Recent content by PigletsDad

Batteries have very good isolation, but some can be surprisingly noisy. Because they are very low impedance, slapping a capacitor across it doesn't help much, and you end up needing to use a regulator anyway.

The 1956 contract fulfilment albums, played live in the studio are some of my favourites - Cookin, Relaxin, Steamin and Workin. Davis was under contract for four more albums, so he prepared some minimal charts, and the band saw these for the first time in the studio. As far as I know, all were...

Sneaky, low cost solution. Get a small (say 10VA) toroid with say 2 x 9V secondaries, and wire them in series, on top of the main transformer secondaries. Obviously, you don't get independence, but the regulation can eat that up, and as the winding only has to supply the front end current, a...

Simple solution: use an input transformer, to go from balanced in to the unbalanced Williamson circuit. Sowter 4600 would do, I think, about £43. See https://www.sowter.co.uk/acatalog/E_A_Sowter_Ltd_ISOLATOR_BALANCERS_2.html

I think the bias force will vary a bit with stylus type, which is why dead reckoning only gets you so far.. Maybe it is worth explaining what the force is. The down force results in some friction between the diamond stylus and the vinyl grooves. This force is directed along the length of the...

Transformer is the easy way to do this. Jensen JT 11p-1 would be a very good choice, but about £80, so not cheap. As you only need a 1:1 transformer, lots of problems cancel out, so a cheaper part would only be a mild compromise. Something from Edcor would do, and would be about US$26.

Was budget model of the range. Small platter, not 12", simplified arm intended for ceramic cartridges, no anti-skate. Wouldn't bother either.

There are so many Zappa live albums that it is hard to know where to start but Fillmore East 1971 captures that version of the band, even if the humour is a bit childish, and frankly offensive. But the playing is really good, and the final version of "Happy Together" is completely deranged, if...

Neons turn on at about 90V (depending on type), so they are sometimes used in valve circuits. Once lit, they keep conducting to about two thirds of the strike voltage. This hysteresis effect can be used in timing circuits and for crude logic. In a solid state system, you probably see LEDs as...

Do it by spine colour, and create a rainbow effect!

Source selector should be break before make - you want a bit of silence between sources, not both playing at the same time.

I don't know the RSL boards, but if they are locally regulated the effect of using a dedicated supply per channel will be reduced. And supply effects at line level are weaker anyway, as there isn't so much gain to amplify any breakthrough. If you can do it as an easily reversible re-wire, try...

In domestic use, I would hope rectifiers run cool! The real advantage of SiC is you can safely run them very hot, so for applications like trains or big furnaces, you can handle a lot of current in a compact package. Higher forward voltage means they dissipate a bit more, so you need it.

ATC used to use Vifa tweeters, I guess an OEM variant, before they started making their own.

What about Japanese arms like Fidelity Research, SAEC, Ikeda, Denon, Micro Seiki and so on? I guess hard to find, and therefore probably expensive.. I have heard FR and SAEC, and they were both excellent.