I made it through my first school holidays with my sanity largely intact. Have used early threat of bad weather as an excuse to open some toys that have arrived.

Linear power supply to replace the Bluesound Node power supply with additional filtering capacitor bank(I think there’s thirty something capacitors there). The power supply has two 5v outputs so the idea was to supply the Topping E 50 as well, which has also arrived.

The result, does sound great, but sounded pretty good anyway with the Musicstreamer II. Very pure when it’s fed good material.

You can see the MQA light there for a “Master” track from Tidal. There’s a lot of skepticism of this format but these Kraftwerk ones sure sound nice.

Geez the new PS looks like a major upgrade !

Is it a simple plug 'n play ?

Apr 25, 2023 10:51:26 GMT 12 michaelw said:

Geez the new PS looks like a major upgrade !

Is it a simple plug 'n play ?

Yes, the board must be fed with 5V so it’s just a swop out of the SMPS. Some versions just have cables, a diode, and dc connector for the external power supply but this one adds the capacitor bank. It’s just screws and connectors but you have to be prepared for a massive CRACK when you open the case. Just how the hinge connectors work. No damage.

Arguably it’s overkill if you are using an external DAC with the Node but given that they could be bought and shipped together and the power supply could also feed the DAC it was quite a modest price. The Singapore company that sells them also seems to market/produce the Denafrips line which is a well regarded DAC.

I have made quite a few changes. The receiver has been upgraded with something more “currentish” second hand. One of the reasons was to get network control which I didn’t have. The Yamaha app works very well on the rxa1070.

I am also configuring my lounge back as a proper multi-channel set-up. This involves adding the dreaded center speaker which never seems to look too good brought into a two channel system.

The first set-up attempt  (top picture) I didn’t like and I felt the power amps weren’t getting enough space for airflow. I then went to 3 bay shelving and got crazy and brought out my turntable and tape deck and blinged it all up.
  
I am also committing audiophile “sacrilege” and trialing having the receiver as preamp triggering the P8 as power amp. The M8 is a great pre but switching it every time to use in processor mode is a real PITA. Current Plinius pres have an auto-switching system via trigger and I have also noticed the Yamaha A-S2200 integrated is particularly well set-up for this.

So far I have noticed no ill effects using the Yammy as pre and am very happy with the sound.

This is the current state of things. The Plinius’s have gone off to a new home and, glad that I am that someone else can appreciate them I have slight regrets now.

I wasn’t actually intending to change my amp but I had scoped out the Yamaha A-S2200 a while ago because of it’s auto switching capability with home theatre and good reviews. One came up “as new” on Trade Me at a good price so decided to take the plunge.

Good points are it’s very well featured, auto HT switching, easy balance and other controls, fully balanced with XLR, speaker a/b switching.

A hefty beast at 23kg compared to the P8 at about 14. 

Impressions, very low noise floor, very detailed. It lacks a certain something which I hesitate to call “warmth”, perhaps a bit too neutral, too clinical. It does seem to improve a bit with a couple of hour warm up. Having the Plinius P8 in standby mode via trigger meant it consumed still about 16 watts and seemed to sound good from the start. Perhaps a Plinius integrated is in my future, the new ones also have auto HT switching.

What is auto HT switching.

Nov 9, 2023 19:43:52 GMT 12 michaelw said:

What is auto HT switching.

When the HT receiver is switched on the two channel amp connected to the pre-outs will be switched on via a 12v trigger and it will automatically switch to the main direct or processor input.

When the HT receiver is turned off the connected amp will also turn off unless it is switched to another input in which case it will stay on.

What's the turntable? Cartridge?

Nov 9, 2023 23:46:13 GMT 12 Citroen said:

What's the turntable? Cartridge?

It’s the Marantz TT-15S1, which is basically a rebadged Clearaudio, with a Virtuoso Wood cartridge. I was running this with a Plinius Jarrah which I bought off Michael Jones when he was clearing his equipment. I’m not really a turntable guy though early music was records before digital.

When I had it set up originally, I have to say, with a good record, it was the best source. 

I have had to pack it away for the last few years as I have an autistic young son who found the turntable far too interesting. Unfortunately the motor unit is not working now so will have to investigate that

I sold the Jarrah as the Marantz phono stage is said to be reasonably good. Time will tell.

Nov 9, 2023 22:36:42 GMT 12 stuzzo said:

Nov 9, 2023 19:43:52 GMT 12 michaelw said:

What is auto HT switching.

When the HT receiver is switched on the two channel amp connected to the pre-outs will be switched on via a 12v trigger and it will automatically switch to the main direct or processor input.

When the HT receiver is turned off the connected amp will also turn off unless it is switched to another input in which case it will stay on.

So fancy !

I'm allergic to auto-switching schemes.

Nov 10, 2023 9:48:10 GMT 12 michaelw said:

Nov 9, 2023 22:36:42 GMT 12 stuzzo said:

When the HT receiver is switched on the two channel amp connected to the pre-outs will be switched on via a 12v trigger and it will automatically switch to the main direct or processor input.

When the HT receiver is turned off the connected amp will also turn off unless it is switched to another input in which case it will stay on.

So fancy !

I'm allergic to auto-switching schemes.

😆 Unlike HDMI or IR type schemes it does actually work.

Image Revelations??

Nov 10, 2023 12:13:52 GMT 12 paulsaints said:

Image Revelations??

Yes, the non-Morel version. Absolutely very good speakers. They are quite directional I find. I’m regularly playing with the balance. Perhaps I should point them straight more or something. I’m told ribbon tweeters give a wider dispersal?

Having an amp now that’s a bit boring has mad me focus a bit more on the speakers, perhaps unfairly. The Klipsch heritage series (perhaps Forte IVs) seem to be the fashion of the day and would improve the “wall of black” I have now. I’m getting conflicting advice on their merits. I listened to a pair of Klipsch reference floorstanders at the local(only) hi-fi store and wasn’t that impressed. A bit off at the top end.

The local guy recommends the Triton R1 or ProAc D20R. Steve Seque bought a pair of Living Voice down a few years ago and they did impress with their detail. 

The problem is you really need to hear speakers for yourself, recommendations can be hit and miss, in my experience, and that’s a bit hard in the provinces.

HDMI is almost as bad as Scart...



Directional is good, means proper stereo

This sounds like deja vu but...

Pull 'em forward of the cabinet, a bit closer together, firing straight.

Yes, forget about Klipsch,

Tritons - yep

Not heard new Proacs.

You have Revelations michaelw as well?

Nov 10, 2023 7:54:00 GMT 12 stuzzo said:

Nov 9, 2023 23:46:13 GMT 12 Citroen said:

What's the turntable? Cartridge?

It’s the Marantz TT-15S1, which is basically a rebadged Clearaudio, with a Virtuoso Wood cartridge. I was running this with a Plinius Jarrah which I bought off Michael Jones when he was clearing his equipment. I’m not really a turntable guy though early music was records before digital.

When I had it set up originally, I have to say, with a good record, it was the best source. 

I have had to pack it away for the last few years as I have an autistic young son who found the turntable far too interesting. Unfortunately the motor unit is not working now so will have to investigate that

I sold the Jarrah as the Marantz phono stage is said to be reasonably good. Time will tell.

Sorry to hear the motor died.

The Jarrah is a lush phono that has much to admire. I bought one, sold it, and then bought another as I missed it so much. 

Nov 10, 2023 15:04:24 GMT 12 Citroen said:

You have Revelations michaelw as well?

Nope.

Petitle Performa 2 with Mass bass system

Ah, I recall now.

Nice!!!!!

All OLD stuff !

Nov 10, 2023 17:01:20 GMT 12 michaelw said:

All OLD stuff !

This years Xmas lights are taken care of!

Stuzzo, following your quote "The Klipsch heritage series (perhaps Forte IVs) seem to be the fashion of the day and would improve the “wall of black” I have now. I’m getting conflicting advice on their merits. I listened to a pair of Klipsch reference floorstanders at the local(only) hi-fi store and wasn’t that impressed. A bit off at the top end", here is a review of the Klipsch Heresy IV which is a flavour of the month.
www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/klipsch-heresy-iv-speaker-review.17853/
The reviewer concludes, "Klipsch has a very strong following in the audiophile community. Klipsch fans generally know what they are getting and they enjoy it. What do they know they are getting? Well, consider this: Klipsch’s literal marketing line is (and I quote) “Pissing off the neighbors since 1946”. Here’s the background art supplied on their own site. I know I am not alone in thinking this tagline translates to “loud and bright”. That is what Klipsch has given you in the Heresy IV. You have a 94dB (2.83v @ 1m) sensitivity speaker with an upward trend in the HF response. The newly implemented rear port may help the bass response compared to the Heresy III model but you’ll find it hard to get much below the 70-80Hz region out of these and you’ll need a subwoofer if you want good kick-drum (50/60Hz region) and definitely need a subwoofer if you want LFE content (if you choose to watch movies with these speakers).

With the above said, Klipsch also says this about these speakers: “The Heresy IV offers unparalleled sound quality from a relatively small speaker”. While this may be true relative to the Heresy III, let me make it clear: the Heresy IV speaker is not the quintessence of hi-fi. These are not an accurate speaker. I do not believe others expect that to be the case. I just want to make that clear up front. They may very well play your favorite rock n’ roll album with the zest you love, but they are not a reference speaker. Their response is too unbalanced for that task (both subjectively and certainly objectively). In my opinion, these are party speakers. They are show-off speakers when your neighbor comes over bragging about his Bose setup. The Heresy IV is what I would call a Jekyll/Hyde speaker. Sometimes they make your music fun and sometimes they make it boring. Heck, sometimes they make it aggravating. It’s a grab bag depending on what track you come across and your mood at the time.

As an aside, I am not biased against “horns” or compression drivers. My home theater system is made up of JBL Pro 2447j CD, 2380 horn and 2035HPL midwoofers. They literally came from the old Cinemark in town when they closed down about 8 years ago. They are ran actively off a Rane RPM88 DSP and some Crown amplifiers. So, while I prefer a different radiation pattern for general music listening, I do enjoy “horn speakers” assuming they are designed and implemented well.

Acoustics aside, let’s not ignore the “retro” look of these. They are quite appealing in their own way. A simple box with a throwback-look that appeals to many generations (myself included). It’s not a work of art. It’s a box. But, in its own way, it’s pretty cool. And, again, this is something Klipsch is known for and fans come to expect.

Ultimately, aside from looks, this is not the kind of speaker I would personally purchase. The tonal balance is much too varied for me to enjoy. But whether I enjoy them or not is of little consequence to your listening tastes. I’ve established that these have that “Klipsch sound” and it’s evident many prefer it regardless of how inaccurate it is. Therefore, I can merely only provide you the data and my thoughts on the performance and let you decide what works best for you. If you are interested in the Heresy IV and plan to purchase a pair to try on your own, please consider using my Amazon affiliate link below. I get a small commission (at no additional cost to you) and it helps me keep doing what I’m doing here."
You might like to read the full review. No bass below 50hz (in common with all Klipsch speakers and most JBL's sporting 12 and 15 inch drivers), poor integration between the drivers (the mid and treble are horn loaded which means that their domes and voice coils are far back in the cabinet and the opposite of time-aligned) and a screechy treble. But you do get efficiency!

Nov 11, 2023 10:27:33 GMT 12 peter0c said:

Stuzzo, following your quote "The Klipsch heritage series (perhaps Forte IVs) seem to be the fashion of the day and would improve the “wall of black” I have now. I’m getting conflicting advice on their merits. I listened to a pair of Klipsch reference floorstanders at the local(only) hi-fi store and wasn’t that impressed. A bit off at the top end", here is a review of the Klipsch Heresy IV which is a flavour of the month.
www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/klipsch-heresy-iv-speaker-review.17853/
The reviewer concludes, "Klipsch has a very strong following in the audiophile community. Klipsch fans generally know what they are getting and they enjoy it. What do they know they are getting? Well, consider this: Klipsch’s literal marketing line is (and I quote) “Pissing off the neighbors since 1946”. Here’s the background art supplied on their own site. I know I am not alone in thinking this tagline translates to “loud and bright”. That is what Klipsch has given you in the Heresy IV. You have a 94dB (2.83v @ 1m) sensitivity speaker with an upward trend in the HF response. The newly implemented rear port may help the bass response compared to the Heresy III model but you’ll find it hard to get much below the 70-80Hz region out of these and you’ll need a subwoofer if you want good kick-drum (50/60Hz region) and definitely need a subwoofer if you want LFE content (if you choose to watch movies with these speakers).

With the above said, Klipsch also says this about these speakers: “The Heresy IV offers unparalleled sound quality from a relatively small speaker”. While this may be true relative to the Heresy III, let me make it clear: the Heresy IV speaker is not the quintessence of hi-fi. These are not an accurate speaker. I do not believe others expect that to be the case. I just want to make that clear up front. They may very well play your favorite rock n’ roll album with the zest you love, but they are not a reference speaker. Their response is too unbalanced for that task (both subjectively and certainly objectively). In my opinion, these are party speakers. They are show-off speakers when your neighbor comes over bragging about his Bose setup. The Heresy IV is what I would call a Jekyll/Hyde speaker. Sometimes they make your music fun and sometimes they make it boring. Heck, sometimes they make it aggravating. It’s a grab bag depending on what track you come across and your mood at the time.

As an aside, I am not biased against “horns” or compression drivers. My home theater system is made up of JBL Pro 2447j CD, 2380 horn and 2035HPL midwoofers. They literally came from the old Cinemark in town when they closed down about 8 years ago. They are ran actively off a Rane RPM88 DSP and some Crown amplifiers. So, while I prefer a different radiation pattern for general music listening, I do enjoy “horn speakers” assuming they are designed and implemented well.

Acoustics aside, let’s not ignore the “retro” look of these. They are quite appealing in their own way. A simple box with a throwback-look that appeals to many generations (myself included). It’s not a work of art. It’s a box. But, in its own way, it’s pretty cool. And, again, this is something Klipsch is known for and fans come to expect.

Ultimately, aside from looks, this is not the kind of speaker I would personally purchase. The tonal balance is much too varied for me to enjoy. But whether I enjoy them or not is of little consequence to your listening tastes. I’ve established that these have that “Klipsch sound” and it’s evident many prefer it regardless of how inaccurate it is. Therefore, I can merely only provide you the data and my thoughts on the performance and let you decide what works best for you. If you are interested in the Heresy IV and plan to purchase a pair to try on your own, please consider using my Amazon affiliate link below. I get a small commission (at no additional cost to you) and it helps me keep doing what I’m doing here."
You might like to read the full review. No bass below 50hz (in common with all Klipsch speakers and most JBL's sporting 12 and 15 inch drivers), poor integration between the drivers (the mid and treble are horn loaded which means that their domes and voice coils are far back in the cabinet and the opposite of time-aligned) and a screechy treble. But you do get efficiency!

Thanks for that Peter. I hadn’t seen this but do use that site a lot.

My plan is to stay with what I have until I hear something markedly better.

As far as asthetics go my “brilliant” plan is to replace my current speaker grill cloth with something like the heritage speakers. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of choice and both of my picks so far have not worked out when I tried them against the speakers!

Nov 11, 2023 10:27:33 GMT 12 peter0c said:

 No bass below 50hz (in common with all Klipsch speakers and most JBL's sporting 12 and 15 inch drivers), poor integration between the drivers (the mid and treble are horn loaded which means that their domes and voice coils are far back in the cabinet and the opposite of time-aligned) and a screechy treble. But you do get efficiency!

+ honky, cupped hands midrange, minimal spatial reproduction skills,

But they do have impact,

And efficiency.

Picked up a Yamaha CD-N301 on Trade Me recently for a nominal value with the description “does not power on”. I had looked at the CD 303, in the past, as a style and remote match for my A-S2200 but didn’t consider $700 odd bucks worth the price given I had the Cambridge doing that duty.

Anyway, opened it up and the power supply Schottky output diodes didn’t seem to read quite right. These are often in pairs( in parallel) so I found and removed the shorted one and away it went. Bought a new pair of diodes today and replaced them both.

Sounds very nice. It can do CD duties now for the reasons above and it just loads and handles more like a dedicated CD. 

I have also upgraded my Topping DAC to the E70. This was really just for the 12v triggers it has as the Node doesn’t shut down it’s outputs when it goes into standby/pause but it does have a trigger.

Working on my turntable motor now. Managed to find a circuit diagram. It looks a bit gash at the bottom of the case but I’ve seen others open that look similar. Possibly galvanic or heat action or something.

I tested the outgoing wires and was a bit concerned to have open-circuit on both sets. I would have expected 1/2 an ohm or something from the motor?

Tested the run capacitors and both bad but one particularly low so have replaced them both. The ones I ordered turned out to be larger but managed to fit them in.

Still not right though. Now the motor runs at the correct rate of 300 rpm and will pull the table but won’t start by itself. I turn the table and turn the motor on and away it goes. I am wondering if the bearings have become dry and the starting torque required is too great. 

Have a working turntable but still a work in progress. The SMR300-100 motors are likely still being produced but haven’t been able to find a source to buy.

This, from the manual, gives me some confidence I’m on the right track, though it would be much better for the table to start by itself.

That's similar to the instructions on a certain English turntable that used weak-as motors.