ChrisK

My experience with Cary's service department has been very positive. I've spoken with Kirk and Dennis Had numerous times. Each instance they've displayed unending patience, and been very courteous. It appeared to me that they wanted to "exceed the customer's expectations". Something woefully lacking in many business's these days. That said, an audiophile friend of mine once mentioned a phrase he claims is bantered about in the "audio world" - "You haven't been had 'till you've been had by Had." The above remark does not reflect my experiences. Quite the contrary. Regards, Chris

The Cornwall's were originally shipped unfinished. They were what was I believe called the "Designer Series". They came without grills and the speakers were mounted from the rear. The first owner applied numerous coats of linseed oil and then they were stored for many years. I attempted sanding and re-oiling, but wasn't satisfied. I just couldn't get rid of some various stains, water marks, and potted plant rings. A local refinishing shop (The Strip Joint, Redondo Beach CA.) did the final job. The photos make them look slighty more red than they actually are. But, thank you, they do look very nice even if I do say so myself. Regards, Chris

Last week while some of the members of the SoCal Horn Group were listening to a demo of Edgarhorn Titans with the Titan Bass Horn, Dr Edgar hooked up a meter to measure the power output of the amps driving the speakers. While the music did not appear extremely loud, I was amazed when another fellow tried to speak to me. He was right next to me and I couldn't hear a single thing coming out of his mouth. The music was that loud. At the same time it did not sound uncomfortable at all. In fact the music sounded quite nice. BTW, all the while we were eyeing the watt meter and it pretty much stayed between .25 & 1 amp for 99% of the music, peaking at 1.75 to 2 watts very briefly during crescendos. The above clearly established to me that clean sound can be loud and enjoyable at the same time. If I had tried driving my speakers that high, people would have been running out of the room holding their ears. Since then it has been demonstrated to me that room acoustical treatments (Of which Dr. Edgar's demo room has many.) have a tremendous effect on sound quality. Are the lack of acoustic room treatments one of the critical ingredients that we miss taking into consideration? Is this why equipment so often sounds better in the audio salon showroom than it does when we get it home? Im starting to think so. However, this still doesnt mean my wife is going to let me put bass traps and various level sound diffusers on display in hour house. Thanks, Chris

The only one I'm aware of is the SoCal Horn Group. It's a pretty informal bunch. Announcements occur in the Audio Asylum, "High Efficiency Speakers" forum. You can do a search. Try http://www.audioasylum.com Regards, Chris

Nigel: ...the numbers all go to eleven. Look...right across the board. Marty: Ahh...oh, I see.... Nigel: Eleven...eleven...eleven.... Marty: And most of these amps go up to ten. Nigel: Exactly. Marty: Does that mean it's...louder? Is it any louder? Nigel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? Nigel: ...One louder. Marty: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder? Nigel: These go to eleven.

Fini, I'm sending the Scott 299 to Craig shortly for the once over. We've talked on the phone several times. He sure is a great guy to talk with. I'd like to test the tubes for the other gear just for grins. Maybe the Tube Wizard will reply to my email with some helpful advice. Thanks Again, Chris

Fini, My bad, didn't notice the dates. Any help on my questions? Thanks, Chris

Fini, Thanks for the link to the Tube Wizard. I've been collecting NOS tubes to install in some gear I've picked up and have been trying to find someone or someplace to get the tubes tested at. I live in the Los Angeles area and so far have only come up with a retail electronics store (Marvac) that has an Eico 660 available for self service. (hmmm...self service tube testing...sounds kinky) I sent the Wizard an email asking for help and advice. Thanks again. Kelly, Glad you're back. Can you tell me if an Eico 660 tube tester will work on tubes for a Fisher X-101D, Scott 299 (a), EAR 834P (12AX7's) and a Cary 300SEI? Any tips/hints on testing procedure would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Chris

Andy, You and I need to clear out some time one of these weekends and hang out with the Doc together. He'll always put somebody to work at the shop. Last week I swept out the woodworking room while getting a great lesson from him about his home theater theories. Soon, I'm planning on bringing a set of plans for the ALK crossovers over to him for a look see. Regarding Mr. Eargle, I hope some day to be able to hear him speak on multi-channel music reproduction. He is apperently very well known for his ideas in that realm. So far the only multi-channel music I've experienced since the failure of "Quadraphonic" sound in the 70's was a DTS DVD recording of the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over". While it did sound interesting, hearing the different instruments surrounding me did not improve the listening experience. I have yet to attend a live musical performance where musicians surrounded me while playing. Regards, Chris

Andy, If what you interpreted as Mr. Eargle's comment about so-called vinyl sound superiority to be a function of a "difference in the eq of the playback circuit", how come I can't "eq" my cd player to sound as good as my TT? Even when I was using a <$200 TT, I preferred it (as did many friends without knowing which source they were listening to) to my >$1,500 cdp. I love this sort of discourse. No harm, no foul. Regards, Chris

TBrennan, I didn't mean to imply that I was dismissing his comments out of hand. Quite the contrary, his credentials speak for themselves, and his comments have caused me to begin to rethink some of my assumptions. At the same time, I still believe that it is ever so slightly possible that sometimes, maybe, one can rely too heavily on measurements and dismiss out of hand what is actually occurring sound wise. Id guess that Mr. Eargles presentation was something on the order of 90% measurements and architecture. Just as the most powerful computers in existence are still light-years behind the human brain in many ways, might not the most advanced listening devices be likewise inferior to human perception in ways also? As a matter of fact, Dr. Edgar was explaining some speaker theory to Mr. Eargle regarding imaging and soundstage and it didn't appear as though Mr. Eargle was totally convinced. This led me to think about a question. Are sound staging and/or imaging an actual thing that can be measured? Is it some sort of illusionary effect? Or is it possibly something that has to be interpreted by a human sense alone? Andy, No flames or arguments from me. I guess all the measurement graphs and charts possibly bored me a tad (pun intended). I like practical stuff like, Lets listen and talk about what we hear. I hope this post made some sort of sense because Im going to push submitnow!

Manhattan Beach, California...about 15 miles west southwest of downtown Los Angeles or more maybe more familiar, about 3 miles south of LAX. Go Lakers...one more and it'll make four!!!

The SoCal Horn Group meeting was a little different this time. The guest speaker, John Eargle (Grammy winning R.E., author, speaker designer, JBL Pro division consultant, concert pianist, etc., etc., etc.) delivered a very highly technical, nearly 3 hour presentation on the history and development of horn speakers. It was extremely enlightening. Especially the parts that didn't fly over my head at mach 2. Apparently Mr. Eargle at one time even worked at Klipsch until PWK told him (paraphrasing according to Dr. Edgar), "I've taught you all I have time for. You need to go and earn your Masters in EE". Whereupon he did so. Anyway, for me the more interesting parts of the meeting involved the informal exchanges that took place before and after the presentation. John Eargle's opinion on vinyl LP's was sort of surprising in that he didn't seem to care much for the sound quality. He mentioned "inner groove distortion", and low supplies of quality recordings available. He also told a story about a double blind comparison test he had been given where the results "approached being nothing more than random guessing". My feeling after listening to him is that sometimes, just maybe, these superhighly technical types want to see everything measured on a graph and forget to just empty their heads and listen. Andy was also in attendance and I'd be interested to hear his thoughts. I guess I was disappointed to hear such a well respected member of the music recording industry basically tell me that the widely perceived (in some circles) sonic superiority of vinyl LP's over digital media is a bunch of hooey. Well, then again, it didn't disappoint me so much as to keep me from going to a vinyl oriented swap meet at 5:00am the next morning with a flashlight in my hand...I must really be a sicko... Regards, Chris PS Craig, the 299 sounds pretty damn good! It'll be on it's way to you as soon as I recieve the NOS tubes I'm expecting. PSS Kelly, many thanks for recommending this unit. Now if I can only find a reasonably priced HF-81....

Kelly, Erik, and myself, My mother always told me to try and keep in mind that how you are perceived by others is far more important than what your intentions are. Unfortunately, I don't follow her advice enough. You 2 guys are huge assets to this board. Please put the egos in a drawer and chalk it up to a family squabble amongst people who are passionate about their interests. We need both of you here. "Can't we all just get along?", Chris

What a great kid! He has made me smile many times. Especially after I offered him my daughters companionship (in jest) in return for his (extensive) help on a technical issue. My house, being of dual religiosity, will definitely have something mentioned on his behalf this weekend at both the Catholic church and Chabad to which we belong. Get well soon Justin! Chris

Don't know if anyone has suggested this site yet, try http://www.tubecad.com/ A fabulous site that I have been getting lost in lately. Go to the GlassWare website listed on the home page of the Tube Cad Journal. They have software that might be helpful to DIY tube audio designers. Regards, Chris

Is it possible that the learning experience from building a kit like this is worth something? I think so. My 9yo son and I have built 3 kits so far. Starting with a non-solder Rat Shack AM radio kit and moving on to DIY cables and finally an AM FM radio kit with plenty of soldering. Count my vote on building something like this kit as a big YES! My son thinks the radio we built sounds way better than my Accuphase tuner through $5,000+ worth of audio gear. Can you say sweat equity? Regards, Chris

Tony, That Shanling piece kinda reminds me of this Tri (tubed) DAC I saw and heard at Yama's Enterprises. Masa, the owner, is also the only Accuphase factory authorized service center in the US. Anyway, this dac sounded pretty good. It had a rheostat switch that allowed you to adjust the luminessence to any combo of colors. I'm guessing that a rheostat hooked up to a lamp on a DAC may not help the sound? Cost - $2,000 Regards, Chris

Tony, The last picture came up zero. The others are very nice looking gear. This blast of boutique audio (I believe spurred on by the internet.) is generating some very cool stuff indeed. Regards, Chris

...I'd be curious to hear what some of you techies think of this companies designs... There website is www.electronluv.com I also like their Superhero - "TubeMan" Regards, Chris

Very nice looking piece of equipment. As usual Kelly, great image work. Do you have a photograph of the backside (The amp, not J-F's)? Where does the line to buy start. Chris

I have a Cary 300SEI. Overall, I'm very happy with it. You might try a search here in 2-Channel Audio typing "Cary". Youll probably get way more info than you want or need. Some say, one way to judge an audio product is by measuring the resale value in relation to the "street" new price. Cary does pretty well in that department in spite of the fact that they have more units in the marketplace than just about anyone else in their niche. When doing your search keep in mind that there are very strong opinions both ways in regards to Cary products. One thing that most agree on is that Cary's after-sale customer service is as good as any. Also, they have been around for quite awhile now. That alone is very difficult in the audio marketplace. Regards, Chris

A friend of mine gave me "Voodoo" by the Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet. The title track, "VoodDoo", is an excellent test for bass response and imaging. Chris

Originally (1976) they were unfinished, "Designer" series. The original owner (my roommate at the time) treated them with Linseed Oil only. When my buddy "gave" them to me, they had been stored under his house for the last 10 years or so (WAF). There was exterior house paint overspray, water stains, potted plant rings and various other discolorations on them. I sanded...and sanded...and sanded some more. Finally, my wife convinced me to take them to a furniture refinishing shop where they were refinished as you see them. I have to admit, for $60.00, they came out pretty good. Regards, Chris

David, One more question...At the risk of sounding totally ignorant, is there a commercially available standalone digital unit that you can use to download vinyl recordings onto and then playback through your 2-channel system? I gather from your post that your MBS system is designed for "live" recording. A self-contained unit that can both record and playback without being hardwired to a desktop/laptop computer intrigues me very much... Thanks, Chris