New direction for Exxos...?

[mrbombermillzy]

Not sure if I ever spoke about this, but Im quite into my high end vintage audio equipment.

I'm pretty sure that @exxos used to work on audio gear too.

With that in mind, would a new section on Audio gear reviews/tests/repairs be something that others would be interested in taking part in as a sort of side line or 'break' from computers?

Just a thought.

[Steve]

Oh yeah that'd be good maybe, depends though! Sometimes the audiophile crowd are a bit rowdy. I used to be into high end audio (well as much as I could afford) I have an Audiolab M-DAC which was created by the infamous/famous John Westlake paired with my Sennheiser HD-580's. Unfortunately Audiolab used sub-par capacitors and these particular caps started leaking really badly after only a few years! John actually took it upon himself (Audiolab licensed his design you see, he had no say in what capacitors they used though) to fix anyone's M-DAC if they reached out to him - I think it was over on the pink fish media forum?

I unfortunately tried to fix/recap my M-DAC by myself, but this was a few years ago when my soldering equipment wasn't up to the job - if you thought re-capping a Falcon was tough due to its ground plane, the M-DAC is like five times worse. I actually got in touch with John who now lives in, hmm, Croatia? Not sure, somewhere like that - he was super nice and completely fixed up my bodge-job with his obviously far superior soldering equipment.

So yeah I highly recommend anything made by John Westlake. Other than that I'm not too much into modern hi-fi gear, I actually prefer 1970's vintage Japanese amplifiers of the era - I just personally think that modern amps are just trying to do what the Japanese industry perfected back in the 70's and a well looked after 70's amp will sound phenomenal. When I lived in Australia I used to have a Pioneer SA-8800 (I think) which was an absolute beast! That paired with my M-DAC as the input was just out of this world.

[exxos]

I have actually been thinking on and off about such things for a while now in fact.

I don't have any objections to a new section for audio stuff. Maybe even a more generic section for retro gear outside of computers. It is just if people would actually use the section or not. Was a similar topic before in fact viewtopic.php?f=13&t=691

Indeed I used to repair all sorts of background music systems to juke boxes etc. Un-surprisingly had arguments with manufacturers as to why their sh*t blew up as well. A lot of other audio forums out there I want to strangle people, so never visit them any more. Also spent many years designing and developing digital amplifiers. Used to build Class-A amps in the past a lot as well. After my father passed away I kind of lost interest with all things audio related. One day I hope to finish my power amp though. I don't really want to do Atari stuff for much longer anyway. I have been doing Atari stuff for the best part of 30 years now. I am worn out. I do still have a lot of stuff I need to finish off. That's really a whole new topic in itself anyway.

I sort think about Atari stuff in general, as things are, it seems pretty much at an end I think with all things Atari. There are a lot of YouTube channels out there which cover about every other retro system but always seem to be lacking in Atari stuff. But even stuff on Atari age last time I checked was even quiet for the 2600's etc.

I think as a mostly Atari forum which drifted onto Amiga stuff for a while, I don't think this forum would really survive if we stuck to those 2 topics in general. It would have been nice to have got some demo coders over here and being active in helping others etc, but that section never took off, Along with some other sections I tried to start as well such as the games forum etc. So I don't think we are going to attract any significant new Atari blood in the future. As mentioned in another thread people just seem to be obsessed with Facebook these days more than anything.

Clearly not many people on here are doing Atari stuff anymore and have drifted onto other machines. Which is fine of course. It does really beg the question of "what's next" though. Indeed some sort of vintage hardware can be created and just see how it goes.

[rubber_jonnie]

The chances are I may inherit a Quad pre-amp, amp a Thorens record deck and a Ferrograph open reel tape recorder. An audio section might be helpful

[exxos]

The chances are I may inherit a Quad pre-amp, amp a Thorens record deck and a Ferrograph open reel tape recorder. An audio section might be helpful

And if you get rid of the electrolytic's out of the Quad amps, you can get rid of that horrible hiss as well

[JezC]

I'd be interested in a more general range of retro non-computer subjects too!

I like lots of what is now retro-music h/w (synths, samplers, HDD recorders, multi-track recorders etc.) as well as more traditional instruments (clarinet, pianos, guitars for example) - and I'm sure much of that will need checking & a good refurb as/when I can

[rubber_jonnie]

The chances are I may inherit a Quad pre-amp, amp a Thorens record deck and a Ferrograph open reel tape recorder. An audio section might be helpful

And if you get rid of the electrolytic's out of the Quad amps, you can get rid of that horrible hiss as well

TBH my Dad hasn't used it in years, maybe 20 or so, so I have no idea what sort of mess I might find inside.

[exxos]

TBH my Dad hasn't used it in years, maybe 20 or so, so I have no idea what sort of mess I might find inside.

Dead bee and a spider probably

[rubber_jonnie]

TBH my Dad hasn't used it in years, maybe 20 or so, so I have no idea what sort of mess I might find inside.

Dead bee and a spider probably

I'm expecting a lot more than 2 insects

[viking272]

Nice idea.
I've got some retro Arcam Alpha 8s in my study that I blast computer files through now and again.
So Alpha 8 amp and CD separates and some Mission speakers (bi-wired)...small but perfect for audio.

I've often wondered what the best audio songs are in terms of production quality, that would be my first question in such a forum.
Through my own catalogue my answer is Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror"