Do you build anything for your high fidelity system? If so, what do you make?


After some self assessment and introspection on my own high fidelity habits I discovered that I build or make things for my stereo/audio room. Some examples of these things are;

1 Tore out carpeting/padding/floor tiles in the addition to my house (audio room) and painted the cement floor with epoxy paint and clear coat. Placed out a Turkish area rug.

2 Made cherry wood speaker stands on wheels.

3 Had made custom speaker covers and stereo stand covers for when I am not listening to audio to keep away dust. Thanks to my seamstress....

4 Custom made Paduak wood cover (with legs) with two low speed exhaust fans for my tube amp

So curiosity got the best of me. Have you made anything for you stereo system or room? If so what did you make and why?

2psyop

I built two sets of speakers. Bill Fitzmaurice Davids, because I wanted a flat response speaker with good bass extension at a good price. And Linkwitz LXMinis, because they are so unique, they fit in the space I had available in my office, and I wanted to try an active crossover.

My latest project.  Vibration isolation platfoms for new tube mono blocks.  Total cost $90 each.

 

65 pounds of dry sand

 

Free floating top

Amps arrive next week.  Also built the speaker platforms.   I marvel at you guys that build your own electronics.  I'm limited to working with my hands.  

Great thread!

I get a lot out of adding "handwork" that helps my systems sound and look good.

For example:

-Rebuilding a Lenco L75 in a custom designed phenolic resin plinth

-Designing and building custom stands for my Quads

-Building custom stands for Monitor Audio MA-3's, modeled after an Audio Note design.

-Adding an exotic hardwood faceplate to an old tube amp pulled from a console . . .

Fun, fun, fun!

Interesting topic. While I didn’t actually sit down with a soldering iron and perform the work myself, I did have a long discussion with the engineers at Jolida Audio (now Black Ice) about modifying a Jolida Glass FX DAC DSD to my exact specifications. We settled on a blend of mods starting with a factory Level 1 upgrade which is simple upgrades to resistors, diodes, capacitors and vacuum tubes (the Glass FX DAC uses 12AX7 tubes in the analog pre-amp section to “sweeten” the D/A conversion) upgrade. Then I requested that they add a ByBee Rail. The ByBee Music Rail reduces the noise floor with internal power conditioning. Last, I replaced the standard Mullard Gold Lion tubes with Tung-Sol Gold Tips for a slightly brighter output.
Feeding the Glass FX is a Cambridge Audio CXC CD Transport. The CXC does not have a built-in D/A converter, so it requires an external unit. The accuracy of the sole purpose transport is amazing and the sound signature is breathtaking. It beats the doors of any streamed musical source.