Do you build anything for your high fidelity system? If so, what do you make?

I hope this thread will inspire more to boldly go the extra mile. For my system and room, it would be much easier to list what I did not modify or build or design myslef.

Well, that list contains 0 items - I have nothing "stock", all the purchased items are heavily modified, and are in strong minority compared to what designed and built.

One thing I would like to point out is the room treatment: walls are treated with the triple system of:  mass loaded vinyl - green glue - quietrock drywall. This is the method used in movie theatres to isolate one room from the other. Each layer provides isolation at different frequencies, the end result is astonishing, provides approximately 65dB additional isolation for the walls.

Here in the US, most homes are built with absolutely no respect for sound-proofing, and in every single apartment (here in HI) this has been a vital issue for all my friends systems. The soundproofing allows me to play music at any time and at any volume. Pretty sweet as my neighborhood has strict quiet hours policies.

The difference is not just for loud music. It also dropped the noise floor tremendously, which allows listening to music more quietly with more enjoyment, and also listening at super low levels.

The third HUGE advantage of proper room treatment is DEEP BASS. Finally, I can enjoy not only deep bass, but infrasonic bass - while untreated homes are basically midbass sources, have problems reaching down to deep bass, and not a chance for infrasound. (My room supports down to 13Hz).

I built my power amp using the Neurochrome 686 units using a 1000 VA medical grade transformer and 4 x 51,000uF 100V 18,000 hrs at 85C of filter capacitance using 160 amp bridge rectifiers, which has about 0.6 volts fwd V drop so that their heat generation was virtually non existent even at very high currents.

Since Orchard audio has recently introduced v3 of his Starkrimson Ultra class D GaN amplifiers, and since those also work with only +/- 36 volts DC (exactly the same voltage the Neurochromes were working with), I am planning on changing the Neurochromes with those to see how much difference in the sound and/or heat generation there is.

Stay tuned.

Lol long list. The stereo room in the last two homes the current one has 5/8 OSB then a layer of 5/8 fire rated drywall. Six dedicated powerlines with the wire crossed over it self so nothing runs parallel. All the wires the same length. The wall behind the speaker has a slight upwards angle the front corners of the room are angles off as well the ceiling rises a bit for the first eight feet. Stands under speakers. Diffusion panels bass traps absorption panels. Equipment stands furutech receptacle s put in power cords assembly. Amp stands arial mounting bracket. Lp holder  cd  cases. 78 case. Wall mount turntable shelf. Lol that's just the shortlist. As far as why i believe dense wood makes the best equipment stand that being said I make them out of thick slabs of either rosewood or purple heart. Also I have used walnut and bamboo planks in secondary system s. And of. Of course monetary reasons as well. Cheaper to make than to buy the ones built in lessor material. The base traps I made so I could vary the amount of suction they have so they are tunable. Signs telling people not to touch LoL. Spikes for stands as well. 

Regards

@ovinewar1 

i too used the hifiberry hat.  I think DAC+.  I see they have a new version out, wondering if it’s worth an upgrade?  As for Volumio, I use the free version.