Mat-with-one-t

You may wish to start with a post in the "pay it Forward" section for your Aussie set? Someone may move them for you! Mat

I just got a headache.

Is that a teaser?

Ah gotcha... thanks!

Can I please ask a silly question. Why the “earth off” switch? I’m trying to imagine a scenario where one would not want the unit earthed....?

I’ve been able to have on indefinite loan this old beast - a Luxman L-510 integrated. I’ve snuck it onto the rack for a while. Man it’s heavy! Running the VPI Classic (Denon 103r ebony) into the beasty’s phono stage, set load to 300ohms, and pow. Bloody nice! This thumper has a gazillion options. - I tried it as a pre-out so I could hear the phono stage. Ran it into my OAD power amp. Not great synergy - an old complex pre into a modern super revealing power amp. - Now sounds overall better as an integrated straight into my big Osborns. No where near the detail I’m used to, but great staging, and really relaxing and enjoyable overall presentation. Certainly nice for classical vinyl! Plenty of grunt too, and plenty of phono stage gain (suspect maybe (60+dB?). Listened to Led Zep Houses of the Holy with the bass turned up- bass a bit wooly but man this is rock’n’roll.... - top end can get a little fatiguing and harsh, especially at volume - phono is really good. I love the options. MC loads (100, 47, 300). Can hook up 2 tables with an A/B switch on the front. Also has a great feature “phono straight”, which bypasses a lot of circuitry to keep things clean. It’s a bit noisy (but I’m talking cranked Led Zep!) and has a habit of picking up pops and crackles, but that’s ok. Man, it got me reading about the modern tube-based SQ-38U. Given I’m hoping to restore a Garrard 401, would these be a match made in heaven?? Mat

For the price, these things are awesome

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/forum/41-wanted-to-buy/ Bottom of classifieds section.....

my goodness the generosity is wonderful.....

Yeah I’d spotted that - 1st I’d noted below the standard $2k.

It looks like different setups encounter different issues? I have been considering all sorts of setups to allow for high quality digital streaming and playpack from storage (as well as an easy option to finally get around to burning about 800 cd's). I've looked at the likes of sms-200, Raspberry Pi, setting up a NUC, etc. I've looked at Roon subscriptions and Tidal. I reckon simplicity is going to outweigh the pursuit of highest sound quality, given that the whole point in my setting is to encourage the family to listen to more music! Dropouts and complexity will quickly put them off. I have also come to realise that (in my case) digital streaming will be for "music about the house", and if I want highest quality sound, I'll head for my vinyl! That's lead me to the Vault 2i, which I reckon I'll get once the price comes down a bit. I will have it hard wired via ethernet to the home network, and use i-things to access it/stream Spotify. It'll eventually hold our CD collection as FLAC files. I also have a drive with a load of music on it. Even though I have access to a few quality DAC's, it sounds like the 2i's internal DAC should be pretty damn good? I see members here are encountering various issues. Is this the overriding experience, as my research suggests these units continue to represent perhaps the easiest and best convenience/simplicity vs SQ solution to high quality streaming? Thoughts? Mat

Wow

I reckon do some googling for furniture makers in your area. Measure your space, think of your needs, and then draw it up with clear measurements. Think of the style you like too..... Then look at timbers you like (I have a thing for highly featured recycled Messmate). Once you’ve found timber type, Google about for a supply. Conversely, just get the maker to source material. Money can be saved by using choice stuff in visible areas (top, drawer fronts) and cheap stuff elsewhere if need be. just note that many timber workers may not touch recycled timber. It’s commonly full of nails and crap, and if a big sander hits a nail there goes a $200 blade. The timber I use was saved from a demolition, denailed by myself, milled locally after metal-detecting.....a load of work!

I'm glad someone finally took a stand.