slinch Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Awesome gear, awesome furniture and awesome pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 This just arrived all the way from China. It's a cheap valve pre amp board based on the Musical Buffer X10 Buffer and using Chinese 6P1 valves. It cost £8.50 including shipping, came complete and you just feed it with 12V AC. I know the equipment before and after it is of a reasonable standard but for £8.50 it's absolutely amazing. Its particularly good at voice, I was expecting loads of hum and basically average sound but no its quiet and sounds superb, I might have got lucky and got a good one but for the price its got to be worth the wait on shipping. This one will be going into a nice box with a decent toroidal transformer and quality volume pot. So if anyone is ok with DIY projects and fancies a go at valves this is a very good and cheap way into them. vinyl addict 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldStock Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 1 hour ago, allenh said: This just arrived all the way from China. It's a cheap valve pre amp board based on the Musical Buffer X10 Buffer and using Chinese 6P1 valves. It cost £8.50 including shipping, came complete and you just feed it with 12V AC. I know the equipment before and after it is of a reasonable standard but for £8.50 it's absolutely amazing. Its particularly good at voice, I was expecting loads of hum and basically average sound but no its quiet and sounds superb, I might have got lucky and got a good one but for the price its got to be worth the wait on shipping. This one will be going into a nice box with a decent toroidal transformer and quality volume pot. So if anyone is ok with DIY projects and fancies a go at valves this is a very good and cheap way into them. I fancy giving that a pop. Where did you order it from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 ebay Here's the link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1Pc-6J1-Valve-Pre-amp-Tube-PreAmplifier-Board-On-Musical-Fidelity-X10-D-Circuit-/291786271575?hash=item43efd12b57:g:44sAAOSwMNxXV914 There's lots of different variants of them but this is the one I bought NewOldStock 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewvandal Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Tapped out for the moment but cannot believe how much I love my new VPI HW 16.5 I had so many record shot records that now sound like new, well worth the investment. mesi, pushbacktosquare and allenh 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whenicomearound Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 On December 4, 2016 at 3:30 PM, drewvandal said: Tapped out for the moment but cannot believe how much I love my new VPI HW 16.5 I had so many record shot records that now sound like new, well worth the investment. I'd love to have one of those but I can't afford it at the moment. Just ordered a new needle for my Shure M97XE cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl addict Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 (edited) 37 minutes ago, whenicomearound said: I'd love to have one of those but I can't afford it at the moment. Just ordered a new needle for my Shure M97XE cart. What stylus did you go with? I've been eyeing this. Heard some good reviews too. http://www.lpgear.com/product/SHN097xVL.html Edited December 9, 2016 by vinyl addict Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circuit bored records Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 (edited) On 12/4/2016 at 0:30 PM, drewvandal said: Tapped out for the moment but cannot believe how much I love my new VPI HW 16.5 I had so many record shot records that now sound like new, well worth the investment. Didn't realize you were using CM8s. Love those speakers. Also good call on the rosenut color. What are you powering them with? Edited December 9, 2016 by yanquiuxo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewvandal Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 10 hours ago, yanquiuxo said: Didn't realize you were using CM8s. Love those speakers. Also good call on the rosenut color. What are you powering them with? I have a Cronus Magnum II, even with a budget cart / turntable (Denon 300F & 2M Red) I think my set up sounds incredible. I can't imagine when I move up to a Scout with comparable cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whenicomearound Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 (edited) 22 hours ago, vinyl addict said: What stylus did you go with? I've been eyeing this. Heard some good reviews too. http://www.lpgear.com/product/SHN097xVL.html Just the stock one. I want to upgrade someday but I also have to pay bills. If I can get promoted at work down the road (we are building a new store in my area) I'll upgrade my gear. For now any money I have for the hobby I want to put towards more vinyl. I was having some issues with surface noise on a couple of records. Sold a record to a guy but told him there was some surface noise between tracks and during a few quiet parts but still very listenable. He has the same cart (different table though) and said that there was hardly any noise so somethings off with my setup. Re aligned the cart the best I could, re leveled the table, set the VTA as close as I could get it, re balanced the arm, etc and no change. The majority of people on anther forum I belong who responded to my thread suggested that my stylus needed to be replaced so new needle it is. If this doesn't fix it we have a bigger problem. This will keep me listening until I can afford to upgrade some of my gear. My TT is a Technics 1210 MK2. Bought it from a guy on audiokarma.org who had done some of the audiophile mods to it. Great table. Edited December 10, 2016 by whenicomearound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas³ Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 (edited) Grabbed an AT440MLA at the Audio-Technica warehouse sale.$160 for it, so not too bad. Edited December 10, 2016 by Thomas³ GreatGreenOne77, allenh and Sad Heart 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pushbacktosquare Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 (edited) I have an Ortofon 2M Blue replacement stylus that I'm selling, if anyone's interested. Brand new. https://www.turntablelab.com/products/ortofon-stylus-for-2m-blue Edited December 12, 2016 by olopez6919 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjorn Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 I finally added a DAC to my system. I found a marked down Cambridge DACmagic 100 and grabbed a used Apple TV off ebay to stream my digital library. I'm really happy with the results so far... sure beats the hell out of bluetooth. I'm also running my Denon DVD player through it for CD's and did some a/b testing, and the DAC definitely added some weight to the sound. I wasn't really expecting it to sound any different, but there was a clear improvement. I don't have any audio files higher than CD quality, but at least now I can try it out to see what the fuss is about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas³ Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 14 minutes ago, bjorn said: I finally added a DAC to my system. I found a marked down Cambridge DACmagic 100 and grabbed a used Apple TV off ebay to stream my digital library. I'm really happy with the results so far... sure beats the hell out of bluetooth. I'm also running my Denon DVD player through it for CD's and did some a/b testing, and the DAC definitely added some weight to the sound. I wasn't really expecting it to sound any different, but there was a clear improvement. I don't have any audio files higher than CD quality, but at least now I can try it out to see what the fuss is about. AppleTV won't do hi-res files, so not really worth seeking any out. It samples everything to 16-bit/48khz. Airplay is amazing though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjorn Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 Yep, I figured that out. If I do I'll just run a USB from my laptop. Kind of doubt I'll ever get around to it though. And yes, Airplay is a great feature. I have an iMac hosting my files in another room, but I just use the remote app on my phone to control it. Works and sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas³ Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Just picked up a second headshell to mount my AT440 on. I want to keep my Grado nice and aligned, just incase. A bit weary about mounting the AT, since the cantilever is tiny, but I should be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldStock Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) On 03/12/2016 at 11:52 AM, allenh said: ebay Here's the link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1Pc-6J1-Valve-Pre-amp-Tube-PreAmplifier-Board-On-Musical-Fidelity-X10-D-Circuit-/291786271575?hash=item43efd12b57:g:44sAAOSwMNxXV914 There's lots of different variants of them but this is the one I bought Thanks Allen. This arrived today, unfortunately the tubes were all bent up so I'll have to get a replacement. Second time's a charm! EDIT: @allenh - I straightened out the tubes and got it running. However, everything sounds a bit 'distant' compared to the CA 551. This could be due to the fact the tubes were all over the place, but did you sound there wasn't much punch when you got yours going? I'd also be interested to see what you do as a case when you get there! Edited December 31, 2016 by lastvaultboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 On 31/12/2016 at 11:30 AM, lastvaultboy said: Thanks Allen. This arrived today, unfortunately the tubes were all bent up so I'll have to get a replacement. Second time's a charm! EDIT: @allenh - I straightened out the tubes and got it running. However, everything sounds a bit 'distant' compared to the CA 551. This could be due to the fact the tubes were all over the place, but did you sound there wasn't much punch when you got yours going? I'd also be interested to see what you do as a case when you get there! Bent pins on the tubes shouldn't matter, that sounds like a lack of gain or an impedance mis match. This thing is derived from the Musical Fidelity X10 which is a valve buffer stage with no gain at all, the Chinese modified the circuit to give it some gain so it could be used as a pre amp stage, one thing they do though is to push the power supply to the very edge of being able to work so you might find the output of your transformer is too low under load which would mean the HT voltage on the valves is too low. What are you using as a transformer to power it and have you got anything bigger to try? it isn't necessarily low voltage to start with but if the current output is low then there will be a big volt drop under load which effectively means you are not giving it enough voltage when it needs it. I used one of the cheap toroids from Maplin for mine, the one 15VA with two 6V secondaries did the job, I wired the two secondaries in series to give me 12V Mine looks like this now. NewOldStock 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldStock Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 6 hours ago, allenh said: Bent pins on the tubes shouldn't matter, that sounds like a lack of gain or an impedance mis match. This thing is derived from the Musical Fidelity X10 which is a valve buffer stage with no gain at all, the Chinese modified the circuit to give it some gain so it could be used as a pre amp stage, one thing they do though is to push the power supply to the very edge of being able to work so you might find the output of your transformer is too low under load which would mean the HT voltage on the valves is too low. What are you using as a transformer to power it and have you got anything bigger to try? it isn't necessarily low voltage to start with but if the current output is low then there will be a big volt drop under load which effectively means you are not giving it enough voltage when it needs it. I used one of the cheap toroids from Maplin for mine, the one 15VA with two 6V secondaries did the job, I wired the two secondaries in series to give me 12V Mine looks like this now. Looks good! Thanks for all the information, good to know some more about it. I used my CA pre amp plug which is 12v output - reckon this would struggle to drive it correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldStock Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Not to leap off topic too much, but has anyone got any current speaker recommendations? I'm currently running a Cambridge Audio 351a amp and would anticipate I need some smaller floor standing speakers for the size of my room (potentially a decent set of larger bookshelf will work, either way they will be floor based!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arem Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 What's your budget? Can't make recommendations without knowing at least that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldStock Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 36 minutes ago, arem said: What's your budget? Can't make recommendations without knowing at least that... Good point well made! I'd say around £500 at the moment ($620 roughly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 (edited) richersounds has a bunch of stuff on clearance: http://www.richersounds.com/clearance for example, these are great: http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/TANN-XT6F-DK-WAL/Tannoy+Xt6f+Dk+Wal.html or even these: http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/DALI-ZENSOR-5-WHI/Dali+Zensor+5+White.html or if you go for bookshelf size: http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/MONI-AUDI-SILV-2-WAL/Monitor+Audio+Silver+2+Walnut.html http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/FOCA-CHOR-706-BLK/Focal+Chorus+706+Blk+(Soc).html What's the size of the room? It's very important for determining what type of speakers to get. Edited January 3, 2017 by slinch NewOldStock 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldStock Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 (edited) 52 minutes ago, slinch said: richersounds has a bunch of stuff on clearance: http://www.richersounds.com/clearance for example, these are great: http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/TANN-XT6F-DK-WAL/Tannoy+Xt6f+Dk+Wal.html or even these: http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/DALI-ZENSOR-5-WHI/Dali+Zensor+5+White.html or if you go for bookshelf size: http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/MONI-AUDI-SILV-2-WAL/Monitor+Audio+Silver+2+Walnut.html http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/FOCA-CHOR-706-BLK/Focal+Chorus+706+Blk+(Soc).html What's the size of the room? It's very important for determining what type of speakers to get. Thanks for the suggestions - I'll spend some time taking a look. Room is about 172ftsq so not huge but a reasonable size. Want to future proof a little too as a move might be on the cards! listened to some CM8s. Amazing. Edited January 3, 2017 by lastvaultboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewvandal Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 4 hours ago, lastvaultboy said: Thanks for the suggestions - I'll spend some time taking a look. Room is about 172ftsq so not huge but a reasonable size. Want to future proof a little too as a move might be on the cards! listened to some CM8s. Amazing. I love my CM8's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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