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Opinions needed:

I have a Ikea 2x4 cube record shelf which I lay on its side. I put my turntable, receiver, tape deck, etc. on top. The 8 cubes are completely full of records, and it seems pretty sturdy. I also have a 1x4 Ikea cube shelf, mostly full as well.

 

I'm curious what you all think, good or bad idea, to place the 1x4 on top of the 2x4 to make it a 3x4 and then place my receiver and turntable etc on top of that. I would secure the two shelfs together with some metal bracing and screws. 

 

I'm mostly worried about it collapsing. My receiver does weigh like 40lbs and all those records.

 

 

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I think the 2x4 expedit, laid on its side, is in the same position build wise that resulted in the (in)famous expedit photo. On it's own, it's not enough to collapse or break apart, but start staking more cubes and heavy equipment, and I wouldn't do it. Maybe with the right bracing, but then you have to wonder if it's worth it. 

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19 minutes ago, kannibal said:

I think the 2x4 expedit, laid on its side, is in the same position build wise that resulted in the (in)famous expedit photo. On it's own, it's not enough to collapse or break apart, but start staking more cubes and heavy equipment, and I wouldn't do it. Maybe with the right bracing, but then you have to wonder if it's worth it. 

I've never seen that with a 2x4, only with the old 5x5 ( which they don't even make anymore).

 

A 1x4 stacked on a 2x4 is perfectly safe. Of course, be sure to attach it to the wall via the supplied brackets.

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You might want to put the 1x4 on the bottom as I suspect that's less likely to collapse under load than the 2x4 and If you're going to empty it all to move it around just check the tightness of all the fixings as you'll be able to get at them.

 

And yes I think the infamous photo that makes us all shudder was a 5x5 that had been assembled the wrong way up, the 2x4 is designed to go either way up but I don't suppose that's with a load of weight on the top of it.

 

Edit

 

This thing double posted in the same post, that's like crossing the streams, it must need a rest

Edited by allenh
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Yeah, I know it was 5x5 in the photo.  The 5x5 in the photo wasn't built improperly, it was just on its side, which makes it very unstable due to the way weight is distributed, resulting in the photo. Putting a 2x4 on it's side will put it in the same position. As I said above, I don't think that would be an issue on it's own with a 2x4, but start stacking units and putting 40lbs amps on it and it could be risky. Proper anchoring would probably make it a non issue.

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6 minutes ago, ajxd said:

Yeah nice Crosley chump. 

*Sigh*

It's not a Crosley. I actually got a really good deal on it from a guy who does high end installation. He said the installation he just finished had this extra turntable, so I bought it from him right then and there from his work van. It's a Crosbey. It sounds amazing!

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On 5/16/2017 at 11:23 AM, kannibal said:

*Sigh*

It's not a Crosley. I actually got a really good deal on it from a guy who does high end installation. He said the installation he just finished had this extra turntable, so I bought it from him right then and there from his work van. It's a Crosbey. It sounds amazing!

Looks nice! Big fan of Odyssey and have a Stratos myself and an AI L1 (so far seems to be a good combo). Are those Khatargo's or Kismets? One of these days I need to send mine back to Klaus and have him mono-ify it and buy another monoblock. 

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3 hours ago, EquinoxDesignLab said:

Looks nice! Big fan of Odyssey and have a Stratos myself and an AI L1 (so far seems to be a good combo). Are those Khatargo's or Kismets? One of these days I need to send mine back to Klaus and have him mono-ify it and buy another monoblock. 

Oh that's awesome, man. So far I'm enjoying the AI/Odyssey combo immensely. The amps are just a month old. I actually called to get a Stratos stereo extreme, but Klaus talked me into getting these upgraded and customized Khartagos.

 

I am so happy with both the looks and the sound. These things blow away the Adcom GFA-555 I had previously. Biggest improvement is in overall clarity and bass definition. Not even close in the bass control and detail. I used to think my speakers didn't handle bass very well. Turns out the speakers are fine. The cases are a customized color. I really wanted a super dark brown, but I used the words "dark copper" to describe it once because it would naturally be a very metallic brown. Dark Copper must have stuck in Klaus' head as he called me one day to tell me that my cases came back and they were very red, but he also thought they were stunning. He was right. 

 

If I ever replace my AI (cross my fingers that I never have to),  I'll probably get an Odyssey tube pre. I like the amps that much.

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15 hours ago, kannibal said:

Oh that's awesome, man. So far I'm enjoying the AI/Odyssey combo immensely. The amps are just a month old. I actually called to get a Stratos stereo extreme, but Klaus talked me into getting these upgraded and customized Khartagos.

 

I am so happy with both the looks and the sound. These things blow away the Adcom GFA-555 I had previously. Biggest improvement is in overall clarity and bass definition. Not even close in the bass control and detail. I used to think my speakers didn't handle bass very well. Turns out the speakers are fine. The cases are a customized color. I really wanted a super dark brown, but I used the words "dark copper" to describe it once because it would naturally be a very metallic brown. Dark Copper must have stuck in Klaus' head as he called me one day to tell me that my cases came back and they were very red, but he also thought they were stunning. He was right. 

 

If I ever replace my AI (cross my fingers that I never have to),  I'll probably get an Odyssey tube pre. I like the amps that much.

Glad you like them! I too hope I to never replace the AI, but if I do, Quicksilver Full Function Preamp is what I'd get. To make those thoughts of upgrading the Ai even harder, get some NOS Reflektor 6h23n's and toss them in there. The EHX's that I bought the unit with went seriously microphonic after just a few months, but the reflektors are still going strong! One thing I have noticed about Odyssey is that they really need to be left on 24/7 to sound their best and really, same with the AI. Once I get my new diffusion panels, I really should post some pics in here. Enjoy!

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39 minutes ago, EquinoxDesignLab said:

Glad you like them! I too hope I to never replace the AI, but if I do, Quicksilver Full Function Preamp is what I'd get. To make those thoughts of upgrading the Ai even harder, get some NOS Reflektor 6h23n's and toss them in there. The EHX's that I bought the unit with went seriously microphonic after just a few months, but the reflektors are still going strong! One thing I have noticed about Odyssey is that they really need to be left on 24/7 to sound their best and really, same with the AI. Once I get my new diffusion panels, I really should post some pics in here. Enjoy!

Pretty much all HiFi prefers to be on 24/7 but I'm not sure I'd leave any valve equipment on 24/7, yes it keeps it in its operating window but valve lifespan will be severely compromised. Solid state yes and its preferable in my experience but valve no if only for the reduced lifespan. It used to be a fashion to drop the power to the heaters only when not in use but I'm not convinced that was particularly effective.

 

My system is completely valve and I turn it all on about half an hour before I want to listen to it and go and pour a drink or make a coffee before the needle nestles gently onto record or my finger hits the play button.

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5 hours ago, allenh said:

Pretty much all HiFi prefers to be on 24/7 but I'm not sure I'd leave any valve equipment on 24/7, yes it keeps it in its operating window but valve lifespan will be severely compromised. Solid state yes and its preferable in my experience but valve no if only for the reduced lifespan. It used to be a fashion to drop the power to the heaters only when not in use but I'm not convinced that was particularly effective.

 

My system is completely valve and I turn it all on about half an hour before I want to listen to it and go and pour a drink or make a coffee before the needle nestles gently onto record or my finger hits the play button.

From what I was told by AI, they recommend leaving it on 24/7. I've had a few tube preamps in the past and always turned them off when not in use. Since the circuit runs the tubes pretty hard anyways and really the only choice is to run Russian milspec tubes when considering sound quality/tube life ratio, I figured I'd just leave it on all the time for the sake of the Odyssey and the tubes themselves are relatively inexpensive. The L1 does just that, even when 'powered down' it still applies voltage to the heaters.

 

For me, the quality of the experience tends to outweigh the potential drawbacks, but we will definitely see what tube life is like as I am only on month 5 or so with these new ones. Appreciate your insight!

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2 hours ago, EquinoxDesignLab said:

From what I was told by AI, they recommend leaving it on 24/7. I've had a few tube preamps in the past and always turned them off when not in use. Since the circuit runs the tubes pretty hard anyways and really the only choice is to run Russian milspec tubes when considering sound quality/tube life ratio, I figured I'd just leave it on all the time for the sake of the Odyssey and the tubes themselves are relatively inexpensive. The L1 does just that, even when 'powered down' it still applies voltage to the heaters.

 

For me, the quality of the experience tends to outweigh the potential drawbacks, but we will definitely see what tube life is like as I am only on month 5 or so with these new ones. Appreciate your insight!

AI recommended leaving it on all the time? I'm going to have to check my manual... ;)

interesting. I do think I need to get some new tubes, but I do NOT want to have to deal with "tube sound" and be constantly wondering if another kind of tube would be better. It will drive me crazy. I like to tweak and experiment, but only a little. Too much and I never feel satisfied because I'm never sure if it's "right".

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14 hours ago, kannibal said:

 

AI recommended leaving it on all the time? I'm going to have to check my manual... ;)

interesting. I do think I need to get some new tubes, but I do NOT want to have to deal with "tube sound" and be constantly wondering if another kind of tube would be better. It will drive me crazy. I like to tweak and experiment, but only a little. Too much and I never feel satisfied because I'm never sure if it's "right".

Like I said before, I probably would power down the AI every night, but I'd rather leave the Stratos on all the time as that is where the magic happens. Really, all you need is the Reflektor 6n23p's. $70 for a cryoed matched pair. Sure there maybe better tubes out there such as nos bugle boys, but the price you pay for them to potentially have a fraction of the lifespan is a huge factor. I have no desire to try any other tubes now that I have found the reflektors.

I have a huge problem with tweaks haha. I get consumed with every little aspect and detail of my system, but yeah, its always in the back of my head if I am truly helping or hampering things. If you want to take it a tiny step further, check out Herbies Audio tube dampers. Another thing I have done is try the 2nd output of the AI, rather than the 1st. To my ears its a bit smoother and reduces some of the glare. You can also experiment with the dip switches behind the output caps to disable some of the caps in the chain. It lowers the gain and provides a more usable range. The L1 is the hottest pre I have ever owned!

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On 18/05/2017 at 9:51 PM, EquinoxDesignLab said:

From what I was told by AI, they recommend leaving it on 24/7. I've had a few tube preamps in the past and always turned them off when not in use. Since the circuit runs the tubes pretty hard anyways and really the only choice is to run Russian milspec tubes when considering sound quality/tube life ratio, I figured I'd just leave it on all the time for the sake of the Odyssey and the tubes themselves are relatively inexpensive. The L1 does just that, even when 'powered down' it still applies voltage to the heaters.

 

For me, the quality of the experience tends to outweigh the potential drawbacks, but we will definitely see what tube life is like as I am only on month 5 or so with these new ones. Appreciate your insight!

Unlike solid state devices a valve is effectively dying from the moment you turn it on and the big drawback with valves is lifespan and reliability, yes some are better than others but two of the main things that were improved with solid state electronics was lifespan and reliability and valve technology hasn't changed as we are still using the same valve types designed in the early to mid part of the last century with the same basic materials and gases being used in their manufacture so I'm quite surprised AI tell you to do that. It's less of a problem with a small a signal valve over an output valve but it is still a concern.

 

I'm not a manufacturer so they would have a lot more insight into this than I but it's something I have always understood to do and will continue to do, I do wonder though if they've looked at the hours life times claimed for a lot of these valves and taken them at face value but as I understand it yes they will still operate after long periods but not necessarily good enough for audio because it does very much depend on the accepted parameters for operation.

 

Keeping the heaters powered is to help with warm up time so might be what they mean by keeping it powered 24/7 but I've never found that to be that effective unless you use your equipment for many hours every day and then you'll go through valves pretty quick anyway.

People have tried all sorts of things with extending valve life over the years as they were expensive things in their heyday which is why I mentioned the fashion of turning the heaters off to extend their life which was pretty pointless if the amplifying part was worn out.

 

All that said though there are many inconveniences I will put up with for audio and all of those to do with valves fall into that category because I love the sound.

 

On 19/05/2017 at 0:35 AM, kannibal said:

 

AI recommended leaving it on all the time? I'm going to have to check my manual... ;)

interesting. I do think I need to get some new tubes, but I do NOT want to have to deal with "tube sound" and be constantly wondering if another kind of tube would be better. It will drive me crazy. I like to tweak and experiment, but only a little. Too much and I never feel satisfied because I'm never sure if it's "right".

That's one of the upsides to me with valve amps in that you can alter the sound by simply changing valve manufacturer, it doesn't take long to work out who's valves you like and unless the basic circuit is a problem you can put your chosen valves in any amp that uses that valve type and it should tailor the amps sound more to your liking.

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27 minutes ago, Highlite23 said:

Nothing earth shattering, but it's clean simple and does the job. Gotta clear out the cabinets to start storing LPs.........never enough room :)

 

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On 5/16/2017 at 8:49 AM, kannibal said:

 

 

 

Those speakers are too close to the turntable, is there a nearby shelf they can be put on? Or maybe for the turntable?

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