Show Us Your Audio System

[med6753]

Let's see your audio system. We have plenty of threads describing the merits of one format vs another plus all the other general audiofoolery. What is the equipment you listen to in the comfort of your own home or shop? I'm sure some of you have systems worthy of a king's ransom. Post it up!

But let's keep this thread foolery free. Everyone has their own opinion of what sounds good and they are entitled to it. Leave the other crap at the front door. This is strictly a “show and tell”.

I'll start. All the audio equipment shown, except for the Sony speakers, are Craigslists purchases. The Sony receiver was the only unit requiring repair. It had a loud buzz in the output that recapping of the power supply fixed.

My choice of music is mostly older Rock such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, etc.   

The shelving unit was designed and built by me. Although it doesn't show it this equipment is at eye level for easy adjustments.




View of the front speakers. Not the best separation because of space constraints. Disadvantage of apartment living. The TV can also be driven by the media PC via an HDMI switch. And yes, on the lower left is a functional VCR that get's occasional use.


Here's an overall view of how everything is connected.   

[NiHaoMike]

The current star of the show is a combined DAC/headphone amp, along with a pair of Xiaomi Piston 3 headphones.
https://github.com/NiHaoMike/OpenDAC-HD
For speakers, I have a DIY "hybrid digital" amplifier. The speakers themselves are a pair I got for cheap at Goodwill.
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/appliances-gadgets/358-amanda-harris-prius-home-audio.html

I would like to build a (fully) digital speaker amplifier, although the tiny SMD packages the best amplifier chipsets come in aren't exactly DIY friendly. Not much in the way of modules either.

And while it's not technically audio, one of my current projects is a haptic driver for gaming. Basically a special type of motor drive inverter designed to drive what is essentially a scaled up version of the vibrators used in modern mobile phones.

[Halcyon]

Dire Straits

 

I'm also a huge fan of Daryl Braithwaite (I don't know if you guys in UK/US really got into Daryl much... his hits included "One Summer", "The Horses" and "As the days go by"). One of the best Aussie artists in my opinion along with Icehouse. "Great Southern Land" is another classic but probably won't resonate as much with people outside AU.


My home audio system is currently just a laptop running Winamp connected to a Yamaha HTR-6130 amplifier and some cheapy speakers. Sadly the best audio system is in my car; I drive a Volvo which was one of the last models with the Dynaudio speakers. They sound simply amazing.

I'll get around to buying proper speakers for the house eventually. Landscaping comes first.

Although more importantly, all my music is either in Wave or FLAC format. Even with crap speakers, the compression artifacts in MP3 files sound terrible.

[Kilrah]

Nothing fancy - PC putting out DTS via optical to a decent LG home cinema. Playing good and preferably loud music so as to cover the noise of the refrigerator 
Otherwise, Bose QC15. That solves the problem and sounds great too.

Love your old gear though, been a while since I played with separate components.

[jancumps]

Mine:

[Mechanical Menace]

I use one of these:



with some Mission floorstanders for stereo. Cheap Creative 7.1 system for everything else. PC and phone or tablet as the source.

[nctnico]

I just went back to my trusty JVC RX-203. It must be over 25 years old. It forgets it's presets and a very long time ago I had to replace the speaker relay.

My speakers are even older; I scored those for free when I was a teenager (got them from a friend). The CD player, cassette deck and record player are stored somewhere. Whenever I want to play one of my old records, CDs or cassettes I just play the MP3s.

[rdl]

This is what I've been listening to since 1998. Except I stored the CD player away several years ago and now just use a PC as the source. Almost 100 GB of music, mostly FLAC but some is mp3. The amp is connected to a pair of Polk RT-55i speakers and I have some Sennheiser HD-600 headphones.

[strangersound]

This thread: 

I love audio components.

[rrinker]

More  for Dire Straits. Second only to Yes 

 Makes me want to get some gear again. I haven't had a system of any sort since college. Just tossed the receiver actually - amazing thing is I still have the original box it came in. In 1985. Closes thing I've had since it a semi-component Sony boom box type unit, I got the best one I could find WITHOUT a CD player in it and hooked my computer to it.
 Speaking of CDs, my senior presentation was on CD technology - it was fairly new back then. My own player was an early second generation unit. That class also showed me how an otherwise intelligent PhD could be an idiot - the professor actually interrupted my to say I was wrong when I said the disc slows down as the laser moves outward, in order to maintain constant linear velocity. Even after drawing it on the board and showing the math, he STILL insisted I was wrong, the RPMs have to go UP. The rest of the class got it even without the impromptu math lesson, which was NOT part of my presentation, and started telling the prof that I was right and to just shut up and let me finish my talk.

[Cubdriver]

Here's what I'm presently running - a VTA ST-70 fed by an old iPod.  The speakers aren't shown, but they're a pair of Polk S-8s that I bought new some time in the early 90's.  Perhaps not the ultimate in sound quality, but it works for the moment.  It also helps to heat the joint!  (This will become less of a positive point as summer rolls around...)

-Pat

[Delta]

My beautiful and fantastic sounding Marantz receiver.   I bought it for fifteen quid when I was a kid, about twenty years ago.  It's older than me, and still sounds fantastic.  I wish I hadn't painted the fascia black, but alas, it was the nineties....

[retrolefty]

My beautiful and fantastic sounding Marantz receiver.   I bought it for fifteen quid when I was a kid, about twenty years ago.  It's older than me, and still sounds fantastic.  I wish I hadn't painted the fascia black, but alas, it was the nineties....

 The 70s were the 'golden age' of solid state stereo equipment. Marantz, Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony, and others were at their peak in my opinion. Ever brand had many price point models all the way up to their top of the line offerings. No PCs and other consumer electronics, so hi-fi systems got most the disposable income. 

[Rerouter]

http://static.bootic.com/_pictures/1600315/philips-shs8200-28.jpg

Now before you all laugh, these have been my all time favorite way of listening to music, i wear glasses, and this is the only over ear i have found that doesn't crush my ears over the spokes of my glasses,

As they aren't a popular design i bought 10 of them at $12 each last time i found them, currently on set 3.

[cs.dk]

I'm using a NAD 317 bridged with a NAD 214. Most often i am listening to a local radiostation, but when more is needed a notebook streams the music.
For speakers; 2x JBL Control SB-5 subs, and 4 JBL Control 1 Plus satellites.

[SeanB]

Kenwood amplifier, and just got some (free) Boston VRS pro speakers to use in place of the Kenwood speakers. Had to do a little modification recently to the Kenwood to replace the speaker output connectors, as they had died from being a wire clip only. Replaced with a nice set of speaker connectors from a dead Onkyo home entertainment unit ( even had Onkyo branded capacitors in it) transplanted using a gentle amount of work with a small carbide bit to move the holes to the right positions.

Just got rid of a Hitachi HMA9500 as scrap metal, I kicked my little toe one time too many on it, so turned the 29kg lump of aluminium casting ( 6.6kg as the 2 heatsink castings alone) and the chassis to scrap. Still got the 14kg of potted power transformers, and the 60 000 uF of capacitors it held, and the 2 slightly crispy amplifier boards ( 450W per channel does that) along with the dinkiest little power supply I ever saw on a 1kW amplifier.

[med6753]

Here's what I'm presently running - a VTA ST-70 fed by an old iPod.  The speakers aren't shown, but they're a pair of Polk S-8s that I bought new some time in the early 90's.  Perhaps not the ultimate in sound quality, but it works for the moment.  It also helps to heat the joint!  (This will become less of a positive point as summer rolls around...)

-Pat

Let's see....

In the rear 5U4 full wave rectifier.

Output pairs on each side, either 6L6 or 5881 or KT66 or equivalent.

Trio in the center, 12AX7.

Am I close? 

[Cubdriver]

Here's what I'm presently running - a VTA ST-70 fed by an old iPod.  The speakers aren't shown, but they're a pair of Polk S-8s that I bought new some time in the early 90's.  Perhaps not the ultimate in sound quality, but it works for the moment.  It also helps to heat the joint!  (This will become less of a positive point as summer rolls around...)

-Pat

Let's see....

In the rear 5U4 full wave rectifier.

Output pairs on each side, either 6L6 or 5881 or KT66 or equivalent.

Trio in the center, 12AX7.

Am I close? 

Pretty close.  The rectifier is the Winged C (Russian) equivalent to the 5U4 - a 5-something-Cyrillic-that-looks-like-a U/Greek letter 'mu'-3C - really neat looking tube with a zig-zag wire filament rather than the plain looking ribbons in most 5U4s.

The outputs are EL-34s - a good way to tell them (and 6CA7s) is that they're typically truly tubular - the envelope diameter is the same as that of the base, rather than larger like the 6L6 or KT66/88 or 5881s, etc., or smaller like tubes such as the 6SN7GT and the like.

The trio in the center are cousins to the 12AX7 - they're 12AU7s.

I do have some KT66s to try in it at some point, but am happy with the EL34s for the time being.

-Pat

[med6753]

Pretty close.  The rectifier is the Winged C (Russian) equivalent to the 5U4 - a 5-something-Cyrillic-that-looks-like-a U/Greek letter 'mu'-3C - really neat looking tube with a zig-zag wire filament rather than the plain looking ribbons in most 5U4s.

Yep, tube makers recommended that 5U4's always be mounted in the vertical position because of that ribbon filament. If mounted horizontally the filament might sag and short to the plate causing all kinds of fireworks.

The outputs are EL-34s - a good way to tell them (and 6CA7s) is that they're typically truly tubular - the envelope diameter is the same as that of the base, rather than larger like the 6L6 or KT66/88 or 5881s, etc., or smaller like tubes such as the 6SN7GT and the like.

Ever see a metal 6L6? Think the more common metal 6F6 but over twice the size. My father repaired TV's in the early 1950's and he had several brand new and absolutely pristine metal RCA 6L6's in his stock. After my parents divorced in the 1980's my Mother threw them away along with all the other tubes.  Can you imagine what they would be worth today?

The trio in the center are cousins to the 12AX7 - they're 12AU7s.

I'm familiar with that tube type. Must be Class A push-pull, correct?

[GreyWoolfe]

My beautiful and fantastic sounding Marantz receiver.   I bought it for fifteen quid when I was a kid, about twenty years ago.  It's older than me, and still sounds fantastic.  I wish I hadn't painted the fascia black, but alas, it was the nineties....

 The 70s were the 'golden age' of solid state stereo equipment. Marantz, Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony, and others were at their peak in my opinion. Ever brand had many price point models all the way up to their top of the line offerings. No PCs and other consumer electronics, so hi-fi systems got most the disposable income. 

My 70's stereo consisted of a Sansui receiver, a Technics direct drive turntable with manual lift and a Stanton cartridge, Teac top load cassette deck and Lafayette Criterion speakers.  I had it in the finished basement in the house I grew up in and it certainly could fill the basement up with sound.  Many, many bangings on floor from parental units to turn it down.  I also had some headphones but can't recall the make/model.

[willb]

This is my living room system. Full range electrostatics. I do have a REL sub woofer behind the left panel. Source is either vinyl or digital (using a Naim ND5XS high res media player). I have roughly 1TB of music I ripped in FLAC running on a UPNP server for my streamer.

[N2IXK]

Ever see a metal 6L6? Think the more common metal 6F6 but over twice the size. My father repaired TV's in the early 1950's and he had several brand new and absolutely pristine metal RCA 6L6's in his stock. After my parents divorced in the 1980's my Mother threw them away along with all the other tubes.  Can you imagine what they would be worth today?

Not a hell of a lot, actually.  Compare the prices they bring on eBay compared to other NOS 6L6 variants. I wish they were more valuable, as I have a big box of the things in my lab somewhere.

The original metal 6L6 has only a 19W plate dissipation rating,  compared with the 30W of the "modern" 6L6GC. They tend to fail spectacularly when used in anything other than their original applications, large console radios and early PA amplifiers.  They are out of the question for guitar amp use because of plate dissipation and voltage ratings, and the 6L6 was never really popular in vintage HiFi gear (unlike the EL34 or 6550 types), and obviously lack the cool glow, so the audiophools tend to shun them.

Many years ago, I built a pair of water cooling jackets to fit on metal 6L6 tubes, which allowed the ratings to be pushed considerably.  These were inspired by an article I saw in a 1930s QST magazine about operating the new metal 6L6 upside down in a can of transformer oil as a class C RF power amp.

One other caution on the metal 6L6 is that like most metal tubes, pin 1 is connected to the metal shell. Glass 6L6s don't have a pin #1, but it is quite common for the unused lugs on the socket to be used for a tie point, making for a potential shock hazard if the metal shell becomes live with plate or screen voltage! If you want to play around with the metal tubes, pin 1 on the sockets should be grounded right to the chassis.

[vze1lryy]

Rotel RB-1090, PCM1716 based DAC, Vandersteen Model 3A signature speakers, a bunch of owens corning 703 fiberglass, and the cheapest shit speaker cable you can imagine. I have some caseless $25 power one linear for the DAC. I spent more on buying/transporting the wood/fiberglass/fabric for the acoustic treatment than I did on the amp/DAC/wiring. I never understood why hi-fi enthusiasts put so much money into the stuff that has so little influence and leave the room to sound like shit!

I can't stand vinyl. It sends chills up my spine, particularly on piano or any quiet percussive with a long decay. Once I got used to spotting the inherent distortion it's impossible to unhear it and now it's all I hear when I listen to vinyl. Drives me nuts!! the 1716 makes digital bearable. Far better than the garbage that came out of ac97 analog output 15 years ago

Thiel and Vandersteen are my favorites for speakers! Those panels have all since been degraded to destroyed cat toys.. it's about time I get some new ones. I wonder if I can trick them into continuing to scratch the old ones?

[med6753]

Not a hell of a lot, actually.  Compare the prices they bring on eBay compared to other NOS 6L6 variants. I wish they were more valuable, as I have a big box of the things in my lab somewhere.

The original metal 6L6 has only a 19W plate dissipation rating,  compared with the 30W of the "modern" 6L6GC. They tend to fail spectacularly when used in anything other than their original applications, large console radios and early PA amplifiers.  They are out of the question for guitar amp use because of plate dissipation and voltage ratings, and the 6L6 was never really popular in vintage HiFi gear (unlike the EL34 or 6550 types), and obviously lack the cool glow, so the audiophools tend to shun them.

I was not aware that the metal 6L6 had so much less plate dissipation.

 

One other caution on the metal 6L6 is that like most metal tubes, pin 1 is connected to the metal shell. Glass 6L6s don't have a pin #1, but it is quite common for the unused lugs on the socket to be used for a tie point, making for a potential shock hazard if the metal shell becomes live with plate or screen voltage! If you want to play around with the metal tubes, pin 1 on the sockets should be grounded right to the chassis.

That issue with pin 1 I was familiar with. The RCA Receiving Tube Manual mentions it.

[vze1lryy]

My toys that I practically never use, see attachment. Just to be clear, I'm not a vinyl purist by any stretch. In fact, I abuse the shit out of them while scratching and mixing, etc. It's all about the fun factor.

Those panels have all since been degraded to destroyed cat toys..

When I saw that in your photo, I knew they looked familiar. Then I saw your signature.

How can you bear seeing your stuff getting destroyed like that?

How could I get mad at little blackberry? She's there when I go to sleep, she's there when I wake up, she's there when I'm feeling down. She's my angel.