joshnich

Great thread. Taking everything into consideration, I prefer listening to SACDs. I have a modest SACD ( es222) and a modest tt (VPI HW-jr w/grado Sonata catridge) setup. I quesss the true test is that if what I want is available on SACD, that's the one I will buy. In fact it is hard for me to buy new redbook cds because I do not want to end up having to duplicate my purchase. I like sound and the romance of records but I think that even the most diehard vinyl fan would have to admit that there are times when they would rather not have to get up and turn the record over! josh

fini, youre killing me! Josh

---------------- Have you ever heard of "Jeff Golub" or "Mark Antoine"?? they're a couple of Contemporary jazz guitarists... I don't know what kind of music you normally listen to...but ...give them a try! ---------------- Thanks for the suggestion. Ill give em a listen! josh

Maybe the speakers I've lusted after for 20 years will end up on ebay. We'll see. ---------------- Please dont start that thread again - offer them to us first!!! Those are some sweet looking speaks. you owe it to yourself to give wm a fair shot before offering them to the masses! Josh

I used to split the difference. On Friday when I got home from work I would turn the system on and leave it on all weekend. That is until the same thing that happened to Dean happened to me! The toasted resister sounds very similar to what happened to my Cary. Seems one of the EL 84s went kaput. It sure seems like a pretty aggressive reaction to a bad tube. Since then I never leave it on unless I am going to be home - regardless of Carys recommendation to leave it on 24/7! josh

As I said I bought these army surplus for 25 bucks each. There were 4 of them available at the time. A friend of mine , who owned a recording studio, boght the other 2. He checked out all four and deemed the amps just fine. again I dont know sh! t about this stuff. As I said the tubes were tested as well. Keep in mind that this was 25 years ago. I kept them for 10 or 15 years. I am not saying they were unlistenable - but to my ear on " extreme" passages of classical or even heavy rock they clipped. I did have these amps serviced along the way at Resistance Repair in Berkeley - they also gave them a clean bill of health with everything being in spec. In fact it was the guy at resistance who suggested that I try a new pre amp. Its funny , but I ran into the guy I bought them with at a 30 year high school reunion just last week. He still has his and still uses them in his studio for something. All this being said, I do wish I still had them. But again they woudl stand behind my Cary and my 299 for a plave in my main system. josh

I find these threads very interesting so I'll add my two cents... First off I have to admit that I dont know a capacitor from a capgun - and I have sold my fair share of great equipment without thinking. I used to own a pair of MC 30s that I used to drive a pair of cornwalls ( the cornwalls are now in the able hands of Chris King). No, I didnt have them rebuilt - in fact I bought them army surplus for 25 bucks each - checked the tubes and hooked them up. I did not have a " quality pre amp" at the time. I ran through the pre amp section of my Marantz 2245 receiver - that is until I could afford a 100 dollar NAD preamp. Quite honestly the MC 30s and the cornwalls sounded wonderful Airy and very musical but I found I couldnt drive them at high volume with out them clipping and distorting - at least with demanding music. I switched to a Hafler solid state amp which sounded OK but it didnt clip. I sold the MC 30s at a garage sale ( I admited to being stupid) and continued to downsize. Having gotten back into this hobby, and a proud owner of one of craigs 299s I can tell you that for my ears the 299 is as musical as the MC 30s but without the distortion and clippping that I encountered. My cary Rocket 88 R sounds even more like the Mc30s but with way more "punch" , way more head room and more realistic sound. Again thats just the opinion of someone who knows nothing about this stuff from a technical standpoint. I just compare the way my instruments sound versus my system and go from there. josh

---------------- On 10/18/2003 7:15:44 AM Gilbert wrote: ..now that I've read through the posts, I've got list of CD's to sample. See ya! ---------------- No Kidding Gilbert! Actually that is why I started the thread ...to find some new music. I dont listen to the radio much but I read a fair bit but still, finding something new is hard. all to often I fall back into listening to old favs...not that there is any thing wrong with that. But for me there is a great joy in finding something new - that I actually like! josh

---------------- On 10/15/2003 11:47:40 AM bassetized wrote: Steve Earle- All American Boy-great cover of "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love & Understanding. Buddy & Julie Miller-great music from very talented people who seem to exceed their individual parts Yeah the All American Boy is an interesting work by one of my favorite singer/songwriters. I rarely agree with his politics but I admire his passion. I forget about Buddy and Julie They are terriffic. I think that Buddy is one of the best guitarists that I can remember seeing live. Josh

This forum is always a terrific place for info on audio equipment. But I find the most interesting threads are those that deal with music. Maybe its because I know more about the actual music than the audio equipment that people use to play it - but I think that lots of folks on this forum know their s**t. So what at re you listening to? Lets make this different from Allens last post (a great thread) of a similar title, and limit it to recordings made in the last 5 years! A short list... Merle Haggard - "If I could only fly" (dont laugh unless you have heard it!) Steve Earle " I feel alright" (ok maybe it over 5 years old) Rosanne Cash "Rules of Travel" Garrick Ohlsson "Pieces of a Dream" IMHO one of the best piano players you could hope to hear. Maria Muldar "Richland Woman Blues" Lyle Lovett " Step Insde This House" (IMHO his masterpiece) James McMurtry "Saint Mary of the Wood" Its funny but I listen to old jazz and classical but old and new almost everything else! What does that say if anything? josh

Once again fini is the source of calm ,reason, good humor and sense. OK this post wasn't very funny but it had the other stuff going for it! I think that you can get a pretty good sense for what kind of person you are dealing with by looking at what he or she has bought and sold, and by his feedback. I have over 70 ebay transactions and have yet to be seriously burned. Actually my only issue was a buyer who claimed damage that was impossible - he was most certainly looking to get a price reduction by threatening bad feedback. Other than that i have been most pleased - and I have bought some pretty high priced items on ebay - a BMW, a Serotta bike, lots of camera equipment and stereo stuff including two pairs of cornwalls. Again be carefull and if it feels wierd it is! Also take fini up on his offer - I know I would be happy to check speakers out for forum members and I am pretty sure others would as well. josh

He must of missed the recent Ella thread!

I bought 7 Ella Fitzgerald LPs today. 6 are mono Verve in perfect, as new condition. Ella Fitzgerald at the Opera House MGV 8264 Ella Fitzgerald sings the Duke Ellington song book (double LP) MGV 4008-2 Ella F. sings the Harold Arlen Song Book (double LP) V4046-2 Ella Swings Lightly MGV 4021 Mack the Knife - Ella in Berlin MGV 4041 Ella Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers. MGV 4032 The seventh is on Capitol Records "Brighten the Corner" a collection of sacred songs - also a mono disk. I am spinning my way through them right now and she sounds sweeter than ever on these recordings! I think that I did OK , paying 100 bucks for the lot. Josh

Its sad to admit, this is not BS and Im not pulling anyones chain! Josh

Giants are going home - at least they died hard - with apologies to Cub, Marlins, As, RedSox, Twin and Yankees fans - Baseball season is over! Josh

Its officialI am out of control. Since I Got back into this audio thing I have laughed with abandon at the hocus pocus hooey that otherwise smart people spend outrageous sums of coin on! Unfortunately, I have discovered that the interconnects make a huge difference and even more unsettling is that cryogenically treated tubes sound about million times better to my ear than non cryo treated tubes! It pains me to no end to admit this, I have spend a great deal of time and effort laughing and making fun of audio salon sales people who sound like wine critics. I dont know what to do. Who can I make fun of now! ? Seriously, the improved sound quality from a set of interconnects is astounding. The background I bought a Wright phono stage from a local retailer who mods everything he sells. Yes the Wright cost a few hundred bucks more than it does from Wright directly but it sounds a few thousand dollars better. The difference is the tubes (cryo treated ) and the wiring this guys own recipe. Chris King (yes the forum member who people drool most over his speakers ) and I picked up the phono stage, and while we were there another customer was comparing interconnect cables on a system driven by big ol VTL mono blocks. The difference between the interconnects was astounding, substantial and shocking. The sound stage opened up the instruments came alive really quite amazing. A pair of these interconnects came with my phono stage and I have rolled them through the system and everyone in the family (my wife, my 15 year old daughter, my 14 year old daughter and my 11 year old son) can blind test pick the new interconnects!!! I am saving up for another pair so I dont have to move these around. Now the tubes. Does anyone else have experience with cryo tubes? The phono stage came with them. I have since rolled them with NOS teles and the difference is astonishing. Again I hate to admit this but its true! I have since replaced the KT 88s in my Cary with low quality Chinese tubes that have been cryoed and the improvement in sound is 10 fold! Now I dont know what to do. Could it be that speaker wire stands make a difference? Well at least I have one thing to make fun of! Josh

The story goes that Astrud Gilberto was at the session to translate the portugese into english. When Stan Getz heard her sing he wanted her to sing on the recording. Thankfully he got his way. Both Jobim and Gilberto were against it, saying "she's a housewife not a singer!" josh

The legend goes, Fats Waller once said at a club where Tatum was in the audience, " ladies and Gentleman, I play the piano but tonight god is in the house" He is indeed a god. In my mind one of the greatest pianists ever. He does not get his due as I dont think many lay people ( non pianists) understand or appreciate what he is doing. Indeed you have to work a little to appreciate all he has to offer. This is not knock on people that do not like or appreciate him, I have just found that people who play tend to place him higher or at the top of their list, than people who do not have as intimate of a relationship with a keyboard josh

---------------- On 9/25/2003 1:01:55 PM Craig6519 wrote: Ok, I'm dumb, what's Forward Air. And thanks for the inputs Craig. Craig ---------------- Forward Air is the one of the best,least expensive ways to ship Cornwalls. They only ship terminal to terminal so you need to have a terminal nearby. Go to www.forwardair.com for the locations. The best way to ship is with the Cornwall Vault which last I heard is residing with audible nector and is being repaired. Fini also constructed his own pallet based container to shipp a pair recently. I highly recomend forward air they were a great and painless way to go. Josh

Craig, Here's the whole insides. josh

---------------- On 9/23/2003 10:23:23 PM DeanG wrote: Josh, If I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing in that picture -- unplug immediately and send it back to Dennis. ---------------- Not to worry I dont know enough to be poking around the back of one of these with it plugged in! Only with craig on the line telling me what to and what not to touch would I even consider it! josh

Thanks for the concern Craig, I did ID the source of the problem ... not the cause. I took the back off and was checking the resistance on the resistors - which were all fine- and noticed some teeny metal flakes on the inside of the back cover. A little more investigation and I found this cap off of one of the EL 84 s that has seen better days. Not sure what caused it. Ill be talking to the folks at Cary to see they think. Josh BTW the 299 is on as I type this and man o man is it sweet!!

---------------- On 9/23/2003 4:31:34 PM Randy Bey wrote: BTW I have found Cary to be super responsive and think that their customer service has been beyond stellar! yeah, well, I suppose if you get lots of their equipment and are constantly getting it fixed then you will have such a high opinion. As far as I'm concerned they're all a bunch of posers. ---------------- I am not sure if a pre amp and a power amp would qualify as "lots of equipment". In fact the Rocket 88 was purchased used (from a forum member), a fact which has not deterred them from giving me all the time and service that one would have expected from a recent "new purchaser". It is also not accurate to say that my Cary equipment has had to be fixed lots of times, unless once counts as a lot. I am not discounting your experience, only reporting on my experience. IMO if more companies treated folks the way I have been treated by Cary the world would be fine place indeed! Josh

---------------- On 9/23/2003 3:45:05 PM larryclare wrote: Forgive me for being simple-minded (hey, it's my speed), but did you unplug the headphone jack? ---------------- The headphone jack is in the preamp and I only used it to check if the issue was the preamp. I have since hooked the power amp up to another preamp with the same results. Thanks josh

---------------- On 9/22/2003 5:15:31 PM rtaylor wrote: 1)Thanks Kelley, guess maybe the output fuses were not checked the first time around? Easy enough to miss since the power fuse was good. 2)Not being familiar with the equipment was just going thru the standard rundown for possible cheap fixes. Still wonder if there is not a fuse in the one speaker blown. Since one channel is working now have you switched speaker wires around to see if this would be the problem? 3)Are you sure the other output fuse is not blown, I've seen fuses that look good but are not, worth a look. Sorry for stating the obvious, Randy ---------------- Thanks Randy, Yes it was easy to miss the obvious! But for me nothing is obvious. Anyway I tried switching trading the output tubes by channel and the input tubes as well. Still no luck - one channel remains dead. So I spoke with Kirk at Cary and he believes it to be a blown resister. He believes that one of the output tubes failed and that the resister before the tube output fuse is also tweaked. He gave me the option of sending the amp to them to fix or send me a replacement resister to have someone install or do myself. It sounds like a pretty easy task so Ill practice my soldering skills ( last tested building radio kits and slot cars 35 years ago ) and give it a go! Josh BTW I have found Cary to be super responsive and think that their customer service has been beyond stellar!