DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
3/3/19 4:44 p.m.

My home theater addiction runs deep. I decided to take that next step. I bought an Emotiva preamp/processor to add to the system. Now I’ll use my A/V receiver as strictly a power amp. 

Just got it hooked up, time to start dialing it in and tweaking.  

Still avoiding the rabbit hole called tube amps....

 

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
3/3/19 5:23 p.m.

Being hearing impaired all my life has its advantages.  My audio requirements are only is it loud enough. I will never experience your delema. The deaf do not notice quality. 

dean1484
dean1484 MegaDork
3/3/19 9:18 p.m.

Ohhh tubes. Now in need to pull out the one my dad and I built when I was a kid. 

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
3/4/19 5:43 a.m.

Dean, one day I am going to build a tube amp. From what I’ve read there are soo many nuances to the world of tubes, and I’m so anal, I know that once I dive in, I won’t resurface for decades haha. 

mtn
mtn MegaDork
3/4/19 8:19 a.m.

Funny, I'm actually going the opposite direction. I want to have my stereo out, so that I can easily switch records, but the only way of really doing that would be to drop the tuner, amp, and preamp for a receiver. So now I'm on the lookout for a vintage receiver, preferably a Marantz. 

 

Then I'll have my preamp, tuner, and amp left over, so I'll probably set them up in my office... which will mean I need another set of speakers. I've been thinking about starting a thread here on building speakers, I know quite a few here have done it.

alfadriver
alfadriver MegaDork
3/4/19 8:53 a.m.

In reply to mtn :

How vintage do you need?  We just replaced a mid 90's Sony so that we can have modern dolby interpretation.  It has an old school phonograph input.

mtn
mtn MegaDork
3/4/19 9:03 a.m.
alfadriver said:

In reply to mtn :

How vintage do you need?  We just replaced a mid 90's Sony so that we can have modern dolby interpretation.  It has an old school phonograph input.

Older than mid-90's. It'll have to be silverfaced with "cool lights" (meaning the tuner lights up, and looks cool, per my wife), ideally with a wood cabinet, 

pinchvalve
pinchvalve MegaDork
3/4/19 9:42 a.m.
Appleseed said:

Being hearing impaired all my life has its advantages.  My audio requirements are only is it loud enough. I will never experience your delema. The deaf do not notice quality. 

Being deaf in one ear has limited by interest in stereo equipment! 

alfadriver
alfadriver MegaDork
3/4/19 10:03 a.m.
mtn said:
alfadriver said:

In reply to mtn :

How vintage do you need?  We just replaced a mid 90's Sony so that we can have modern dolby interpretation.  It has an old school phonograph input.

Older than mid-90's. It'll have to be silverfaced with "cool lights" (meaning the tuner lights up, and looks cool, per my wife), ideally with a wood cabinet, 

My parents have on of those old tuners...  Or my brother does now... Including being a Marantz.  They also have a Marantz tape player we bought them in the early 80's.  

They also have an old Heathkit one that we revived back in the 80s.  With some huge wood speaker cabinents.  

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
3/4/19 2:39 p.m.
mtn said:

Funny, I'm actually going the opposite direction. I want to have my stereo out, so that I can easily switch records, but the only way of really doing that would be to drop the tuner, amp, and preamp for a receiver. So now I'm on the lookout for a vintage receiver, preferably a Marantz. 

 

Then I'll have my preamp, tuner, and amp left over, so I'll probably set them up in my office... which will mean I need another set of speakers. I've been thinking about starting a thread here on building speakers, I know quite a few here have done it.

I often recommend people build speakers. I’ve built many, professionally and for personal use. It’s unbeatable bang fot the buck. What parameters are you thinking, size, price, sub and satellites or two???

mtn
mtn MegaDork
3/4/19 3:27 p.m.
DrBoost said:
mtn said:

Funny, I'm actually going the opposite direction. I want to have my stereo out, so that I can easily switch records, but the only way of really doing that would be to drop the tuner, amp, and preamp for a receiver. So now I'm on the lookout for a vintage receiver, preferably a Marantz. 

 

Then I'll have my preamp, tuner, and amp left over, so I'll probably set them up in my office... which will mean I need another set of speakers. I've been thinking about starting a thread here on building speakers, I know quite a few here have done it.

I often recommend people build speakers. I’ve built many, professionally and for personal use. It’s unbeatable bang fot the buck. What parameters are you thinking, size, price, sub and satellites or two???

Size, bookshelf. I'll have to measure when I get home to see exactly what size parameters I'm working with. 

 

As for the other stuff, there will be no sub, just 2 speakers sitting about 10 feet from where my butt is. For both look and sound, I'd be chasing something like the B&W 705's or 805's, or else the Thiel PCS, but the budget would have to  be... much less. Figure $200 max for the pair, so I may need to greatly temper my expectations. They'd be in a small room, but they may end up being background noise for parties as well (think family gatherings, not shake the house). The other consideration, I listen to a lot of acoustic music. In general, the Rolling Stones are going to be the heaviest thing through my system; I trend a lot more towards folk/classic country. 

 

I currently have a set of B&W LM1's that are awesome for the job, but they are rather ugly--at least in our living room which is filled with vintage furniture. I'd want a good wood veneer, but I have no clue how to apply a veneer. Or build a speaker cabinet.

 

 

EDIT: What I'd really love are some floorstanding speakers--the favorites that I've listened to, without any parameters, are vintage Thiel's, B&W Nautilus 802, Martin Logan somethings, and Maggies, but I don't have anywhere to put a floorstanding speaker. So if you can figure out how I build the sound of a Magnepan in the footprint of a bookshelf speaker, let me know. Bonus points if I don't need a gigantic amp. 

pilotbraden
pilotbraden UltraDork
3/4/19 3:39 p.m.

Tube amps are neat. I have a McIntosh 240 that my brother and I called the miniature city. The glowing tubes look like skyscrapers at night. We were about 12 years old when we thought of this.

pilotbraden
pilotbraden UltraDork
3/4/19 3:46 p.m.

Tube amps are neat. I have a McIntosh 240 that my brother and I called the miniature city. The glowing tubes look like skyscrapers at night. We were about 12 years old when we thought of this.

logdog
logdog UltraDork
3/4/19 4:10 p.m.

Tube amps? Dr Boost, meet Dr Z!

alfadriver
alfadriver MegaDork
3/4/19 5:11 p.m.
DrBoost said:
mtn said:

Funny, I'm actually going the opposite direction. I want to have my stereo out, so that I can easily switch records, but the only way of really doing that would be to drop the tuner, amp, and preamp for a receiver. So now I'm on the lookout for a vintage receiver, preferably a Marantz. 

 

Then I'll have my preamp, tuner, and amp left over, so I'll probably set them up in my office... which will mean I need another set of speakers. I've been thinking about starting a thread here on building speakers, I know quite a few here have done it.

I often recommend people build speakers. I’ve built many, professionally and for personal use. It’s unbeatable bang fot the buck. What parameters are you thinking, size, price, sub and satellites or two???

Where did you learn about that?  The reason I ask is that we have a source for some interesting lumber locally.  Not the panel speakers that were posted in the other thread- no space for that anywhere... 

RossD
RossD MegaDork
3/4/19 6:52 p.m.
DrBoost said:

My home theater addiction runs deep. I decided to take that next step. I bought an Emotiva preamp/processor to add to the system. Now I’ll use my A/V receiver as strictly a power amp. 

Just got it hooked up, time to start dialing it in and tweaking.  

Still avoiding the rabbit hole called tube amps....

 

I could send you some tubes.

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
3/4/19 7:32 p.m.
alfadriver said:
DrBoost said:
mtn said:

Funny, I'm actually going the opposite direction. I want to have my stereo out, so that I can easily switch records, but the only way of really doing that would be to drop the tuner, amp, and preamp for a receiver. So now I'm on the lookout for a vintage receiver, preferably a Marantz. 

 

Then I'll have my preamp, tuner, and amp left over, so I'll probably set them up in my office... which will mean I need another set of speakers. I've been thinking about starting a thread here on building speakers, I know quite a few here have done it.

I often recommend people build speakers. I’ve built many, professionally and for personal use. It’s unbeatable bang fot the buck. What parameters are you thinking, size, price, sub and satellites or two???

Where did you learn about that?  The reason I ask is that we have a source for some interesting lumber locally.  Not the panel speakers that were posted in the other thread- no space for that anywhere... 

Learn about what, building speakers?  A shop in Detroit, Audiolight. 

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
3/4/19 7:36 p.m.
mtn said:
DrBoost said:
mtn said:

Funny, I'm actually going the opposite direction. I want to have my stereo out, so that I can easily switch records, but the only way of really doing that would be to drop the tuner, amp, and preamp for a receiver. So now I'm on the lookout for a vintage receiver, preferably a Marantz. 

 

Then I'll have my preamp, tuner, and amp left over, so I'll probably set them up in my office... which will mean I need another set of speakers. I've been thinking about starting a thread here on building speakers, I know quite a few here have done it.

I often recommend people build speakers. I’ve built many, professionally and for personal use. It’s unbeatable bang fot the buck. What parameters are you thinking, size, price, sub and satellites or two???

Size, bookshelf. I'll have to measure when I get home to see exactly what size parameters I'm working with. 

 

As for the other stuff, there will be no sub, just 2 speakers sitting about 10 feet from where my butt is. For both look and sound, I'd be chasing something like the B&W 705's or 805's, or else the Thiel PCS, but the budget would have to  be... much less. Figure $200 max for the pair, so I may need to greatly temper my expectations. They'd be in a small room, but they may end up being background noise for parties as well (think family gatherings, not shake the house). The other consideration, I listen to a lot of acoustic music. In general, the Rolling Stones are going to be the heaviest thing through my system; I trend a lot more towards folk/classic country. 

 

I currently have a set of B&W LM1's that are awesome for the job, but they are rather ugly--at least in our living room which is filled with vintage furniture. I'd want a good wood veneer, but I have no clue how to apply a veneer. Or build a speaker cabinet.

 

 

EDIT: What I'd really love are some floorstanding speakers--the favorites that I've listened to, without any parameters, are vintage Thiel's, B&W Nautilus 802, Martin Logan somethings, and Maggies, but I don't have anywhere to put a floorstanding speaker. So if you can figure out how I build the sound of a Magnepan in the footprint of a bookshelf speaker, let me know. Bonus points if I don't need a gigantic amp. 

Look at the Overnight Sensations from Parts Express. These get stellar reviews and are cheap. The kit includes pre-cut wood. 

alfadriver
alfadriver MegaDork
3/4/19 8:02 p.m.

In reply to DrBoost :

On the job? interesting. 

If I ever do that, I actually have to get some quality saws... The crappy cheap craftsman does not cut it.  Literally. 

jfryjfry
jfryjfry HalfDork
3/4/19 8:17 p.m.

I recently added some inexpensive bass shakers/tactile transducers to our home and man what a difference!!!

these things bolt to your sofa/chair and shake with the low frequencies.  Amazing.  

 

Not sure if this is completely off topic here....   not really vintage :)

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
3/4/19 9:02 p.m.

In reply to alfadriver :

tally on the job. It was a great job for a kid in high school. We build a few 'boom boxes' for cars, but it was mostly professional stuff, roller rinks, theaters, bars, stuff like that. I've seen subwoofers crack cinder block walls!

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
3/4/19 9:04 p.m.

In reply to jfryjfry :

I plan on building some myself. I don't really need them, but if I have them pick up the hard work, the frequencies below 30 hz. I can free up my subwoofer from producing the 14-30 hz range. 

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