[OldRoadToad]

I make fun of people who call those Bose cubes with the Acoustimass woofer the best thing on the planet. 901's are a different matter completely.

I used to have some ASccoustimass 3 i think they were called. they were fine and my wife liked them because they wer small. I have no taste so i reallyu can not comment on what is best or not, LOL!! But i did and still do like 901s very much!

ORT

 

[OldRoadToad]

A few weeks ago, someone lamented that Schiit and Shinola were not advertised or demoed together. Well, there now is a highly favorable review of the Fulla 2 on the Audiostream website entitled "Listening Session as History Lesson, b/w Schiit and Shinola Together at Last."

He listened through the Shinola Canfield headphones and had nothing but praise for the Fulla 2. He even encountered an annoying "cracking and sputtering" noise while listening, and he never once blamed the Fulla 2 - how refreshing! (He discovered it was caused by a high frequency cell-tower interference.)

These high praises are from Steven Mejias, a Stereophile writer/reviewer.

I never did like that kid. He now works ofr Audioquerst and he is probably a nice young man but i found his typing to be annoying. Yeah i know. I can be annoyoing too but I am not paid to be!

ORT

 

[wink]

You mean........................................ you do it for free....????????????

 

[cricket]

I'd like to order 2 6-packs of the coasters right now! Great first installment. I am looking forward to reading how this all unfolds. I probably won't be building the amp though since I have never soldered flat-packs. Back in the day Healthkit tube amp and pre-amp and a giant 27" TV that took forever to build were my speed. Never again. Now if Jason could come up with a through the hole parts design, I'd be willing to give it a try.

SMD soldering isn't difficult at all. In fact, I prefer SMD to through hole's lead forming, trimming, and reflowing. This video is exactly the method I use: .

I've found that the iron needs to be around 700F, to reduce contact time. The only time I actually apply solder to SMDs is when they have large tabs like you'll find on voltage regulators.

Personally, I use water soluble flux for most stuff, but I'd strongly recommend no clean for beginners. Water soluble remains active and must be removed or it will cause corrosion. It will also invade unsealed components and cause problems later. This project isn't so critical that no clean residue is likely to cause problems.

From Jason's photo, the design has lots of space around components and should be easy for a beginner.

Jon

 

[rlow]

Sorry if this has been posted or link not allowed, audio interview with Mr. Stoddard

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2018/02/15/jason-stoddard/

Just listened to this interview with Jason, very cool - although unfortunately no hints of new products upcoming (other than Sol of course). Most of the ground Jason covers has been covered here in his posts and chapters, but interesting to hear in an audio interview nonetheless.

 

[liamo]

I have mine in a closet but need some wher to put another system up~!

I thinkj some people make fun of Bose because of it being poopluar to do so. I like the901s but I can under stand why some make fun ofe them as I do the same thing with other stuff.

ORT

My old stuff like Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi etc just doesn’t sound right on my more newer, improved, better measuring systems thus i leave it to others to bin when I’m gone.

 

[hagenhays]

What are people's impressions of the magni 3 as a preamp...does it pass the sound through to the main amp clearly, without color?
I wasn't impressed with the vali 2 in this regard....it felt like the sound got distorted and lost some raw power..

Received my amperex "bugle boys" yesterday...WOW!!WHAT A DIFF, compared to stock tube. I have the modi multibit running to it and cds and spotify sound amazing.
I'm awaiting the magni 3 to hook up in a 2nd listening room with the modi2U, or to just swap out back in forth for fun with the vali 2. Going to try to get them on a switch as well so I can compare the 2...I have a feeling I am not going to tell much difference.

If you are on the fence about whether there is improvement in replacing the stock tube, the answer is a resounding YES. Also, the vali 2 seems to sound better on lo gain, plus you get more play with the volume pot.

Amazing product Jason and guys at schiit!

 

[AudioBear]

SMD soldering isn't difficult at all. In fact, I prefer SMD to through hole's lead forming, trimming, and reflowing. This video is exactly the method I use: .

I've found that the iron needs to be around 700F, to reduce contact time. The only time I actually apply solder to SMDs is when they have large tabs like you'll find on voltage regulators.

Personally, I use water soluble flux for most stuff, but I'd strongly recommend no clean for beginners. Water soluble remains active and must be removed or it will cause corrosion. It will also invade unsealed components and cause problems later. This project isn't so critical that no clean residue is likely to cause problems.

From Jason's photo, the design has lots of space around components and should be easy for a beginner.

Jon

@cricket : Thanks for the video. Doesn't look too hard. I'll give it a give it a go when I receive my coasters. Did we decide where the backside switch should be located?

 

[cricket]

@cricket : Thanks for the video. Doesn't look to hard. I'll give it a give it a go when I receive my coasters. Did we decide where the backside switch should be located?

Look for the switch between the power jack and the volume knob in Jason's pic. Not exactly the back, but definitely the rearmost control.

Jon

 

[liamo]

Look for the switch between the power jack and the volume knob in Jason's pic. Not exactly the back, but definitely the rearmost control.

Jon

Humblebrag, you’ve found it.

 

[Timster]

What if it was a VU meter?

Hmmmm... I would buy and build a meter kit that was designed to measure WATTS into my speakers. Something I could connect up to the speaker terminals via a cable and banana plugs. 4/8 ohm switchable if needed. Radio Shack used to have several, but the one with the analogue meters was the best IMO.

Must be a way of doing that better with single units that could sit on top of each speaker, calibrated up to 200 watts maybe, optional lighting (bright white of course!)

ORT might even buy some too.

 

[OldRoadToad]

I am listening to famous blue raincoat again. it is so neato! I like it very much.

ORT

 

[BagelJoe]

I am listening to famous blue raincoat again. it is so neato! I like it very much.

ORT

One my faves for many years ORT. Glad you are enjoying it.

 

[DoubleIPA]

@Jason Stoddard

Jason,

I was reading another forum that had links to commentary on CD and Vinyl and differences as well as to why people really liked vinyl. Reading the quotes someone posted got me thinking, what if Schiit implemented a vinylizer on LOKI or the Gadget. I know there's more to vinyl mastering that's part of the effect beyond the greater distortion, but I'd imagine it would be possible to possibly recreate some of that euphonic distortion and have it adjustable.


This is all quoted from Jack D Ripper on AVS. I thought it was a really interesting post.

Some people like the distortion of LPs, as it adds a "warmth" to the sound. You can read about some testing at:


Vinyl vs. CD - A Running Commentary - Parts 1 - 5 - Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

Parts 6-9 start here:

Vinyl vs. CD - A Running Commentary - Parts 6 - 9 - Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

The whole thing is worth reading, but experience tells me that most people will not bother doing that, so here are some useful quotes:

Now, when the RIAA pre-emphasis curve is applied at recording, and then the de-emphasis curve is applied at playback, the phase shift should cancel out and you end up with a proper phase relationship throughout the audible spectrum. Right? Well, that would be fine if all the recording systems applied the RIAA pre-emphasis curve perfectly, and all our phono stages applied the RIAA de-emphasis curve perfectly.

Guess what? Nothing is perfect out there.

So, we end up with LPs and phono stages that deliver a sound with varying amounts of phase shift in all areas of the audible spectrum, and I feel that this is one of the defining characteristics of the analog LP sound. It delivers a soundstage that is much different than what you would hear from a CD where such EQ curves are not applied.

And, it’s very appealing.
And:

To start, I used 1 kHz sine waves.

Here is a graph of the spectrum generated from the test CD. THD+N was 0.005%. That is very low and very good. Notice that the one distortion peak visible is third order.

At 10 kHz, distortion rose to 0.01%. Again, the one visible peak is third order.

And…(drum roll)…here is what you have been waiting for: The Vinyl Results.
At 1 kHz, 0 dB, distortion was 7%. “Wow, that’s a lot of distortion,” you say. You bet it is, but notice that it is nearly all second order. Also, the noise level contributes to this high number. At best, the noise is 70 dB below the signal, whereas with the CD test, it is more than 100 dB lower. We could measure just the THD, but much of the harmonics are buried in the noise, so this would not be a fair estimation of the resulting sound.
And:

So, what can we say at this point? It seems to me – and this is with some of the very best hi-fi components in the world – that one of the most significant reasons vinyl aficionados love the LP sound is that the distortion is very, very much like that in Pure Class A triode single-ended tube amplifiers. There is a lot of distortion, but it is virtually all second order (even-ordered), which is euphonic, meaning that it is pleasing to the ears.

Basically, the LP format adds distortion to the sound, and the type of distortion that is added tends to be "warm" and pleasing. It is, of course, less accurate, but some may like it.


For the CD haters, here is a good read:Boston Audio Society - ABX Testing article

 

[wink]

@cricket : Did we decide where the backside switch should be located?

Only on the back, of course......
Although, this is a golden opportunity to put it on the front........