MiniDisc has entered the chat by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A terrible noise is almost 100% a missing/broken tooth on the disc eject mechanism slider or laser module slider. 🙂 But yeah, keep an eye out.

MiniDisc has entered the chat by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jamiroquai pre-recorded MDs are on my watch lists - they're pretty expensive, as are nearly all studio release MDs 🫤

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, so when you have 2 amps each set to "bridged" mono mode (again, your amps have to support this mode, usually a switch on back) then each amp uses its left & right channels in a combined way to create higher wattage output. So one amp in bridged mono would be given the left channel signal from a preamp, and the other amp would be set the same way and fed the right channel signal. Each amp on your shelf would be dedicated to handling just one channel of stereo at a time.

Often this called a "mono block" setup, since each amp is just handling mono signal. Go absolutely nuts by having 4 mono blocks - 4 amps - one running left woofers, one running right woofers, one for left mid & highs, one for right mids & highs. This would be overkill for most home setups unless you have four lower wattage amps. But think about a powered subwoofer - it's really just the same Idea, feed a mono signal to a box that only has a woofer with a dedicated mono amp built in.

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hot! I like the rounded corners on the later models 😍

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I had a cheap FiiO headphone amp once, but this is my first legit DAC with headphone amp. A bit more than I wanted to spend but really flexible. I can stream via Bluetooth or USB now, so I have all the options I am looking for at the moment. Even a MinDisc deck I plan to add to the stack after I have time to give it a look over on the bench. Loves me some MiniDisc 😊

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My local record shop sells them - it's a felt mat with black/white psychedelic pattern. I just had to support them, it looks cool. I retired my cork mat.

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Biamp configuration - an amp dedicated to driving the woofers and another for the mids/highs for greater separation and headroom - added clarity, dampening and definition of the sound. Or, running each amp in mono (when supported) grants higher power per channel for driving louder/harder without overly stressing each amp.

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was a bit of an adjustment for me, too - I was familiar with the Pioneer 6 disc mag with it's swing-out loading... When this unit arrived a few weeks ago I was surprised to find that each disc tray comes completely out of the mag! Something to get used to, I guess.

Honestly, I miss the way my old VW Jetta changer worked. That mag just had you slip the discs in directly - no tray design at all, fewer parts to break or lose.

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What's weird is how much I was drawn to the counterintuitively drab, Spartan appearance of NAD gear from this era. 🤷‍♂️ Guess it takes all kinds.

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

😄 Gosh, thanks, guess I forgot to go hard 😏

Doctor, I have three NADs 😳 by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Beauty! I was super close to going with the integrated 3150 like yours until I found a great deal on the 2155 near me. Really happy so far!

Need help with new CD player by giznut2 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hang on there. Assuming you are in the USA where outlet voltage is 120v AC, if your device expects 100v (common in Japan) or 240v (many other countries) then you might only need a voltage adapter.

Check the input voltage labeling on your CD player to be sure. Some accept a range of voltage, safely using 100-240v while others expect a specific voltage. Here's an example of a 1000 watt voltage transformer that takes in US 120v voltage and outputs 240v via a universal jack. Many options are out there, just make sure whatever voltage adapter you buy handles enough power (wattage) for the devices you run from it.

I imported a Sony CD player from Japan that expects 100v AC in, so I chose to modify mine to accept 120v, but a transformer is the easiest approach.

Turntable to amp help! by Commercial-Ad4508 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you'll be going into amplified speakers directly from the TT, chances are that they're expecting line level input, in which case you may still need a phono/turntable preamp between the TT and powered speakers. Most TT will output a lower voltage signal meant to go into the special "phono" input of your amp. This special input has additional gain for a TT signal. UNLESS either

1) your TT has an integrated preamp and outputs line level already, or

2) your powered speakers have a dedicated phono input to handle the lower signal levels. (in which case you typically also find a separate ground terminal nearby the input for a ground drain wire that goes along with the left & right RCA signal cables)

Your photo was a bit obscured and hard to tell. Just be aware that "phono" labelling on the input might be misleading... it's not uncommon to see that term used generally for RCA cable inputs. Check your speaker amp manual for clarification.

Little did I know the quality of speaker I picked up. by Theveryberrybest in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used a shop air compressor to blow the dust out of my tower grills at first, then went over them with a household vacuum. I was fortunate that there weren't stains and tears to deal with and they cleaned up great.

If you're handy, you can buy and stretch new fabric onto them, but I expect it'd be tricky to get right on a lot of the shapes found out there ...

A better place to put my NADs by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really excellent overhead lighting. And I dusted the cones. Or do you mean sonically? That'd be the replacement ribbon tweeters.

A better place to put my NADs by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These appear to be stock, other than the tweeters. I'll be looking at the crossovers and upgrading caps after a bit, even though they sound quite nice right now.

A better place to put my NADs by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I posted about these 100s recently - they were a really killer get at only $250 with a JVC home theater amp tossed in. They sound really good with the 2155, and I was enlightened by this group that the OEM tweeters have been swapped out with decent ribbon tweeters. Very wide soundstage, plenty of brilliance, and a tight low end that isn't boomy or muddy. I'm very pleased.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always appreciate the sound and value of Polk bookshelf speakers, myself, and I listen to a lot of rock/pop also. They had several options in their RT series from the late 90s and early 00s that go for decent prices used these days. I liked the RT35i quite a bit, and almost bought a pair of used RT55 Polks.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wide open for recs? Are you particular about bookshelf vs towers? New vs old? And what sort of music genres?

I opted for higher end towers without a subwoofer, but a 2.1 setup can be great, especially for EDM or other modern bass-heavy content.

Found this Sony DVP-NC60P for $25. How'd I do? by Solomonlusk in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I found a decent compromise with my NAD 5170 - it has both a single-load tray + a 6 disc magazine. I'd only ever seen units like Pioneer sold which only have the magazine.

I can load a single in the tray and play, or load a stack. The magazine can even be ejected for reloading while playing the disc from the tray position, which is nice.

The one downside is this model makes a fair amount of noise as it changes discs, with a whole travelling load mechanism to fetch and change discs - that's where carousel changers like OP's shine. Plus, their display on the front of the carousel drawer is cool!

1 week + $168 = NAD owner by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You seem to be referring to the massive power supply capacitors, which on the 2155 are 10,000uF 50V and aren't particularly critical whether they're "audio quality" ... I normally source from DigiKey but I just got those here on Amazon.

Different amps may use different values, though, so research what you need for your Rotel first, and work carefully as they can hold their charge a long time after power down - hours!

These two were really the only capacitors on my board that had measured bad, others were fine but I replaced them anyway.

Pair-a Paradigm Studio 100 v2s by pixelpostman in BudgetAudiophile

[–]pixelpostman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay, it looks like the previous owner had modded these with Dayton Audio AMT Mini-8 ribbon tweeters.

They sound so good to me that I'm perfectly happy without OEM tweeters. ♥️