DIY Audio Projects Forum

I heard this the other day,

If its new its not good.
I asked what was meant by the comment, the reply was:
" modern gear" is no good, it doesn't sound anything like older equipment.
I had to think what was the point of the comment.

The guy tried to expand what he meant by saying what's happened when HiFi doesn't excite people, nobody goes to conventions anymore.
There aren't any Audio shops, when I was young the stereogram sounded great but now even the market can't create a standard format.

I just smiled and left the shop, then I saw on the internet that cassette was making a come back I ditched my Nakamichi years ago.
I never owned a reel to reel, the days of chrome tape and noise reduction, the rattle of the cassette oh my life we will be back to 8 track next.

But then while listening to my tube system how strange it was that my M7 build seemed to "sound like" some old equipment I once owned.
Then I remembered people saying how do I get the "old sound" then wondered about how direct and emotional some of my listening was when I was younger. I even remember being asked by "girl friends" how it worked and why it sounded different. It seemed like emotional content flowed with the music. Perhaps its just looking back with rose tinted specs, but I can say without doubt things did seem different.

Does music move you, or do you just listen to it?

Regards
M. Gregg

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What is the sound of one hand clapping?

i’m sure there are some new things that are good for what they’re designed to do. Then if money is no object the sky’s the limit. But I sure do miss my old linn sondek now that I don’t have it. at the time in the 80s i didn’t regret selling it as the new CD to me sounded so good without the clicks and pops and warped records. I realise some recordings were not so good. Not sure why since about 10 years old i started a life long love of music. nowadays it is mainly for relaxation. I love music mainly from my golden years the 60s and 70s but i find myself liking the music of talented young people which i can’t explain. such as grizzly bear, police, flume and FKA twigs.

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John

police? Edit: Poliça

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John

I still have mine with a Chiave cartridge, I had a corus black but its gone a while ago.
I still have a moth phono stage in a box. Can't remember what arm it has its been a while since I used it.
But its still there if I want to set it up again.

HiFi is a real strange thing these days, I found myself with CDs scattered all over the floor the other day just like in the 80's.
I put on some old CD's I hadn't played for a while, it was a shock the M7 has such a different presentation.
I need to look at a streaming device but I'm not sure how much there is to gain.

Regards
M. Gregg

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What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Sounds nice. It might go well with the M7 and EL34 amp. mine was your standard I’ll guess cherry timber base but very nice ribbed facia. I started off with a Shure tone arm and mm cartridge but along the way bought a second hand Grace arm and a new Ortophon MC cartridge which I recall was reasonably priced compared to others. being a student I was a cheapskate. Someone sold me a used Naim battery powered phono stage for the MC. I didn’t do much else to the system after that. I may have changed the springs and rubbers which was a trend at one stage. I went the digital route converting all my records and cds to “information “. Dad was once an sound technician and got interested in all kinds of audio software and converted my old records to wav files. I got a synology diskstation a couple of years ago to backup my computer data including photos and music. synology has apps to access your diskstation in the home or outside with your phone etc. I sometimes use the iphone directly as a source or the preamp out from my class d theatre amp which also has a dac. If i hadn’t gone down that route I’d rather have stuck with the vinyl, cds or tape in defiance of incremental technological progress. I may yet revert to old ways if can manage it. maybe in the not too distant future technology will improve to such a level that all our efforts will be rendered useless. Something like quantum entanglement of music and video information and exact copies of live and studio performances will appear on one’s home system without complaint.

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John

They say,

information is preserved in the universe tell that to the guy looking at a rusty CD

In the past I used to listen to music almost all the time, I remember listening to a Roksan Rok DP1 and it being recorded on a nakamichi cassette deck.
Then both were played at the same time and switched in and out, the guy said don't look behind you and tell me which is which.
I couldn't they sounded the same I was shocked. I always wanted to make a tube CD player or a tube output tape deck.
But the formats changed to fast so it didn't seem worth it. Everything seemed to become throw away and disposable.
The more I listen to the "New stuff" the more I want to stay in the HIFI time zone..

I remember Velleman making a high power tube kit (I built one and converted it to run 6550,EL34,6l6, 5881 etc) and HIFI world doing kits and driving tubes forward. I have built stuff since school days.
If the equipment doesn't move you then its time to start building again. because its a bit expensive to do it any other way.
I got to a point with one amp where I wished I had a magic wand to change parts because I was sick of stripping it down.
Thinking about your 300B, in the past the golden night was OK in HIFI demos, but it didn't rock my boat compared to multi tube pentode.
I always found the 6550 a bit harsh in some equipment.

Regards
M. Gregg

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What is the sound of one hand clapping?

I don't really have anything to compare my 300b with. I know its a bit weird starting with that tube but I had read a lot about them and a cheap pcb from ebay was an easy way into the hobby. The last tube amp I heard was in the early 80s, Quad monoblocks I recall, may have been 11/22s. A hifi friend owned it for a while until putting together an eti 5000 mosfet power amp. He put together a valve preamp of what tubes I can't recall. From memory compared to my 33/303 I had at the time, the quad valve amp sounded warm and quite pleasant. I don't find my 300b warm at all, quite neutral, which surpises me but I hardly understand how it works or the consequences of its operating point. I am happy to have made this amp, I had niggling doubts if I could do it without harming myself. I have plans for another at some point. Hopefully an improvement. I am looking around for potential full range drivers and enclosures for some more efficient speakers. Maybe 6.5 or 5 inch diameter. That will be my next project cross fingers, working on that financial approval.

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John

Have you looked at Alpair 7's?
I have tried the metal and paper cones that's what I run now.
I guess it depends on how big your room is and what level of sound pressure you want.
They look like this:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Alpai ... 24&bih=719

On my OTL amp running 4X 6C33C the volume is quite loud and the bass response can give "born slippy" and "BOT" dead mouse a run for its money.
Which is quite a surprise for such a small speaker. Again I also use them on my SE amps.

Regards
M. Gregg

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What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Thanks for the tip. My room is a reasonable size about 6m by 4m but in a semi open plan space. I sometimes sit in another adjoining room with the music playing. The current speakers b & w 706s2 and subwoofer and m 1 sattelites were really chosen to go with the surround sound system with pioneer class d amp. They do quite well for stereo listening as well even with the tube amp. There's enough volume from them really. Sometimes the amp is at its limits. My next amp may be somewhat lower power though and I wouldn't mind trying some diy speakers. I've heard of the Alpairs, mwhouston has mentioned them favourably too. Gio has mentioned audionirvana favourably too. I need to hit the books first and understand what all those parameters mean.

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John

4 x 6c33c would look and sound impressive I expect.

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John