Travis In Austin

I have a line on some TSCM's that I am going to look at this weekend to purchase, and I need to know what to look for etc. Colter, Kevin, Bill W. are you out there? This just came up and I have to move fast so I thought I woud post here first and then send out some PM's. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks Travis

TheBes, I was reading your post with great interest, as I am usually prone to do given your gift of prose and spinning a yarn. As a matter of fact, I am was having a bit of hot tea in your honor as I read the responses. It figures that CBS is way off in their numbers. They are not even close. As you know, I am a big vinyl fan, have lots of it, and am always looking for more of it. I really wish it was true, that vinyl got it's groove back, but the fact of the matter is that vinyl is insignificant in the total U.S. music market. So why do they continue to make it? Because it is a high markup item, and idiots like me are more then willing to pay to pay twice what a cd costs for perceived (actual in most cases) superior sound , collectibility, nostalgia, to justify high $ turntable rigs, etc. Thus, on a limited scale, it is still profitable. LP's are now made in much smaller runs, 1,000, 2,000 maybe 5,000, and then they sell what they make. Depending on how fast they sold they may, or may not, run another batch. The day's of cutouts and bargin bins are pretty much over. All new vinyl is pretty much a limited edition, whether it is marketed that way or not. Why the growth last year? I am not really sure I think it is for a number of reasons, some previously stated in this thread. Things like folks, like me, that grew up with the lp format will continue to buy in that format as long as we can. Others see that it is still out there a plenty and that it is not difficult to get back into it and so they have. Others, still, have found, to their own ears, that it provides something that the digitial formats do not and so they have taken the splurge. You hear their stories in threads of this forum all the time. Now the real question. Why was it big news this year? Because it was about the only positive thing that the music industry had to report. CD sales have been in a decline for 4 years and even with downloads, total music sales have also been on a 4 year skid. So some music industry executive when asked about the 20% decline in sales responds with some good news: "Well that is true, but downloads sales are skyrocketinng and vinyl is making a comeback. Vinyl sales are up nearly 50% from last year." You sit back and get a warm fuzzy feeling inside with visions of giant vinyl retailers poping back up again, advertising that they stay open 'till midnight every day of the year with thousands of square feet of vinyl as far as the eye can see. Then you realize that when you look at the numbers, vinyl is not even a drop in the bucket. I too had romantic ideas of vinyl being stocked in every department and drug store once again when I heard the stories about vinyl sales on the rise. I was brought back to harsh reality by my bean counting wife's uncle. Her uncle used to be a top A&R man at A&M records until H & J sold it to Segrams. He then went to Nielson Soundscan, i.e, Billboard, the company that is charged with tracking music sales. He is really into vinyl, and we were sitting playing some of mine when they were in town earlier this year and I brought up the Wired article that came out in the spring that suggested that vinyl was going to be the death of the CD. He laughed and said, "I hate to burst your bubble but . . . ." He then went on to explain that it was true that LP shipments were in fact up over 35% from '06 to '07. He then had me guess what the total number of lp's shipped were in '07. I thougt 5 million so I said 3 million cause I knew it was a trick question. He said that the units shipped went from 900,000 units to 1.3 million. Well not bad right, I mean, that's 400,000, units, not chump change. The shape of things to come right? He explained that was a jump of $15,000,000 to almost 23M in sales, and that was the key to seeing it continue. I thought that was pretty impressive jump, but the numbers sounded so low. I then thought, well this is all relative, and I asked him what do these numbers really mean in relation to the whole picture. He said that was the other part of the story, as it was concerning vinyl, that was not being presented because the industry was searching to put a positive spin on anything in light of all of the bad news. In '07 over a half billion CD's were shipped, with sales of over 7.4 billion. That's billion with a B. The total U.S. music market in '07 was 10.3 billion, down almost 1.5 billion from '06. CD's were 83% of the market. Vinyl? 7/10 of 1%, a whopping 1/10 of 1% up from '06 (down 2/10 from '04, where vinyl was almost 1% of the market). To put that in perspective, SACD's accounted for 6/10 of 1% of sales. You remember SACD? That is the format that everyone is saying that is all but dead and gone. DVD-A sales are 1.2% of the market. It's not back, it's not even close to being back. But it is steady, and appears to be profitable to the extent that we are getting both great reissues and new stuff. Hopefully it will continue to be profitable for companies to be able to offer it at a price, while more expensive then CD/downloads, is still within the realm of reason. I agree with all of the atributes that have been mentioned by others here as to why it continues to be made and sold when the market has obviously gone for the CD. Now the good news I got today was that Tascam was talking about going back into making reel to reel machnes and I am dreaming of big return of reet to reel pre-recorded tapes (I'm a subscriber to the Tape Project, a total of 10 tapes that pop out 1 every couple of months). Well I can dream can't I? Travis

West Paterson Was hoping for something more along the lines of an address and what the owners' work schedule was, or if they were going on vacation soon. No reason, just curious.[6] Travis

Thanks for those nice and kind thoughts. I was quite surprised by the extravaganza my wife planned for me at a local rooftop club in downtown Austin. I was also surprised to see Luther and his wife Rose sitting in the corner with smiles on their faces. luther, I don't know about the photos, post away, I think they can take it. I was blown away when I walked through that door. Travis

Two nations separated by a common language Shaw? It figures that our resident wordsmith would know that. I think Wilde actually thought of the idea of a "common language" first, but Shaw cam up with the separated part. Travis

No it is a bad idea unless Bob Crites says it is ok to do so, otherwise you might be buying a replacement diaphram from him. Where are you located? What city and state. Travis

Two nations separated by a common language

Nice post of the Hi-Fi World photos Dean. Anyone know how big a publication that is over there? Travis

That is awesome. Can only wonder how it would be in person and live. Wow. Travis

Well sort of, but it is a start, a great start. As many of you know, fellow forum member dhtman lives in the UK and has a company called Artisan Audio. His company, I beleive, concentrates on products made by US audio companies that he imports to the U.K. He also owns Jubs but I am not sure whether he imports Klipsch speakers or not.. He apparently was at the Heathrow High Fidelity Show since Paul Messenger of Stereophile, in reviewing several exhibitors at the show said this: "I particularly enjoyed a system put together by newcomers Artisan Audio. Their small room was dwarfed by a pair of monstrous Klipsch Jubilee speakers--Klipschorns on steroids, and intended for movie theaters--driven by by tube amlification from Quicksilver Audio and fed by a Galiber turntable with an Atrisan tonearm." Not bad for Rogue speaker.[] Congrats to dhtman/Artisan Audio and Klipsch Travis

Nope, I burned 'em all after I read this: "Gilligan's" Mary Ann busted for marijuana By The Associated Press Article Last Updated: 03/11/2008 02:32:36 PM MDT Dawn Wells, the actress who played "Mary Ann" on Gilligan's Island, was sentenced Feb. 29, 2008, to five days in jail, fined $410.50 and placed on probation in Idaho after pleading guilty to one count of reckless driving. (Teton County Sheriff's Department) DRIGGS, IDAHO — Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," is serving six months' unsupervised probation after allegedly being caught with marijuana in her car. She was sentenced Feb. 29 to five days in jail, fined $410.50 and placed on probation after pleading guilty to one count of reckless driving. Under a plea agreement, three misdemeanor counts — driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance — were dropped. On Oct. 18, Teton County sheriff's Deputy Joseph Gutierrez arrested Wells as she was driving home from a surprise birthday party that was held for her. According to the sheriff's office report, Gutierrez pulled Wells over after noticing her swerve and repeatedly speed up and slow down. When Gutierrez asked about a marijuana smell, Wells said she'd just given a ride to three hitchhikers and had dropped them off when they began smoking something. Gutierrez found half-smoked joints and two small cases used to store marijuana. The 69-year-old Wells, founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute and organizer of the region's annual family movie festival called the Spud Fest, then failed a sobriety test. Wells' lawyer, Ron Swafford, said that a friend of Wells' testified that he'd left a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle after using it that day, and that Wells was unaware of it. Swafford also said several witnesses were prepared to testify that Wells had very little to drink at the party and was not intoxicated when she left. He said she was swerving on the road because she was trying to find the heater controls in her new car.

Sorry for the major, major, major bump on this thread but there is some new news on this subject that I think will cause many here to rethink there decision on this matter. There has been a question among the men of my generation that heretofore has been the subject of considerable debate and, occasionally, downright fist fights and mashing of teeth. As evidenced by this thread, It is such a fundamental question that it needs no set up, no background, no explanation of the question, or the reason it is being asked. You can gain more insight into a male, born between the years 1950 to 1970 (maybe beyond given syndication) by simply asking the question. Psychologists would like to be able to ask the question but can’t because it would reveal them for what they really are, overpaid and not nearly as good as an experienced bartender. Until now, I thought I knew the answer. It was a no-brainer. I digress, as I was thinking about this I suddenly realized that my friend Guy, who is the nephew of Ms. Wells, did not get a choice. If he didn’t go with “the movie star” they would have subjected him to all kinds of testing and probing, his family is from Reno, not Arkansas after all. So my friend Guy is the only guy (as in male, not the only person named Guy) I know who gets a legitimate pass on the question as he has to go with Ginger. Back to the story, any hoooooo, you all know what the arguments are for each one, and why going for one or the other says so much about you. Since I was 5 years old, 1965, I have been “Ginger.” I never wavered, never faltered, and never hesitated, not even one time. Over time the reasons for being a Ginger obviously change, and for some cause them to jump ship and go over to “and the rest.” Not me, once a Ginger always a Ginger. I can’t remember the reasons but I am sure they had to be different when I was 5 as compared to when I was 14, but whatever they were, they were always Ginger. Later in life I came to realize that with Ginger it was going to cost every red cent I made and surely lead to an early bypass, that didn’t matter because you just knew it was going to be worth the ride. To me I never understood why there was even a question. It was so fundamental it would be like asking “Ginger or Mrs. Howell” (although she had big bucks I could see some going that way, she never made it into the question). I understand there are those that take exactly the opposite view, and have feelings just as strong about Mary Ann, but that’s why the question is so revealing, so fundamental, and, at least until now, impossible to answer definitively. All of that changed today, my world has been shattered. I am here now, in public, bearing my soul and confessing that I am switching to Mary Ann. After 40 years of being “a Ginger” I saw the light when I came across this article today: Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," is serving six months' unsupervised probation View Full Story Mary Ann is COOL, and that beats out anything Ginger ever could be. Ginger, I’m sorry, but you just can’t beat COOL. Good looks, sex appeal, charm, a body built for sin, etc., etc. only go so far and only last so long. COOL never goes out of style, COOL never diminishes, COOL never dims. Mary Ann, I’m sorry I did not see the light earlier. All I can say is that I will try to recompense for the error in my ways. Where ever and whenever the question is raised I will be the standard bearer for Mary Ann. Travis P.S. Marsha, Jan or Cindy?

I'm a huge fan, since '78. Someone gave me Exciteable Boy b/c they said I looked a bit like him at the time. Saw him several times. He was a great great songwriter that everyone in the LA. music business loved but wanted to see out front. His touring band was pretty much Linda Ronstadt's band, at least it was when I saw him, including Waddy Wachtel. He ran in the Jackson Browne, Eagles, Ronstadt, Buckingham Nicks crowd of L.A. They all recorded his songs. Pick up his Transverse LP, he gets some help from some unheard of's like Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, and David Gilmour. Now I'm hungery, guess I'll need to head over to a place called Lee Ho Fooks. (The chow mein is to die for) Travis

What you need to do is skip that bunker, and store your valuable vinyl collection in Austin at Casa de Williamson. The bunker is going to give you a false sense of security when the hurricanes come when you should be evaucating. What you need to do is store everything up here and that way you have good incentive to evacuate and stay with us everytime a hurricane comes. With that bunker is it a sealed steel floor? If not, it is obviously going to leak, if so how do you keep it from floating up, Are you going to sink concrete piers under the bunker and anchor it to the piers? Travis

What you need is one of these, a hurricane proof, monolithic dome.

I want one. What did you figure the parts where going to run? Travis

Well the intitial impressions are: Holy Cow, this is the set to own. Hands down, no comparison, with the exception of DCC and R2R prerecorded. They blow away the tan and butterfly labels in every respect. The Jap. Imp. of The Doors is good, but with the Morrison way more out front, I would say it is preference on that one, but I much prefer the Rhino. Toss the MSFL The Doors. The 71/2 IPS tape is vitrually identical to the S/T Rhino stereo, but the Rhino is slightly clearer on the symbols. The best version of The End I have every heard which is saying A LOT for the Rhino vinyl. It is very tought to beat the 7.5 IPS tapes. I got a good number because I ordered direct from Rhino, the day it was announced that they were doing a CD and LP reissued. The Rhino CD issue is something worth getting as well. Three of the lp's covers have that damage, almost a split at the top, not quite and have a 1" white area. That was a bummer. The lead in between songs have a lot of noise in places, but nothing during the song itself, even in a quite passage of the song. I still have to compare the Rhino Mono The Doors, with my original issue mono. That is goning to be a big one for me to compare. I'm with Gary, you can sell the red labels, the MFSL, the imports, and go with this set and you are going to be more then happy. I still have to listen to the DCC's and the Mono and will update on that. Travis

Well it has all been said before. He not only is great with repair/restoration, including vintage Mac, he really stands behind his own stuff as well. I bought VRD's from a forum member and he offered to go through them, no charge, to make sure everything was a ok.. He stands behind his stuff 100% His only drawback is that he is bit shy and very unopinionated. I am hoping that shows like AK Fest draw him out of his shell and he tells us all what he really thinks on a variety of topics.[:|] Happy Birthday Craig. Travis

Try calling Mark, he is happy to answer the phone on the weekends. I have "waited 'til Monday" myself to call only to be scolded by Mark saying he had nothing to do all weekend, why didn't I call on Saturday. If the machine answers and he doesn't get back to you it means he is unavailable, but don't be surprised to get a call over the weekend. I would email him your phone number as well and he will get back to you. The ONLY time I had to wait to hear from him was when he was on the road to Rocky Mountain Audio fest, and he still found time to check his emails and get back to me in the middle of all of that. You obviously had a bad rectifier, and you may have another one. But like Wooly Tom says, there could be some problem upstream that is causing probs with that rectifier. Don't rely on your fuses anymore, talk to mark. Travis

Tha't's Roger, always a smile on his face. Sorry I missed it again this year, I was almost there, talked to Luther (Wardsweb) on Wed, go this flight info and was hoping I could get something moved on Friday and I couldn't. So next year for sure. Did y'all run into Luther at the Show? Travis

Hey, thanks for thinking of me Gary and Luther, Yes been battling the giants at City Hall trying to keep a cop from losing his job. My set arrived day before yesterday, have not unwraped it, but it is No. 239. I'm really looking forward to listening to these based on what I have read from Gary. The Doors are one of my all time favorite bands, I have an original pressing of every LP in Stereo, I have an original mono pressing of The Doors and Waiting for the Son, Japan Import ala Gary of The Doors, the MFSL The Doors, a couple of Gemma LP's, some of the red lable second issues, and prerecorded R2R of every LP. The people involved in this project are all top notch and so I was really hoping for great things when I preordered this about a years ago, the day Rhino announced it. Based on what Gary has heard so far it sounds like this one is well worth the wait, even if it is to have a stereo version of The Doors at proper speed. Can't wait to let 'er rip, now the only decision is to decide which one start with. Travis

Larry Claire tried to explain this to me once, and I did some reading up on it, and got even more confused, so maybe he will jump in here. According to Larry, 2nd and 3rd harmonics go way, way above 20hz. And even though you may be limited in that range, the brain can still pick up the differences. Travis

Sam Tellig, the reviewer in Stereophile, bought the review pair of LaScalas he was loaned to audition. From there he gave them an "A" rating in their anual list of reccomended products. He listed that he added super-tweeters to his set up, but I cannot remember which brand. He said it was a dramatic and nice improvement. Travis

Mine is showing as shipping but I will believe it when I see it. Travis

Anyone order the limited edition box set of The Doors? It is due out on 4/22, but the date has kept moving back for about a year now. The vinyl is supposedly all ready pressed at RTI, and is ready to be boxed or has already been boxed. The issue started off being a run of 2,500 I believe, then they said that was for US and because of demand they were doing going to do a world wide issue of 12,500, numbered, limited edition. During the last couple of weeks the price has risen from 150.00 to between 180 and 200 per box at Acoustic Sounds, Elusive and Direct Music. The last time I checked today you could still get it on Amazon for 150. Just wondered who else may have ordered this. Travis