The Most Audiophool Thing You Own

[pseudoid]

I have no idea why I kept this after all these years of not using it but here it be!
I am not sure if it will require a 'recap' or if amirm would be interested in testing it...

I am not sure if it even qualifies as a audiophool hardware, as I used it often, back in the day.
Notice that it is NOT made in China...

 

[steve59]

An RGR model 5 power amp.

 

[pseudoid]

An RGR model 5 power amp.

Never heard of this brand so I did a brief search: Saw a few used prices between $250 to $800.
Not so shabby for an audiophool << if-true/when-sold.
What was the original price paid << If I may ask?

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

I have no idea why I kept this after all these years of not using it but here it be!
I am not sure if it will require a 'recap' or if amirm would be interested in testing it...
View attachment 191896
I am not sure if it even qualifies as a audiophool hardware, as I used it often, back in the day.
Notice that it is NOT made in China...

A head demagnetizer is a real thing which has actual usefulness. Noise builds up with magnetized heads and in more severe cases high frequency information on the tape can be permanently erased.

 

[pseudoid]

as I used it often, back in the day.

which has actual usefulness.

May be these are why I was not certain if it qualified as a "audiophool" product:
I must have always kept it demag'd, thus never heard any improvement and/or difference.

Available for the needy in exchange for a sase.

 

[H-713]

View attachment 191811

Those are actually pretty useful, especially if you have to do work on cassette decks.

Now I did once see a CD demagnetizer. I'm not sure if that was supposed to prey on audiophiles who don't know better (less likely) or the same elderly people who talk about "calling someone to replace the picture tube" in their flatscreen TV (more likely).

 

[KMM]

I still have a few of those colorful, about 1cm diameter stickers from the eighties, that, glued to the front of a speaker, would do miracles to transparency and sound stage. And I still have a set of instruction on how to paint the sharp edges of ordinary CDs to get rid of those pesky reflections that would irritate the laser pickup and wreak havoc with SQ. Those were the time of pure FDA approved snake oil if there ever was one.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Funny thing is that the very best of the 6DJ8 family I’ve tested has negligible collector value. The valuable ones I have (e.g., CCa, vintage Dutch Amperex bugles…) are very good but nothing exceptional. Current JJs perform right near the top of the pile and are relatively inexpensive.

I got into tube rolling a little bit when I had my Harman Kardon Citation I preamp. I replace the 12AX 7's in the phono stage with some Chinese low noise tubes costing around $500 for a matched set of 4. That was in the late '80's. I resisted the temptation to replace the 6DJ8's in my Audible Illusions Modulus 3a, and never investigated tube rolling the CJ PV8. It looked to me like I could get seriously into the red if I continued with tube rolling, especially if I decided the 6550's in my CJ amp needed an upgrade, so I desisted.

All this was before I saw the light and came over from the Dark Side (literally true with the CJ stuff), and embraced solid state.

 

[H-713]

Funny thing is that the very best of the 6DJ8 family I’ve tested has negligible collector value. The valuable ones I have (e.g., CCa, vintage Dutch Amperex bugles…) are very good but nothing exceptional. Current JJs perform right near the top of the pile and are relatively inexpensive.

Question in this regard - they're known to be good from a distortion and noise perspective, but how are their high-frequency characteristics compared to the originals? I may or may not have a few somewhat rare Tek plugins that have been molested by audiophiles who wanted the 6DJ8s out of them.

 

[DonR]

Aside from my tube buffer, I also purchased a pair of outriggers for my tower speakers but never installed them. Similar to these:

 

[SIY]

Question in this regard - they're known to be good from a distortion and noise perspective, but how are their high-frequency characteristics compared to the originals? I may or may not have a few somewhat rare Tek plugins that have been molested by audiophiles who wanted the 6DJ8s out of them.

The capacitances seem pretty close to spec for the type (assuming you're asking about the JJ). Otherwise, I have not tested the VHF characteristics.

 

[egellings]

If the tubes are being used for audio purposes, why worry about UHF (VHF, too) performance? In an audio app, that performance will never be required.

 

[DonR]

If the tubes are being used for audio purposes, why worry about UHF (VHF, too) performance? In an audio app, that performance will never be required.

My tube equipment can pick up radio signals as the tubes can act as antenna and demodulator, particularly for older 3G cellphones.

 

[Everett T]

MIT cables back from 2001. Aside from being a mess, the rca jacks would destroy a weld

 

[egellings]

I've not had that problem with my tube gear, which is well designed. S.S. devices can have a wider bandwidth than tubed ones, and poorly designed S. S. equipment can suffer the same problems. It's equipment design, rather than the devices used, that determine this noise sensitivity.

 

[DonR]

I've not had that problem with my tube gear, which is well designed. S.S. devices can have a wider bandwidth than tubed ones, and poorly designed S. S. equipment can suffer the same problems. It's equipment design, rather than the devices used, that determine this noise sensitivity.

I have added grounded metal cages to the exposed tubes which helps immensely. While I agree that design is the principal element, it has been my experience that tubes do have a much greater tendency to be microphonic as well as susceptible to radio interference.

 

[egellings]

You might want to check your tube equipment to be sure that it is not either outright oscillating at an ultrasonic frequency, or right on the verge of doing so. That could make the tube sensitive to hand placement near it. I could see hand placement near a small signal tube causing an AC 50/60Hz hum, but not an HF signal in a stable circuit. No question about tubes being microphonic, though. That's a problem they have.

 

[DonR]

You might want to check your tube equipment to be sure that it is not either outright oscillating at an ultrasonic frequency, or right on the verge of doing so. That could make the tube sensitive to hand placement near it. I could see hand placement near a small signal tube causing an AC 50/60Hz hum, but not an HF signal in a stable circuit. No question about tubes being microphonic, though. That's a problem they have.

Caging the tubes help. I never had this problem with my first tube gear, a Telefunken console from the late 50's, but all my Chi-fi gear suffers from it to some degree.

 

[SIY]

High gm tubes in the hands of hack cut-and-paste designers are a recipe for HF issues. Doing it right doesn’t add significant cost but takes some knowledge.

 

[nikosidis]

I have a pair of Wireworld 2 meter power cables
They are purple. They look so cool that I would never get rid of them
Not that expensive either. For the money I get from them I rather keep them.