Travis In Austin
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Posts posted by Travis In Austin
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This was taken year before last on the back porch of our mountain cabin. The lovely lady on the left is my wife Debbie, whom I freely admit I do not deserve. I am on the right standing in front of the refrigerator. Judging by the looks of me, I obviously do this quite a bit. Now the young man frantically escaping down the steps is my sons friend Corey. He was standing next to me seconds before this picture was taken. Based on the puzzled look on my face and the horrified look on his, I would have to say I must still have been releasing noxious emissions into the atmosphere from the Roasted Garlic my wife prepared the night before.....[
]Jorjen,
Man you really are a die hard 49'ers fan. Do you own anything that is not red and gold? I grew up in the Bay Area, a Raiders fan, and (hold on for this one), a Rams fan. You poor guys had Brodie and I think the Rams won the West 8 years in a row, maybe longer, until y'all got Joe. One thing is for sure, going to Candlestick (tickets were easy to come by back then) in blue and white sure toughened me up, worse then being a boy named Sue. I sure prefered when we went to home games in Oakland.
What area is your Cabin in? We did the same thing growing up, your kids will thank you big time for that later on.
Travis
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Dave,
Glad to hear that you are going toi be ready for the Easter Bunny's delivery. I am really impressed with how much you were able to do on that thing. I don't think I would have attempted half of what you were able to get in good working order.
I will let you know when the package flys.
Travis
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Very nice of you to offer them on here free, and rudamentry fits right in with Michael's ability, he is after all in technical support.[8-|]
Travis
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Thanks so much for the kind words guys, it's been a long journey, but well worth it. The room measurements are 20x23x10.5 and the room measures +/- 1.5db and the decay measurements are incredible. The tubes weren't that hard to make, and really weren't overly expensive, if anyone wants a hand drop me a line and we can hook up by phone. If you're ever in the DFW area, please feel free to get ahold of me and come by for a listen, it's pretty cool. Up next for it is 2 of those tube lights you see in the picture, but that change color on a slow phased cycle, I kinda want a light show sometimes [6] We'll probably do infinite baffle subs this summer as well....
Arthurs,
What part of the metroplex are you in? I really want to talk to you about those prototype speakers. I went to their web site, some beautiful stuff. I think it is beyond my DIY ability, but would love to talk to you about them some more.
Travis
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Michael,
Email me your cell, I don't have it here
Travis
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$16k at Audio/Video Systems and I'm pretty sure that's MSRP. Now, if you're really interested, they'll make you "a pretty good deal."
-David
I'm sure they would make you a great deal, seeing as how you can get them all day long for 13K a pair with free shipping. See http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/542999796
Travis
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Here's a little something I designed with the 60th in mind. It's sized for a 1024x768 desktop.
Michael,
Do I have your permission to use for screensaver?
Travis
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Phil,
I also meant to say in my original response that you really should take Larry up on his offer. In fact, you should try and see if he will let you take your whole TT rig and some LPs with you to his house and you he will get you set up like nobody can. He has been a wealth of knowledge and help to me. Plus, you will get to see how one of your lp's will sound with a very, very, very high-end cartiridge on one of the best tracking tonearms on the face of the planet. Of course once you do, you will never look back.
Travis
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Travis, FWIW, my opinion is that a better cart can make noise LESS noticeable! It might be because the stylus rides at a different level in the groove, where previous cartridges might have left much wear and dust ground into the groove, or because it might react more precisely to the groove which might in turn reduce noise-exaggerating distortion (which I think can be part of the problem). I also think that the music separates out better from the noise with a good cartridge as well as a good tonearm.
By the way, how's the rest of your cartridge tryout coming, and what are you finding about how noise vs. music reproduces with the ones you've tried so far? Some of us think the Vector is exemplary in the noise department.
Larry
Larry,
I agree that a better cartride can casue less noise if you go from an eliptical to line contact like the Transfiguration and the Koetsu. Thus, moving from say a Shelter with eliptical, to a line contact will for sure cause less noise, that is a proven fact. However, in my post of above, I was talking in general terms. I think moving from a low cost MM, Ortofon, Shure, to a high dollar MC a record with groove damage is going to become much more apparent. However, I don't believe the noise our friend is describing is going to deminish with a better cart. I agree with you, that once you move up beyond a certain level, better cart will make noise less noticable.
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Uh oh, the first replies are referring to me in the dreaded third person again. The kindly staff at the Happy Valley Funny Farm used to discuss me in the same manner.
Yes the DWIlawyers of the realm will stand aside if they can but the battle lines are drawn, the forces are on the march. If we fall then all to soon you will be crushed under the boot heels of the Ipod Nation. You'll be bundled aboard trains and shipped off to the dreaded Macarana Camps.
(Double uh,oh. The Twins just spotted my reference to camp followers. Now as I sit here typing this they are double-teaming me by flicking my earlobes. I think I'd better get back on the line.)
The pen, as you so aptley demonstrate my good friend thebes, is mightier then the sword. Someone has to venture out, someone has to find new ground worth defending, worth saving, worth resurrecting (Its Easter).
Travis
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Hi guys,
Recently I setup a 2 channel system with a Rega TT. I have patiently gone through set-up issues and feel like I am perhaps 75% - 85% finished in that regard.
My old vinyl has been in storage for 20 + years and really sounds like crap. All-in-all my records sound like a box of rice crispies with about a gallon of milk poured over it.
I am wondering if perhaps my old TT (Technics of some type) with it's cartridge was so cheap that it didn't pick this up and my Rega is, or, do I need to do a complete cleaning of my records. I have not cleaned them and don't have a cleaning kit yet. I was reading on some web site that some do not believe in cleaning vinyl.
What do you think?
Phil
Phil,
I forgot, do you have the link to that web site? I think what you may be referring to is most folks would say after you do a good wet cleaning of a record, either with orbitrac, or disk doctor, whether by machine or hand, you do not need to clean it from there. I agree with this. But you do need to do a dry clean before each play. With a brush such as the _________ dang the brand is escaping me. It has carbon fibre plus a felt pad to clean surface dust with the felt and groove dust with the carbon fibre. I am too lazy to go up stairs and look, but they are sold everywhere.
Travis
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Mallett the Easter Bunny dropped something off something at my door for you by mistake, I need your address, you have an email from me.
WIth regard to pops and clicks.
There are a lot of threads and topics here about cleaning records that you can search. The orbitrac is a highly reccomended system by everyone I know who uses it. I cannot reccoment highly enough the Disc Doctor brushes and cleaner. You can use it manually as well. There is another system you can use available from Garage records where the record sits in a bath of cleaner and you rotate the record manually.
I don't agree that you have to live with pops and clicks if you listen to viny. I have an original Miles Davis Kind of Blue 6 Eye label in both stereo and mono, both of which are almost 50 years old and neither one of them have a pop or click on them. I also have some Blue Note Jazz lps that no matter what amount of cleaning or treatment are simply unplayable. The surface noise is horrible. There is not a visable scratch or nick in these records, they look beautiful, but sound so scratchy they are worthless.
What's the difference? Pop typically more of a function of static electricity. Everytime you play the record, clean it in a circular motion, put it in or pull it out of a sleeve (that is not anti-static) you are developoing static. The way to get rid of this is to buy a Milty anti-static gun. They work, they last forever, and you will love it. Just don't try to take it with you in carry on luggage (that's a story for a different time). Now clicks, which are a bit differeent in sound, are usualy caused by scratches in the record. You hear a brief click and then about a second later a click, and so on until the needle is no longer going through that scratch. Nothing you can do about that. There is a polymer product for sale that claims to eliminate or reduce the noise from that, but it's crap.
Then you get to the surface noise stuff, in the quiet part of the lp, like the lead in groove, between songs, you hear noise, a grinding, raspy noise. A good cleaning MAY compleately eliminate that noise. If the noise is from dirt, dust, beer, smoke (tobacco and otherwise), mold release compount (Max would spell it mould on that side of the pond), etc. that has built up in the grooves you can get that out of there and it will play fine. However, is someone has played the record with all of that gunk in there, espically multiple times, then you are screwed. As someone already stated, this stuff gets burned or etched into the groove walls. I cannot remember what the tempratures folks claim are reached in the groove wall by the pressure of the needle, but it is quite high, way more then you would expect. Cleaning is essential to keeping a great record sounding great. A good wet clean on any record, new or used, and then dry before every play will keep your records noise FREE.
The other problem is damage caused by an old type stylus or worn needle. I don't know about you, but when I was a kid my parents got us "phonograph." A box with a turntable and a speaker built into it. On that tonearm there was a needle that you could filp from 33 to 78. There was a stylus on one side and you could flip it over to the other. Some were even mono and stereo. These "el cheepo" needles were saphire. They were designed to be used for 100 or so hours and then replaced. Of course they never were, they were played until the saphire practically wore off. While that was happening the needle was destroying the groove walls. The same thing happens with an old worn out diamond needle. The diamond needles is using tracking at a fraction of the weight as the saphire because they were usually on much better tonearms and in much better cartridges, but diamonds don't give and they can do a lot of damage in a hurry. They can even do more damage if they track at too light of force rather then too heavy because the needle is not sitting in the groove well, it is bouncing from side to side. THERE IS NOTHING you can do about this damage and only a good cleaning and a subsequent play is going to tell you if that is your problem.
So, you want to make sure you have a good stylus that is in good shape. Someone recently mentioned that the audio stores used to have microscopes that could check the condition, but none do now. I would not even know what to look for if I had acess to one, but I am told it is pretty evident when you see a worn cartridge. Outside of that you need to keep track, in some loose way, of how much time you have on the cartridge.
Now to your question, can an improved cartridge/stylus make the noise more noticeable. Absolutely! A great cartridge can turn an lp that was almost noise free into your worst nightmare, because that is what you are paying for. To get more information out of the groove wall. Usually, you are going to pick up more noise with a better cartridge but it is relative. If you had a fairly decent one before, and have no noise, you are not going to pick up anything more if you move up. If you had a an inexpensive one with a stiff cantilever and move way up to one designed to get every possible vibration out of the groove wall you are going to hear things you never heard before, both in the music (the good stuff) and in terms of damage in the grooves (the bad stuff).
The shape of the stylus also plays into this. Conical vs. eliptical vs. line contact. An eliptical is going to cause less wear then a conical, and a line contact is even better because you are going with it's shape you are going to get less groove noise, and you will also get less wear.
With regard to home made record cleaners, there are bunch of receipies on the net. Before you use one I would reccomend that you get a record that you don't really care about, that you know is relatively noise free, and try out the home brew and give it a play. Some of the suggested home brews leave a lot of residue, that will result in damage either to your record, or your stylus.
Oh, one last thing, with this type of question, if you ask 10 people you will get 15 different opinions. Of which 10 will be pretty valid, 2 will be tounge in cheek, 1 will be off topic, and 2 will be so far out there you don't know what they are thinking.
Hope this helps,
Travis
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That was a major bourbon buzz killer. I had to think to much and it shifted my whole preception out of whack.
What about cool cats just wanting to get into the groove? Can't we be netural? Must we gird our loins in order to dig the beat? Rather then be a champion of my camp, I think I will brave the mighty unknow, and follow the lot of the crusaders, the explorers, the conquestadors--gaining satisfaction that I might tread where no man has ventured before.
Outside of that, I think I will fix another bourbon and play some Doors and get back to where I was before.
Travis
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OK JB, here's a shot with both the little Kaisers[
] Just tryin' to hold my own and keep up with these little guys at 50[]Holly Cow Kaiser,
Those are some cute boys. (I'm guessing they take after their mother, or the UPS driver?) Edit: Picky beat me to it, but I had an alternate explaniation, JK of course. You better be prepared to having to deal with some real mad daughter's fathers in about 10 or 11 years. You are really going to have your hands full and girls are going to be calling at all hours of the night. You might as well put in a second phone line and get them each their own little cell phone now so that you will be able to use your home phone.
Travis
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No way he is going to move off of there without a fight.
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This was four month prior
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I rest my case.
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Fork over some receipies.
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I know guys---it's way O.T. - but just quickly here for Travis----
First she bakes a bunch of boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Then she has a huge rice cooker and cooks up a huge batch of rice.
She then steams various vegetables.
The rice and vegetables are put in a container.
The chicken is diced in the food processor and put in a separate container.
That's about 3 days worth of food. There is a ratio she has of how much chicken and how much rice etc. The dogs love it, whatever it is.
Ok, back to the jubs.....
Dang,
They were right, I would be happy with the just the dog food at your house. I printed it out for my wife and she said real easy and it going to give it a try. Do you think that the organic part has anything to do with it?
Ok, back to the Jubs,
Travis
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rmlowz,
Looks like you'll be getting some company!
I didn't realize there were a number of us around the area. Central Texas seems lacking of people who like big toys.
Pzan,
Are you in Austin also? What part?
Travis
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Wow!! I just got the speakers home and (after a run to the Shack for some banana clips) have them up and running... of sorts. I'd put some pics up, but I appear to be befuddled by just how such technical wizardry occurs (I've seen that others have had this issue before, now I see dragging and dropping a picture just don't fly).
The speakers look and sound fantastic; and, as soon as get some false corners ("Corners? We don't need no stinkin' corners!") up and, perhaps, get the Khorns further apart than five feet center cone to center cone, I'll bet they sound even a tad better.
The transaction went very smooth, and rmlowz gave me a stellar deal. And, as far as his concern over hosting a function in his listening room, I must say it's ill founded. His A/V room is the stuff of legend. Perhaps not huge, but wonderfully executed (I'm thinking I need a few of those acoustic tiles hanging around myself...) . All in all, a very rewarding experience.
So, anyone know how to make a five foot high false corner, floating in the middle of a room, look attractive? I'm all ears/
Polvo,
(Love that resturant by the way) To post picks, hit reply, use far right slide bar to go to top of page, click on options, then click on file attachement, then you just find where your photo is, click on it. One photo per post, more advanced useres then I know how to string two or three together, but I can only do one per post. If you have trouble let me know, you can email them to me, and I can post them for you.
Travis
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Mark,
I think you have some winners there, oustanding job. From the couple of hours that they played I was very impressed. Beautiful build job too.
Sorry to have worded my original post kinda crazy, just was very excited about the delivery day. My cats were all over everything trying to help set them up. They were very interested in the new cats in the house. Hope they are playing nice while I am at work here.
I will post my review in a few days, when I get to spend more time with them.
Jeff
I'm convinced that Mark puts something in or on all of his products on purpose that makes cats high. Anytime something arrives from Ferndale I cannot keep my cat away from it. I have to practily fight him off the box, and when it's opened he is all over the equipment and I have to fight him back to get to it.
Mark, are you buying recycled boxes from Humbolt County?
Congratulations on your pCats Jeff, looking forward to the review and some photos.
Travis
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My wife got the positively brilliant (and energetic) idea to start cooking for our 2 dogs about 6 months ago. All organic, all local and all natural. Our dogs have never been better. The 9 year old suddenly got rid of an ear problem that had already cost us $2000 in vet bills. The dogs look healthier, and act healthier. Needless to say they love dinner time too!
Fork over some receipies.
Travis
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Man,
Y'all are mean. Wow, I hope I don't ever make Trey or the rest y'all mad. And on Good Friday no less. I have not had the pleasure, so I can't comment on him, but he can't be too brite if he left Texas for Ark. I am looking forward to meeting him, which will be soon, so I will quit while I'm ahead.
AMY: I sure hope this you do this in a typical Roast format, where Roy gets the last word and then you lock the thread.
Travis
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Travis: How about the weekend before Memorial Day or the 1st wk end in June? Friday or Saturday works for me, let's let Roy decide which would be less disruptive. Golf gets in my way in the summer.
Arky,
Either is fine with me, I agree, let Roy decide what is best for him, Sat. if possible, but not required. It Tubes-N-Horns is serious he can let us know if either weekend will work as well. I would enjoy the company on the drive up there. If he can't go, maybe Seadog, JWC or other DFW member will want to hitch a ride. Luther may want to go, not sure what Doc in Waco is up to. I also need to check with Coytee if he is going to be around either weekend to see if I really can come over.
Travis
Travis,
So you are going to Hope, or to Coytee's, or both? You mentioned driving together so that may not work. Austin is slightly out of my way anyhow. I go due north on US 59.
I am interested in this. My Mon lives 30 miles from Hope, so she would be very interested (in my coming) as well [Y]
Rick
RIck,
This this will just be a trip to Hope and back. Austin is out of your way, but we can split the driving from Austin, and we can take my car from here. Send me an email. Does one weekend work better for you?
Travis
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] Just tryin' to hold my own and keep up with these little guys at 50[
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Wanna show off your racks?
in General Klipsch Info
Posted
Which is next weekend isn't it?
I sent you a PM,
Travis