ALL my posts about stereo equipment, speakers and more!


Gentle reader,

I made this list of links to all my posts about music equipment for a coworker/friend who has been HiFi/Stereo/music lover much longer than I have, (but he's at least ten years older than me) and hails originally from the Philippines. In doing so, I saw spelling errors and weird stuff when I pasted them into my word processor program. But when I pasted them into the blog template, at least the weird things are gone. Fixing the few spelling errors, well, I can live with them. 

So,  I figured since you like to read my blog (well over 60,000 page views so far) that you might also like to see and utilize the links below. 

I skipped my very first one because it was before I figured out how to add pictures and well, looking back, it wasn't all that interesting. 

The links are chronological starting with the first one with photos. There is not a lot of the equipment left from back then, plus the stereo moved into what was out TV/Movies room and the TV/etc. moved into the living room. 

Having all the kids grown and gone, and hopefully done coming back home to move in with the folks (that means us) we converted their bedrooms to other uses. This room I sit in has always been my home office/study/library/museum/photo studio. The "listening room" was originally the master bedroom, but only slightly larger than the other two bedrooms up here. The other bedroom is my wife's home office/whatever she want's to use it for.

This is my 132 post, the first being published on December 12th, 2008. As you proceed through each linked post, you'll see that I got better at doing this and have developed a style that readers seem to like, based on their comments. Also, I got better at arranging  the pictures and making them larger and hopefully more informative.

I first got into good music listening equipment in 1975 after seeing/hearing a new friend's stereo in his bedroom. His poor long suffering parents and neighbors! One link below shows some photos from 1993 when I still have some of that original equipment. You will see that I am a voracious buyer/tester/seller of equipment. It is an all consuming hobby which I hope to enjoy as long as I can see and hear. One other thing, sometimes I combined several different things into one post. Do not be confused with this. With all that rambling explanation,  here is the list:


Did you notice how many times I announced that I was DONE? I stopped saying that. In fact, being so enthused about the old Radio Shack Minimus 11 die-cast speakers that I upgraded (on stands in front of big speakers in photo at top of this page) that I decided to find and buy Radio Shack's own ribbon tweetered speakers. Thanks to ebay, I was able to buy the later version called Optimus Pro LX5II. Got them for $25. I will post about them later. And yes, I know "tweetered" isn't a real word, but then look at how many new words end up in daily use and ARE later added to the dictionary. 

While on that subject, if you are old enough to remember a TV show called All in the Family which had Carroll O'Connor playing a bigoted character called Archie Bunker. He once said to his son-in-law something along these lines, "People who live in communes are communists!" Since I do not, nor am I ever likely to use Twitter, it seems to me that people are not tweeting they are twitting. So, perhaps old Archie, were he alive today, say, "People who use Twitter are twits!"

On that note, I sign off. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott
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XBox 360 Forza 4 100% Completed Chapter Eleven

Gentle reader,

It's been a while since I last exhibited the virtual garage and cars I had in Forza 4 when I completed it the first time. Yes, I have completed it again, this time via the "World Tour" which is the default form of racing in the simulation.

We left off with my 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS which I modified to "S" class. That is the 150th car in my stable. So, next, number 151 is:
My 2006 Pontiac GTO. Made in Australia and being (in 2004) the SECOND car exported from OZ to the USA. The FIRST being the 1990 (sold as 1991) Ford Capri. Sold in the USA as a Mercury. Of which I own one of the very earliest ones, born in May, 1990. It's a red XR2 which is the turbocharged model. But I digress. We did sit in one of these when shopping for a car for me back in 2011. BOY was it nice! I still want a real one! 
Another car I'd like a real one of, is the Saturn Sky Red Line which means it too is a turbo. Also exported to Europe and sold as an Opel GT. I test drove it's predecessor, a low mileage Pontiac Solstice. It was a non-turbo model but in like-new condition. Sigh, stay on task, Scott!
Note how almost all of my virtual fleet has a racing number on it. Gotta be accurate!
Below is a newer model Audi TT quattro of which I DID own a real one, it was a 2000 model coupe like the one below in the introductory color of Denin Blue with a blue leather interior. And while it was the 180 horsepower model from the factory, a previous owner had modified and tuned it to put out almost 50% more. Was it FAST! Yes, and expensive to fix.
I'm not crazy about the body kit's looks or the heavier front end weight from the  15 degree 3.2 liter V6 engine. In Gran Turismo 4 in my now ancient SONY PlayStation 2, I have a virtual version of my real one, same color, same RS4 wheels and WAY faster. 
Below, painted in authentic British Touring Car Championship racing livery is the predecessor to the Volvo V70, big brother to my V50 T5. The "R" model of the 850 and V70 is all-wheel-drive and in the latter puts out 300 HP and 300 #'. (Pound feet of torque) Yes, "#" is a pound sign, not a hash tag!

Below, only exceeded in un-loved-status by the Pacer is a super fast AMC Gremlin X. Painted in the tri-color paint scheme used by Mark Donohue on his Javelin Trans-Am racer.

Next, BMW's first foray into exotic car territory, the M1. Built for them by Lamborghini, it is an awesome car.

The Ford Sierra was sold in the USA as a Merkur. Made up name, but aren't most car names made up? 

Below, another Volvo of which I lust after is the C30. Baby brother to my V50 and an homage to the P1800ES of yore, it is a turbo model. The "R-Design" is only an image package, not AWD as my virtual one is.
K-PAX is a real Volvo racing team.
Most folks have never heard of RUF. It is a German company that buys Porsches and modifies them and sells them as a RUF. The first was called "Yellow Bird" because it was, wait-for-it, yellow and really fast. 

One of the last years to retain the new-for-1970 Camaro body style. Note how I chose CRAGAR S/S wheels for it.

That's ten, the last five for this chapter are, from Italy, the '10 Ferarri 458 Italia.

Called Godzilla by the automotive press, the very impressive, especially for it's curb weight, the '10 Nissan GT-R. This one a higher-performance SpecV model.

A car you are not likely to see, but super-fast as-is, the '09 M-B SLR Stirling Moss special.

Ford and Chevrolet, and a little later on, most of the other GM makers, struck gold as the Vega and Pinto came out shortly before the Arab oil embargo. The Pinto was later known for the chance of a fiery explosion if rear ended. It was a better engined car than the Vega, whose aluminum block tended to wear out quickly. This Pinto has a V8 engine and conversion to all-wheel-drive. It's amazingly fast and pisses off the AI cars it competes with.

As a young car mechanic, I had a chance to drive a '57 T-bird. I was not impressed. It was hardly true competition for the Corvette. Still, very sought after. This one is far from stock.

That makes 165 so far. I chanced upon a black XBox 360 at a thrift store marked: $20 As-Is. I took a chance and bought it. The only thing wrong with it was the CD/DVD/GAME disc drive was jammed. The Internet provided me lots of info on taking the unit apart. I wasn't able to fix the drive, but did de-dust the components. The good thing is it has a 120 gigibyte drive, much larger than my white unit has. So, after deleting the 48(!) games and eight profiles and in effect returning the hard drive to empty, I downloaded my profile and started Forza 4 from the beginning. Yes, I have four other simulations I could be trying, but Forza just has a handle on me and countless other would-be-racers around the world. I've won all the races save one second place finish and am already into the forth-of-ten seasons. 
Oh, by the way, the last race in the tenth season in two laps around the Nurburgring in R1 class i.e., Le Mans top prototype class, racers. I chose my favorite Audi R8 now in Gulf Racing colors and won handily.

That's it for now, thanks for looking,

Scott

PS We passed 60,000 page views a few weeks ago and I have you to thank for that!
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Changes & Improvements to the Listening Room's Two Systems

Gentle reader,

As you no doubt know, I prowl the various thrift stores in our area looking for music (LPs & CDs) as well as other things that interest me. If you look to the right at the list of popular pages, those are some of my other passions.

Finally after many months of nothing but DVD players and DVD/VCR combos and other electronica that does nothing for me, did I on Wednesday, spy in the stacks at Salvation Army a gem in the form of a high-end Yamaha universal player: DVD-S2300MK2. Here is the official page: DVD-S2300MK2 - Audio & Visual - Product Archive - Yamaha United States 

According to the reviews I have read, it sold for $999 starting in December, 2003 and only for a couple of months as a new model was in the works. I think what makes it a "Mark 2" is the addition of SACD playback. 

 I will not go into a description of SACD, suffice it to say, it is a vast improvement over standard CDs. Another group invented DVD-Audio as competition for the SACDs, just as HD-DVD was for Blu-Ray and Betamax was for VHS. If you have NO idea what those last two are, you are a lot younger than I!

So, I tested it in the store with a CD, being Wednesday (25% off) I got the Yamaha for $7.50. Non-Wednesday price was $9.99 1/100th the price when new. 

I brought it home and hooked it up and test played a couple SACDs. Sound's awesome. Did I mention this thing is heavy? No? Well, it is. Not 30+ pounds like the SONY DVP-S9000ES was, but it's up there.

So, there it is, top right above the also awesome Nakamichi CD changer. The Yamaha sits where the equalizer with the Oppo universal player on top of it sat previously. I moved the former to the bottom right and it now sits atop the CD recorder that I also found at the same Salvation Army.
Above is a larger view of the two digital disc sources. Below is the wiring involved in connecting all these bits and pieces together. Not shown are the two pairs of interconnects that send signals to the Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier and the subwoofer.
So, you may be thinking what did I do with the Oppo? Well, as it plays everything the Yamaha does AND decodes/plays HDCDs which the SONY SACD changer also does not play, it has moved to the Six-channel system:
As you can see, the large Cerwin-Vega speakers are not in their usual places. Green masking tape marks where they go. I am still so impressed with those little speakers that I modernized/modified (the ones on stands) that I ordered ribbon tweeters for them too. 

Now, other changes as can be seen below include some nice Chinese-made speaker cables I found at another thrift store. I don't recall the brand, but they are thick and well made and factory terminated with banana plugs. 
This first photo shows them in place of the twisted pair units that my wife said look like umbilical cords. Plus, I did a much neater installation as shown above and below.
I also used them to replace the Monster cable to the front speakers of the six-channel system. Below is a detail shot showing them next to the Monster units I still use for the stereo system.
Above, the Dynaco Stereo 200. You are not likely to ever see another one! 

Some months ago, I was again fortunate to find a beast of a SONY home theater receiver at, you guessed it, a thrift store. I do not remember which one, but I got it very cheap. It is a STR-DE5ES.
It is difficult to photograph black components. They often end up looking grainy as you can see. The top receiver is the one that it replaced. It too is quite capable, but older and has less inputs and capabilities. Many of those go unused as it is for music only, no movies. The business ends below:
And finally, a top view to show the size difference. See that serial port above? The Yamaha has one too. Turns out, they are used for software installation and updating by the factory folks.
It's been a busy day and frankly, I'm tired and going into the den (AKA listening room) and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Thanks for looking,

Scott

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Stereo Speakers I have known. Part Five

Gentle reader,

Last time we left off with the small but very expensive (but not to me: $10!) Spendor LS3/5A British-made licensed copies of the BBC designed mini-monitors.

Now, we start with the "T"s. This first pair, another found-in-their-original-box speakers. Unlike vintage toys, they are pretty useless still in their packaging.


I don't recall researching these, as to their history and position in the speaker hierarchy. However, they are nice looking and I recall they sounded nice.
Note, the tweeter domes were spray painted and the vibration seems to have knocked some paint off.

Next is Tannoy, a legendary speaker maker that is still in business and believers in coaxial drivers. Similar to car speakers, the tweeter is mounted in the center of the woofer. Their thinking is that since in real live all sound emits from a single source, so should it when reproduced. As you can see, these speakers do not follow that logic:

Canadian, eh? As you can see, the cabinets while small are still made of 3/4" MDF. Many makers often choose thinner material which can vibrate or resonate.

Next, the Tang-Band speakers I thought would fit in the Minimus 11 die-cast cabinets. So far, no one seems interested in taking them from me via ebay.


Quite robustly made. The other one's serial number is 007! James Bond, are you missing something?
Below are some pretty speakers made by TEAC. 
The woofer cones are a woven fabric of some kind. Note how they notched the bottom of the tweeter frame to bring it closer to the woofer.

They've gotten very good at making plastic look like wood. 
This photo was made to show that the factory spring terminals are 3/4" spaced and large enough to accept double banana plugs.

Next, the very old University brand speaker that when I found it had a 16 ohm Wharfedale woofer in it. I added a 16 ohm tweeter to make it sound better. Then featured it in a post. Later, I sold those two bits and adapted this Alpine car stereo woofer to the cabinet. This speaker was designed to sit in a corner. The rear waves from the back of the woofer came out through the bottom. Corner placement increases bass sound.



Next, shows the steps I took to make it sound better in vintage form. The aforementioned horn tweeter mounted in the original plywood baffle. That's what they call the wood that the components are mounted on.

Above is the crossover I installed for the woofer/tweeter and below, the biamplify-able speaker terminals that are wired to it.
Above is what it looked like when I got it, less the woofer. Here is the woofer that I refoamed. Of course there was no correct foam surround, so I overcame thusly:
This woofer mounted from the rear as all did in those days. The green felt served as a gasket.
Were getting near the end now, a pair of vintage speakers of which I could find NO information even though the makers address was on the back!
A shame the one grille was stained. Classic 1960's design. The grilles were glued on, and fear of damaging them kept me from prying them off to see what they hid.
Check out that pretty walnut veneer! Here's what the rear revealed:
As you can see, no access from the back either!
Below, classic Wharfedale units.

I was able to find images of the stickers on the Internet and adapted them to the rear terminal area:
 These were attached to one of the speakers, a wealth of information!
Note, above from "BRITISH INDUSTRIES CO". Not to be confused with B.I.C which is similarly named, and once made speakers and turntables in the USA. They still sell that brand, but Asian made.
Now, some more recent Wharfedales, Diamond 7.1 units:



Wharfedale still makes speakers and they are highly renowned. I covet several that they produce.

Lastly, a pair of Yamaha speakers that I gave to my son.



While the drivers appear to be metallic, they are merely silver colored paper. They still make some very similar to these.
That's it for speakers that I HAVE known and have photos of. As you know if you follow my blog, there are many that I STILL know and love the sound of.

Thanks for looking,

Scott
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