

Not reasonable. The most expensive kit I have is the connect:amp and it would have meant decoupling that from the wider system

I think I want a new turntable in my life, having to take the platter off and do the thing with the band is a bit of a ball ache.
I used to have technics, but I would like something a bit more “home listening”. What are my options for about 200
Quid max that does 33/45 and maybe a bit of pitch control.

The Technics 1300 (automatic) 1400 (semi automatic) 1500 (manual) are certainly more for home and less industrial than a 1200. They've got the same platter and tone arm and have pitch control in the speed selectors.

From the other Japanese brands Toshiba, Hitachi and Pioneer all made some very nice, high quality turntables in the late 70s early 80s.

Sony made some weird stuff, and took a huge gamble on any new technology they pioneered, and their version of quartz lock and linear tracking in the Biotracer turntables is pretty out there.

Anything with quartz lock will probably not have pitch control unless it's designed for DJs.

I know some of you have built your own valve amps and I’d like to do the same. I’ve previously built a Bottlehead Crack and I’m keen to cut out the middleman and source my own parts. Does anyone have a good steer for online resources - plans, parts lists etc.?

You can't go wrong with a classic Mullard 5-20 or a 5-10. Mullard 3-3 is a bit more involved and less beginner-friendly. All three of those sound fantastic. Plans for those available on sites like this one: http://www.r-type.org/articles/art-003d.htm if you do a Google search.

There's also the Tubelab SSE if you want a single-ended EL34/KT66/KT88 amp and the guy is happy to ship boards to the UK. It's quite a straightforward build but it's an expensive one and there's a small solid-state constant current device it uses which can be hard to get hold of.

For transformers you have a choice of new manufactured or vintage from eBay. I'd recommend new transformers unless you're an experienced builder and know what you're looking at. You can get very nice quite reasonably-priced new transformers from Primary Windings: https://primarywindings.com/ or from Hammond: http://www.hammondmfg.com/1627.htm (I think you can buy these off the shelf at Farnell). Avoid any good-looking deals on eBay because you don't really know what you're getting.

Valves, either use new ones, NOS from eBay or the Soviet equivalents which are interchangeable and quite abundant. The Soviet ones sound quite nice in my experience.

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Took my B&W 602s3 out of storage, positioned em nicely and took great care setting up the wiring to find that my NAD C355 seems to have died from being in the attic for two years.

It showed a faint green light on one of the channels and then went unresponsive. It still makes the kachunk-a-chunk sound when flipping the mains switch but otherwise dead.

Am dropping it off at Armstrong at some point but really hope it’s an easy fix :(

Dropped the amp off today. Lovely that places like that exist.

Fingers crossed it’s a simple fix. I’m assuming it’s a failed cap or something from sitting unused for a couple of years.

Nice one, thanks. A Mullard 5-10 looks about ideal.

Watford Valves is my go to for guitar amp tubes. I’m a sucker for NOS European stuff.

Knocked up a new “kitchen”*set up with some stuff I had gathering dust and a £30 Bluetooth receiver off Amazon. Sounds great. Looks better. Can’t really see it in the pics but the little Pioneer receiver dial lights up beautifully.

*kitchen/family room. Will mostly be used for tunes whilst cooking I expect.

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Nice! How do you find those Q Acoustic speakers?

While the big amp is off getting mended, I got impatient and bought a class D Aiyima A07 off ebay.
It's actually bloody great at driving the B&W 602s and probably performs a bit better than the NAD but I'm trying not to think about that too much.

Thought I was being all clever and got airplay kinda working on a Raspberry Pi but it just doesn't want to output sound through the usb DAC, even though it says it is. Nothing comes out.

Instead I've just got a tablet or laptop plugged in to the DAC.
Sound is great, even with speakers too low down, they're finally in a room big enough for them.

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Any interest in a pair of Bowers and wilkins 804 diamond d3 speakers for 4k?

Anyone want anymore details? Collection from new cross.

What’s the interesting-looking curved plywood thing under your shelves?

I am not a huge audiophile or technically minded but I am about to spend quite a bit of time in my home office, and am setting myself up, and music is next. I have an iphone, an old ipad, and a 2021 MBAir. A modest CD collection. No vinyl interest. A wifi connection. I expect I will need to subscribe to Spotify Premium or similar. I will compile a play list, and listen to internet radio. I suppose I can copy my CDs onto my hard drive. Should I just rely on bluetooth? My room is about 4m square, and I would like the option (not crucial) to hook up to my TV in the living room next door.

So far I have just looked at active speakers from Ruark and Triangle. Done some reading on Richer Sounds etc, but people here are great. I have in mind £350-500 to spend, don't mind new or second hand. Should I just get the best active speakers I can or would some other combination of things, even if a bit more money, provide better, more flexible options in future? Thoughts much appreciated.

They’re good I think. Position isn’t ideal for rear facing ports so the bass is a bit boomy. Was using then with a big modern Yamaha AS500 amp and they were fine… a bit shouty and hard maybe. My preference is for softer squishy 70s style (main system is 70s Yamaha and celestions). The big new Yamaha doesn’t fit in the shelves, hence the switch to the ancient Pioneer that had been gathering dust for years. Am really enjoying it listening to the Last Waltz a lot this week. The amp is only 7 w per channel but pretty punchy considering.

Quite pleased with the cable management too.

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I have that food from your garden cook book! My folks swore by it when I was a kid.

Bluetooth is ok, but you can do a lot better quite cheaply.

If you’re going to be streaming from iPhone, iPad, MBAir, buy an Apple Airport so that you can stream via Airplay 2 and you’ll get CD quality. They’re discontinued, but you can still find them new and unused on eBay, quite cheap.

The Airport has a DAC built in, but better would be to use the optical output to an external DAC like a Schiit Modi+, or something from Topping, then RCA analogue out to the powered speakers.