Most Tedius Part of Audiodom Setup/Tweak/DIY ?

All of the following can be a REAL bear in my experience in no specific order:

1) assembling very tall threaded rod racks with quite a few shelves. MAN, that is a LOT of spinning and tightening of nuts & washers, etc...

2) Installing / routing / relocating a large system, i.e. a big HT system with two million cables can really have you pulling your hair out and speaking French ( "PARDON my French"...).

3) Speaker placement. Need i say more ??? Probably the most elusive "fine art".

4) TT set up. Not just setting up the cartridge but making sure that it is DEAD level, well isolated, etc... Kind of fun and a challenge though...

5) Trying to track down and correct room resonances, rattles, flexing in suspended floors, etc... Just as you get one situation straightened out, you can now hear or notice other things that seem to become just as annoying or bothersome.

6) Trying to install a system for someone that is not well versed in the fine art of "tweaking" i.e. a non-audiophile or beginner. They just don't understand what you're doing or how it will help. Especially the part about "why are the speakers out there" or "why are you moving the speakers SO much"... That is, until they hear the end results.

Sheesh, after all of that, do i REALLY enjoy all of this or am i just a glutton for punishment ??? : ) Sean
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Doing the connections cleaning maintenance that requires disconnecting and swabing spraying of each half of the connection and putting back together each......

Let´s see in a simple system:
wall plate or filter to power cord times x according to number of components
wall plate to filter power cord
filter power cord to filter
filter outlet to component power cord
power cord to component
interconnect component to source
interconnect to component target
breaker contact points at breaker box.
etc etc etc
SO I got bored just thinking about it...
Regards

Last weekend I just finished installing a subpanel with eight dedicated 10 ga. 20 amp lines to power my stereo and HT. Most normal people would hire an electrician. However for ~350$ in materials, and around four days labor, this has been one of the most cost effective upgrades that I have made to date.

It took quite a bit of planning, care, and labor...

1) Map all house circuits, move noisy appliances (like refrigerators, microwave, furnace, etc.) to the phase not used by the stereo/HT.

2) Make room at the top of the service panel bus bars for two sets of bipole breakers, arranged left to right so that one breaker from each set is connected to the same phase tab(this allows two 50 amp breakers on the same phase, and first dibs on incomming power).

3) Tighten all grounds and neutrals in the main panel.

4) Replace the service panel ground wire with bare 4 ga stranded wire, clean connections on grounding rod.

5) Run 80' of 3 wire 6 ga. Romex cable to oppisite corner in the basement, and connect to Square D sub panel (keep ground and neutral separated, common ground back at the main panel).

6) Prepare 8 30' runs of 10 ga. Romex, bundle together, number each wire at both ends, and hold together with nylon wire ties.

7) Bore access holes in joists and sill plates, run dedicated lines to listening room (cross base access only).

8) Install receptacle boxes in walls (after removing all equipment and racking)

9) Clean and install breakers in subpanel, map dedicated lines, balance load, and connect at subpanel.

10) Install receptacles and face plates.

11) Test power, polarity, and grounds.

12) Reinstall racking, equipment, rout cables.

Crappy job #1 is running hidden speaker cables for the surrounds in the HT setup. The deal in our house is that I can have as many speakers as I want - just don't let me see the wires. Snaking cable though basement, crawl space, attic and stud cavities rate #1 on things I hate to do. When we remodel I am going to so overwire that I'll never have to do that again. Close second is moving the system ... rack and all. The urge to just slap it together so I can get back to music is unbearable.

WOW !!!! Tom, whether or not your "electrical surgery" made a difference ( and i bet it did ), you are to be applauded just for having the guts to initiate let alone tackle such a major project. Now all you need to do is to have Sol322 stop by and carefully clean and prune all those connections : )

I wish that i had the fortitude to get things done like that. I've got SO many projects backed up right now. Then again, if i got off the puter once in a while... : ) Sean
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