I thought of the garage sale receiver, too - but my friend is looking to get one quickly and his job keeps him out of most garage sales... Thanks for the input!
Hi Everyone, A friend of mine has recenly purchased a pair of bass shakers and is looking for an inexpensive ( < $50 ) low powered amp (< 50wpc) to drive them. Has anyone come across any specials, closeouts, deals, etc over the past few days? Thanks! Eric
Hi Folks, I know that others around here have used the Audiomobile Mass drivers in their subs, so I'm hoping someone can help me. I can't find the spec sheet that came with my Mass 2012 S24 driver and the company appears to be defunct. Could someone please post the full set of specs for...
Red: You still around after nearly having your thread torn to pieces?? I have a set of Monster 950i interconnects that I used to used with my system (Marantz AV600 pre, MA500 amps, Atlantic Technology 350 speakers). Because these were my "best" interconnects (most expensive), I put them between...
Someone recently posted a like to this web site for do-it-yourself cables. It might be worth a look and will likely save you some money if you plan to need more cables in the future (very likely if you've recently just started this addictive hobby!)
IMO, many of these designs will outperform...
Chris,
I purchased my teflon tubing from McMaster-Carr ($6 per 100ft of 28 gauge tube), the teflon insulated RCA's were from Home Grown Audio and ~220 ft of 30 gauge .9999 fine silver from MYRON TOBACK INC, 25 West 47th St., NYC 190036 (212 398-8300). You want solid fine silver (not sterling...
Chris,
Check out Chris VenHaus' at diy silver interconnects. In my system (Marantz av600 & ma500s with Atlantic Technology speakers) they are a vast improvement over Monster 550i interconnects. Mine cost me about $18 per pair to make - the most expensive part is the RCA connector. It took...
If you use good quality materials and construction techniques, you should notice a step forward. Its pretty hard to do worse than the cables that come with equipment!
you might also want to have a look at these web sites:
http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/jon_risch/index.htm...
For low volume listening to movies & music, I prefer to turn up the level of the subwoofer a little. While things don't come crashing down while the baby is sleeping, you get a better sense of bass at low volumes with it turned up just a little. When I want to run at higher volumes, I turn the...
I agree with Kevin. The outer conductors (ground or shield) on your receiver/cd player/etc are likely all connected together inside the unit anyhow.
I noticed this same thing with RCA connectors I purchased from homegrownaudio.com ...
Check out these links for DIY amps:
Seal Electronics
Elliot Sound Products
These are quite capable for sub duty. Not sure whether you'll save money or not. If you find surplus parts for the power supply transformer, caps, and heatsink, you'll save quite a bit of money over buying them new...
These speakers are pretty decent. As a side note, I believe they have always been RCA speakers, and Radio Shack paid RCA to put the Optimus name on it. Radio Shack does not manufacture very much, so they've been putting the "Radio Shack" and "Optimus" label on other manufacturer's products for...
The top plate on my stands bolts down into a threaded hold in the center of each of the three pipes. There is also another hole in the top of each pipe to allow for filling. Thus, the "end cap" of each vertical pipe is a circle with a threaded hole in the center for the bolt and an off center...
Patrick: I've played around with this one a while ago, too! Amazing the differences that you hear with placement, huh? I remember when I first got my speakers (AT350's) I didn't have stands so I put them on top of my 40" tall entertainment center. This put the tweeters somewhere near 50-55"...
As long as the stands are reasonably rigid and sturdy, getting the speakers up off of the floor and placing the tweeters at ear level for listening provides the single greatest sonic benefit. Cheap vs. expensive doesn't always mean worse vs. better... Just make sure the stands are sturdy and...
Interesting line up of receiver brands... From what I have seen over the past few years, this list of Marantz, HK, Denon, and Onkyo only really represents two manufacturers (someone please jump in if I'm wrong...). It seems that Marantz and HK are virtually the same. If Marantz introduced a...
I've seen evidence again and again of 900%-1000% (yes, thats 10 times) markup on many of the commercial, mass produced speakers. Thus, in a typical $500 pair of speakers, you may have somewhere near $50-75 worth of drivers and crossovers. Often, the cost of the cabinets will be about this same...
John: The numbers you have posted for your amps are not complete enough to total up the total draw of your equipment. To say that your 2505 can produce 250w into 5 channels does not mean that it needs 250*5 or 1250 watts of power at 120v to do it. Also, this does not include power consumed by...
Billy: I've made a set of the CAT5 cables recently (recipe here. I used 3 lengths of CAT5 for each speaker (12 pairs per speaker ~ 13ga wire).
I had been using a set of Tara Phase II wires that were 8 feet long. Then I had to move my equipment rack into a nearby closet away from my crawling...
I wouldn't be surprised if the electical box on the outside of the wall did cause interference of some sort, but only if your equipment is directly through the wall from it. I wouldn't suspect any problem from across the room.
I have recently moved my stack of AV equipment into a closet to...
Wood filler did the trick for me. My carefully measured circles were apparently not measured carefully enough... I ended up with a gap of about 1/8" too. Lots of wood filler a little bit at a time into the cracks did the trick. Its important to go little by little because the filler shrinks...
Dave: I've found a few differences using heavier gauge wire. Heavier wire has less resistance than an equal length of thinner wire, so heavier is better for longer runs. Another difference I've noticed is that heavier wire provides somewhat better bass response. If your speakers are only...
Chris, Thanks for the update - I appreciate your effort! I do have a question for you (or someone else) though: You list Have, Inc. as the supplier for the braid, but then indicate that they have a $75 minimum. Has anyone found another source for this type of a braid? I don't know that I...
Terry: Great work! Thanks for your efforts and time to share your findings with us! Makes me all the more proud that I chose a Mass 2012 for my sub (1 driver in half of the volume you have, tuned to about the same point)! I'm thinking that when I end up in a house, I need another Mass 2012...