[dcfour]

Hello all.  Just signed up to GAS.  Got a brief introduction and email from Bob.  Looking forward to learning more about the group and having some Hi Fi fun.

Back into stereo after a 20 year hiatus raising and educating kids.  Forgot how much damn fun this addicting little hobby is.  Even spinning vinyl again.

My particulars are:

David Challoner
314-712-1959
dcfour@mindspring.com
Hit the half century mark last year
Very fond of jazz, latin, guitar, classical
Hate paying taxes
Starting to really like tubes!!!

Hope to hear from you guys and hope to get a chance to attend an event.  Thanks, David

[Hebrew Hammer]

Glad to have yeah Dave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DeadFish]

Welcome David!

I live far away in Illinois, so you won't see me much, but glad to see someone else joining in on the fun, as there is plenty to be had.  I too had that child-rearing hiatus, and since I resurected my turntable, life never was the same again.
Hope you enjoy, and to run into you some where.

Best Regards,
DeadFish

[bpape]

Hit the half century mark last year
Very fond of jazz, latin, guitar, classical
Hate paying taxes
Starting to really like tubes!!!

Sounds too close to home for me - except I'm already tube smitten.

Glad to have you.

Bryan

[Bob in St. Louis]

Glad to have ya' on board David. Welcome. 
I've got your email added to the list.

Hey guys, when is the next shindig? We gotta do something soon, it's been too long.

Bob

p.s. By the way guys, David says he likes vinyl and is showing interest in tubes.
You think we can help spend some of his money? 

[dcfour]

Wow.  Thanks for the responses.  Although....I guess this isn't really a "FREE" forum.  Sounds like a bunch of guys pushing each other off the financial "cliff."  Can't wait.....

[thunderbrick]

Dave, welcome to the gang.  A great bunch of guys, very supportive of each other.  Only two assholes in the whole outfit and they are both named "Bob".   

I've been in the gang for about two years, and this group is as much about doing favors for each other as it is "whoever dies with the most tubes toys wins."

Nice to have another classical buff on board.

Bob

[sturgus]

Dave, Welcome to the club. This is a great group of guys. They are always willing to offer expert advice and help in any way. Hope to get to meet you soon. One thing though, STAY AWAY FROM TUBES.    They have been known to cause financial ruin.
Sturgus

[Bob in St. Louis]

Might as well told him to stay away from vinyl too Sturg. 

[steve k]

Hit the half century mark last year
Very fond of jazz, latin, guitar, classical

Welcome aboard Dave. Good to have another youngster among us.  Jazz, latin, guitar, classical--say no more. We'll have to get together on that stuff. 
steve

[dcfour]

Well guys, thanks for all the responses.  Getting me rather pumped up.  It's about time I have something to rival my wife's book club and Bunko i.e. drunko clubs

Well, one of the reason's I have searched out a group like you is to to be able to ask questions about my setup.  I have been going to Alpha Tech and Zaw and have really had no problems.  But I am experiencing issues that they require I pack up all my gear and take it in.  Way pain in the ass......

If you'll bear with me,  a short story, inventory and problems:

Ok,  A year ago I decided to get back into Hi-Fi.  Aged NAD system 20 years old, 100's of CD's lying all over the place and Bose surround system with cat pee all over them. 

So, after hearing a friend follow the Escient music server path and being somewhat computer literate, I plunged.  And five figures and 12 months later turns out I plunged hard....

Through Ebay, Audiogon and Alpha Tech cobbled together the following system:

Usher 2.5s Amp 250 w/c 1st 50 Class A-(Threshold Look-a-Like?)
BAT 3Ki pre with phono
Rega Planar 3 with Benz Micro Ace SM
Theta Pro Gen III DAC
Theta TLC anti-jitter
Escient SE 80 Music Server
Consonance 2.2 Linear CD
Wadia i 170 dock-250 gb ipod linked to my MAC
Monster 3500 power center
Usher BE 718 Monitors
Orgy of cables.  Bogden, MIT and Transparent

Ok.  The Problems:

1.  Everytime I fire up the system, after it cycles through "protection" mode and tube warm up, it ellicts a loud "pop."  Woofer fluttering, in fact.
2.  No matter what I do, with no source playing I have a very audible "hum."
3.  The Monster Power Center has a voltage meter.  Often my voltage spikes to over 130 and shuts the whole system down.  Had UE out and they say I'm fine with input from the pole. ????  Do I need a dedicated circuit???
4.  I swear I think my vinyl should sound better???
5.  Often, my wife, when I'm feeling frisky and Beefeatered, says that I like my stereo more than she.....Oh never mind.....

OK.  Several stupid and nubile questions.  Is there any way to bench test your stuff without packing it all up and taking it to a shop? 

Ok.  If you have read this far...some fun things.  I would be very pleased to host a get-together/listening session/BBQ, etc.  My best hobby is cooking and forcing people to imbibe.  However, if you scoff at my rig, I will char your creme brulee....

Thoughts??  BTW: for Latin, Jazz and Hard Rock guitar afficianatos, have any of you listened to Rodrigo Y Gabriela-Live in Japan?  Check it out.  Something good this way comes.

My best to all and thanks for listening.  David

p.s.  Thunderbrick-Thanks for letting me know about the "Bob's."  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer-and always know where your asshole is....

[Blackmore]

Hey Dave,
I'm all in favor of getting "imbibed" and trying to trouble shoot.  You know it's a GAS party when the Scotch and the soldering irons are out at the same time.    Anybody got a balanced preamp to swap into Dave's system to see if we can banish hum and make the Rega sing better?   For now, make sure that big SS amp is off while the BAT is warming up.  Let the BAT cook for 5-15 minutes before firing up the 250 watter so it doesn't mangle those Usher woofers.  And get with Bob in St. Louis on what words to use with UE to get them to fix your power problem.  Getting enough voltage to shut down your Monster Power Center is definitely a no-no.  His problem was too little voltage, but he finally got it fixed and may have some ideas on how to hound UE to get it under control.  Figure out a good weekend and see if we can get a group together to see what's going on.  Anybody else have any ideas??????

[thunderbrick]

Aged NAD system 20 years old, 100's of CD's lying all over the place and Bose surround system with cat pee all over them. 

Did the cat pee make the Bose system sound better?     

[dcfour]

Yes it did.  Uriah Heep did indeed sound more ph balanced, but the Hookah pizzeld out.  Only the shadow knows......

[Bob in St. Louis]

130volts is getting a bit scary.
As Mark said my problem was too little voltage. I have a DVOM with the capability of recording min/max. With this unit, I was able to tell Amren UE what I was getting. If you're shutting equipment down due to excessive voltage, you'll be buying new electronics soon.
I'm sure your television really loves getting zapped. 

I ended up getting a new pole mounted transformer out of the deal. There's a thread around here with a 'log' per se of my contacts with the Amren rep if you like me to find it.

Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

1.  Everytime I fire up the system, after it cycles through "protection" mode and tube warm up, it ellicts a loud "pop."  Woofer fluttering, in fact.

I just read >> this post << by Robert Pace, and thought of you. He addresses issues of popping through the speakers on 'start-up' about halfway through the post, but the entire post is a very good read, most informative.
Hope that helps.

Bob

[KenSeger]

3.  The Monster Power Center has a voltage meter.  Often my voltage spikes to over 130 and shuts the whole system down.  Had UE out and they say I'm fine with input from the pole. ????  Do I need a dedicated circuit???

EEK!  I strongly suggest that everybody should have:
1. a good whole house surge suppressor. They are only about $200 + installation, and should either go inside your circuit breaker box or be attached directly to it to keep the leads from the suppressor to the circuits as short and straight as possible.
2. In addition you should also have a plug-into-the-wall type surge protector, so the whole house protects against the large stuff and the plug-in protects against the small stuff.

The whole house unit will also protect items like your microwave, fridge, furnace controls, TVs, computers, etc.  Though I'ld also put plug-ins on items like the computers and TVs.

Ken

[dcfour]

Thanks for the info.  I'm getting an electrician out here to look at what's going on.  I'll keep you posted.  Thanks, David

[Scott F.]

Ok.  The Problems:

1.  Everytime I fire up the system, after it cycles through "protection" mode and tube warm up, it ellicts a loud "pop."  Woofer fluttering, in fact.
2.  No matter what I do, with no source playing I have a very audible "hum."
3.  The Monster Power Center has a voltage meter.  Often my voltage spikes to over 130 and shuts the whole system down.  Had UE out and they say I'm fine with input from the pole. ????  Do I need a dedicated circuit???
4.  I swear I think my vinyl should sound better???

Ok.  If you have read this far...some fun things.  I would be very pleased to host a get-together/listening session/BBQ, etc.  My best hobby is cooking and forcing people to imbibe.  However, if you scoff at my rig, I will char your creme brulee....

Hi David,

Welcome aboard 

Regarding the start up thump, as others have alluded you may have to play with the start up sequence of your individual pieces until you find the right combination where it doesn't thump when you turn it on. I suspect it is the relays in the amp but that is pure speculation.

With your hum issue, just for giggles, try plugging in some unbalanced interconnects and see if the hum goes away. They don't have to be anything special, just interconnects with RCAs on them. Be sure to completely remove your balanced ICs.

If that doesn't do the trick. make sure that ALL of your gear is plugged into the same wall outlet and through your Monster. I suspect you have it this way already but if you don't. You may have a ground loop issue between the wall outlets that your gear is amplifying.

If that doesn't do the trick, I'd start by looking at what is connected the circuit that your gear is on. Systematically unplug items while your gear is on and humming. You may have something backfeeding and causing the hum. Dimmer switches are an obvious culprit.

If all that fails, call Chris Hoff at Balanced Power Technology (BPT) out in Defiance. He'll be able to figure it out but it may cost you the price of one of his isolation transformers.

As for your power, a dedicated circuit is always a good thing but it won't help an over-voltage condition. I'd do like Bob mentioned and get a meter that records min and max voltage. That way you can prove it to UE.

Regarding your vinyl sounding better....we can fix that. 

[dcfour]

Scott,

Great thoughts.  I will begin the experiment and let you know.  Rather frustrating.  I am watching the meter on the power center "flash" 128 volts..."Danger" Will Robinson

Thanks, David