System #42 (Aerius)

[Robin]

Plasma Back lighting...

Single, not the Bi-wire.

Robin, the lights do not flash or pulsate - still it's a nice treatment. I think the Christmas lights would look nice over any textured wall (brick) or even a work of sculpture.

Have you seen the plasma TV's that have back lighting? They claim to ease eye strain. I buy into this claim because the back lighting has help me too.

Kach22i,

Unfortunately, I have not seen the new plasma TV's, but I have read about them... I plan to check them out next time I'm in the city...

I agree, Christmas lights would look good over any textured wall...

Cheers

-Robin

 

[Robin]

How Long Have You Owned Your Preamp?

kach22i,

I was just curious how old your GRAAF WFB One Tube preamp was?
And are you concidering replacing, if repairs are too expensive?

It does seem like you really enjoyed the sound of the GRAAF WFB...
It seems to have given you joy over the years I think...

 

[kach22i]

kach22i,

I was just curious how old your GRAAF WFB One Tube preamp was?
And are you concidering replacing, if repairs are too expensive?

It does seem like you really enjoyed the sound of the GRAAF WFB...
It seems to have given you joy over the years I think...

RE:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=1124&page=3

The GRAAF pre-amp has been in my hands for about three years. It was in the shop last year for what turned out to be a hard to find power fuse and a broken speaker terminal stuck in it.

Before I had it, it was the loner unit at a high end stero store for about a year. Before that one of the repair guys/salesmen had it for a year. I think it was originally brought into the shop as part of a trade-in or consignment sale.

When I saw the unit for sale at Audiogon for less than half of what they were trying to sell it for when it was in the store, I figured it was time to buy it.

It's a great sounding unit, magic on vinyl records, although I thought it always ran too hot. Which is why I had it playing without the cover for the past year.

I think I'd have to spend at least $5,000 (new) to equal it's sound maybe more. I'm getting it fixed even if it's something as pricy as a main power transformer.

 

[Huey]

Nice system M8...any updates since March??

 

[kach22i]

Nice system M8...any updates since March??

The couple of capacitors in the power supply of the pre-amp have been signing nicely. It runs nice and cool now and sounds better than ever.

I might replace some power outlets with hospital grade stuff, but no current upgrades planned at the moment. Summer fun and repairs to my old cars, old hovercraft and old house more or less dominate until late fall.

 

[Huey]

OK..I'd really like tubes as well, but the wife hasn't cleared my financial request as yet

 

[slowGEEZR]

OK..I'd really like tubes as well, but the wife hasn't cleared my financial request as yet

Ha ha. I find it is always easier to seek forgiveness rather than ask permission! On the other hand, you do have to live with SWMBO.

 

[kach22i]

Update; August 10, 2009

I picked up a new to me tuner, for $5.00, was marked at $10.00. Picked it up at of all places the U of M Property Disposition Office. What it was doing there is anyone's guess, looked like it had been there a while.

link:
http://propertydisposition.umich.edu/

Don't laugh, it works great.

It's not the vintage Scott tube tuner I've been holding out for, but things are tight right now and the old Carver CT-17's (pre-amp/ tuner) display I have now only works when it wants to.

Lafayette LT-825, solid state, made between 1977-81.
http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Stereo/

I'm using the tape outs for the remote self powered radio speakers in the kitchen.

The wood sides need to be replaced, a nice little weekend project.

 

[Jimna]

i like your DIY acoustic solution very much. very nice rig indeed!

Ha ha. I find it is always easier to seek forgiveness rather than ask permission! On the other hand, you do have to live with SWMBO.

aint that a fact! spoken like an experienced married man.

 

[kach22i]

Another acoustic treatment added/modified:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10177

Turntable modification DIY:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10139

Latest center-stage (above TV) acoustic treatment: bookend holds it upright
http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Stereo/

 

[kach22i]

My big tube amp stopped working almost two months ago, and I finally decided today to get it off the shelf and send off to get repaired (still here at the moment). Earlier in the day I walked over to my local hi-end shop and looked at the used section, and this little but heavy Dynaco amp whispered to me.

I did a little research, not the most dependable thing, many have had poor repairs done as a result. However, what I paid today ($115) is most likely what I'll get for it a few years down the line if I don't push it too hard.

Here is my temporary amp, the filler for until the tube amp gets fixed.

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Stereo/

For a couple of bucks the stereo guy sold me some brass jumpers out of his drawer so I could get my larger modern RCA's and speaker lines hooked up. It's all sort of wobbly, but works.

Sound?

The first couple of minutes were flat, very thin, dry, screechy and bright and tin-like.

I've had it playing for 15 minutes or so now, sound stage has much greater depth, and it is a very quick amp. It still has somewhat of a lisp and sizzle to it right now.

Keep in mind I have super tweeters on my Martin Logan Aerius speakers to give a tubes a little more top end, I may have to..................hold on there folks let me check something! Augh!!!

Sure enough, I had the super tweeter leads reversed, they were in phase in lieu of out of phase as they should be when facing backwards.

CORRECTION: Alright, the sizzle and lisp is within reason now. In fact it's pretty darn good for solid state. Light, quick with a Linn-like toe tapping tempo.

I'm going to have to compare the 60 watt Dynaco to my 100 watt Rotel (now serving HT duty). My guess is that the Rotel will be a little more rich, the Dynaco a little brighter and quicker, but that is just a guess.

The high hats and cymbals are really open and clear on the Dynaco, a great sense of space is starting to open up.

Stay tunned, I'll report more when I've had more listening time under my belt.

A good link on this amp:
http://www.davidreaton.com/Dynaco_120.htm

GENERAL
This page contains everything I know about the Dynaco Stereo 120 power amplifier. This was Dyna’s first transistor amplifier, introduced in 1966 and sold for more than 10 years. The design was minimalist – only 6 transistors were used per channel. The unit operated in a class A-B mode (like many tube amplifiers) and used a whopping big output capacitor to decouple the DC offset of the amp (like tube amps use an output transformer).

Next day: I pulled the super tweeter leads this morning, the original Aerius mid treble peak is not the greatest match with this amp. There is a lisp on female vocals at times (ie... Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions), but I don't dare push this amp hard, so it is all under control and not distracting at all.

At least the sound is not as sharp as before and retains the nice level of upper end detail, and has a much better balanced overall (and rather deep) than yesterday with the super tweeters hooked up.

There is a nice flow to this amp, sort of reminds me of the single ended Pass stuff at times. Definitely not a cheap-arse IC amp.

 

[twich54]

cool beans George !!

 

[kach22i]

UPDATE: 02/02/13

1. The Dynaco amp has new output caps in it, sounds much better and no more long warm up time. Thank you Cherish44 (as found on eBay), another Ann Arbor treasure.

2. Picked up an old Kenwood tuner from the recycle store for $10, sounds great.

3. My wife fried my massive Triplite, been replaced by one new Furman PL8C, and two used Furman PL-8's.

4. I have a Sony BluRay player, if not already posted.

5. Picked up a Technics SL-3200 direct drive turntable for $45, came with a Grado F-1+, just want some DD first hand experiences.

My system recently was overhauled by flipping the orientation 180 degrees. All made possible or mandatory for the flat TV.

http://s184.beta.photobucket.com/user/kach22i/library/Stereo

 

[kach22i]

UPDATE: 05/21/2020

Seven years since I updated this thread, lots has happened.

I kind of withdrew from the hobby about the time of my last post, just needed a more active lifestyle I guess. We lived in the same house for 27 years and it was shrinking in on me, had to get out more.

We moved about a year ago to a slightly larger but still small house. Good news is it has a finished walk-out basement, concrete floor under the carpet - awesome.

I have to build a few walls yet, but so far the acoustics are far better than I could have hoped for considering the narrow space and low ceiling. There is magic to be had, still working on ways to unleash the full potential.

Equipment wise my tube amps are in need of repair so I'm using my 100 watt Rotel for now.

I also got a linear tonearm Pioneer PL-L1000 direct drive turntable running in all manual mode - a fantastic machine.

None on my home theater stuff is yet hooked up, not even the TV.

A little more information in the link below:

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/kach22is-system.30259/

 

[twich54]

George, as I said in an earlier post, glad to have you back in the fold !

 

[kach22i]

George, as I said in an earlier post, glad to have you back in the fold !

Thanks, it's been a long strange trip.

Been busy with reciprocating saw and wrecking bars. That post stays until I frame the stair opening the way it should have been done by the previous owner.

 

[kach22i]

Fabricated up yesterday in a few hours some first/early reflection point curved diffusers.

Used what I had on hand. PVC sheets, corroplast, foil tape, Gator tape, carpet padding, closed cell foam, shelf brackets, castors, and legs from an old HP large format printer.

The whole thing weighs less than ten pounds and easily rolls into position.





Built two of them, one for each side.

Now that I know the concept works (sounds great), improved version(s) will be of better quality and materials.

The ones I like from Acoustic Geometry and Flex-48 (there are others) are $400-$500 each.

I am far too cheap plus like making my own stuff.

 

[Brad225]

That is great George. I love ingenuity.

Does it mainly eliminate first reflections? How does the stage and image change?

 

[kach22i]

That is great George. I love ingenuity.

Does it mainly eliminate first reflections? How does the stage and image change?

Just draping furry blankets on the CD rack and utility door coat rack on opposite wall widens the soundstage and the speakers start to vanish.

The curved diffusers do much the same as modest absorption with the added benefit of increased liveliness.

Increased articulation across the board, bass, vocals, instrument details and so forth.

In general, the room just gets bigger with an increased sense of original recording space and less sense of listening room.

It's like taking everything one hears in nearfield listening position plus ambiance in generous helpings.

Best of both worlds.

Already have plans on improving the design.



EDIT: sketches from a few days ago.

 

[kach22i]

Like I said, every day or two more changes.

This time I sought to explore the validity of either building my own subwoofer or modifying my existing one. The goal would be to minimize it's presence in the front soundstage by reducing external reflections.

To test the concept I placed the 23" high subwoofer on it's back so it is just 19" high. How does a 4" lower configuration sound? Great, vocals are no longer partially sunk behind the subwoofer.

Soundstage has expanded and is more coherent.

In addition a small pieces of foam are located at the sub's front edges and whole back face covered in foam, something I've had in place for some time to good affect.

I also seemed to have raised the vocals with a 8"x12" piece of foam centered and at wall to ceiling junction.

It is these little changes done on the cheap that delight me so. I am easily amused.