I can't stand having a lot of stuff with a lot of potential... but nothing is completed:
Good speakers, bad cabinets.
Everything hums
Half done chassis, with stuff hanging out everywhere.
A pile of random electrical components that you've salvaged, but have no use for, and can't bring yourself to toss.
Unsoldering anything.
Tools that costs more than all the parts for a project.
The best of all: ending up using cheap $20 computer speakers and mp3 player because it tucks away nicely in the living room.
Good speakers, bad cabinets.
Everything hums
Half done chassis, with stuff hanging out everywhere.
A pile of random electrical components that you've salvaged, but have no use for, and can't bring yourself to toss.
Unsoldering anything.
Tools that costs more than all the parts for a project.
The best of all: ending up using cheap $20 computer speakers and mp3 player because it tucks away nicely in the living room.
I hated when:
I had finished my first tube amp since 4-5 weeks, and it was working great. Then, the amp died a few hours before my good audio friend was in town to give it a listen.
I had finished my first tube amp since 4-5 weeks, and it was working great. Then, the amp died a few hours before my good audio friend was in town to give it a listen.
I'm annoyed when collectors bid outlandish prices on ebay for parts I covet for a project. It creates a whole new value system when a part is worth more as a "collectors item" than it is worth for the purpose it was designed for.
On the other hand, I suppose I'd be equally annoyed if I was a collector of, for example, .01mf Sprague caps manufactured between 14 Jan 1935 and 23 Jun 1951 and saw some diy nut buying one to fix or build something. Go figure!
On the other hand, I suppose I'd be equally annoyed if I was a collector of, for example, .01mf Sprague caps manufactured between 14 Jan 1935 and 23 Jun 1951 and saw some diy nut buying one to fix or build something. Go figure!
I hate it when I have to convince myself my system sounds good and imperfections are due to bad recordings, cd-player imperfections etcetera..... Luckily I think I've just hit the jackpot (new amp caps are smoothing out and tweaked tweeter filter that sounds like solid gold) so I can be frank about previous delusions 😉
Simon
Simon
I hate it when I think all audio problems are finally solved, all sounds great and the next day it sounds like crap
Cross my fingers untill tomorrow but this time (5 hour trial of pure enjoyment and a few beers) I'm quite confident
Simon
Cross my fingers untill tomorrow but this time (5 hour trial of pure enjoyment and a few beers) I'm quite confident
Simon
DIY tube audio, domain of Asperger's freaks, showoff engineers and tedious cheapskates, is doomed to be swept away in a tide of cheap tat from China. Here's why:
Vendors: The first, most important, and most egregious problem with DIY is vendors, the people who sell you the stuff you need to build whatever it is you're hoping to build. Well, that's how they bill themselves, anyway. With some few exceptions, they suck noodles. Dealing with these paragons of ineptitude, sloth and venality, it is entirely possible to go from enthusiastic to despairing without ever passing go. You will be poorer too.
Top of my list goes to a certain Antipodean gentleman working from out of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, who has perfected the art of utterly destroying any enjoyment his victims, sorry, clients, might gain from buying his absurdly overpriced gear.
Then there is the well-known firm in Colorado that, like so many outfits that sell things online, still hasn't figured out what STOCK-KEEPING means. Oddly, this is the very same place in Colorado where a bunch of kids waded into their school with shotguns. I wonder why that is.
Or how about the stoner in Maryland who purports to sell turreted strips and boards who never answers his e-mail? I want what he's smoking.
Voodoo: Some can't get enough, apparently, but normal, mentally balanced people like me are quickly brought to the point of nausea by the flim-flam. Pet hates: Bybees. Vinyl demagnetising devices. Silver anything.
Prices: I think we all understand what the problem here is.
Vendors: The first, most important, and most egregious problem with DIY is vendors, the people who sell you the stuff you need to build whatever it is you're hoping to build. Well, that's how they bill themselves, anyway. With some few exceptions, they suck noodles. Dealing with these paragons of ineptitude, sloth and venality, it is entirely possible to go from enthusiastic to despairing without ever passing go. You will be poorer too.
Top of my list goes to a certain Antipodean gentleman working from out of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, who has perfected the art of utterly destroying any enjoyment his victims, sorry, clients, might gain from buying his absurdly overpriced gear.
Then there is the well-known firm in Colorado that, like so many outfits that sell things online, still hasn't figured out what STOCK-KEEPING means. Oddly, this is the very same place in Colorado where a bunch of kids waded into their school with shotguns. I wonder why that is.
Or how about the stoner in Maryland who purports to sell turreted strips and boards who never answers his e-mail? I want what he's smoking.
Voodoo: Some can't get enough, apparently, but normal, mentally balanced people like me are quickly brought to the point of nausea by the flim-flam. Pet hates: Bybees. Vinyl demagnetising devices. Silver anything.
Prices: I think we all understand what the problem here is.
I hate when stuff doesn't work properly and you have to find out what's wrong
Right now I have a phono preamp that doesn't amplifie enough in the right channel. Oh yeah, I also hate having to disconnect gear and get it out of my rack. In this case there's a passive preamp included too, so lots of wires to pull out every bloody time...
Right now I have a phono preamp that doesn't amplifie enough in the right channel. Oh yeah, I also hate having to disconnect gear and get it out of my rack. In this case there's a passive preamp included too, so lots of wires to pull out every bloody time...
Hmmm, wonder which of these I am...
In any case, I've had some pretty good experiences overall with vendors, but then again, I don't go in for fashion accessories. I suspect that if I wanted handwound capacitors made from celluse derived from The True Cross rather than well-engineered components from major manufacturers, my attitude toward vendors would be different.
Just curious, what did that Antipodean guy do to ruin the enjoyment of diy?
SY said:
Asberger's furry freak brother, perhaps? 🙂
I expect that people will defend their corner, Sy, and I'm okay with that. But if I am at all representative of what people experience trying to build something themselves -- and I have no reason to think I am not -- then I'm betting I'm not the only one left scratching his head about the soundness of his decision.
The point of diminishing returns is quickly reached when, as is the case with the Antipodean gentleman, everything proceeds at a glacial pace, prices are haggled over because the website is out of date, e-mails are not returned, stuff is missing, the documentation is incomplete or misleading and always, always, no communication unless it is initiated by me. Except on one occasion, when the Antipodean thought, mistakenly, that some money he expected hadn't come.
And the Antipodean is a nice guy! He really is!
You've got a superb example there of why I try to deal with major manufacturers and suppliers.😉
That's not possible with tube vendors, but so far, those guys have done right by me. I've used SND, Triode, Frag Jan Zuerst, and Antique Audio and had only good experiences with them. I haven't tried guys selling boards, kits, and so forth out of their garages, but yeah, I would expect more variability there.
That's not possible with tube vendors, but so far, those guys have done right by me. I've used SND, Triode, Frag Jan Zuerst, and Antique Audio and had only good experiences with them. I haven't tried guys selling boards, kits, and so forth out of their garages, but yeah, I would expect more variability there.
My trouble started when I ordered two big woofers. I guess they discovered the plane to Canada was quite full and that only one woofer was gonna make that flight. Oh well, the next flight out is in a week and my stuff is first on that plane, whoopee!
So the first woofer gets here in decent time, about 12 days IIRC. That's pretty goood I'm thinking. But wait, Canada Customs must have got the woofer off the plane quickly because, as I remember from my plane loading days, "last on is first off".
Uh-oh. My second woofer is at the front of the next plane. oh-boy...
So, to shorten the story, 22 days after the first woofer showed up, the second one made it's way here. 155,000 plus items had passed through customs between the two.
So there was me, in audio deprived agony, checking the mail box everyday looking for that card that said the mailman had something for me to fill those A7 boxes.
It was a long 3 weeks. Beer was being consumed for consoling purposes not for enjoying with your friends like it should be. Oh man, that was a long 3 weeks.
That's what I hate about DIY.
So the first woofer gets here in decent time, about 12 days IIRC. That's pretty goood I'm thinking. But wait, Canada Customs must have got the woofer off the plane quickly because, as I remember from my plane loading days, "last on is first off".
Uh-oh. My second woofer is at the front of the next plane. oh-boy...
So, to shorten the story, 22 days after the first woofer showed up, the second one made it's way here. 155,000 plus items had passed through customs between the two.
So there was me, in audio deprived agony, checking the mail box everyday looking for that card that said the mailman had something for me to fill those A7 boxes.
It was a long 3 weeks. Beer was being consumed for consoling purposes not for enjoying with your friends like it should be. Oh man, that was a long 3 weeks.
That's what I hate about DIY.
Re: A few laws that smother me (& my diy-ing)
He - he; big deal.
All having "been taught" does is increase the injury to the ego when we make exactly the same mistakes as you.
Gregm said:
He - he; big deal.
All having "been taught" does is increase the injury to the ego when we make exactly the same mistakes as you.
Most interesting thread (also perhaps most informative one - oops....)
Most things have been said, but what really #@$*%& me off is to have to recondition an amplifer, when you have to take off those components with leads wound through the terminal/tag-strip at least 2 times, clamped down in a vice and the component real close to all this barricading.
For goodness sake! It must just stay in place until you have soldered it! Nobody is going to lift the 20 Kg instrument by the lead of the grid resistor.
Then down here we also have a parts problem. Especially frustrating is when all the components are in stock but for the one you want. If you want 9 x 1K resistors, there shall be 8. (Now where did I hear of that before....) When you phone to ask whether this or that part is in stock: "Yes, sir! We have - er - 3 in stock". You drive the odd 15 km to the dealer, swearing all the way there at the 16:30 traffic. You park - you Q - you finally arrive at the counter. "Sorry, sir; the computer must have been wrong; we are out of stock. Who did you speak to?"
But they do have the 1W metal film resistors you wanted! Only when they arrive at the counter they are 1/2W carbon types .....
Then, after weeks of construction on your amplifier, checking and re-checking, the moment of switch-on arrives. You check again, and sets the dog out, just in case. With adrenalin pumping, you carefully move your hand toward the on-switch ... and the mains power goes off.
But at the end you get satisfaction. You design, guess informedly, do a cockpit check from memory, and all work exactly as you have planned. Not because of a piece of paper from some University. Also not superior intelllect. It is called experience.
Most things have been said, but what really #@$*%& me off is to have to recondition an amplifer, when you have to take off those components with leads wound through the terminal/tag-strip at least 2 times, clamped down in a vice and the component real close to all this barricading.
For goodness sake! It must just stay in place until you have soldered it! Nobody is going to lift the 20 Kg instrument by the lead of the grid resistor.
Then down here we also have a parts problem. Especially frustrating is when all the components are in stock but for the one you want. If you want 9 x 1K resistors, there shall be 8. (Now where did I hear of that before....) When you phone to ask whether this or that part is in stock: "Yes, sir! We have - er - 3 in stock". You drive the odd 15 km to the dealer, swearing all the way there at the 16:30 traffic. You park - you Q - you finally arrive at the counter. "Sorry, sir; the computer must have been wrong; we are out of stock. Who did you speak to?"
But they do have the 1W metal film resistors you wanted! Only when they arrive at the counter they are 1/2W carbon types .....
Then, after weeks of construction on your amplifier, checking and re-checking, the moment of switch-on arrives. You check again, and sets the dog out, just in case. With adrenalin pumping, you carefully move your hand toward the on-switch ... and the mains power goes off.
But at the end you get satisfaction. You design, guess informedly, do a cockpit check from memory, and all work exactly as you have planned. Not because of a piece of paper from some University. Also not superior intelllect. It is called experience.
Well, a amp with a fault can be fixed and is part of the game, allthough cause I lack the skills, I really dont like when it doesnt work at first power on 😀
But reading CALs story ... I dont mind if things take some time and patience .... here we have a nasty saying, that "the joy of expectations is the best part"
But I would really hate if those drivers would have defects at arrival, or being destructed in any way, and would have to be returned ... that would really be a pain
But reading CALs story ... I dont mind if things take some time and patience .... here we have a nasty saying, that "the joy of expectations is the best part"
But I would really hate if those drivers would have defects at arrival, or being destructed in any way, and would have to be returned ... that would really be a pain