[Paladin79]

I bi-wired my Sonus Fabers with Blue Jean Cables Canare 4S11 Cable and it looks like this. BJ tack welds the wire to the expandable banana connectors. Easy-peezy for me!
I took the first photo and modified it with MS paint program so I wouldn't have to think about what wire goes where when if I take them off and then try to remember which ones go where, LOL.
Pretty reasonable prices at BJ

Very well done and those prices at BJC are very reasonable. I really like that cable and the way the wires are welded to the connectors. They also use a Belden speaker cable that is quite good, I really like their approach to such items.

 

[macdonjh]

I collect cast iron cookware, Bakelite-handled cake slicers, and bean pots made by Ohio potters. But I have reached the point where I am giving them away (still buying!) I also have 13 ukuleles but that is not a collection, it is a stable. Siting in a craft brewery is "dinner."

It can be out there now. The town near where my observatory (bold now, so @bcowen won't miss it) is has added some good businesses in the last year or so. Dining used to be a choice between McDonalds, Jack-in-the-Box and Whataburger. Now there is a cafe (decent coffee, better bakery), the craft brewery (food trucks at least on the weekends, some good other not for me), and an ice cream shop next door to the brewery. Driving classic muscle cars with really loud exhaust by the brewery is becoming a thing, too.

 

[Paladin79]

MBL is always a highlight at Axpona. They can make a chorus sound like they’re right in the room! Of course you almost have to have the MBL amps and preamps to go with them all of which together costs 6-figures.

I am too pragmatic to spend that kind of money on a system, I am more likely to invest in cardboard. (well maybe drones, charging stations, and 5G).

 

[golfbravobravo]

I'd start here: Ulfberht and add upgrades.
Sadly my house is too small. So's my wallet. But a girl can dream, can't she?

The DIs are not a bad alternative

 

[Paladin79]

Oh yes he does. Constantly. But I *do* like the new nickname: P79. I think that'll stick.

I only complain when you ask me to do dove tail joints using cardboard.

 

[Paladin79]

I have done this, and while its not actually difficult per se, it does require space and the patience of a saint. I clamped the ends of 5 meters of cables to a joist in my shed and then slowly braided the cables together, with the untangling taking more time by far than the actual braiding.

I have done various types of four and eight wire braiding, I had to learn it in order to teach others. Generally I figured around 15-20% extra wire in order to reach a specific length since the braiding will shorten a cable. It is more important in headphone cables than speaker cables but it may be fun to try nevertheless.

 

[RCBinTN]

If arrays float your boat then I'm sure either of those would do the trick. Me, I prefer omnidirectional systems and if we're talking needing a new house to listen to them (and cost no object) I'll go for MBL 101 X-tremes with all MBL electronics driving them. By far the finest sound I have ever experienced from a home-audio system.

Wow. I feel like I've just had a ride in the Starship Enterprise. Thanks, Dr. Spock

 

[RCBinTN]

Last month I spend used-car money replacing my gd household AC system. Can't be without it in TX but it still makes me think I'm in the wrong business...

+1 One of the things I did preparing for retirement. $16k for two Trane heatpumps.

 

[Ableza]

Wow. I feel like I've just had a ride in the Starship Enterprise. Thanks, Dr. Spock

You should hear them. The first time I heard them was at an RMAF show in the 90's. I was walking down a hall and thought there was a live Taiko drum performance going on. I followed the sound and it was the 101 X-Tremes. Wow.

 

[AudioGal]

Im not much but of a hardware guy but Im totally curious if the term debugging is used a lot in the hardware world.

Yes. Though I've always preferred to call it "fixing my mistakes". A bit more honest.

 

[Paladin79]

Me, too. I have 3 kinds of Vienna Acoustics, a bunch of Cambridge Audio Minx 1Xs/2Xs, a Totem Tribe II, another bunch of T+A TLR10/20, and the Janszens.
10 subwoofers from SVS, TBI Magellan, T+A (to match the minis), REL, Velodyne, CA and OSD. Home theater and good bass really does a job on speaker count (3 different rooms). I've heard a bunch more (Legacy, SF, GoldenEar, T&F Sun).

I think maybe it's an obsession. I do have room for more, though ....

I got my 7.2 surround speakers free, some Martin Logans, Klipsch subwoofers, and another brand Klipsch bought out. I started by buying the liquor stock of a bar that went out of business, 150 bottles at $5 each including brands like Patron, St. Germains, Cointreau, Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace etc. I sold off some stock to get my investment back, the rest was profit. Knowing former employees from Klipsch I came across a gentleman who was discovering high end bourbons so I traded bourbon for new speakers. He would give me a list of preferred bourbons and I would always give him an extra bottle or two. Eventually I got more and more speakers, and parts for subwoofers. Many of those I turned into cash for my audio hobby. When you work within an industry, sometimes the products start meaning less and less to you.

Oh and the worst of the liquors were some schnapps. I ended up giving those away to renters when they signed leases. Grad students I have known tend to drink most anything when deep in party mode.

 

[RCBinTN]

You should hear them. The first time I heard them was at an RMAF show in the 90's. I was walking down a hall and thought there was a live Taiko drum performance going on. I followed the sound and it was the 101 X-Tremes. Wow.

The last "big" concert we attended was Eric Clapton - playing in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena. It's a hockey stadium. The SQ was so bad that we left, sadly, about 1/2 way thru the show. Nothing wrong with the musicians ... it was all about the venue.

 

[Paladin79]

+1 One of the things I did preparing for retirement. $16k for two Trane heatpumps.

I did similar things, bought new roofs for my houses, replaced appliances etc. New black top for my driveway and an extension pad on which my wife's dream pottery shed sits.

 

[bcowen]

Yes. Though I've always preferred to call it "fixing my mistakes". A bit more honest.

Yeah, I've always considered debugging to be more like this (frequently seen visiting @Ripper2860 's house):

 

[artur9]

as a hardware guy most of my time is spent debugging.

At the beginning of my career, I worked with both analog and digital hardware designers, high end guys one of whom was an M.I.T. professor in digital technologies.

The things they would say about one another when it came to debugging and design skills :-D