Greetings from upstate NY - have owned the same Dual 500 the past 4 decades...

[D-500 Flogger]

A very, shall we say "intimate" setting for the musicians!! She gave that Roland hell eh??

laatsch55, Vika is known for playing with passion. And sometimes the pianos she is given to work with simply *blow their own sonic output devices* because they can't hold up to her enthusiastic usage.

You simply have to admire that kind of music-playing passion. This would be a perfect example of why it's important to me to ensure that I have the necessary voltage-swinging capability necessary to hear 'every bit of it' when it comes time to enjoy this at home. :0)

Are there some really cool people on this planet?

And why don't we hear some of this on today's radio stations...instead of yet another Taylor Swift tune?

SMH... :0)

Enjoy --

 

[laatsch55]

My name is Lee, time for first names around here bud!!

Yeah, Yes, that's passion, and I respect that, then their musicianship....being good at their craft is a blessing to all. Maybe something I didn't appreciate in my younger years, but I do now. After some dud and then EXCELLENT concerts there is a big difference in some folks stage presence.
I still remember fondly those magical performances.....one was Foreigner, in Laramie , Wyo at the fieldhouse. Back then showing its age, but for some reason excellent acoustics. April Wine was the warmup band, not well known at the time. Ali-Frazier was goiing at the same time and Foreigner would not come out till the fight was over, poor April Wine played for 3 hours, played everything of theirs and then just started covering stuff they knew. Played their asses off. Then the fight was over and Foreigner came out and played for another 3 hours ....what a night. Got home around 4 in the morning....damn...I'd do it again in a heartbeat..

 

[VSAT88]

Well sheeeeit - here's a long delayed Nav welcome babe!
View attachment 58319 View attachment 58320

LORDY, LORDY, LORDY !!

 

[D-500 Flogger]

Re: Piecing the audio lab together. Got my first small win, test equipment-wise.

Found, ordered, arrived, opened up for careful visual inspection, cleaned/polished scratches off of paint & clear lexan face, ready for duty.

Without further ado, here's a sequence of thumbnails showing you a nice RCA WV-120A "Power-Line Monitor". Not only will it help me as a troubleshooter be able to verify the line level on the fly, but it will also add just a bit of nostalgic techno-mood to the work space.

Head on view, as found fresh from the seller's shipping box:


It was pretty clean for it's age, but when I tilted the face up to catch the light source the small gouge/scratch became visible:


This next photo is after I took some Meguiar's Mirror Glaze to the plastic face. (Note: I had some trouble getting a decent shot of the plastic face instead of the needle & numbers underneath it. If you study the reflection of the light you can see how much clearer the plastic became:


This next photo is the gray 'hammered' finish, as shipped. Not that bad, all things considered:


Same area as above, after polishing:


The paint on top of the meter came out nice. (This is where most of the meters for sale looked the roughest.)


Inside the box after a visual inspection & a light cleanup. Note the pot that is referenced in the calibration section of this web page.
I will accuratize this meter down the road once I have a 'proven-good' voltmeter to compare it against:


Getting ready to reunite this metal piece with the rest of the gauge. (Note: I had been able to remove a dark spot from the paint. (!)


Finally, the BEAUTY SHOT - looks better in person than in the photo:


Here's the polish I used:
Meguiar's '105' (12 on a scale of 10) Breaks down to ever finer polish during use, will clear as rough as a 1500 grit wet-sanded surface.
Meguiar's '205' (4 on a scale of 10) used this the most of all.
Meguiar's '3' (1 on a scale of 10) gives you that last bit of 'clear as new glass' transparency. Done correctly, the plastic doesn't look polished, it just looks new:


Oops - hit '10 added file' limit...

 

[D-500 Flogger]

(continued from previous)


Towel showing residue from polishing. (dead paint) After polishing, a little car wax went on to protect the newly uncovered paint surface
on the box.


For comparison purposes, here's another RCA meter I first found (for the same price) ...but it looked to be in too rough a condition to bring
all the way back...so I skipped it & kept looking until I found the one I eventually ended up with.


First piece of test equipment all set. NOTE: If my turntable cover is scratched bad enough, I will wet-sand it & polish it out with the Meguiars so that someone new to clearing plastic meter faces can see how it's done, old-school fashion.

FWIW --

 

[Turboj5525]

I'm late to the welcoming party but WELCOME! Man what a great stories. I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread. I'm new myself and can definitely tell you that your assumptions are correct as I'm sure you now know lol. This is the best forum around. Glad to hear more of your stories anytime!!!

 

[D-500 Flogger]

Turboj5525,

I appreciate the kind words! I'm 62 going on 26...who am I kidding? I'm 62 going on 16...so please keep in mind when I'm describing some way off the beaten path theory & convoluted test strategy to prove/disprove said theory -- it's because I *get* to do it, not that I *have* to do it. Part of the real genius of folks like Bob Carver / Arnie Nudell / Nelson Pass is that they were able to bring *any* new ideas to the land of audio despite the sheer level of distraction from running an actual sink-or-swim business. (ie: entities that can't just print money in order to wallpaper over missed goals!)

Me? The only thing I need to accomplish is to (hopefully) make small, incremental improvements in my own system...and hopefully document it in such a way that others can follow my breadcrumbs as much or as little as they wish. Hopefully, since I won't be distracted by making a payroll, or having someone sue me for too much of a good thing & losing their hearing 'cuz of my handiwork (thinking of the McDonald's customer who sued over spilling hot coffee on herself.) ...that I'll be able to learn the answers to some questions I've been carrying around since forever. :0)

Given all of the above, it's hard to stifle my excitement about getting to wade right into all this & learn from all the mistakes/dead ends/errors that I am going to make. Here's a cool quote that rang my bell & I wrote it down:

"Mistake upon mistake compounds to become the sum total of one's knowledge." -- Joshaku Shusaku

That's how I finally learned engine building. When I got good at it, it only took 2 passes to get exactly what I wanted. And in the beginning my goals were lower & yet it would take 4/5/+ times to get it right. Same thing with photography. So many photos taken, so few kept.

...But until I understood this I used to get so frustrated. Now I actually budget extra time to go from pretty theory on paper to real-world widget working as desired.

Even someone like SRV or Jeff Beck. Neither one attained their skills, error-free, in an afternoon.

It just seems that way. :0)

Mistakes incoming!

Nice meeting you turbo!

 

[D-500 Flogger]

(continued from previous)


Towel showing residue from polishing. (dead paint) After polishing, a little car wax went on to protect the newly uncovered paint surface
on the box.
View attachment 58942

For comparison purposes, here's another RCA meter I first found (for the same price) ...but it looked to be in too rough a condition to bring
all the way back...so I skipped it & kept looking until I found the one I eventually ended up with.
View attachment 58943 View attachment 58944

First piece of test equipment all set. NOTE: If my turntable cover is scratched bad enough, I will wet-sand it & polish it out with the Meguiars so that someone new to clearing plastic meter faces can see how it's done, old-school fashion.

FWIW --

Re: The polishing thing -- for completeness, the rest of the secret to getting something to look new/better than new...as opposed to looking like it has been polished? The answer is have plenty of clean washcloths, so that any debris removed from the finish is not just scrubbed against the surface you are trying to perfect. Therefore, a 'deep' nap allows the debris to 'embed' below the surface, allowing the polish to contact the surface being worked.

I've tried all different kinds of rags/polishing cloths, etc., and to date the best bang for the buck are these being sold for 47 cents each at Walmart.
NOTE: For best results, dedicate these polishing cloths to be only be used on already cleaned surfaces awaiting a paint correction. Having at least 12 is a good start -- I kept adding until I can now fill a single washer with cloths. (48? 60?) All I know is that clean, ready to go polishing cloths are like money in the bank!)

For actual *dirty work*, use these packages of 18/$4.77. (~25 cents/each.) Although too thin to work really well for polishing, they are perfect for the pre-cleaning function. And they look different enough that you can easily sort them into 2 different piles. 2 packages gives you 36 for ~$10, not too shabby.

****

One more thing. I think that Harbor Freight carries some of the Meguiar's Mirror Glaze line. Most local Auto Body supply stores have it as well. I would check for local availability before buying it on Amazon, for the sellers there don't always offer the 'good' price.

Q: Are there other polishing compounds out there as good as / better than Meguiar's?

A: I'm sure there is. But for me Meguair's to a finish is like a Tektronix scope to a circuit -- they just reliably help me make the best of what I've got to work with using the least amount of my time & effort to accomplish this.

Hope this helps anyone out there who's been afraid up 'til now to take polish to a treasured toy.

Enjoy the hobby!

 

[J!m]

A lot is in the technique for sure.

I’ve had good luck with 3M products as well. Imperial hand glaze for one.

Before my clear coat started peeling off, I washed, clay bar with whatever “detail” spray as lubricant, then hand glaze, then hard wax (one grand wax).

Now I’m just lucky to get the car washed annually.

 

[D-500 Flogger]

A lot is in the technique for sure.

I’ve had good luck with 3M products as well. Imperial hand glaze for one.

Before my clear coat started peeling off, I washed, clay bar with whatever “detail” spray as lubricant, then hand glaze, then hard wax (one grand wax).

Now I’m just lucky to get the car washed annually.

3M is absolutely top shelf stuff! Actually, a long time ago I started with the turtle wax rubbing compound, but it was so aggressive I'd burn through the paint before I knew it! Then I was helping a buddy who's dad had the 3M glazes, and this was much more like it! While looking for a place that sold the 3m products, I ran into an auto body supply place that sold Meguiar's instead, so I tried a bottle...and that was maybe 44 years ago?

Man, I am old. :0)

Listen, when I come to see what projects you've got going on, you will have to give me a 3M demo! Word of mouth is always the best way!

Cheers --

 

[J!m]

I have a plaque on my desk at work (next to the jar of “ashes of problem clients”) that says: “Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.”

 

[D-500 Flogger]

Q1: Does she like to solder? Or equate the smell of a smoking soldering iron in the morning...with the smell of victory?

Q2: Will she drop everything at a moment's notice in order to go take in some live music? Eyes widen just a tiny bit if you mention that it's a Blues festival?

****

If so, then given her good taste in boots I think we have a Trifecta here.

****

When you get to this late stage of the ride atop the little blue marble, you gotta keep your priorities straight...

:0)

PS - Thanks for sharing the official Phoenix welcome in this thread -- Cheers!

Here's what I'm talking about -- Kitty Joyner, NACA/NASA's first female EE:


Not only does she have excellent taste in high powered electric motors...but check out that slide rule. (!)

Shoot, she might actually insist that we spend a little more moolah on the main listening system in order to further improve the sound.

Dare I say -- I present to you: "Dream Woman"

 

[laatsch55]

Good stuff Davis..,.,

 

[NeverSatisfied]

Dare I say -- I present to you: "Dream Woman"

Nope, you see the mitt’s on that gal? Dream woman has tiny hands and thinks 6 inches is a foot. Hell she has a slide rule and can tell the difference between 6-1/16 and 6-1/8, lol. Carry on.

 

[laatsch55]

LOL!! And could probably figure expansion coefficients based on a myriad of factors..

 

[D-500 Flogger]

LOL - Too funny!

****

...Then again, if you were to broach the subject that it's not just raw displacement (& accompanying resistance)
but
...displacement x rpm x time (rhythmic impedance)
=
true ergs/watts/joy/whatever is accomplished... ...she could follow the concept & agree to perform some empirical testing in the interest of science. :0)

****

In other words, from my perspective she falls more into the Tesla camp vis-a-vis the Edison group. So actually there's hope for the rest of us. :0)

That's all I've got to say about that...

3D gump

 

[laatsch55]

LOL!!.. Love your style 3D..

 

[J!m]

I hear she makes a mean tuna casserole too...

 

[D-500 Flogger]

I hear she makes a mean tuna casserole too...

...and she would be the one to upgrade the microwave oven from 120v to 240v (+ beefier magnetron) in order to cut the elapsed time of cooking said tuna casserole... I'm smelling win-win here! :0)

 

[J!m]

The Macrowave. Cooks in three seconds where in the old days it took all of 30 seconds!