luvdunhill

I'd owned all three (up from the bottom) of the woodied Grado cartridges. There is a definitely break-in point, but to my ears there is a point when you really want them to stop breaking in... alas, it doesn't stop and they take a turn for the worse (slight, but it's notacable and kinda annoying). Regardless of my experience, I hope you enjoy them!!

well, it's very important that the sleeves keep the entire contents of a jewel case including the booklet and tray cards. This is a requirement for me. As for the jewel cases, well, I have a garage that they just might be able to fit in (somewhere)...

well, I'm on the look out for something a bit more high density for my CD collection, and I'm considering something like this: Has anyone gone to something of this nature, and did you regret it? I'm looking at the Viewpak XG sleeves and then a nice box or case to put them all in: I'm not sure I'd go this route for everything, but it would definitely be nice to have all those Daniel Barenboim CDs that I never listen to handy for coaster use mod edit: rehosted the cdbinder.com image. Their certificate expired and I was getting a warning every time I clicked this thread

well, I had such luck with the KGSS by mounting the PCB to the top and bottom of the case, I am going to try this again. It's okay if things don't quite line up left to right, like with your BH. I plan on using chassis mount tube sockets, probably the bakelite ones I have on hand. I think I'm going to keep the bias pots inside the case, as I would like to keep the leads very short at these points in the circuit. I'll probably add a tip jack location for ground and then use that in conjunction with the front mount jacks for biasing. My cheaper meter has probes that fit just right in the molex-based Stax jack. great idea! I really like the DI DAC concept (www.ecdesigns.nl), and the USB input is the best I've ever heard... something to think about at least! Take care!

the boards are asymmetrical on both axes unfortunately...

The assymetrical BH boards make me sad I cannot get the case layout to look quite right ...

does anyone know how to use the RSS thingy at HF to only subscribe to a few threads? I just want a listing of new posts in the few threads I care to monitor.

it's right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7RiMG92gqQ

2 outta 3 is enough for me

I measured my Xono-ish clone on some fancy HP thingy they have here at work and it was around -83dB @ 1mV for MC and in the -90's for MM measured at 10mV. My cartridge is 0.24mV output... I used to have the numbers for the Klyne System 7 phono preamp and they were insanely low... even lower than say the Zyx Artisan which is ~95dB for MM

well, there are people out there that can implement switching supplies for audio, namely Ed Meitner... whether or not the benefit outweighs the potential problems, sir is the question!

I wish I had more time to write this post First, I really like the Thiels. In fact, I had a conversation with the man himself (well, two actually) about implementing mixed order crossovers in two pairs of DIY speakers that I'm working on (that never seem to get finished). His speakers embody all the concepts that I'm trying to achieve in my own design. However, this is the rare case (and stupid... I'm a mere mortal) of just not finding the perfect speaker and trying to do it yourself. However, this is a conversation for another day, and it is somewhat upsetting to me as these speakers have been sitting around half done for like 3 years. anyways, back on topic. I think the 2.4 is a huge step above the 2.3... I owned the 2.4 for about 6 months (~ eternity) The main difference i think is in the midrange coherency.. everything is so seemless sounding and effortless. This might sound minor, but it's huge in my book. The only complaint of the 2.6 is it seems like there is a sort of over-detailed-ness, which is hard to describe... (well, I can describe it but it will probably de-rail this conversation... it's like today's modern upsampling / oversampling DACs) ... I really like detail, but it seems that the 2.4 create detail outta nowhere, especially in the 440 Hz -> 2kHz range (i.e. upper violin range)...perhaps this is what Tom is alluding to, perhaps not. Some might call it brightness, but it's a bit different than that I think. All this to say, I really like the Quatro and if you're at all hesitant about the Theils and think "hm, something's not right here, but I don't know what it is" then you owe yourself a listen, in my opinion! I've listened to both the woody and non-woody (the latter in my home) and have to say they sound phenomenal once they get dialed in. Another speaker to consider if you have the cash, is Roy Johnson's speakers (Green Mountain Audio) or if you're looking to save some cash, the now defunct Meadowlark or the Vandersteen 2ce / 3a etc. "budget" options.

Hey! Thanks for the ewview! I've owned these and a few other Theils down the line... The tipped up treble is usually due to the smaller sweet spot and directivity due to the lobing that occurs when (quasi-)first order slopes used in the crossover. When you're in the sweet spot though, it's really amazing. I know this is a review and you're not looking for opinions, but if you would indulge me for a second, I'd recommend listening to the Vandersteen Quatro speakers. Everything you liked about the Theils is times 10 in my opinion, the sound stage is immense and the detail is pin-point... then there is the bass... gotta run, but the Vandy's are worth a listen IMHO...

ah. The MC section is basically the same as the Xono I believe. Anyways, a great design by Wayne Colburn

I use a Nitty Gritty 2.5 FI with Pure 2 cleaning fluid. I've owned the budget and second from budget VPI cleaners as well as the Disc Doctor manual brushes (i.e. no vac, air-drying) and fluid. For me, the NG and Pure 2 was a huge upgrade over the VPI cleaners and various other solutions. The real comparison between all these cleaning methods was playing a "clean record". My Zyx uses a line-contact stylus (6 x 35 um).The amazing thing is how much crap it can pull from the grooves even after the VPI or manual methods. I agree, the less cleaning the better!

... and one other question. By upping the +- 400v rails, do I need to make sure I change the components required to keep the 300v, 350v, and 380v reference voltages on the schematic, or will these values become -100V, -50V, and -20V with respect to the new rail voltage?

I'm working on a Mouser part list and mods for this project, if you're interested: http://www.vinylengine.com/diy-strobe.shtml I'd recommend waiting until after I order the parts and find out that something doesn't fit With primo stuff, I'm looking at $15 total

I wasn't going to get that extreme! I was just going to buy a bunch of the 450v and put them in series and stick them on 500-550v rails, instead of buying the 900v parts. So, 10m45s 2 in series * 2 per board * 2 boards with 500-550v rails. Looking at the 10m90s datasheet, it seems that you can get 100mA per device, so would sticking them in parallel get up to 200mA total? or is this one of those things that the datasheet doesn't tell you, i.e. 50mA per device is what you can get in the real world? Looking at the 10m45s graph on the last page, it seems that you can get over 100mA per device, like in the 400mA range, but at the top of the spec sheet it clearly lists 100mA... any idea which is correct? of course, all of this is assuming lots of heatsinking thanks again!

Elephas: I can check it out for you if I can get a pin out of the adapters. Also, remember that the BH connects the the cathode to G3 (suppressor grid)... personally, I wouldn't plug anything in until someone looked at the datasheet and the proposed pin out.

I'd invest in a few setup tools. see here: http://www.turntablebasics.com/ I'd get the alignment / overhang mirror and a bubble level. Next, perhaps a stylus force gauge. These are nice, perhaps you can talk the seller down a bit: http://buy.audiogon.com/cgia/cls.pl?anlgcart&1201789984 As for a budget cart, I'd recommend a Denon DL-103: http://buy.audiogon.com/cgia/cls.pl?anlgcart&1203348006 and a Bugle phono stage kit: http://cgi.ebay.com/Hagerman-Technology-Bugle-Phono-Preamplifier-Kit_W0QQitemZ190186910346QQihZ009QQcategoryZ12050QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem yup, I recommended hundreds of dollars but you'll get a great cartridge and a great phono stage out of it.

KG: Is it possible to put two IXCP10M45S in series and get double the current, but the same voltage rating as a single IXCP10M90S? I don't see why not, but figured I'd ask.

x2 the price point is bellow the new and improved BH as well. I'm betting the old BH amps will just increase in price, especially if the Black Gates stay out of production. I guess KG or Justin could comment the BHSE versus the BH as a teaser

is this the newer version that's MC/MM or MM only? They're both great designs, I've built both

or at the bare minimum, incriminating pics!