Greetings from Dublin

Hi all,

After lurking on the high-eff forum here for a while (some great builds and a really helpful and constructive atmosphere – respect!), I thought I’d finally say hello and introduce myself.

I’m an Aussie based in Dublin and, cough, a bit of a vinyl junkie with a side habit of collecting miscellaneous audio paraphernalia with the intention of giving DIY a bit of a go.

I mostly listen to 50’s/60’s jazz (think pepper, desmond, sims, baker, evans, miles davis quintet etc), easy listening and classical, which I’ve subjected my wife and little girls to over the years.

Current system is used for both hifi and AV and a mix of both, and modern and vintage bits: 301/fr64s/decca iv carts, emt 930st/929/ofd25&65, puresound phono, arcam sr250 receiver and pmc mb2 monitors. It's a bit of a mashup that’s evolved over the years, but works well to my ears for both. It’s also nice to be able to readily switch between some vinyl to netflix to xbox without having to unplug anything and xbox1/movies on the PMCs is quite an experience!

Of course, nothing stays forever – will be moving house in the near future and have been kindly asked to sell off the PMCs (but not the records thankfully!) to make way for a more domesticated/visually-appealing system.. I think I even heard the word “bookshelf” mentioned…

I could complain but am instead looking at this as an opportunity to finally get cracking on DIYing some speakers (for starters) and using some of the bits I’ve accumulated over the years, some of which will be familiar to the high-eff crowd. E.g. various renkus heinz, emilar and jensen comp drivers and horns, and altec and jensen woofers etc.

God only knows how this stuff will be finally lashed up (and whether it actually will survive my DIY attempts) but at least it should look pretty… I’ll be sure to start a thread detailing the rookie mistakes err..build and most likely bugging ye all for thoughts and advice along the way!

Cheers
Adrian
 
Welcome to the fun, Adrian! I'd say you'll fit right in, but we're gonna need some pictures of that gear to be sure... ;-)

(Honestly, you had me at 301/fr64s/decca iv carts, emt 930st/929/ofd25&65!)

:thumbsup: (yeah, we still need a thumbsup emoji!)
 
Thanks for the welcome, Redboy.

Yup - my TTs (and records) are the things I really couldn't bear to part with and, thankfully, don't have to! Hopefully, my girls will appreciate/use them when they're older and I've gone to the great record store in the sky...

I'll take some pics tonight and try to post em for ye.
 
Thanks, guys. I went hard on hifi and hifi forums a few years back and was lucky to pick up most of the gear and records before the kids and vinyl became fashionable again.

Am actually really looking forward to starting the DIY thing and learning/doing stuff. I wish I had the space for my diy w.e 13a plans but alas...

Don't you worry, Nate, I've got a lil stash of tubes and other bits for my SET and, eventually, LCR or LR phono experiments but I figure i'll start with risking damage to my eardrums rather than electrocution! Not that I should joke about such things.. Maybe a bottlehead stereomour to learn/practice on and which could serve as my girls' stereo? I think that might be acceptable to the missus!
 
Thanks, guys. I went hard on hifi and hifi forums a few years back and was lucky to pick up most of the gear and records before the kids and vinyl became fashionable again.

Am actually really looking forward to starting the DIY thing and learning/doing stuff. I wish I had the space for my diy w.e 13a plans but alas...

Don't you worry, Nate, I've got a lil stash of tubes and other bits for my SET and, eventually, LCR or LR phono experiments but I figure i'll start with risking damage to my eardrums rather than electrocution! Not that I should joke about such things.. Maybe a bottlehead stereomour to learn/practice on and which could serve as my girls' stereo? I think that might be acceptable to the missus!

Did someone say "TUBES"? ;)
 
@TubeHiFiNut: have a hankering to try a 46 or 50 amp. Parafeed even.
I can heartily recommend the 46, but you'll need to get a jump on those High-Eff speakers if you go down that path! :)

Type 50 presents a little more challenge, given its higher filament voltage. I have the glass but I haven't waded into the build, yet. It's on the "someday" list.
 
That's a wonderful space!

Did you build the record cabinets? I think I am seeing multiples of 2x2 modules... right? They've very nice!
 
Thanks, guys.

Currently in an apartment which is unusually well-proportioned and constructed for Dublin.

The shelves are 2x2 ikea traby units - pretty solid things - mdf core with ash veneer. sadly no longer sold. Rather annoying when ikea does that!
 
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