I was so excited, it was my second year in college and the local Heathkit retail store had a magazine named "Audio Amateur." It was a 1977 issue that told how to make a DIY Heil AMT tweeter. As a poor (in every sense of the word) college student I could barely afford to buy the magazine (something like $3 or $6, a LOT for a magazine back then, but audio, especially the technical side, was a specialty topic I was very interested in), but I read the thing thoroughly and got the next several issues as they showed up.
I still haven't done more than maybe one or two percent of what I've wanted to do with audio reproduction - I've been overwhelmed for almost four decades.
I can understand that. You can spend more time listening to the gear and not the music as happened to me.
I got rid of most of my gear but the main stuff is not wasted as is now used in HT as I enjoy my movie nights. I still have some speakers, an amp and a CD player not in use but haven't the heart to throw them out as I might find a use in the future.
I still enjoy my music but now as background music via FM, iPod using portable and a lifestyle system. That way I don't have to choose what to listen to as it just happens and am not critical of the sound quality. I do fire up a CD every now and then just to make sure the main CD player works.
Moved onto other things and priorities.
Overwhelmed???? I have been blowing stuff up for about 50 years. I still have stuff left....I can't quit yet.
Before I got into lamps in series with the mains I used to hide behind a chair when I switched on my own design SMPS.
I used a long mains lead so I was well from exploding mosfets.
The burnout thing is a toughie in the audio game - in my first round I was thrashing hard trying to get a decent grip on the vital criteria, the things that mattered ... and wore myself out, I just didn't know enough. So, didn't touch it seriously for nigh on 10 years, plus. Hearing a highly sorted MBL setup was the gamechanger, reawakened the enthusiasm - plus, I now had the Internet to hunt ideas down on, and access to powerful software tools.
It was worth getting back on the horse again ... 😉
It was worth getting back on the horse again ... 😉
As I get older I keep getting more concerned about 'shocking' myself to death !
In school I used to get 'shocked' fairly often playing around with an old radio that worked on ac and dc. The chassis was live enough to give you a bad shock. That didn't kill me but my plans to build a 845 SE with 1200Vdc supplies is still in cold storage. I have all parts except for the power supply. I hesitate to build it because I'm accident prone and a 1.2KV accident could be fatal !🙂
In school I used to get 'shocked' fairly often playing around with an old radio that worked on ac and dc. The chassis was live enough to give you a bad shock. That didn't kill me but my plans to build a 845 SE with 1200Vdc supplies is still in cold storage. I have all parts except for the power supply. I hesitate to build it because I'm accident prone and a 1.2KV accident could be fatal !🙂
I had to register here because this topic jumped right out at me. 🙂 If there's one thing I've learned from this accursed hobby, it's that every door opens into a room full of doors.
But we do surprise ourselves sometimes, eh! My latest/biggest project has been to see if I could make my favorite old speakers (Sony SS-M3s) sound even better than they already did by going full-active with crossovers & driver correction (miniDSP), and after a lot of testing, listening, and learning, so far the answer is an unqualified yes! And it's not one of those deals where it sounds great for one night, and the next morning it's like, "Yeesh, what was I thinking?" (Mind you it was like that initially, but now they sound amazing every day!)
Right there with ya buddy! (Just finished with Thomas Dolby, moving on to some faves from Missing Persons.) I never gave this music its due back in the day - it's really great fun, and a lot of it was quite well produced.
I think it helps to try & establish a threshold of sorts. At some point, you just gotta close the hood & take her for a spin, right? In other words, I try to remind myself not to let the hardware & software overtake the joy in the music. And I fully understand how easy that is to say, and how difficult it can be to accomplish - especially since the two are so inextricably linked. I can never completely eliminate the compulsion to tinker, but I try to keep it down around -40 dB or so, heh. But that's another part of the problem: Every music lover has a slightly different "gearhead threshold," and of course the gamut there is pretty wide. This can sometimes be an issue when we all try to talk to each other about all this stuff.
Not for nuthin, but in dealing with this particular matter, I've discovered that it helped a lot to relocate my passive crossover boards from the insides of my speaker enclosures to a large cardboard box in the closet. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'. 😉
Yeah, room treatment... That one is definitely peaking above my aforementioned -40 dB threshold from time to time. One of these days... Meanwhile, back to the 80s with Todd Rundgren and Utopia!
-- Jim
AND each room has a large 'money bin' where you dump huge amounts of hard earned money before moving on ! If properly evaluated , some DIY'ers must have made some of the most expensive hi-fi systems on this planet. Beating all commercial systems for 'cost' ! But the makers only see the cost of the BOM and feel quite pleased as it LOOKS so low ! I guess the rest is accounted for against the FUN factor ! VERY EXPENSIVE Fun ! 😀
Every time I see other people's designs and builds I think, "why do I bother? I'm clearly not cut out for this. Maybe I should take up knitting."
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I have had bouts of HIFI,
I don't even know why..😀
I have always built my own things..from before school age linked to bits of cardboard perhaps building Daleks and things from scifi series.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=d...=X&ei=AlCyVLWxOofvUq7Lg-AK&sqi=2&ved=0CD0QsAQ
Even the lost in space robot had to be a work of art and with major matt mason they had many adventures..😀
Knights in armour and then the idea of robots...its a good job the world has such imaginative people to create the wonders of small children in films..
The old 78 record players that were pulled to bits and put back but didn't work until I tried fault finding..and blew up more than I fixed..until the Phillips electronics kit that also had radio and amplifier circuits..then trying to recreate them with bought components on vero board..Practical Wireless..and away I went..
..well sometimes..😀
This hobby always has been fun..however I thought the computer revolution would be the answer<<<perhaps not..the ZX81 interested me for a while..but it just dosen't seem to have the same appeal.
I have burnt out time and time again..however its hard to say why I keep coming back to it..is it HIFI or electronics that interests me..or is it the detachment that you get that makes you look at things differently or is it science that holds the interest..
NB when you have worked on a few PLC systems the computer interest seems to wane a bit..😀
Computers<<<oh look more code..perhaps da vinci was on to something ...perhaps the Knights Templar have the key..but alas the answer is not to be found..oh look windows 10...aaaarrrrrgggg
Oh look a bottle with a red glow...NB typed with openSuSE..😀
Regards
M. Gregg
I don't even know why..😀
I have always built my own things..from before school age linked to bits of cardboard perhaps building Daleks and things from scifi series.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=d...=X&ei=AlCyVLWxOofvUq7Lg-AK&sqi=2&ved=0CD0QsAQ
Even the lost in space robot had to be a work of art and with major matt mason they had many adventures..😀
Knights in armour and then the idea of robots...its a good job the world has such imaginative people to create the wonders of small children in films..
The old 78 record players that were pulled to bits and put back but didn't work until I tried fault finding..and blew up more than I fixed..until the Phillips electronics kit that also had radio and amplifier circuits..then trying to recreate them with bought components on vero board..Practical Wireless..and away I went..
..well sometimes..😀This hobby always has been fun..however I thought the computer revolution would be the answer<<<perhaps not
..the ZX81 interested me for a while..but it just dosen't seem to have the same appeal.I have burnt out time and time again..however its hard to say why I keep coming back to it..is it HIFI or electronics that interests me..or is it the detachment that you get that makes you look at things differently or is it science that holds the interest..
NB when you have worked on a few PLC systems the computer interest seems to wane a bit..😀
Computers<<<oh look more code..perhaps da vinci was on to something ...perhaps the Knights Templar have the key..but alas the answer is not to be found..oh look windows 10...aaaarrrrrgggg
Oh look a bottle with a red glow...NB typed with openSuSE..😀
Regards
M. Gregg
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Maybe the medical dictionary should eventually include 'diyhifi' as an illness.
Guys can say I had a bout of diyhifi for a few months or 'years' ! It COULD drive you nuts due to a depleted bank balance and/or being bashed often on the head by the desperate wife ! 😀
Guys can say I had a bout of diyhifi for a few months or 'years' ! It COULD drive you nuts due to a depleted bank balance and/or being bashed often on the head by the desperate wife ! 😀
I also kept thinking that now I have enough DIY electronics(chip-amps, SS, tubes, Pass amps) ...but after some time again will try something new - now think about headphone amplifier ...never-ending story, and it is limited by time, place and money..as already here mentioned.
I think this 'disease' is practically incurable. I've had it since I was in school ! It depletes money much faster now !
I must admit that I'd much rather have this 'disease' than several others that are around ! 😀
I must admit that I'd much rather have this 'disease' than several others that are around ! 😀
It's still a bit easier and a lot less messy to swap some caps than to swap a camshaft!
It took me a while to work up to that one. A am also somewhat accident prone, so you will notice the Lexan shield between me and the amp in a previous picture. That was an 833A amp on 1500 volts. The shield was in place every time the power was on. All supplies over 300 volts had meters attached, so I could verify that everything was discharged before moving the shield. It makes things like setting the bias time consuming, but it's better than frying.
Some things you have to buy....you can't build your own LCD TV, cell phone, or automobile, but if I can build it, I did. I have usually been able to make this a low cost, or self sustaining hobby, but that's just me.....you can however build some decent gear for a reasonable budget if you avoid the "audio fashion trends."
Soon it will be time to build a new Tube Lab all over again from scratch. My old lab is gone, and when my new house is finished, I get to make a new one. The old one was built about 37 years ago so it is time.
Some rooms have excessive gravity....the farther in you go, the harder it is to get back out......Walk in, grab all the low hanging fruit, then run out, try another door.....you can always go back and revisit an old room if it is really calling your name......but beware the sirens....sometimes you think they are calling YOU, but they really are after that plastic card in your wallet!
"The Knack".....
We all have it. There is no cure.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=dilbert%20the%20knack
On the other hand, I just put six loaves of raisin bread in the oven to rise, so I'm not totally gone.
We all have it. There is no cure.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=dilbert%20the%20knack
On the other hand, I just put six loaves of raisin bread in the oven to rise, so I'm not totally gone.
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