What stereo(s) do you listen to? What do you want?

[chobochobo]

Since my last post, I bought a Marantz 8 power amp, waiting for a decently priced preamp to go with it. Ah just an hour ago I won an auction for a Yamaha GT-2000L. Hopefully it'll be easier to maintain than my LP12. I've been using one of these kickstarter vertical turntables which is interesting to look at but I suspect that the way it maintains tracking probably isn't very good for the vinyl.

 

[poorsod]

Didn’t realize vertical turntables could exist!

 

[Kaplan]

^ In high school a friend of mine had one of these:

 

[chobochobo]

Yes, I have the Sharp VZ-3000E also but the door mechanism for the vinyl has seized up. There's also the Sony PS-F9/F5 that seem to be technological marvels for their time. I think Project made one recently too.

 

[chobochobo]

Noob question. If I have a tube poweramp already, will it be silly/ counterproductive to get a tube preamp - as in too many tubes?

 

[Kaplan]

I don't think so - I think it'll have more to do with the sound you're going for.

I haven't read through it, but there's some related discussion over here: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/tube-amp-or-tube-pre-amp.243642/

And maybe the Schitt Audio Freya pre amp would be interesting for you - it comes with both solid state and tubes.

A review of it here: https://hometheaterreview.com/schiit-audio-freya-preamplifier-reviewed/

 

[chobochobo]

My Gigantic and Tremendous 2000L arrived. A chip off the dust cover unfortunately, but the TT itself seems to be working fine.

 

[chobochobo]

Orsonic clamp isn't working though.

 

[habitant]

That’s a beaut, 100v?

 

[chobochobo]

Yup. It's huge, the platter is much bigger than usual (my usual anyway). A 12" LP just overhangs the inner edge of that trough.

 

[reidd]

Looks awesome. What era were those things made in? Looks vintage.

 

[habitant]

The new GT5000 looks good too, but kind of a peculiar arm.

 

[Desi]

I am hopefully closing on my first home soon and will get my first actual "television" since the change to HD etc. Looking into complimenting the purchase with the base Polk Audio 5.1 system. Anyone have any experience and what TV is a good deal for someone who will just use it to play a few games and watch 4k Netflix every now and then?

 

[Concordia]

Sure. Power conditioners have two functions:

1. Protection from surges.
2. Blocking noise on the power line.

Surge protection is the same thing as what those cheap surge protection power strips you might use for a computer do. Events like brownouts or power surges can destroy equipment (it happened to a very expensive TV of mine which was plugged straight into the wall).

Noise blocking means that the conditioner keeps noise on the power line from entering an audio component through its power cord. It also blocks any electrical noise the audio component might generate from going out to the power lines of your house (and by extension into other audio or video components). Certain components, particularly digital components, can dump a lot of noise into the power lines. Certain components can be pretty sensitive to noise on the power line.

Things with big motors like fridges can dump a lot of noise into the power lines. Computers can put a lot of noise into the power lines, too. Certain kinds of dimmers can put a lot of noise into the power lines.

The power conditioner's job is to ensure that the component plugged into it sees only 60 Hz 120 Volts AC, and nothing else. There are various ways to do this, and that's another discussion entirely.

Audio power conditioners also have to ensure that they don't restrict current delivery, so that power amps aren't restricted in their power. This means power conditioners designed for audio have to be designed differently than one you might use for a computer. Audio people are also more paranoid about noise, so the noise blocking (AKA isolation) is generally better in audio power conditioners. Cheap surge protectors don't have any noise isolation.

Does any of this stuff make a difference? It can, but it depends on your situation. Some people are lucky to be living out in the country with no neighbors running appliances, computers, etc. so they have relatively clean AC. Some components are designed to resist noise on their power lines (in effect, they have built in power conditioners). Some people live in places with really dirty power, and power conditioners can help.

I got mine mostly because my TV got zapped, and I liked PS Audio's design. I'm not sure there is an appreciable performance difference, but I haven't gone looking for one.

Reviving an old, good answer for a follow-up.

I seem to have power surges hitting various pieces of equipment. A couple of zappings that probably come in storm-related activity, but I don't know.

So here is the question. Is there a way of measuring properly just what is wrong with your power line (or individual outlet) so you can cure it? Or are you stuck with trial and error at $500--$5,000 a shot?

 

[A Y]

I seem to have power surges hitting various pieces of equipment. A couple of zappings that probably come in storm-related activity, but I don't know.

So here is the question. Is there a way of measuring properly just what is wrong with your power line (or individual outlet) so you can cure it? Or are you stuck with trial and error at $500--$5,000 a shot?

This is a tough question to answer even for professionals who do this for a living because the events are so transitory, but I would take a pragmatic approach. Did something damage your electronics? If so, fix that problem first with something that is not too expensive, and likely to solve the problem. In my case, I had no direct proof that it was a surge that killed my TV, but it died after a blackout and often there are voltage surges that come with such events, and I had it plugged straight into the wall. So I added a more than decent surge protector (for the reasons I mentioned in my post above), and it's been OK for the last 12 years. Maybe it didn't address the problem, but nothing's killed my TV since so I'm OK with that.

What's going on with your setup, and what are you using for your power protection?