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Vintage Audio Repair

Started by nab, September 16, 2021, 10:36:09 PM

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nab

#105
Finally got this Pioneer CT-F2121 playing again today after a lot of procrastination. I did a belt replacement this last winter, but it wasn't rewinding right. Had a hunch today and opened it up.

Turns out a spring in the mechanical pressure holding the cassette in needed some help.

So now I'm playing something that hasn't seen the light of day around here since the early 00s.


rowjimmy



nab

I feel like I've finally come around full circle.

The old and the new.

I picked up a cheap tablet tonight to run as the interface for a Wiim Mini streamer. The Wiim mini runs into a Shiit Modi+ DAC, which runs out via RCA to my vintage gear.

So I'm the same old nab again, "finding" stuff on the internet (This is the latest Dave's Picks), stashing it on HDs, and listening.

Using the Wiim Mini out to the Shiit DAC (via spdif), it's all wifi and no blutooth, so it's lossless digital to the DAC. I can control it from my phone, but I've chosen the tablet so there is decent sized cover art to look at and it forces me to actually get up to change a track or album, which means more full album digital listening (the thing I started to hate more and more about digital was my attention span, so I've figured out a behavioral work around).

So now it feels like 00s and 10s Bill has finally caught up with 20s Bill.

mattstick

#109
@nab have you considered buying the parts and building a Sperilo Time Machine?  It's definitely an "old meets new" experience streaming/playing old GD AUDs with just a few turns of a knob and a button press or two.

Last year I moved my Cambridge DAC Magic from its home with my Mac mini over to its new home with my stereo, and I swapped my Cambridge SR20  for a vintage 80s NAD 3240PE. Big difference in power output and a little bit more oomph on the bottom end of the NAD.  I also cancelled all my music streaming services as part of this upgrade.

All my digital sources (Optical TV out for AppleTV + BluRay, Cambridge Azur 540C CD player, GD Time Machine and USB3.0 from the Mac mini) run through the DAC Magic and into the NAD's CD input.

All my analog sources (Pro-Ject Tube phono pre-amp and the RCA output of the Cambridge CD player) go straight into the NAD over some short RCAs.

Pretty happy with the setup as I can control the output of iTunes/Music from the MacMini with my iPhone while on the couch for streaming from my embarrassingly large Music library.

I can quickly dial up and stream any GD show from the Time Machine.

I like the physical experience of playing CDs and LPs so my physical media still gets lots of attention. 

When I want to play from my collection of FLACs I can play them back through the DAC Magic at full resolution (MacMini outputs to the DAC Magic at 24/96), albeit a little bit of a manual process in queuing them up in Foobar2000 and streaming from the MacMini.  But even that process can be good as I can create hours long playlists and listen all day.

Because I've maxed out the inputs on the DAC Magic, and because it's a relatively entry-level DAC, I'm on the lookout for a higher end DAC, but I've also read that you only really notice a difference in DAC quality when you get to the $5K price range and I'm pretty much out way before that point.  That said, I keep an eye on the Hoffman forums classifieds for anyone who's upgraded and is selling older gear used.

mattstick


Superfreakie

Matt, what speakers are you powering with that setup?

Do you like power conditioning? Do you have "dirty" power in TO?
Que te vaya bien, que te vaya bien, Te quiero más que las palabras pueden decir.

mattstick

Quote from: Superfreakie on February 03, 2023, 09:04:32 AMMatt, what speakers are you powering with that setup?

Do you like power conditioning? Do you have "dirty" power in TO?

I have the dirtiest power.  I burned through 2 power supplies while my Cambridge SR-20 was under warranty and my internet router + wifi would just randomly drop before I ran everything through the power conditioner.

I have these Aperion Audio Verus Grand bookshelves on these weird 80s stands I got of kijiji for $10.


Superfreakie

Good stuff. I'm presently looking at power conditioners.
Que te vaya bien, que te vaya bien, Te quiero más que las palabras pueden decir.

nab

Quote from: mattstick on February 03, 2023, 08:17:55 AM@nab have you considered buying the parts and building a Sperilo Time Machine?  It's definitely an "old meets new" experience streaming/playing old GD AUDs with just a few turns of a knob and a button press or two.

I have seen those and they look cool. I haven't thought of building one cause I too have an embarassingly large collection of Grateful Dead already.

I set up most of it on a DNLA server and get it losslessly to my DAC via Jriver to the Wiim, to the DAC.

Shopping for DACs is frustrating sometimes. Manufactures sell them more like computers than they do a piece of audio equipment. By that I mean the processor chip (the thing that actually turns the 1s and 0s to electricity) is always the forward thing in the information. While I think that's important, I don't think it's as important as some people make it and I feel like it kind of gets into a wagging contest over who has the most accurate or fastest processor.

What's harder to find most of the time is information about the analog preamp section of the units; the section that will have the biggest influence on the sound. The section after the conversion sending the analog signal to the analog equipment. This is a harder thing to explain to people though, cause most tech capable people readily understand "bigger better faster" chip easily.

 

rowjimmy

Do you like that Schiitt DAC?
I have their Mani phono pre and after getting that and fixing a loose grounding my old Dual, records in the living room have never sounded better.

Superfreakie

#116
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 06, 2023, 10:30:25 AMDo you like that Schiitt DAC?
I have their Mani phono pre and after getting that and fixing a loose grounding my old Dual, records in the living room have never sounded better.

I just upgraded to one of the new big boy DACs on the market (although I still have my Schiit Gungnir Multibit aka: gumby). Schiit's gear is great for the price - they have put out a couple components that didn't jive, but, for the most part, they make stellar mid-fi - if not hifi.

That said, I just spent a fortune upgrading every component in my system seeking the most analog sounding digital reproduction out there (the luxury of not having to worry about children in my future and having a doctor as a wife  :laugh: ).

I left no stone unturned. Listened to all the +5K DACs, server/streamers, pre's, amps, tubes, cables etc... Still waiting for some components to be delivered, they had to be custom assembled. Will post my hifi adventures in a few weeks once I've got it all together. I'd say I put 3 years of research into this project; searching for that magic synergy of components that leave your jaw on the floor.
Que te vaya bien, que te vaya bien, Te quiero más que las palabras pueden decir.

rowjimmy

With a kid in college and another that wants to go, not to mention my music instrument/guitar pedal/recording gear problem... mid-fi is where I live.

Buffalo Budd

Quote from: Superfreakie on February 06, 2023, 02:01:37 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 06, 2023, 10:30:25 AMDo you like that Schiitt DAC?
I have their Mani phono pre and after getting that and fixing a loose grounding my old Dual, records in the living room have never sounded better.

I just upgraded to one of the new big boy DACs on the market (although I still have my Schiit Gungnir Multibit aka: gumby). Schitt's gear is great for the price - they have put out a couple components that didn't jive, but, for the most part, they make stellar mid-fi - if not hifi.

That said, I just spent a fortune upgrading every component in my system seeking the most analog sounding digital reproduction out there (the luxury of not having to worry about children in my future and having a doctor as a wife  :laugh: ).

I left no stone unturned. Listened to all the +5K DACs, server/streamers, pre's, amps, tubes, cables etc... Still waiting for some components to be delivered, they had to be custom assembled. Will post my hifi adventures in a few weeks once I've got it all together. I'd say I put 3 years of research into this project; searching for that magic synergy of components that leave your jaw on the floor.

Wow bud, stoked for you and to hear it.
Everything is connected, because it's all being created by this one consciousness. And we are tiny reflections of the mind that is creating the universe.

Superfreakie

Quote from: rowjimmy on February 06, 2023, 02:25:52 PMnot to mention my music instrument/guitar pedal/recording gear problem...

Terrible affliction you have there. Might want to get that looked at.  :hereyougoyousentimentalbastar I wish I could play guitar proficiently (well, more so had the time - color me jealous).
Que te vaya bien, que te vaya bien, Te quiero más que las palabras pueden decir.