Audio Nirvana....at LAST!

Gentle reader,

It's been a while since I blogged about the stereo system. Frankly, I've been very happy with the sound. However, it was time to pass on unused equipment.

So, I ebay'd the 50-year-old Wharfedale W40 and the 1970's Electrovoice speakers. Also, the Dynaco QD1 Series IIL that I'd modified with three-way binding/banana posts and the Sherbourn LDS2/75 power amplifier. 

I also sold the vintage Radio Shack Realistic STA-2600 100 WPC stereo receiver that I had in here (man-cave II) and replaced it with a Sony STR-DE597 audio/video receiver. The rest of the stack in here is Sony, so it matches, plus it is more versatile. For instance, it has six-channel analog SACD inputs so if I want to put a SACD six-channel player in here I can. It would be silly since I have that set-up in the den (man-cave I) already.

So, with those four speakers gone that were between the oak speakers and the cabinet that houses the Kenwood THX power amp and the Sony/Oppo SACD six-channel kit. As seen:

stereo+8-3-12.JPG (JPEG Image, 1400 × 817 pixels)

Now, this is how it looks:

Notice the addition of convoluted foam rubber panels in the corners behind the oak speakers. The are corrugated cardboard which were around some sensitive component received at work. They'd been discarded so I brought them home and thought up this use for them. Now that's recycling!

Above, you can see vibration eliminators that are made of rubber and cork. They are used in the Heating and Air Conditioning business under equipment. I saw them in Mapleshade's catalog for
$40. See this link: Isoblock, Isol-Pad, isolation, mapleshade, soundquest-Mapleshade
They are double stacks and less than 2" square. Above are single layer 4" square and cost, are you ready? 60 CENTS A PIECE! Same thing! I have never bought anything from Mapleshade and yet they keep sending me their catalogs of high priced stuff.
I placed one under each foot of the power amplifier and Sony receiver. Since the subwoofer is in the same cabinet as the above, they needed to be isolated from it's bass music. 

Now, the real kicker and final item that has blown me away in the huge improvement in sound: I replaced the Monster THX 600 speaker wires with Monster THX 1000 cables. These are over 1/2" thick and have two pairs of positive and two pairs of negative cables inside made of the finest copper, hair-thin gauge wires. I bought a used 15 foot single cable via ebay for $25. I bisected it and put new banana plugs on the amplifier end. As seen above. See how thick they are compared to the RCA analog input cables to the amp. They too are Monster THX certified as is the amp. It's not Monster, but you get it.

In the above photo, you can see the thickness and construction difference.  Here's the link to the auction: Monster Ultra Home Theatrer Speaker Cable 1000 THX 15 Ft | eBay  
It is no longer made, and has been replaced by: M1.4s Biwire^™ Speaker Cable which sells for $8.50 a foot, un-terminated. In other words, no connectors on the ends. A finished pair of fifteen foot ones are $350.00. By the way, there is ONE 15 foot pair of THX 1000 on Amazon for, get this, $10,000.00! I don't think they will find a buyer!

It arrived yesterday and I did the surgery and hooked them up. I put a couple of Focal demo CDs in the player and sat back. WOW! Instantaneously noticed the improvement in sound quality, placement and soundstage. Tighter sound, crisper highs, all together a marked improvement. So now, I think I'm done. Nancy says, "Right."

Thanks for looking!

Scott

 

Unintentional Hat/Cap collection

Gentle reader,

I never intended to collect hats/caps. In fact, back when I had a full head of hair, I never even owned a hat and couldn't understand the desire to wear one.

Still as the follicles decreased (actually many fell out and took root other places on my body!) and having interests in various things, the hats started being bought or given as gifts.

Above, you can see all of them arranged on the floor in here. Racing ones front row, cars second, government agencies third, etc.

Above, is my ALMS or American Le Mans Series racing hat. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the oldest endurance race. Held on the circuit outside of Le Mans, France, the first race was in 1923. Some dozen-or-so years ago, Don Panoz, former owner of the Road Atlanta race course in Georgia, USA contracted with the FIA in Europe to hold a series of endurance races here in the USA based on Le Mans rules and inviting European teams to compete against the American teams.

The first race of the year (this year, Saturday, March 16) is the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida. Historically, the 24 Hours of Daytona (also in Florida) was the first in the world endurance races. It is and was in January. Then Sebring in March, some in Europe at SPA, the Nurburgring, etc., then the big one in June: Le Mans. Since NASCAR bought Grand Am which included the 24 Hour race at Daytona, and created their version of endurance racers called "Daytona Prototypes" it has competed against the ALMS for fans, TV time and circuits. For more on this and Grand Am's buying the ALMS, Google one or the other.

The ALMS has been quite successful and teams with winning records are invited to compete at Le Mans. Many of the European teams (Audi, Peugeot, Aston Martin, etc.) attend Sebring at the start of the season and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta at the end of the season. Ok, enough about that hat!

 Nancy bought me the Adidas hat above. I don't like mesh hats, however.

You may recall that I had a blue Audi TT quattro for a while. I LOVED that car, but it started having expensive problems, so I sold it. I also am a fan of the Audi cars, street and racing. 

Above is a hat that I created by finding a source of genuine U.S. Border Patrol patches and a low profile green hat. Below is one I found on ebay. Not official at all, but a bargain at 99 cents!

 Below, is another one I created via parts obtained from ebay. Customs & Border Patrol Agents that work the border crossings wear blue uniforms and caps similar to the one below.

 Below are three other USBP hats obtained via ebay. Digital Camo first, olive green next, and khaki last. I sold the first and last ones as they just did not fit my small head well. The green one, which is the most common, and all three for that matter, are not worn by any Agency personell.

Again, I liked the looks of the khaki one, but it was just too big on my pin-head.

Customs and Border Patrol was once part of the Immigrations and Naturalization Service of the US Federal Goverment. (I also have a genuine INS shoulder bag that I found at Salvation Army.) Since 9/11 and the creation of Homeland Security, INS and it's friendly, helpful name became ICE: Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Above is an example of an ICE hat. Correct? I doubt it. Still, fun to wear any of them at a place where groups of immigrants are gathered. Make's 'em nervous! Since I'm on the subject of government agencies, below is the CIA hat Nancy bought me and a vintage and genuine NCIS hat.

Above and below are my Grandpa hats. Four super grandsons so far. Still waiting for that girl!

Above is a cheap hat that Handyman Magazine sent Nancy for subscribing. Logo didn't stay on for very long! Sheesh!

 Below are the four Leica hats. I have a 1946 Leica IIIC camera and have had a more modern compact autofocus 35mm one too.

 

 

 

 

 

 Below are the DODGE hats. We'd bought a new 1997 Dodge Stratus ES and a few years later, DODGE announced it was getting back into NASCAR. So, they sent us the red one below along with a nice book and umbrella. I tried, really tried to like NASCAR, but just could not and still can't. Boring to me and many other folks.

Above and below is the really nice quality hat the NRA gives for joining. I don't remember ever wearing it.

 Below is one from 5.11 Tactical. It is a "Remember 9/11" hat. Nice quality.

Above and below is another giveaway hat from Summit Racing Equipment. It came with the cat-back exhaust system I bought from them for my Z28 Camaro. Again, another one I can't recall wearing.

Above and below are ones that Nancy bought for herself. Can't recall her wearing any hat other than one that is part of her uniform.

 Last one is a "driving hat" that I sometimes wear while driving my car, top-down.

 That's it for the hat collection. More to follow soon. Thanks for looking!

Scott