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I thought some of ya'll might like to see an old mans cluttered play room.

today a few hours , despite the heat, I´ve been on the road. The sequence of pictures shows the valley in which we live , the last our river " Ruhr " which beds in the valley. Above the river is the castle " Blankenstein ". This was built in the 13th century. Today it houses a large gastronomic establishment with restaurant and various events .it is a popular destination for excursions

Hello - Long time Klipsch owner and lover - just inherited an incredible gift of (2) Marantz model 2 tube amps and (1) Marantz 7T Pre. They had been in storage for over 30 years, so they are at my local trusted shop to be brought up properly and serviced. I plan to hook them up to my Chorus 2's and turntable setup - is there anything special I should be cautious of - I remember reading once about a specific sequence of power up/power down that should be followed either with separate amp/pre or tubes? Will post pics of them cleaned up once its all back and set up. Thanks in advance!

It's alive. Cannot tell a lie, it did not happen without some burps. I will never claim to be a pro amp builder. Not surprising being it has been a few years since I built a tube amplifier point to point. Having a problem is good. You can learn a lot more that way about electronics. Maynard was a big help for me when I first started building 10 years or so back. There are more on this forum that will do the same with you a beginner. I did work work on it live, makes it easier to find problem, but could be found almost as easy by just checking the parts with multimeter and all the connections to be sure they are correct with schematic. I am going to have to attach star ground to chassis ground probably through a 100ohm resistor. Hummed real bad until I did that during testing. Right now I am just going to call it a day and start again tomorrow. Too much stress for an old man documenting a build and worrying about him not able to produce and get it to work. 🙂 This kind of detailing a build from start to finish is best left to some young talented youngster. Remember youngster to me is under 53 years old. The second picture shows it still chained to the dim bulb tester with it running. If it were burning bright you have a dead short somewhere. I will turn it loose from it's chain and do some testing tomorrow but it sounds really good with some 85db test speakers.

Don't have a lot of experience with class D had a few Topping PA5's running for awhile I didn't consider them fatiguing, kind of sterile maybe. For the price they actually surprised me they did sound pretty good, clean with a decent sized sound stage which I didn't expect, can only imagine how good the higher end class D amps sound.

Parametric is infinitely adjustable and infinitely confusing, difficult to set quickly. Classic bass knob centered at 60 Hz and treble knob centered at 10 kHz go a long way, and are easily quickly tweaked. EQ is mostly flat until a source demands adjustment.

Edgar is correct and wait a few seconds before turning off the pre to let the caps drain. But you won't like them; I'll pick them up next week when I visit my brother in Yarmouth.

The member CWelsh has graciously made a BOM (bill of materials) with part #'s at Mouser and Tubedepot for anyone that wants to challenge themselves and build this little amplifier. You guys with better eyes can look it over and see if there is anything I may have left off. I am a follower of Nelson Pass who tries to watch and read everything he has done in his life. The man is a genius in my book. I am sure there are others just as smart doing the same thing he does but I like his theory and ideas best. Much like a simple SET tube amplifier. Three circuit two stage amplifiers. You only have to try and understand 3 circuits well instead of the many more in other amplifiers. That is what designers do. Put different circuits together to make something. They can take one circuit and play around with it and then add it to the other well known circuit they like. This little amplifier I like and am building has 3 very simple circuits if you study each circuit independently you can understand how adding them together can make an amplifier. There are some of those more talented guys than myself mentioning adding a choke in this power supply. Probably help with better numbers but what Maynard designed works well and does it job sounding good to me with no hiss on my horns. One can certainly add a choke if they care too but wanting to keep this project simple and the least expensive I chose not to do so but to build Maynard's amplifier just like he designed it. My go to choke is the Triadmagnetics C-14X for those wanting to know the one I use when a design calls for a choke. Use to cost something like $15. I actually have two of them in stock. In my book Maynard is the man when it comes to tube amplifiers. He has probably forgot more than I ever knew about tube circuits. Watching some of Nelson's videos at the Burning Amp Festival every year there is sometime someone there that will call him an engineer. He is quick to point out that he is not an engineer but does not mention he got his degree at college in Physics if I am not mistaken. Electronics was just a hobby for him and his friends when he was in college. They built speakers and amplifiers selling them to fellow students. He has taken his hobby and built a successful money making business from it. Being close to my age he now spends his time at his ranch in California turning his two business' over to qualified partners with him just playing with circuits at his house for future products. I bet he gets a healthy check each month and does what he enjoys doing at home. I hope to finish this amplifier today or tomorrow and do some testing. At least that is my plan with my fingers crossed by the way. Been a few years since building a tube amplifier and being older does not help. I use to be able to build them and they work. CRS is getting worse every year now. CRS is can't remember and I will let you guess the next word.

Drummer is - Mike Portnoy ex Dream Theatre But I think he left the band in 2010

I'm sneaky? Tell no one.

If anyone is into heavy metal Prog Then enjoy Sons Of Apollo

BTW, what kind of guitar are you playing? A few year back, after some surgeries, I needed a new interest and I took up acoustic guitar again. After tryiing lots of guitars our, I settled on the small body vintage Martins. My current player is a 1954 Martin 00-18 starburst I call "Rusty."

I'll share a quote gleaned from another Forum. This from Alan Shaw of Harbeth. ..I'm betting PWK would say something similar "One of the greatest mysteries and acts of insanity in the audio business was the deletion of tone controls from hifi amplifiers from about the 1980s with some utterly discreditable mumbo jumbo that 'tone controls are no part of a hifi system'. I can categorically assure you that a properly designed and executed tone control circuit does not degrade the signal quality and never has done... Tone controls were deleted from hifi amps as a marketing gimmick to attract a new 'minimalist' consumer away from amps laden with buttons and controls." (thank you Keiron99 on Steve Hoffman forum)

Sure that I didn´t spun ..Roxy Music " Flesh + Blood "/ 1980 / EG LTD Label / Printed in Germany . Think I have all most important Records from Roxy Music as well as Brian Ferry as Solo Artist

Rodrigues was a genius! Maynard

Never heard something from Mr. Larry Fast´s SYNERGY ...quiet experimental electronic arrangements ... Still listening to " AUDION " .....like it 👍Goes into the direction of Tangerin Dream, Ashra Temple etc. Collected some info about Larry Fast .. Larry Fast (born December 10, 1951 in Newark, USA) is an American musician and composer, electronic music style, best known as Peter Gabriel's keyboardist. A synthesizer expert, he grew up in Livingston, New Jersey and graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania with a degree in history. His interest in electronic music stems from a fusion of his piano and violin playing with his interest in computer science. After a brief guest appearance with the group Nektar, Fast started his solo career: under the pseudonym Synergy, Larry Fast composed and arranged various albums on his own label Passport Records between 1975 and 1987. In the same period he worked with Peter Gabriel and played synthesizer on his concerts and studio recordings. Will listen to the others as well ...

They have been neutered. 😟 Flat, unemotional, whatever I did not find music engaging More like MuZak in the Mall Back when there were those things 🙄

The devil is in the details: "properly designed and executed tone control circuit does not degrade the signal quality ...." That's the challenge. Engineers would spend a lot of time arguing first over, "just what should a useful tone control DO?" Is 20dB boost at 30 Hz, necessary? Is 3dB cut at 1kHz enough? What's the value of 10dB cut at 20kHz? Maybe a 10-band parametric EQ should be embedded into a preamp? In fact, is "tone control" a different entity from "equalization?" The number and quality of parts involved surely is an issue for cost and SQ. Scratchy pots, cheap capacitors, additional stages, certainly are parts of the decision. Extra stages absolutely 100% WILL alter the SQ. I doubt any audio engineer would argue against that. The system also presents issues. If bookshelf speakers are in use, isn't SOME bass-boost useful? In certain glassy rooms, or if using some peaky phono cartridges, isn't some treble cut useful? Also, no two producers agree on how to EQ and master recordings, so there is no consistency there to rely upon. The last statement about the reasons TC were eliminated is a dubious opinion. A more likely reason is that engineers could not imagine a TC system that would be meaningful for "most" of their buyers. If you look at the older circuits, from say a PAS 3, I doubt many contemporary users would find it useful as all the cuts and boosts are centered at 1kHz. Possibly useful in 1968, but today? I think a good reason to leave them off might be that parametric equalizers are a better answer for people who like to fiddle the tone. Just guessing about what tone adjustments would be useful sounds like a deadly waste of time.

Good job @CWelsh

That puts it perfectly and succinctly. Why, when they do no harm, go without? DSP Room correction, room treatments etc. can all help with room induced imperfections…. But to correct a bad recording sometimes requires a turn to the left and other times a turn to the right of bass / treble. None of the aforementioned remedies to room problems will correct that. As I look back over the years the audiophiles that most loved music had integrated amps with tone controls And usually with a much larger music library. They would eagerly listen to a great but poorly recorded song (with judicious use of tone controls) while the purest audiophile would push that recording to the back of their library as they preferred to listen to only near perfect recordings, often of mediocre music

Amps are the last to be turned on and the first to be turned off. Never break or make a connection with the amps powered. Never run a tube amp without a load.

I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not. ..I have lot's of recordings that are too bright or the bass, when listening at near "live" levels, begins to shake my kitchen cupboards. A small amount of treble/ bass adjustment in such cases enhances my enjoyment. ..I don't get mired down with purist thinking. And remember I'm also referring to a Mono switch. ..I use that pretty often. ..Lots of 50's and 60's recordings have very gimmicking stereo mixing. ..Like the guitar entirely from one channel and the vocals from the others (e.g., some old Beatles tracks). ..These songs are MUCH better sounding with the mono switch engaged. I agree wholeheartedly w/ Alan Harbeth. The audio industry has gaslighted us into thinking tone controls are bad (eg., they damage the signal w/ add'l breaks; they change what the artist intended, etc..). In truth, the " minimalism is better" argument is entirely self-serving to the industry. To wit: It's much easier and cheaper to make an integrated amp that has just a volume control. ..No thanks to that, imho.

Check it out!

Enjoyin that drummer who might it be??? 😂 Doesn't miss does he? Double kick bass just doesn't stop!

Imagine much of the allure of Nakamichi Dragon CT is the assurance you're the only kid on the block with one.

A guy locally just came by for a demo and was so excited he was trembling. Said it was the best sounding speaker he had ever heard. After loading them up he said his hands were still shaking. I reckon we’ve all been there! lol

@babadonois a sneaky one. That he is... Boom outta no where! 😂

Getting closer. Both circuits finished now to wire OPT's and speaker outs. With luck may fire up tomorrow. Best to sleep on it and check my work and wiring in the morning. Remember old and forgetful. If there are any following this build you can look at the pictures and see how I work building using the schematic. Sorta like building a retail kit with instructions if you can half way read a schematic.

I'm sure it's beautifully made, hence a fair amount of pride-of-ownership will accrue to all who own one. But sound better? And seriously? $5K for an integrated that doesn't even have a balance control?? ..Personally, given your budget I'd find a Mac dealer (a sister company to AR, I believe) and buy one of their integrated amps. ..They all have balance controls, tone controls, and a mono switch - common sense features that make listening to all kinds of music of varying recording quality more enjoyable. Or an Accuphase or Luxman as they also have these sensible features.

Anytime a pleasure for an audition Brian Ferry´s " Let´s stick together " / 1976 / Polydor Label / Printed in Germany

That is a "Big Boy!" Nothing like that around here! A group of us had the "pleasure" of turning this place around before it totally fell down. Duckburg is located on the straight shot btwn NYC and Chitown. We're midway so the old trains laid overnight here. This town back in the day had many visitor's all the time. They would lay over on a siding downtown. Notable "Hero's" of the day were the likes of Capone, Dillinger and Eisenhower who laid overnight here on a regular basis. TONS more to that story. Tunnels under the sidewalks were dug to protect the criminals around town with access to local bars and even the big hotel downtown. Had their own "speak easy" under the hotel and a two person elevator up to their suite. Here's ae a couple of then and now pics. All done by about 15 of us with donations from the community. It's done so I guess I should take a few more pics. Soon Nope, not a train freak at all. Since Neil Young is, I always joked about bringing him in for a concert to help with funding it all so we could take a break. As if! Just busy work leaving another mark on the community.

Once one rises from the level of BreastBuy crapola .... There is not that much difference unless you are one of those people that listen for Defects, rather than listen to enjoy music

Geez whatever you do don't get rid of the 500B. It's a jewel, appreciating in value every day. A great receiver(assuming properly updated) and about as perfect match with the LS's that I could think of. I've owned and liked Decware. Excellent company, excellent amps. But those Fisher amps/receivers from their golden period are special like very few others.

I'm old and have been in the business most of my life. A photo of Dad (#71D) back then. I get it honestly. If you can....whose shop is that?

Hello all, I purchased the EV cabinet for $200 because the foam surrounds were totally in need of replacement. My thought was to find another cabinet to make a larger two way system by adding a nice set of horns on top. Well, kids came along and this project got as far as re-foaming the drivers. (Not a pretty job, but they function correctly!) Foam/dust cap kit was $30+tax from The Speaker Exchange. https://reconingspeakers.com/products-page/15-ev-refoam-kit-angle-rfk15-dl15w/ I'm looking to pass this project along to another forum member up for the challenge. The cabinet is in good condition and the speaker cones have no damage. I will audition at time of purchase to verify that everything functions correctly. Let me know if you have any questions. Asking $150 Location: 60511 Far western Chicago suburbs.

From the recording studio side: it's alarming how sensitive some of these microphones are. I've had to scrap tracks because someone left the fan on in the bathroom 20 yards down the hallway in a brick building, and cancel a session because Creedence Clearwater Revisited was playing 2 miles away. You couldn't hear any of this with your ears, but once a track was compressed and gain'd-up, there it was; Proud Mary....

No one needs a banjo killer...

The tech I bought my Linn from bought one of these. Listened to it about 10 years ago and it was crazy to watch. I think, knowing him he still has it.

My first Lava lamp, digging it....

Probably similar to that. I refer to it as more of a traditional diet. Most likely the diet of my great grandparents. The large RED X's are on sugar, refined white flour, vegetable oil, all commercially deep fried foods, and processed carbohydrates like chips, crackers, and the endless junk foods. The Duke---Did you do the Black Gate caps too? I've heard they are hard to get now. I dunno, I'm not deep in that cave anymore. What I liked about the results on The Duke were that it was considerably faster than stock, and didn't have that bit of "glare" common to amps of that kind of design. It got a big improvement in rise time and it produced some very fine 10k square waves. The original OpAmps were dog slow. What might not be documented in Bruce's package that I made, was that all the small compensation caps - maybe 6 of them?- had to be hand-tweaked to eliminate ringing. I'd be hard pressed to say exactly what the BG caps did, but I do think they contributed to the overall SQ. I'll bet there are far better OpAmps available today. Gee, that was back in like 2007 or something. Ranch? With cattle? Horses? Sheep? Alpaca? Schu - It's clarified butter with all the milk solids removed so that it is pure "butterfat." It makes a fantastic snack because you get all the energy with NO spike in blood sugar that accompanies carbohydrate snacks. The coffee is just a vehicle to carry all the fats.

I think I am good to go with this one...$300. on local CL

Sounds right. It's similar to the live audio world. When these digital mixers hit the market, the word from the manufacturers was that they were 'better'. They actually degraded the sound, and many drummers have thrown their sticks at the sound man that tried to prove otherwise.

Making the world aware of PWK. That's a good thing!

Not Mine. But the subject matter is awesome! Like to post the story that is from Feb of this year but cannot. It was from a news site you have to join, and pay to view. I've got a little access this month. So if you are way up there you might have seen these already. One I had from years ago that I liked was Jedice Master Snoda! These are in a different league, also a nice memory break from the heat. Up In MN I imagine they could get sick of the cold. Around the turn of next year I'll search for him and see what's next. Bravo! Mr. Paul Larcom of Becker, Minnesota. Incredible imaginative and talented job there!

It will increase in value if box is sealed. I keep saying myself. Just no where to display them or build them. Need a bigger house.

On Sunday, I was driving from Austria to Belgium, a 14 hour drive. When we left in Austria, 1.800m altitude, with 7°C, as we were moving north (!) we saw the temperature steadily increasing, to 25 and then to 33°C around Frankfurt, Germany. When we arriived home at 00:20 in the west of Belgium, it was 28°C. Lots of traffic jams on German highways due to road works, with borders completely dry and then you notice fools smoking and shooting their cigarette away from the slow moving car's window... Luckily, Sunday was the last really hot day of the official heatwave. On Monday the temperature dropped to 28°C during the day, and today it is something like 26°C. Some Krautrock, great music for on the road: Scorpions, Blackout With the quote "We're gonna feel the heat tonight" (Dynamite)

is that really Steve Baker's TZ tracker?

You guys still don’t get it. It’s about the WHOLE network and voltage transfer curves.......

yup, no probleemo, I fixes stuff all the time, building panels for amp racks, fixing all kinds of PA wiring etc.