joshnich

Im in as well. If I am not mistaken I have serial number 1 Josh

I'm off to the gym! josh

Check the Chronicle and Craigs list. La Scalas come up with great frequency. Josh Just checked craigs list and there is a pair of La Scalas for sale in San Jose. J

Nice looking unit! Congrats. A little overkill - but thats a good thing!!! Have fun with your new toy. You cannot go wrong with MAC tube or SS Josh

Rachael Yamagata Bebe Gilberto Both have new releases this past week that have been getting very favorable reviews. Not available on vinyl or SACD - yet!

These remind me of the speakers at an Old Rock and Roll Venue that was in San Rafael over 30 years ago. The place was called Pepperland and had a sureal feel to it. The speakers were Giant Horns that appeared to be molded out some sort of stucco type material. When I say gianit I mean they bell ended up on the floor and was big enough to stand in. It was a quadraphonic system as there were 4 of these monsters. I actually saw Pink Floyd perform there if my memory serves me. I think remembering being told that the horns were voice of the theaters that had been cosmetically enhanced! Josh

As I think about all of this, it is painfully obvious that, as I see it, the trend to separate phono stages was not driven by a perceived performance enhancement. More than likely what happened was that manufacturers realized that they didnt have to include a phono stage so they didnt. The need then arose for separate phono stages and viola the ability to charge ungodly amounts of dough for what was traditionally part of the original design! Maybe I am wrong but I do not remember lots of folks wanting for a separate phono stage in the old days Josh

Mark, Thanks for your perspective. Whats amazing is that I actually could follow and undertand what you were saying ( a comment on me not you! ) ! Thanks Josh

They were all very much live. Bob Weir , Sonny Charles and I have some mutual acquaintences which is how I happen to see them. The symphony was at Davies Hall in San Francisco also very live. Josh

That is one fine looking unit. These are wonderful sounding units someone is going to get a spectacluar deal here! If I didnt already have a 400 id jump on it. Please let us know your impressions of the 400X. I have never heard one. Paul rebuilt my 400 and it sounds awesome. I would be interested in hearing what his ultimate 400 sounds like! Josh

Had a great music weekend. Started with an intimate performance by Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, a little Sonny Charles thrown in the middle, and ended up with the SF Symphony performing a orchestral transcription of Bachs Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor ( transcribed and conducted by Andrew Davis), Cantata No 82 with countertenor,David Daniels. And finally Dvoraks No7 What a great weekend!

Ill look forward to your impressions of them versus your LaScalas. J

---------------- On 6/5/2004 9:29:17 PM Cut-Throat wrote: A used Super Amp will smoke any 'Vintage' Push Pull Tube amp that I've heard and is in your price range. http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1091345859 ---------------- For 700.00 bucks you can't go wrong with the Super Amp. But to say it will smoke any vintage is a bit of a strech. Actually a big strech! I seriously doubt that it blows away any Vintage Amp - unless Cary decided to make the Super Amp sound better then the amps he sells under his own name. I have never heard a Super Amp. I have however owned both a Rocket 88 "r" (with cap upgrades etc etc) and A SLI 80 with all the factory upgrades as well. I spent lots of time ab ing them on a variety of speakers. To my ears, my vintage Fisher 400 (Bizzy Bee rebuild), Scott 299C (NOS Valves) and McIntosh (audio classics rebuilds) blew them away - the macs in particular are in a completly different league than the Cary push pulls. I tried to find a place for the SLI 80 in my bedroom system but I could not let go of the warm vintage sound of my Scott. In fact it couldnt replace the Fisher in the garage! I have since sold the SLI 80 and the Rocket 88 in favor of vintage power in all three of my systems. Now for whatever reason I have found exactly the opposite to be true of modern pre amps. I much prefer the clarity and depth of sound with my modern Cary pre amp ( Im looking forward however to getting my Peach when they are available) than I did with any vintage pre including the MX -110 and the C -22 . Josh

---------------- On 6/6/2004 8:22:46 AM mdeneen wrote: . Separate "phono amps" is not a scheme I put much faith in. mdeneen ---------------- Mark, I am curious as to why you feel this way. Josh

Great Find! No mater what the condition you will get your money back no problem! Josh

Here are numbers from Audiogon J New $1620.00 $920.00 High $920.00 Last $400.00 Low Used $710.00 av May 00 Apr 04 Klipsch Cornwall mkII released 1987, pr, 200 lbs

---------------- On 5/28/2004 9:20:47 AM ChrisK wrote: While we're on the subject of Rockasaurus... Derek & the Dominos - "In Concert" Grateful Dead - "Europe '72" Big Brother & the Holding Company - "Cheap Thrills" Allman Brothers Band - "At Fillmore East" The Beatles - "1" Steve Miller - "Brave New World" or "Fly Like An Eagle" Led Zeppelin - "I", "II", "III", "IV", "Houses Of The Holy", "Physical Grafitti" Jeff Beck - "Truth" Jimi Hendrix - "Jimi Plays Monterey" whew!...thanks for the reminder...been listening to mostly jazz and country lately...gotta catch up on some of this over the long weekend. Chris ---------------- I could do without the dead. Having grown up in SF i probably saw the Dead at least 30 times. Never thought much of them. Josh

I do not know if its available on CD, but my favorite performance of Bethovens 6th is on RCA LM6901 With Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra recorded in 1952. Mind you I did not say the best fidelity buy in opinion one of the best performances Josh

I know of a late 70s direct drive Pioneer (if my memory servesme it could be a yamaha) that I cold pick up for 75.00 and what ever shipping costs. Its at a local vintage stereo store I looks to be in suberb condition. If your interested I could easily find ou the model number etc. Josh

I showed my wife the ebay listing for the "ebony" belles to gauge reaction for possible placement in our living room - and low and behold she didnt have an issue. It could have something to do with the fact that I plied her with wine and had her listening to flute concertos, but non-the less she has officially endorsed me buying a pair of belles (I probably could have sold her on the K horns but I really dont have the corners for them). Any way while although she didnt mind the idea of the Belles she really did not like the look of the rosewood. Did they make belles in cherry or other not so loud grained options? Thanks josh

That is a big room! I too have a pretty large area to fill not quite as big as you have but with cathedral ceilings it is a lot of space to fill! With my cornwalls, I have used Hafler (ss), Parasound(ss), Vintage McIntosh (tube and ss), NOSValves Scotts, Cary(tubes) and Vintage Fisher. In my mind and to my ears the vintage Mcintosh tube gear fits the best for my situationa and my ears. Ill admit that maybe its because I lusted after Mcintosh equipment when I couldnt afford it. But even though it puts a smile on my face whenever I power up all those tubes! Josh

Have never owned the MC240. I have owned MC 30s (I cannot believe I sold them!!! ) And now own the pair of MC225s. I too would endorse the purchase via Terry DeWick or the folks at Audioclassics. I bought my first Mc225 from a local vintage stereo shop for 900 bucks. I wanted to add another so I could run them as mono blocks. I watched ebay and audiogon and to my dismay, units that were questionable were selling for a pretty penny. On a whim, I called audio classics. Lo and behold they had a very nice (no rust no pitting basically perfect) 225 that they sold me for 1500.00. It had been recapped and gone through - no hot rodding here just back to factory specs. I recieved the unint and it was perfect. I have since sent my first unit to them to be refurbished ( 300.00) and they are now both as new. Audio Classics has a reputation as being expensive. In my mind spending a few extra bucks to buy from reputable sourse - who knows these units- is way worth the money. What I have said about audioclasssics is also true of mcintoshaudio.com I do not think you can go wrong with either. However its very easy to go wrong in the big bad world of ebay! Josh

Great to hear! I cant wait for my Peachy! Josh

---------------- On 5/16/2004 8:02:18 PM Guy Landau wrote: Erik, IMO, Unlike many great vintage amps, most vintage preamps suck. I've owned some very sought after vintage preamps like Marantz 1's and 7, Scott 121's and Lafayette KT-600. With the exception of the Marantz 7, they do not sound as good as modern preamps that cost the same (some of them cost more than $3k). ---------------- Sucks might be a little strong..but I have to agree. Vintage power amps and modern preamps are the wat to go IMO Josh

I have owned a Rocket 88 and have also owned vintage MAC gear. When I bought the Rocket I told myself that this is like a modern MC 240 . Ill tell you that its not even close. Even after I had the Rocket Upgraded at Cary it didnt hold a candle to the Macs. I traded the Rocket for a SLI 80 from cary and have since sold that. There is a reason why folks continue to pay big bucks for Vintage Mac Gear - its really really good. Cary could only dream about producing a power amp that has the musical dynamics of a Mac. BTW I am now running MC 225s as %0 watt monoblocks and I have to tell you i cannot imagine anything sounding better to my ear. Josh