Allan Songer

I think my Cornwalls sound pretty awful at high volume blasting Rock, Rap, electric Blues, etc. Shrill is the word I would use. I find it amazing that so many of you on this board listen to Rock through Heritage Klipsch and love it. I didn't fall in love with them with llstening to loud R&R and when for some reason I find(my wife, ususally) this stuff blasting through the Cornwalls I cringe and run for the volume control!! I can, however, listen to Coltrane at the Vanguard at ear splitting volume and NEVER feel assaulted! The Tannoy Monitor Golds, however in my second system sound AWESOME with this sort of thing but can't touch the Cornwalls on vocals or jazz. I drive the Tannoys with an SA-100 7189 Fisher and a Fisher T-100 preamp/tuner (from a CONSOLE of all things!). You can bring the house down with this combo. I walked in last night around 9PM and my wife had the new Snoop Dogg CD blasting away through the Tannoys and it sounded great. The Tannoy is a great Rock speaker. The Cornwall isn't. That's what I think, anyway.

Oh, another thing. Is this band any good?

Do you still want to borrow the tonearm/armboard? You have mail.

Alice tells me the band is "Guv'ner" and will lend me a CD. She likes something called "Earl Grey Tea" don't know if it's a song title or album name. Do I win anything?

My wife wants one. She plays piano and various reed instruments and has been FASCINATED by the B-3 and Leslie for many years--I guess I dragged her to way too many B-3 blowouts! I too have always loved the B-3 and the possibility of faving one in the house is pretty mouth-watering. What do I look for? How much should I pay? Etc. (notice-- nothing here about Eico or Scott or Moondogs or Klipsch)

I dunno about separates being "over-rated." The best sounding systems I've ever owned were powered by vintage "separates." The one that got away: 1 pair of Marantz 9 mono blocks (the only EL34 amp that really nailed me right in the gut) 1 McIntsoh C11 preamp (later replaced by Marantz 7) These were hooked up to a pair of Quad ESL57 speakers and a SOTA, then Linn table. I got my Cornwalls later--I'll bet they would have been incredible in this system. I sold most of this stuff in the early 80's to put a new transmission in my truck. I went with a pair of MC-60 McIntosh amps with the C-11 because I could sell the 9's and the 7 for more money. DUMB! Today this combonation of a pair of 9's and a 7 would be worth at least 9 or 10 thousand dollars. DUMB DUMB DUMB. The one I have today: 1 pair of McIntosh MC-30 monoblocks 1 McIntosh C-22 preamp This combonation can be had for a pretty reasonable price--about three thousand or so. You all know how strongly I feel about the MC-30 and the C-22. I never really did much with HK stuff to be honest--I really don't like KT-88/6550 amps --the best I've heard is the MC-60 MAC and I don't really like it all that much. I have owned several 299 Scotts and they have the best phono section of any vintage integrated I've heard, but to compare them to a Marantz 7 or C-11/C-22 Mac is just plain silly. Sort of like comparing a Austin Healy bug-eye with an Aston Martic DB3.

The early solid-state Dynacos are among the worst sounding amps ever designed. They are terrible--shrill, steely and as Kelly said, GRAIN city. Bloody awful. Not worth 10 bucks.

I'd love to take your $100, but as Miles said when he first saw the original cover of Miles Ahead: "Who's that white b*tch?" I even know the PJ record-but the blonde stumps me for now. I was gonna guess Beth Orton, but I really don't know. I'll ask my next door neigbor, a best-selling novelist and fan of post-modern chick singers and if she knows I'll split your money with her. Nice bunch of LPs there. Been humming "Sonnymoon for Two" for hours now.

I am a real ham-fist when it comes to tuners. I don't even like to THINK about working on them, so I've sent a few to Mike over the years and I've been bery happy with the work and the price.

I am 13' 8" from the speakers There is a wall 11 feet behind me I sit on a Le Corbusier "Petit Confort" sofa in a fairly upright position. I like to sip good Bourbon or Scotch as I listen. Last night I listend to: Herbie Nichols Trio (Blue Note 1519) Bill Perkins-- Bossa Nova with Strings Attatched (Liberty) ***My favirite jazz "strings" album after Bird, Art Pepper's "Winter Moon" and Clifford Brown*** Thelonious Monk-- Monk's Dream (Columbia) Helen Herrill-- Casa Forte (Trio) I had three fingers of Booker's.

I wouldn't worry about a replaceable stylus tip. A well-cared-for stylus lasts a long, long time. I think the number is as high as 3-4000 hours, but most think the number closer to 1000 or so. Most used cartidges that come up on Audiogon and similar sites have a couple of hundred hours on them at most--many of us change cartridges like socks! If you don't want to take the chance on a used cartridge, then the best bang for the buck is the Ortofon MC-1 Turbo, a high-output MC that can be had for around $100 brand new. I have put these in a couple of pal's cheap tables (Dual and Yamaha) and they sound pretty darn good. Not a bad way to go until you step up to the plate for a SPU! And when you do it will make a VERY nice spare!

OK. The place I last bought TD-124 rubber from is: www.schopper.ch but they don't list the Thorens stuff on the website any longer. I would email them to check on availability. On ebay, this guy has the goods. I don't know who he is, but I'll bet he gets the stuff from the same source. Prices seem fair to me--about what I paid a few years ago from Europe. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1942559069 Check out all of his auctions and send him an email. Believe me when I tell you that you need to replace ALL the rubber (except maybe the idler wheel) on your TD-124!! The table will rumble like a banshee if the rubber is at all dried out and hardened. The idler wheel bushing issue is another story. I've seen 124's that are sloppy as hell and others really tight--you'll have to check yours. Let me know if you want to borrow one of my spare SME 3009 tonearms and the armboard. DO NOT use a Grado or Shure cartridge with this table! Try to find a nice used Dynavector or Ortofon if you don't want to lay out the bucks for a SPU or Decca London.

This is a VERY, VERY rare integrated--I owned one in the early 1980's and have seen only one other example. The X-1000 might be the MOST collectible integrated amp ever made and I think $750 is NOT unreasonable for a good one. The ugly face plate can be made to look a little better, but will never look good. I'll bet that a really clean mint original might bring $1200 or more. Fisher made very few of these and they cost more than a 500 receiver when new. How does it sound? OK (the EL34 isn't my fave, so I've got a built in bias--I prefer the 7189 and 7591 Fishers)--you can certainly do as well for less, but if you're a Fisher collector, this is one of the "holy grail" pieces.

I have a couple of "spare" 3009 tonearms lying about--I'd be happy to let you "borrow" one with an original armboard to get your 124 running. If you end up liking it I'm sure we can make a deal for it. I have one with updated RCA jacks, so you can use just about any phono interconnect. As far as removing the tonearm--just take off the whole armboard. You should really refresh ALL of the rubber, with the possible exception of the idler wheel. I have ordered parts for a 124 in the last 2-3 years from an outfit in Europe--I have the info at work and will have to get back to you on Monday about that.

That's a Shure tonearm, mid 1960's vintage--not a total POS, but you can do A LOT better. The table is a Mk. 1 TD-124, a "classic" that also can be made to sound REALLY REALLY good--but you have to use the right tonearm, right cartridge and put it on a sand-box AND an air bladder! I like the 12" SME 3012, but a 3009 or Ortofon will work too. I know some guys who use Infinity and Grace tonearms to good effect too. I think you should start out with a SME 3009(way cheaper than a 12"). If you can come up with an Ortofon SPU, then that's the right cartridge. If you want to know how I made mine sound INCREDIBLE, let me know and I'll give you the details. This is a GREAT turntable!

These have all the right stuff as far as I can tell: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1941836025 I'd buy them if I had two corners in my room!

I got these from a "tweaker" down in San Jose--I'm sure they must have been modified to run the EL 37s in place of the 6L6GWB. The EL37 has the highest plate voltage of any 6L6 I've come across--think it's 850v and a filamnet current of 1.4. You'd have to be careful with those Eicos--wouldn't want a melt-down. I know that SOME 6L6 amps (lots of Guitar amps and the McIntosh MC_30 for sure) can use just about anything with no mods, but not sure about the Eico.

The only Eico gear I ever lived with for any length of time were a pair of HF-22 monos. Had them hooked up to a pair of Quads and a McIntosh MX-110 back in the late 70's or early 80's (so far back I don't rememeber EXACTLY what year!). They were pretty fabulous--I sold or traded them for something, don't remember what. I ran them with Mullard EL37s. Wish I still had them.

Hey now! Whoever says that there are no GREAT beam power tubes in the 6L6 family does NOT know what they are talking about! Three of the ALL TIME GREAT power tubes are 6L6 types. #1 The Western Electic 350B. The holy grail of 6L6 tubes. NOS quads go for $1500 or more. I was lucky enough to hear them in a MC-30 MAC once and actually auditioned a pair of movie-theatre amps from the early 1950's that had these babies. I've been actively looking for a quad for my 30s ever since. I just can't pony that much cash--it's not in me. But if I come across some one day for a good price . . . . #2 The GEC KT-66. This has been my favorite tube for many, many years. Works great wired in triode too, unlike most beam tubes. #3 The Mullrd EL37. This was Mullard's answer to the KT-66. Just as rare and expensive. An awesome tube, but for me it lacks the clarity of the KT-66 in my current application.

We do piano finishes here on a fairly regular basis. The number of hours required to build up many, many coats of lacquer with hand sanding between coats is astronomical. I would charge at least $2500 to put a "piano" finish on a pair of K-Horns!!!

A couple of years back my pal Joel was at a swap-meet here in Long Beach and came across a whole box full of tubes and knowing I was "into" them offered the guy ten bucks for all of them and gave them to me. Most were VERY obscure TV and radio tubes but in the muck I came across some black-plate RCA 6L6GCs and some nice 12AX7 and 12AU7, so you NEVER know!

The are very handsome amps indeed in a machine-age utilitarian-but-with-flare sort of way. Build quality is second to NONE--even those who hate vintage MAC gear will agree with that! But to buy an amp for the way is looks seems VERY odd to me. The only amps that were SO ugly I had to pass on them were a pair of WE 350B based movie-theatre amps from the early 50's that I could have had for a couple of grand about ten years ago. They were REALLY utilitarian and kinda rusty too and were just a LITTLE out of my price range at the time as well. Plus, they didn't blow me away sound-wise either. I had such high hopes for them and when I hooked them up I liked them, but they didn't make my jaw drop. I think you should buy the MC-30s if you can--I've loved them for a long, long time and can't say enough good things about them. But if they were REALLY ugly I'd love them just as much!

Any time you want to give it a go, just let me know. I know you take good care of your stuff, so it's not a problem. I am probably the only guy on this forum who has lived with Decca cartridges and when I try to explain how fantastic they CAN be I usually start to froth at the mouth and other run screaming. . . They have an openness and clarity in transient attacks that borders on voo-doo. They do best with a unipivot arm, but they'll work with just about anything. They also like to track at about 2.5 to 2.8 grams. And don't worry that they only have three pins on them!!!

Hey there Mr. Mobile! Do you want to listen to something that will blow your mind? I've got a really nice vintage Decca London Gold--there's nothing in the world that can compare to one of these--probably the hardest cartridge to dial in ever made, but once you get there it will take you places you've never been. I used to flip back and forth between the SPU and the Decca, but not for some time. I'd LOVE to hear what you think of the Decca--I can send it to and let you use it for a few weeks if you promise to love and respect it's quirkiness and give us your honest opinion of what it does.

Wow! If this is true it means that VPI is stepping back from YEARS of Harry Weisfeld claiming that anti-skate controls don't matter. Weisfeld tells this tale: "I was so excited in getting a working prototype of the arm that I forgot to hook up its anti-skate mechanism. And the arm sounded great. So when I noticed what I hadn't done, I hooked up, and the arm sounded worse. I could hardly believe my ears." He speculates that anti-skate devices, with their vibrating metal and twine, just provide another vehicle for the accumulation of unwanted resonances. He also argues that there is a touch of anti-skate, effect, because of the outward tension occasioned by some of the arm's wiring. Guess others don't agree? Hmmmmmm