George O.

I'm a bit skeptical of these music services ever since someone loaded Spotify onto my wife's laptop (a real mess of an app, I must say). That's why I listed the other opinions from another source. I trust no one with these type of programs. YMMV. Just checking things out. But...you're initial reaction to my external reference wasn't what I'd expect, and you posted at least two pieces of information that weren't accurate, right? And you didn't acknowledge it. I apologize if you thought I was being critical...trust me, I wasn't. I typically go out of my way to avoid energizing egos. When I get a chance, I may load the app on a laptop and try it. But I'm going to do due diligence first based in the bad experience with the other apps that stream music. I'm a little gun shy. Chris Being skeptical is the sensible route. Just blindly following one individual's opinion, no matter how well intentioned, is a ticket to disappointment. I'm especially skeptical of anyone whose first reaction is to get defensive when politely questioned. The internet is a great source for differing opinions but one needs to know how to weigh them. Steve Wozniak expressed a lot of doubt about the Cloud just the other day: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2012/08/06/apple-co-founder-steve-wozniak-distrusts-the-cloud-is-he-right/ Essentially, it comes down to whether you want to own your personal collection or pay a monthly fee to access and select from a huge collection put together by others. Do any kids of today value music like the previous several generations? I haven't run into one.

You must have lived in higher class apartments than I have, then. I'm thinking those little bits of red tape near the speakers and in the center ARE little bits of red tape, maybe to outline precise speaker placement when speakers are swapped out repeatedly. And they've just been left on the floor after being dislodged. Generally speaking, though, we can't see the rooms in their entirety or know what kind of influence they have on the sound of reproduced music. They may be fine sounding for all we know. I think a room should be comfortable to listen to music in, a relaxing room, and would not want or expect it to be an audiophile-tuned room. If you can have both, though, that's great.

Those are ESSENTIAL! Otherwise some of the music gets caught, or at least slowed down, by carpet fibers.

What a cluttered and unpleasant looking room.

I'm concerned about the spatial orientation of the Beanie Babies. And surely in the wintertime with the fire burning, the hi-fi is going to get overly hot. You have done a great service posting these pics, artto.

Wasn't this photo used in cropped form on the cover of Feng Shui Digest last March? The pink paint representing the female yin energies, of course.

What's the story with the speakers being in their shipping cartons since 1978? You may have dealt with someone eccentric.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/01/tech/social-media/bellini-hdmi-cables/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 A study in contrast with the monoprice cable thread. http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/01/tech/social-media/bellini-hdmi-cables/index.html?hpt=hp_c2'>

Mister Maxwell

Very enjoyable video, Sputnik.

I was talking to the owner of a local used record store the other day. He told me that every great once in a while he'll sell a big band record, but that he doesn' tthink he's ever sold a polka record.

Hi Tahitibub, Because of its condition, it is simply not worth the trouble and expense to restore.

You don't need to go any further than ONE vintage turntable: the Pioneer PL-518. Listen to what Burgess Meredith had to say in this TV commercial: Think of the budget that Pioneer had, that they could buy TV time for a record player! That ad cost them more to air than probably the total current sales of all turntables! Turntables used to sell by the millions, not just by the dozens that a mom and pop company handles nowadays. This is a sleeper, a steal, ridiculously good for the tiny bit of money it'll cost you. Sometimes you can get one for less than $100. They are prone to having bad feet after all these decades, but you can find them with excellent feet intact if you are patient.

Excellent work! They look great. What have you found works the best as far as placement in a room and are there any severe listening position restrictions?

It's a wonder anyone's system sounds reasonably good, when you look at it like this. There are two kinds of people. One kind is an equipment guy. The other kind is a music lover. Sometimes they overlap. An equipment guy will audition selected cuts for you to get a wow response. For him the recording is the means to the end of displaying his stereo. The music lover is like the honey badger: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e858312f83/the-crazy-nastyass-honey-badger He really doesn't give a shirt what you play the recording through, as long as he can hear the notes.