A FEW FINAL changes. NOW I'm truly done!

Gentle Reader,

I've made a few, final changes to the stereo. I'd experimented with the speakers being toed in so that they pointed directly at me.

After a while, listening, I decided to try them facing forward. This occurred after buying (via eBay, of course) a set of really nice, heavy black chrome speaker spikes. The speaker's bases were pre-drilled for spikes, but had none. The hole required for these was EXACTLY the size in the bases. So installing them was a snap. Here they are on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-8-New-Dark-Silver-Black-Chrome-Speaker-Spikes-/160543206330?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25611eebba

I very carefully measured and placed the speakers exactly 22" from the side and back walls. The combination of spikes and square placement has nicely improved the sound, especially the soundstage. I can close my eyes and point to the individual instruments.
The music sounds like it's coming from behind the speakers.

Which when you think about it makes sense. The microphones were in front of the musicians, therefore the sound's image should appear behind the speakers, being they are the opposite and end-user of the music.

As you can see in the photo at the top of the page, compared to the last photo posted of the speakers, that I have wired the subwoofer. I bought Monster Cable THX certified subwoofer cable and two "Y" cables. That way, both left and right channel's bass will be reproduced. Since the Power amp and RCA interconnects as well as the speaker wiring is all THX certified, it makes sense to have the sub supplied by THX cable as well.

With the bass response of these A/D/S/ speakers, the sub is not really needed. Only something with cannons, like the Telarc SACD or LP of the 1812 Overture does the
sub really add to the experience. In fact, sitting in the listening chair with my legs on the ottoman, when the cannons fire, the back wave from the sub actually blows up my pants legs!

The other changes were to the power cord for the Denon SACD/CD player. It is equipped with an IEC power cord inlet. Like the kind on the back of your computer's power supply. There is a huge market for replacement "audiophile" cords/cables. I admit that I have subscribed to this way of thinking. As you may recall all the Liberty RCA cables I installed on the stereo and home theater.

I'd replaced all the power cords with Belden 19364 cable and heavy duty three-way hospital grade plugs. I'd gotten a nice Audio Research brand C7 type power cord for a great price, even though it was WAY too long.

The Denon SACD/CD player is newest component and since the prices for in-the-USA
IEC plugs is ridiculous, I finally bought one via eBay from China. It arrived today, so I connected it to the Belden cable and power plug. Hooked it all up.

You can see the A/R blue power cord coiled in the lower left and snaking up to the Pioneer CD recorder. The Belden cable is kind of hard to see, well all the thick round black ones are Belden, but the newest one coils around the other two that are climbing upward.

Lastly, you can see in the top-of-the-page photo, that I installed the red cryrogenically treated hospital grade AC receptacle in the wall. I feel that the main cable from the AC surge suppressor and power cables from the two Adcom ACE-515 power conditioners do not require the Belden cable.

Why? Because all the components, save the turntable, have Belden cables that plug into the ACE-515s. Since they condition and clean the AC power for the actual components, the Belden cables are right where they should be.


Google Belden 19364 cable and see what they have to say about it. Here's a HOW-TO:
http://www.audiotweaks.com/diy/bobcrump_pc/page01.htm

So, you may be thinking, "Why didn't he put Belden 19364 on the turntable?" Because the power cord for the turntable is for the motor. There is no reason to shield the power for a motor that has no physical function in the audio stream other than to maintain 33 1/3rd RPM speed.

So that's it. Aside from possibly replacing the Denon CD changer (DCM-290) with a DCM-390 which decodes HDCDs, I can not think of a thing that needs doing with the stereo.

Thanks for looking and reading!

Scott

Baby's got new shoes!

Gentle Reader,

Hello. It's been a while since I've made a posting to the blog. Things have been happening, naturally.

Since buying the '91 Capri XR2, I've wanted to replace the nasty original alloy wheels with something nicer.

I've restarted on the simplification of my live, visa ve, my possessions. So, I went through the cameras and picked out the few that I really wanted to keep and started selling the rest on eBay.

They've been selling well, so the first expense was the new wheels and tires. I got them via Tirerack.com.

The wheels are 15x6.5" verses the stock 14x5.5". They are Sport Tuning T6:
http://www.tirerack.com/upgrade_garage/BigPic.jsp?wheelMake=Sport+Tuning&wheelModel=T6&wheelFinish=Machined+w%2FBlack+Accent
The tires are General Exclaim UHP (Ultra High Performance):
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic.jsp?sidewall=Blackwall&tireMake=General&tireModel=Exclaim+UHP
They are the same tires I put on the Audi TT quattro. Only smaller to fit this car.
I've been a Tirerack.com customer for years. Saves a lot of money.
The tires arrived the NEXT day after ordering, ready to bolt on. GREAT!If you look at the photos of the original wheels:
http://therobbcollections.blogspot.com/2010/10/tt-is-gone-and-austrailian-ford-takes.html
you'll have to agree how much better, newer even the car looks. The old tires were about worn out too. The increase in grip and handling is terrific!

That's it for now. Thanks for looking!

OK, NOW I'm REALLY done. I swear!

Gentle reader,

OK, so I know I've said a few times that I was done with the stereo. But this time, I'm finally satisfied! I'm really, truly DONE!

Obtaining the A/D/S/ speakers was the first step on the final approach to audio nirvana.
See that blog: http://therobbcollections.blogspot.com/2011/01/amazing-speaker-find.html

The next step was acquiring (again) a Dynaco QD-1 Series II via eBay for only $27.00. It's actually a QD-1 Series II L. Other than having a much nicer front panel, I don't know what makes it a "L". See the one I got rid of a while back on:
http://therobbcollections.blogspot.com/2010/11/too-many-speakers.html

Now, take a look at what the room looked like with the big DCM speakers:
Now, take a look what it looks line now with the A/D/S/ speakers AND the Pioneer stack gone. Note, no more dangling wires. Here's where I moved the speaker switch to and added the Dynaco surround sound device: They are on top of the Denon DCM-290 CD changer. Here's the whole stereo in its FINAL state: That yellow box contains a Cryogenically treated hospital-grade power outlet. I'd bought one from an eBay seller that specializes in treating these things by slowly dipping them in liquid nitrogen then slowly removing them. Supposedly the treatment makes the copper molecules work better. Hey, he gave me two when I bought one, because he felt it took too long for him to mail them.

Finally, here are the two Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 speakers wired as the surround speakers behind my listening chair.
Between them is an antique pole lamp I fixed up and behind them is the gaming chair and driving "platform" awaiting my next digital racing session on the PS-2.

The cool thing about how I wired this whole thing is that the BOSE 301 speakers are the fronts with the Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 speakers being the rear. They are on position #2 on the speaker switch. Speaker switch #1 is the A/D/S/ speakers in stereo only.

For an explanation of how the Dynaco QD-1 works, go to:
http://kantack.com/surround/surround4.html

It works great! The rear sounds are out of phase from the front, and quieter. They give the sense of reflected music off the back wall of a concert hall. If I really want to crank it, I have all six speakers going.

I have a THX certified sub-woofer cable coming for when I want a little extra "bottom" with the music via the big sub-woofer in front there. The Dynaco has provisions for a center speaker, but that is for movies, and it is switched off on the device.

So there you have it, or rather, I have it. The ultimate (for me) listening room. Nancy's happy because my speaker and equipment buying is at an end. In fact I've sold most of the speakers already. The rest is going on eBay Sunday the 16th of January.

Thanks for looking!

Scott

An Amazing speaker find!

Gentle reader,

Yesterday Nancy and I set off to the mall to buy a "Go Diego, Go!" backpack for grandson #3. She was driving and I asked if we could stop at the local pawn shop on the way back.

I'd seen some PSB Alpha speakers there last year, and hoped if they were still there, they would have dropped the price by now.

They were gone but they had a number of very nice speakers. They had the smaller versions of the DCM KX-12s: KX-6, KX-10 and the KX-C center channel. With some of those, I could had a kick-ass surround sound set-up, for sure. But I am getting RID
of speakers, not getting more.

THEN I spied these nice black towers, made by Analog & Digital Systems, A/D/S/ for short. They have pierced metal grilles held on, strangely, by small black square drive screws. I borrowed a tool from the sales woman and got the grilles off to look at the drivers.

Two 5 1/2" woofers with a 1" dome tweeter between them. I felt around the back and to my delight felt four big, heavy duty binding posts. Why four? So one can by-wire them.
In other words, since high frequencies, require a fraction of the power that low frequencies do, one can have say a 50 watt amp for the tweeters and a 200 watt one for the woofers. That means four wires per speaker.

THEN I tried to pick one up. HOLY MONKEYS! These things are heavy! That was another clue these were high dollar speakers.

They'd priced them at $129 each. Then dropped it to $129 for the pair. We struggled to carry them over to their speaker testing station and she hooked them up.

WOW! What crystal clear sound! I was blown away. "So," I said to her, "you have these marked $129. Can you do better?" "How does $90 sound?" "Sold."

Were had Nancy's Scion TC with the car seat in the back for aforementioned grandson.
They proved to wide to fit sideways in the hatch, and with the car seat, we couldn't drop the seat backs. We ended up stacking them on the car seat sideways. They JUST fit there, resting against the back of the front seats.

I haven't weighed these, but they are more than fifty pounds. Here's some pics:
Above is with one of the metal grilles off. I'd taken them off, as I prefer to listen that way, but Anthony walked in and immediately started to poke the center of one of the woofers. So, to save them and my sanity, I put the grilles back on.
Here's a rather over-exposed shot of the back terminals. If you click on it, it opens full sized and you can read the label.
Here they are "in situ". I've brought the powered 12" sub back in from the living room surround sound and put the passive woofer there. I was testing the latter and the DCM KX-12s and BOSE 301s with test CDs to see, rather hear how low they go. The DCMs have a resonant vibration at 63Hz. Other things in the room vibrated at different frequencies. Not a good situation, but I can't afford to set it up as a real listening room, with treatments and such.

So, my research in my Orion Blue Book for Audio revealed that these A/D/S/ MV-30T speakers were made in 1996 and retailed for $1200. WOW! Definitely the most expensive (when new) speakers I've ever had. Not the most expensive component, I think that big Yamaha receiver that retailed for $1600 was.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, a couple photos from outside:
Cool sky, huh?
Found this fellow, or female on the recycling can lid. Cool Praying Mantis, huh?

Thanks for looking and reading!

Scott

Even MORE speakers!

Gentle reader,

I have come across a number of interesting speakers and a vintage receiver via our local thrift stores.

Here's the room with all the speakers posing before I got the newest ones:
Note the powered 12" subwoofer in the middle with a single vintage Pioneer speaker on top.

Here's the vintage Pioneer receiver on top. I've set it up as a mono "Hi-Fi". I've run a single RCA cable with "Y" adapters on both ends from the turntable to the receiver. Plus I ran a long ground wire between the receiver and the stereo's pre-amplifier to prevent hum while playing records.
When I play mono records, of which I have many, I unplug the phono cables from the turntable that connect to the big stereo and plug in the "Y" adapter. That way I can experience old mono recordings in a similar way to how they sounded way back then. The Pioneer stuff is mid-1970's, long after almost everything was stereo, but it's close as I can get, equipment-wise to 1950's tube equipment. Pricey stuff these days. The receiver had "walnut" vinyl end panels and top plate. The former were peeling. So, I completed the peel and sanded them and the top and painted them black. Modernizes the look and looks far better than it did. I think the receiver was $25 and the single speaker $6. What happened to it's mate? A mystery. Above is how the room was set up before. The Wharfedales, which are model: Diamond 7.1, and the powered subwoofer were played together with the sub dividing the signals; bass it kept, the rest it sent to the small speakers. The Bose 301s were to be the main speakers. They really do sound amazing. Here is a close-up of one Wharfedale with one of the Sony speakers on top. The Sony's I found at Salvation Army and for $20, I thought, give 'em a try. They are currently in series with the NON-powered sub which I got for $25. It is a vintage Radio Shack Optimus 12" model. It too divides the music. Remember, I like the speaker grilles off. They sound better. Here is a close-up of the vintage 1975 Genesis model I speaker. $14.95 at a small thrift shop we hadn't visited in years.
Note the wooden, "masonite" tweeter face plate! The rest, save the inverted dome, is metal or magnet. First speakers I've heard where the tweeter dome is concave rather than convex. Does a fantastic job. Highs are tight and crisp and the sound stage images are excellent. The woofers are Radio Shack replacements that some prior owner installed some ten years ago. Very nice drivers at $30 a piece then. About $40. today. The original woofers had green foam surrounds. As is my practice, I have "rubberized" these surrounds. Here is a link to "Human Speakers" the company that formed from the original Genesis Physics: HUMAN Speakers: Home

Above is how the room looks right now. I'm thinking of trying the speaker stands that are shown in the very top picture under the Lyric/Eosone speakers. They are in this room.

I'm thinking, once I sell the excess speakers, yes dear, really, I will buy some rebuilt woofers from Human to fully experience the 1970's Genesis sound.
The above image is courtesy of Human speakers. It shows that groovy green surround. Their signature like Cerwin-Vega uses red surrounds.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading my blog!

Scott

Too many speakers!

Gentle reader,

If you've followed my posts at all, and thank you if you have, it's often about stereo equipment.

I've found some real bargains in speakers lately in my favorite thrift stores. I found and passed on some Danish speakers: Tangent HTD-50. They had a very nice sound and great sound-stage. They even matched my furniture. However, at the time, I had no speaker stands and to sound their best, they have to be out in the room. Here's a picture:The woofers while small, are woven fiberglass and produce amazing bass. The tweeters are silk-domes. I'm sure the new owner is happy with them.

Then I found some English-made Wharfedale speakers. They are Diamond 7.1 and about the same size as the Tangents. I have not taken individual photos of them yet, here they are along with the OTHER bargain priced speakers I found:
The Wharfedales are the small black ones in the back on stands. The stands I lent to my youngest son to use with some speakers I'd gotten for him. He returned them to me at my request and included the Yamaha speakers: Covered above and uncovered below: Here are the DCM KX-12s that I've been raving about waiting forlornly in the back of the room. The things on top are the grilles for the naked four speakers in front. Why? Well, frankly, when I played music through the tiny Wharfedale speakers, I was blown away by their sound-stage and clarity. Suddenly, the DCMs didn't sound as good as I thought. So, I decided to move the Lyric/Optimus/Polk-Eosone speakers from this room into the listening room and give them a try. They sound much better than the DCMs. But then, the Polk-Eosone drivers were made for vastly more expensive speakers than the DCMs. SO, the DCMs will be for sale once the holiday business is over.

SO, what about those four speakers in front, and why do none of the speakers have grilles on them?

I'll answer the last part first. Speakers usually sound better without fabric in front of them. Even though it is supposed to be "acoustically transparent". So, I leave them off.

The four in front are very vintage (mid-1960's) speakers are KLH Model Twentys. I got all four of them for $25.

These speakers were part of the KLH System Twenty. It was a Garrard record changer/radio/amplifier in one unit and a pair of these speakers. They had a single
RCA plug on the back. The system sold for $395 in 1965. That's over $2,700 today.
For a long time in the early stereo days, inexpensive equipment used RCA plugs for speaker connections. I guess that's why KLH used them: To simplify connections.

The KLH System Twenty could be compared to what today is called: "Home Theater in a box".

I have removed those RCA terminals and replaced them with three-way binding posts so that regular speaker wires can be attached. I like double banana plugs, so installed them in the standard 3/4" spacing. Here are some three-way binding posts I installed in the B.I.C speakers I snagged from an antiques store for $50:
Here's the B.I.C Venturi Formula Six speakers from the front:
I'd desired those speakers since they came out in 1975. I enjoyed their brief stay here. I passed them on to another collector.

Back to the KLH Twentys. I found that of the four, only one tweeter worked. Research indicated that the capacitors that block low frequencies from the tweeters were at fault. This proved true, but one tweeter was also bad. I believe that is why the person had four of them. Because the tweeters stopped working. So, he bought two more speakers.

I replaced the tweeter, thanks to Cy Bean in Washington state. And all the 8 micro-farad non-polarized capacitors.

I also restored the finish on all four as well as cleaned the fabric grilles.

I've moved a pair in here and will pass on the other pair to a fellow collector in the near future.

I hope to find (and have mentally kicked myself for selling the one I had) a Dynaco surround sound adapter:
Here's the back:
Of COURSE now, I can't find even ONE for sale! But when I do, I will move the Wharfedale speakers to the back of the room so that I can enjoy old Quadraphonic LPs and modern SACD Surround discs in the listening room.

That's it for now. Thanks for looking and reading!

Scott in Virginia.

TT is GONE and an Australian Ford takes it's place!

Gentle Reader,

If you've followed my blog at all, (which I greatly appreciate!) you may recall my much-loved and enjoyed double denim blue 2000 Audi TT quattro. It's a halo car and is one that's been listed as one of the most significant cars in automotive history. Not mine, TT's as a whole.

I had it for two years and four months. It was a fantastic car that was supremely comfortable, VERY quick and handled like a dream. The previous owner had put thousand$ in it and it was better for it.

But, being German, it can be and was finicky. I sold it on eBay and it is now in the hands and wallet of a young man in Tennessee. May he drive in peace.

Flush with cash, something that is VERY rare in our life, I set out to find a suitably fun replacement. Something that was different. I and sometimes my lovely wife too, test drove and sat in a great number of cars. One that intrigued me was a 2001 Volvo V70 T5. It was very rare in that it has a cloth interior and best of all a MANUAL transmission. This is a must for me. It was too pricey, and a bit too big. Quick though! Turbo powered.

Another gorgeous wagon-like car I drove was a Lexus IS-300 Sportcross. This thing is RED! Light tan leather interior. Smooth inline six and great size. Sadly, for Americans, Lexus only outfitted the Sportcross with automatics. Otherwise, plus less money, it would be mine.

There were many others looked at and driven. When testing "previously enjoyed" cars, the sales people will let you go by yourself. They have your vehicle on their lot and a copy of your driver's license. So, theoretically, they could track you down if you stole their car. No worries here. I don't steal cars.

So, you may be wondering, "What is this mysterious Australian Ford?" It is a 1991 Mercury Capri XR2. Made in May, 1990 and delivered July 20, 1990. So it is more than twenty years old. I tracked down the original owner and enjoyed speaking with him. I'm the third owner.

The previous one had the car re-painted, it's RED, and it was done very well. He may have replaced the top, but maybe not. Regardless, the car only had 84,000 miles on it. After twenty years! Superb condition, too, as you can see in the photo at the top of the page and below.So, what is a Mercury Capri and what is the XR2 part? The car was designed by the Italian design firm: Ghia. Here is a link telling about the Barchetta show car as sold by Christie's:GHIA BARCHETTA CONCEPT | Christie's
That explains it better than I could.

So, it was built upon the Mazda 323 chassis and engines/transmissions. The base (non-XR2) has a 100 horsepower 1.6 liter engine with single overhead camshaft and two-valves-per-cylinder. Standard with five speed manual transmission. Auto trans were optional. Fifth gear is overdrive. It has a hydraulic clutch actuation.

The XR2 has Mazda's 323 GT/GTX engine and transmission. It is still 1.6 liters but has twin (dual) camshafts and four-valves-per-cylinder. Output is 132 horsepower with 136 pound-feet of torque at 3000 RPM. How does it make that much more power? A turbocharger. At 60 MPH it is turning 3000 RPM. This means passing someone is easy in top gear as the engine is already at maximum torque. Forth and fifth are both overdrive and the clutch is operated by a cable. The GTX Mazda was four-wheel-drive.

The Capris are front wheel drive. Odd that Mazda would be happy with a car built with their mechanicals that would be direct competition for their Miata. But since Ford owned a good chunk of Mazda then, they had to go along.

The Capri was sold as a Ford in "the land down under" and a Mercury in the USA. They had planned to sell it elsewhere, but that never happened.

As it turns out, the Capri outsold the Miata in it's first nine months here in the USA. It wasn't designed as a real sports car: Front wheel drive, verses the Miata's rear wheel drive. Also, it has a small back seat as well. Nonetheless, it sold well initially.

Sold only from 1990 (1991 models) to 1994. The last year they made design changes and added a passenger air-bag. Only a few hundred '94 models were sold.

So there's the history. How does it compare to the Audi? Very well. Fabric seats which I prefer but not as comfortable. Still feel good though. Plus driver's side has adjustable lumbar
support. Recline as well as height adjustable. Same legroom as the Audi.

It came with an expensive at the time, Kenwood stereo. It was adapted to the factory "Premium Sound" power amplifier. I removed all that and installed a nice JVC stereo with built-in HD radio. I replaced the factory speakers with Pioneers two-ways in the doors and two-way Infinitys in the rear. Sounds MUCH better and I love HD radio.

So far, I've had the timing belt, water pump et.al. replaced and done minor maintenance
and been scrounging up the odd interior pieces that were missing or broken.

It's averaging 28-29 MPG in combined driving. Runs fantastic, handles well and I love being able to put the top down.

It's going to continue to be a "fair weather" car. When it rains or snows, in the truck I goes.

Here's some more photos:As you can see, the back seat is pretty useless. The interior shot above has the since removed radio in place. Note that hole in the right side of the dash? I'm not sure what they intended it for. Not much would stay there....More shots:I've never had so many gauges in one car before! Turbo boost gauge is a new one for me.Below is the whole engine bay. I've been slowly cleaning and detailing it.Last is a close-up of the top of the engine:
The cam cover was originally painted with thick black "crinkle" paint. Most was gone and I'm slowly removing the rest. The "DOHC" and "16 VALVE" were in red.

Finally as mentioned above. The car was designed in Italy by Ghia. Ital Design did the interior. Mazda provided the chassis and drive-train. It was built in Australia. Quite the international car!

Good luck in seeing one. They are quite rare now.

Thanks for looking!

Scott