Hello fellow builders and enthusiasts.

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Wow, this forum is wonderful! My first foray into DIY Audio was to come here, search on loudspeakers, and get thoroughly addicted to the Ariel and ME2 designs. Have full wood shop, will travel; and I have a full wood shop...

If anyone has placed the Ariels/ME2's head-to-head with Paradigm Studio Reference series or Revel Gems, drop me a line on your opinions. As a matter of fact, drop me a line anyway on any of the above speakers with your opinions.

I'm a Mechanical Engineer by training, although I didn't finish
my degree for a number of reasons, at least not yet, I'm working
as a UNIX and Windows systems administrator now.

I got hooked on electronics when I was about 12-13 years old
and I came across it because I was very heavily into model railroading. While I've not lately been busy with model trains,
I've tried my hand at quite a few other hands-on hobbies as you
might imagine.

My latest interest has been in blacksmithing, which for a time I tried to do for a living... okay, you can stop laughing. It's a hard
business for only a few niche metalworkers who are highly gifted.
But, what a relaxing hobby and you can make some really neat things... like rock-solid, heavy, very-cool-looking speaker stands <grin>. I've retired my coal forge and am working on a propane
forge for my next projects. In the interem, my OA torch heats some small pieces so I can continue to annoy the neighbors with
metal banging all hours of the weekends. Shortly followed by my not-so-great speakers trying to overcome distortion with shear sound pressure. :rolleyes:

At any rate, for anyone interested in my stereo system:

Pioneer SX-650 35W receiver
Sony LaserDisc Player
Apex AD-660 DVD Player
Victor (I think) belt-drive turntable, 1978-1980 era.
Custom-built speakers; one pair commissioned by my father
which he handed down to me (hand-made concentrically-wound 8" woofers);
the other pair were made from scrap wood to store (literally store, not house, not enclose, just STORE) some spare speakers
and parts I had laying around. This is how I proved once and for all to myself that putting speakers in a random wood box is a really bad idea. Really bad; loudspeaker from the bottom of a well
kind of bad. Instant listener fatigue, if you will.

Now, let me qualify my system by saying that I have spent next to no money on it, as may be clear already. I have parts and
can get pics of replacement lamp parts for your SX-650 if you have one. Mine is in great condition except for some of the plastic coating on the wood panels is pealing away. Nice little receiver, works great even for being 22-23 years old. If anyone has recommendations for how to clean the switches (rotary and toggle) as well as the pots (if possible), that would be much appreciated. Sometimes I have to fiddle with the switches to get
the contacts to mate properly.

Okay, I'm going to cut this short before I write a book. It's good to be a part of this great adventure. I'm looking forward to meeting people and learning more, and building more!


phonique
 
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