When I was a child my father was a ham and built Heathkit ham gear. I recall age 8 getting a Heathkit AM radio kit. and enjoying building it as well as listening. Learned electric guitar around age 12. Went to college for EE, and after my first year I was visiting a Heathkit store (remember those? They lasted 10 to 20 years or so), and saw a magazine for sale with instructions on how to make an AMT tweeter (!). a 1977 issue of "Audio Amateur." It's been downhill for me ever since.
We had a VW bus with a camper interior, and my dad made a broken bongo drum into a speaker enclosure, attached it to the ceiling air vent where it could pivot, aimed to the rear if needed…
Wow, I have no such stories, but I will say that this curiosity was always just in me. The trouble over the first decades of learning, were all the misinformed opinions/teachings that I learned from experts. Without a reference, I had to sort the wheat from the chaff.
It was the realization that I could make simple equipment with only the inputs and outputs that wanted, as well as the design itself. It was very cool to find those like NP that offered their knowledge to spread the wealth as it were. It was great to find that a preamp could be made for far less money than the commercial product that I might not be able to afford. More importantly, I could choose the level of quality parts to use.
It was the realization that I could make simple equipment with only the inputs and outputs that wanted, as well as the design itself. It was very cool to find those like NP that offered their knowledge to spread the wealth as it were. It was great to find that a preamp could be made for far less money than the commercial product that I might not be able to afford. More importantly, I could choose the level of quality parts to use.
The hard truth; I´ve kept my Emperors Closet nearly the way it was back in 1965 with a few things changed, as I keep it to remind subsequent generations of how amateur radio and dedicated electronics was then and present. These days with space as a premium one must realize that many budding into HiFi and Audio don´t have the possibility of an attic roost or other place to tinker, away from other house members. On the right side in the book rack are the grey files compendium "Radiotron Handbook" by Langford Smith, the hallmark Bible of anyone reveling in such tube work.
I learn´t much of my electronics way back in 1959. On the farm we had no mains electricity, only stacks of batteries that had to be regularly charged up. As a budding lad I got to know the radio department of a closing US airbase (in fact was the 385 Bombardment Group stationed in Suffolk (UK), who´s guys with wonderful expertise showed me the ropes. With no phone lines, the only way to communicate was via SWave.
rJ
I learn´t much of my electronics way back in 1959. On the farm we had no mains electricity, only stacks of batteries that had to be regularly charged up. As a budding lad I got to know the radio department of a closing US airbase (in fact was the 385 Bombardment Group stationed in Suffolk (UK), who´s guys with wonderful expertise showed me the ropes. With no phone lines, the only way to communicate was via SWave.
rJ
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My parents had a "Voice of Music" record player. I folded a cone from a piece of paper and a needle to hold together, (the needle, the kind my mom used to "pin up" when hemming my sisters' dresses). You held the pin to the grooves of the spinning record and le voila, music. First record was "Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party". I think I was about 8 years old -- the idea may have been in one of those Cub Scout activity books.
Cleveland and Detroit (and Windsor Ontario!) had a lot of rock stations you could listen to on the crystal radio I built -- it was a kit from Remco. I think that CKLW at 800kHz had to compete with WJW 850kHz.
Cleveland and Detroit (and Windsor Ontario!) had a lot of rock stations you could listen to on the crystal radio I built -- it was a kit from Remco. I think that CKLW at 800kHz had to compete with WJW 850kHz.
When I was a kid, my dad was in the Navy and would bring home equipment from Japan and else where so we always had music in the house and he would build things and I like to build things also. In 1986 Threshold came out with the SA/1 and it was amazing, I pooled my funds and bought a pair. Unfortunately I divorced a couple years later and had to sell them and other equipment. So the diy started. First a pair of SA/1 copies then almost everything else. I have learned a lot here and designed and put up a couple projects here for others to enjoy as well.
There are times when a good slugging of ego, funds, or something else forces us to either give up or try something different. Too long ago to remember, I lost my *** to a guy selling JonZer speakers out of the back of a truck. he took every penny and I really paid the price for that bad decision. That is what led me to DIY. Building what I wanted still cost me big money (to a kid), but it was the beginning of a long satisfying journey, bumps and all.
My boss at the time had an expensive Jadis amplifier in the 90's. It kept on blowing the EI ECC99 tubes. I offered to look it over.
I discovered three things:
1. The design was borderline negligent. Catastrophic failure was not a question of "if" but of "when".
2. my boss had paid a serious amount of money for it. I could have bought a very nice used car for that kind of money...
3. Admittedly, it sounded truly impressive.
After repairing it, and dealing with a couple of the most obvious and dangerous design flaws, I decided I would build my own amplifier.
I discovered three things:
1. The design was borderline negligent. Catastrophic failure was not a question of "if" but of "when".
2. my boss had paid a serious amount of money for it. I could have bought a very nice used car for that kind of money...
3. Admittedly, it sounded truly impressive.
After repairing it, and dealing with a couple of the most obvious and dangerous design flaws, I decided I would build my own amplifier.
I remember our family having a big 'bass reflex' box with a Jensen 12" coax, a smallish integrated tube amp, with a Garrard changer. Others in the family didn't use it much, but I can remember using it some.
I can't recall why I made the choice, but I had a local stereo shop order a pair of Tannoy 12" Gold drivers (this being when Tannoy's North American office was in Canada). I designed the vented cabinets following the advice from Badmaieff's 'How To Build Speaker Enclosures'.
That book also gave me the plans to build an Altec A7 cabinet for a local band, and a friend used it to build a pair of A7s for his stereo. He, myself, and another friend shared a house. The living room had my Tannoys, and his Altecs hooked to his Sony integrated amp. We had to make a wall mounted base for the AR turntable so the arm wouldn't bounce. The Altecs were predominant in sound, until there was some lower bass, than you'd hear the Tannoys. Fun times from a long time ago.
I can't recall why I made the choice, but I had a local stereo shop order a pair of Tannoy 12" Gold drivers (this being when Tannoy's North American office was in Canada). I designed the vented cabinets following the advice from Badmaieff's 'How To Build Speaker Enclosures'.
That book also gave me the plans to build an Altec A7 cabinet for a local band, and a friend used it to build a pair of A7s for his stereo. He, myself, and another friend shared a house. The living room had my Tannoys, and his Altecs hooked to his Sony integrated amp. We had to make a wall mounted base for the AR turntable so the arm wouldn't bounce. The Altecs were predominant in sound, until there was some lower bass, than you'd hear the Tannoys. Fun times from a long time ago.
As a kid I couldn't afford to buy hifi equipment, so I built it. I've never come across a reason since that would convince me to buy instead of build. I've only bought a couple of commercial amplifiers, all pro, no hifi amps and only ever owned speakers I have built myself.
Hi Ralf, would you happen to still have schematics for the Scully 100, particularly the audio cards? Also, do you know what the different pots on the audio cards do? I know the input & output level pots, but not the others. Thanks!
Couldn't afford to buy it, so you learned to put things together. First tube amps pulled from consoles, then fixing them, then improving them. Speakers pulled from things and stick those into boxes.
55 years later ... now improving and repairing commercial products - and designing / building my own. A lifetime of fun! Electronics as a base hobby. It's a sickness I tell ya!
Hey Ralf, rebuilt a few 280s over the years.
-Chris
55 years later ... now improving and repairing commercial products - and designing / building my own. A lifetime of fun! Electronics as a base hobby. It's a sickness I tell ya!
Hey Ralf, rebuilt a few 280s over the years.
-Chris
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Was always interested in the technical aspects of things from a young age, disassembled lots of thrown out stuff in the name of curiosity. Played instruments in school. Always loved music. Attended concerts. Big into car audio as a teenager. Built everything myself, attended local competitions, really deep into it.. Learned basic electronics at the local area vocational technical school as a teenager. Liked reading about the stuff in the hi-fi magazines, but had very little money to even think about playing that game. Repaired (or attempted to) some trash picked audio electronics here and there. Nelson Pass's "Son of Zen" sparked a lot of interest with its laughably simple schematic. Built the $99 Bottlehead Foreplay preamp kit. An AKSA 55 from Hugh Dean. Built my own Sanders style "no compromise" ESLs. Built some Doppenberg TQWPs with Fostex fullrange drivers... just kept going and going and here I am...
Hi David,
I have a complete Scully 100 manual and it contains a schematic diagram of the playback / record amplifier. However, the schematic does not look complete to me.
Sincerely,
Ralf
A local high end shop wth their own brand of tube amplifiers installed some of their tube amps in a couple of bars and cinemas. One of them was a massive machine with like twelve EL34s or something, hanging vertically on the wall behind the bar. I was fascinated. I started reading about DIY tube amps, saw a special offer on a nice SE amp and decided to give it a try. That was a success, but then I needed a preamp. I didn't have much budget at that time, so I went full DIY. And never went back.