john_tracy
Responses from john_tracy
| cats and speakers - looking for clues My cats got rambunctious and managed to dent the metal dome tweeter in a Monitor Audio GR-20 speaker. I used some sticky tape to pop it back in place. They have since passed on. I really miss those guys. | |
| persistent 60 cycle hum only on tube gear My power amps have AC heaters. My line stage has AC heaters. Only the input stage of my phono pre has DC heaters. I have relatively high efficiency speakers (96dB) and there is no hum with my ear up against the speaker. In well designed equipment ... | |
| persistent 60 cycle hum only on tube gear First: there is a difference between hum (60Hz) and buzz (120Hz). Bad PS caps result in buzz. I have built many tube amps and none of them produced any hum. Hum can result from magnetic coupling between PS transformers ( chokes) and audio transfor... | |
| ARC Select Worth Price? My prototype K&K Audio phono pre and Line Stage use a total of six 6H30s. These tubes are configured as diff. pairs with current source tails and CT transformer loads. Since the Lundahl LL1689 transformers will tolerate only a small amount of ... | |
| For Tube Folks... If you want really well matched output tubes you need to burn them in for awhile and retest. They will drift around a bit when they are new. Unless you are curve tracing, you will need to test under the conditions of your amp. Fixed bias amps usua... | |
| Modular LP record storage suggestions Mapleshade has an excellent modular hardwood solution. They are like beefy oak "orange crates" that stack on top of each other so are very flexible and if you have to move you can just unstack them. | |
| Gonna have to ditch the Soundsmith Carmen II I had the same sibilance problem. I was not the SS Sussurro cart. (Peter's prototype). Improvements to my electronics solved the problem. | |
| is th gain on my phono preamp enough for MCoil? Lundahl makes MC transformers that are 1+1 ;; 8+8. Wired for a gain of 8 times that's a gain of 18dB for a total of 70dB or 4mV output with your Shelter cart. K&K Audio sells a kit with a case and PC board and RCA jacks for a reasonable price. | |
| Interconnect Length What kind of cart. are you going to try to use? With a MM cart. the capacitance of 20' will probably kill you. With a MC I'm guessing that only a balanced connection has a chance of working out. | |
| Can Vinyl LP's Survive In A Room that Gets 95 Degrees? I'd be more worried about humidity. Mold will grow on vinyl; especially if there is something like a fingerprint to help it get started growing. | |
| Recommedation for Phono Pre for my modest rig If you are interested in a tube based phono pre you should consider the K&K Audio Trio. The most recent addition to the K&K stable is a budget priced kit that "errors" on side of slightly added "warmth" at the expense of less analytic deta... | |
| AC power supply for Nottingham Analogue Whatever you choose to buy, in addition to speed (frequency) control look for a unit that will allow you to adjust the output voltage. IME with my Nott. Hyperspace adjusting the voltage to the minimum required to maintain speed is very audible and... | |
| Phoenix Engineering Falcon and Eagle Reducing the voltage to the motor after start-up decreases the magnitude of the pulses. On my table, that results in a lower noise floor, blacker background, improved soundstage, tighter imaging and cleaner presentation. Not subtle differences... | |
| Is a Step-up Transformer needed? SUTs are 'pure' — head-amps add distortionTransformers are NOT without their own distortion. Some just prefer that to the distortions generated by active devices such as FETs. Some head-amps use batteries to solve the noise issue.Batteries will no... | |
| Is a Step-up Transformer needed? Yes. You will have to set the "jumpers" for MC and to select the required load resistance. Read the owners manual. |