joshnich

Thanks Craig, We"ll keep the tube biasing escapade to ourselves!! I will certainly take you up on your kind offer once I exhaust my own feeble attempts. I am kind of on a mission to solve it myself...you know the feeling of accomplishment and all that! Josh

Hello all, Thanks again for all the info - believe you me I am such a moron ( as Craig can attest!!) on these sorts of things, every bit of info helps. I spoke with Dennis Had at Cary and explained the problem. He was very very helpful and somewhat flummoxed at the issue. He suggested that before we go any further that I switch both the output and input tubes by channel to ensure that is not the issue. I plan on doing so this evening. Hopefully its just a tube! Wish me luck. Thanks again Josh

Turns out that there is an output tube fuse that I could not see as it resides behind one of the transformers. That fuse was blown. In the meantime I put in another set of output tubes that I have but have never used, to see if that was the issue. I have replaced the fuse and now only one channel is working. Yikes! I am waithing for the tubes to cool down before putting the originals back in . Thanks for your help hopefully the original tubes will work ...Ill let you know! Josh

Woke up this morning dropped a record on the TT and ....No sound!! Tried a CD and again ...NO Sound! It appears to be something with the power amp as I do get sound out of the headphone jack on the preamp for both CD and Phono. All thhe tubes are lighting up and I checked the fuses. All was well when I went to bed last night. I left the pre and power amp on as I usually do but this morning it just didnt work. I fear that the power amp is on its way to NC for a little repair. Its a hassle but not to horrible as I have a NOS VALVES 299 to take its place while its away. Any thoughts on trouble shooting would be great. Thanks in advance Josh

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I have not read the CW test . I go by my ears. I have some solid state amps that I quite liked with my paradigm monitors. But with the Cornwalls and the kind of music I find myself listening to the majority of the time (acoustic, Jazz, Classical - all for the most part without amplified intstruments) tubes sound more like I am really there. Much closer to the way a real instrument sounds. My cornwalls are in the same room with my 7 foot Schimmel and my 69 D28 and I can tell you its hard to tell the record form those fine acoustic instruments. I am sure there are great sold state amps. My point to Brent was to try out some tubes with his new speaks, if he hadnt already done so. Josh

Welcome, You say you prefer ss, but have you listened to your cornwalls with tubes? I think that you owe it to yourself to try tubes again I think you wil be amazed at the improvement . On the wire...I was always very skeptical on claims of dramatic improvements by virtue of cables or speaaker wires. I am now a convert. Not that you need to spend outrageous amounts of money, but quality speaker wire and interconnects make a dramatic difference...at least with my tube equipment. Josh

Goog on ya for posting them here! I hope you get close to what you"re asking. BTW how do the new beasts sound? Josh

Chris/Fini If my memory serves me, that would be Mickey Mouse Mickey Mantle and.......Mickey Way! Josh

Fini, I f my memory serves me, wimpy womply wobbly is from the great National Lampoon poetry collection. Josh

I love SACD. No it's not vinyl - but its pretty close. And you dont have to vacuum, brush, buy sleeves, covers , or turn and change records, etc etc. Yes there is a romance to the vinyl process that I think all vinyl lovers (including me) enjoy. But sometimes (most of the time) I like putting on a group of CDs and going on about my business with the music blasting. Being unsure about the future I did not go hog wild on a changer but opted for what I felt was the best for the most reasonable cost, the Sony scd222es which is also a fine Redbook unit. It will never replace vinyl for critical listening but for everyday enjoyment and ease of use it's hard to beat! Josh

I have to add my two cents to the craigfest. My 299a is one sweet sounding unit due to his handywork. His customer service is beyond great - completely and totaly exceeds very high expectations! He is very generous with his time and knowlege and most importantly patient with bozos like me! Josh

It might just be me, but my mind goes elsewhere when I think of a "nice rack" Josh

The gear going on the rack is as follows... VPI HW 19 TT Wright Phono stage Carey SLP 88 Preamp Cary Rocket 88 R Amp ( BTW the R retrofit made this an amazing piece. - an unbelievable improvement!) Sony scd222es SACD Changer Adcam Line conditioner Thats the gear for now ...but you never know! Thanks again Josh

Thanks Kelly, I think that the price is pretty much open because if I do not find something more aesthetic my wife wil hire a cabinet maker to build something - which I will more than likely cost a fair coin. But like most folks I wold love to get something that looks and "sounds" good without spending an arm or a leg - much like I think most of us on this forum approach this hobby. The truth is I dont really know what my budget should be on this. I am not adverse to DYI depending on the woodworking tools needed. Thanks again josh

I am starting to look for a new rack / stand for my components. My main system is currently on an inexpensive VTL 4 shelf rack. The system includes a Turntable , Preamp, Phono stage, Power amp, Line Conditioner and a SACD changer. I need a little more room, but the main reason I am looking is because I dont like the cheap look of the VTL - particularly the fake wood grain shelfs. Any ideas/insight would be great Thanks josh

---------------- On 9/4/2003 9:56:27 AM mobile homeless wrote: Throw on The Graduate, Five EAsy Pieces, Annie Hall, My Left Foot, Cinema Paradiso, Midnight Cowboy, You Can Count on Me, and suddenly you have the ultimate snap, crackle, pop of rain drops and over accentuated siblants in dialog. A simple drop of a book suddenly takes on TOO MUCH significance. Kelly, Knowing your taste in movies, I will now give more credence to your perspective on audio gear ! Josh

---------------- On 8/29/2003 11:35:09 AM bclarke421 wrote: When I looked around, the 16.5 seemed to be about the same price everywhere. Any recommendations? ---------------- I dont know about the VPI, but i bought my Nitty Gritty direct from the company. I called them and asked if they had any demos etc. I ended up getting the Record Master with an Oak base for the cost of a basic 1.0. They said it was a demo but it was hard to believe that it had been used at all. josh

I have been calling every church in the country. Better get there before I figure out which one it is! Josh

You gotta love this forum. Where else can a post about overpriced vintage audio gear morph into a discussion on the american dream! Its great! josh

---------------- On 8/17/2003 11:19:56 PM Allan Songer wrote: Here's what's going to happen in October here in CA. Davis WILL be recalled--he's a money grubbing old-time pol who deserves the sh*t storm he sailed into and even though I am against the recall I will shed no tears for Gray Davis.The hardcore right will vote for McLintock and/or Simon, moderate Republicans (oh how I HATE that term!) will vote for Arnold. Hispanics, African Americans and hardcore Democrats will vote for Cruz Bustamante who will be our next Governor. I am a life-long liberal Democrat who is just about fed up---just to give you all an idea about how AWFUL things are for small businesses here, get a load of these numbers. In 1998 I employed 83 people and my Workers Compensation insurance premiums set me back some $88,000 per year. In 2003 I employed 85 people and my premiums were $396,000. And now were going to have PAID family leave starting next year. OH BOY! If there were any demand for film props and set dressing in Texas or Arizona I'm sure we'd be considering a move. One thing about Arnold, he's got the support of just about EVERYONE I TALK TO in the film business (all "below the line" drones) because they are convinced he'll do something to make CA in general and LA in particular more attractive to filmmakers with tax breaks, etc. In a very evil, dark part of my soul I fully understand . . . ---------------- Yes our workers comp is the highest in the country but you also have to understand that we also have the worst workmans comp benefits in the country. Only Gray Davis, the Lt Gov and the liberal state legislature could combine forces on such a feat! No you can dream that Cuz B will be our next gov. The fact is that the politicians, including our Lt guv have screwed this place up. One can only hope that smart people in this state will not elect another politician and either Arnold or the ex b-ball commish will prevail. Joshnich

---------------- On 8/15/2003 10:56:07 PM prodj101 wrote: now that I am listening more primarily to jazz, I have found I don't buy any more CD's, and instead almost 99% of recordings I buy are SACD's. www.acousticsounds.com has no shortage of jazz SACD's, so I don't see why not, and the sound is soooooo much better. cd's just don't seem worthy anymore... ---------------- While I do not have a problem per say with traditional CDs I do certainly recognize the superiority of SACDs and Vinyl. For me the SACD is the easiest no hassle way to the best sound for the dollar. No worries with record cleaning, storage sleeves and all the other fun stuff that goes with vinyl. I too find it hard to buy traditional cds knowing that when a release that I like comes out on SACD I wll replace it. A case in point is the New John Mellencamp CD he recorded it on vintage analog equipment but to my knowlege its not out on SACD or vinyl! I have resisted buying it because I know I will only buy it a agian on SACD hoefully when its available. Yes like any other format there are good mixes and bad mixes and good and bad performances. And this will certainly continue to be the case as the companies start making their libraries available on SACD. But I say bring em on and let me decide to buy them or not. BTW Sony just dropped the standard price of their SACDs to I believe 16.95 down from 19.99 Good news to those of us who are committed to this format. josh

There was a pair of brand new ALK crossovers for cornwalls that just sold on Audiogon. I am curious if someone on the forum bought them (or was the seller). I sent the seller a number of emails but never got a response next thing I see is SOLD on the listing. Anyway if someone on the forum did buy them, I would be interested in their impressions. Building a set is a project that I might undertake at some point. Thanks Josh Nichol Scott 299a NosValves Klipsch Cornwalls 1984 Klipsch Cornwalls 1977 Fisher 400 Sony scd222es SACD VPI HW-19jr w/ audioquest PT9 arm and Sumiko Blue Point Tandberg model 6 Reel to Reel Teac 2340 Reel to Reel Warfedale W-70s Dual 1009 w/Shure V-15

Lots of options available with lots of options on cost as well. All things considered, I would find it hard to beat a Scott 299 rebuilt by Craig at nosvalves. I am not a tech guy so I cant tell you technically why this is the case (not to worry because I am sure someone will chime in). But I am a musician and for my ears the NosValves 299 is very musical and dynamic. I am sure that there are specs that would support this, and others that would suggest the opposite is true but thankfully you do not listen to specs you listen to music. The price is very attractive and Craig stands by his work. But rest assures there is always the opportunity to upgrade change and tinker! Joshnich 1977 Cornwalls 1984 Cornwalls Scott 299a NosValves Fisher 400 VPI HW 19 w Audioquest PT/9 and Sumiko Blue Point Dual 1009 Shure V15 Warfedale W 70s Tandberg Model 6 Reel to Reel Teac 3340 Reel to reel Sony 222es SACD player

Sounds like congratulations are in order! What did you get ? Check with Luckyleeroy and audionector as the vault is on the way to them having left my back porch a little over a week ago. josh 1984 Cornwalls 1977 Cornwalls 299a NosValves Fisher 400 VPI HW19jr w/Sumilo Blue point audioquest pt9 arm Warfedale W70s Sony 222es SACD player DUAL 1009 and lots more