best cheap/free scores 1.1

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored a free Gigabyte GA-7VAX and a GA-945GZM-S2.

The GA-7VAX looks nice. KT400/8235, DualBIOS,RTL8100BL onboard and ALC650 SPU chip. Also has an interesting set of DIP switches to manually set the CPU ratio. Couldn't get it booting with a Athlon XP 2200+ (would simply shut down) but got it to boot with a Duron 700 and a Sempron 2400+. Dunno why it hates AXPs o_o

The 945GZM-S2... well I couldn't get it to boot at all. I absolutely have no idea why it doesn't. SB and NB heat up normally, so does the CPU, but that's all it does. No beeps, no POST, nada. Tested with both a E6750 and a Pentium 4 540. Any ideas? Smaller caps are Rubies while the VRM high was a bunch of KZGs (and one 470uF TK) that I replaced with Sanyo and Panasonic.

[desert-rat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Its not computer /electronics , but I was given a full cyl of r22 Yea it made me happy .

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Another APC SmartUPS 750 (SMT750) w/ NMC2 (9631). So, I'll have to do battle with the damn network card to get things initialized properly. But, I can retire one of the Back-UPS XS 1500's (no network capability)!

And, ~300 Hubbel RJ45 & RJ11 keystones in assorted colors along with 3-way single-gang wall plates (which I will populate as Network, Phone & CATV). They want an arm and a leg for these things OTC (especially when you need a LOT of them!)

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

The GA-7VAX looks nice. KT400/8235, DualBIOS,RTL8100BL onboard and ALC650 SPU chip. Also has an interesting set of DIP switches to manually set the CPU ratio. Couldn't get it booting with a Athlon XP 2200+ (would simply shut down) but got it to boot with a Duron 700 and a Sempron 2400+. Dunno why it hates AXPs o_o

Likely a buggy BIOS. Seems to be common in the socket 462 era...

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I stuck an X5690 hex-core @ 3.46 in that board (fastest LGA1366 hex-core Xeon), should be a good little system. I only have 1x 4gb memory module in it, I've got a case of 'the shorts' when it comes to DDR3, I can't seem to keep it on hand....I need to order some I suppose, this board supprts 24gb, 6x 4gb sticks. That won't cost much.

I got the max this board could take, 6x 4gb ECC modules. The x58 chipset doesn't support registered (PC3-10600R), only unbuffered non-ecc or unbuffered ECC (PC3-10600E). I'll always take ECC if its supported. CPU and memory are maxed, now to pick a GPU that I can score for a good price.

I also found this on the side of the road (it was trash day):



I wanted it for the oven, which works.....good curing oven for powdercoating. 98% of all the random whatnots you will ever powdercoat can fit in a household oven. The door trim is missing, handle was inside the oven. I can care less about appearance, it'll be out in the garage. I love having a pickup and appliance dolly!!

[goontron]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

A Sony str-d515. Not the best find ever, but not bad. Nowhere near as much punch as my Yamaha, nor is the tuner worth a damn.

But, the only issue was a corroded ribbon cable.
Fix that, a bath in hot soapy water overnight and bake at 180*f for 3 hours the next day and it works fine.

Aside from some scratches, it looks good! Im probably going to sell it. Get around $25 for it.

[goontron]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Here's a picture of it operating on the testbed. Sorry for the grain, had to drop the lights and open the exposure to get a picture of the display. Its really dim behind that front plastic. The VFD looks great without it!

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

nice, i love VFD's - there is something about that glow i'v loved since the early electronic games used them.

[brethin]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I got the max this board could take, 6x 4gb ECC modules. The x58 chipset doesn't support registered (PC3-10600R), only unbuffered non-ecc or unbuffered ECC (PC3-10600E). I'll always take ECC if its supported. CPU and memory are maxed, now to pick a GPU that I can score for a good price.

What kind of GPU are you looking for?

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Here's a picture of it operating on the testbed. Sorry for the grain, had to drop the lights and open the exposure to get a picture of the display. Its really dim behind that front plastic. The VFD looks great without it!

What the hell is that wall of voodoo?! You do realize those woofers will sound better if they're in correct enclosures....

What kind of GPU are you looking for?

Something nvidia, GTX580 or up. What ya got?

[goontron]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

What the hell is that wall of voodoo?! You do realize those woofers will sound better if they're in correct enclosures....

You do realize if i put those big bastards in an enclosure its gonna blast the 60yr old paper cones apart, right?

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

You do realize if i put those big bastards in an enclosure its gonna blast the 60yr old paper cones apart, right?

then they're not worth messing with anyway....that brittle, they're trash....especially considering they will sound like complete ass sitting in the open like that. Use them for clay pigeons. sealed or ported enclosure, and not overdriven, they might have a chance....you most certainly have nothing to lose with them.

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

You do realize if i put those big bastards in an enclosure its gonna blast the 60yr old paper cones apart, right?

You have to size the enclosure (for whatever 'type' enclosure you choose) appropriately. In an undersized (or improper 'type' of enclosure), the enclosure works against you.

In open air, the driver works against itself!

I used to have a pair of quad 15" drivers but it got too expensive to keep moving them around the country (the woofer enclosures weighed 600#, each; another 100# for each of the squawker and tweeter enclosures -- triamped -- and you're just shy of an actual ton!). I then "downgraded" to a pair of Jensen Imperials. Then, downgraded to desktop speakers and earbuds!

[goontron]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

then they're not worth messing with anyway....that brittle, they're trash....especially considering they will sound like complete ass sitting in the open like that. Use them for clay pigeons. sealed or ported enclosure, and not overdriven, they might have a chance....you most certainly have nothing to lose with them.

Eh, its just my testbed.... I keep them around since they are 1960's Zenith and huge! I may have to do the old antiqueradiosforum in-place recone and build enclosures one day...

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Two days ago was trash day in a nearby neighborhood in my town. Seems like lots of people are moving in the summer now, as almost every week I see piles of stuff thrown out. Last week, I saw an older model 32" LCD TV, along with a mid-late 90's all-in-one stereo unit and speakers. Then a little further down the road, another all-in-one stereo from a similar vintage. I was going to go out and grab these later that night but started doing something else and it got too late. So I set up an alarm to do that in the morning. Of course, I just couldn't wake my ass up the following morning at all and thus ended up missing all that stuff. No idea if these things went crunch in the dump truck or if someone took them.

The week before that I missed an electric pressure power washer the same way. I guess I'm just not a morning person and need to stop telling myself that I will do this shit in the morning when I well know I won't.

A Sony str-d515. Not the best find ever, but not bad. Nowhere near as much punch as my Yamaha, nor is the tuner worth a damn.

Still, it's a free amp and a decent brand name too (Sony). For those who have a newer LCD TV and no other speakers, this along with any pair of decent speakers would be 100x better than the TV's speakers... or half the crappy "soundbar" sound systems out there, for that matter.

You do realize if i put those big bastards in an enclosure its gonna blast the 60yr old paper cones apart, right?

No you won't.
Not unless you really crank the volume up. (Probably 10 Watts or more). At less than 1-2 Watts of power, those cones will barely move, let alone rip themselves. Yet, 1-2 Watts in a proper ported enclosure will sound much louder. Not to mention you can get a much more linear frequency response.

Also free-airing the speakers may not be hard on the cones, but it puts a helluva lot more stress on the surrounds, especially if they are old paper ones like on the Sansui SP-7500X I found last summer. So you can really do more damage this way than in an enclosure.

And as TC said, if the cones are that brittle... well, then just wait to test the first "right" amp with some considerable DC on the terminals, and you can wave goodbye to those cones right there right then. Personally, I suggest you just coat the cones (at least the paper ones) with something like Elmer's wood glue. That should give them a bit more rigidity and strength. I've done it on water-damaged paper tweeters, and it restored their sound almost fully (before that, certain frequencies were just "gone").

Nothing too interesting here (mostly scored records, some 78 Shellac's and a big box of 45's, which had 15 or so good 70's - 80's rock singles that I didn't have in vinyl).

Nothing interesting?
Good vinyl is always a good score.

I also found this on the side of the road (it was trash day):

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1531450973

I wanted it for the oven, which works.....good curing oven for powdercoating. 98% of all the random whatnots you will ever powdercoat can fit in a household oven. The door trim is missing, handle was inside the oven. I can care less about appearance, it'll be out in the garage. I love having a pickup and appliance dolly!!

Here, I regularly see appliances like that (especially ovens lately, for some reason) left on the curb. I don't have the transportation no space to store them, though, so I just pass by them. Several times I saw ovens like ours, which is an old Kenmore gas model. Works perfectly, though. Unfortunately, we may have to get rid of it if/when we sell the house, as these days everyone wants new "stainless steel" appliances.

... Then, downgraded to desktop speakers and earbuds!

Quite the digression there.
But seriously - earbuds? Ugh!
I'd rather have mosquitoes sing and buzz in my ears than listen to "music" with earbuds.

In all honesty, I understand trying to downsize and whatnot... but you can at least grab a decent pair of cheap over-the-ear or on-ear headphones that will sound 1000x than any earbuds.

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

But seriously - earbuds? Ugh!
I'd rather have mosquitoes sing and buzz in my ears than listen to "music" with earbuds.

I only "listen to music" when I am actively "mixing audio" or creating soundtracks for multimedia presentations -- in which case, I use my Senny HD800's. They're bulky and inconvenient when I'm working, "normally" as I move around quite a bit between the various workstations, bits of test equipment in the lab, inside whichever prototype I'm developing, etc. And, ridiculous to wear while out jogging.

[I also use the Senny's when evaluating synthetic speech. They're actually not ideal for that as they don't block out enough background noise]

I use my MA750 Wireless when "in the lab/office" as they stick to my head better without the Senny's bulk.

When exercising, I prefer cheap/disposable earbuds as they are considerably more visible (pick bright colors other than the black MA750's which blend into my hair -- or, the BackBeat FITS that aren't even visible under my hair) to the folks that I encounter (less likely for them to try to engage me in conversation and result in my falling out of the "cardio" range). And, if I misplace them and/or music player I don't fret over it.

In all honesty, I understand trying to downsize and whatnot... but you can at least grab a decent pair of cheap over-the-ear or on-ear headphones that will sound 1000x than any earbuds.

Why buy something "cheap"? I think I paid almost $200 for the MA750's (and you really don't want to know what the Senny's cost -- but, they're a business expense so billed to a client...)

Aside from actively listening while mixing (or evaluating speech), I only want "background music" to block out the other ambient sounds (in the office/lab/exercising). I definitely don't want that audio competing with whatever I'm focused on, at the time!

[brethin]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

What the hell is that wall of voodoo?! You do realize those woofers will sound better if they're in correct enclosures....

Something nvidia, GTX580 or up. What ya got?

Nothing that new.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Nothing that new.

Any 3dfx stuff (agp or pci)? I'll always relieve someone of that old junk!

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored freebies today

Grundig GV729 VCR
4 VHS tapes
Silver PS2 slim (chipped)
Yamaha YMF719 OPL3-SAX ISA Soundcard
P3 Katmai 500MHz Slot 1 (just needs a heatsink)

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Nothing interesting?
Good vinyl is always a good score.

Well, after today I'm up to ~60+ Of good 45's (music I like). One stack of pre-1979 rock and disco, one of 1980's rock and pop. Plus a massive stack of stuff I don't care for (mostly junk, but there's some nice stuff there too). Plus I have a handful of LPs, and 4 shellac 78's (3 from the 40's, one is a 1925 Columbia)

I wish I could play more than 10 or so 45's at a time... but I'm not in the market for a juke box . Oh well.