I'm really glad I stumbled upon this forum by sheer luck.
Let me tell you a bit about myself. My father dealt with audio electronics as he owned a shop when I was a little kid. I was exposed to lots of great music and lots of great gear.
In my teen years I was already an Audiophile and a Stereophile though I didn't really have the resources to act upon those interests.
As an adult, I found myself in a better financial situation and my stereo system at home started to reflect this.
First was a Scott tube integrated amplifier that just blew the pants off any of the newer solid state stuff I also had at the time. I don't recall which speakers I had for certain at the time but I believe they were the Alison CD7 speakers with the inverted dome tweeter.
Time went on and as great as the Scott was I knew there was more out there. I spent lots of time in all manners of audio shops. Some sold only new High-end equipment and others sold New and used high-end equipment.
My first REAL tube amplifier purchase was a pair of McNtosh MC50 monoblocks. Those were soon kept company by an Oracle Delphi III turntable and eventually a pair of Apogee hybrid ribbon tweeter speakers.
I could never leave well enough alone so I was constantly trying out new interconnects and speaker cables. I primarily used Kimber cable but for a while there (keep in mind this was in the mid 90s) I ran a pair of Terminator2 speaker cables with the mystery box that does "something" to maximize the quality of the sound.
Eventually, tough times came knocking on my door and I needed money. After doing everything else that I could do to acquire bill paying money it became painfully clear that I needed to sell off my beloved audio setup which is what I did.
Fast forward to present day and I'm still not a rich man. Due to certain things that happened to me during and after the 9-11 attacks which were closely followed by the Anthrax letter attacks on the US Congress, I ended up with sever post traumatic stress disorder that I have still to this day. I guess I should mention that I was a staffer in the United States House of Representatives at the time of these Anthrax letters and I got covered with all sorts of powders that people put in their letters to our office.
The long and short of it is that I ended up on disability and even though I'm unable to earn the way I use to and my Social Security checks are quite small, I'd still like to get back to my absolute favorite hobby.
So what I'm thinking here is that I might try out a full Bottlehead audio amps and preamp setup and make do with one of the mid-fi turntables at my disposal.
I once built a kit Bottlehead tube pre-amp that was reasonably priced, I'll have to look to see how much Bottlehead is charging for their kits these days or if they are even still in business.
If you happen to know of a good KIT company for diy tube gear than please either PM me or post a message in this, or future, threads.
I own MANY THOUSANDS or Records or LP's so the Turntable will eventually be something of very good nobility with a tone arm and cartridge to match. Not sure how I'm going to do that on a budget but I'm great at finding deals.
Right now I'm waiting on a Magnavox Console tube amp as I've heard that they can be made to do great things. The fact that it's coming with it's very old school pre-amp only makes things better because aside from a pair of speakers and a mid-fi turntable and some cables, I've got nothing.
So that's my story, I'm happy to be here and I hope to get to know you guys (and gals) and hopefully learn a few things.
Let me tell you a bit about myself. My father dealt with audio electronics as he owned a shop when I was a little kid. I was exposed to lots of great music and lots of great gear.
In my teen years I was already an Audiophile and a Stereophile though I didn't really have the resources to act upon those interests.
As an adult, I found myself in a better financial situation and my stereo system at home started to reflect this.
First was a Scott tube integrated amplifier that just blew the pants off any of the newer solid state stuff I also had at the time. I don't recall which speakers I had for certain at the time but I believe they were the Alison CD7 speakers with the inverted dome tweeter.
Time went on and as great as the Scott was I knew there was more out there. I spent lots of time in all manners of audio shops. Some sold only new High-end equipment and others sold New and used high-end equipment.
My first REAL tube amplifier purchase was a pair of McNtosh MC50 monoblocks. Those were soon kept company by an Oracle Delphi III turntable and eventually a pair of Apogee hybrid ribbon tweeter speakers.
I could never leave well enough alone so I was constantly trying out new interconnects and speaker cables. I primarily used Kimber cable but for a while there (keep in mind this was in the mid 90s) I ran a pair of Terminator2 speaker cables with the mystery box that does "something" to maximize the quality of the sound.
Eventually, tough times came knocking on my door and I needed money. After doing everything else that I could do to acquire bill paying money it became painfully clear that I needed to sell off my beloved audio setup which is what I did.
Fast forward to present day and I'm still not a rich man. Due to certain things that happened to me during and after the 9-11 attacks which were closely followed by the Anthrax letter attacks on the US Congress, I ended up with sever post traumatic stress disorder that I have still to this day. I guess I should mention that I was a staffer in the United States House of Representatives at the time of these Anthrax letters and I got covered with all sorts of powders that people put in their letters to our office.
The long and short of it is that I ended up on disability and even though I'm unable to earn the way I use to and my Social Security checks are quite small, I'd still like to get back to my absolute favorite hobby.
So what I'm thinking here is that I might try out a full Bottlehead audio amps and preamp setup and make do with one of the mid-fi turntables at my disposal.
I once built a kit Bottlehead tube pre-amp that was reasonably priced, I'll have to look to see how much Bottlehead is charging for their kits these days or if they are even still in business.
If you happen to know of a good KIT company for diy tube gear than please either PM me or post a message in this, or future, threads.
I own MANY THOUSANDS or Records or LP's so the Turntable will eventually be something of very good nobility with a tone arm and cartridge to match. Not sure how I'm going to do that on a budget but I'm great at finding deals.
Right now I'm waiting on a Magnavox Console tube amp as I've heard that they can be made to do great things. The fact that it's coming with it's very old school pre-amp only makes things better because aside from a pair of speakers and a mid-fi turntable and some cables, I've got nothing.
So that's my story, I'm happy to be here and I hope to get to know you guys (and gals) and hopefully learn a few things.
Welcome to the forum... this is the place for frugal-philes (tm) 
Some of the old kit -- like the Magnavox -- can be rebuilt into very decent kit for not much money. Add a set of diy speakers (AFAIC single FR drivers clean up for a lowish budget).
TTs can be rebuilt and a simple, yet very good arm can be built for next to nothing. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/173861-my-latest-iteration-nanooks-219-tonearm.html
dave
Some of the old kit -- like the Magnavox -- can be rebuilt into very decent kit for not much money. Add a set of diy speakers (AFAIC single FR drivers clean up for a lowish budget).
TTs can be rebuilt and a simple, yet very good arm can be built for next to nothing. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/173861-my-latest-iteration-nanooks-219-tonearm.html
dave
Welcome to the forum... this is the place for frugal-philes (tm)
Some of the old kit -- like the Magnavox -- can be rebuilt into very decent kit for not much money. Add a set of diy speakers (AFAIC single FR drivers clean up for a lowish budget).
TTs can be rebuilt and a simple, yet very good arm can be built for next to nothing. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/173861-my-latest-iteration-nanooks-219-tonearm.html
dave
Wow, that really looks quite nice. How would you rate the sound quality?
I'm definitely frugal when it comes to my toys. I kinda have to be or I can't have any toys.
In any case, what I'm thinking I'd like to get my hands on is either an old Dynaco tube power-amp (not huge fan of integrated amps) but barring that I'd be happy with an integrated amp. I mean right now I've got a fairly decent (direct drive. I know I know) turntable that really have very little to no noise. It's made by Onkyo and I've had it for years. True, it can't touch the Oracle I had in terms of perfection but it does a very fair job for what it is.
I've also go a pair of Pinnacle AC 800 speakers that I'm really fond of. I bought them used some time ago, back when I still had an amplifier and pre-amplifier and the Pinnacles definitely are a pleasure to listen to. This coming from someone who has spent countless hours in countless shops listening to countless super high-end speakers.
My problem is that I'm dying to get a stereo system going which means I need amplification and a volume knob. Since I'm perpetually broke it has to be something that I either need to fix or something that just looks horrible but sings like nightingale.
I'd really love to get my hands on a nice Eico amp and then I'd worry about getting my hands on a decent preamp if the Eico happened to be just a power amp (which I would prefer) but beggars can't be choosers.
I need to find a good resource either online or at a B&M shop. In the 90s I use to go to this really fantastic used mid-fi to ultra-high-end shop for the majority of my toys. I made friends with the guys who worked there so I could always haggle with them and get a great price or I could work out trades.
Unfortunately the store moved, there's a whole new staff and they've moved away from the used stuff to a great degree and are now focusing most of their efforts on NEW. In other words, it's not really for me.
I've also had fantastic luck in Thrift shops over the years but I'm not going to bore everyone with my thrift shop exploits.
I've also had fantastic luck in Thrift shops over the years but I'm not going to bore everyone with my thrift shop exploits.
I think many of us have had very good luck. These are things we like to share with other diy'ers because of that luck.
Welcome to diyAudio.
I appreciate that and as soon as I have something to share you guys will certainly be the ones I share it with.
I have to say, the integrated Scott amplifier is on hell of a good piece of audio gear. I really really really wish I still had mine.
They say that hindsight is 20/20 and dang if it ain't the truth.
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