One reason is flat perfect takes some getting used to. I have some reasonably flat cheap-ish 5" Yamaha powered nearfield monitors - I hated them at first, but they are my only speakers and 5 years on I love them and cannot stand boomy hissy "hifi" speakers.
They are not in a box, it's open and no, they are not brown at all or even tan. It's your imagination or at best a reflection off that orange thing next to them. Like Snotty, you've decided it can't be any use and off you go trying to prove it. Carry on though.
For a laugh here's hifi shows at their proper bonkers best, both on both human and technical levels (the room was just one at the show). This is the last show I did, miss this stuff. The hangovers, I don't miss.
I used to be into this. Would go to the hifi show at one of the Heathrow hotels. The Penta, I believe it was called at the time. I would spend a lot of time, and no money coz I was skint 19 year old. I have friends who sell / install bonkers systems in clubs, hotels and houses (read mansions) but in the end I settled for a Mordaunt Short / Cambridge Audio setup. Nothing amazing. Had it for donkey’s years. whenever I think of upgrading something else comes along to take my money also, the rest of the house runs a Sonos system
It does look to be much the same thing doesn't it? The same components and the description seems to match what I have. When I say mine doesn't amplify, I mean it does, but not by much - it does need some signal which it will certainly make louder. I can feed it with the headphone socket from my audio interface and boost that for sure - it's an easy way to compare. Or put it in line with it's preamp output to the powered monitors and feed it that way, which is what I do as I have the hump with the headphone socket and it sounds better hooked up that way. Thanks for the link.
I never said that any part of it has no use, just that its quite possible to swap the valve for a FET and achieve the same distortion.
Having seen the circuit, it's limited by the fact it's designed to be built as a starter project for someone wanting to get into valves without having to worry about high voltages, 12v won't kill anyone; I admire the designers ingenuity. Oh, and the parts are dead easy to get hold off, nothing esoteric or fiddly to work with. Working with a proper anode voltage, requires an element of care and experience probably not suited to a starter DIY project. I don't doubt it sounds bad at all, but I reckon you could buy better.
For sure, I just wanted to try the idea of a headphone amp on my feeling that my audio interface HP amp was particularly bad. I think there is some misunderstanding on this thread that I "chose" this in some way or that I bought it "because it has a valve". The reality is borrowed it from a friend 100ft away to see if it solved a particular problem, then bought it beacause it dis, cost less than a packet of baccy and was convenient. I wouldn't have "chosen" an amp with a valve at all for living on a boat.
