Olaf

I have about 2000 vinyl albums mostly pre-'85 and they have years of accumulated dust,fingerprints,etc. The vast majority of them are in excellent shape but the years have produced those annoying 'clicks and pops' which we are all familiar with. The old stlye preeners only seem to push the debris deeper into the grooves and are for the most part ineffective at producing a desirable result. I'm considering forking over some cash and buying one of the record cleaning machines which are available. Does anyone own or have any experience with these 'machines?' If so I would really appreciate some info and some advice on buying one that really does the jobs of deep cleaning my albums. I've tried many of the DYI methods and have been disapointed with the results. Thanks

I have the "Njoe Tjoeb 4000" and I can't say enough good things about it. I never had any of the other 'tube' players but I'm extremely satisfied with the 'Ah.'

quote: Originally posted by forresthump: Besides generating huge tax revenue for the local community W*Mart is also a big charitable contributor to the communtities. They provide Jobs to the people who CHOOSE to work there. That means more tax revenues for the GOV from wages. They provide value in consumer purchasing. That means consumers can buy more, or save and invest more. Numerous Wal*Mart employees who started at minimum wage excelled and became managers. Many employees are now multi-millionaires from their stock plans and stock purchases. And Many investors have become wealthy from Wal*MArt stock. Like I said many of you own a piece of Wal*Mart and Don't know it. Look in your reports for your stock mutual funds, 401k and the like. A few points in the store's defense since this thread is obviously very one-sided. LOL Wally's is the LEAST charitable corporation in the country. Most of the money they donate to charity is raised by their employees and Wal-Fart takes the credit for it. They have the highest turnover rate of employees in the country so it must not be too great of a place to work for. No it is NOT more revenue for the Government. Most of those people qualify for the EITC (they get back more than they pay in) and at least half of the single mothers qualify for food stamps. Many things are actually more expensive than other stores. They throw in 'ringers' to make up for their 'loss leaders.' Yeah,some investors have become rich,but on the backs of the employees and the former merchants in the local economies they have devastated. I won't even mention the factories that they have forced to move off shore because of their bully tactics. Ask anyone who worked at 'The Huffy Bicycle Company" in Ohio. They were forced to move to China because of Wal-Mart's demands.There are some more lost jobs that helped those investors become rich. They're being sued in California because of their tactics. They're giving people 'manager titles' with a small pay increase (salaried) but are requiring them to work up to 80 hours. A huge winner for Wally's. There duties remain basically the same and Wal-Mart can hire less people. I can understand you wanting to come to their defense Forrest,but as for me,I can't find one thing to defend them on. Even Eisenhower said 'Big Business' has to be controled or they'll get out of hand.

quote: Olaf why do you assume that somewhat that somebody starting at a low wage cant excel and earn a higher wage? Key word is Earn. Anything else is a Handout that the Libs so adore . Forrest I agree with your post almost completely,but here's the problem...Why are social programs OK for big business such the EITC? Is that not a handout? The Welfare Reform Bill was long overdue but why did the big corporations lobby to hire the 'Welfare-to-work' people to work for $2.00 an hour? Now,who do think think would have picked up the tab to bring them up to the minimum wage? Again,we would have been subsidizing big business. That bill was supposed to save taxpayer money,but by the time all 'goodies' were added up,it would have cost us almost as much. I see social health care was brought up. Well,in a sense we already have it. Most hospitals will not turn people away with no insurance or money. Who do you think pays for their care? The people who have insurance do. The hospitals charge more more to insurance companies to make up for the free health treatment and the cost of our insurance policies go up as a result. Even group health plans are socialist in nature. If someone in the group gets open heart surgery then the cost of the insurance premium goes up for everyone,even those who never filed a claim. This country is much more socialist than people imagine.

quote: Originally posted by forresthump: So Minteen which would you rather have a person unemployed at $4 hour or one employed at $3 hour? Never mind I know your answer. LOL If you understood anything about the supply and demand for labor & wages as in thats the price companies large and small pay, how that creates an efficient market and your big Gov policies only screw it up, then i'd listen. If The min wage was $$15 hour when you went to get your first job you probably wouldnt have worked til you were 30. A lower minimum wage creates more socialism. Who do think will make up the difference? It will the taxpayers via the EITC( a social program and big government policy)which is nothing more than corporate welfare. Those folks need help with their incomes but I do not like subsidizing a 200 billion dollar a year corporation like Wal-Fart. That's nonsense!!! Why should someone barely scraping with a low paying job(but doesn't qualify for the EITC) subsidize big corporate America?

Fellow Klipschters Great stuff!! Youse guys are the best! Here's a phenomenal site for a plethora of Wal-Mart info; http://www.pbs.org/storewars/sitemap.html You can express your Wal-Mart opinions on the message board too! Big Bean That's a great site. I had a chance to attend one of Charlie's presentations 2 years ago and speak with him a few moments. For those not familiar with the site,do a search for the 'Made in China' section. Great stuff!! Yep! Stick a fork in the Gap. I believe they're about finished too. Their sales are down 20% including 'Old Navy' Even Eisenhower said capitalism needs to be controled or it will get out of hand. If TR would see the current state of mergers he would be very concerned. We're headed back to the days of 'Standard Oil' type of situations. HornED Bravo!! Great post!

. quote: They can sell those 1.25 billion Chinese all the stuff they want! One big problem there. 900,000,000 Chinese live in poverty and many more are lucky to make 8 cents an hour working 80 hours a week at straight time. I don't think they'll be buying much. But since 55% of Wal Mart's merchandise is made in China it would only make sense for Wal-Mart to build there. Wal Mart thought the same about Mexico but the Mexicans didn't make enough money to support the stores and many Wal Marts were closed. Yep,maybe they can sell those Chinese some of the stuff but unfortunately nothing will be made in the USA so I guess it won't create too many manufacturing jobs. It's a great deal for Wall Street but a lousy one for Main Street unless you have $$ invested with them. The majority of Americans don't.

quote: Originally posted by mdeneen: Olaf - - this board never ceases to amaze me. Your insights are great. I meet almost no one aanymore who can understand the "race to the bottom." And, this includes many very educated people who might well be expected to know better. I don't even discuss "anti-globalization" anymore in company, because in fact, people will attack you as a kook. Another favorite puzzle of mine is this: With regards to national defense, we are fine with being "protected" (against violent death, I suppose.) However, when it comes to the economy and wages, anyone seeking such similar defense against death (by starvation) is labeled a "protectionist" and this is a very negative label! Odd. mdeneen The same thing applies to very educated people. They are taught in College through their Economic Professors that free trade is what makes the economy boom and creates also jobs. Over 90% of the Economic Professors are 'Free Traders'. Adam Smith wrote "The Wealth of Nations' early in the 19th century that totally promoted free trade and most Professors adhere to his principles. I have a very close and old friend who used to think just like me. He was just a working stiff who worked his way up the ladder. He's now the President of his Company and has totally bought into the free trade propaganda. Sad,and now his company is in danger of folding because of cheap subsidized imports but he still doesn't want to wake up and see the writing on the wall. He's in deep denial! Now we get back to the multi-national control of the big media. The talking heads are employed by the multi-nationals so they will say what ever they're told to say. They are the ones who toss the negative names toward the folks who are trying to wake people up. Sometime check out 'opensecrets.org' and see who are pulling the purse strings of the congress because I hold congress responsible too. This is a subject that has been eating at me for years. Sometimes I wish I wouldn't have educated myself about it. Then I could be one of the 'sheeple' too and I wouldn't know any better. I could go on and on about this subject. BTW..thanks for the kind words! :-) Bravo to Klipsch for staying a true American company!! :-)

quote: Originally posted by mdeneen: Nice thoughts Ed!! I'm loving that phrase, "The High Cost of Everyday Low Prices!" Indeed. I have a great deal of trouble understanding why 90-million working stiffs continually support global strategies designed to reduce wages? It has become one of the major puzzle themes rattling around in my head. mdeneen Because they're brainwashed because of the editorial control for 'Free Trade' deals the multi-nationals have over the mass media and even small local publications. Either the multi-nationals own direct investments in the media or else they use their 'advertising dollars' as a bargaining chip. They can spread propaganda all they want because they're in control. If someone comes out to tell the truth what is going on they are either ignored or are called kooks,protectionists and isolationists etc. I try to explain to the 'working stiffs' about the 'big agenda' but they just look at me as though I'm nuts. They don't understand the concept of 'global harmonization' of wages. It's a race to bottom and we're taking a beating. Either they must take large wage and benefit cuts or their jobs will be transferred off shore. It frightens me to think that McJobs are the future for the common person.

Here's the problem(s) I have with Wal-Mart; They are economic predators. They want to collect 33-50% of the worlds retail dollars. They destroy communities. They destroy jobs,not create them as they want you to believe. A recent study by a professor at Dartmouth concluded that for every 2 jobs Wal-Mart creates they destroy 3. They are poised to overetake Exxon as the largerst corporation in the world. Walmart has grown 400% in the last 8 years while Sears shrunk by 30%. An average Wal-Mart employee makes only $12K a year which is below the poverty level for over half of them. Is this good since Wal-Mart is America's largest private employer? Is this the future for an average American who didn't or couldn't attend College? Will Wal-Marts pay scale support families? Only about 40% have company-provided health care. A Wal-Mart executive openly bragged that Wal-Mart can shift the cost of health care to the taxpayers. They destroy American factories by using 'bully tactics.' Just ask anyone who worked for the 'Huffy' bike company in Ohio. They have a phoney "buy American' campaign. They have a new tactic now to get more for less from their employess. They give them 'manager' titles and put them on salaries and work them an incredible amount of hours per week which enables Wal-Mart to hire less employees. (They're being sued in Calif. for that now) Their employees make an average of $2 less an hour than an average supermarket job and $1 less than the average retail job. If the local 'town council" or 'Township supervisors' oppose them when they want to build,Wal-Mart simply backs up pro-Wal-Mart people to run against the current supervisors with lots of cash and political advertisments,and lawyers,lawyers and lawyers. When a person supports a local merchant the money will circulate 4 times in the local community. Except for the paltry wages Wal-Mart pays their employess,the money they collect immediately goes to their corporate headquarters in Arkansas. They don't help the local paper or radio stations by advertising either. They just use their 'massive brainwashing' commercials on TV. They are the largest American Corporation and the least charitable. They give less to charity than other corps. Some Wal-Marts are now selling gas and appliances.That will destroy more local merchants' livelyhoods. They want to control it all. The local merchants are my friends and neighbors and I will support them. Wal-Mart came to town about 8 years ago and the town has lost...2 hardware stores,2 pharmacies,several clothing stores,2 variety stores,a jeweler and several other stores besides. Sure,they have great prices now but what will happen after they destroy any and all competition? You can forget about that little 'Zorro' guy slashing prices because they won't need to because you will have no choice but to buy from them. They will charge you whatever they want. I realize Wal-Mart for some folks due to their income is a God-send. But for me, I choose not to patronize them. Sorry for the rant but that's the way I feel about 'Wally World As you can tell...I don't like Wal*Mart!!!

Edster Glad you asked! I couldn't be more satisfied. It came last Friday and I've been enjoying it ever since. I'm sure there are better ones,but not at the price of the AH! Tjoeb. I really didn't expect such a huge improvement over the mass market crap I've been listening to for the last 15 years. The number of atributes are tremendous. The first thing I noticed was the soundstage. It's huge and it stays put. The sense of 'air' and 'depth' are incredible. The sound is very natural and musical with no grain or harshness. The bass is controlled with 'punch' and no boominess.The vocals are smooth without the 'fuzziness' with presence like I've never heard on anything I've owned. On some recordings the RF3s 'dissapear' into the music and you can't pick them out. It's one fine little machine. As long as it keeps working I'll probably never buy another. The only thing I may do in the near future is try some tube tweaks. I forget who originally recommended the AH!. I'll have to find the thread and thank them. I have to give credit to my RF3s and Arcam A75 too. With the three working in tandem, I'm extremly satisfied. I used to be very skeptical of the 'break in' period but with the experiences I've had in the last 6 months,I now believe it. (especially with my rf3s)

Congratulations on dumping that Yamaha, Indy. I was damn glad to get rid of mine. When I bought my new intetgrated a few months ago,I had it narrowed down to a Denon (forgot the model#) and the Arcam A-75. I bought The Arcam but it has only 50 watts P.C. but it sounds fantastic and is very detailed with a huge glorious soundstage. (I'm sure the RF-3s make a large contribution) I still wonder how that good Denon would have sounded though. Great choice!:-)

One method for removing dents is to place a piece of scotch tape across the dent and then pull the tape . It's supposed to bring the dent back to it's original flush location.

Several years ago I bought an indoor ampified antenna called a 'Pi.' I can't remember the exact specs on it but it increases the reception by xxx amount of decibels. What it looks like is a pie pan about 8 inches across and about 1 1/2" thick that swivels and moves back and forth. It has a pair of rabbit ears that you can adjust for best reception. About 6 weeks ago I bought an old 'Sherwood'tuner off e-bay for $30 because I was buying a new integrated amp. I hooked to my old Onkyo just to test it and it blew the Onkyo's tuner away. Check e-bay for older tuners. I got that one for a song and I'm sure there are more tuner bargains to be had. An indoor ampified antenna could be all you may need. The 'Pi' works really well but I don't know if they still make them. There must be other alternatives A. A.s though. I enjoy lisyening to PBS too because one of our local stations plays a lot of jazz. Even though the it is about 60 miles away,it used to come really good. Then about a month ago they decided to improve it by increasing the wattage and going all digital. Now it's nothing but noise and static and unlistenable. I wish they would have left well enough alone.

I read an article once that stated the vcr was invented by two Americans. They couldn't get grants for R&D so they sold the technology to Japan. Anyboby else hear or read about this? Once thing I noticed about my VCRs. I bought a Panasonic back in '87 and used it really hard for years. I then bought a new Panasonic about 3 years ago which was supposed to be one of their best. I compared the old one to the new one and the old was much better . I do believe quality has degraded over the years.