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I have two systems but one is just the TV system the other is a HT system. I have an electrical background so a lot of the big system is DIY.
Today we can buy as good as I can build and what with pc based music downloads which I can't be bothered with the system is now in stasis.
For those interested the speakers are Acoustat Spectra 44's, various cd and dvd players used as transports.
Dac is from Audio GD ( amazing tech build and value)
Pre amp is Yamaha (the best receiver I have found for switching and surround sound parameters).
In ceiling speakers are Krix.
The old Pereaux 2150B ( completely rebuilt, modified and regulated) runs the large 12in focal subwoofer.
The main amps are Tilbrook 5000's a wonderful amp, DIY of course but a very complex regulated amp.
I become quite nostalgic writing this, remembering the 100's maybe thousands of hours building and tuning this system, which has brought much enjoyment over the years.
like your power amps👍 love amps with a small environmental footprints😝
but what I don't get is you have all the nice in wall connections for speakers and network but you've got one big spaghetti of powercables and extension cords?😲😀
Hi @Koen, thanks for your comments.
Yes it does look a mess but there it was a lot more complicated when it ran as two systems one "music only" using a home built Nelson Pass pre amp and the other for HT using the Yamaha as the switching pre amp processor. I was drinking in those days and switching from one system to the other was a seriously mind bending proposition after a few beers !
Having found a sound field on the Yamaha that was not "pure direct" ( no sub woofer output in this mode) or stereo/straight that suited the room I went for a one system suits all. The sound parameter I use is Neo 6 music. The beauty of the Yamaha receiver processors is the ability to tune the system to the room after doing all the basic distances and volumes settings by finding a sound field program that works in a given room.
As for the amps being enviro friendly, I doubt it as they produce 250W and 300W at high current delivery and quite high quiesant currents to the mosfets of 350mA (Perreaux) and 220mA (Tilbrook) and the Pass pre amp is 400mA.
This means everything runs hot and large heatsinks are needed to avoid the use of fans.
There is also a auto transformer powering the power boards to maintain a voltage of 230v , our voltage spikes in Western Australia are deadly for electrical equipment that is not designed for fluctuating voltage spikes.
The apparent nightmare of the connection wiring is organised chaos as no signal carrying conductors run parallel to any mains power cables avoiding induction interferences. Some of the signal cables are pure silver.
The whole system runs on its own dedicated heavy duty house mains cable using its own circuit breaker thus avoiding interference from house appliances.
I have included a pic of the heavily modified Perreaux , with regulated input and a current mirror on the driver stage and an upgraded power bank of 80,000 uF.
Because of the two toroidal transformers and the large capacitance a slow turn on circuit had to be installed to stop the ultra fast Hexfed diode bridge from litterally exploding on turn on with the current rush.
It was all great fun and still sounds excellent and has a comparable sound to systems costing tens of thousands of $'s.
A very old, but beautifully constructed Mullard 5-10 with quad matched ECL86 tubes, driving a pair of 1970,s Hitachi HS-420 3 way speakers
One of the things I like to learn when I have some free time is to learn how to read schematics, I’d like to built an (pre)amp sometime. That amp looks awesome, I’m always drooling at those coke can elco’s, used to have a Sony 808es which used similar.
Does your Yamaha pre use a microphone for measurements? I’m switching between Roon and hqplayer for room adjustments and convolution with help from REW, but that’s all manual setup so could be a bit difficult sometimes.
Those voltage spikes are something indeed, I’ve been blessed to be on a stable grid over here. W
What would benefit from silver in power lines? Better conductivity?
That eco friendly thing was something of a joke, though still like amps that blow out your fuses.