Following Trout:
Reading on the other thread (What do you HATE) that my own experiences were also that of others, that I need not get an inferiority complex from having made mistakes.
The following comment should be on both threads:
Jeepers, so many posts on "what I hate" and relatively few here: Why do guys keep doing DIY if they seem to hate it more than they love it?
Reading on the other thread (What do you HATE) that my own experiences were also that of others, that I need not get an inferiority complex from having made mistakes.
The following comment should be on both threads:
Jeepers, so many posts on "what I hate" and relatively few here: Why do guys keep doing DIY if they seem to hate it more than they love it?
EverythingExcept doing the drilling & cutouts on the chassis
I'm the exact opposite. I love the metalwork. Drilling holes is great. Using hole saws is even better. I just love the action, the hands on making things. Seeing metalwork come together and into shape.
I also love screwing things together. Which is why I use 19" subrack parts - horizontal rails and threaded inserts - so I can have a modular system of top plates and do plenty of screwing. I get through a lot of screws and nuts of various gauges.
I loved Meccano as a boy and had a big set. So amplifiers are just my grown-up Meccano toys.
I like taking an idea and making it work.
For me that takes a while. I will read around the subject, obsess (much the annoyance of the mrs), learn and then make mistakes and learn more.
I know I go through hobbies, however the ones I use every day seem to stuck longer:
* mountain biking - check, long stopped given the fitness required (live in mountain biking country, the mrs isn't into exercise)
* snowboarding - check, long stopped after an accident
* kickboxing - check, stopped once I started having to spar other clubs - they don't hold back and it becomes a case of explaining black eyes to new contract customers (at the time I was freelancing)
* astrophotography - stopped due to spending time for work and commute (12 hours/day) and spending 7 nights straight capturing images (easier to hire telescope time nowdays from better locations).
* audio - speakers.. the mrs.
* guitar - gave way to drumming
* drumming - well even the v-drum kit is not used.. as the nextdoor neighbour is a nurse working shifts and my kick pedal is next to the dividing wall which limits time.. and with covid..
* beach fishing - mate of mine moved further away, the father-in-law passed away in Oct due to covid (avid beach fisherman).
Which leaves me with:
* koi - well we inherited a mottley crew with the house, now that DIY is building a new pond (when it's not freezing outside), pond build still ongoing. Should finish this year. 13,000 litres (10x the old pond size as they're outgrowing the old pond) - the filter pipes are 4" diameter. Just digging up the garage floor at the moment. The garden looks like a building site at the moment (the hole is 1.9m deep but will have a slab base a blocks!).
* sea boat fishing - been out once this year on a charter due to covid. We get a lot of bottom feeding fish here in the UK, then in summer we get Tope (small common shark) even Porbeagle (one below great white). UK use lighter gear than the US and the rest of the world. I'm happy even if I don't catch anything it's like meditation! Typically wish all year around.
* headphone audio - because I spend a lot of time working from home, or sat here reading... so I can happily obsess about it in the warm. Plus I suspect as we get older.. headphones for the TV may be in order (helps to plan ahead) The challenge for me is starting knowing nothing.. and knowing I don't know anything.. build from fundamentals and understand it.
I have two things I'm interested in here:
* DAC - initially worked through a design for a R2R DAC, this has since moved to Marcel's Valve DAC - but I want to combine this with a headphone amp in the long run. I seem to have a pretty good basic-level understanding if it but there's more to learn but first...
* Headphone amp - after thinking about what I like (the 50W SS A220 amp I have is class-a biased - I assume class AB1), this lead me to consider valves. So in typical style.. I'll start without a design and attempt (and fail) to build something. Learnt a lot - impedance, frequency response, transients, dB, load lines, headphone responses, so I set myself a challenge - an OTL amp for my headphones (55ohm). I've bashed the ol' 6SN7+6AS7 PP design, I've tried hybrid with solid state, and decided to move to a different simpler setup using PSE. I've got a design, it's taken along time but I understand the principles it's using. Now I'm obsessing about power supplies, learning.. knowing full well that real world doing will be another vertical challenge.
For me that takes a while. I will read around the subject, obsess (much the annoyance of the mrs), learn and then make mistakes and learn more.
I know I go through hobbies, however the ones I use every day seem to stuck longer:
* mountain biking - check, long stopped given the fitness required (live in mountain biking country, the mrs isn't into exercise)
* snowboarding - check, long stopped after an accident
* kickboxing - check, stopped once I started having to spar other clubs - they don't hold back and it becomes a case of explaining black eyes to new contract customers (at the time I was freelancing)
* astrophotography - stopped due to spending time for work and commute (12 hours/day) and spending 7 nights straight capturing images (easier to hire telescope time nowdays from better locations).
* audio - speakers.. the mrs.
* guitar - gave way to drumming
* drumming - well even the v-drum kit is not used.. as the nextdoor neighbour is a nurse working shifts and my kick pedal is next to the dividing wall which limits time.. and with covid..
* beach fishing - mate of mine moved further away, the father-in-law passed away in Oct due to covid (avid beach fisherman).
Which leaves me with:
* koi - well we inherited a mottley crew with the house, now that DIY is building a new pond (when it's not freezing outside), pond build still ongoing. Should finish this year. 13,000 litres (10x the old pond size as they're outgrowing the old pond) - the filter pipes are 4" diameter. Just digging up the garage floor at the moment. The garden looks like a building site at the moment (the hole is 1.9m deep but will have a slab base a blocks!).
* sea boat fishing - been out once this year on a charter due to covid. We get a lot of bottom feeding fish here in the UK, then in summer we get Tope (small common shark) even Porbeagle (one below great white). UK use lighter gear than the US and the rest of the world. I'm happy even if I don't catch anything it's like meditation! Typically wish all year around.
* headphone audio - because I spend a lot of time working from home, or sat here reading... so I can happily obsess about it in the warm. Plus I suspect as we get older.. headphones for the TV may be in order (helps to plan ahead
) The challenge for me is starting knowing nothing.. and knowing I don't know anything.. build from fundamentals and understand it.I have two things I'm interested in here:
* DAC - initially worked through a design for a R2R DAC, this has since moved to Marcel's Valve DAC - but I want to combine this with a headphone amp in the long run. I seem to have a pretty good basic-level understanding if it but there's more to learn but first...
* Headphone amp - after thinking about what I like (the 50W SS A220 amp I have is class-a biased - I assume class AB1), this lead me to consider valves. So in typical style.. I'll start without a design and attempt (and fail) to build something. Learnt a lot - impedance, frequency response, transients, dB, load lines, headphone responses, so I set myself a challenge - an OTL amp for my headphones (55ohm). I've bashed the ol' 6SN7+6AS7 PP design, I've tried hybrid with solid state, and decided to move to a different simpler setup using PSE. I've got a design, it's taken along time but I understand the principles it's using. Now I'm obsessing about power supplies, learning.. knowing full well that real world doing will be another vertical challenge.
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Shop time. Most guys hate it, but I enjoy a complex case build. A weekend in front of a milling machine is a joy for me. The case is filled with a proven balanced circuit, tube or SS. There are many to choose from on these forums. Then there is "the Frankenstein moment". There is always great enjoyment listening to the result, all the while thinking of the next project.
I'm not advocating that the beauty of the case should out shine the sound, but that one should complement the other. Enzo Ferrari once said a car should like like its going fast even when parked. I believe an amplifier should look like it will sound great, even if it's not in a system. What else are you going to look at while listening...
I'm not advocating that the beauty of the case should out shine the sound, but that one should complement the other. Enzo Ferrari once said a car should like like its going fast even when parked. I believe an amplifier should look like it will sound great, even if it's not in a system. What else are you going to look at while listening...
I equipped two Quad IIs I restored with NOS tubes, unsealing boxes from the late 50s for the rectifiers, and 60s for the output tubes. The small tubes are mid 60s, but good used. I love the thought that the cumulative age of the amps and tubes is something like 600 years! A sense of solidity and permanence in a consumer, throw it away world.
And if someone could bottle the smell of a 70 year old radio coming to life, I'd splash it all over!
And if someone could bottle the smell of a 70 year old radio coming to life, I'd splash it all over!
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