|
BANME.sh posted:What kind of receiver is it, by the way? If you aren't terribly attached to it for any reason, it might be better to find something a little newer (anything from the 70s or newer will accept standard speaker wire and have an aux input for an mp3 player) Thanks for the info. It's an old Grundig from the late 60's I think. It's weird that the receiver and speakers have different plugs since those speakers are Grundigs too. I want to use this receiver because it's badass basically. :P Here's a photo album from one that's on sale on ebay, http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/vie...session2068.jpg I think I can figure the speaker thing out, I'm pretty good with electronics. This thing was broken when I got it, so I opened it up and fixed it. I guess I could just solder the speaker wires directly to the back of those 2-pin din inputs and then do RCA on the other end. The thing I'm most confused about is getting mp3s in to this thing.
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2012 22:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 17:30 |
|
|
Ghostnuke posted:My second question is, I'm wondering if there's a way for me to hook up a more modern source to this receiver. It has inputs as pictured below. I know I can't hook anything up to the phono, but can I rig something into the tape input for an mp3 player? I'm really not interested in the whole records thing. For sure, you can rig something up! You might be able to find a 6-pin DIN connector somewhere, new or used, then you just need to figure out which pins are left channel, right channel and ground. Or, take that DIN port out and solder in some RCA instead, if that's easier. Would be an ugly hack though.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2012 23:22
|
|
|
Hippie Hedgehog posted:For sure, you can rig something up! You might be able to find a 6-pin DIN connector somewhere, new or used, then you just need to figure out which pins are left channel, right channel and ground. Or, take that DIN port out and solder in some RCA instead, if that's easier. Would be an ugly hack though. That's the part that confuses me. Say I find the pinout for that port, how do I convert that many pins into a 3.5mm or whatever? Edit: I guess I should specifify that I'd like to just plug in an ipod or my phone or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2012 23:25
|
|
|
Ghostnuke posted:That's the part that confuses me. Say I find the pinout for that port, how do I convert that many pins into a 3.5mm or whatever? Your standard 3.5mm connector has three poles: tip-ring-sleeve (TRS). Ring is right, tip is is left, sleeve is ground. The same three signals would also be coming from a 60's tape recorder, but in that DIN pinout (which was probably some proprietary standard that we don't know anything about). So you need to find out which pins were being used for what (for instance, by trial and error), then connect the two together.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2012 23:32
|
|
|
Hippie Hedgehog posted:Your standard 3.5mm connector has three poles: tip-ring-sleeve (TRS). Ring is right, tip is is left, sleeve is ground. The same three signals would also be coming from a 60's tape recorder, but in that DIN pinout (which was probably some proprietary standard that we don't know anything about). So you need to find out which pins were being used for what (for instance, by trial and error), then connect the two together. Awesome, that's really helpful. Does this schematic help at all in finding the pinout?
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2012 23:54
|
|
|
eggsovereasy posted:So I just read the manual for my preamp (David Hafler DH-110) and it says the load capacitance of Phono 1 is 120 picofarads and Phono 2 is 220 picofarads. What does this mean? I have it plugged into Phono 1 right now, is more picofarads going to hurt it if I move it to Phono 2 to see if sounds different? Different cartridges want to see a certain load on the inputs of a phono preamp. A load of say 47k ohms and anywhere from 100 to 220pf is pretty standard. This sets your high and low frequency extremes. It's a pi filter if I remember right. If you're a bit nutty, you can go inside and change the cap to anything you want. The 120pf should be about right though. So yeah, go ahead and give each of them a listen.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2012 00:07
|
|
|
Paperweight posted:Different cartridges want to see a certain load on the inputs of a phono preamp. A load of say 47k ohms and anywhere from 100 to 220pf is pretty standard. This sets your high and low frequency extremes. It's a pi filter if I remember right. If you're a bit nutty, you can go inside and change the cap to anything you want. The 120pf should be about right though. So yeah, go ahead and give each of them a listen. It seems better at 220pf. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm going to roll with this for a while. Thanks
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2012 00:37
|
|
|
Making some progress, found this...
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 00:28
|
|
|
At my old hi-fi repair job we sold DIN-RCA adapters, they can't be that hard to find online. It just split out four female RCA plugs.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 09:37
|
|
|
I'm about to dive into the world of buying a record player and some speakers! I've never had big audio equipment before so I have no idea what I'm doing. But basically someone gave me a shitton of awesome records and now I need a record player. From what I gather I'll definitely want some speakers as well, and I guess a receiver for the record player and speaker to plug into? Anyways if you guys could just give me some advice for things to look out for, either good pieces of equipment, or things to stay away from, that'd be awesome. I'm working with a budget of ~$350.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 14:01
|
|
|
Ghostnuke posted:Making some progress, found this... http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Pin-Din-Plug-to-2-x-RCA-Phono-Sockets-Extension-20cm-/190687447411?forcev4exp=true#ht_1758wt_1159 Its a common connector for older, higher end equipment.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 14:16
|
|
|
For impedance selector switches, is there any risk running 8 ohm output for 6 ohm speakers? I currently have a Yamaha stereo amplifier paired with some Wharfedale Diamonds and I honestly think it sounds better with 8 ohm output. Most people seem to suggest that the main issue is heat build up and that as long as I don't try and shatter windows, its OK to leave it at 8 ohms. Would this be right?
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 14:38
|
|
|
Heat mainly, the lower impedance speakers will draw more current at a given voltage which will lead to more heat in the output transistors. In effect this might also reduce the maximum power output before distorting, but 6/8 ohms is pretty similar so as long as you're not running it close to max power it should be fine.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 15:27
|
|
|
Mighty Horse posted:http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Pin-Din-Plug-to-2-x-RCA-Phono-Sockets-Extension-20cm-/190687447411?forcev4exp=true#ht_1758wt_1159 Aha! If I combine that with this I should be all set!
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 16:20
|
|
|
You probably want the 3.5mm to RCA male if you are going to be plugging it into the DIN adaptor. Which is lucky because they are available literally everywhere.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 16:22
|
|
|
Oh poo poo, you're right. Didn't even notice that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 16:23
|
|
|
Jinnigan posted:I'm about to dive into the world of buying a record player and some speakers! I've never had big audio equipment before so I have no idea what I'm doing. But basically someone gave me a shitton of awesome records and now I need a record player. From what I gather I'll definitely want some speakers as well, and I guess a receiver for the record player and speaker to plug into? Get on Craigslist, get a vintage turntable and receiver (make sure it has a pre-amp in it) and some speakers for $100. Make sure you try out all of it before you buy. That will be a great first setup that you can upgrade whenever you want.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 16:26
|
|
|
Nevermind, This is even better!
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2012 16:49
|
|
|
alg posted:Get on Craigslist, get a vintage turntable and receiver (make sure it has a pre-amp in it) and some speakers for $100. Make sure you try out all of it before you buy. Yes, basically this! He could also, you know, read the OP.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 02:08
|
|
|
Electric Bugaloo posted:Yes, basically this! He could also, you know, read the OP. The OP is almost half a decade old.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 02:43
|
|
|
Record players are almost a century and a half old
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 03:09
|
|
|
Jinnigan posted:The OP is almost half a decade old. Yeah not much has changed in the last 30 years of turntables. I guess read the OP!
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 13:51
|
|
|
Jinnigan posted:The OP is almost half a decade old. You're right. Let me address the literally two things that have changed: 1. Technics no longer manufactures turntables, so the SL-1200 is now virtually unavailable in decent shape for less than $700 used. Every DJ on Earth wants at least two. 2. Self-quoted and crossposted from the NMD Vinyl thread: Electric Bugaloo posted:Also, the Debut-III has just been replaced by the new Debut Carbon. It's the same table except apparently better in every way that counts: Carbon fiber tonearm (probably more of a gimmick than anything, but hey- improvement's improvement), Ortofon 2M Red cartridge (this is a biggie- people often upgrade their Debut-III's by replacing the bundled cartridge. AFAIK this is the one that most people replace it with. It's $100 on its own- so unless you find a clearance Debut-III for at least $100 less than the Carbon, I'd argue that this upgrade alone is worth the cost of the new model), bigger platter, and new motor suspension (from what I've heard, these last two changes basically take care of most of the complaints people had with the older model). There you go. Since you gave yourself a total budget of ~$350 for table/receiver/speakers, neither of these updates really apply to you at this moment (and you wouldn't really have been able to afford an SL-1200/Debut III four years ago anyway). So read the OP and tailor your search for good used equipment based on the advice it holds. Don't buy anything Crosley/from Walmart/lovely. Good luck and have fun!
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 19:59
|
|
|
The OP should also include the AT-LP120 (a somewhat decent SL-1200 knockoff) for $350, the Music Hall MMF 2.2 for $500, the Rega RP1 for $450, and Thorens TD-158 for $450. Insound.com sells all of these tables and they often have free shipping coupon codes or 10-20% off sales (I recently saw a combined free shipping and 20% off turntables deal they had) Also note that all of these brands offer more elaborate models for extra $$$. The ones I've listed are their entry level models. Avoid Crosley, Ion, Jensen, and Numark. It also should be noted that the ProJect Debut III (and probably the new Carbon) as well as the Rega RP1 require that you change the belt when you want to switch between 45 and 33 rpm records. You can buy an external power supply with a switch if you are lazy, but thats extra money obviously. The Music Hall MMF 2.2 and Thorens both support 33 and 45 rpm with a built in switch afaik. The OP also seems a little shy towards vintage tables. There are plenty (in my area at least) of people who restore vintage tables and sell them on kijiji or craigslist for anywhere between $50 and $200. You can get some nice gear this way. Just ask to demo it before you commit, and be sure there's a new needle on it. If not, make sure the price reflects that. In my experience, stuff I find at thrift stores, flea markets, or antique stores are either a) sold as-is, meaning they are dirty, beat up, and not guaranteed to work, or b) priced for retail. The very best stuff for the best price comes from local classified sites. Edit: I should clarify that I don't think it's a bad idea to go to thrift stores or the like. I only meant it might not be a good idea if you are shopping for your first turntable, because it's somewhat of a crapshoot unless you know what to look for/avoid. BANME.sh fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Sep 13, 2012 |
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 20:13
|
|
|
Yea, you just need to have patience and be willing to travel a bit. I found an Elac Miracord 50h with a bad needle in a Shure V-15 cart for $9. They compare favorably to Dual from the early 70's, so not a bad TT. $30 for a new needle, a little clean up, grease and it's playing like a champ. It took a month or two and a few trips to Goodwill and SA, but this thing's worth it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 23:34
|
|
|
longview posted:Heat mainly, the lower impedance speakers will draw more current at a given voltage which will lead to more heat in the output transistors. Thanks for the confirmation. After a few days of use, I don't think I've encountered anything dire. Its definitely getting a little bit warmer but its still far cooler than the computer monitor I have.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2012 16:03
|
|
|
I just got and installed an Ortofon 2m Red upgrading from my Shure m97xe. When turning on the receiver and turntable I notice there is a light static noise and little pops. I didn't notice this on my old cartridge and am wondering what it could be. The turntable is grounded correctly. I put on a record and things sound fine, but am wondering if this is normal to hear when not playing anything. Also is the recommended tracking force 1.5g or 1.8?
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2012 17:55
|
|
|
Recheck your connections. Make sure they're snug and not about to slip off. One of the pins on the cartridge is negative and also connected to any shielding in the cartridge itself. If I remember correctly, it's green. It may be actual static on and around your turntable. Get some anti-static spray at your local grocery store or super center. It's sold on the same aisle as the detergent. Spray it on a piece of cloth and wipe down the dustcover, platter and plinth. If you have carpet, give that a spritzing. It's cheap and worth a try. 1.75 grams is the optimal tracking force. A tenth of a gram either way won't harm anything. Michael Fremmer says if the tracking is too light, it will damage the grooves wobbling back and forth worse than if it was set too heavy. If you're patient, you can set it by ear and just make sure it's within say 1.6 to 1.9 grams.
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2012 23:59
|
|
|
Rechecked all connections, and everything is firm. The sound happens even when my turntable isn't on, just my receiver. But the sound isn't there when I switch to a different channel than phono so something is messed up with it. I'll try to upload a small vid of the popping noises later
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2012 20:13
|
|
|
Peacebone posted:Rechecked all connections, and everything is firm. The sound happens even when my turntable isn't on, just my receiver. But the sound isn't there when I switch to a different channel than phono so something is messed up with it. I'll try to upload a small vid of the popping noises later Does it happen even if you disconnect the turntable completely or ground the inputs? In that case it's probably a bad solder joint, the scratching is caused by thermal expansion making the connection points move.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2012 00:15
|
|
|
longview posted:Does it happen even if you disconnect the turntable completely or ground the inputs? In that case it's probably a bad solder joint, the scratching is caused by thermal expansion making the connection points move. It doesn't happen when you disconnect the turntable. I think it might be the cabling on the headshell that connects to the cartridgel (red,white, green, blue) because I switched back to my old cartridge and got same problem. I might have pulled it the wrong way or something when installing the ortofon.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2012 21:55
|
|
|
Peacebone posted:It doesn't happen when you disconnect the turntable. I think it might be the cabling on the headshell that connects to the cartridgel (red,white, green, blue) because I switched back to my old cartridge and got same problem. I might have pulled it the wrong way or something when installing the ortofon. Have you checked for corrosion on the headshell contacts? Maybe try getting a brush and some rubbing alcohol on them, or try wiggling the wire around and see if you can find a point where moving it will cause scratching. -- I decided to make use of the microphone inputs on my Philips, so I thought adding TRS inputs would be neat, guitars and stuff. I don't have a guitar though. Once I had that working it hit me:  A USB input! I had a XLR-style USB-connector which was perfect, and then I remembered I had an AlienDAC board fully built and tested lying around:  The hot-glue method of assembly still working well, I connected the AlienDAC directly to one of the microphone preamps, it turns out that this almost worked, but the output levels were just slightly too hot at dB_FS. I ended up drilling a 3mm hole near the connector where I expose a little trim-pot to adjust the preamp-attenuation. This is actually a really great thing, aside from the normal hizz it sounds great, and it retained all the analog inputs as well, including one of the guitar inputs. I was concerned about ground loops but if they're there, they're well hidden in the noise floor.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2012 13:05
|
|
|
Do you know what those wierd proprietary Philips screw-in connectors you replaced are called? I am looking for the cable part for a similar vintage Philips restoration and it would be nice if I could find the cable head.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2012 13:12
|
|
|
I really have no idea what those connectors are called, they're a bit odd in that the instrument side has male pins. The best I can do is get some measurements of the diameter of the outer ring (20.3 mm) and a picture from when the amplifier was umodified and still had those connectors:  As a side note: It turns out leaving the chassis ungrounded was a bit of an oversight on my part, since when the power is switched on or off, or when a line transient from a switch enters the supply, the transient will be coupled through to the signal ground (chassis). This is an issue since the current then wants to return to earth, the only path is the USB cord. I measured turning the amplifier off at 15V DC-peak between earth ground and the chassis ground (nominal about 200mV), amazingly the only thing this did was to reset the DAC, clearly a robust little device. longview fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Sep 23, 2012 |
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2012 14:55
|
|
|
Ron Burgundy posted:Do you know what those wierd proprietary Philips screw-in connectors you replaced are called? I am looking for the cable part for a similar vintage Philips restoration and it would be nice if I could find the cable head. Looks like either a DIN or XLR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_and_video_interfaces_and_connectors
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2012 16:45
|
|
|
Nar it's a lot bigger than it looks in the pictures. It's closer to like a camera-VTR umbilical cable. It's almost certainly proprietary. e: Philips were quite partial to Jones type connectors so I was hoping it might have been a standard. Thanks longview, but I actually have the same part as you, I'm searching for the other half. Even more edits: After much, much googling there is one seller on eBay reffering to them as "Philips Multi-Impedance Cables" and charging outrageous prices for them. I suppose they are pretty rare though. Goddamn everyone calls the something different. Some of the "Amphenol" connectors look pretty close. Ron Burgundy fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Sep 23, 2012 |
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2012 17:03
|
|
|
You can look up the line drawing for the part on Amphenol's website. It should give you the dimentions for it. They still make a lot of connectors similar to their old school offerings. Their quality is still top notch so $10-20 for one connector wouldn't be out of the question. Throw in some 3 conductor cable and heat shrink tubeing, you can make your own cable from it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2012 22:00
|
|
|
I can't stop modding!! I changed the DAC over to external power supply, that way it shuts down with the amplifier, to do it I put in a second rectifier in the control grid bias supply, nominally it outputs -30V, now it also has +30V. Then I used a small LM317T board I had lying around and put it on the top-side with the wires running near the normal wire harness, it outputs 9V with the heat sink at 40 degrees over ambient. The AlienDAC then handles the 5V and 3V3 regulation, no degradation in sound quality despite the more complicated grounding, and when I shut down the amplifier the USB device is effectively disconnected.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2012 22:10
|
|
|
I'm looking for advice on a few components: 1. Has anyone here put a DAC between a Sonos:CONNECT and their amp? I'm looking at maybe getting a Cambridge Audio DacMagic unit. *edit* 1b. Does anyone know of a good 2ch amp that can take an optical input and has a good DAC? 2. I have a couple of albums on vinyl that I want to capture digitally (because the dynamic range is compressed to nothing for those albums on CD) - Should I capture downstream from my Cambridge Audio phono preamp, or apply RIAA equalisation in the capture software? - What capture software should I use? - Should I get a discrete ADC and use the optical input on my MacBook, or is the built in ADC sufficient? My laptop is an early aluminium 08 Core 2 Duo. primitive fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Sep 24, 2012 |
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2012 14:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 17:30 |
|
|
I got a Realistic STA-850 for free and it looks like it needs some work. It doesn't even turn on, I'm going to do some troubleshooting on it and try to get it in working order. Is this model any good? From google it looks like it was an old radioshack brand. If I get it up and running I'm going to use it mostly for headphones, maybe if I upgrade the speakers on my main setup I'd get it to drive them. Here's my modern set up right now: -Pioneer Elite SA6 2ch Receiver -Rega RP-1 Turntable -Paradigm Monitor 7 Tower Speakers
|
|
#
?
Sep 25, 2012 01:52
|
|