My wife shows once again how awesome she is: Sneaker collection rack!

Gentle reader,

Way back in March, 2015, I posted about another collection that was unplanned  but happened anyway: The Robb Collections: I was an elementary school trendsetter! ADIDAS and driving shoes collection.

The other day, out of the blue, my wife asked me how many Adidas did I have. Being a literalist, I answered, "Fifteen." What she really was asking was how many pairs of shoes did I have. I thought no more of it and came home a few days later to a HUGE and heavy box from Amazon. She got home right after I'd managed to get it inside and up the stairs. 

This is what was inside:

Both made from solid steel, above is a rack to hold 50 shoes, below a plant stand.

As shown from two years ago, my unintended sneakers collection on the cheap plastic rack from China, via eBay. Looks like it's holding up, OK, right?

If you look closely, you will see staples (from a staple gun, not paper staples) which were my first attempt to keep the plastic pieces together. Not strong enough, I added screws. Yet, the softness of the plastic succumbed to the weight and this was the result:

I had to secure it to the wall to keep it from falling forward. The old saying, you get what you paid for is very true. Now, see the new all-steel rack in it's former location:

And, compare the photo below with the newly assembled shelf, both in the same location.

Let me show you that photo of ALL my footwear again and give a list of what brands occupy it.

Top shelf is obvious, except the ones on the right are my river shoes, one atop the other. The military boots are too wide and unyielding  to be able to drive my Volvo V50 with it's closely spaced three pedals. But I digress.

Forth shelf holds two Adidas, a very colorful pair of Ralph Lauren Polo driving shoes and my second pair of GEOX driving  shoes. I love that they are khaki! Match my khaki cargo pants.

Fifth shelf holds three pairs of Adidas, the ones on the left are runners and are SO lightweight! The ones on the right are Puma driving shoes in olive, khaki and orange.

Sixth shelf holds my (Elvis approved) blue suede Rebok driving shoes, two pairs of Adidas and another pair of darker blue/light blue suede Adidas.

Seventh shelf holds black/white Puma driving shoes, Adidas/Goodyear brown suede driving shoes, Adidas ROM in blue/red and a pair of Sketchers driving shoes.

Eighth shelf holds a pair of Keds-like Adidas in the color of my very first pair of ROM I had in the 1960's, white/silver ROM, white/green SAMBA, white/red ROM.

Ninth shelf has black and brown Sketchers driving shoes, as well as two vintage Adidas driving shoes. One pair also Goodyear models and the others are PORSCHE DESIGN.

Tenth holds black dress shoes, brown tassel loafers, two pairs of deck shoes disguised as driving shoes. 

NOT SHOWN are my first pair of GEOX (red, white and black) in original photo at the top. They replaced the Piloti driving shoes that my awesome wife bought me years ago. I literally wore them until they fell apart. A LOT of left foot braking while racing!

Now here is a photo of the plant shelf loaded with plants and other things:

So that's it for this installation. Today is March 10, 2017. It is cold and rainy here and shall be for a few days. This winter has been fabulous for it's lack of snow and record HIGH temperatures. 

While snow in the mountains is ESSENTIAL to provide water year round, especially in the western US, most people hate having to deal with it. If we could convince the weather to only snow in the higher elevations.....but we can't.

Thanks for looking,

Scott

 

So impressed with BLE Design speaker cables, I bought the bigger ones too!

Gentle reader,

I recently wrote about my adventures in trying a pair of unique speaker cables that are hand made in Florida. The company is BLE Design and they sell all kinds of audio cables and bits on eBay. Here is a link to the first post:

The Robb Collections: Budget option for Kimber Kable 4TC plus 3-way binding posts explained. 

Here is a link to the maker/seller's eBay seller's page: ble-design02 | eBay 

Brian is the fellows name and he read my review of his 6BC cables and decided to put a link to that post in his eBay auction page. He offers many lengths and gives you your choice of terminals for each end. The terminals are top-line too.

He wrote to me and suggested that I try his 10BC cables, they have 40 per cent more conductors and can handle more power. So I took him up on his offer and two days later, they arrived. 

As you can see, these are thicker and even more complicated looking in their weave. I still do not know how he does it. I suspect Kimber Kable has machines that weave theirs. But of course, Kimber's are MUCH more expensive. I specified NO terminals as I had plenty of Nakamichi banana plugs.

If you read his description of these cables on eBay, you will see they are made of top-line wiring. Without further ado, you will see step-by-step, the process of making them ready to install, below:

The first step is separating the white and blue wires from the weave. Doing so making them about four inches long and twisting them. 

Make sure to twist each set in the same direction and get them as tight as you can.

Next, you have to separate them for about an inch and a half. Strip the insulation from each of the ten (or six if that is what you bought) conductors.

Logic would dictate that one strips each wire's insulation the same length. But when you re-twist them, you will find that some still have insulation getting in the way. Which requires you to tease out each wire and strip some more insulation off. It takes time, but with practice, you get quicker at it. 

Below is a pair of wire strippers that work the best, are quickest and do the neatest job of not also removing some of the tiny copper strands. I bought this particular pair at Harbor Freight which has become the quickest growing tool company thanks to quality, yet inexpensive tools. Yes, many are made in China, but what isn't? Plus, if China can make a nuclear reactor and some of the most amazing buildings and bridges, they can make tools.

The jaws are shut above showing the various gauge holes. Below is the other side. That side gently grips the wire so the other side (above) can cut the insulation and slide it off the wires.

Below shows one of the cables completely terminated. One end has the bent pin terminals that I needed for my PROTON D540 integrated amplifier which only accepts bare wire or this type of pin terminals. The other end are the super conductor banana plugs that grip so well. 

Nakamichi's banana plugs silver grip/housing slips over the banana plugs from the pointed end. The pin terminals, one has to slide the grip/housing on the cable FIRST, then attach the gold-plated terminal. The terminals have two tiny set screws, one on each side that secure the copper wiring to the terminals. The the grip/housing threads (screws) on.

Now a series of photos depicting the installation process into the D540's "A" speaker terminals after removing the thick gray Monster Cable M-Series cables from the Cerwin-Vega! LS-12 speakers and the Legend speaker switch. I transferred the 6BC cables from the amp's terminals to the switches #1 terminals. Which required me to remove the pin terminals and install banana terminals.

Look's like an electrician's nightmare, doesn't it?

A closer view shows the 10BC cables now firmly attached to the D540. Note the folded Velcro pieces between the terminal grip/housings in the "B" speaker terminals. Turns out the grip/housings are in fact conductive. Good thing the D540 has protection, as the music kept cutting off and I couldn't figure out why. So, if you have to use something other than banana plugs AND they are Nakamichi brand terminals, take care to keep them apart!

Above shows the completed speaker switch's wiring. The inputs are on the right. I deliberately used double-banana plugs from Monster Cable in those inputs for two reasons: 1, The cables, in this case; Monster Cable M-Series, come in from the sides, and, B, double-banana plugs have the ability to have other banana plugs plugged into them. As you can see. 

As my little wooden former Radio Shack Minimus 7W speakers are my main speakers and are wired through the 12" subwoofer, AND as they are wired with (when new) super expensive, top-of-the-line Monster Cable Z-Series cables, they are connected thusly. I simply leave the speaker switches buttons off. If I choose to listen to the Philips speakers OR either of the pairs of speakers in THIS room (BOSE 301s and my former Radio Shack Minimus 11 speakers), I simply unplug the black cables from the double-banana plugs and choose "B" on the amp and either #1 or #2 on the speaker switch. Confused yet? 

Yes, your math IS correct, I have no less than FIVE pairs of speakers capable of being driven by ONE amplifier. Oh, and the subwoofer too. That makes eleven speakers. Does it surprise you that my wife doesn't even think about trying to listen to music in the "Listening Room"?

OK, now for some photos of the completed set up:

Above, the whole shebang. 

That blue stuff under the speaker switch is Blu-Tak. Great stuff for audio.

Above, on the right, you can see the black cables that descend to the subwoofer's high-level inputs. If using the subwoofer, it electronically separates the bass from the rest of the music and reproduces that portion itself. It sends the rest of the music out the high-level output terminals and up to the small speakers. If it is OFF, all the music reaches the small speakers. 

As I have pointed out in previous posts, it's easier to make a wire shorter than it is to make it longer. Thus, the coiled cables around the support posts. The right speaker is above and the left speaker is below.

Note that the "umbilical cord" cables as my wife calls them that attach to the #2 terminals on the speaker switch are not yet attached and routed in these photos. But fear not, in this reprise photo below, they are.

Those cables travel to a speaker terminal plate in the corner of the ceiling. They same cables travel through the attic to a speaker terminal plate in the ceiling in THIS room. Two pairs of Monster Cable speaker wires attach to the BOSE 301 speakers and/or the metal former Minimus 11 speakers in here. I have blogged about modifying both sets of former Radio Shack speakers and mounting the BOSE 301s too.

NOW, how do these 10BC cables sound? In a word: Fantastic! As I did all this work today (March 4, 2017) I haven't had a lot of time to enjoy them. But I did play David Sanborn's CD Up Front tonight before starting on this post. I savored the incredible clarity of each performer's music. I could clearly "see" where each stood as they played. There was width, height and depth to the music. I could also "feel" the space they played it. How? There was a real sense of ambience to the sound.

I highly recommend giving BLE Design's products a try of your own. Hand made in America. Incredible attention to detail in their design and construction. First rate components are employed. True high performance home and studio products which will give you a lifetime of enjoyment. I cannot give them a higher recommendation. I've been seeking the best sound from my music since 1975. Brian's complex 6BC and 10BC braided speaker cables have brought me closer than ever to that goal.

So, finally, these are the thick, heavy and expensive Monster Cable M-Series cables that the 10BC cables have replaced:

Will I miss them? Not in the least! 

Thanks for looking, and again, give Brian's products a try!

Scott

  

Unique PROTON D540 Integrated Amplifier has entered the Listening Room. Part TWO

Gentle reader,

I previously wrote about my buying a PROTON integrated stereo amplifier because it was genetically related to my Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier here:
The Robb Collections: Unique PROTON D540 Integrated Amplifier has entered the Listening Room 

Here it is, in situ as they used to say in Latin:

It now resides where the Dynaco power amp once sat. I moved the JVC 3-head cassette deck to the location the preamplifier usually sits as it's interconnect cables would not reach. This left an empty slot, so I stacked the Yamaha and Dynaco and slid them as seen below:

Yes, this photo IS different than the one above. I found that what I thought were plastic sleeves on the Nakamichi speaker terminals must not be. Two would touch and trip the amp's protection. So, I redid it all, as you can see.

What I have been able to do, finally, is use it as PROTON intended as an integrated amplifier instead of as a preamplifier as I had been. If you've read the previous post (linked above) you will know that PROTON invented a unique way to have tremendous power on demand, AKA: as needed, while still having it play in Class A mode most of the time.

Why I had to wait was because this integrated amp's speaker terminals, like the huge Technics integrated amp that I had also written about previously, are what appears to be 3-way binding/banana posts. I wrote about those type of termianls and some neat braided speaker wires I found here:

The Robb Collections: Budget option for Kimber Kable 4TC plus 3-way binding posts explained. 

Here is a photo of them, empty. Note, no metal tube inside the holes.

Here are two photos from previous blog posts showing 2-way binding/banana speaker terminals. Why 2-way? Because they also will not accept spade lugs:

The photo above is a close-up of the amplifier at the bottom in the photo below. The one on top, is of course my Dynaco power amp. Clearly you can see the metal tubes I wrote about that accept banana plugs which are my favorite speaker cable/wire terminals.

Since copper can oxidize, I don't like using it bare. So I needed pin plugs, but not straight ones. Ones that I could only get directly from China. Here they are below in two photos.

The reason they are bent is to fit around the curved post and make better contact.

Now, here is a view of the speaker terminals from a higher angle showing the opening on the top-right portion of the black plastic behind the red and black plastic "nuts" that tighten down.

One unscrews the plastic nuts, they don't come all the way off, and slides the wire, or in this case, fancy bent pins into the opening sliding the curved portion (think the letter j) in and down then tightens the nuts. Below shows them attached to the braided wires. I went ahead and used the banana terminals on the other ends of these wires. So much for those spade lugs.

Those banana terminals came from the ends of these huge Monster Cable M-Series speaker cables that I use as jumpers to the speaker switch.

Below shows all eight terminals in place. Kind of annoying that they stick up, but I found out they break easily. Yes, I did.

Let's talk about, OK, let ME write about, conductor girth. No, not orchestra director's size, the diameter of wires as they conduct the signal or electricity from one end to the other.

These braided wires, which sound fantastic, are comprised of six 18 gauge wires cleverly braided to resist RF interference and also get the music dizzy on it's way to the speakers. I jest. When I stripped them and twisted them together, they were still quite thin. 

I had bought brand new, two reels of Monster Cable speaker cable and wrote about them here:

The Robb Collections: Some tweaks to the Den stereo system + Monster Cable MCX

I had found that they lacked bass significantly. An A/B comparison with the thicker cable as seen above, clearly showed that. So, I bought used Monster Cable Z-Series which is their top of the line, and sold the small stuff on eBay.

Despite these braided wires thinness, I have not found any lack of bass. So far. So perhaps Monster Cable miscalculated something. Fear not, I intend to listen critically as time permits.

So, this last photo shows the PROTON D540 fully loaded and ready for use:

All of the interconnects in the image above except the lighter blue ones, which are the last of the Liberty Cable units and the black ones which connect the cassette deck, are various Monster Cable units. NOTE that the Liberty Cable ones replace the simple U shaped pins that connected the preamp portion to the power amp portion of the D540.

I redid the speaker switch as mentioned at the top of the post. I made feet from Blu-Tak to secure it to the top of the amp which also prevents it from letting the amp breathe and cool itself.

I now have all four pairs of speaker cables attached electronically to the amp most via the switch. The black cables are the Monster Cable Z-Series cables which are my default littlest speakers. If I wish to listen to other pairs, I slip the black ones out of the switch's inputs and choose #1 or #2. The big Cerwin Vega! LS-12 speakers are attached to speakers "A" and gray jumpers are attached to speakers "B". I continue to really enjoy the new braided wires.

 

So, how does it sound all by itself? At first, I wasn't sure. This was last night and I couldn't turn it up much because my wife was watching TV and reading in the living room. So, rather than making a rash decision. I put in a really well made CD and listened exclusively to the smallest speakers and the subwoofer. 

The design works and it doesn't generate heat. Crescendos were loud and crystal clear, bass was excellent, wide, deep and high soundstage. I could point to unique musicians locations. Since I hadn't played a cassette in a long time, I chose a MCA HQ cassette of Acoustic Alchemy performing their first album called Red Dust and Spanish Lace.

There was one piece where it was just the two of them (both play acoustic guitars, one has steel strings, the other nylon) playing something very Flamenco like and I was hearing echoes and really felt like I was IN the recording room as they played. I have NEVER experienced that without some form of surround speakers and multi-channel playback. 

Does this mean I am going to pass on the Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier? No, but maybe the Yamaha preamp will find a new steward to house it.

Thanks for looking,

Scott

Budget option for Kimber Kable from BLE Design plus 3-way binding posts explained.

Gentle reader,

As you know, I like to experiment with things, cameras, stereo equipment, speakers, cars, car racing simulations and more.

I have tried countless speakers over the years, many sounded great. But like so many audiophiles (in my case, low-budget) I'm always seeking better sound. It all began in 1975 when I was a teen.

I've tried many interconnects too. Interconnects is the fancy name for the wires that connect your CD player, turntable, tuner, etcetera to your stereo receiver, integrated amplifier, pre-amplifier and power amplifier. Stereo requires two channels, so pairs it is for everything. The terminals on the ends of those interconnects are called "RCA" because RCA invented them. A LONG time ago.

I tried many different brands and have happily settled on Monster Cable's various interconnects AND speaker wires. 

That is until I spied these:

I found them on, you guessed it, eBay. The seller makes all the cables, both power and speaker cables plus much more. This is a link to the seller's items page:

ble-design02 | eBay

Plainly you can see they are intricately braided. I've tried to braid my own in the past and they never turned out like these. He offers them with the choice of banana plugs or these spade lugs. 

I referred to these in the blog's subject line as "Budget Kimber Kable 4TC" cables. So, in fairness to Kimber Kable, here is their web page showing their 4TC which are the simplest and least expensive of their "TC" line of speaker cables:

Kimber Kable - 4TC  They also make them in 8TC: Kimber Kable - 8TC

and even thicker ones called 12TC. ALSO to be fair, I have never auditioned any Kimber Kable products. Because they are way outside my budget. They ARE well known to be amazing sounding products. In fact, my favorite audio dealer carries many of their products. Here is a link to their page so you can price out your own:  Kimber Kable 4TC Speaker Cable-Audio Advisor

That page lists an equivalent pair of genuine Kimber Kable 4TC cables will cost $259.00. Examining the images on Kimber's 4TC page shows different gauge sizes of copper wires inside each strand. I'm pretty sure these budget BLE cables individual wires are not made that difficult and no doubt expensive way. 

Now that I have shown you the photo and all the relevant links, let me tell you about these cables. First off, they don't weigh much compared to my Monster Cable M Series or Z Series. And since it would be tricky, (I'm still thinking of doing it anyway) to do an A/B blind test to compare the two, I am only going to give you my non-golden-ears opinion of these cables. 

I tried them with all three pairs of speakers in the listening room: My custom modified tiny wooden speakers once known as Radio Shack's Minimus 7W, the Philips MCD908 speakers and my Cerwin Vega! LS-12 speakers. 

In each case, I heard a very open sound, lots of distinctness to some of the instruments that I had not heard before. Plus a crispness to the treble, especially cymbals. Altogether a very pleasing sound. The music seemed to come alive and was very engaging. Do I like them? Oh, yes. Very much so! I'm not sure why I specified spade lugs, but I did and here are some photos of them attached to terminals.

Above is the Legend LE412 speaker switch. It turns out this is the ONLY component that actually will accept spade lugs! And yes, the other terminals on the left ARE different than the input ones. The metal portion of the switches 3-way binding posts are very thin and the Nakamichi banana plugs have actually broken a few of them. So, I found I had eight other posts that I could replace them with. They are thicker and required enlarging the mounting holes and sanding down their outside edges to make them fit. 

Above and below they are attached to the former 7W speakers. These lugs fit all the speaker terminals perfectly. Note, also how very reflective is the surface of the Philips speakers. As young Dory might have said, "Ooh, shiny! I like shiny."

Hopefully, by these three photos you can see the spade lugs attached to the speaker's 3-way binding posts. 

So just what are 3-way binding posts, anyway? I'm glad you asked that. Below is a photo of a pair of said 3-way binding posts as installed in a typical terminal cup as found in the back of some speakers:

I have unscrewed the two knurled nuts to show the holes drilled through the posts. These holes are for bare wires to be inserted in as you will see below. Those holes are #1 of 3 possible "ways" to use these types of terminals. Note how little metal there is on each side of the hole. These are at least twice as thick as the ones that came on the speaker switch shown above. Those holes weaken the integrity of the posts making them fragile. Thus the reason I had to replace eight of them on the switch with thicker ones.

The photo above shows the view looking down into the holes that are drilled lengthwise into the terminal posts. These holes are made to accept banana posts. Those holes are #2 of 3 possible "ways" to use these types of terminals.

Above shows speaker cables that are 12 gauge in diameter. These are not only marked for polarity by the color of the insulation, but also because the wire in the clear insulation is silver plated and in the blue insulation is plain copper. The red, or positive terminal is securing the silver wire by screwing down the knurled nut. Below is a closer view. Doesn't my Fujifilm digital camera make amazing macro shots?

Once the second wire is secured in the second post, the connection is complete. Black markings or molded nut is used for the negative wire. As seen below:

 

Above are three different speaker cables or wires if you prefer. The ones on the left as mentioned are larger at 12 gauge. The other two, both Monster Cable brand are smaller gauge, around 14. Note the silver thing inside the clear covering in the middle cable. I forget what they called it and frankly what the called these cables. I can find no reason for it to be there. It is NOT wire nor conductive. Weird, right? Monster Cable has running through the middle of all the copper wires what they call a "flux tube". Again, I have no idea what it does other than make the wiring look thicker than it actually is. 

So, what IS the 3rd of 3 possible "ways" to use these types of terminals? Why it is the spade lugs like the white and blue wires have on them. As seen in the photos way at the top, like the bare wires, they go under the nuts and are secured by them, same as the bare wires. But by design they have greater surface area for better conductivity. PLUS, they are usually gold plated.

Below are some of the MANY different devices one can attach to the bare wires on the ends of your speaker cables/wires which are also often gold plated. From left to right is: Spade lug, gold plated wire that has been soldered at the tip to keep it from becoming unwoven, and two banana posts. While all three black bodies are made by SEWEL. They are knock offs of Monster Cable terminals. In fact, the spade lug WAS a gold plated wire that got frayed, so I cut them off and installed the spade lugs. Note the SEWEL banana plug has collapsed. That is one of the reasons they sell for much less than Monster Cable brand ones do. The one on the right IS a Monster Cable unit that screw onto the speaker wire in the same way wire nuts do. The rubber sleeves (come in red and black) slip over them and act as insulation.

And here is the gold plated wire terminal inserted in the bare wire's hole in the 3-way binding post.

OK, so technically, this could be a forth way to use 3-way binding posts. If you want to get all technical.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, from some of the MANY speakers I have owned and enjoyed over the decades are a selection of several speaker maker's choice for terminals.

These are typical "spring" terminals. One presses the lever down and inserts their (thin) wires into each hole. Very small contact area is the result and you are limited to thin wires.

Above is the 3-way binding post that I installed to replace spring terminals. This type can also be found on power supplies such as a variable voltage device for electronics testing. By the way, by design, world-wide, banana plugs (remember, they go in the visible holes) are 3/4" apart. Double-banana posts were originally used for voltage not sound.

Above is another type of 3-way binding posts. Much less robust, but they do the job if you're careful with them.

Above is the back of some vintage Coral speakers. One pushes the red or black button and inserts their bare (thin) wires into the holes. Also, one had the option of using "phone" plugs in the larger holes. Phone plugs (single channel) are what headphone plugs evolved from and what professional speakers used to use.

Definitive Technology's method of installing all-metal 3-way binding posts in narrow speakers.

Also from Definitive Technology, these are on the bottom of a surround speaker. Quite thick as you can see with colored plastic nuts.

I replaced the simple screw terminals on these Electro-Voice speakers with 3-way binding posts.

Did the same with some KLH model 24 speakers.

Now these, above, are different. They accept banana plugs and also unscrew to allow really thick wires too.

Pioneer used a different looking spring terminals that really worked the same. Press down and insert thin speaker wires.

Polkaudio's molded in 3-way binding posts on their vintage model 5A speakers which also included external fuse holder for speaker protection.

Above is a much more modern polkaudio speaker that can be "bi-wired". Simply unscrew all four 3-way binding post nuts and remove the gold jumpers. Then insert TWO PAIRS of speaker cables from TWO amplifiers. The top set would power the tweeters, the bottom pair the woofers.

And finally, another look at typical cheap spring terminals. Anything to save a buck! They are still used today.

To conclude, by older fellow audio lover couldn't imagine what difference wires could make in speakers. He always used what most everyone did back in the day: Lamp cord. In other works, the wires that attach to a lamp or other small electrical appliance made dandy speakers wires. 

Well, I gave him rolls of different kids and brands and thicknesses of speaker cables to try out. He did, to his surprise, find out they DO make significant difference. Guess you can teach an old dog, or music lover a new trick.

Thanks for looking,

Scott