Allan Songer

Blue 7, sure. But I'll take St. Thomas--when Rollins bites into that Carribean beat, which he has done from time to time over the past 50 years it just floors me. Saxophone Collosus might be the best jazz LP ever. I know it's crazy to pick one, but if you had to this would surely be on the short list. If you're looking for some early Art Pepper, hunt down a CD called "The Complete Aladdin Recordings, vol. 3" on Blue Note. It seems to go in and out of print. This session wasn't for "Aladdin" at all, but for "Omegatape." It wasn't released on LP until the mid-1970's and is probably Pepper's best 1950's recording. The rythym section is the most sympathetic of any he EVER recorded with--this was actually a working group in LA at the time and it shows. The group includes my favorite and the MOST UNDERRATED piano player of all time, Carl Perkins, Ben Tucker on bass and Chuck Flores on drums. I've listened to this session at least once a month for the past 25 years and it always punches me straigt in the gut. Incredible.

It's becasue of EVOLVING interests and tastes that I have braved the "collector" market in these crazy times. I can't just sit back and be happy with the records I already own--I seem to be always finding "new" stuff that gets me rolling. You couldn't give me a Baby Face Willette record 20 years ago--I was busy "discovering" Jimmy Giuffre, Bob Brookmeyer, Art Pepper, etc. But now I am a B-3 junkie and am willing to part with cash for rare records that I could have bought CHEAP way back when. I buy them on CD first and then look for the LPs at record meets, dealers and ebay, etc. to seek them out. But I have NEVER paid more than $250 for an LP and don't think I ever will. By the way, speaking of Blue Note, Sam Rivers is going out on a mini-tour next month with stops in Chicago and Los Angeles as well as New York. He's 79 years old, so anyone in range should make the effort to hear him LIVE!!!

The "Stamp Collecting" comment is pretty much right-on I think--but the "autograph hound" one seems off base. Plus, the best sounding version of this LP you're going to find is an original first-pressing, so if you have tons of cash sitting around, why not put it into rare Blue Notes--they have proven to be a VERY good investment to say the LEAST over the past twenty years (even if the market is "at the top" right now). I just saw someone pay $3700 for a Tina Brooks "True Blue" in August--a new record aa far as I know for a Blue Note. Records are cooler that stamps anyway!

How high will it go? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=912184845. I remember the day I bought my copy at Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley (mid- 1970's) for FORTY dollars!

The last two sets of speaker cable I ordered I was able to specify "mini-spades," which are the perfect size for my 35 year old Cornwall binding posts. The first set was from WireWorld and the second from Nordost. I just didn't have the heart to hack up the back of my pristine Cornwalls to put in Kimber posts. By the way, the Nordost Blue Heaven cables that I've been using for the last five months are really something--these are the first "expensive" (for me, not in reality) speaker cables I've popped for and they are really something--a lot more upper register clarity is the biggest difference. I know most of you think that any of us who claim to hear differences in wire are full of crap (I was one of you until 6-7 years ago), but I DO hear differences, HONEST!

They're worth more than $50 ea even if they WERE burned in a plane crash! I would venture to guess the value to be about $1000-$1200 each in excellent condition--maybe even more if you ebay them. I never owned any of these, but some folks prefer them to the "legenday" model 2. The only Martanz tube amps I've owned are a pair of model 9 monos and an 8B stereo, so I can't really comment about the model 5 with any authority at all.

You're kidding, right? I'll buy them and give you and nice 500% profit.

Never saw one of these before. Any comments? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1384353750

Here's a spur of the moment "snapshot" top ten based only on what I've been listening to over the past couple of weeks. In no way should this be considered my definitive TOP TEN!!! This is in no particular order. Big John Patton--Let 'Em Roll (Blue Note) Mating Call-- Tad Dameron w/ John Coltrane (Prestige) Red Garland's Piano (Prestige) Something Big-- Jimmy Heath (Riverside) All Night Session-- Vol 1.--Hampton Hawes (Contemporary) Good Gravy!--Teddy Edwards (Contemporary) Open Sesame-- Freddie Hubbard (Blue Note) One Step Beyond-- Jackie McLean (Blue Note) Blues for The Fisherman--Milcho Leviev/Art Pepper (Mole) Freddie Roach-- Good Move! (Blue Note) These are all KILLER records and they all sound pretty darn good too!!!

this is F U C K I N G rediculous

P U T A P U T A P U T A R E P U T A T I O N TAKE THAT!!!!!!

Guess they dont like "****" (****) either? Geesh--this is really STUPID!!! Who wrote this software, Ralph Reed?

Ooops! Didn't mean to offend anyone with a V-15! I know they have a great re****tion and are loved by many but I have always found them to be rather dry and strident. Of course, you all know I revel in the lush, romantic midrange realm of the SPU and the Decca London, so I guess that's no surprise! I take back the "POS" comment--the V-15 is certainly NOT that! I agree that having a replaceable stylus is a wonderful trait--that's one reason why I suggested the Goldring 1006.

I have snapped off two cantilevers over the years and there is nothing more sickening. I did it to an NOS Ortofon GT-15 (sort of a "naked" SPU) a few years back and ended up spending $300 to have it rebuilt. OUCH!! Welcome back to vinyl. The T****ns 165 is a decent table and you can get a lot of pleasure out of it. For a hundred bucks (that's what a nice one is worth), it's really pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to beat. I'm guessing you have the TP-60 tonearem which is a real POS--an upgrade is possible here, but only worth it if you can score something better CHEAP (highly unlikely these days). The days of finding a mint SME for $40 are OVER! I have always had problems with Grado cartridges and I would reccomend that you avoid them. In so many applications they HUMMMM like a banshee. They are more warm and musical than the POS Shure V-15 (I hate those too!), but aren't worth the trouble. I know that sounds crazy from someone who has reccomended DECCA cartridges, but those ARE worth the trouble becasue they are MAGIC when you get them right! Anyway, if you have about a hundred bucks to spend on a cartridge and you are afraid of the "used" market, I'd buy a Goldring 1006. It's really easy to set up and is a good all-around performer--perhaps a bit on the aggresive side, but if you like Klipsch, you're already OK with that! You can upgrade the stylus on this one too (with a 1022 or 1042)! If you don't mind a gamble on a used cartridge, I'd reccomend something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1383899403 This will sell for about the opening bid price and will kick *** on anything for twice the price new.

Check these beasts out! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=908006386

THIS IS A STEAL!!!!!! I'll buy them if someone else out there doesn't! I don't need them, but they'd be cool to have around for only 8 bills! It's no big deal to convert them to 110v. Come on, guys! These are GREAT amps!!

I don't have anywhere NEAR all the original Blue Notes--I probably have about 400 total and many of them are later "New York" pressings of "Lexington" and "W. 47th" titles. I have many "Liberty" pressings as well and I agree that as long as you stay away from the fake stereo issues they represent a terrific value--even the solid blue label versions. I own all but three or four of the Mosaic sets as well, which can sound really excellent I agree! But I'm not sure any of them sound "better" than the originals! I collect jazz LPs not only for the music but also because of the human need to "collect" stuff and and have it around you! We all do it. I paid next to nothing for many of my rare LPs. I remember shelling out $100 for Minor Move about ten years ago and feeling like I was "taken." But I paid ten bucks or less for MANY of my valuable records. I could not even begin to afford my collection if I had to start "from scratch" today.

My homeowner's policy with Farmers covers the collection. I value it at about $125,000--don't know if I could acutally replace everything for that , but I'm comfortable with that amount. I guess I have some records that might be worth over a grand each at this point (Minor Move might even be worth TWO grand), but what the hell, I don't anticipate losing any of these LPs any time soon!

Other than Ameoba, my favorites are Atomic in Burbank, Bagatelle's in Long Beach, Goat Hill in Costa Mesa and Z! Records in La Cresenta.

I just paid WAAAAAAY too much for this one, but I just HAD to have it. Ebay is a terrible, terrible place . . . http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=905214914&rd=1 But anything with "Baby Face" and Grant Green is well worth getting reamed for, right?

Here's one that recently blew my mind: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=901511200 It's a pretty rare one, but COME ON!

The Playboy story is true! The Paragon and all the hi-fi gear was stored outside under tarps next to the (empty) swimming pool. The guy who bought the stuff says everything had been stored that way for weeks, if not months! He told me he might have been able to get the stuff even cheaper, because when they told him to make an offer, he told them "a grand OK?" and they SNAPPED at the offer! I met this guy at a hifi shop in Berkeley CA and we got to talking. We both had Marantz 9's at the time and became freinds.

I doubt too many Paragons ended up at thrift stores! They are AWESOME in many ways, but as far as how they sound? There is a VERY narrow "sweet spot" and you can't tune it at all, as the speaker placement is fixed. They have a flabby low end as well. I actually "passed" on one for FOUR thousand dollars a few years ago. Needless to say, I now feel like an idiot! I know a guy who ended up with one of these when Hugh Hefner was closing up the Chicago Playboy mansion in the 1970's. He got a Paragon, a pair of Marantz 9's, a Marantz 7T preamp and a turntable and open-reel deck (don't remember what brands/models of these). He got the lot for less than a thousand dollars!!

I've got a "snipe" bid in as we speak. I only hope it's enough. Since they're 220 and will need some "work" anyway, I think I'd "un-do" a lot of the work that's been done. I don't think I'd go more than $2K for them ,though.

As you all know by now, I'm a huge fan of the GEC KT-66. I think it's the best sounding power tube for P/P-better than the 7189/EL84, EL34, 7591, etc. I don't want to campare it to TRIODE tubes, as this would be totally unfair. I've loved just about every amp I've heard that can use these and they are few to be sure. My beloved MC-30 MACs sing with the KT-66s in them. Beam tubes rule! I'd like to sub in some WE 350B some time, but as I only have one of these, and since they sell for about $250 ea NOS these days, I guess I'll never know if they're as good or better.