Curmudgeon
-
Posts
258 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by Curmudgeon
-
-
----------------On 2/16/2003 8:03:27 PM crash827 wrote:Curmudgeon,I sound pretty uppity but hell some people find the new Pontiac SUV's attractive despite all evidence which suggests it may be the ugliest vehicle ever made. The "thing" was a work of art compared to this monstrosity.
On another audio note, how do you like the Linn? How does it compare to your VPI?----------------Crash827,
As for the people that find the Pontiac SUV attractive - they should kick their seeing-eye dogs!
And the VW Thing looked good once you mounted a 50 caliber on it! On the turntables: the VPI is an excellent deck with lots of good qualities but the Linn stills sounds just a bit better to me. I like both of them, each has it's own characteristic sound and the VPI is much simpler to set up and maintain compared to the Linn. When I've got them hooked up into the same preamp (which is rare) and compared them with the same LP, volume settings, etc. the Linn usually has an edge over the VPI in bass extension and slightly more natural voicing. At this point the cartridges are different brands and types (one MC, one MM) so the comparison isn't exactly fair. I have several cartridges but no two are the same brand and model. To do a meaningful comparison the decks should have identical tonearms and cartridges but that isn't likely to happen around my house anytime soon. The LP12 has been around since the early 70's and has garnered a lot of respect, it still holds up well against newer designed and more expensive decks - not too bad for a Scotsman just tinkering around almost 30 years ago! The VPI Scout is a new design, a great performer in it's price class and very good performer even out of it's price class - if you buy one you won't be disappointed. To get into a Linn setup the best thing to do is find one used, a new full-spec LP12 is around $5000.00 or more now. One nice aspect of the LP12 is you can start with a basic model or mid-spec one and upgrade it as you get the money, plus there's usually several on Ebay and Audiogon most of the time. The LP12 I have came from it's original owner in England with original receipts and box, I bought the Lingo PS off of Ebay (got a great deal on it, too). Both decks are mechanically simple and fairly easy to work on if you read the directions and lay off the Vise-Grips!
-
The last time I checked, so called "psuedo-audiophiles" refuse to even consider any type of Klipsch speaker as "audiophile" anyway. As usual, they don't know what they're missing. If putting the Synergy line into Best Buy exposes more average "joe six-pack" listeners to Klipsch quality and gets them away from crap like Bose I'm all for it. Once they hear the dynamics they've been missing they'll realize what a POS "cubes" and the like are. Hopefully, this will work to Klipsch's and Best Buy's mutual benefit and Klipsch will become more profitable so perhaps they can hire a few more craftsman to speed up the production of the Heritage series. The audio market just doesn't work the way it did in the 70's and 80's, times have changed. I don't dislike Best Buy, they're great for CD's, DVD's, and computer stuff but most of the electronics they carry barely scratches mid-fi, much less anything hi-fi. Companies like Yamaha sell "consumer level" products there and reserve their better offerings for salon type dealers so what Klipsch is doing is not that unusual. However, the first time I walk into a Best Buy and spot a Khorn or an Aragon component on the floor there will definitely be projectile vomiting involved.
-
Justin,
Good to see you back in action. By the way, how long do your keyboards last before you wear the lettering off of the keys?
-
----------------On 2/4/2003 9:23:19 PM Clipped and Shorn wrote:" supercilious negativity"----------------4 entries found forsupercilious.
Feeling or showing haughty disdain. See Synonyms at proud.supercili
sus, from supercilium, eyebrow, pride : super-, super- + cilium, lower eyelid; see kel-1 in Indo-European Roots.] su
per·cili·ous·ly adv. su
per·cili·ous·ness n.supercilious
supercilious was Word of the Day on January 27, 2000.
supercilious
\Su`per*cil"i*ous\, a. Conceal.] Lofty with pride; haughty; dictatorial; overbearing; arrogant; as, a supercilious officer; asupercilious air; supercilious behavior. -- Su`per*cil\"i*ous*ly, adv. -- Su`per*cil\"i*ous*ness, n.
supercilious
adj 1: having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy; "some economists are disdainful of their colleagues in other social disciplines"; "haughty aristocrats"; "his lordly manners were offensive"; "walked with a prideful swagger"; "very sniffy about breaches of etiquette"; "his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air"; "shaggy supercilious camels"; "a more swaggering mood than usual"- W.L.Shirer disdainful, haughty, lordly, prideful, sniffy, swaggering] 2: expressive of contempt; "curled his lip in a supercilious smile"; "spoke in a sneering jeering manner"; "makes many a sharp comparison but never a mean or snide one" sneering, snide]
My, oh my! We're needing a thesaurus to browse the boards these days (he said with haughty disdain) -
Justin,
Get well soon and keep your typing fingers in shape. We all need you here and hope your recovery is speedy.
-
Crash,
This may be stating the obvious but be sure to leave enough money in your budget for a good cartridge. You are better off with a decent $500 deck and a $300 cartridge than you are with a fancier $700 deck and a $100 cartridge. Also, investing in a bubble level, a cartridge alignment tool, and a Shure stylus force gauge can go a long way in vinyl playback, proper setup can make a huge difference between mediochre and great sound. A test record with a grooveless section for checking anti-skating can be helpful, a lot of tonearms don't calibrate their built-in anti-skating settings very accurately. Properly set anti-skating really helps channel balance on the inner grooves of a LP.
-
----------------On 2/3/2003 4:47:29 PM NOS440 wrote:Mobile is that Avatar you when in High School----------------
Naw, it's gotta be one of Alfred E. Neuman's relatives !
-
Congratulations on a great purchase! You have a pair of speakers that look as good as they sound. Nice to know they're going to someone who'll appreciate them.
-
----------------On 1/19/2003 1:54:11 PM jazman wrote:Curmudgeon,What are you using to drive a LOMC? A good step up device and it's cost, along with cost of a good LOMC has managed to keep me out of that ball game, though I'd like a chance to at least play once. BTW, tbabb is using a Clearaudio Virtuosso from Elusive Disc, which I consider as my next MM selection, if I can't resolve the cost of LOMC.----------------
jazman,
I'm currently using an Aragon 47K phono stage. It lets you adjust gain (3 settings) and has a bunch of cartridge loading settings. It uses an external power supply and is vewwy, vewwy quiet. I probably should have it listed in my signature but just never thought about it. What I think I really want is a Linn Linto phono stage, my local Linn dealer offered to lend me his personal Linto to try out, I just haven't taken him up on it yet. They don't keep them in stock due to the price and low demand for it in my area. Of course I could wish for someone to send me the new Boulder 2008 phono stage as a (really) long term demo, but I'm not holding my breath.
Also, any Linn dealer can obtain a LP12 felt mat. I don't know what the price is, though. Linn dealers aren't supposed to sell equipment out of their territory but most don't have a problem selling spare parts over the phone. This link is to a Linn dealer search in the US:
http://www.linn.co.uk/buy_linn/find_retailer_get_retailers.cfm?continent=1&country=18
-
Some of the cartridges I've had on the Linn:
Signet model # whatever (can't remember) MM: ~$300.00 in 1985 Very nice, smooth, detailed, strong bass, also very obsolete
Benz Micro Gold MC: didn't like it due to top end sizzle, bright sounding, thin bass - sold it after deciding further break-in was pointless
Grado Prestige Gold MM: nice for the money, smooth sounding, can hum, can get strange ocillations on certain LP's (the Grado dance)
My favorite cartridge currently on the Linn is an Entre' brand that was revamped by Van den Hul. This cartridge was sold mostly in England but I can't find diddly about it on the net. It's from the early eighties but had negligible wear on it under the microscope. When this one is gone it's gone for good.
I've never heard the Denon DL-103 on a Linn, but the cartridge consistently gets good reviews. Its not exactly a new model but if something works why change it? They are a little bit hard to find in this country (another anomaly) but can be had, though. It's output is a bit on the low side so you do need a quiet phono stage with lots of gain. Everything I've read on it has been favorable except when someone was using a cheapo phono stage.
-
mobile,
I was strongly considering the 20-XL or the 20-XH, both retail for about $525.00. The XL low output version is supposed to sound just slightly better than the XH high output, but the XH can be used with most MM phono stages. Decisions, decisions. The next real step up in the Dynavector line is the XX-2 which is about $1600.00, and I'm not sure I really want to dump that much into a cartridge right now (or ever). The 10x4 at $350.00 has gotten a lot of good reviews too. Most of my friends have low to mid-fi setups and have bailed out of vinyl altogether so I'm mostly on my own for figuring out purchases. At one point I was also considering a Sumiko Blue Point Special, Audio Advisor will run discounts or specials on them at times. I know you're using a Blue Point and like it, plus it's very reasonably priced. I'm going to look in the $300 to $500.00 range and try to match compliance to the RB-900. I'm guessing that any cartridge that works well on the Rega P25 should also work with the VPI/RB900.
-
----------------On 1/18/2003 12:58:54 AM jazman wrote:BTW, you may want to consider a Clearaudio MM design with your Scout/Rega combo.Klipsch out.----------------
jazman,
Thanks for the cartridge suggestion. There's no audio dealers in my area that sell high-end (or even decent mid-fi) cartridges, most stock either Audio-Technica or Grado only, and the ones that have Grado won't stock anything but the Prestige line. Everything else is special order basis at full pop retail. To get any kind of decent discount on-line ordering seems best. About all I can do is research and read everything I can about an upcoming purchase and hope that it sounds good, there's few if any companies that will let you return a cartridge if you don't like it. The Clearaudio's have been getting good reviews so I need to look into them further. One reason I was considering Dynavector is that it's reputed to work very well on both Linn LP12's and VPI setups (in case I want to swap). For the most part the 1980's kinda sucked, but what I miss most about that era is being able to go to a stereo dealer that not only had good cartridges in stock but usually had several on demo turntables to listen to.
-
If you use enough bubble wrap, you don't really need the boat!
-
I agree with that suggestion! I just read the "Bigger CES Klipsch News" thread (yeah, I know, on top of things as usual) and boy, did that go downhill fast. Old "hornsandtubes" seems to be a leader of the trolls, and a diplomat to boot (and boot hard). You have to feel sorry for him, though, being married to Hilary Clinton can take it's toll and skew your perspective!
Rule of thumb: A good horn speaker should take more than one person to lift!
-
I read the review in Stereophile and found the VPI Scout review refreshing, especially coming from a "Linnie". My main deck is a Linn LP12 with Nirvana spec chassis, Lingo PS, Ittok LVII arm, latest version laminated armboard, and a Van den Hul modified Entre' moving coil cartridge. The deck sits on a Torlyte base that meets Linn's recommendation for "light & rigid", the base hefts like balsa wood. This is an extremely nice sounding deck and there's no need to go into the characteristics that "Linnies" usually gush over. A while back I tripped over a killer deal on a new-in-the-box Rega RB900 tonearm (better than 40% discount) so I bought it with the intent of improving the LP12. Uh, dumb move. The RB900 uses heavy-duty Klotz low capacitance cabling that is not only stiff, but there's two cables coming out the base of the arm. The cabling does not have a 90° bend like Linn cables do so suffice it to say that it's damn near impossible to fit a Rega RB900 into a LP12 without fouling the unit's suspension. Believe me, I tried!
This little episode left me with an orphan Class A tonearm to figure out what to do with so the first decision I made was to look for a non-suspended deck. After some research the VPI Scout emerged as a stand-out in its price class and in a lot of cases above its price class. I ordered a Scout from Elusive Disc (great people!) and fitted the arm. So far I really like this deck, it's very well made, looks good, and the Rega arm works well with it. I'm still running it in with a Grado Gold MM cartridge that has a decent sound, but I'm getting a moving coil cartridge as soon as I can scrape together some cash and decide what to buy. This should really shine with the right cartridge, I'll likely go with a Dynavector of some sort.
I've tried swapping LP's from one deck to the other to hear the difference and while the Scout is a really nice sounding deck the Linn still outclasses it. With the difference in my cartridges you can only compare them but so much, though. For the most part the LP12 has slightly better soundstaging and bass extension, and the pitch is dead on. The Scout has good pitch but doesn't quite have the Linn "PRAT", and is tilted a bit more towards mid and upper frequencies. A well recorded LP played on the VPI sounds fantastic until you put that same LP on the Linn - the sound "opens up" a bit and bass is much cleaner. At this point the Scout needs a better cartridge for any further accessments, also bear in mind that it's probably not fully broken in yet. And yes, the deck is level, the cartridge tracking weight, VTA, azimuth, and anti-skating are all correct. Believe me, it was a bee-otch finding stainless steel spacers to get the arm at the right height.
Overall, the Scout is a great turntable and is easier to handle than suspended decks. The fit and finish is superb, Harry definitely gives you what you pay for. This will be a keeper (I go through a lot of gear) and probably will make 99% of you out there happy if you buy one. I don't know what they sound like with the JMW-9 tonearm but I bet it's also really good. If mine had a cartridge more similar to my LP12 it would probably sound very, very close to the quality of the Linn. Considering that the deck retails for $850.00 without arm and for $1500.00 with the JMW-9 arm installed it's a hell of a deal, there's decks on the market for double or triple the price that won't sound as good. For a reference, try pricing a new full-spec LP12 - it will scare you.
I've also tried playing LP's with clamp-directly on platter, without clamp-directly on platter, with clamp-on Linn mat, without clamp-on Linn mat, etc. Playing directly on the acrylic platter does tend to emphasize mids and treble slightly, playing on the mat softens that effect but doesn't seem to enhance bass response. I guess a lot depends on component and speaker type, combined with the recording quality of the LP you're listening to. Anyone looking to buy a turntable should really give the Scout serious consideration if it's in your price range, and think hard about ponying up a few more bucks if it isn't. It could be a permanent fixture in a lot of systems, you have to spend a lot more or buy used to get near it's quality. And best of all, it's made in the US of A !
-
The seller relisted the auction so he could add pictures. Don't blame him a bit - these should be seen. Here's the new link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3001273564
-
" Lazziz le bon ton roulet!"
Is that French for "Lassie come home"? OR "Lassie bites Timmy"
-
I would help you but since I'm a "fogie" my Alzheimer's is bad today. My nurse is typing this for me - and I'm not telling you what else she's doing right now.
Here's a few links for locating good vinyl (other than swap meets, etc.):
-
Would that be:
" The absolute worst movie trailer you will ever see "
or
" a trailer for the absolute worst movie you will ever see " ??
-
For Sale: One wife, four cats, car, tools, lawn equipment, and any room in my house that Khorns won't fit in. Cash or money orders only - no credit! All sales final, and no trying before buying.
-
Well, this could be a very interesting auction. Klipschorns in Brazilian mahogany signed by Paul Klipsch (per the seller). No pictures on the listing yet but boy would I like to own this pair! They don't match my current Khorns exactly but who cares, they're autographed by THE MAN! Kinda get the feeling that these could (and should) set a eBay record, though. Hell, if I win these I would even drive to California to pick them up (I'm in VA), I wouldn't give UPS or FEDEX a remote chance at damaging them. Excuse me for now - gotta go see the loan officer (or should that be mortgage officer
)!http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3001022493
-
----------------On 1/13/2003 12:08:17 AM mobile homeless wrote:Curmudgeon, your answer to the wire database is at fatwyre.com or The Cable Company----------------
Mobile,
Thanks for the info on The Cable Co., I'll give them a try the next time I need cabling. I'll go through their database for the reviews, I'm very curious to see what matches up with what.
-
Having owned Klipsh speakers of various types over the years I didn't think much of overpriced "audio jewelry" type speaker wire. I recognized early on the need for good quality shielded interconnects between components but it always seemed the Klipsch speakers weren't as sensitive to wire types as other brands. Perhaps high sensitivity and stable impedance are factors. I swapped out different types and gauge sizes on my Cornwall's and Klipschorn's only to find (like MH said) that some wires types made them worse. On the Klipschorn's a good quality copper low to medium priced wire seems to bring out 99% of their capability, the other 1% I haven't found yet. The last wire I tried on them was an Audioquest Granite which didn't seem to do much at all. The Klipschorns are fed via a McIntosh C22 tube pre & MC275 tube amp, Nakamichi Dragon CD/DAC, & Linn LP12/Lingo/Ittok LVII turntable. Since the tube components and Khorns were designed before really good wire was available they are likely less sensitive to wires than modern stuff is.
HOWEVER, on my other system the AQ Granite made a noticeable difference to the better. This system currently consists of B&W CDM-9NT's driven by an Aragon Soundstage, Palladium II monoblocks, Rega Planet CD, and a VPI Aries Scout / Rega RB900 turntable. The previous speaker wire was the same as I was using on the Khorns but the AQ Granite definitely opened up the sound stage a bit, improved the vocals, and seems to have helped bass response on the B&W's. With this being a revealing, high-powered solid state system and the B&W's being power-hungry (and a bit forward) the wire apparently can effect more obvious changes in sound.
Mostly, wire changes are going to be very dependent on front end equipment and speaker brands, el cheapo wire could hold a lot of systems back but spending hundreds or thousands on wire may not do jack. In my opinion if wiring comes in a high-grade wooden presentation box you're probably getting screwed somewhere. High-end "power cords" are something I'm a major skeptic on, snake oil seems to apply directly here. What we all need is a computer database that you could input component and speakers into to receive appropriate interconnect and speaker wire recommendations. There's way too many choices out there and the stuff is too damned expensive to experiment with. It's a shame the component manufacturers seem unwilling to help with recommendations (unless its their own wire), because not everyone has access to a dealer that will let people "try out" wiring.
-
" Check out my avatar!
"Damn?!
I'm behind the times again, apparently Klipsch has changed the BBS so that the avatar doesn't appear full size when you click on it to go to user profile. When did that happen? Anyway, here's the full size image, I guess I need a new avatar since no one can see it properly anymore.
And the VW Thing looked good once you mounted a 50 caliber on it! 
sus, from supercilium, eyebrow, pride : super-, super- + cilium, lower eyelid; see kel-1 in Indo-European Roots.] 
per·cil
i·ous·ly adv. 
)!
I'm behind the times again, apparently Klipsch has changed the BBS so that the avatar doesn't appear full size when you click on it to go to user profile. When did that happen? Anyway, here's the full size image, I guess I need a new avatar since no one can see it properly anymore.
Turntable question ?
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
Dale,
If you can afford to go a little extra the VPI Aries Scout / JMW 9 combination is a great deck. It goes for about $1500.00 in the US, not sure what it goes for up north. Jazman has one and likes it a lot, the one I have has a Rega RB900 arm and seems to be a good combo. The HW-19 Jr is still a good deck and very upgradeable - definitely a good start if you want to go a bit more conservative pricewise.