AG Pool Audio System.

[CarlD]

Yeah, and being an audiophile can be a VERY expensive hobby if you go nuts.

But I generally prefer older speakers I can restore, re-foam (very easy) and re-equalize, if necessary. Got some old Advents (including The New Advent--circa 1980), AR2As, B/As, and some others (who was it had the Heil Air Motion transformer? DSS?--got them too).

Then there's cassettes, turntables, amps, tuners, pre-amps, etc...

Tube/solid state, Class A, B, C, etc....

[Phillbo]

Carl, I have an old Harman Kardon receiver that I use for the exterior speakers, It runs real hot and on occasion will drop one of the channels. I'm not much for tinkering with electronics (in truth, i should prolly kill the main breaker before changing a light bulb for my safety) but would like to try to diagnose before buying a cheapo to replace it . Any advice where to start ? I thought maybe opening it up and blowing it out real good to start.. An easy fix would be great but if not, i'll just trash it..


and try this sail boat on for size

http://www.pdracer.com/plans/harley-8.pdf

[CarlD]

Carl, I have an old Harman Kardon receiver that I use for the exterior speakers, It runs real hot and on occasion will drop one of the channels. I'm not much for tinkering with electronics (in truth, i should prolly kill the main breaker before changing a light bulb for my safety) but would like to try to diagnose before buying a cheapo to replace it . Any advice where to start ? I thought maybe opening it up and blowing it out real good to start.. An easy fix would be great but if not, i'll just trash it..

What I think is going on is that H-K's safety circuits are kicking in to prevent more damage. Better to shut down and cool down than burn out. For the last 25-30 years, most amplifier units (and microwave ovens) have had such circuitry. But something is out of spec on the channel that's going down (I assume it's always the same channel). It could be as small as a single resistor or capacitor that's blown. If you really love it and want to play with it, and have the test equipment, you could have a lot of fun. OTOH, you can buy a really nice two-channel receiver these days for under $100--today, Circuit City has a 100wpch Sherwood receiver for $75....You can't repair the H/K for that. They have an Onkyo surround sound for about $190.

Easy checks: Try the dusting out first. If it's full of dust, heat can build up. Be sure to check the power supply circuit--it should be near or connected to the power suppply transformer and be a smallish circuit board (if it's separate). Those components tend to throw heat.

Also you might check the power transistors and their heat sinks--they get VERY hot, too and if the sinks are dirty, they can't dissappate heat well. If the heat-conducting goop between the transistors and the sinks is shot or too thick, they'll overheat, too.

You could try a fan, like a PC fan, that's quiet to suck heat out of the unit, too. Might have to be inventive!

and try this sail boat on for size

http://www.pdracer.com/plans/harley-8.pdf

VERY cool! Norm, from This Old House and New Yankee Workshop built a small day-sailor as well, called a Clancy. I have the plans and video, but never built it. It's a little more complicated, but it's a similar idea.

http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?708

[Phillbo]

Thanks for the advice.. It's always the same channel. I'll get a can of air and see how much dust has accumilated and if anything obvious jumps out at me. If it keeps doing it, I'll just replace it with a cheapo unit.

[CarlD]

The amazing thing is that even cheapo units like that Sherwood and an Onkyo I got my mom perform as well if not better than units from the 70's, 80's and 90's. Ordinary stereo at high quality got very, very cheap.

[sailork]

Yup, you guys are taking me for a walk down memory lane. Audio was a hobby of mine when I was a kid. I've got more than one pair of homemade speakers per room in my house. My living room is graced by my father's old pair of AR3/A's driven by a Hafler DH-200.

The main reason I recommended the Yamahas is that with the larger box and woofer you get good efficiency and a high maximum SPL per dollar. Yamaha didn't have to make as many comprimises on the sound to shrink the speakers because they didn't shrink them as much. And at $99 to $150/pair you don't really have to break the bank. Like I said though without the equilizer tweak you WON'T like the sound. I suspect the smaller Yamahas are not as good as the bign's. I completely agree with Carl on the Bose speakers. Sound quality per $$ isn't there.

Now when do we start talking about yacht racing?

[Phillbo]

Now when do we start talking about yacht racing?

this ought to get your blood moving


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/138844

[CarlD]

Now when do we $tart talking about yacht racing?

A$ $oon a$ we can get lot$ of gue$$ what $ta$hed in our per$onal bank account$!

Becau$e what do you think we'll $pend lot$ and lot$ of?

Haffler: That's a grand old name! I've virtually every kind of amp, pre-amp and tuner Dynaco ever made. Even have some UN-built kits!

[gonefishin]

Yeah, and being an audiophile can be a VERY expensive hobby if you go nuts.

But I generally prefer older speakers I can restore, re-foam (very easy) and re-equalize, if necessary. Got some old Advents (including The New Advent--circa 1980), AR2As, B/As, and some others (who was it had the Heil Air Motion transformer? DSS?--got them too).

Then there's cassettes, turntables, amps, tuners, pre-amps, etc...

Tube/solid state, Class A, B, C, etc....

There's some great stuff that was made in the days gone by. Some of the older drivers are really top quality. It may be true that some of the voicing of the older speakers may not be fully to someones liking...but in a different speaker/crossover system...the voicing could be quite different. The picture in the previous post is a DIY design using JBL, Fane and TAD drivers.

I've been looking for some Heils to play around with too...one of these days The largest problem my wife has with the audio hobby is that I don't get rid of stuff

here's another DIY speaker...and my system in it's room below that...





dan

[sailork]

Carl, my first amp was a Dynaco ST-120. I bought it with a dead channel at a garage sale when I was 14 and fixed it. (Yeah, yeah it was one of the transistor dynacos everybody hates but I loved it....)

Waterbear, I've got a Dual 1019 with a V15 Type 3 sitting in my livingroom right now. If I had any decent albums left I'd look into fixing that drive wheel.....

Philbo, I love that video! It's amazing what a few million worth of carbon will do for your speed.