Miscellaneous

Ok, so earlier this week I upgraded the filament power supply on my amp so that I can use 6BL7 tubes in addition to the 6SN7, 12SN7, and 1633 tubes that I'm already using. My local surplus store had some GE 6BL7GTA's in stock so I picked up a couple pairs, both of them have black plates with a top getter. One set has an O-shaped getter and the other has a D-shaped one, using the former in my amp and haven't tried the latter yet. Impressions so far, somewhat similar to the GE Canada 12SN7GTA, but a bit warmer & smoother. Doesn't have the soundstage depth & height of the RCA 1633 and the images don't feel as "real", but it has better frequency extension on both e…

I spent the last two hours disassembling my old bedroom system, cleaning out the area where it was, and installing the new gear. There was, ahem, a lot of dust behind stereo shelf (and I wonder why I have such allergy problems ). The old system was my father's: Yamaha receiver, CDP and Pinnacle speakers, all purchased in 1997. The CDP is still in the new system, but it is serving primarily as a surface to hold up the RR2150. I never really took any pictures of the old system, as it wasn't very interesting. This is the only shot I have: As an aside, the new Flickr interface is a nightmare to use. Click through for notes on what's in the photo. I lugged a re…

I know near nothing about amps to power speakers - i just use my Marantz 2226 and be done with it. But these do appeal to my vintage tooth... http://stereos.about.com/od/amplifierreviews/tp/classic_tubes.htm

This many buttons requires a new thread. Who's buying a Blackmagic ATEM Mini Extreme ISO? https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/blackmagic-atem-mini-video-switcher-goes-extreme

I am looking into getting a 360 degree camera for VR tours on campus (for hiring and recruiting grad students in the spring) and also just to play with for fun. I've been looking into the Ricoh cameras. Other suggestions are the Gopro Max but I already have a GoPro Hero 9. https://theta360.com/en/ Anyone tried any of these cameras?

link Requires Java (not just javascript)

Anyone know of a portable sound recorder that lets you rewind and playback events from a live recording while still recording the main track? This is an ability that may help me when expressing my thoughts in discussions, it will be voice recording and on a budget of £200 ($300) or less. Something digital with inbuilt speaker would be what I'd need. Douglas p.s. I won't be able to converse much

Do you guys have any recommendations for a good headset? I'm tired of making Skype phone calls from my integrated MacBook microphone so I'm looking for something that will make my voice sound good to my interlocutors. Thanks!

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/27/23978507/roon-the-popular-high-end-music-streaming-system-has-been-acquired-by-samsung-subsidiary-harman https://news.samsung.com/global/harman-acquires-roon-a-popular-multi-device-multi-room-audio-technology-platform https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/harman-acquires-roon/ https://darko.audio/2023/11/harman-buys-roon/ https://twitteringmachines.com/harman-bought-roon/ https://www.whathifi.com/news/harman-acquires-roon-heres-what-that-means-for-subscribers https://news.harman.com/releases/harman-acquires-roon-a-popular-multi-device-multi-room-audio-technology-platform And the Roon side of the s…

I'm not much of a photographer, but the cameras in this article in the NY Times that can shoot 30-60 frames per second seem interesting. Definitely could be useful for kids/sports/nature stuff.

Does anyone know how many headphones are sold each year and of those how many are purchased by the airlines for distribution and sale to passengers? Headsup

I know recently we have had discussions here regarding censorship on Head-FI particularly around criticism of sponsors products. Well it seems any mention of this forum now results in instant removal of any reference! I was involved in a conversation regarding the Metrum MK1 DAC and happened to mention the work Craig Sawyers had outlined on this forum to upgrade the output transformer. He also noted the need for correct cable matching etc.......... All very useful stuff. Well within a hour or so of posting I received the following PM below telling me that the link had been removed. They must be very touchy over there because people might find there are more i…

Interesting item for sale found on Ken Rockwell's pages... of all places. Some cool pictures included in this .pdf http://www.kenrockwe...ube-factory.pdf Quote from the page... "My buddy who founded and owned Groove Tubes retired, and had bought all the original GE production equipment used for certain kinds of audio vacuum tubes. If you'd like to bring tube production back to the USA (or anywhere else), here's your chance to do it, with the original equipment! Interested? Phone or email Raffie at Industrial Odds & Ends at (818) 253-5692."

I need a replacement Goldring D42 stylus. hifi4less.com sells them for much cheaper than I can get here in the US, even including shipping. Unfortunately they only sell in the UK. I was wondering if somebody in the UK would buy this for me and ship it here? Here is pertinent web page. Please PM me if you can help. Thanks.

"Open Source AirPlay." Something to keep an eye on... http://www.magicplay.com/

Hi Folks, Looking for a small integrated to power small bookshelf speakers in the Living Room. Currently have an old Denon integrated that just died. Looking at: Nad C 325BEE ($290) and Denon PMA 560 ($100) on Agon Any ideas on which would sound better, or any other low cost options? Cheers Pete

...and it looks like it'd fit in my car, too.

How important is the correct polarity? Right now my source has XLR-outs with pin 2 hot, and my amp has XLR-ins with pin 3 hot. So I'm wondering whether I should order a pair of polarity switching XLR interconnects from BJC, or just use the ones I already have as I probably can't hear a difference. My system is used 100% for music listening, no recording purposes. Any expert opinions on the subject?

I am wondering if there is an eBook reader out there that has the following features: 1) ePaper display 2) full PDF/Word compatibility 3) OS X compatible

See here.

Kinda useful, especially if you EQ... http://ow.ly/1sEFRQ or http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

Anyone willing to assist in picking up and shipping a set of speakers located in Lafayette (just outside Walnut Creek)? They are average two-piece tower speakers that should fit easily in most SUV/Truck/Van. I will pay for your time and shipping/packing at a local UPS store. Shot me a PM and I can forward more details.

By engadget: Klipsch headquarters walkthrough: behind the scenes and between the ears -- Engadget pretty neat

I found the ESI MAYA 44 USB at 33% off normal price here in Norway and I do need a ADC of good quality with my mini mac, does anyone have any expericence with it (http://www.esi-audio.com/products/maya44usb/)? I don't care much about the DAC, as I have a Pico comming and a Stello DA100 next to me. I know that I really want the new Apogee, but I spent a little too much lately, and the Maya is quite a lot cheaper...

I have a guy (overseas, who has good feedback) interested in buying my cd player from agon. I was wondering if anyone has used this or knows anything about it http://escrow.com/ Thanks