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if it's a nicely built amp it's probably worth repairing, just keep in mind that capacitors will need to be replaced at some point yet it's quite hard to predict when (typically right after having the crackling repaired...)

Buying new may well be a better choice, what's hifi seems to have decent information on consumer electronics divided over a few budget categories.

First thing is figuring out what you want the thing to do (2 channel or more, internet streaming, wifi, etc etc) then what level of sound quality you're aiming for and at what budget. Identify a few candidates and then have a listen (do not forget to check the ergonomics work for you, poor design of the interface can mean that you'll hardly use a device that is otherwise quite good)
 
It's a more than 20 year old Marantz SR-47. But due to the age I think it's one of those situations where if you repair one thing, you'll just end up repairing the next thing the year after, etc. Had the same thing with my old Volkswagen from 1994; at some point it just becomes uneconomical to polish the turd back into action, especially if you're not really into electronics repairs.

What I'm looking for is actually fairly simple. Everything here goes through the PC, and I only have 2 speakers. Don't even have a TV, CD player or any of that; whenever I watch movies it's always through my PC. I really just need an amplifier to run unpowered speakers. The speakers are pretty decent but I have no clue about the specs (they're self-built Danish Vifa speakers about a meter tall that I inherited).

Currently still using onboard audio (I know, the shame... but the one I currently have is actually surprisingly decent), but most likely going to upgrade to Schiit Hel 2E for audio solution. Yes it's a very gamerish thing, but I do actually game and it's one of the few solutions that allows me to run headphones + microphone through the same thing, and for 'average user' audio quality seems decent. Not looking to have a bunch of things in parallel just to get 5% better audio when watching Netflix...

So I'm basically just looking for something that amps whatever comes out of that to run 2 decent speakers. I'm inclined to avoid the bargain basement or flashy stuff.... would rather pay a bit more and get something boring that will just last another 20 years like Yamaha. :D
Funny you mention ergonomics; that's actually why I went back to headsets, because having a seperate stand microphone on the desk was just infuriatingly inconvenient.
 
I'd have a serious look at some of the new class D amps for that use case, UNLESS you do serious listening too for which those are a fatiquing (IMO). (never would have thought I'd recommend a class D amp)

I'd try look up the speakers, there used to be a bunch of DIY kits using Vifa speaker units around in the eighties and nineties...you will want to have an idea of their efficiency before selecting an amp as you need quite a bit more oomph when using inefficient speakers. Start by identifying if it's a two three or more way speaker and go from there....Vifa Impulse, Format, Vivace were 'pre-designed' models but there is a wealth of designs using the same components.
 
the game is on;

IMG-20230803-WA0004.jpg
 
MarcelNL said:
I'd have a serious look at some of the new class D amps for that use case, UNLESS you do serious listening too for which those are a fatiquing (IMO). (never would have thought I'd recommend a class D amp)

I'd try look up the speakers, there used to be a bunch of DIY kits using Vifa speaker units around in the eighties and nineties...you will want to have an idea of their efficiency before selecting an amp as you need quite a bit more oomph when using inefficient speakers. Start by identifying if it's a two three or more way speaker and go from there....Vifa Impulse, Format, Vivace were 'pre-designed' models but there is a wealth of designs using the same components.
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I had a quick looksy into D amps and mostly got confussled. :D But 'fatigueing' is a bad potential trait for me.
Still trying to dig up the speaker specs... but am somewhat leaning to just a classical integrated amp from Marantz right now. Reasoning being that the current amp I have (Marantz SR-47) is the one that was specifically bought with these speakers and it was bought as a matched set. So going with Marantz again sounds like it's the safest bet to me?
 
not necessarily, as marantz almost certainly will also be buildling chip based amps these days just like most others...until you get into the big$$ amps that is.

I'd look around and see what you can find in your budget, identify a few interesting ones and try finding reviews (as in proper reviews, not the 'influencer hype crap), then audition two or three.

Hard to provide any guidance as budget is a key driver, and I stopped following consumer audio decades ago.
https://alpha-audio.net/nl/hi-fi-nl/versterkers/geintegreerd/
 
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meanwhile; I got the dual Xeon beast to breathe, no smoke involved :)

in dear need of installing an OS...onwards, to greener pastures
 
all systems GO, a stripped down W10 version that supposedly sounds best...(yes there is such a thing as the sound of an OS)

Except for the awful racket the two fans at full blast make....turns out I need a special bracket to mount the passive cooling block so I guess listening will be done with lots of noise.

next step is installing the I2S bridge and setting up JPlay and start tinkering with assigning processes to individual cores

20230807_231345.jpg
 
if there is anyone with a more intimate knowledge of setting an iKVM session I'm game...I now know I need the BMC module (expected to arrive tomorrow) and then should be able to adjust fan settings etc...weird that cannot be done from BIOS...what is this, the eighties ? ;-)
 
MarcelNL said:
if there is anyone with a more intimate knowledge of setting an iKVM session I'm game...I now know I need the BMC module (expected to arrive tomorrow) and then should be able to adjust fan settings etc...weird that cannot be done from BIOS...what is this, the eighties ? ;-)
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They are meant for large deployments. Makes it easier to manage them all from a cubicle/office and run them headless.
 
M1k3 said:
They are meant for large deployments. Makes it easier to manage them all from a cubicle/office and run them headless.
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yeah I knew that much, the challenge will be in getting that remote access going....

[rant mode on]
The fact there are setting inaccessible directly in BIOS and only through the BMC module is new to me and to be honest makes little sense to me....I mean, the option is in there somewhere to begin with and there are BIOS settings (and plenty of them.....) so either everything goes through BIOS or BMC or just one of the two.

My use case is pretty much a headless desk top machine, why would I want BMC...the controller chip is on the board and the BMC chip is dirt cheap, why not make one MB....[/rant end]
 
like there is no substitute for cubic inches other than more cubic inches it seems as if there is little substitute for processing power than more processing power.....wow

despite 2 LOUD fans blaring full blast, what I'm hearing through that noise floor is next level; authoritive, organic, tons detail in the midrange and lower midrange,...the dynamic range is about tripled.

for those wondering, yes it's the same zeros and ones feeding the beast...;-)
 
TODAY we assembled the last bits of the G2 Grid amps, and to be honest....I've never heard an amp that coming closer to an original recording..

The trionor speaker is waiting for the horn curve of the Bionor, the tech drawing I have may prove to be the assembly drawing and not a design drawing.
 
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MarcelNL said:
not necessarily, as marantz almost certainly will also be buildling chip based amps these days just like most others...until you get into the big$$ amps that is.

I'd look around and see what you can find in your budget, identify a few interesting ones and try finding reviews (as in proper reviews, not the 'influencer hype crap), then audition two or three.

Hard to provide any guidance as budget is a key driver, and I stopped following consumer audio decades ago.
https://alpha-audio.net/nl/hi-fi-nl/versterkers/geintegreerd/
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Ugh... I was hoping to take the easy way out. :D
The budget is somewhat flexible in that I prefer to just 'spend as little as possible but as much as I need'... but I'd prefer to stay <500 euros. I live in the city center so there's always at least some background noise, and I have no illusions about my living room and all the clutter in it making a super high investment completely pointless.

Checked the reviews on the Marantz and those were good, but there seems to be good reviews for plenty of stuff on the market.
The main issue is that I'm basically the audio version of a new member here who fills in a knife questionaire that basically says 'all I ever used was a Victorinox/Zwilling/Shun, I have big budget, recommend me something that's more better' without really having a strong idea about preferences or likes. It doesn't help that audio reviews read a lot like wine reviews. :D
 
ACHiPo said:
Are the G2 Grid amps the Klangfilm I heard or different?
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The G2 grid is a totally different animal, one tube and a HUGE power supply...churning out 2 Watt.
Closer to the original music than I've ever been, pure magic...
 
Jovidah said:
Ugh... I was hoping to take the easy way out. :D
The budget is somewhat flexible in that I prefer to just 'spend as little as possible but as much as I need'... but I'd prefer to stay <500 euros. I live in the city center so there's always at least some background noise, and I have no illusions about my living room and all the clutter in it making a super high investment completely pointless.

Checked the reviews on the Marantz and those were good, but there seems to be good reviews for plenty of stuff on the market.
The main issue is that I'm basically the audio version of a new member here who fills in a knife questionaire that basically says 'all I ever used was a Victorinox/Zwilling/Shun, I have big budget, recommend me something that's more better' without really having a strong idea about preferences or likes. It doesn't help that audio reviews read a lot like wine reviews. :D
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yeah there is no easy way out....at that budget you may want to look at used amp so you can buy a class better for the same amount, like 1 year old or demo versions. typically new stuff comes onto the market well before the Christmas shopping spree so late fall is often a period you can get nice deals.
 
MarcelNL said:
yeah there is no easy way out....at that budget you may want to look at used amp so you can buy a class better for the same amount, like 1 year old or demo versions. typically new stuff comes onto the market well before the Christmas shopping spree so late fall is often a period you can get nice deals.
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That's actually why the Marantz came on the menu for me; it was decently reviewed as a 500-600 euro amp but prices had been steadily dropping all the way down to 369 euros... solid chance they're just clearing stock for the next model. A lot of the other 'affordable' stuff had only been going up in price.
 
ACHiPo said:
Is that a rectifier?
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indeed, a mercury filled rectifier...turns out blue light was favored long before VW made it come in fashion ;-)
Amp sounds ridiculously good! Very natural, fast, layered, energy and it brings the original emotion across...gonna be looooong evenings
 
MarcelNL said:
indeed, a mercury filled rectifier...turns out blue light was favored long before VW made it come in fashion ;-)
Amp sounds ridiculously good! Very natural, fast, layered, energy and it brings the original emotion across...gonna be looooong evenings
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Congrats! Looking forward to another listening session one of these days! I really want to hear those trionor horns! Are you still using the Phillips speakers as monitors?
 
ACHiPo said:
Congrats! Looking forward to another listening session one of these days! I really want to hear those trionor horns! Are you still using the Phillips speakers as monitors?
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you are most welcome!

yes for now the Philips fullrange serve....I'm waiting for someone with an original to send me a tracing of the original curve of the Bionor as my research of the patents makes me think it may well be a hybrid kugelwellenhorn.
 
I finally got stereo, turns out one RCA channel of the DAC is kaputt, likely a tiny FET making the class A output stage behind the transformer responsible for the conversion from balanced signal to single ended that has released its magic smoke....but as it turns out there is a better solution....balanced output straight into the 'power' amp.
 
yeah , and that makes perfect sense especially in pro environments. It's just that the 'aufwand' usually is a lot bigger and in amplifiers I somehow prefer a very frugal single ended tube amp over a push pull...or have so until now.
 
Happy that you’re back to 2 channel. Some music really needs to be played that way and shines so much more because of how it was recorded. Pink Floyd Money is a perfect example and I mention it because, unless you’ve been living under a rock 🪨 in the Arctic Circle for the last 50 years you most likely know the song 😅. I’ve never heard your speakers but I’m guessing they sound spectacular in stereo with the right music.
 
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