This is my first post. I just received a Rachael and plugged it in, WOW!  ;D I believe it is the one recently sold by 4krow in the classifieds. She is now sitting on my hobby room table hooked up to some Klipsch RB-81 speakers (97 db according to spec). When I'm working the speakers are about 4-6 feet away, and when I'm lounging on the sofa, speakers are about 15' away. Inputs are a CD player and a Google Chromecast Audio (which is what I mostly use) streaming from my iPhone.

I tried the CD player first and was amazed by the sound! When I switched to Chromecast it was just as amazing. I'm kinda new to hi fi so I haven't learned all those words you guys use......I like AWESOME! The setup is plenty LOUD for my room and my old ears.....drummer ears....

Looking forward to hanging out here and getting ideas on what to do next...speaker cables, placement, room acoustics....

My hobby room is 15' x 25' and full of stuff....sofa, tv, drums, PA, remote control stuff, solder and charging station, and a big work bench on one side where the Rachael and speakers rest.

I'm still trying to figure out all the switches but I'll go ask in the SE34I.5 forum.

Just some background: I'm a retired EE, my first training was back in 1967 when a friend of my grandfather (Mr DeVry of DeVry Tech) gave me one of his learning kits. I loved it and ended taking electronics for 4 years in High school, they only had 2 year course but let me do self study for the other two years. I also went to night school and learned tubes! Well when college came around the only thing I was good at was electronics so Electrical Engineering was stamped on my major by the guidance counselor....I became a digital jock at the right time, worked at a little company that made microprocessors and won the IBM PC design. Talk about being strapped to a rocket ship! Anyway I'm retired now and figured I would go back to my tube roots. This looks like a great place to hangout and learn.

Just a heads up. I'm a regular around here and I wouldn't call myself knowledgeable. In fact I'm pretty sure that I am full of Hooey!
My insights are hollow as my head and if you need information I'm pretty sure that I would send you down the wrong path.
By the way, welcome to our little corner of the world.

Quit bragging!

Welcome Jerry- Our Rachael is playing Pandora as we work through our first cup of coffee this morning. The CSP3 and ZP3 are primed for some work this afternoon after chores are done. One of the nice things about winter here (when the AC is on) is plenty of inside time with tunes and books. Keep us posted on your travels and happy listening, Chris.

 As noted in the Rachel/34i.3 tweaks or whatever thread, there is a lot that has been done to this amp. Everything from bias mod to UFO transformers, to impedance switches, to switches on the front that allow you to have Rachel receive an audio signal, but only 70hz and above (actually a cap placed in circuit when the switch is on, that cuts off bass at 70hz, 6 db per octave). Signal wiring is all silver plated copper. There is an expensive selector switch made by Gold Point. The mono volume controls are made by TDK. The list is long, and much has to do with preference, at least when it comes to replacing most every bolt with brass one, even on the tranny. The binding posts have been changed, only because I liked black ones as opposed to gold.
Why the Hell did I sell her? To see if more power in my system was an answer. Yes, is the short answer, but I wish that I would have purchased a Tori Jr. In the meantime, I am pursuing SS, and of course, my ZOB speakers are letting me know about any shortcomings of that decision. I have a long way to go with this latest experiment, so stay tuned. It will be a couple of months before the Forte' Audio model 3 amp is complete. A redesign/rebuild is being done presently, and is NOT cheap. At least I have help from a retired design/amp engineer (don't know if that is the correct title, but this guy used to design amps for a company called Sudgeon in Europe). More later, Greg

That's funny,...    any good reason why 'Tocnaza' here just completely copy and pasted my original reply to this thread at/from the top??

Spam Bot maybe??

Spammer for sure.  Just look at his 3 "posts."  Two are cut and pastes of existing posts and one is a long list of links -- which I'm sure are all perfectly safe to click on.  

Quote:


First thing to understand with a drum set in the room, is that it will resonate with the music and therefor be adding a fair amount of background sound to the overall mix.  For that reason it is important that it be meticulously tuned at all times.  If the kit sounds really good in your room, the music won't be harmed by it, and in some cases elevated by it.  However, if it sound like crap, all of your music will suck all the time compared to not having a kit.  This can be easily heard by putting bricks on each drum head and pillows inside each tom and the kick.  Point is your kit will be a player in the overall sound of your room.

Congratulations btw on one of our favorite amplifiers!

Steve