Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

Yeah it looks great!

I have my Quad 33 and 303 coming back from a full service and re-cap etc.

I’m interested in building some frugalhorns (using Mark Audio Alpair 7S full-range drivers)

Can somebody here tell me whether this makes any sense as a pairing?

My (very limited) understanding of the quad is that a higher impedance (15ohms) is better than lower.. these Alpairs are 7.2ohms

Could do you a deal on these if you want to test the waters

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16744444/

Confession time.
Was previously in a small flat and sold some PMC speakers and my pre/power for an all in one streamer/amp as the PMC’s bass overwhelmed the room plus a sloping dormer roof messed with the sound stage a fair bit, it was always a compromise sound wise.
New flat and we made do with a single Sonos for a bit, fixed the Unitqute screen and finally found the remote to change the menus from French to English and been using it for a few months. Fiddled with the menu’s adding some digital radio stations and when looking at the ‘speakers’ menu noticed there was a setting for Small or Large.
Bit of googling and it turns out it’s been on Small setting which has a 100hz low cut!? It’s probably been on this setting since I have had it, I knew the little Leema Xero’s were not going to shake the room but now I have a rhythm section :-)

@BRM had some FHs

Finally picked up a Technics SL-1600 after months of waiting on eBay searches and buying a piece of shit Sony PS-4300 from a seller who won’t acknowledge they sent me a piece of shit. My fault for trusting it was in working order, they just said it worked perfectly before shipping.
Anyway one question — I’m running these all through an Arcam Alpha 2 amp, and I can barely move the volume higher than 1 as it’s so loud coming through, is there a reason for that?

through an Arcam Alpha 2 amp, and I can barely move the volume higher than 1 as it’s so loud coming through, is there a reason for that?

Are you using a MM cartridge and the MC sensitivity setting on the amp (On the Alpha 2 I believe that's a module plugged in to the PCB rather than externally switchable)?

Absolutely no idea. Will get into this when I have some spare daylight hours!

My (very limited) understanding of the quad is that a higher impedance (15ohms) is better than lower.. these Alpairs are 7.2ohms

I only had a quick look at the schematic but it’s not a class A amp so it won’t be too fussy about the speaker impedance. Assuming it’s nominally designed for 8 Ohms, you’ll get a lower output with 4 or 16 Ohm speakers. With 4 Ohms you’ll be asking the amp for more current and it’ll max out lower down in the volume range. With 15-16 Ohms it’ll be limited by the output voltage and it’ll start to clip at the top end. Unless you’re running the amp at its full output I think you’ll be unlikely to notice though.

Thanks for the explanation.. I’ll proceed as planned .. amp comes back next week so I’ll be running it with my current Kef Q3s initially which are 8 ohm

@dbr those look great but I’m up in Leeds (so shipping likely prohibitive or, at least, expensive) .. part of my plan was to build the frugalhorns myself as a project.
I might be interested in buying the Alpairs separately if you were willing to remove them from the cabs (same caveats around postage) assuming you had other drivers you’d use in their place.

Defo build them yourself, it’s great fun. Could have a look at Pencil speaker design too. I’ll PM you about the Alpairs

Has anybody had equipment stop working in the heat? Earlier this week my Denon M37 decided to stop working, temperatures have cooled since but it still won't power up.

I've tried disconnecting and reconnecting things but no luck so far...

That doesn’t sound promising. If it has over-temperature protection (which it probably hasn’t tbh) and it has cooled down but not reset, it sounds a bit like something has popped. However, transistors will operate at 80-90°C. They won’t like it much long term, but they won’t consume themselves. It’s hot at the moment, but not that hot, so my suspicion is something else has failed. It might be worth popping the case open and see if there’s something obvious like an internal fuse or capacitor that has blown.

That said, the internet does seem to suggest these AV models have some kind of temperature protection. May be worth looking up how to reset it, as it might be a known thing if it’s in a confined space, in direct sun etc.

Cheers - much appreciated. I wasn't sure if equipment generally didn't like the heat but the more I read it sounds like something has tripped a protection mode. Frustratingly there's nothing in the manual so more research is needed...

Equipment generally doesn't like the heat. I had a Cambridge amp in a cupboard and some components blew due to heat.

If you haven't already, invest in some contact cleaner, you'll inevitably have some speed issues at some point, that can probably be resolved by cleaned the pots.

Needed something to tinker with so picked up a set of these SB Acoustics full range drivers. Very inexpensive and overall praised for what they are. Plan is a simple plywood open baffle design to begin with.

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Hiya! I've a NAD 314 amp, had it forever (uni years, treated myself after summer job, really good deal as it was an ex-demo, etc).
It now leaves at my parents and when I visit I play my old CDs, and when the turntable was still working (planning on fixing that too), the vinyls I've not yet brought back home.
The NAD 314 and similar amps from that brand don't have the reputation to last forever like the bomb proof old Japanese amps, if I'm not mistaken. So my one has started doing funny noises today. As I'm here on holidays with the kids it's not like I've had the time to analyse the issue much, but I think the left way (typical I believe) collapsing/cracking, and unless it has something to do with the source, it's probably about to die.
I realise it's not a particularly sought after piece of hifi equipment, and that it may not be worth the effort, but it's a nice sounding amp (to me) and I'm too sentimental to not even consider fixing it.
If it turns out to be indeed the usual left way fault, what's the fix and is it something DIY able? Would it be pricey?

volume pot and / or capacitor change are possible to diy (not by me i hasten to add, but those skilled with a soldering iron).

the cost of the parts is small, it's just the skill and time to change them, and the possibility that the problem may lie elsewhere and / or a PCB may get harmed in the process.

a bit of contact cleaner is a good first pass.

Years ago for similar sentimental reasons, I tried to get an old NAD 3240PE repaired by a specialist amp repair guy who had previously worked on some meridian amps for me.

Every time i asked him for an update he just gave an excuse, and eventually ceased communicating with me so I assume he either destroyed it accidentally in the repair process, or just cba to work on it. I never got it back from him.

Thanks... Makes me want to try. Will investigate... Hopefully there are tutorials, etc

Temporary unfinished baffle to break in the drivers over the weekend. Very weak low end as expected but sounds absolute lovely with vocals already. Fun stuff.

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That's a cool speaker.

Thx. My first experiment with open baffle speakers. Will probably remake it with space for an additional a 12/15" driver for the lower frequencies.