Article: RCA Victrola 711V3 2020 | His Master's Voice Reimagined

[bobfa]

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[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks for the article Bob. I love this type of stuff!

[bobfa]

15 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Thanks for the article Bob. I love this type of stuff!

Chris,

 

Thanks for publishing this.  I had a lot of fun building the Victrola out.  

[austinpop]

Bob, a true labor of love. It looks fantastic!

[gocubs42]

This is my1942 working ,1A62 AM Wells- Gardener Coronado Radio. When I picked this up the wooden vents was caked in mud due to a flooded basement years ago. Restored the best I could, added a pr of speakers, a small amp and an Echo Dot. I love streaming talk radio stations from the area on this. It's my time machine. Also on top of the radio is a working 1932 Westinghouse fan. That also was a restoration project.

[PeterG]

Terrific!  Especially nice to see a system that meets the wife's approval 😊

[bobfa]

38 minutes ago, gocubs42 said:

This is my1942 working ,1A62 AM Wells- Gardener Coronado Radio. When I picked this up the wooden vents was caked in mud due to a flooded basement years ago. Restored the best I could, added a pr of speakers, a small amp and an Echo Dot. I love streaming talk radio stations from the area on this. It's my time machine. Also on top of the radio is a working 1932 Westinghouse fan. That also was a restoration project.

This is the other radio I have in the house.  It is now non-functional.  It was in the Dining Room.  We had a defective dishwasher that leaked in the kitchen, It soaked the floor there and ran under the wall in to the Dining Room.  At that time the Radio had been left plugged in and the cloth cord soaked up the water and shorted out.   Big mess.

 

[Superdad]

VERY cool Bob!  

I had a truly beautiful 1961 Grundig Majestic that I always had plans to do something similar with.  It had a reel-to-reel deck, turntable, shortwave, and all original tubes and speaker drivers. But it had been years since it worked.  The cabinetry, wood species, and finish was what made me keep it for so long.

Below is the exact model I had, though these photos are from the web.

[bobfa]

36 minutes ago, Superdad said:

VERY cool Bob!  

I had a truly beautiful 1961 Grundig Majestic that I always had plans to do something similar with.  It had a reel-to-reel deck, turntable, shortwave, and all original tubes and speaker drivers. But it had been years since it worked.  The cabinetry, wood species, and finish was what made me keep it for so long.

Below is the exact model I had, though these photos are from the web.

That is beautiful.  I love project like this. 

[bobfa]

Updating the Victrola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My music system has been going through a prolonged, slow evolutionary process.  Our use of the turntable has been zero.  My wife wanted to play CDs, and I am further simplifying the digital playback system.

 

I am almost to the "Audiophile JukeBox" level of simplicity.

 

To those ends, I have removed the turntable and phono stage and placed the new Pro-Ject AUDIO SYSTEMS top-loading CD transport in that bay.  I have connected the transport to my Heavenly Soundworks 517 speakers using the AES output of the CD transport.  I have removed the analog cables and the Hugo TT2 DAC, and the SRC-DX from the system.

 

On the digital side,  I am now using an Aurender N100SC as the digital core.  I installed a 4TB SSD in the N100SC and connected the SPDIF output to the speakers.   Yes, I know that this limits me to PCM 24/192, which does not bother me!  I am PGGBing my few DSD albums to PCM!

 

I kept my Bluesound Node 2i in the system using TOSLink; it is a third digital input.

 

 I am updating the power cord from the wall to the PSM156 with Puritan Audio Laboratories Ultimate AC cable.  The  AC cable to the Aurender has the same model cable. The speakers have the Puritan Basic power cords.

 

These changes have eliminated the need for five Linear Power Supplies and a couple of SMPS units.  Finally, I will most likely upgrade the power supply on the CD Transport went it becomes available.

 

I am currently listening with fiber ethernet to the Aurender, using a Sonore OpticalModule and one of their power supplies.  I still want to try VLANs on the network to reduce traffic to the Aurender and see if wired ethernet sounds different! If I can remove this from the stereo, we are down one more device and power supply.

 

 

At this point, things are sounding pretty darn good. The system is more straightforward, easier to maintain, and is making the family happy!  

[bobfa]

Victrola Update

Saturday, September 18th 2021

 

Today is a milestone in the system design, construction, and setup.  Over the summer I have been doing some physical arrangement work.  I moved the Victrola out of the room, adjusted speaker placement, and moved the Victrola back in.  I then adjusted the speakers a bit more.  The front of the speakers are now 36 in out from the front wall of the room.  

 

 

The speaker stands are on their spikes and that has improved clarity quite a bit. I continue to use the Isoacoustics isolators between the speakers and the stands. I have adjusted the wiring placement so that AC and signal wires for more separation and crossovers are at right angles where possible.  All the equipment is in the cabinet, nothing left on the floor.

 

This morning, before breakfast, I listened to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon all the way through, and all I wanted to do was keep listening.
 

The last three years have been personally frenetic, I have been out of control fiscally and time wise. Today I have FINALLY removed the furniture gliders from under the Victrola, what a milestone!

 

 

There is much more to this story that I am still documenting. 

 

 

RJF