What s in your Hi-Fi?

2
Ooooh this is fun... I love to talk audio gear :)

currently I'm running:
Well Tempered 'Classic' Turntable
Dynavector 10x5 or AT440ml cartridges
Hagerman Bugle Phono Preamp (with P.S.)
Rotel RCD 991 HDCD player
Fisher 100-R vacuum tube tuner
Bottlehead Foreplay vacuum tube preamp
Bottlehead Paramour single ended 2A3 vacuum tube monoblocks
Audio Note J/sp Loudspeakers
Siltech, Kimber and Musitex interconnects

system sounds good. imaging could be clearer/more intelligible. working on upgrades to preamps and amps... will probably replace the Bugle soon, even though it has served me well.

Cheers,
David
TRONOGRAPHIC - RUSTY BOX

What s in your Hi-Fi?

3
Decware Zen Triode tube amp into old Infinity SB2002 two-ways.
http://www.decware.com/newsite/mainmenu.htm

Sometimes a push-pull homebrew amp using a quartet of 11BM8 tubes. I'm shelving that one until I redo the grounding scheme; too much hum.

No preamps, I just plug my sources (tape deck, iPod, whatever) right on in. For phono, I use a IC-based pre based on the Paia kit, but with better ICs and the parts values rejiggered to make it better conform to RIAA specs. Power supply is 9V battery x 2 to eliminate hum.

I'm not too hung up on the audiophile-ness of stuff, I just want something accurate w/o me having to go too much into debt. The Decware amp was a kit, cost me $500 and sounds as good as the $5,000+ tube amps I've heard in the living rooms of balding cardiologists and coked-out record company lawyers.

I am, however, tempted to buy the Bottlehead 2A3 kit and some better speakers .... What's yr verdict, TheMilford?

What s in your Hi-Fi?

4
my girlfriends dvd player to play cds (i think she got it at costco) > some sony receiver type thing i got for free in high school. if it's too quiet the left channel cuts out, but it has the super bass option which helps compensate (sometimes too much) for the lack of low end in the > b&w cdm1nt speakers.

HI-FIDELITY.

What s in your Hi-Fi?

5
Right now, a ReVox turntable and a Marantz integrated amp, formerly my beautiful girlfriend's father's.

I will build a good HiFi someday, and this is what it will be:

I will buy a decent preamp without a phono stage (probably NAD, but whatever is in stock used at Audio Consultants when the time comes)

I will biuld a small power amp. I have a design, and I have breadboarded the voltage amplifier section and it works well, but I haven't built the rest. If it isn't any good, I will probably give up and buy something.

I have these very nice Linaeum bookshelf speakers (best tweeter I have ever heard).

I will buy a VPI JR or equivalent turntable.

A Shure V15Vx cartridge (which I happen to have laying around).

A Hagerman "Bugle" phono preamp, which everybody has been raving about, despite it costing only $250 or so as a kit.

Then I will put it all in my office.
Last edited by steve_Archive on Wed Aug 18, 2004 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
steve albini
Electrical Audio
sa at electrical dot com
Quicumque quattuor feles possidet insanus est.

What s in your Hi-Fi?

8
Sota Comet turntable with an Audio Technica Cartridge.

Music Hall Phono Pre

"passive preamp" (fancy name for a stereo pot with two RCA inputs and outputs)

Pilot EL84 Push Pull Amp

into my old sony bookshelf speakers -( the weak link for sure)

The power amp gets slowly rebuilt and upgraded as I feel like it- it's pretty much wide open pushing those inefficent Sonys. I'd like some horns I think. Someday I'll build one of those Mapletree Audio Design triplex pre-amps too.

What s in your Hi-Fi?

9
Hey Steve,

The Hagerman Bugle kits, including the power supply, should only cost you about $130 total.
The Bugle "1/2 kit" is only $30 for the board and manual and only about $30 in parts, most of which I bet you have on hand in the shop there. This kit runs on batteries and sounds great... but a pair of NiMH will only last about 8 LPs before a recharge so you have to keep some batteries charging on rotation.

The P.S. Kit is only $25 plus parts (around $40+). This is not as "quiet" as battery operation but has a more solid and clear low end. Or you could also just build your own +15/-15v P.S. pretty easily

check out his site:
www.hagtech.com
Also he just came out with a version of the kit that will do some different EQ curves found on pre 1955 records... looks kinda nifty and useful if you collect any older classical stuff.

Cheers,
David
TRONOGRAPHIC - RUSTY BOX

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests