Dynaco--Dynamo!

I've used Dynaco gear every since my college days when I assembled PAS-3 preamp and Stereo 70 amp kits.   I added an AR turntable (eventually with a Shure M91E cartridge) and finally, when I had a little dough, AR-3 speakers.  This was a classic combo, putting me ahead of the audiophile world, at least in the 1960's!  What great music we listened to through this system...  blues, avant garde jazz, psychedelic rock... and so much more...

I used this system for many years, but as the decades passed, these guys wandered a bit (long story).  Then, just before the turn of the century, the PAS-3 and Stereo 70 returned, and I found new circuit cards from Van Alstine which I assembled and inserted into these components.  I still have this system and use it in my workroom.  Glorious tubes!

Somewhere in the 70's, I obtained a Dynaco PAT-5 solid state preamp kit (as well as an FM-5 tuner), and found a used (and very cheap) ST-120 power amp.  Then, recuperating from surgery around 2015, I found a site, Update My Dynaco, that offered new, audiophile grade, circuits for the PAT-5 and ST-120 for self assembly.  This project helped me recover, and now I had yet another world class system.  And these circuit cards were quite reasonable, perhaps $500 total.  The Cheapskate strikes again!

Here's the system I setup along with my BK MOSFET project, my OPPO player, Wharfdale 225s, and the woofers of AR-3As as subs.

A great system, great sound and amazingly inexpensive.  But of course I would go on from there...  stay tuned!

Reel Me In

 

So the 21st century digital dude had an analog moment...

After some time, I fired up my old Pioneer reel-reel tape deck.  And it seem to work just fine, thank you!  Anyone who bought this RT-201 back in the day has a "reel" jewel.  So cherish it!

Anyway, I dug up a couple pre-recorded tapes I got from somewhere in my wanderings and thought I'd dub them to digital.  The first tape was one of my old favorite recordings, "What's Shakin'", a collection of contemporary blues artists that recorded for the Electra label.  Here were unreleased tunes by the Butterfield Blues Band, Eric Clapton's Powerhouse, Lovin' Spoonful, Tom Rush and Al Kooper.  What a find!.

As I began playing the tape, I immediately. noticed great audio quality.  What was going on...  were my ears working that day, were my Genelecs finally broken in, are reel-reel tapes that superior?  I'm not sure which, but I sure was pleased.  Maybe these reel-reel enthusiasts do have it going on...   (although modern machines, and modern tapes, cost a fortune!).

So then I tried a tape of Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain".  This tape box was still sealed!  A virgin tape!  So I put it on and set up to dub at 24/96.  But what a disappointment...  there was audible flutter on the tape and the sound quality seemed distorted at the music peaks.  Goodness...

So what did I discover?  Well, it's not always the format:  LP, tape, CD, hires, SACD...  it's all how it's mastered for the media.  

So I'll enjoy the blues guys, and sometime dig up another format of the Miles album to compare.  Stay tuned!

MOSFET Mania

I mentioned that I'd collected tons of audio gear over the years.  An eon or so ago, I bought a couple BK MOSFET modules from the back of the old Audio Amateur magazine.  I think they cost me around $150/pr.  What's cool about these modules is they included the power supply on each board, and heat sink!  At around 100W/channel, I've found many uses for these amps.

I finally bought a nice rack mount case and assembled them into a coherent unit.  The case was about $100 bucks, then add in misc. connectors, etc. and I had an audiophile cheapskate's dream!

Nice job if I say so myself.  Looks like the modules are now discontinued, but they hung around for a long time and, as I did, found many uses.

If you are into circuit analysis, you can see that the circuitry is really quite straight forward.

Just another example how to get great sound without paying big bucks...

I Wanna Play My Records

One problem I have with the vinyl revival involves the playback systems.  Most devotees are playing records on cheap phono crap.  On the other hand, audiophiles are touting $100K turntables, $5K cartridges, and $20K phono preamps...  and up.  Thankfully there is quality LP playback equipment at more realistic prices.  I think one has to spend around $500-$1K to get decent LP playback.

I paid that much, but back around 1980, for my Thorens/SME/Shure system that's worked great for decades, and the system I used to copy all my LPs to digital.  But I needed a way to play 78s so I looked for a reasonably priced supplemental system.

My budget favorite these days is the Audio-Technical A-T 120.  I choose this system because it also plays 78s, and I had some I wanted to digitize.  Unfortunately (although many people want all this) it comes with a built in preamp, a USB digital converter, and now Bluetooth.  I immediately pulled all this stuff out of the turntable so I could use my own preamp.  I also upgraded the cartridge to the A-T 540 ($250) and bought an extra shell for a Shure 78 cartridge.  

For a phono preamp, I use a Hagerman Bugle + power supply bought as a kit.  Current models are fully assembled, but still price under $500.  And they work great!.

I think this gear, or similar, is all you need for audiophile vinyl playback.

Holy War #1. Digital vs Vinyl

Some thoughts about digital vs vinyl.  God knows I enjoy holding an LP cover in my hands while listening to music, checking out the album art, reading the recording info on the back.  With digital downloads one is lucky to get even a small reproduction of the front cover art (SACDs do give full reproductions of the LP info, so one has something to hold on to).  Digital downloads also fail, in most cases, to provide info on the derivation of the files...  upsampling from CDs?  remastering from the original master tapes if a reissue?   If from a studio digital recording, is the download at the same resolution?

Digital downloads from small recording companies often provide this info.  DSD256 recordings are the current rage, with other digital formats derived from this recording resolution.  And small companies do provide a pdf of "album notes" and cover art.

New recordings are now often released on vinyl.  And there are many reissues now available on new vinyl.  However, most new recordings are originally digital.  And LP reissues are often from master tapes (or safety tapes) transferred first to digital, then remastered for vinyl release.  But where are releases from those digital masters?  I want those...  I don't want digital masters on vinyl.  Seems like the vinyl release is just a filter, a further generation from the original.  

Maybe people prefer the sound of vinyl, even if from a digital master.  Fine, personal preference... but the vinyl is a bump down, and really an analog filter, from the digital master.  

And both formats have other issues.  Even with $100K (and higher!) vinyl playback system, it's still friction, a hoe through a furrow (OK, a bit of an extreme metaphor).  Eventually noise, clicks and pops, are unavoidable.

But then with digital files, the music is endlessly manipulatable.  The loudness wars of the last 20 years are an example of that.  Music overly compressed, no air (dynamic range)  and almost unlistenable (the ears revolt).  I have a number of plugins in my DAW that can do this manipulation.  Or make a recording sound like something from the 1930's...   Restraint is the most valuable quality of a digital mastering engineer.

I suspect I'll have more to say, or say it differently, in future posts.

Hey, Mr. DJ

Back in the late 70's... yes, last century!...  I was a quasi-famous DJ on a local public radio station broadcasting from the local University.  For about 5 years, Rev. Willis (my nom de plume) presented great shows, featuring often eclectic playlists. Local listeners got their first taste of reggae, punk rock, experiment music, and free jazz.  Brit power pop, SF post psychedelic groups, Sun Ra, and so much more.

I was joined by my good friend Smokey, whose Blues Hour is legendary.  As we hit the 80's, I retired to raise a young family, but a new public radio station emerged and a new DJ, Professor R&B started a run of excellent programs of rhythm and blues, early jazz, and funk.

A few years ago, after digitizing many cassettes and reel to reel tapes, with the help of webmaster Rodney, we posted these shows on a website:  Archived Airwaves.

What has this to do with audiophile cheapskate?  Well, maybe the audio quality is not the best, but it's free music!  And what music!  The best popular music ever recorded...  give a free listen and enjoy.

I Have Connections

Like speaker cables, one can spend zillions on fancy audiophile interconnect cables.  But are they really any better?  I have my doubts.  Maybe if I had $300K system, I might notice a difference between cables.  Would it be an improvement, or just a difference, not better or worse, just different?  

Personally, I just buy quality cables, nothing fancy, and reasonably priced.  Most of my connecting cables are Mogami with gold plated terminations, bought from Redco.  When I bought my subwoofers from SVS, I notice they offered quality cables at a reasonable price, so I bought some of those.  Finally, when I needed balanced cables between my Oppo player and my preamp, I found some fine cables from Blue Jean.

Does any audio fan need to spend more for super fancy cables?  Again, I doubt it.

By the way, a hint.  Redo all your cables once a year.  I have found that when problems creep in, it's often just a connection problem.  Time and oxidation interfere with good sound transfer.  Cleaning the connectors with Deoxit products is also recommended.  I can't count the number of times over the years that I've solved audio problems with these simple measures.