Tarheel

Craig That sounds like a great idea. Wish we had thought of that during planning the room. I am pretty satisfied with the bass but wish I could solve the toe in problem without tearing out the cabinets and starting over. The new speakers will have different horns that may help and I plan to use a tweeter in a separate box that will sit on top and can be moved around. Any other ideas? Chuck

Thanks for the kind words. Bluesboy, a builder and audiophile, built the addition for me. It is 16'x22' and is a mirror image of the room nex to it separated by a double thick wall for soundproofing and pocket door installation. I have end tables that you don't see that are McIntosh ML-1C speakers (1973) with glass tops for protection. Except for the toe in problem mentioned earlier it is a great room. The cabinets store lps, cds, tubes, and about 75 reel tapes and gear cleaning items. I have a nitty gritty record vac on top of one of the McIntosh end tables. BTW, the reciever on top of the right speaker is a Pioneer SX-1280, 185 wpc. I am the original owner (1975)? I have the manual and the original sales brochure and the reciever is without blemish. I bought the tube gear and now I don't use the Pioneer but can"t bare to sell it. Unless someone has one unopened in the box this is one of the finest examples left.

Coytee, Thanks for your post. I have about $1850 in the speakers and I couldn't take less than $1500 and do what I want to do with new speakers. I can only do the new project if the numbers work. Keep in mind that they are almost new, cabinets perfect and horns are metal K-400. The Woofers are Altec 416s and have great bass. The only negative is no Klipsch labels. Chuck

Very observant T&H. You are exactly right. When measuring for cabinets neither me nor the contractor allowed for toeing in and I live with that everyday. Tarheel

Thanks Duke, I see we also have the same cd player.....stock or modified? Have you retubed the preamp? I bought the preamp off ebay and have no idea how old the tubes are. Got it with 3 seconds left for one third the new retail price. The horn monos were bought from a seller on Audiogon.

Thanks Bluesboy for the help with the pictures of my LaScala clones. I just need to add that they were built in 2005 and are in mint condition, no scratches, scrapes or dents. Birch veneer and four hand rubbed coats of tung oil. Unlike stock LaScalas the top has a half inch overhang so the front edges could be veneered (a more finished appearance).They sound terrific! Only the desire to tweak brings about the offer to sell. You know about the size and weight of these speakers so local pickup or delivery is preferred.

Cueman........great point! I saw the ipod commercial and it struck me as odd to promote that product/media but I also saw his Victoria's Secret commercial and kind of liked that one. Tarheel

Luther I was more than pleased with your tape. You did a much better job of packaging than I did and your list was very detailed. The sound quality was first rate especially on the Sara K. selection. That is a very quiet LP. No first groove noise, pops or ticks. Don was over at my house rebuilding my back porch when the tape arrived so we sat down and listend non stop. I tried to call Friday night but you must of been out and the phone switched over to a fax line. Travis' tape will probably get to Don today so after he has enjoyed his time with it we will make the exchange. I think a week and a half turn around is possible. BTW I did not include a list with my tape so you will need to print it from my earlier post. With the tropical storm Ernesto things were just very hectic here. Two and a half days of yard work and getting on the roof and blowing off pine boughs and cones really made it a true labor day. That 32 ft. heavy duty ladder is getting to be too much for me to move around. Thanks for the excellent work on the tape and for sharing it with me. Chuck

Travis and Luther I just called home and my wife said their was a package (she said it looked like more records) on the front porch so I guess your tape made it here okay. After the nine inches of rain and all the debris in my yard I sure need a pleasing distraction for the night. Lost power for about two hours. Will be off the pc for the weekend as usual. Have a great weekend. Chuck

Welcome WPM The Horn Monos are a great match for horn speakers and I think you will like them. I bought a pair along with a Full Function Preamp after reading Sterephyle magazine's review calling them the quietest amps for listening to horn speakers at low volume (though I don't ever do that). They are a fine match for my LaScala clones built by another forum member. The Quicksilver amps can use a variety of tubes and I look forward to doing some tube rolling with mine in the future. Maybe some winged "C" KT-88s. If you haven't read the review go to Quicksilveraudio.com and click on the link to the Stereophyle review. One other positive is Quicksilver's support after the sale. It is probably one of the only companies that you can call and have CEO Mike Sanders answer the phone and field your questions. Enjoy! Chuck

Coytee, Don't let that stop you from joining in. If you want a deck I have a Teac X-7 ( 7inch reels only) that is 99% cosmetically including the wood cabinet but the reels just stopped turning on rewind one day and I boxed it up since I have two other decks. It is yours for the shipping charges if you want to get back in. Maybe others on the forum (such as Luther or Travis) could advise you on how to go about repairing the deck. Let me know. Chuck

Guys, I guess I am the slackard in this music exchange group. Though my tape was ready yesterday in my rush to go out of town it was left by the door. It was mailed today! The package may be a little soggy as we are getting the first rain bands from Ernesto and I took it to the post office in a driving rain. I will be more prompt in round two. I was away from the pc for a day and came back to read all the news on the forum. Sounds like everything worked out okay. I remember my first attempts at live recording in the late 70s and early 80s. I owned a sprawling victorian house in Wilmington's historic district and after a night out at a local pub to listen to some music and have a drink or two I gave the performer a ride back to my house for more of the same. He spent the night in a sleeping bag on the hard floor and in the morning when my wife had gone to work I called in sick and Neil and I bought a case of beer, borrowed two microphones and made a tape. I don't remember what brand of mics but I still have that tape and the tape deck all these years later. The next year I recorded Neil live at Thalian Hall, a historic theatre/opera house with great accoustics. One line directly to the mixing board and one mic hung from the balcony railing to pick up the audience participation. Great stuff! Another tape followed in '78 and a third in '82. I lost track of Neil for many years and often thought about getting those tapes to him but no one seemed to know his whereabouts. I later learned he had been in Nashville making music for many years and later returned to NC and had a place in Brevard. Through a series of coincidences I learned he was in town and invited him to stop by. He saw my tube equipment and said "thats some real old stuff, I'm glad you are still listening to music" and was surprised to learn that the tube gear was new and still made in the USA (Quick Silver Audio).He brought a copy of his latest cd and I was delighted by some of the talent that accompanied him. Warren Haynes of The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule joined Neil on this cd named "Rosieface". I played the old reels for Neil and his new wife and agreed to make copies. I sent the tapes to Sonic Perfectionist in Kirkland, Washington. They did a great job and marked all the tracks for the cds which are safely now in Neils hands. Well......thats enough rambling on for now but what an interesting time the 70s and 80s were.... not good or bad...just interesting. Luther, it was great talking to you Tuesday. You caught me at happy hour listening to Prairie Wind. Hope I was coherent. Thanks for the call. Contact Neil if you want at bighungrymusic.com. Tell him Chuck said hey! Chuck

Travis This is what I will send unless I hear from you that you already have this music. Diana Krall "The Look Of Love" CD S'wonderful I remember yoy Love Letters Cry Me a River Diana Krall "All For You" I'm An Errand Girl for Rythm Gee Baby Ain't I Good for You You Call It Madness Frim Fram Sauce Boulevard of Broken Dreams Diana Krall "The Girl In The Other Room" Stop The World Temptation I've Changed My Address I'm Pulling Through Narrow Daylight Side 2 Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers BlueNote 4003 LP Miles Davis 'Round Midnight The last song is by Sonny Rollins (a short one to finish out the tape) All the CD recordings are from a Jolida tubed output player modded by Hot Rod Audio The analog source is a reworked Denon DP-1250 with ADC arm and a Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge. Side 1 was recorded on a 34 year old Teac 3300S gone through by Kevin Kaas of Dokorder fame. My original deck..... once sold and bought back. Side 2 was recorded on a Teac X-10 also serviced by Kevin Nitty Gritty and zerodust handeled the cleaning Call me if you prefer a Jazz or Blues compilation. Chuck 910 395-0825 home 910 200-1225 cell

Luther and Travis, My tape is ready to go. The tape is not a compilation but includes tracks from 3 different Diana Krall CDs. The second side is Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers on LP and Miles Davis 'Round about Midnight on CD, a 24bit remastered recording from 1955. I hope you will enjoy it. I need addresses and will put in the mail Wednesday. Luther, you mentioned your obsessive nature. I know we all have our peculiar routines when recording, anything you want to share? I am a little anal about cleaning and I leave an air cleaner with hepa filter going when not in the room. I fade in on noisy first grooves and I zerodust when I flip sides. There! I am out of the closet. Will be away from the pc until this afternoon. Chuck

On the brush. Like Allan and Josh I am happy with the Zerodust and the Nitty Gritty. I also leave an air cleaner with hepa filter going 24/7 except when I am listening to music. Cuts way down on dust Chuck

Thanks Maron but I am afraid you would be dissapointed. I like Bobby and Neil for their music but have never believed they have good voices. If we can talk about the deceased I always thought Johnny Cash had a terrible voice but who else could sing the songs like these three artist do. I probably own most of everything Bob and Neil have done but they can be very range bound and off key sometimes. I bet they would not be impressed with my voice either.

Very impressive. I hope my tape can measure up. Is the sapele a light or dark wood? Chuck

That is quite a system Luther. Looking forward to hearing your tape. Please let us know what all your components are at some point. I hope to post a picture of my system this afternoon since I am going to try to sell the LaScala clones (never thought I would consider selling them). Bluesboy, a master carpenter, is going to build some Super LaScalas for me. We are looking at veneers today. Thinking about rosewood....any suggestions? Chuck

Bob Dylan can't sing and he is rich.... Neil Young can't sing and he is rich.... Willie Nelson can't sing and he is rich..... Hmmmm......I can't sing either

That sounds fine Travis. We will get to work this weekend. Hope others will join us. BTW for now I am only on the pc the first thing in the AM at work but Don is 24/7. Chuck

Travis, Iam back on line after being out of town for 2 days. No pc at home but hopefully that will change shortly. Bluesboy told me about your idea and we are ready to go. We can make a tape this weekend. I just got a batch of CDs from Amazon most have been remastered and some have bonus tracks. They will sound even better on tape! Also just got some 180gram Miles Davis and Art Blakey LPs. Do we need to know what kind of music everyone likes or are we just going to send whatever we have? I imagine musical taste of contributors will be varied. I would like to hear from any other forum members in my neighborhood (Wilmington, NC) who wants to contribute to this tape. 910 200-1225 or 910 395-0825 Tarheel (Chuck)

Brothers In Arms.....Good selection Paul. What digital player are you using? I have heard some say that two many tube components in a system is overkill but I use a tube preamp, tube horn mono amps, and a tube output Jolida CD player. Sounds mighty sweet to me! The CD player made the biggest impact though the Denon it replaced was 20 years old. Old CDs before 24 bit processing still sound pretty lifeless even on a good player. I like to buy the digitally remastered CDs such as Brothers In Arms. Enjoy the Dynacos! Tarheel

Thanks for the welcome Parrot. Sorry for the delay but I was not at the pc over the weekend. Talking about timing....Saturday Bluesboy brought over a new Ampex 456 to do some recording from my Jolida tubed output CD player. During editing on playback there was no sound on the right channel. I tried the other Teac and everything was fine. I then tried one of my Maxell tapes on the Teac #2 and it played fine. Then we remembered the thread on Scotch and Ampex tapes. I cleaned the heads and guides, removed the pinch rollers and roughed them up with some 220 grit paper, and put the tape back on. The high pitched squeal was still there. Repeated the cleaning routine with head cleaner and Q-tips and the q-tips came back dirty. I think Bluesboy was bummed because he had bought several of the nos Ampex tapes at a good price. Apparently these tapes were stock from the 2 year period when the binder was prone to coming loose. BTW ....nice Revox. Tarheel

New to the forum! Really enjoying some of the subjects and threads. I got back into 2 channel a couple of years ago and one of my first purchases was to buy back my Teac 3300S I had given to a friend ( I gave him 3 classical CDs). I sent the Teac to a former Dokorder troubleshooter in Florida who got it back in shape for me. Later I bought a Teac X-10 off ebay so that I could record back and forth. The pinch roller was frozen in place because the grease hardend from lack of use. Another deck to Kevin to do all the repairs and maintenance. Cosmetics are great even on the 3300S which is 1972 vintage and the sound channeled through tube preamp and power amps and LaScala clones built by forum member Bluesboy is wonderful. Though my ears have some age on them the Maxell tapes and the Teacs sound as good as vinyl. Glad to know there are others who enjoy watching those big reels turn. I guess those who enjoy a more active role in music and equipment don't mind cleaning and demagnatizing heads and vacuuming LPs. I also like to use the Zerodust stylus cleaner. And you thought your life is exciting!