The ask Tin about audio thread

[WhiteHawk]

They're pretty awesome speakers. I sat in Alma's for an hour listening to them and was blown away. You could always hit some of the hifi shops on Woodward and take some of your favorite CDs with you, they are pretty cool and will let you check out whatever you want.

I might try that Woodward run. I like throwing in some Dark Side of the Moon and listening to the first few minutes of Time. A lot of speakers can't make those drums sound good.

I used to keep up with home audio but I don't even recognize the brands anymore. Carver was huge last time I was shopping around and now the guy just makes high end tube amps or something. Total change in 30 years. Might try for a used McIntosh tuner eventually though. My buddy had one of those when I lived in Grand Rapids and he used to pull in all the Detroit stations with crystal clear sound. Pretty awesome piece.

-Geoff

[Tin]

I might try that Woodward run. I like throwing in some Dark Side of the Moon and listening to the first few minutes of Time. A lot of speakers can't make those drums sound good.

I used to keep up with home audio but I don't even recognize the brands anymore. Carver was huge last time I was shopping around and now the guy just makes high end tube amps or something. Total change in 30 years. Might try for a used McIntosh tuner eventually though. My buddy had one of those when I lived in Grand Rapids and he used to pull in all the Detroit stations with crystal clear sound. Pretty awesome piece.

-Geoff

Carver is still pretty big. Bob Carver doesn't do much as far as mass market products these days, but he does make a lot of one-off amplifiers and puts them up for bid on eBay. Most of them end up selling for over $10,000, and they're nothing short of works of art. He even winds his own chokes and transformers, very impressive skill that man has.

[Krazybones]

Tin knows his stuff Geoff.

My recommendation would be go vintage route. Buy some nice reworked vintage gear where it will still be worth what you have into it if not more if you decide to go another route. There is some very very nice (non - McIntosh) gear that can be had for much less. Tin is also an EXPERT IMO with the vintage gear too. if you buy new stuff it will only depreciate unlike the Late 1960 and early 1970's gear. Buy smart and its an investment.

[pferd]

Looking for an individual (or company) to consult on a replacement speaker setup for our church's sanctuary. Do you do any in-person consulting, or can you recommend a good, reputable company in the north oakland area to contact? Thanks!

[347convert]

Looking for an individual (or company) to consult on a replacement speaker setup for our church's sanctuary. Do you do any in-person consulting, or can you recommend a good, reputable company in the north oakland area to contact? Thanks!

My friend actually does this... does installs, pa sytems all that jazz

[Tin]

Looking for an individual (or company) to consult on a replacement speaker setup for our church's sanctuary. Do you do any in-person consulting, or can you recommend a good, reputable company in the north oakland area to contact? Thanks!

My friend actually does this... does installs, pa sytems all that jazz

There you go. I'm not too familiar with pro sound installations even though much of it does transition back and forth with home hifi quite frequently.

[WhiteHawk]

Carver is still pretty big. Bob Carver doesn't do much as far as mass market products these days, but he does make a lot of one-off amplifiers and puts them up for bid on eBay. Most of them end up selling for over $10,000, and they're nothing short of works of art. He even winds his own chokes and transformers, very impressive skill that man has.

Yea, that guys is a legend. In the 80's, the big thing was his magnetic field amps and hologram generators. I saw a few of those on Craigslist and they were tempting!

-Geoff

[Tin]

Nelson Pass is another great audio engineer. He is in a different direction than Bob though. Bob likes to make high powered gear, and Nelson is of the "less is more" train of thought, using single driver speakers without crossovers and low powered amplifiers with simple circuits. Both put out some fantastic equipment.

[WhiteHawk]

Tin knows his stuff Geoff.

My recommendation would be go vintage route. Buy some nice reworked vintage gear where it will still be worth what you have into it if not more if you decide to go another route. There is some very very nice (non - McIntosh) gear that can be had for much less. Tin is also an EXPERT IMO with the vintage gear too. if you buy new stuff it will only depreciate unlike the Late 1960 and early 1970's gear. Buy smart and its an investment.

Yea - that is why I bumped this thread! I like some of the vintage stuff, but I am not looking for a project. I have enough unfinished projects without biting off any more. I figure maybe vintage amp and tuner. But for speakers and pre-amp I want to get something modern.

-Geoff

[Tin]

Yea - that is why I bumped this thread! I like some of the vintage stuff, but I am not looking for a project. I have enough unfinished projects without biting off any more. I figure maybe vintage amp and tuner. But for speakers and pre-amp I want to get something modern.

-Geoff

With vintage equipment, if it hasn't been restored, it will need to be sometime in the future regardless if it appears in working order. Those electrolytic caps dry out over time, tuners drift, and power supplies begin to act funny after 20+ years. The route I'd take, go with a tube pre-amp and a big solid state power amplifier, then you get the best of both worlds. The tube sound is more prevalent in the pre-amplification stage than it is in the amplification stage, unless you're running triodes with no feedback, but that's way too weak for something like those Martin Logans anyway.