[Dr. Cube]

While waiting for the Schiit crew to return from their weekend and answer my email, I tried one last time to unplug and reseat all interconnects, including the tone arm wires and everything is working perfectly again.

The joy of the phonograph! Glad to hear it's fixed, at least.

 

[sixergixer]

I sure do, though not Magnepans, those are JBL Studio 590’s. It was a single Vidar first, then 2 as monoblocks, then Tyrs and the Vidars got evicted to my living room. The family uses TV sound (with Sonos Playbar), and when I want more I’ll flip to my standalone DAC-preamp fronting the Vidars and powered subs (AudioGD R28). I have a Wiim Mini, Oppo UDP-203 (bought back when it could be had on sale for $279), and Mac Mini hooked up to it, which covers all my playback scenarios.

In the end I went back to Plan A, I didn’t like every other idea and decided not to be lazy and redid my furniture. Good thing too, the 590’s sound better than ever.

Ah, now I see their shape better. I bet it sounds amazing indeed.

 

[ScotchNeat]

Wait until those hex sockets become round. You still gonna like them then, especially when they're 2-56's or M2's?

There was a series of IBM Thinkpads back in the late-90s that had a number of case screws that were Torx T1. The hex bits to remove them were $36 each (almost $70 in 2023 dollars), and were every bit as fragile as T1 sounds like it would be. Only certain techs were allowed to use them because if you put more than about 5 inch pounds of torque (probably an exaggeration, but not by much) on them, the tip just twisted right off and stayed in the screw head. I referred to them as a "pin with burrs on it".

Here's a modern jewler's screwdriver with this tip:

 

[Alcophone]

In other words, black rust. Leave 'em out and the humidity in your area will soon turn that black into red. Those (black oxide SHCS) might work well in bolting high vacuum pieces together, but not in military/aerospace environments.

Yeah, I just looked at it as a color option (while also often being cheaper than stainless) before noticing that many of the black ones arrive oily, which apparently prolongs the corrosion protection of the oxide quite a bit, but makes handling them much less pleasant (touch a screw, then your keyboard, your cat, your food...). I'll use them indoors only, but I live close to the ocean, so it could become an issue.

Then someone pooh-poohed stainless because of galling, which I had never heard of before. Though I've heard of cold welding because of Blue Jeans Cable, which seems related.



So it seems like maybe zinc plated/galvanized steel is the best option of the three, but who knows what weaknesses I have yet to stumble upon there (happy to benefit from the experience of others here). They also come at a considerable premium.

Luckily this is all just for my own hobby builds and jigs, so not too big a deal, but I'm inclined to avoid black oxide screws in the future despite them going well with wood ebonized with india ink.
I do like the look of yellow zinc finished screws, though.



With unlimited funds I'd be tempted to go for anodized titanium.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

There was a series of IBM Thinkpads back in the late-90s that had a number of case screws that were Torx T1. The hex bits to remove them were $36 each (almost $70 in 2023 dollars), and were every bit as fragile as T1 sounds like it would be. Only certain techs were allowed to use them because if you put more than about 5 inch pounds of torque (probably an exaggeration, but not by much) on them, the tip just twisted right off and stayed in the screw head. I referred to them as a "pin with burrs on it".

Here's a modern jewler's screwdriver with this tip:

…and yet the "right to repair" crowd keeps giving Apple, et alia, an increasingly hard time for caving to the temptation to just glue everything together…

Don't get me wrong, I usually fall squarely on the "right to repair" side of the fence. But even this ArmchairPhiliosopher has to concede that physics is a thing. You just can't have water and dust proof supercomputers for your wrists and pants pockets that are being held together by "reasonably"-sized screws and/or clip mechanisms that don't get marred or outright destroyed when you try to open something.

 

[misterpumpy]

Jason,

Just as a heads up to the Hel+ unveiling and release, there are some issues with the manual to Hel+:
On number 9, the manual references "the provided micro USB cables" but the Hel+ does not use micro USB, it uses USB-C.

I can't actually tell if number 5, the gain select has an issue. It says middle is mid gain, but in the Hel+ chapter...you say "Finally, we decided to take another cue from the Magni+ and Heretic and add a third gain position—negative gain, to provide better volume range for IEMs and highly efficient headphones." This means that low is negative gain, and middle is low gain, not mid gain, correct? Or do you mean to say Hel+ has negative gain, mid gain, and high gain?

Anyway, I'm still going to be buying a Hel+ so I can have my Fulla E at the office and a Hel+ at my computer at home (with my listening station using an Asgard 3/Modius E combo)...

Hopefully this helps!

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Jason,

Just as a heads up to the Hel+ unveiling and release, there are some issues with the manual to Hel+:
On number 9, the manual references "the provided micro USB cables" but the Hel+ does not use micro USB, it uses USB-C.

I can't actually tell if number 5, the gain select has an issue. It says middle is mid gain, but in the Hel+ chapter...you say "Finally, we decided to take another cue from the Magni+ and Heretic and add a third gain position—negative gain, to provide better volume range for IEMs and highly efficient headphones." This means that low is negative gain, and middle is low gain, not mid gain, correct? Or do you mean to say Hel+ has negative gain, mid gain, and high gain?

Anyway, I'm still going to be buying a Hel+ so I can have my Fulla E at the office and a Hel+ at my computer at home (with my listening station using an Asgard 3/Modius E combo)...

Hopefully this helps!

Fixed!

 

[Dr. Cube]

Fixed!

While you're in there, you might want to know that the Fulla E manual also still has some lingering references to micro USB.

 

[565hunter]

My bedroom system currently is a Bifrost 2/64 stacked underneath a Jotunheim 1.
I am thinking of getting a Lokius (to go on top of BF2 and under J1) and noted that Jason recommend not putting Lokius near an inductor/power transformer due to hum, saturation, etc.
For anyone that has a Lokius and a BF/2 and/or J1, how far apart do you have them located?

Thanks!

I have my Lokius underneath a Jot R and on top of a Freya + on 2" risers. 2" risers because at 1" the Lokius picked up interference from the Freya transformers.
No issues at all with Jot R sitting directly on Lokius. YMMV

 

[GumbyDammit223]

I use the proper, Allen wrench, and I have never had a problem.

Exactly. If you have the correct tooling and know their limitations, then all should be good. However things can go south real fast on an $80k laser if you force things, or use a old balldriver instead of a new, true Allen wrench. I just rebuilt the shaker in our 20+ year old shock/vibe system and they used hex head flatheads on the top cowling. One had already been twisted off and I came very close to rounding out the hole on another. After rebuilding the shaker I replaced them with high strength stainless Torx.

 

[mattveksler]

I think it depends on the load. But my Aegir was pretty warm always, even when idle.

My Tyrs stay cool even after flaying my setup for hours nonstop, the top plate is cool to the touch and the heatsinks are the same temperature as my palms. And I don't dare turn up my preamp over 35-40%, because it's possible the last thing I will hear in this life is my speakers exploding. Kill-A-Watt says I'm sucking down ~250W if I'm using my Wiim to stream, and ~450W if I use my PC - so either they're not trying, the cooling is that efficient, or both.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

Yeah, I just looked at it as a color option (while also often being cheaper than stainless) before noticing that many of the black ones arrive oily, which apparently prolongs the corrosion protection of the oxide quite a bit, but makes handling them much less pleasant (touch a screw, then your keyboard, your cat, your food...). I'll use them indoors only, but I live close to the ocean, so it could become an issue.

Then someone pooh-poohed stainless because of galling, which I had never heard of before. Though I've heard of cold welding because of Blue Jeans Cable, which seems related.



So it seems like maybe zinc plated/galvanized steel is the best option of the three, but who knows what weaknesses I have yet to stumble upon there (happy to benefit from the experience of others here). They also come at a considerable premium.

Luckily this is all just for my own hobby builds and jigs, so not too big a deal, but I'm inclined to avoid black oxide in the future despite them going well with wood ebonized with india ink.
I do like the look of yellow zinc finished screws, though.



With unlimited funds I'd be tempted to go for anodized titanium.

There was a series of IBM Thinkpads back in the late-90s that had a number of case screws that were Torx T1. The hex bits to remove them were $36 each (almost $70 in 2023 dollars), and were every bit as fragile as T1 sounds like it would be. Only certain techs were allowed to use them because if you put more than about 5 inch pounds of torque (probably an exaggeration, but not by much) on them, the tip just twisted right off and stayed in the screw head. I referred to them as a "pin with burrs on it".

Here's a modern jewler's screwdriver with this tip:

Unfortunately stainless galling is a real thing. Because all hardware we use and all parts we make have to be meticulously clean to prevent outgassing, we have to be real careful during assembly. Some of the young techs think they can just muscle things together and make it work. Wrong answer. Try that with $5000 telescope housing made from 316 stainless and lenses of similar cost and you just found yourself looking for another job. Then, try working with 0-80 screws in nice, soft copper. Fun times!

 

[misterpumpy]

While you're in there, you might want to know that the Fulla E manual also still has some lingering references to micro USB.

LOL I didn't notice that and I own a Fulla E. Good job catching it.

 

[emorrison33]

My Tyrs stay cool even after flaying my setup for hours nonstop, the top plate is cool to the touch and the heatsinks are the same temperature as my palms. And I don't dare turn up my preamp over 35-40%, because it's possible the last thing I will hear in this life is my speakers exploding. Kill-A-Watt says I'm sucking down ~250W if I'm using my Wiim to stream, and ~450W if I use my PC - so either they're not trying, the cooling is that efficient, or both.

I always wondered how hot the Tyrs get. My Vidar 2 doesn't even get warm. I feel maybe a little heat on the heatsinks, and a teensy, tiny bit on the top towards the back.

 

[mattveksler]

Unfortunately stainless galling is a real thing. Because all hardware we use and all parts we make have to be meticulously clean to prevent outgassing, we have to be real careful during assembly. Some of the young techs think they can just muscle things together and make it work. Wrong answer. Try that with $5000 telescope housing made from 316 stainless and lenses of similar cost and you just found yourself looking for another job. Then, try working with 0-80 screws in nice, soft copper. Fun times!

Man, that takes me back. I cut my teeth on ThinkPad T30 and T4x repair in college in 2005-ish, which had reasonably sized torx heads, but were very long, made of a soft alloy, and occasionally nylon-coated. That mushy feeling was the worst, you had to look to figure out whether you're stripping the head, or that's the nylon friction. I had needlenose pliers with a pipe wrench-style lock for getting the former out, filed down so each gripper pad had a little V-channel to grab the stripped head at 4 points.