The Pass Pub: The High-End Off Topic Thread

[stajo]

The Banned Peoples Republic. BPR

I’m working on a script. Sometimes. It gives me headache. Not the hacker I was.

It’s just gonna turn on and turn off devices in specific order. ESP32.

I’m such a slouch

Edit. It gives me headache because I’m not working on it

 

[Gruesome]

You might have a diyaudio addiction problem when you get pulled aside at TSA security checkpoint and the agent asks "Why do you have all these capacitors in your carryon?"
View attachment 1452589

Edit: Literally happened to me today

I once had to explain what a home-built red LED light was for (preserving night vision); I think the 9V battery and the switch made them nervous. Eventually they let me keep it.

On the other hand, the Swiss Customs & Border people are more relaxed: In the late eighties I imported a time-of-flight system (custom built particle detector) into Switzerland, driving it across the border. Reams of paper work, inspection of the truck, yada-yada-yada, but all went well. When I got to my destination, I realized the customs agent had changed the classification from 'time-of-flight system' to 'flight guidance system' (which is a one letter difference in german)...
Gotta love the Swiss!

 

[Zen Mod]

 

[Demonkleaner]

One of my favorite test tracks 🙂

 

[Gyuri]

I'm just trying to enjoy the retirement life.
At this moment, I'm succeeding.
Wild and Clear and Blue

 

[Gyuri]

This song is my current favorite:

We can also see some exciting tape recorders in the background.
I can't wait for the vinyl to arrive.

 

[stajo]

Like you’re taste Gyury

 

[Zen Mod]

Paul Brodie ...... a Legend

worth subscribing and watching all vids ........

 

[Zen Mod]

A76

 

[Gruesome]

For a moment I thought Revox was really ahead of their time, using FETs in consumer electronics in the 70s. Then I saw your second schematic....

Or were FETs in consumer electronics already a common thing back then?

 

[Zen Mod]

read captions

printed is cut from original schm

napkin drawn is ZML drek

 

[Gruesome]

That's why I wrote 'for a moment'....

 

[Zen Mod]

 

[Zen Mod]

Or were FETs in consumer electronics already a common thing back then?

lazy to check exact year when ReVox A76 is born ......... but fact is - in FM FE there are 2pcs of dual gate mosfets MFE3007 and 1pc of simple mosfet 40467A

 

[wrenchone]

I have a Nikko preamp from the 70's ( a Beta II from 1977) that used JFETs in the front end for the phono preamp. I bought it used from Pacific Stereo in the 80's to replace a promising but problematic preamp that originally graced my living room. Having said that, there are a bunch of other sketchy things in the schematic. It finally got retired when the volume pot got all scratchy, but frankly, it wasn't the highest-resolution preamp I owned. My current designs are better.

 

[Gruesome]

Very interesting, thanks for checking! The two-digit Revoxes came out in the 70s, or maybe even earlier, and the three-digit ones (A700 and the like) came a bit later (definitely around by the mid-seventies), if I remember correctly. Maybe not 100% on topic, but then this is the off topic thread: Is it worth it getting an old Revox two-digit set?
As a teenager I put all my savings into an A77 (still not 100% sure why, but it felt like a rational decision back then, for recording & cutting what were essentially radio-on-tape projects), but of course I could never afford any other Revox components. Now one could get even the three digit ones, but maybe parts are harder to come by?

Added: hifi-wiki has the dates.

 

[Zen Mod]

2 digit ReVox amplification - sonically - don't bother

frankly, I'm not impressed even with 3digit amplification

now, A76 tuner - absolute jewel; more than decent sensitivity, same good selectivity;

after changing dozen or so elcos and few tantalums, increasing output cap to 10uF and 1uF bypass ...... sound is to die for

with change to simple JFet buffer (post #29669), even better

all that under 3 conditions:

• that nobody did fiddle with internal settings
• that you like listening radio as media
• that you have good station(s) in area

I had luck in all 3

I have 2pcs of A76; incidentally, they're bought from Radio Station where I did work (volunteer, later pro) from my youth and next 2 decades....... practically old friends of mine; when station did go Kapput, I salvaged those and few other itsybitsies

 

[bhjazz]

that you have good station(s) in area

Gah! Ain't that the truth. US radio has just gone down the drain, now mostly belonging to giant corporations with advertising agreements. The few publicly owned stations are my only salvation.

 

[Gruesome]

Thanks, again very helpful! I don't want them just for display, but I would use mainly the amplifier, since I can stream the Pasadena NPR station to the Zenductor 2. So, it sounds like I should pass on building a small Revox collection. 😢

 

[Plott]

Today, purely by chance, I fulfilled a teenage dream – I bought a Quad 44 preamp for a very, very reasonable price, in fact it was very cheap. As a teenager, I wanted to have this amp – I've built the Quad 405 power amp several times – but buying it was obviously out of the question, and the planned replica proved difficult and ultimately impossible due to a lack of components behind the Iron Curtain. Naturally, I saw many advertisements since then, mostly for very high prices – and today I had to jump at the chance. The unit is fully functional, even with a phono module. I don't know yet whether to fully restore it or leave it in its original condition... but I'm leaning toward restoration/update. But first, I'll just enjoy it for a while. I'm just happy 😍