What's with amps on the floor?

[Adam N.]

I strapped a cinder block to my FX502 TPA 3250 and now it rules the roost. Then I blasted it with an infrared heater and the cat actually had it's meow defect to the amp. Yeah, it stole the cats meow and it's pajamas. It made my poor pussycat its bitch, that $87 amp. When I finally gave in and put it on the floor hot and heavy I could barely handle the SQ, I could handle it so little I had to look up SQ to realize it was "sound quality" because I don't spend all day in audio forums.

 

[DaveVoorhis]

I consider myself a computer hobbyist and enjoy using modern graphics cards, WQHD monitors, SSDs, gigabyte routers (driven by a linear power supply), multi-band access points and wireless keyboards/mice and keep up with the latest Intel stuff like the i9 Skylake. I've been a car enthusiast since I was a kid. Similarly, I prefer modern mid-engined models with dual clutch transmission, most certainly fully independent suspension using gas struts with the latest Y rated rubber.

Maybe I'm just the optimist while your posts frequently take on a bitter or pessimistic stance on those passionate with audio.

I think you may be reading negativity into my posts that simply isn't there, and are perhaps treating them as being about you when they're not.

I've certainly not stated that all audiophiles -- or AKers -- are the same. Note my use of some, most, etc., not all. When I make an observation <p> about the majority of group <x>, and you happen to belong to group <x>, that does not necessarily mean <p> applies to you.

 

[GChief]

computer hobbyist

That isn’t really a thing is it?

 

[DaveVoorhis]

That isn’t really a thing is it?

It's a thing. It's a lot like music: You try it and it feels pretty good, and before long you're doing it when you should be doing other things, and eventually you need to do it all the time and you wind up selling what you do to other people to get enough money to keep going long enough to do more of it.

 

[GChief]

It's a thing. It's a lot like music: You try it and it feels pretty good, and before long you're doing it when you should be doing other things, and eventually you need to do it all the time and you wind up selling what you to others to get enough money to keep going long enough to do more of it.

Yeah I get it, I do it with camping/hunting/hiking and such

 

[DaveVoorhis]

Yeah I get it, I do it with camping/hunting/hiking and such

Exactly. I started out as a computer hobbyist. It wound up being my profession but it's still a hobby, though the work/hobby lines are very blurry.

 

[GChief]

Exactly. I started out as a computer hobbyist. It wound up being my profession but it's still a hobby, though the work/hobby lines are very blurry.

I forgot the wink emoji on that remark

 

[Harvestor]

Thank you Dave, for that kind compliment.

Here is a picture to assist your "vision" !! HA !! I hope that it won`t disappoint your vision !!View attachment 1372840

If that is your setup wow!
That's where I would like to be with my home theater area..
Yeah definitely like what I see

This is how professionals do it

 

[maxhifi]

By way of analogy, if AK'ers were home computer hobbyists, you'd see an lot of Apple II's and original IBM PC's or XT's or AT's, the occasional Silicon Graphics or Sun workstation, a gaggle of vintage Macs, Commodore 64's and Amigas, a few BBC Micros and Acorn Atoms, and only a handful of modern PC's or Macs. Or, if we were gearheads, there'd be an awful lot of 60's muscle cars and 50's cruisers around, the occasional 70's highway barge, and very few of anything with that newfangled "computerised fuel injection".

Nah, those computers can't do the same things a modern one can, whereas a high end amp from the 80s or even the 50s does substantially the same thing as a modern high end amp, if you treat it as the proverbial "black box"

I wouldn't mind a nice Sun workstation though, spent lots of time with those and haven't seen one in years

 

[Jeffery]

I haven't posted here in a year and a half.

Come back and what do I see but over a dozen pages (so far) on why someone places their amps where they do.

Probably a dozen threads already here on the exact same topic - really seems to get under the skin of some.

And no, I don't have any amps on the floor. Put 'em there, put 'em on a shelf, doesn't really impact my system at all.

 

[sgmlaw]

Exactly. I started out as a computer hobbyist. It wound up being my profession but it's still a hobby, though the work/hobby lines are very blurry.

Nothing wrong with that. If you love what you do, chances are you’ll do better at it as a profession.

Getting paid to do what you love is the best gig.

Jobs and Allen were computer hobbyists once, too, and it turned out pretty well for them.

 

[DaveVoorhis]

Nah, those computers can't do the same things a modern one can, whereas a high end amp from the 80s or even the 50s does substantially the same thing as a modern high end amp, if you treat it as the proverbial "black box"

True; in retrospect, the analogy was a bit of a stretch.

I wouldn't mind a nice Sun workstation though, spent lots of time with those and haven't seen one in years

I haven't seen one in years either.

I had an SGI Octane that I kept for years as an office ornament, and one day let nostalgia get the better of me and fired it up.

Major disappointment. I passed it on to some colleagues, who have hopefully preserved it.

I still have a DEC Alpha with OpenVMS. Some day, I'll fire that up.

 

[Bill Ferris]

If that is your setup wow!
That's where I would like to be with my home theater area..
Yeah definitely like what I see

This is how professionals do it

Well Havestor, that is in fact part of my living room`s setup, and I`m a retired well regarded audio repair tech/ live sound engineer,(FOH) and an not sure if I`m, or should even be considered a professional, all I can say is I chose all my gear initially over the years, with the exception of the recommended powered Velodyne sub woofers in 1992, and in 2011 my first OPPO universal optical/USB player/s, and the Integra A/V/P processor(same year), by either of my 2 trusted A/V vendor/s !!

And, of course, there are other pictures of my audio gear, and my house`s multi room distributed audio sickness posted about this site, if you chose to bother to pursue.

I chose not to convey my gear in my signature when I joined, the first for me, anything blogging website, as I felt it might be mistakenly construed as bragging/show casing.

Thank you Sir. for your kind & generous compliments on my pictured audio gear.

Take care, and I hope you have a great year.

Kind regards, Billy Ferris

 

[maxhifi]

True; in retrospect, the analogy was a bit of a stretch.

I.

On the other hand, I've seen lots of computer towers on the floor! The best part of this thread is getting to see everyone's beautiful systems. That and @4-2-7 ' s kind offer to give away an extremely nice vintage Mac in exchange for destroying my back

 

[Bill Ferris]

Getting paid to do what you love is the best gig.

Well put !! No job better, than being happy to go to !!

 

[z-adamson]

Casual reading of AK posts shows frequent praise of amplifier weight, size of filter capacitors or power transformers, and size of heatsinks. Whilst these are meaningful when you know something about the circuit topologies, design goals, and performance limits with which they're associated, they're rarely considered that way -- usually it's nothing more than assuming bigger (and heavier) is always better. Which, without appropriate technical context, is about as reasonable as assessing the performance of a car by the shape of the grille or the type of upholstery on the seats.

This is an audio site that...intentionally or not.....leans towards vintage gear.

With vintage gear and old technology, the "better" amps were heavier, had bigger transformers, filter caps and bigger heat sinks so it goes without saying that any vintage audio fanatic is going to seek out amps with those attributes.

Just about all cheapo, poor performaing amps are light and have small transformers, caps, heat sinks. But not necessarily all amps with small transformers, caps and heat sinks are low end.

 

[toddalin]

I keep seeing pictures of people's gear, and a lot of the higher end stuff, mac's in particular, seem to be placed on the floor, or very near it.

What gives?

We're gettin' too damn old to hoist them to higher elevations!

 

[mkane]

What's old? I'm 66 and hauled a couple of 70lb amps up and down the stairs today a few times. Lift smart.

 

[4-2-7]

What's old? I'm 66

^^That's old

 

[Audiofreak71]

Thank you Dave, for that kind compliment.

Here is a picture to assist your "vision" !! HA !! I hope that it won`t disappoint your vision !!View attachment 1372840

Very nice setup , what speakers and screen are those?

Audiofreak71