sunnysal

Clearly Ray's story is exactly what the contest is about, a human story reminding us of the strange relationship between "real" life, our audio hobby and love for music. Klipsch is showing us the wildly diverse human community whose only tie is their admiration of their Klipsch products and love for music. What a great way to affirm the concept of a virtual community. My vote goes to Ray, as a ejemplar member of our Klipsch forum, and as the Klipsch storyteller winner! warm regards, Tony

As a private pilot I have been brainwashed by the "hour meter syndrome", I cannot stand the thought of going to the beach for the day while the hours are racking up on my precious NOS tubes. I know their life is measured in hours, so why leave them burning away their lifetime while I am not listening. No doubt they sound better after they are fully warmed up...so...my happy medium has been to leave them on for at least a half hour before serious listening sessions. MTC, tony

...and don't forget that many McIntosh SS units have tone controls and LOUDNESS...lastly, how about a TacT 2.0 preamp/room correction unit...on audiogon for less than $3,000 and will do a hell of a job as a preamp, EQ, room correction, you name it...I have had my eye on this unit for quite a while and may take the dive in a few months...check it out...tony

steve, the McIntosh C2200 is a tubed preamp with all the tonal bells and whistles and retails for less than $4,000, it keeps the tone controls completely out of the signal path when set to "0" so maximum transparency is assured when a little tonal tweaking is not desired. it also has a remote! I must admit I am a sucker for McIntosh equipment but I think you should give this unit a listen if your flexible budget permits. the reissue 7C would also get a strong recommendation from me. best of luck, tony This message has been edited by sunnysal on 07-29-2002 at 04:07 PM

what's your budget? the neweset tube effort form McIntosh has tone controls...lot's of great vintage gear as well (my holy grail the 7C for example)...but it all starts with a budget...what's your's? regards, tony

My two cents, if you have never worked on electronic equipment or soldered before I do not recommend learning by practicing on your beloved McIntosh equipment. While swapping our caps is not really all that difficult I would be far better to practice on some other components first. Damage from heat, shorts, etc. to that fine piece of audio equipment ARE possibilities. PLEASE practice significantly before tackling your Mac. Regards, Tony

Frans, though they are far too powerful for my K-horns I hooked them up for a little while to hear how they sounded...not bad! It is a very nice sounding amp when set to class A operation..in class A/B there is a noticable loss in sound quality. I would recommend these amps and I am sure the Preamps sound great too...there is an sc-6 preamp for sale right now on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1368729184&rd=1 I may bid on it (just to have another unit in my closet..lol!) seems to be a lot like my 7T preamp..regards, tony

My dad had a Gas Thaedra years ago...it was matched with a scott tuner, an AR turntable and Dynaco tube amplification...great clear sound as I remember. Many still mention it as one of the greats in terms of transparency. Congrats! though I agree that tubes somewhere in the chain could be more appropriate for you rig. Regards, Tony

here you can see my new Marantz 7T and my Marantz Esotec sm-6 which is driving my patio speakers. Please note the high-tech dampening devices on top of my vintage tuner (I prefer J.D. Salinger for this use, lol!). The couch potatoe has been served by the Creek remote volume control added after my 7T (transparent as always, love that Creek stuff!) warm regards from sunny el salvador! Tony This message has been edited by sunnysal on 07-25-2002 at 11:29 AM

Mobile, A good number of people agree with you. When I bought my MSB Link DAC III, the factory advised me that I should leave it on all the time or be prepared for sub-optimum sound for at least and HOUR or more after turning it on! BTW those MSB people are great and were very helpful in setting me up for the optimal sound from my Sony changers, highly recommended from a CRM standpoint not to mention they make a GREAT product! Regards, Tony

my hovercraft is full of eels

This message has been edited by sunnysal on 07-23-2002 at 05:09 PM

at that price level the Grado Platinum Reference is a wonderful cartridge, if you like the Grado "sound" (I do!)...regards, tony

Lynn, I agree and want to ring in that personal insults and bigotry have no place on this B-Board. However our membership does represent great diversity and a certain level of "character" does tend to seep into everything. by and large posting are audio related. However we slip from time to time. Perhaps our level of comfort and trust in our fellow b-boards leads us to go a little overboard and forget netiquette form time to time, but our self policing has been rather effective to date. I have from time to time gone overboard (in some peoples opinions) here and on audio asylum, but I always meant to share thoughts, rants, observations and opnions with my fellow audio enthusiasts. like any community we have ups and downs. I would prefer too that we more careful about our remarks, especially when someone may take offense. regards, tony This message has been edited by sunnysal on 07-13-2002 at 06:52 PM

the arcam units with the ring dac do sound pretty darn good but the rega is probably a better value for the dollar, if your budget is tight that is...regards, tony

McIntosh has various models with power meters. I also seem to remember that accuphase does as well. regards, tony

Get well soon Frank! I will always fondly remember Audio Classics and Gordon Gow for turning me on to McIntosh gear!

hey randy try this out! DBX 3BX-DS 3 Band Dynamic Range Controller NR http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1365312788 buy it for less than $150 and have a ball! regards, tony

randy, here is a new rule to add to the list of "what you have learned" : * transparancy is highly over-rated * you can expand that concept to include : * flat response is highly over-rated * etc., etc. LOL! there is no doubt in my mind that the creek is utterly transparent, adding nothing to the music BUT I too decided to go active and while many may disagree with my choice (the re-furbished Marantz 7T, I couldn't afford a 7C, darn!) I have never looked back at passive once I went to active. But remember I am a heretic of the first order, my tone controls actually get used! In fact my favorite sounding unit still is my McIntosh integrated amp, with tone controls and, hold on to your hats audiopurists, a loudness control! boy does music get to jumpin' from that amp! So get out there and get yourself an active, with tone controls! or better yet a graphic equalizer! or forgive the heresy, a box from DBX to restore some umphhh to mediocre recordings...god I have gone off the deep end... BTW the glass of good red wine trick also works for me! warm regards form sunny el salvador, tony This message has been edited by sunnysal on 07-10-2002 at 02:36 PM

isn't that the "la grange" multiplier????

LOL, either would have been appropriate! it was "for those about to rock"...regards, tony ------------------ *1993 K-Horns w/ ALK x-overs*Marantz 7T preamp*Dynaco MkIV monoblocks (modded to triode)*Sony CDP-CX350 and CX-230 CD changers*MSB link DACIII (96k upsampling)*MSB silver digital director (for switching and jitter reduction)*Technics M-85 professional Cassette Deck*SAE MK VIII tuner*Luxman PD-272 turntable, Grado Red cartridge*Cardas Crosslink speaker cable*Monster M550i for all interconnects*Monster HTS3500 Reference Powercenter Conditioner

Mike, Congrats on the amp purchase! BTW don't underestimate that little creek passive preamp! If you don't need to siwtch between lots fo inputs, don't need to add gain to any source before the amplifier and assuming you like the sound of the amp, avoiding the need to modify the sound further with a tube preamp, I doubt you will find anything better, by that I mena more transparant. I know that a few people on this board have that preamp are are totally satisfied with it. Both Randy Bey and Myself for example are big fans/users of that unit...so enjoy! regards, tony

Builder, I discovered that "they would need to knaw through the wood" fact a little too late! LOL! thanks, Tony

A sad thing is that they re-edited the story before posting and screwed up the punctuation, syntax and grammar...all for the worse...but it was a true story...absolutely surreal sitting out in the street, hugging my family while the tremors continued with AC/DC playing loudly in my house the whole time...LOL! regards, tony

BTW, I just noticed that Bruce Moore (the guy who desgined the Modulus preamp has a new unit on the market, The Companion IIC...if he did anything here to improve on the Modulus, watch out! it lists for $1,600...good luck, and stay with tubes for the Pre...tony