Home Theater/Personal audio thread...

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Gunman

you guys seem like audiophiles

Nah audiophiles buy into a lot of complicated products like garden hose thick speaker wires and wood stands for said speaker wires.

And don't forget the turbo encabulator.

[Vracer111]

First off...ouch! Good that no one was harmed in that incedent.

Secondly, personally, I would just get a pair of nice full range mains for the price you are considering for the sound bar - quality over 'quantity'. You'd want something at least equivalent to around a 6" woofer drivers with 1" tweeter... they would even replace the sub as well since very good mains extend down into the 30Hz-40Hz range. My mains are 30Hz-27kHz capable/40Hz-26kHz range @ -3dB and 90dB sensitivity - only time I really use the subwoofers is for Blu-ray movies that I know need the extra bass. I'll take an excellent 2 channel stereo system over a mediocre multi-channel surround system everytime, quality of sound is most important to me.

Even though I have a good 7.2 setup, most of the time I just listen with the 2 mains only - especially music.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Gunman

Yep, Klipsch is 92db @ 1m, the SSA-42 is 89db @ 1m.

Has anyone heard Definitive Technology's "Spatial Array"? ie the surround sound, without the surround speakers? I have my doubts, and reviews agree, but they also say it's better than just l/c/r. That is also pushing me away from the Klipsch in the apartment, and my wife hates having to run wires to the rear (now, and in future).

Nothing beats a source in the spot. Also nothing wrong with using some of the magic of physics to pretend when that's the best solution. There are some pretty good wireless solutions these days, or get white wires and do a good job running them along a wall...

FWIW there are audiophiles and audiophools... When descriptions start wandering into subjective feelings about what changed, you're probably among the latter. Just because you're into fat wires and cycle DACs like they're a daily newspaper doesn't make you a fool, as long as you're not destroying relationships over it (and I've watched this happen, when its not drinking or something, it van be harder for people to recognize it's a problem.)

[Clipdat]

Looks like Schiit now has a retail store in Southern California!

http://schiit.com/schiitr

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Looks like Schiit now has a retail store in Southern California!

http://schiit.com/schiitr

That's some good...stuff...

Wanna see what a Gustard H10 looks like inside?



In the process of modding it. Have Versarien Cu foam low profile heatsinks attached to the 8 transistors on the large heatsink and on the two voltage regulator transistors (temporarily). Waiting on the actual heatsinks ordered for the voltage regulators to come in along with copper shims will be making into heatsinks for the smaller transistors. Will be modding the case top this weekend to make it vented - slotting holes on sides and top along with coming up with breathable covering for the holes.

[Clipdat]

Interesting design! Never seen such a long volume shaft like that going through a canyon of big capacitors!

Why do you feel that it needs the additional heatsinks and venting? Does it run particularly hot?

Edit: I see that it's Class A, so if it's anything like my Asgard 2, it runs hot!

Originally Posted by Vracer111

That's some good...stuff...

Wanna see what a Gustard H10 looks like inside?


In the process of modding it. Have Versarien Cu foam low profile heatsinks attached to the 8 transistors on the large heatsink and on the two voltage regulator transistors (temporarily). Waiting on the actual heatsinks ordered for the voltage regulators to come in along with copper shims will be making into heatsinks for the smaller transistors. Will be modding the case top this weekend to make it vented - slotting holes on sides and top along with coming up with breathable covering for the holes.

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Interesting design! Never seen such a long volume shaft like that going through a canyon of big capacitors!

Here's some long shafts for ya!

[Clipdat]

Dare I say "over-engineered"?

Originally Posted by krayzie

Here's some long shafts for ya!

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Dare I say "over-engineered"?

Yea this late 70's ESPRIT stuff looks even more stunning inside than their R Series from later on.

[Clipdat]

Man, I love high end audio components. I think I enjoy looking at them and admiring the parts and circuits inside as much as I would listening to them.

My shoe string budget unfortunately doesn't allow me to try out or experience a lot of this gear unfortunately. However, the subscription to Stereophile magazine helps.

Back in the day when I was a kid, I got to hear an Onkyo Integra integrated, and it's been all downhill from there!

Edit: Looking at the specs, this thing isn't even that special! I guess when you're young, everything seems more impressive!

Originally Posted by krayzie

Yea this late 70's ESPRIT stuff looks even more stunning inside than their R Series from later on.

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Interesting design! Never seen such a long volume shaft like that going through a canyon of big capacitors!

Why do you feel that it needs the additional heatsinks and venting? Does it run particularly hot?

Edit: I see that it's Class A, so if it's anything like my Asgard 2, it runs hot!

The long shaft is because the potentiometer is placed all the way in the back for shortests signal routing. The feel in turning the knob is a little bit lacking, but not too bad.

From reading through the Gustard H10 thread on Head-fi there are a lot of failure issues with Burson V5 opamps due to the heat buildup and also some units just dying after several years or the voltage regulators going out. The heatsink gets really hot quickly as do the little transformers near the front opamps, the voltage regulators as well. Figure might as well vent the amp since cooler is better for lifespan with powered electronics.

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by krayzie

Here's some long shafts for ya!

Those are pretty neat pictures of the Sony Esprit units!


I do like nice internals... after all, it's what inside that counts.

[krayzie]

Here are two sites that have some rather nice internal pix of old Japanese Hi-Fi stuff.

http://audio-heritage.jp/

http://www.thevintageknob.org/

I only like older things so my entire Hi-Fi setup is 2nd hand from Canuck Audio Mart. I just place "Looking For" / "Want To Buy" postings of certain models and thankfully I got replies back after many months from local collectors (okay it was some hours of driving out of town) that sold me what I wanted.

Man yesterday while at a local 2nd hand store I saw the Esoteric P-500/D-500 CD+DAC combo for the first time in person. Too bad I don't have $800 bucks to spare (kinda overpriced imo but I would have used them to build a new headphone rig).

[Vracer111]

Current state of the Gustard H10...









Currently running the Burson V6 Classic Opamps. The V6 Classics are pretty detailed and clear sounding with great bass reproduction. The overall balance though is slightly more to the mids and highs compared to stock from what I can tell...

Will be adding additonal holes in the top for the rear Opamp/voltage regulator locations... they get very hot. Will also need to touch up some areas and come up with some custom filter screens.