jblnut
Don't Overthink It
Well, I got my 10% this weekend and maybe more. The back story (in more ways than one):
I decided I had made a crucial error at some point in my system build. I realized that I had the entire system running through a $5 20 year old 6 outlet surge protector on my wall. "Simple" I thought, just pull things out and remove it. That's when it became obvious that my lovely VTI racks were missing a very crucial part - casters. They simply would not slide any more with the increased weight of the 501s. See here:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/new-501s.795997/
So, I tracked them down and decided to replace the "pointy feet" of the as-shipped rack with the VTI locking casters so I could remove the surge protector and make some other cable changes. Did I mention I decided to do this on the day before Easter, with 20 people coming over the next day ? See "list of things your wife may not appreciate..." LOL.
It turns out that tearing down 3 full racks of gear with 60+lb turntables and 90lb amps is still a major chore, even with teenagers to assist. And I mean a full tear down - all power, interconnect, speaker cable, lighting and power sequencing came out. The casters went on very easily and I had a chance to vacuum out the whole area and remove various bits that had fallen in or under the racks.
Well after 4 hours of tear down and re-build I collapsed on the couch. I had removed the aforementioned surge protector, converted the preamp-amp connection to fully balanced mode, upgraded one of the turntable interconnects and moved all of the lighting power cables and dimmers well away from other signal wires (noise had become an issue on one turntable). And of course each and every cable and power connection had been unplugged and re-connected.
The sound is really better than I had hoped. I seem to have lost more noise than I realized I had. Instrument separation is especially good and I look forward to some more detailed listening this week. Bass is noticeably stronger which is - for me - not a good thing as it was just about perfect before. I think I need to revisit the sub tuning as that got converted from XLR to RCA during the work and the gain structure changed I believe.
Has anyone else had to do a complete tear down ? Was it an overall positive or negative experience ?
And if you own VTI racks, the casters are - awesome. Very high quality and you can move your racks now !
jblnut
I decided I had made a crucial error at some point in my system build. I realized that I had the entire system running through a $5 20 year old 6 outlet surge protector on my wall. "Simple" I thought, just pull things out and remove it. That's when it became obvious that my lovely VTI racks were missing a very crucial part - casters. They simply would not slide any more with the increased weight of the 501s. See here:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/new-501s.795997/
So, I tracked them down and decided to replace the "pointy feet" of the as-shipped rack with the VTI locking casters so I could remove the surge protector and make some other cable changes. Did I mention I decided to do this on the day before Easter, with 20 people coming over the next day ? See "list of things your wife may not appreciate..." LOL.
It turns out that tearing down 3 full racks of gear with 60+lb turntables and 90lb amps is still a major chore, even with teenagers to assist. And I mean a full tear down - all power, interconnect, speaker cable, lighting and power sequencing came out. The casters went on very easily and I had a chance to vacuum out the whole area and remove various bits that had fallen in or under the racks.
Well after 4 hours of tear down and re-build I collapsed on the couch. I had removed the aforementioned surge protector, converted the preamp-amp connection to fully balanced mode, upgraded one of the turntable interconnects and moved all of the lighting power cables and dimmers well away from other signal wires (noise had become an issue on one turntable). And of course each and every cable and power connection had been unplugged and re-connected.
The sound is really better than I had hoped. I seem to have lost more noise than I realized I had. Instrument separation is especially good and I look forward to some more detailed listening this week. Bass is noticeably stronger which is - for me - not a good thing as it was just about perfect before. I think I need to revisit the sub tuning as that got converted from XLR to RCA during the work and the gain structure changed I believe.
Has anyone else had to do a complete tear down ? Was it an overall positive or negative experience ?
And if you own VTI racks, the casters are - awesome. Very high quality and you can move your racks now !
jblnut
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