I usually am curious about inner workings of something that I bought. I look cumpulsiveley only when when it fails or does soimething else that is unpleasant I don't look inside my gear at anytime now as I can't even solder. The only exception is for speakers. Why I pick speakers is beyond me. I know there is nobody singing and playing their hearts out. I think that actually know somthing about speakers.This is patenley false, not true of course, but I can't help not looking any at some point if possible. How about you?
I check my amplifiers. It's difficult sometimes to get a schematic, so a little follow the wire investigation under the hood helps. Found an unattenuated input once. Best I can figure, the previous owner deleted the cap and resistor for use as a high gain phono stage. I was glad I looked.
Chashmal, all my gear is tube and in case you did not know the tubes are not in place when product X comes brand new. RWA amp runs on batteries so is Dodd (also tube). P.S Remind me to charge you extra 10 % on my sells. For not checking out my gear. ;)
I love speakers and love taking out the woofer or tweeter to have a look around inside at driver's back /wire/crossover. It's like porno for me. I just love caressing a big 15" woofer.. or a 12 or 10 or 8 or 6.5 etc.
Mrjstark: I was only kidding. From the looks of your rig and listening room you seem to know exactly what you are doing, which I do not (on an under the hood level)!
Most of us don't have technical background, I'm no exception. But I like to see what is inside a component. If I see a neat layout with quality parts it gives me certain feeling of "trust" with regard to both the product and the manufacturer. But I also know that just nice "cosmetics" and cool looks can be deceptive. OTOH some components don't have this neat interior but they are very good in reproducing music (= very musical). For example some of the point-to-point wired tube amplifiers (from Supratek and Atmasphere). Especially the Supratek units have very messy looking interiors.
Chashmal: I laughed my ass off when I read your comment. I knew you were kidding; that's why it was so funny-- no offense to MrJ. I think it's fun looking underneath the hood. It gives me a sense of how much care a mfr. has for being neat: a quality a lot of us admires.
Of course I look under the hood, I touch and caress under the hood, I play under the hood. I also do the same to my audio components :-)
But seriously, I've modified my own gear for many years now with spectacular results. Since I don't have to deal with manufacturer's price points I can put better components inside. Yes, there's been a lot of trial and error, but with time and help from others here and on other forums comes learning and experience.
I have Merlin Speakers and wouldn't dare open up the box and look inside. This is because everyone of the the bolts or screws holding the drivers in is torqued to a different level that is critical.
Chashmal, good humor is always welcome. ;) I take back that extra 10%. Full price now. Because it is you.
Yes, Supratek's guts look like a micro jungle project but hey, it sounds good so who cares.
Speakers and iPods I stay away from. Also, some CDPs. TT on the other hand are taken apart then put together and taken apart some more. But you won't see them up for sell anytime soon. So , no worries. If you find a tinny screwdriver or hex key set please send it back for the reward.
From time to time I have open box special and yes it means it was open, touched and analized for potential mods. Clearence sale means - that there is clearly something missing but I don't know what and where is it.
It was a somewhat jumbled question, in terms of temporal or time frames /organizantion.. To be clear I used to look inside of everything I owned just for the fun of it when I first started out 33 years ago. Then the big hiatus for me while persuing a career, kept all my stuff. All of it kept on working replaced a stylus added a cd player etc. but fundamentally the same. all is good right? No of course not! My amp dies and the my stero shop just "round the corner " left town a decade ago. Big Box was All I could find. I bought a Pioneeer reveiver still only 2 channel with an incredible- by my old standads-120 wpc only to find it clipped and threw a relay with every Freebird crescendo. At forty one or two Enters a student of mine tells me you need current not just watts(he posts here as sufentil) And I get introduced to a guy name Joe Trelli. The hobby is now called high end and my peering under the hood stops. Except for speakers which I admit I still am as clueless as I was when I pointed that out in the first post. The only time I look now to do the car thing. I look hoplessly, well not totally, into a box stuffed with electronic parts hoping to isolate the problem. Just feeling better knowinw what general area needs attention. I still don't solder, I have the iron but no courage. I even have a voltmeter still in its Rat shack blister pack. I have not looked under any of my functioning units that were broken that I manmagede to get going again. Go on- I am sure there are a few more true confessions sans porno references thank you.
Hey, call me stupid. And I just thought of this......... I have a pair of sealed monitors and am curious about the innards. But I'm scared to operate because it is a sealed design. Will I end up suing myself for malpractice, or is there no harm in doing so? Thanks homies!
I once opened up my Marigo power conditioner and it scared me, kinda like a hellicopter view of an incomprehensible interstate highway system. I closed it up and made like it never happened, for my own sanity.
Here of late I have opened everything and painted it with AVM paint. Sometimes I do this twice as I think of something else that I forgot. You can search for Accentus Speakers and go to AVM. This paint is used on Reference 3A Grand Veenas.
It's pretty much a given with tubed preamps that at some point you will have the lid off. I look at the quality of the solder joints, internal layout and overall quality of construction. I always like the photos in the magazines of components with the lid off. I am not impressed with 18,000.00 preamps with a folded sheetmetal case like the BAT Rex but at least it has plenty of electrical goodies to look at.
It definitely lowers the noise floor. Somehow it dramatically improves ac whether in the component or in the ac cord coming to it. This I really don't understand, but it is true.
I always open 'em up and look inside, but I don't fool with anything-- I'll work on my motorcycle, which I understand pretty well, or turntables, which aren't really much different in principle. I do work on my loudspeakers, which are pretty straightforward classics, but put more than a choke and a cap or two in there and I'm lost.
You have to be real careful poking around in there. Back in '76 I was tuning a filter in a receiver and got a little too close to a couple hundred volts. Next thing I know I'm sitting against the wall on the floor six feet away. Still don't remember the short trip there, but remember the confusion I had before I started to regain my senses.
Dazzdax, I had to have the unit powered up in order to do the operations I was performing. Had been doing these for quite some time, and I guess I got a little careless. They were becoming routine, and I got what I deserved for not paying attention.
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