Tarheel

The wife retires to the bedroom with her laptop. Quitely I close the pocket doors to the music room. I push the power switch to warm up the tubes and take Art Blakey's " A Night In Tunisia" from the sleeve. A few turns on the Nitty Gritty and a pause to pour another two fingers of Dalmore. Earlier I fine tuned the tonearm with my Shure tracking force gauge to the recommended 2.2 grams for the Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge. I still marvel at the magic from my new toy....an HK receiver from 1962. I know I still have to reconnect the Quicksilver gear this weekend but for now...just a little music. Both sides have played now. Next is "Another Side of Bob Dylan" and a fresh up on the Dalmore. Played selection 4 "Ballad in Plain D" twice...its such a nice piece of writing. Thinking I should retube the preamp as I put on Neil Young's "Prairie Wind". Wondering about Spongeworthy's 3 channel system and Oldbucksters new Scott as I pause to answer the phone....Bluesboy with ticket information about a jazz concert at UNCW..."we can smuggle airline bottle in our socks" and news that he bought another vintage amp...A Sherwood 500. Plans are made as I clean the final lp for the night Miles Davis "Friday Night at The Blackhawk". My mind wanders thinking about the least amount of money I could spend and put together a killer system based on 60s tube gear and Bluesboy's hybrids. Turning the lp I make a note to call Mike Sanders and order tubes. The glass is dry and the record is halfway done so maybe just 1 finger this time. A fleeting thought about forum members I haven't chatted with in awhile....The Dukester and WPM. Hope all is well. The rain has stoped and its time for me to stop....all in all..not a bad day.

What OB said[Y]

Okay Phil...send me a note later and let me know if you can set aside a couple of hours for drinks and music while you are at Southport. We can celebrate the Heels victory then. Predictions are slowing down...maybe everyone on the forums team but ours have been eliminated[] Chuck

What are you saying? Danville has even MORE slackers than Phil?? [6] You won't catch me saying anything bad about Phil after what he said about me and OB....as Buckster said...Phils got good taste. So Coytee...its a plan...we all meet at Phil's house for the games, music and 29 selections of scotch? You're not that far away. Chuck

edwinr....based on my assessment of this receiver you must be right....no complaints here. Arfandbark....it is a tubed receiver.....am and fm work fine as well...my first HK component. If anyone has any info on this receiver let me know....haven't found much in my search....Audioclassics has a manual in the kit box but don't want to break the seal...can't blame them. Chuck

After that salute....you and OB come on over to my house and watch the games....we can even drink my scotch...not 29 selections but plenty of Dalmore Cigar Malt[] Chuck

Max...the HK is a tubed receiver but keep in mind it is 45 years old. This is a tube vs tube comparison...old vs new...seperates vs all in 1 box. That said...the Quicksilver Horn Monos are 2-3 years old and the Full Fuction Preamp is about 5 years old. Though the HK has survived 45 years...can it survive day to day usage...time will tell. I could probably sell the Quicksilver on Audiogon for $1700 and if the HK crashes I would have to buy something else to replace it...so I think I will just keep everything. I may have been a little generous using the term "smokes it" but the HK is certainly warmer with more personality than the more neutral Horn Monos. Is this a good thing? To my ears....yes. Others may say the sound is too warm. There is one thing the Horn Monos do as well as any amps that I have heard...they are dead quite with horn speakers...possibly due to the design/gain issue. Mike Sander built them for himself originally to use with his horn speakers. I am not very computer savvy or I would bring up the link to the Sterophile review on the monos and you could probably make more sense out of it than I can. It makes for a very interesting read. I will give you a way to get there in case you are interested. Go to Quicksilveraudio.com... under products select Horn Monos...then click on the Stereophile review. I know you are good at finding links and I have not been able to find out anything on the HK except the add for the kit version...with no specs. Help me if you have the time. Chuck

Mike....I am looking for a box that would allow you to plug in 2 or 3 amps and then switch between amps maintaining the same volume using 1 pair of speakers. Bluesboy and I thought of having a vintage amp shootout since he has a Fisher and is buying a Sherwood, and I have the new HK Award Series FA 30XK receiver. We were inspired to try this by the recent thread on the best vintage tube amps where eveyone had favorites. Thanks for the tip about Niles switches. BTW....this receiver is being sold in kit form by Audioclassics for $1499. I talked with Frank Gow who works there and they have 1 in stock ready to go. Frank is the son of the founder ? of McIntosh. Buckster.....I got the HK and plugged it in immediately. I actually listened 2 or 3 hours a night for 3 nights in a row. This tiny little receiver had me pulling out cds and lps left and right. I couldn't believe my ears...so I listened for several more days alternating between watching basketball and listening to music. I know what you are saying and I am giving the Quicksilver equipment another chance this weekend. Whichever components win they are all staying with me. Part of the intrigue with the HK is that it survived 45 years with nary a scratch and everything works as it should. The phono section is the equal to my preamp and is switchable lo to high. Phil...we have got to do something about that scotch collection....did I mention I drink scotch too? Danville isn't that far away and I could visit my friends the Slacks who live there[] Chuck

You're right about the Tarheels being deep and that platooning has worn down the competition in a lot of ACC matchups....time will tell... but isn't it all fun? Good luck with all your picks....except Carolina. Chuck

I purchased a Harman Kardon Award Series receiver from an Audiogon seller about two weeks ago. The HK was advertised as "mint...Collectable" and sure enough it is. I unplugged my tubed mono amps and tubed preamp and plugged in my new (45 year old receiver). The seperates cost roughly ten times as much as the HK. I have been listening to the HK extensively over the last twelve days....through my hybrid LS. You can guess where this is going. The HK smokes the competition! I really lke everything about my seperates but the HK sound is incredible. Just so happens an order of LPs came about the same time...some Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette and Cannonball Adderly with Miles Davis and Art Blakey....all good recordings. I can't part with either so now I am in the market for a switch that I can go back and forth without unplugging everything. Got any recommendations about switches? Wish I had bought the HK first....could have saved a lot of $. Chuck

Did I mention that Carolina is lookin good[] Chuck

Very nice Keith....I think the same guy painted my 511 horns[] Great to see you again....sorry you couldn't stick around for the ribs....next time. Chuck

OB and PhilMays got it right. The Tarheels against whoever in the final game. Tarheels win by 7[]

Great news OB....very happy for you[8][] Chuck

Nice weather here.....70 and sunny. Watching the ACC tournament. Got out the 40' ladder and leaf blower at half time of the Carolina game and blew the leaves and pine straw off the roof...that ladder is way to heavy for a guy my age. No tunes yet but happy hour is right around the corner.

Thanks for the kind words Oldenough....Travis is an asset. I found his post on care and maintenace of reel to reels to be especially helpful. He and Luther(Wardsweb) also started a reel tape exchange that is still going. I wish Luther would post more but I think he is busy over at Audiokarma as a moderator. If I have helped you in any way...and just now I can't recall...thank you for remembering. Sometimes we do or say things that mean more to folks than we know or intended. Just a year ago I ran into an old friend who is now a superior court judge and he thanked me for teaching him about baseball some 45 years ago...it seems I played ball with him in his backyard several times though he was several years younger and I gave him my little league all star cap. I had forgotten...but he had not . Anyway....early on in my experience here I decided that the higher ground was the route I wanted to take in chatting with folks. Now I tend to look for the threads of folks I know who are positive and helpful and there are plenty of those around. Friendly give and take is okay and stirs the creative juices but grudges, bickering, and name calling is of no value to me. The comments made in the above thread about post count rings true to me as well...I treat everyone equally......honestly I don't know what the hoopla about numbers is either. I will close now or OB will say Iam preaching to the choir. Have a great weekend. Chuck

Well said Travis....It takes a bit of courage to jump into the fray.....and a kind word doesn't cost a thing. I know I have read post from newbies who had questions that went unanswered for several hours and I felt the need to post and say "welcome to the forum sorry I can't answer your question but be patient and it will get answered". Made a cartridge selection? Chuck

Mr.X....good rib...after 275 post haven't got around to posting an avatar! You made my point....intimidated by digital but please..Tarheel or Chuck will do. No offese intended in my response to your original post....I read it and was impressed with your creativity and was thinking...that would be cool to feel that comfortable with digital technology. I guess I was thinking about all the young folks who know music through ipods and mp3s only who have never heard good equipment and analog sources. You may have read more into my post than was there. I thought the winking smiley might have given it away that my comments were tongue in cheek. Again....I did not intend to rain on your parade...sorry if it seemed that way. That said....I don't see the future of analog being quite as dire as you do perhaps but certainly it needs to be preserved as faithfully as possible. I think there may be more turntables and cartridges being manufactured now than was the case when digital was not an option and the selection of new vinyl has increased dramatically over the last twenty years. There is room for all music (well..maybe not rap) and musical formats and I don't ignore the potential of any of these. Anyway.....good post. Chuck

That was a terrible thing being forced to listen to Winter and Russell. Leon was one of my favorites but only have one lp by him now. I wish they would remaster some of his music on cd. Chuck

Dave...I am sure you are right....I need to try something new. I guess I am a digitalphobic...even my cdp has tubes. There is something inherently unromantic about getting music through samples of 0s and 1s. Music should come from the interaction of a stylus and vinyl or a tape and tape head[] My purchase of a cdp keeps me just one step from being an analog dinosaur. Seriously.....I wish I was more comfortable in the digital arena....and you did promise not to tell if I stray from my analog roots...right? Chuck

I asked the same thing yesterday and Amy replied that Duke posted about two days ago. I missed his post. Always enjoyed his avatar and his economy of words....plus we have some equipment in common. He sure was right when he told me I had the wrong woofer in my LS clones. Any news to report on your end Buckster?

You big tease....I know you got it[8]

......and where is Duke Spinner?

There is another solution that I first saw at a friends house during the 70s. He suspended his tt from the ceiling using 4 lengths of chain attached to a wood platter that the tt sat on. This corrected the skipping problem completely. Looks a bit strange but it worked. About a year ago I mentioned this to Bluesboy who was also having skipping problems. We spent about an hour duplicating the same set up and the outcome was more than satisfactory. Brainstorming other ideas we came up with using threaded rod that would go through the wood base with nuts that you could use for leveling the tt. The rod would then go through the ceiling joist with a lock washer and nut to secure everything. Won't fit into everyones decor....just and idea that worked for us. If you have the luxury of building your own music room as I did you can do things that will help reduce vibrations. Bluesboy built my addition and we used 2x12 floor joist on one foot centers. We also used cross bracing and ran a 2x8 across the bottom of all the floor joist and built a pier under that. Doing it again....I might double up on the joist in the area under the tt. Shorter spans are desireable and drop girders after the fact can accomplish that goal. Chuck

I hear the Buckster has been humming that Carly Simon song all morning....Anticipation[8] Chuck