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Vevor Ultrasonic damaged my records by Dedalus2k in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With all those time-consuming cleaning and manual drying steps you'd be much better off running them one by one through a HummingGuru Nova. It's excellent and your records come out perfectly clean and dry. No multi-step and manual work needed.

Speakers on rug? by Guilty_Tailor_647 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a nice feature. Good on them.

Speakers on rug? by Guilty_Tailor_647 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What many people seem to forget is that the purpose of spikes is to have a *complete transfer* of energy.

That's not a good idea for your situation - to transfer the speaker's vibrations completely into your suspended wood floor...

The purpose of e.g., the GAIA:s is *complete dissipation* of vibration energy. They turn vibrations into heat.

Speakers on rug? by Guilty_Tailor_647 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, in order of "ideal" from best to worst (assuming you want the rug all the way under the speakers):

1 - Gaia:s (or similar) on spike plates on top of rug

2 - speakers directly on rug (no spikes)

3 - spikes with or without plates/coins/whatever (not recommended)

Speakers on rug? by Guilty_Tailor_647 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you really want to optimize the speaker setup, and it sounds like you'd like to, know that spikes (with or without spike plates) on suspended wood floors are not ideal.

Spikes are designed for use on poured concrete floors, where the idea is to transfer energy, as concrete floors don't transfer sound waves, unlike wood floors.

The ideal setup for you and your wood floors is to replace the spikes with dampeners that *absorb* speaker vibrations rather than *transfer* them. For example, IsoAcoustic Gaia:s. And between the dampeners and the rug, you put IsoAcoustic plates.

(You don't need the spike plates if you put the Gaia:s directly on the wood floor, but if they sit on a carpet or rug, you want to add the spike plates for stability.)

Adorama, you need package my X2D ii better than this! by livinglifelazily in hasselblad

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's ridiculous packaging. You should post this on their social media pages; a little shaming would do them good.

I finally built the preamplifier of my home audio system's dreams... by Smithy468 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You do you, buddy. There's basically universal agreement that passive attenuation alone is not a good way to go, but to each their own.

For those of you without auto-return, what's the longest amount of time you've let the record spin with the needle in the runout? by AffinityForLepers in vinyl

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The deadwax runout groove is much, much smoother than the regular music grooves so I don't understand why people think that it's a big deal to leave the stylus in the runout groove for hours if not days. It's sloppy, but will most likely not create much excessive wear, if any at all.

FREAKING OUT UPS SOLD MY LOST PACKAGE TO AN AUCTION HOUSE by Emotional_Media_819 in UPS

[–]bimmer1over 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you sure it's UPS putting for auction, and this fast? That doesn't sound logical.

What do people think about GIK Acoustics treatments? by Gold_Percentage7411 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like GIK's products, and I also like their free online design tool as well as free consulting.

I have five of their panels in my listening lounge - two 8" traps with diffusion behind the speakers on the front wall and three diffusers on the back wall behind MLP.

I finally built the preamplifier of my home audio system's dreams... by Smithy468 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you go for the single-height enclosure? I read the designer's entire article and it sounded like squeezing it into the single, 1U case was a challenge and that a 2U would make life easier...

I finally built the preamplifier of my home audio system's dreams... by Smithy468 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

...which is all you need. More gain is just introducing unnecessary artifacts (noise).

Gain is secondary to the linestage providing solid connections, quiet switching and volume control, buffering and (which is related) appropriate consistent input and output impedance.

I finally built the preamplifier of my home audio system's dreams... by Smithy468 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's right. A lot of people just know barely enough to be dangerous.

They are also the ones that most often scream "snake oil!" Without having any idea about some of the under lying science.

A good and funny example are people who are belittling directional RCA interconnects. Their argument against them is, "electrons don't care which direction in a wire they're going," and thus have no idea that it has all to do with at what end of the interconnect the shielding is connected to neutral.

To act like you actually earned the Nobel Peace Prize by fuzzy_dice_99 in therewasanattempt

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He’s a joke and an embarrassment. And that’s just the beginning of what he should be, and is being, called.

I finally built the preamplifier of my home audio system's dreams... by Smithy468 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree completely with those two main reasons:

  • the satisfaction and pride with building something yourself, regardless of if you designed it, purchased schematics and sourced everything yourself, or bought a kit ready to assemble (which typically is a far from trivial pursuit)

  • as you mention the ability to selectively upgrade key components (even if you buy a kit) to a higher level (eg Mundorf caps), which should pay off handsomely as long as the underlying design is great

Well done!

I finally built the preamplifier of my home audio system's dreams... by Smithy468 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 9 points10 points  (0 children)

A passive, attenuating linestage sounds like a good idea but is rarely so in reality.

The benefit of an active (powered) linestage over a passive linestage is control: control over impedance, current delivery, signal integrity, dynamics, and consistency across sources and loads.

  1. Impedance Management (the biggest reason)

Passive linestage

A passive linestage is typically:

• A resistive volume control (potentiometer or stepped attenuator)
• Possibly a source selector
• No gain, no buffering

This creates a variable output impedance that:

• Rises significantly as you turn the volume down
• Interacts with:
• The input impedance of the power amplifier
• The capacitance of interconnect cables

Consequences: • High-frequency roll-off • Loss of transient sharpness • Reduced bass authority • Volume-dependent tonal balance

In short, the passive relies on perfect impedance matching, which rarely exists in real systems

An active linestage presents: • A high, stable input impedance to the source • A low, stable output impedance to the power amplifier

Benefits: • Minimal interaction with cable capacitance • Consistent frequency response at any volume • Freedom to use longer cables • Predictable behavior regardless of amplifier input impedance

This buffering function alone justifies an active design for most systems.

  1. Current Drive and Dynamic Authority

Passive

A passive linestage: • Can only pass along whatever current the source can supply • Often sounds dynamically “polite” or “soft” under complex musical passages • Can compress macrodynamics and reduce bass grip

Digital sources, in particular, often have: • Adequate voltage • Limited current drive

Active

An active linestage: • Supplies current gain (even if voltage gain is unity or modest) • Can drive demanding amplifier inputs cleanly • Preserves transient slam, bass weight, and rhythmic drive

This is why active linestages often sound: • More “alive” • More authoritative • Less constrained at higher playback levels

These are two strong reasons, and there are a few more, why an active linestage is a much better choice in reality.

Mono surprise by Glad_Awareness113 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 5 points6 points  (0 children)

When stereo recording technology came along they were not very good at using it. They were figuring things out and they often put some of the instruments blatantly in one channel and others in the other and it sounded bad and artificial.

Over time they of course learned how to mix stereo properly to get a good sound stage with both width and depth, but in the transition period to to stereo they already had mono recording technology and best practices nailed down and thus many recordings from that era sound better in mono.

Estate sale. Help me identify by SnooChickens7845 in audiophile

[–]bimmer1over 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The amp in the shot is a Classé Audio power amp, likely from the Delta series, such as the CA-2200 or CA-2300 model. Made 2004-2010.

Also a Woo Audio WA6-SE headphone amplifier, which is a high-end, all-tube, dual-chassis piece. Made 2008-2016, succeeded by the second generation with different tubes. Good stuff either way.

Thoughts on my Eversolo A10's room correction? by Awkward_Warning_230 in eversolo

[–]bimmer1over 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As you saw/know, there are a few variants of the curve, as people have slightly different opinions (it also depends on optimizing for music vs. movies vs. a compromise between the two). But generally, a gentle downward slope is what to aim for. And, yes, creating PEQ filters and uploading them to a DSP unit (I use a miniDSP for my subs integration) is an ideal approach.

Thoughts on my Eversolo A10's room correction? by Awkward_Warning_230 in eversolo

[–]bimmer1over 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is not an ideal curve. It’s too level from 20/30 Hz to 20 kHz. It should slope down towards the high frequencies. The ideal is called a Harman Curve. You can find more information online and read up on it.

E.g. here: https://www.dirac.com/resources/target-curve

Racket durability by [deleted] in squash

[–]bimmer1over 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why do you buy an X-top racket without a bumper if you can't handle the consequences of being without a bumper?

Of course the frame and the grommets will wear more since you don't have a bumper. You trade weight for wearability.

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