Some Improvements to the Den's Audio Systems

Gentle reader,

I know that I JUST posted another blog a few minutes ago, but wanted to get this all down while it was still fresh in my mind.

You may recall that I set up a separate stereo in the den specifically to play 78 RPM records. Being they are all mono, kind of silly to call it a stereo, but the rest of the components are stereo, so there.

I also a short while ago bought a small power amplifier to power the BOSE 301 speakers as well as the Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 speakers. 

They all were powered by the main Kenwood power amplifier, but I felt asking it to power six speakers was too much. What I didn't know at the time was how small the Sherbourn LDS2/75 power amplifier would be. The seller was new to eBay and did not indicate physical size. The price was right at $60. It has to be remotely triggered to make music. Either through detecting an incoming signal, or a 12 volt DC signal. Well, the former didn't work, so I adapted a 12 volt DC transformer to it. The transformer is turned on by the main system. The Sherbourn does have a power switch on the back which must be on as well. If I only want to listen to the oak speakers I rebuilt, I leave the Sherbourn switched off.

Above is the whole shebang. It is playing a 12 inch78 RPM record as I made the image. It may not look any different to you, and definitely not my long-suffering, audio-system-confused-wife. But it is different.

Above you can see that the Pioneer equipment has been replaced by the Mitsubishi MIDI equipment that no one wanted to buy from me. My wife had put that rack in the den for some reason, and I found it to be quite strong. I first attached the Sherbourn amp to the bottom of it, then stacked the Mitsi's less the non-functioning cassette deck on top. Then the wooden shelf that was directly on the floor before on top. The Sony CD player on top of the wood shelf with the Dynaco QD-1L on top. Note, no speaker switch. The QD-1L divides the signals quite well, directing out of phase signals to the Wharfedales in the back of the room.

Below is a close-up of the front of the Sherbourn. Here is a link to a PDF of the owner's manual for the Sherbourn: LDS2-75B_Owners_Manual.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Below, you can see the Wharfedales are right at the wall, where before they were right behind my chair. I'd rolled back the Asian rug and run the speaker wires under it to the Wharfedales. This allowed me to move them back out of the way as well as correct a bump in the rug that was on the right side and bothering me. You can see the PS2 steering wheel/pedals assembly and racing chair waiting patiently in the alcove.

Here's the view from the doorway. Much easier to get in and out of the room and less likely for my son's cat to knock one over.

Below, you can see the system with the cassette deck that replaced the Denon that I sold to a fellow music lover. Yes, that is a Swiffer. I find it does a dandy job of removing dust from records. If they are truly dirty, I clean them with all the Discwasher stuff next to the headphones.

Below is the 100 cassettes on top of the 100 Classical CDs. I have more as you shall see below. That gorgeous skin was bought in Thailand back many years ago by my late, dear friend, retired Army Colonel, Bill Arps. His widow wanted to throw it away! I saved it. My wife "mounted" it on a background and slightly stuffed it. She even added some "eyes" made more for a stuffed toy animal. Moe, one of our cats was walking all over it as she worked on it. When he saw the eyes he JUMPED three feet straight up and tore out of the room. We laughed so hard we cried. BTW, the skin is from a Fishing Cat. That's it's name. Google it.

Here are the rest of the Classical CDs. All the Beethoven 9th Symphonies are on the left as well as box sets of all his symphonies. On the right are some boxed sets of Classical and Jazz.

Below are the LPs that are in the den. Top shelf is classic rock, then movie scores which continue on the bottom shelf. Then the boxed Classical sets. Mostly Beethoven's complete symphonies. The vast majority of the LP collection is right here next to me in my "office/museum".

And lastly below is the radio collection. Only the two rectangular ones on the top ends are vintage tube radios. The rest are solid-state (transistor) replicas. On Sunday evenings I tune into old-time radio on WAMU 88.5 FM. Love that stuff!

There you have it. The changes/improvements I made yesterday to the room/equipment. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott