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Well, I have to agree and disagree with my Quebec buddy here. Actually, in a strange stroke of horror, I find myself aligning with Mr. Parrot somewhat in that you can have BOTH depending on your state of mind. You can listen to how well the gear accomplishes these goals and become more finely attuned to hearing how the gear performs, helpful in analyzing and making comparisons. On the other hand, many just use the music to LISTEN to THE GEAR, putting the system at the front with music procured only to satisfy the ends to the means of hearing what the system can do. Sadly, some of this music is the most hollow and soulless I know. Herb Reichert summarized it best in this paragraph: "There is also a sub-culture of audio consumers who believe that high end audio exists to be appreciated for its own sake. These people are pure audiophiles and for them hi-fi gear exists primarily for the purposes of studying and admiring the attitudes, sentiments and states of mind -- of the audio equipment and its makers. For them, composers, singers and songwriters are exploited primarily as tools to be used for the better understanding of the audio gear." Well that was a nice way to put it. I tend to think less of this mindset for THIS is what might have ruined the audio world. On the other hand, this mindset fuels the High End game for quite a few. I prefer some mix with the ultimate being DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL EMOTIONALLY and MENTALLY INVOLVED IN THE MUSIC. The BEST systems make one forget he or she is even listening to a system. UItimately, it's conveying the music in a way that moves you. After all the analysis of the gear and its performance, this is what really matters. And ultimately, I think a lot of modern high end systems fail here. kh

I actually think rhythm and pacing make perfect sense if in context. Energy and excitement isnt the same as rhythm and pacing. This is decribing that ability of the gear to "Carry a line" or "make you want to groove." In a way, PP amps do this far better than SET. And the same for my Linn table compared to the VPI HW-19. This is a bit above and beyond just energy and excitement, at least the way I interpret it.On another note, thats some damn nice news on the preamp's 6 Moons "Best of 2005" list. That would sure make me feel pretty good.

As soon as I roll it DOWN to 130 decibels or so??? Jesus... Ummmm.... You might need more than Vibrapods here. The Rega Planet already has some pretty nice feet for vibration (they did away with the flimsy transport and hard mounted it for sonic reasons - it brings more vibration probs if you dont have a good stand and are too near the speaker). Everyhing I have put under it from cones to Navcom pucks has been less of an improvement, sonically. You can always try them and send them back. However, if you have some tennis balls on hand, you can cut them in half and try this to get an idea, using three halves to test, saving some ducats in the process. Have you tried going into the rack? Is it a dedicated rack with spike feet or a makeshift rack? To tell you the truth, having the player do well at 130dB is a good start. Im surprised you even HEARD it skip! heh.... Like I stated, the Rega has an excellent Sony transport that is fixed, but your whole house might be vibrating beyond even vibrapod/navcom/floating in air status. Try the tennis balls for a starter.kh

Poor Parrot. I have never seen someone so bereft of personal experience yet so well -versed in manufacturer ad pablum. You were a walking Sony spec compaign, drinking in the hype like a drunk looking for a vodka fix. I had a damn nice SACD machine sitting in my system for awhile and was actually impressed with the sonics. It was the Sony 777es and I thought it did even better with redbook than had been reported. See it below. Pay no attention to that pesky record clamp on the right (it was hand-made anyway). Just keep your eyes locked onto the stock Sony weight, front and center. You see, unlike you, Parrot, I actually LISTEN to the music and system and make my own observations, and sometimes they fly a different path. Interestingly enough, quite a few have found some fault with SACD ultimately, and I have to agree. I would say that the jazz tracks I compared back to back actually left me a bit cold. While there was an apparent increase in resolution, I felt the musicality suffered and though engaging in that "audiophile way" which rewards listening to the GEAR first, it left me with the impression that the medium had some positives and some negatives to work out. To say the SACD was overrated, at least musically speaking, seemed more my take. Some positives, yes. The savior of digital? I'm still waiting. It sure has come a long way. I find it ironic that you shat on all things "audiophile" yet fall for such an "audiophile" reproduction. This is not to say that redbook digital is better ultimately or that SACD is totally amiss. I heard good things in SACD and it was a step up in some ways. Was it as musically satisfying? Not on the titles I heard. Parrot, the main point is that it's a dying medium with VINYL probably outlasting it. On the other hand, I think digital will take what its learned from the the advancement. The fact that you have yet to hear a vinyl rig do anything close to what its capable of, is not anyone's fault but your own. I have to say that the majority havent and it's understandable why: the medium has MANY a fault, not the least of which is a terribly fussy bit of setup, not to mention a subject that is easily damaged. Still, so far, it's the most musical of the sources. And your comment about compression, one I see in here often, is just one more example of your lack of understanding of things besides the specs, which you apparently misinterpret with equal aplomb. I await one of your usual comebacks with points taken out of context, laden with misquotes and misinformation. It should be given as a warning below each of your samples. kh

You would have to ask Mr. Parrot, the 2 Channel SACD industry insider. If lucky, you might find some good buys in the "Perfect Sound Forever" section of your local Goodwill Industries. You could invest in a high dollar "SACD only" rig but you would be throwing away your money as if tossing down a well. Just keep the cheapest "all in one" player you can find and enjoy the used SACD bargains coming along in the cutouts section of your local record hut. Title selection is seriously limited but in a recent search online, I found ULTIMATE MANCINI Enhanced on sale for $7.99.kh

I am speechless....

My '77 deocrator Cornwalls in birch and factory black have butt ends and flush motorboard with the double port. The grill kits were rounded, something I have seen most of the time, unfortunately. I never liked the rounded aspect. Of note, the CW is the only speaker I prefer with the grills on. I'll dig up some pics. The kits were added before I bought the pair.

I dont believe these are CW decorator models based on every kit implementation I have seen pictured as well as the kits I have my own 77 CW birch decorator models (painted factory black). I have seen these type of grills before. As for the Klipsch date decoder wheel, I made a page for this several years back. Klipsch Date Codes http://home.earthlink.net/~ivol/klipsch_cornwall/klipsch_date_codes.htm Klipsch Cornwall Mods http://home.earthlink.net/~ivol/klipsch_cornwall/cornwall_mod.htm Date Codes page Screenshot

Excellent news, Mark. I like the 6 Moons site better than most and the guys do pretty fair reviews with good gear in association and comparison. That's a pretty big honor to get a Best of year award with that crowd. Although I have yet to hear a Juicy Music preamp, it sounds like it's making a lasting impression both inside and outside the forum. Well done! Hope to hear one someday. kh

No apologies necessary, Thebes. The Rega should have come stock with a felt mat. I assume you got yours used so the mat must have been lost. What mat have you been using with it? As for glass, it's a very cheap way to get a nice weighted platter at their needed thickness that supposedly does not ring and has good rotational inertia. and can be made to exacting specs. etc. There is debate on whether a glass platter is positive. Most dont use this but it's a staple in some of the mid-range tables. The Ringmat has gotten good comments. That Analog Dept's mat page is surely an interesting source to save some ducats. That's been a good site for upgraders. See their info on wall stands as well. BTW, you CAN get an acrylic Platter for the Planar 3 as an upgrade which I just saw today. Hadnt heard about it. Some seemed to like it, others said to stay with the glass. I personally would stay with the glass for now till you get a handle on what you want. Changing the height of the platter/mat combination will bring VTA issues which with the Rega RB-300 means problems since it's adjustable via the shims. This is a GREAT arm for the ducats though. Invest in the better Counterweight and if you desire, the VTA base adjuster which lets you forget about the shims. I have the RB-300 with the Incognito Wiring upgrade which is another great step up. For now, just enjoy your table but make sure there is SOMETHING there between the glass and vinyl, if only a piece of cut, heavy duty construction paper. There are enough DIY app out there to keep you busy with scissors galore. Still have the Hickok 600 tube tester here. I also have a pdf file of the manual as well as the tube charts (including the rare tubes chart). kh

Duke, could ya tell me when you lost your hearing akin to Travis Bickle firing his wrist pistol seven inches from skull? heh....

Well, if it's one place I wouldnt skimp on the quality it's the OUTPUT IRONS for your SET amp project. Actually, I wouldnt skimp here for ANY tube amp, although it's a bit easier to locate quality PP irons. One output that I find has an EXCELLENT midrange and natural top end is the MagneQuest TFA-204. Originally designed by Peerless, this transformer has great sonics and is $250 for the pair retail. IT was actually made for a replacement for the WE91. While you see it more in 2A3 amps like the Wright 3.5, it would work in your application. It's one of the parts that makes the little Wright Sound WPA 3.5 sound so sweet. Whether you do MagneQuest or not, it pays to put some thought and research into getting some good output transformers. There are some good choices out there. Do some searching on the subject in other places as well. Mike, those James pieces are sure nice to look at although I dont know how they compare to the roughly the same price MQ TFA-204, a super sweet little output. Those are some of the nicer outputs in the looks department I have seen. Have you compared them to anything directly sonically?

Would you mind telling me where I suggested in any place in this entire thread that the Rega glass platter was bad (at least in this thread...heh)? RE-read the posts and my point in bringing up the Rega Planar 3 again to Cal. Use the stock felt mat with it. As I said in about three different posts, the felt is not bad at all and seems to be very neutral for a glass platter.As for Paul not hearing a difference betwen clamp or no clamp on a glass platter with felt mat, it's not something I need to worry about. My 78 year old mother cant tell the difference between Michelin XZX and Dunlop SP-8000 tires on her car either. I dont bother wasting time trying to explain the difference any more nor think she would notice once it WAS pointed out. It's not even in her realm of consciousness. This is a bit of the way I think of Paul Parrot except Paul probably isnt as good a tennis player as my mom. kh

TRANSLATION: I will never see another pair of Khorns again unless wandering down to Kudret's to bum free Maudite and Goat Cheese.... kh

Well, Parrot, I hate to provide more fodder but there are indeed differences in clamps and how they perform. There are a ton of clamps out there, some better than others, some overpriced, some worthless, some with different principles. Try the little "PIG CLAMP" and compare it to even the middle of the road VPI clamp and if you dont hear the difference, consider yourself as lucky as a Parrot with a cage door left ajar. Some clamps screw down on the spindle, other just use friction. Some use their own weight. Some clamps take up the entire label area, some only a portion. Simply put, some have different properties relating to how they work, in effectiveness as well. MY statement was I dont particularly love clamps no matter what variety. As for the turntable mat, if you have not heard the difference between a big sorbathane mat and a piece of felt, this with all the adjustments made to make up for the height difference, then it's time to feel lucky yet again, and fly for the door ajar. Although it might seem like "hocus-pocus" to my feathered friend, what a record SITS on affects the sound. Place a record on a metal platter with mat vs an acrylic platter with mat. Add in the different platter weights and thickness choices along with the composition and you have even more considerations. Hear no difference? More luck and no need for ducats for something that doesnt matter. This isnt "magic" or "audiophile mumbo jumbo" but just the physical properties and how they interact with one another. Of course, you can plop down in a 68 Ford Galaxy 500 and groove to the big AM radio, smiling like a Silverback Ape on Whiskey, it's all pretty much relative. kh

Ummmm....not to belabor the point, but you are now going into a whole different debate, and one we went into depth here a long while back. I think I was the one that brought up the Extreme Donut mat (I posted several pics and comments) though at this stage it doesnt matter. Anyway, there was a lot of discussion on this and one member, Tim Babb, was even industrious enough to make several of these out of similar material. I was intrigued by the mat since it was pushed towards Linn LP-12 users which were almost universally felt.I have to say, I ended up NOT liking this version of mat more than the Felt. I know several with VPI Scouts have experimented with this mat including Tim and Edmond (both have upgraded tables since then). Tim liked the mat though surely doesnt use it anymore after getting the outter platter ring. I still have mine along with the felt. I prefer the original Linn Felt on the Linn AND the PE table if going mat. I thought the Donut removed a bit of the air to presentation. This was using a pretty resolving but musical system. Might not be noticable with other systems. So I wouldnt stop at the Extreme Donut mat. Actually, you might want to look into the Extreme, Linn felt, and one of the Cork mat solutions ala Ringmat. It pays to try these beasts out even if a cheap vinyl rig: The STOCK mats that come with 95% of the older tables STINK. kh ps- I dont think the normal clamp implementation is having anything to do with a vacuum as much as the theory that you are now making the vinyl record and acrylic platter as one.

"If it tests good and sounds bad, you might be an audiophile." "If it tests bad and sounds good, you might be an audiophile." IF YOU BELIEVE EITHER OF THE ABOVE YOU MIGHT BE DEAF Lordy, this seems to make no sense as worded. I know the original quote you are playing off of but.... Craig, I am still trying to make out what you are attempting to say here. Help the old man with the caffeine and boat beer addled mind try to understand. It's a head scratcher to be sure. Lost in a sea of foam, kh

I have not heard a vacuum hold down system since the 80s with the SOTA Star vacuum table. It got a lot of raves and was a beast. Plenty thought the vacuum idea a great idea. Personally, I never liked the sound of it, much the same way I dont like the sound of clamps a good portion of the time, except in this case, it was even worse. In my view, it literally sucks the life out of the recording. I was really amazed people liked this so much. Of course, perhaps they have improved the process but I thought it leeched everything I liked about analog right out of the equation.Then again, I tend to come from the "let the vinyl lie unmolested" sect. Granted, if you have a warped or dished record, problems arise. kh ps - saw this moved the thread to page II. Just wanted to remind ole Cal to note the Glass Platter comment on the Planar 3.

Cal, I just thought about it, and the last Rega Planar 3 I had in my possession actually had a GLASS PLATTER and not acrylic (I admit, this was a long time ago). Indeed, I didnt know they went to acrylic with the Planar 3. With the Rega, I have always thought it REALLY needed the felt mat. This was almost manditory and sounded the best. Dont think anyone should ever put the record directly on their glass platter. Does your Planar 3 have some sort of upgrade or have they moved to Acrylic since I've messed with them? I would really double-check to make sure your platter is not Glass. My bet is it's a glass platter unless you had something special done. kh

While my post wasnt particularly clear, I would hope you would deduce that my felt mat isnt damaging records based on the post above that one. I did edit it for better clarity as it could be perceived as a head scratcher. No, I simply meant that I perceived no more damage with the direct exposure to the acrylic platter, but I tend to keep mine spotless for obvious reasons. I will agree that I think it would be more damaging if you DID have a dirty acrylic platter, though. Best to keep all things in the vinyl chain as clean as possible, especially the platters. Be aware of stray finger marks as well. Curious hands will show up if your acrylic platter is BLACK, almost to the point where you could do a fingerprint ID! Paw prints are even worse.... kh

All humor aside, there is a noticable difference between good Tripath Digital amps and good tube amps. I use both and interchange them often, living with a very nice Leok implementation of the Tripath solution dedicated to high efficiency horns most of the summer since it puts out ZERO heat with no fuss. Compared to SET or good PP tube amps, in my experience over the past few years, the digital solution does not have the same harmonic richness nor sense of life and soul. Compared to quality single-ended triodes, it lacks a bit of the fully fleshed out mids and the air in the upper frequencies. Compared to the best tube push-pull, it lacks a bit of the richness and great lower mids/propulsion rhythmic qualities of say a good EL-84 amp. Ultimately, if given the choice between having to choose, I would take a quality tube amp, be it SET or a good PP. What the digital does seem to bring is an amazingly clean and buttoned up presentation that is almost shocking when you think of what is doing it. It is extended and amazingly smooth, perhaps smoother than most normal SS, even some higher cost options. When it runs out of steam, it hits the proverbial brick wall, unlike tube designs with more benign clipping properties. I do know that I can sub Leo's custom Tripath and feel happy. IT's only when you drop in a well executed tube solution that you see what you have been missing a bit. One thing is for sure, I dont think there is any other topology that does as much with as little. It makes most low cost solid state amps seem like noise makers, and at a cost that is amazing. I pretty much had decided that the "what is the best amp" is a pretty pointless excercise, especially when you consider the countless variables and conditons, from system synergy to room setup/size/config, to the type of music and listening habits. Asking for recs can be fruitful to give new ideas of gear and what might work. Ultimately, you are going to have to wind your way down the path yourself to experiment. You might just come to the conclusion that there are strengths and weaknesses to all with absolutes pretty hard to come by, despite what many will lead you to believe. kh

This shouldnt be an issue at all really, especially if you keep your platter and records relatively clean. I have had acrylic platters around the house for quite awhile and have not seen recordings suffer, this when compared to the much longer exposure via the Linn with dedicated mat as a benchmark (a combo I've been around over 25 years).kh

Well, I do end up preferring the Linn felt mat to the acrylic platter depending on situation/use but not for deeper, tighter bass. Actually, I find the overall reproduction more harmonically natural and life like, slightly less compressed sounding, a bit less pinched. In another word, the recording, especially jazz, sounds more relaxed and breathes more. This is with the stock Linn felt in comparison with running quality clamps directly on the platters. If running felt, I dont do the clamp at all. If running with the acrylic direct, I will employ the clamp. I found this even more evident on the extremely well-made Progressive Engineering table and slightly less so lately via the VPI HW-19 with the Mk III platter. I probably end up using the VPI clamp via direct platter about 60% of time on the VPI. I thought I was alone on this one until I found Art Dudley saying the exact same thing in a review in the past. Regardless, it's worth trying out. In my view, sometimes the clamp/acrylic combo sounds a lot less like good vinyl reproduction to me, becoming a bit more strident and less life like. The presentation gains a bit of a relaxed quality with the mat sans clamp. Actually, I tend to not like the take of CLAMPS in general, even high quality ones. Again, this depends on the setup. Of my three tables at the moment, the Linn LP-12 has the best rhythmic qualities. In a way, the Linn LP-12 sounds more tube-like while the Acrylic unsprung solution sound more SS, this loosely speaking. Try it both ways. Jazz - Tubes- Horns seem to like it. On another point, I am leaning towards the traditional high quality Linn platter over some of the acrylic options. Still, like amplifiers, there are may ways to get good results with many takes via different topologies. kh

Holy S***.... Is that a parody or the real thing? If the former, my hats off; you make Spinal Tap look canned! That's beautful. kh