Leaderboard

I like to make my purchases in reverse order. I bought the VST, then the Flair 58, then this tamper. Next will be the grinder then...oh yeah the coffee.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom. Also very sorry to hear about your kitty. For Dunhill, a litter box with low sides may help. They make them for rabbits. We had one for an elderly cat and it helped a lot. Additionally, there are some new treatments on the horizon for arthritis pain in cats: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/01/14/cat-arthritis-fda-approves-groundbreaking-drug-pain-management/6524588001/

Why under cut a supposedly original design by making it look just like the SRM-D10? Seems to show a lack of confidence

Well that was very interesting - thanks for posting that! Thinking of Shetland, we are going for a week of guided walking there in April. It The island group is bloody remote. Flight from Heathrow to Glasgow, and then another flight to Shetland. Reason for April is that it is before midges get going. Summer is the time these blood sucking bastards are a real Deet soaking, mesh mask wearing nightmare.

Normcore tamper may be funny looking, but it works really well. And I’ve definitely been over tamping my pucks lately, so I know to have a little bit of a lighter touch now. Maybe I’ve been getting frustration out on my coffee. Highly recommended. It’s very well built and not super duper spendy.

The sound: it’s spectacular! Compared to a Stax SRM-007tii with 60’s Mazda Brimar 6CG7’s or 50’s RCA long black plates with D getters, the sound is far more relaxed, analog, detailed, expansive, dynamic and musically involving. I can’t wait to get some NOS EL34’s in here. The Berkeley Reference DAC shows off the Megatron’s speed and transparency; the DAC and Megatron are both detail monsters. The Megatron is a far more capable amp when connected to the Berkeley Reference DAC than a current low-noise, low-distortion reference amp, such as the Topping A90, which I also have. The balanced inputs: dead quiet - perfect with the Wireworld Platinum 8 series XLR interconnects. The voltage gain: I can’t imagine needing any more gain than I’m getting with the 1958 Holland D foil getter E180CC’s (thanks to the community for the tip on these) and the 1948 RCA 5751 triple mica black plates. I will say that this amp takes a solid hour to warm up, however. Temperature: just touched 126F on the exterior of the right transformer case after a couple of hours - the internal temperature was typically within a couple of degrees when previously measured, likely due to the machined vents around the tubes. SMALL UPDATE: Kevin suggested some whisper fans to deal with the heat buildup; this is an excellent idea. Hum: there is none whatsoever, there is only dead silence, irrespective of where the pot is positioned - it’s absolutely impossible to tell whether the Megatron is on, when powered from a current-gen PS Audio regenerator set to 120V. Definitely T2 level stuff! I CANNOT THANK KEVIN ENOUGH

Late to the party, but here goes. Lured a nice small case off of MLA for a cheap penny, wanted a compact CFA (SE). Took some time for my slow mind to figure out how to best use the space in three dimensions, but I found a solution that works fine so far, if you're planning something similar. No interfering leads or unwanted nearness of critical components, and bias can be set without problem. In reality, I'm surprised it turned out quite airy and spacious, considering the limitations. Note the Müller Rhombus transformer device ("Konzept Raute"). This romboid plate interacts wit the circular toroid shape and the electromagnetic waves are forced through the four holes in an endless loop in this electronically confined space, and thus traps all hum in an existant/nonexistant void. This amp is noise and hum free. I'm particulary happy with the volume control, a 24-position Swiss Elma switch that's been lying in a drawer for 35 years. 15K (why not?), shunt coupled and making as little contribution to the signal as possible. I think this plays a part in the clean, revealing sound of the CFA design. The odd resistor out is in the position I mostly listen to, a hand selected Syldavian military plutonium component (0,01%) from 1953, made in a numbered series of three of each value (I own the third one as well) and these days sold on ebay in Hong Kong for not less than $1200, if available at all (only one for sale during the last nine years). Set the bias at first to 150mA, it sank to 135 after some time, which was to be expected. Decided too raise it (why not?) to 200mA. Put the lid on and after three hours it was stable at 175mA after a last fine-tuning. Gets warm, but not too hot. Like all successful, completed builds it sounds wonderful , but if that lasts only time will tell. If so, I may be tempted to follow up with a CFA3.

Switched from Megatron to the Blue Hawaii this morning. Different sound signature but equally as satisfying. This one is not the BJT version but the one that uses 2SK216/2SJ79 with cascoded CCS and adjustable plate current.

Dunhill is riddled with cancer. I’ll be putting him down at 1.

Thanks guys. She’s 80, which is certainly up there. She started showing signs about four years ago. Well, she had had shown signs before, but that is when she failed her first neurological test (the draw the clock one, and she failed it in the most stereotypical “early signs of dementia way,” with all of the numbers bunched up on one side), and it has slowly progressed. It’s much worse at night, of course, and she has been in a great deal of pain due to her hip (replacement scheduled for March, but we’ll see), which hasn’t helped things, but it has progressed to the point where in bad days she’s not really able to take care of herself. But that’s not every day. It may not even be most days. But it’s too many for my comfort with her living independently, even just living 15 minutes away from me. Yesterday was one of the less good days. I did get her to eat, at least, but it’s sad when you use the same strategy with your mother that you do with your partner’s picky 8 year old: “one more half a ravioli and then you can be done.” Dunhill is just old, and his hips hurt too. Maybe he can’t reliably get to and into the boxes. I know he is not doing it on purpose, and he seems to do his best to get to a box. I may have to break down and put one in my bedroom (that’s the location I’ve been resisting). We’ll see what the vet says.

Dunhill has been having urinary incontinence issues the last few days. Going to the vet tomorrow (wanted today, but I had to deal with my mother this afternoon; her dementia has progressed to where I’ll have to force the issue sooner rather than later). Push comes to shove I’ll wash his butt three times a day and I’ll spread newspapers on the floor (I’ll have to start buying newspapers), but I don’t think he’s a fan of it either.

RIP to Tab "Hunter" In a double whammy after losing my mother-in-law Friday night, yesterday we had to put down our kitty. Tab was "my" boy, he loved to be cradled when I picked him up, and he would extend his paws out in a bit of a hug, and kneed my neck. But he loved pets and scratches from Karen as well, who always had better nails for it than me. We're very sad, but he was diagnosed last August with lung cancer, and given as little as 2 weeks back then. 9-10 months later, he was still with us. So we're also very glad to have had that extra time.