doctorcilantro

I agree with some of the points in that article. But it came off quite dogmatic to me. Some companies manufacturer wire on small scales for medical and reasearch work e.g. silver wire for your tonearm. Homegrown Audio & VH Audio both offer silver wire that would cost about 10$ for your tonearm wire. While a agree that most of the prices and upper echelon cables are simply ridiculous, something like Belden 89259 in a cross connect turns out to be great speaker cable. It's not complicated nor expensive. Morecroft solid core interconnect is of 1mm diameter (1984) so Dean has a point. Companies are designing geometries and cable to their own design...whether or not it's worth it well...that's debatable and many un-noticable to most of us... Jon

Check this one out for 250$. http://thomasregister.com/olc/SmartCat.aspx?az=73618928&type=details_order&template=http://www.pricewheeler.com/prodstr.htm&ptno=PW8R15AUD v/r Jon

TKeady, I may be selling my NAD. It's brand new from Upsate Audio in NY with warranty. I may also have for sale some silver RCA cables; Zaolla 1ft rca>rca and also I have same length in rca>1/4". If I do sell the NAD it would be to get my money back ..about 105$ shipped. You could even return it if you didn't like it, or possibly even just try it for while. Although I need to sell a bunch of stuff to buy this mixer....: ) Jon

Can someone shed a little light on this topic? The mixer I use now has this spec. for phono input 47ohm: 1.5 mv rms sensitivity @ 1kHz Now the NAD specs for the MM half of the phono stage are 3.5mv sens. My Ortofon X5-MC is a 2mv cart. Here is an attachment of the overview. And here is some stuff from that overview. I could use my SPDIF on my Denon CD1500 finally. I know it doesn't have too much bearing but this listed for about 1K; the Denon model like this goes for 500$. 5{l and analog I/O. S/PDIF digital will interface with Numarks TTX turntable, CDN90, AXIS 9, and other digital gear _Vintage/Contemporary style input limiter combines look-ahead peak limiting and vintage tube warmth on master _Alesis® Sub-Bass synthesis and subwoofer out _Dual EQ/filter mode on each channel, EQ on mic inputs, talkover on DJ mic _Fully interchangeable and replaceable digital faders with slope control _Headphone cue assignable to booth output _Intuitive monitor send/return, programmable fader start _INPUT/OUTPUT: _4 Phono / 8 Line / 4 S/PDIF digital stereo inputs (RCA) _2x mic preamp (1/4-XLR neutrik combo jack) _Master out (XLR balanced, RCA Unbalanced) with rear mounted analog master gain reduction _Record out (RCA analog, S/PDIF digital) _Booth out (1/4 unbalanced) _Zone out (1/4 unbalanced) _Sub woofer out (mono, 1/4 unbalanced) with adjustable LP filter _Send/return (stereo, 1/4 unbalanced) _FIDELITY SPECIFICATIONS: _>100dB SNR (weighted), full path _Frequency response: 10Hz-20kHz +/-0.5dB _<0.005% THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) _Premium quality, low noise op-amps _DIGITAL SPECIFICATIONS: _24-bit, 48kHz AD/DA Converters _24-bit, Digital Signal Processing _Dual Mode Digital Filter, Digital Faders/Pots _Programmable 3-band EQ _Low Pass/Band Pass/High Pass with swe PPD9000 overview.pdf

Tom, I really haven't even had a chance to use it yet. Waiting for a cable right now as I am out of cables since one is trashed and I am not going to waste my time fixing it since it was crap to begin with. NAD makes great stuff so I purchased it online for 99$ new at Upstate Audio in NY. This mixer intrigues me. I need to get more details on it. I have lots of sources and like to make mixes a lot. Jon

MaxG, You are the king of the massive, labrynthian, well-written post. Man, you get deep into it...the pallette swirls!!!!! I can see you working things out in your head as the post developes.....it's like HIFI THERAPY!!! You'll probably laugh when you read my phono stage post. FYI, I shared that story about your daughter and the record, dvd etc. with my wife, she was very amused. We're both wondering what it's going to be like...you know, having rugrats running around and I'm think about my poor analog gear after reading that story! Jon

The specs for the Numark are a little vague but does anyone have an opinion on this? I have a NAD PP2 and I am looking at replacing my DJ mixer and then I could utilize the Balanced XLR output to my M-Audio Balanced input. I emailed Numark asking for RIAA response and whether the SNR was A-Weighted with cart. or w/o. NAD PP2 specs: Input impedance (R and C) 100 ohms + 180pF 47k ohms + 220pF Gain at 1kHz 60dB 35dB Input sensitivity ref. 200mV output 0.2mV 3.5mV Signal/Noise ratio (A weighted, with cartridge) 78dB 80dB (Unweighted, with cartridge) 73dB 70dB Input overload 20Hz/1kHz/20kHz 0.8/9/84mV 10/102/950mV Rated distortion (THD 20Hz - 20kHz) 0.03% 0.03% RIAA response accuracy ±0.3dB ±0.3dB Numark PPD-9000: Phono Input To Master (Booth & Zone) Output SNR A-Weighted: 92db THD: <.01% The THD for Line input to Balanced Output is .007%.

I was too lazy to win 100ft. spool on ebay...was a good price too. I found some for a decent price but if I had one that auction I could have made two pairs and bi-wired or most likely sold the 2nd pair. I know a place thast will do 140$ for a 14' pair. (long wait) Another that will do a kit for around 100$. Yet another for 205$ assembled and shipped. I'd like to do the CC89259 myself if I can find the time and I'd save money. The Mapletree is a silver plated copper. Element Cable offers a 30 day trial like Mapletree; I wish I had the cash to try both just for fun. Jon

For the people who aren't using zip cord: Anyone here using CC89259 or Mapleshade Golden Helix? thanks Jon

Thank you all for your input. I would quickly like to address the fact that many seem to be equating a DJ mixer with some strange, newfangled, and non-hifi device. My mixer was not destroyed. I am sure there are people out there with phono stages hooked up between there TT's and vintage amps. I think that while there are some flames throughout this post it it was good to have people post their opinions on the matter because some good technical points and arguements were raised; even though the parties who posted these ideas were not "there". It's funny how you read the posts that don't side with you and you can feel your blood boil a little; I have to take a deep breath and remember why I am doing this here, and realize that is not the right attitude nor IS it my attidue but a childish impulse. It IS time to take this outside, but for me, that means moving on. I have said everything I have to say. I know there will and can be more to say, but what's the point. I will leave that to Ryan's other customers. I appreciate ALL of the responses, including Ryan's. I also look forward to being able to continue to communicate in this forum on a positive level with ALL of its members; if that's not possible I am comfortable agreeing to disagree...that's life. I look forward to getting my amp back soon and hearing some music again. sincerely, Jonathan Catuccio

Ryan's post well written and buisnesslike. It did not address some major points of my post and tried to over emphasize operator error. I am not calling his work shoddy, read my post; a VERY experienced technincian IS. You think he should have responded differently, well he has, via email, as I stated in my post. And Keith you seem to imply, but your wording makes it unclear, that you would not have chosen to go public with this? That's your perogative but I am the type of person who would like to help others; I sincerely believe this will happen again and again. People have a right to protect themselves with truth. Of course, it's making me feel a lot better about getting ripped off too! jon

tape left on wiring

5 is corrupted; will post ASAP

4

3

2

What do I feel like saying now? Hmmmmm....a long diatribe blasting Ryan? No, but I would like to address a few points. I would not say I know "virtually nothing" about tube gear. I probably should have clarified, but by newbie, I meant I was new to having someone work on an amp for me. I admit that technically I know little and I am also a newbie to this forum. I have owned three tube organs before this amp and understand (as I said in my post) that tube gear is old and can need specialized attention. The fact that I sought out a tech in the first place should illustrate my knowledge of this fact. The second run around, I mean, time around, that I got the amp back from Ryan...my equipment was ungrounded. This was one of the ideas Ryan put forth when we were diagnosing the 120v tingle. And, according to Ryan we should ditch our cd players because they won't gel with vintage gear? The Sherwood can not be used to record to modern gear, this is true, it loads the amp WAY down. So I assume all those Scotts out there have vintage tapedecks hooked up to them OF COURSE!!! Did Ryan ever offer to replace the tubes that blew AFTER he worked on the amp?....nope. A ground loop in an ungrounded chain, that blows two pre-amp tubes??? What about the bad power switch the real tech found....could be a better candidate for blowing some pre-amp tubes. Up to the very day I had my amp looked by a 3rd party, it was popping on power down...popping when anything else was powered up & down. I paid for three shipping costs, and shipping costs are not parts Ryan. And how exactly does sending the amp to another tech vanquish any warranty you offer? That's honestly laughable; so if I had a friend put some new RCA plug's in I'd have to email you first? I want to reiterate that I am still investigating what exactly was put in this amp to start with as well as a few other things mentioned in my original post. I am still pretty upset I guess, but I am not going to post in this thread daily with new and improved ways of rebutting Ryan's opinions; but I will post back if I learn anything else. Essentially, I guess this is my word against Ryan's. I've got pics and I may get further proof that the parts Ryan claims to have installed, were already installed. We can't really compare the integrity of our character's here can we....or can we? Mission Statement: ) I just want this all to be public so others will not encounter the same unsavory fate that I have. JC aka DC

I picked up a Sherwood S-5000 a while back from a seller down south. While it came with a warranty and was worked on just enough to make it safe, but eventually I decided to have it looked at by a dedicated tube tech. So, I posted to the Klipsch forum, requesting any information on techs who could do the work. A few people replied to my post, and one or two emailed me. I was told via email that NOSValves and Ryan Inman do work for people and Ryan was "quicker, cheaper, and closer to you". I contacted Ryan and told him that this was my first tube amp and, besides listening, and I wanted to use the integrated for archiving vinyl to my computer. I made clear I wanted the phono stage and the amp itself to sound as quiet and good as possible. Ryan said there were two things he could do; rebuild the amp the newer parts or use vintage parts. Being a newbie I simply re-iterated my need for good sound, and I also highlighted how important a quality phono stage was going to be to me, and he suggested that using older parts would give it a better more "authentic" sound. I mailed the amp to Ryan and was soon informed that some tubes were dead and replaced, the work was done, and I owed him 240$. I had purchased this amp for 100$. It was in working condition when I received it, and the seller has told me they had done enough to get it to work and be safe. I sent it off thinking it could only get better by having some "dedicated" work done to it for my specific uses. Being a newb, I was a little shocked by the 240$, but I just took it in stride. I had had a Sansui 6060 worked on a few years back and the bill was 150$ so I just rationalized the cost because this was tube gear, it was complicated, etc. Ryan said he would ship when he received my check. Ryan had made mention of his interest in the S-5000 manual earlier, which I was to receive from an Ebay seller. I told him I would mail it to him with the check and he could copy it and send it back with the amp or thereafter. I got the amp back and was happy; fast service! Well, I turned it on and nothing. I checked the tubes. All were securely in place. I emailed Ryan and he thought a cap. wire had come loose. I tried the amp again later and it powered up. I got some hissy rumbling on power up, actually it was a static sound, but loud and rumbling. I turned the amp off and got some noise after power down; the same hissy rumbling and a pop or two. Later that day...no power. I checked the tubes again. All were in place. Still no power. I finally tracked it down to the small fuse in back. It was blown and kept blowing as I replaced it about 4 times. Finally, it just worked. Then I notice as I touched a mixer and the Sherwood at the same time I was getting a 120v tingle. I told Ryan and he suggested reversing the plug's polarity. That didn't work. He advised sending it back so he could remove the cap that couples the line voltage to the chassis. "I didn't know it would cause you so many problems" "You paid me 240$ for a rebuild and I want you to be 100% content with it" Frustrated but happy for his support, I agreed, and sent the amp back. The cap was removed and I got the amp back again. I hooked it up. I have a DJ mixer that was running it's tape out to the Sherwood AUX in. At this point, nothing in my audio chain was earth grounded as per Ryans recommendation. Now, I had no 120v tingle. I was very happy. My wife and I were listening to something. I decided to turn the amp off to move something. When I did the mixer VU lit up into the red all the way and stayed there until I could scramble and get to its power button. Freaked, I turn everything back on. NOTHING. I waited cautiously, tried a cd, and nothing at all. I start checking tubes with a Sencore TC-2 and find that the two 12AX7's that replaced my, according to Ryan, bad amperex bugle boys have blown. Yes, blown. Clouded with white, they read totally dead on the Sencore. The tubes Ryan put in were GE 12AX7's.....well I don't honestly know what they are they could be something else like 5751s for all I know (read on). I replaced the tubes with some RCA's I had laying around. Talk to Ryan via email and he suggests that I had a massive ground loop that somehow blew the preamp tubes. Hmmmmm....okay. Well, I ask, is everything okay. It sounded okay but I was very worried; totally concerned about the safety of operation of the amp. Ryan leveled with me and said if it had been his amp it would be back on the bench ASAP. I groan while reading his email and decide okay here we go again. I send it back. But before I did I had tested ALL the tubes in it. One of the Sherwood 7199's showed grid leakage into the bad range. Ryan commented that the TC-2 I was using was probably incorrectly calibrated. Well, I borrowed it from the United States Coast Guard Electronics Support Detachment, and I just told him to check them out. He mentioned I hope theyre not bad because they cost a lot. I get the amp back again with a clean bill of health from Ryan. Tubes okay, caps okay, etc. all is good. But, I still got pops when I turn off components and loud pops when turning the amp off itself. Then I noticed I was getting lots of hiss from my speakers. Something doesnt feel right and I mention this to Ryan. I emailed him about three times in a week about the hiss and how I had some small amount of noise when my computer was plugged in. I wasnt clear enough that my PC was NOT connected in the chain but just plugged in on another outlet in the same room. At this point I was just mentioning all the little things I was observing and keep in mind I understood this is not a separate, and its old, its never going to be 100% quiet because of its nature, but I was trying to figure out this hiss as it seemed excessive to me. Ryan highlighted this point to me and agreed with some suggestions I had from another tech like putting a capacitor into an outlet near the amp. But he never made any real effort to diagnose what was going on or ask me just how loud the hiss was. I just did feel like I was getting Ryans full attention; one could argue I just wasnt getting the answers I wanted to hear, but it was just a feeling for me. I was starting to wish I had sent the amp to a tech I know in Florida. So, I started a thread in the Klipsch forum and got many responses that agreed it seemed the amp was pretty loud, hissing hard at 2:00 Now this point is arguable and hasnt been resolved as of yet. At this point on the dial the amp is being pushed pretty hard so hiss is could be expected. Others disagreed. Regardless, this led me to have the amp checked by another technician. The results of the examination revealed the following. -Tape was left on wiring. -The Sherwood 7199s were both bad. -The power switch was bad; the amp was shooting sparks inside. -The hum pot was half dead and needed a simple cleaning. -The output tubes were 6N14N not 6N14N-EB -(S-5000 has 400+ plate voltage). -The total cost of parts: 35$ -Estimated time worked on the amp: 3 hrs. max Ryan Inman never told me what was actually done to the amp. Ryan Inman did the work and sent the bill afterwards. The work did not address my needs (or my options) that I made very clear. The work of Ryan Inman did not reflect the cost of repair. As of today I have still not received my manual from Ryan Inman although I have been told repeatedly that it was mailed. I do not remember what output tubes were originally in the amp when I got it. I find it suspicious that the replacement GE tubes that Ryan put in were the two that blew. At the time of this writing they are in my closet at home, and I plan to investigate what type they are. I have also contacted the originally seller to find out if the orange drops were already in the amp when I purchased it. Ryan was given full artistic control of the rebuild; I have since learned how expensive rebuilds can be, and the decisions that can be made regarding various resistors, etc. of differing costs. I was never asked, How much should I put into the phono section or I could replace these resistors if your really picky etc. I made Ryan Inman aware of my impression of his work and I requested 100$ back from him which I thought was an extremely reasonable request considering what was done and NOT done to the S-5000. I received a very aggressive email from him denying and questioning the capability of new technician Youre repair man is an idiot. Pictures were taken to document what was found after the amp was returned by Ryan Inman and will be posted shortly. I do not expect to see any type of apology or refund from Ryan Inman. My only hope now is that newbies to tube audio not be taken advantage of as I was. I basically flipped a coin, Ryan was closer and cheaper supposedly, and I trusted the comments of experienced audio enthusiasts on this forum. I truly wonder if any people who recommend Mr. Inman have EVER had him pretend to work on their gear. I have enjoyed this forum for the short time I have been a member. With all the recent discussion regarding censorship I understand that this really isnt a public forum; its Klipschs forum, and that makes sense to me. I have learned a lot since I arrived and I will continue to contribute in a positive way. I hope people realize that I am not being vindictive. Yes, I feel burned. Am I angry, of course. I am young and starting a family; the money I wasted on Ryans work was a big deal for us. I put aside money with patience and slowly have built myself a system that satisfies me. I am not going to let this eat me alive, nor do I expect any real resolution. This post is the cathartic summary of my observations, experiences, anger, and frustrations..with Ryan Inman. I know there must be others who have had similar dealings with Ryan Inman, I suggest you come forward and relate those experiences. Best regards, Jonathan Catuccio aka Doctor Cilantro

Hi folks, I am building some CC89259 speaker cable. It is a cross connected design using Belden 89259. The braid is connected to the opposite wire's solid core & vice versa. Since I have extra, I plan on making some jumpers out of CC89259 for the heck of it. I was wondering about replacing the internal wiring with the same. Maybe some very pure OFC would be less time-consuming and complicated while being more benficient overall. Any thoughts or recommendations? I am also hoping to do Dean's crossover upgrade when we move to Florida this December. thanks Jon aka Doctorcilantro

Hi folks, I am building some CC89259 speaker cable. It is a cross connected design using Belden 89259. The braid is connected to the opposite wires solid core and vice versa. Since I have extra I plan on making some jumpers out of CC89259 for the heck of it. I was wondering about replacing the internal wiring with the same. Any thoughts? I am also hoping to do Dean's crossover upgrade when we move to Florida this December. thanks Jon

Try the Sansui forum over at http://www.audiokarma.org/ DC

The Loricroft looks intense, and there's nothing wrong with the Record Doctor II I assume, but I did read a couple things that led me to where I am now. The KAB EV-1 utilizes a vaccuum that you already own. I guess a small shop vac would work best for that; I wouldn't want to be hauling a stand up vac out of a closet everytime I wanted to clean an LP, and it's an eyesore. I do have pics and can post some later. Jon

I had been considering an RCM myself for some time. Thought about buying a Record Doctor II or the KAB EV-1, and I also thought about building my own. I settled on a 1hp mini shop vac from Ace hardware for 25$. 1HP is a lot but works great with the smaller attachment, and seems perfect. I wrapped fleece around the end and secured it with some black electricians tape. Then I cut into the fleece, puncturing a slit. I trashed a broken old junk TT, and use it to clean on then I vaccuum with the shopvac, angling the suction attachment just slightly so I hear the squeal of air and don't just have the thing "stuck" on the LP as I spin. I think this sucks up the fluid instead of the fleec smearing it becuase when angled the attachment seems to suck up the fluid before the attachment "gets there". I use Record Resaerch cleaners and a nitty gritty brush. The advantages: 1. Cheap cost 2. Shop-vac can be used for other things (very handy if all you have now is your stand up vac) 3. No internally hidden vacuum like the Record Doctor II has (what if something goes wrong or overheats etc.) 4. Using an old TT for cleaning you have a full platter to actually use some force and scrub the LP. 5. You can vac where ever you want on the record while your looking at it, right after you clean. No flipping the LP over or the chance of section not getting vac'd. Record Research cleaners are supposed to be compatible with air drying since they claim they have no resdidues etc. so I was doing that for a while, but what about the gunk, mold release fun, and all that dirt on your precious records....just suck em up! and it just feels really great to vac 'em clean. I have had nothing but positive results. I picked up a Stanley Clarke album with a bunch of classical at Goodwill the other day, cleaned it and it sounds great. The lower cost machines form Nitty Gritty and KAB are tempting but I just went out for some other stuff at ACe and when I saw the shop vacs on sale, no less, I said, "I can make this work". So far so good. Jon

Maybe we can rent the Cumberland County Civic Center??? Greg...I got some RF-35's....I know I know. WAF! But I do have a year long trade in/up grace period @ NEHF. JC

When will the Maniacs be uniting for a system party. Its come to my attention that not just Maine, but most of New England is chock full of forum members......so I'll go grab my calender and when I get back I'll be looking for a date in this thread Unfortunately, I live in a really small apartment near Portland, ME so whoeever has that posh, overhauled barn.....wil have to step forth .....step forth best, JC