Costliest Brainfart

So sorry to hear this. I can fully, unfortunately, empathize. Whilst OCD can sometimes be a good thing, when it comes to adjusting and tweaking components this can be detrimental. In my constant neurotic quest to get every single component exactly level, on all vibration pads exactly even (including my 72 lb center speaker), I have had so many near misses. And it’s just plain not necessary. And I know this…Add in the fact that my rack is so far from easily accessible and every damn time I do something I have to turn into a contortionist-very hard at 54-but I can’t help myself sometimes…The worst thing that happened was I fried my DAC while changing IC’s. Not sure how or why this happened but I know I caused it somehow if for no other reason than I just can’t leave well enough alone…

I don’t do vinyl, but maybe the bright side is come back to or cross over to CD’s?

Whatever you end up doing, I feel you man and can so relate to that awful feeling. You’ll figure it out and move forward…that’s what we do, no choice. And as my wife constantly reminds me “it’s just stuff”. Stuff can be replaced and in some cases maybe even for the better and less expensive. That can happen

It wasn’t an audio gear brain fart but I once attempted to back out of my garage while forgetting to open the door. When I heard the sound of the crash and realized what I had done all I could think was what an idiot I was. To this day I still double check that the door is open every time I leave the house. 

I bough a new/used tube amp that uses EL84 tubes.  It sounded good.  Within a day I was eager to do some tube rolling.  I ordered some tubes to try.

Then  I remembered I had a sophia baby tube amp with the same tubes....oops, they weren't the same.  They were actually 6P1T...different pin out that provided a dead short.  

I figured it out when no music came out and I smelled the hot smell.  Turned it off but too late.

Openedit up and found the blown resistor.  Only cost $5 and had it back in service the next day but it was a bonehead move.

Jerry

fbgbill - you win the cigar, my friend.

Now, if one of you could come by and steal a broken tt, that'd be covered.  But then insurance would probably replace with another broken table so maybe I'll just suck it up.

This mishap will rank up there with cross-threading and torquing down a spark plug in a Nissan Z car because, well, "It's a sports car."  I'd replaced many plugs and worked on cars quite a bit when I had that brainfart.  

I think I'll hear the table slide off the rack and see it crash onto the floor for quite some time.  But maybe not.  F it.  $hit happens.  Life's too short to dwell on things that cannot be changed.

Cheers all,

Mamoru

That’s a shame, and as you realize completely preventable.

I was photographing some equipment, some to show, some to sell.

3 Extension leaves in the dining room table, heavy stuff hither and thither.

Left End I picked up my fairly heavy McIntosh tube tuner/preamp, and, the heavier Cayin Amp was on the right end of the table.

Like a good lever/seesaw is supposed to do, it started to go down on the right, Cayin Amp sliding toward disaster. Still holding the Preamp, I move right, put the McIntosh Preamp on the table, but too far right at this point, and grabbed for the Cayin Amp.

Bang, Bang, they both crashed off the table. Luckily, the table was tilted, right end nearer the floor, so the drop height was reduced.

That Cayin can take a shot, corner of thick faceplate hit floor, zero damage, a big memorable dent in the wood floor, and one EL-34 tube flew out and shattered, that’s it.

Glass face of McIntosh preamp cracked, that’s it’s only mishap. I drew up a template (I’m an architect, have cad software), had the glass with two holes made locally, and painted the backside with black paint, looks like factory. Whew.

Idiototic, luckily limited damage. I switched the power tubes to KT88’s, prefer them.