n_maher

Me too, but I've got two other meters that also perform just fine for basic functions. I'm guessing that all you're doing during the bias adjustment is measuring voltage, which just about any meter should be able to do with enough accuracy to get the job done.

Grawk, I wouldn't go internal with the source, but that's just me. Too many trafos in too tight a space, just asking for trouble. And damnit Stephen, why'd you have to take the thing apart? I know what I'll be doing this weekend now. Say goodbye to PCB mounted crappy RCAs.

Fair enough, I guess I see a preamp as one of those things that should be very easy to do well.

Seriously, if you're going to use the analog outputs for any period of time build even a simple regulated supply (wallwart/TREAD), I think you'll like the results. amb measured the stock switcher, it's terrible.

You don't need a Fluke, or anything particularly special actually. You should easily be able to find a serviceable meter for $50 or so.

Why wouldn't this work, since it does essentially the exact same thing an SB3 does, right down to the fact that both the analog and digital outputs are remote volume controlled?

I thought about putting this in the DIY forum but mostly it's about a modded new source, so here it is. Full credit goes to Brain Donegan (of Twisted Pear Audio) who showed me one of these when I was at his house picking up some other parts. He also pointed me to the thread at DIY Audio where some guys had figured out a nifty little mod for the units, more on that in a minute. In stock form this is essentially a poor man's Squeezebox. It's setup to work with a MusicMatch library file and allows you to stream mp3's from your PC wirelessly and connect it to your amplification device of choice via the unit's analog outputs. Not all that special until you factor in three key points, one, that these things can still be had for around $60 if you hunt a bit (at least that's what I found the two I bought for), two, that they can be quickly modded to have an optical digital output and three, that with a piece of software called tversity that will transcode your lossless files so that they can be streamed via the SMC. So, for about $70 (including the parts for the optical mod) I've now got a second wireless source that'll do lossless, not that I need two but I wanted to have a trial run before modding Ian's. I'll probably end up selling this unit at some point or modding it further, who knows...

Donuts are also the weights that baseball players put on their bats to warm up. I assume that's what he's talking about.

I'm really curious, has anyone ever really compared two like amps one with a PCB and the other PTP? This strikes me as one of those complete bullshit statements, no offense purk, there's just no logic behind it. The only way I can see there being a difference sound would be if one used silver wire to connect the components in lieu of the standard copper traces on a pcb.

Deadwood - Season 3 - Episode 12 It is a crime that this show is gone...

You are one among many. And Mikhail has never been shy around me about showing the insides of his amps. At the first Boston meet that I met him at he had populated pcb's on display, they were very nicely done. Also, PTP wiring always looks a bit ragged unless you go insane routing everything.

And I would like to see pictures of Jennifer Love Hewitt naked, I'd wager both are equally likely.

Reks, you might as well argue with him about the sky being blue. He clearly has no interest in hearing what any of us have to say, only in continuing the discussion for reasons that escape me.

I don't understand why you couldn't use the same source with both your speaker and headphone rig? Most heaphone amps can be configured to act as a preamp or get a preamp with a loop out. Where's the difficulty in that?

Headroom and Meier (from what I've seen) are the only ones who make a consistent effort to keep things current. Ray's is usually ok, visual dislikes aside and ignoring the spelling and grammar, Ediie Current's is pretty ok, and Mikhail's is quite frankly an embarrassment.

Well, then your comments about the relative difficulty you had in getting into your amps surprises me even more.

I wouldn't worry about it, I'm guessing most of us could give a shit about how old you are, how you pay for your gear, etc.

Have you ever built anything?

Sweet jebus you could make a living stuffing 10lbs of shit in a 1lb bag. It's an Allen wrench, and perhaps he uses them to avoid being sued by idiots opening the chassis. Or maybe he likes the way they look better? Regardless I'm with the others, that's hardly a lock. If I was a man'f I'd probably use safety screws that require a genuinely special tool and tell customers that if they opened the amp they void the warranty, like every other major man'f does.

Something doesn't sound right there, every tube I've ever come across, low or high-votage, has run hotter than I'd ever want to touch.

Just took a quick peak at Dell's Outlet, seems to me that in the systems I'm looking at that the used stuff is actually more expensive!

Thanks, I'll go have a look there and see what they've got.

*paging Salt Peanuts, paging Salt Peanuts* If it's anything custom I'd plan on a wait time of approximately 12 months.