LarryC

Bruce, if you're not familiar with the Scherchen, listen to this, particularly at 12:46 and 22:05 for fleet versions of two famous choruses. IMO, it's worth listening to the first 10 min or so for the serious interpretation of the opening sections. -- Larry

Yes, so many Messiahs in the past, were done with huge choruses and orchestras, and exaggerated, overblown use of many instruments, instead of a small string orchestra and a few winds and percussion. I believe Hermann Scherchen was prominent in the 1950's and 60's in insisting on very small courses and orchestras, and extremely rapid tempos instead of the ponderous draggy stuff we still hear today. I like 'em small, too. You can hear a lot more detail and meaning if you have a small chorus of only a few singers. EDIT: The original manuscript for Messiah is now held in the British Library's music collection.[26] It is scored for 2 trumpets, timpani, 2 oboes, 2 violins, viola, and basso continuo (cello, double bass, and harpsichord). Indeed, Wiki mentions that Scherchen was the first conductor to record with a very small orchestra and chorus.

Thanks, Marty! The attendees were only Marty, myself, Garymd, and Fitz Mullan, a long-standing friend of mine. The program, performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by a specialist in Baroque music not known to me was a little odd -- it lacked a heavyweight symphonic counterweight and hence a little unsatisfying. Note to programmers: be sure to include a full-out symphony by Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert or Schumann, for everyone to leave fully satisfied. The Four Seasons comes from an era dominated by small string orchestras, especially if from Italy where beautiful and dazzling violin playing was the norm, Only lighter woodwinds might be included among the players, Vivaldi ran a school of violinists, notably made up of "orphan" girls. Must have been nice! But that accounts for the fact that the four Seasons is actually 4 violin concertos, one for each season. A violin concerto traditionally has 3 movements, so each "season" is a 3-movement violin concerto (fast-slow-fast tempos), or 12 movements in all. Instead of the usual single soloist for the whole work, the BSO decided to feature a different young, very proficient up-and-coming violin soloist for each concerto -- a very nice star turn for the 4 pretty young ladies still early in their careers. The audience was very appreciative! The conductor also chose to have 3 or 4 violin soloists play the inner parts of the first movement ("Spring"),which produced lots of bird-like twittering in that first movement. Enchanting! Each gal was distinctly talented, with 4 different characters of performance. The second piece was the three-movement "Rosamunde" ballet by Schubert. Beautiful, with Schubert's wonderful orchestration balancing string, woodwind, and brass parts. An oddly truncated work, however, part of the incompleteness to the concert. The Finale was the unique Concert-Piece for 4 Horns and Orchestra. Schumann came along when brass was transitioning from being able to only play "natural" notes by changing only lip pressure, to the introduction of valves, which allowed rapid playing of all notes in the scale. Schumann had access to one of the best such expert horn player, and went all-out to creat a wild, inventive piece only 15 min long, but definitely a workout. It was a flashy, rather brief finale to the program, not at all a major symphonic climactic work like one of his great symphonies Still, it was a very nice, fairly well-rounded experience. We attendees really enjoyed it.

What is the end point you're hoping for? My impression is that you're flailing around and will be lucky if you don't end up stepping backward. Sonic changes are not necessarily improvements just because they sound different. How do you know that each step should result in an improvement of some sort?

I think you should listen and compare. Different turntables have different "sounds" and I wouldn't count on a new Rega sounding better than an older Empire, though it might. Also, the tone arm is often a major factor. You should listen to the whole setup to compare, IMO.

The black, low-visibility risers are a beautiful, classic look because they contrast with and make much more visible the high-quality veneers. Great design move. The pictures are seriously professional, like the early Klipsch pictures from earlier decades. I"m glad to see the tradition renewed.

Dave, Thanks. FWIW, I think the Marantz 8B needed 1.3 v. for 35 watts out. I had a 232 cart, which I thought had a wonderful sound and was beautiful-looking. However, it was not a good tracker, and I was beyond frustrated with audible record wear with almost every play! I had to quit using it to save my records. I don't recall what boost or transformers I used. It sure would be interesting to visit your place sometime!

From me, "Trump" is simple 5-letter shorthand for the Administration, which has many participating actors, both culpable and saving.

That's giving Russia a pass by presuming Russia + China are a zero sum. I'm only saying that Trump is trying to direct attention away from news of Russian meddling by trying to redirect fingers to China, which to my eyes seems to be a lesser offender. China didn't try to swallow up Ukraine or possibly succeed in using subversive friends to help throw an American election and may still be trying.

This fuss is being ginned up primarily to counteract and distract from recent and pending fuss over Russian meddling, hacking, etc. The underlying intent is pro-Russian. No coincidence.

Travis or Gil, what do you know about the new AK-6 K horns? Big improvement and in what way? Can any of it be retrofitted? Larry

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That's great! I wish the upcoming Capital Area fest would have them. That bunch features a lot of horn speakers. Look forward to hear some reports on how they compare at RM.

It seems to me the AR2xa was a factory upgrade made popular by a rave review by Consumer Reports. In those days, CR was able to dramatically increase sales of a particular product by giving it a top rating in their group reviews. They had the same impact in their ratings of cars, and I heard their circulation jumped mightily in issues that had their highly prized auto and audio equipment reviews and recommendations. The AR2ax was such a beneficiary. So was the Shure V-15 series of cartridges.

Any in the DC or PA area? IQ Electronics in No. NA claims to carry Heritage, don't know if they've sold any to speak of

Stunning I guess!! I was having high-altitude breathing problems at the time and afraid to irreversibly commit to 13,000' passes, but this is even scarier than I imagined. Ouray was unimaginably beautiful, what a great place to live for scenery and small town pleasure. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is not far from there, makes a nice side trip, but nothing like what you went through here. Congratulations on finding and doing this trek! Really very daring.

Pics not showing for me either.

I think the sound on these is pretty good! I suggest a vintager tube integrated if you can find one, like Scott or Fisher. Have it fixed up by somebody like Craig NOSValves if he's still in the business. I've heard that a vintage Harmon Kardon is pretty good. Which Shorthorns do you have? 12" or 15"? What do the tags say? -- If they're still there, they'll tell you the finish and the drivers. 15" is nice, but either is a very nice sound, with limited bass, I assume better with the 15 (I've only heard the 12").

Lucky you! I've only heard my solitary 255A, long, long ago, thought the musical sound was better than the Marantz 8B, the prominent competitor at the time. My gosh, whoever has a 245? I had only a mono Fairchild pre, of course. Nice, nice sound. What are the input sensitivities of the 260, 255 and 8B? I thought at least 1.0 v numerically.

Fascinating history of the Cornwall! Wasn't it evolved from the Shorthorn, changing the back from back-loaded horn to rectangular box but keeping the slot in the back for the time being? That's what it looks like, with the Shorthorn front panel design (a typically beautiful PWK design). It kept the same driver complement, too, at least until E-V discontinued the superior alnico 15WK -- a move that hurt the sound quality of K-horns and Cornwalls for a time, as I recall. Who are the two men in the front of Bldg. 122? Larry

For the uninitiated: https://www.history.com/news/how-the-galveston-hurricane-of-1900-became-the-deadliest-u-s-natural-disaster

No big deal, but at first I liked Julian Assange because I thought he was blowing whistles on gov't secrecy, but belatedly now see him as a Russian stooge.

Hi Jeff, That's pretty much the approach I take. There are any number of articles of which I'm skeptical, and I feel I analyze pretty well the articles from which I draw conclusions. Many would take too much time to pursue in that kind of depth. The "conditioning" idea is a good one to think about. One man's "conditioning" may simply be another's "verification" of what he/she may have been thinking along the lines of. For the most part, I tend to assemble bits and pieces of information or viewpoints, and draw conclusions. That's not conditioning in my view, but may represent assessing conclusions along particular lines that others may not agree with. I tend to think that disagreeing individuals are not seeing the same facts that I do. If I'm doubtful or think I'm on the wrong track, I change my mind. It's easy to see Russian "collusion' and attempts at subversion, IMO. It's easy to see that Trump must be either deeply in debt or thinking he can get his Trump hotel built in Moscow by overturning Western alliances, or taking down Bruce Ohr, all at Putin's behest. Let's see if I'm ultimately right.

I certainly don't agree with that, though I'm amazed how much of Fox News is just propaganda fakery.

Great! - Larry