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What was the the last audio-related item you purchased?

The burning in my hand €150,- refund from that Belgian eBay seller yesterday, "made me" purchase just now - from a Belgian based online used goods / auction site - a minty(?) Radiola (Philips) AF829 mk II TT with a Philips GP422 cart equiped with a stylus for €45,- plus shipping. Dunno what stylus but it definitely not the proper one for this cart, and it is not clear if it is any good.

Anyways; the TT It will probably have a warped plastic bottom cover, like all the same, later and earlier models / generation of these Philips (besed) TT's do.
But to fix that in some shape or form, will be a modification or repair job for rainy evenings.
In short; I would be surprised if the plastic bottom cover is not warped of this TT being from Philips " plastic fantastic " era!
 
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krautmaster said:
On April 30th I ordered a quad of the Psvane Art TIII 6SN7 tubes (approx $460 with discount) and received a confirmation e-mail, but hadn't heard anything else until today when I received this E-Mail:

Hello
Regarding your vacuum tube order, #xxxx, we'd like to inform you that the Art TIII 6SN7 Vacuum Tube (2-Pack) you purchased on our website is currently out of stock.
We'd like to ask if you'd be willing to switch to our SUMMIT series.

The ART TIII series was one of our earlier product lines, while the Summit series is a new line we launched in June of last year. It incorporates our latest technology in both coating and materials, offering a significant leap in quality, and has been very well-received by customers since its launch. In terms of sound, it retains the classic tube character while delivering a richer, more nuanced sound—we highly recommend giving it a try.

We can upgrade you to the Summit series for free. Would you like to do that?
If you do not wish to exchange, we will process a full refund.
Please let me know your decision.
Best regards
PSVANE SERVICE

Obviously I replied in the affirmative since the Summit series 6SN7 tubes cost $170 each, $680 for a quad. I should get them in about two weeks !


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Well the new Summit 6SN7's arrived with one minor problem... they only sent two tubes, not the four I ordered. I contacted them and they said "oops, shipping made a boo boo", we'll send two more out asap... So another 10 days or so wait until they get here.

Interestingly, the Summit tubes come with a silicone disc on the bottom so that the tube base and the top of the socket don't make direct contact. It's supposed to help with microphonics and must work because these are dead silent.

I put the two Summits I received in the gain stage of the Freya+ in my main system with a pair of Ray Select 6SN7's in the buffer stage. These Summit tubes have a very PRECISE mid range, you can hear everything crystal clear, but the top end is not bright. I like them with my KEF R7Meta speakers but they may be too clinical for a bright sounding speaker like my Monitor Audio Silver 500's. Anyway, I'm impressed with these right out of the box... tomorrow they are going to get 6 to 8 hours of continous play time.
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krautmaster said:
Well the new Summit 6SN7's arrived with one minor problem... they only sent two tubes, not the four I ordered. I contacted them and they said "oops, shipping made a boo boo", we'll send two more out asap... So another 10 days or so wait until they get here.

Interestingly, the Summit tubes come with a silicone disc on the bottom so that the tube base and the top of the socket don't make direct contact. It's supposed to help with microphonics and must work because these are dead silent.

I put the two Summits I received in the gain stage of the Freya+ in my main system with a pair of Ray Select 6SN7's in the buffer stage. These Summit tubes have a very PRECISE mid range, you can hear everything crystal clear, but the top end is not bright. I like them with my KEF R7Meta speakers but they may be too clinical for a bright sounding speaker like my Monitor Audio Silver 500's. Anyway, I'm impressed with these right out of the box... tomorrow they are going to get 6 to 8 hours of continous play time.
View attachment 3783837View attachment 3783838View attachment 3783840View attachment 3783841
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Well I could not play the stereo today- wife came home from work after an hour with a nasty migraine, so no noise allowed in the house... I changed the oil in my PT Looser and fixed several squeaky door hinges. Then it got too hot outside (100F !) to continue so I'm sitting at the computer with a desk fan on high speed to cool off ! Maybe tomorrow I'll get to play...
 
N2552 said:
The burning in my hand €150,- refund from that Belgian eBay seller yesterday, "made me" purchase just now - from a Belgian based online used goods / auction site - a minty(?) Radiola (Philips) AF829 mk II TT with a Philips GP422 cart equiped with a stylus for €45,- plus shipping. Dunno what stylus but it definitely not the proper one for this cart, and it is not clear if it is any good.

Anyways; the TT It will probably have a warped plastic bottom cover, like all the same, later and earlier models / generation of these Philips (besed) TT's do.
But to fix that in some shape or form, will be a modification or repair job for rainy evenings.
In short; I would be surprised if the plastic bottom cover is not warped of this TT being from Philips " plastic fantastic " era!
Click to expand...
When I saw the extra pictures of all decaying warping plastic bottom cover and severely scratched dust cover. I decided 'not to pull the buy now tricker'.

So I'm still without a turntable. I'm sure I will end up with a brand-new TT sometime in the near future when living overseas again. You see; I permanently gave up on these Philips generation plastic fantastic self-destruct TT's at any price point I'm afraid!:dunno:
And that is not easy for me. Taking into account that all my vintage Philips gear has to match and be from the same series. Now that is an example of severe vintage Hi-Fi OCD :crazy:
 
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The Advance Paris ACD-Apex CD player arrived yesterday. OMG! The sound is amazing - AMAZING!!! :biggrin: :rockon: That tube buffer stage, and I hooked it up through the XLR outputs. The sound... Jesus! :oops: The soundstage is wide, deep, and incredibly transparent. It does take a little bit, maybe five minutes or so, for the tubes to warm up. They do warm, and the housing of the CD player's housing above the tubes becomes warm. It do have to say, that while this CD player produces a warm, analog like tone. That tone, can be too much though for certain recordings; especially high resolution ones. :idea: I listened to a lot of 80s music yesterday. The ACD-Apex was incredible. Then I played Diana Krall, but here the sound wavered a bit. Here something more sharp and immediate would have been good, perhaps even better. For the music I really love, late 1960s to mid 1980s Rock, the player is insanely good. :D
 
Natasha Bell said:
The Advance Paris ACD-Apex CD player arrived yesterday. OMG! The sound is amazing - AMAZING!!! :biggrin: :rockon: That tube buffer stage, and I hooked it up through the XLR outputs. The sound... Jesus! :oops: The soundstage is wide, deep, and incredibly transparent. It does take a little bit, maybe five minutes or so, for the tubes to warm up. They do warm, and the housing of the CD player's housing above the tubes becomes warm. It do have to say, that while this CD player produces a warm, analog like tone. That tone, can be too much though for certain recordings; especially high resolution ones. :idea: I listened to a lot of 80s music yesterday. The ACD-Apex was incredible. Then I played Diana Krall, but here the sound wavered a bit. Here something more sharp and immediate would have been good, perhaps even better. For the music I really love, late 1960s to mid 1980s Rock, the player is insanely good. :D
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PICS. We need pics ☝️
 
Natasha Bell said:
The Advance Paris ACD-Apex CD player arrived yesterday. OMG! The sound is amazing - AMAZING!!! :biggrin: :rockon: That tube buffer stage, and I hooked it up through the XLR outputs. The sound... Jesus! :oops: The soundstage is wide, deep, and incredibly transparent. It does take a little bit, maybe five minutes or so, for the tubes to warm up. They do warm, and the housing of the CD player's housing above the tubes becomes warm. It do have to say, that while this CD player produces a warm, analog like tone. That tone, can be too much though for certain recordings; especially high resolution ones. :idea: I listened to a lot of 80s music yesterday. The ACD-Apex was incredible. Then I played Diana Krall, but here the sound wavered a bit. Here something more sharp and immediate would have been good, perhaps even better. For the music I really love, late 1960s to mid 1980s Rock, the player is insanely good. :D
Click to expand...
Tube buffers bring the magic !
 
cayin ru7 - 1.jpg
cayin ru7 usb upsampling dac + headphone amp. wrench not included nor needed (usual bench clutter).

cayin ru7 - 2.jpg
whats inside the box

cayin ru7 - 3.jpg
metal chassis that does get warm, havent done thermals on it yet

cayin ru7 - 4.jpg
the little monster in action. reason for purchase on this screen, can you guess as to the primary shopping feature (wheres waldo moment).

Screenshot 2026-06-21 at 00-33-49 Portable Amplifier_RU7_Personal Audio_Cayin.png

Screenshot 2026-06-21 at 00-34-04 Portable Amplifier_RU7_Personal Audio_Cayin.png
need i say more, more nerd info on the site.

ru7 vs ru6 should be compared. each have their unique features.
 
Just now I purchased a complete 2nd Philips 22AH308 amplifier from eBay. AS-IS, not working for parts or repair for €70 euros plus €25 euros shipping.
So I finally found the - for just in case you never know - spare amp / parts donor I was looking for. But I will of course, try if I can repair / restore it myself in its full working former glory!
 
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