kev313

I'm pretty sure I do, Joe...pulled it out of my trunk not that long ago. Email me.

If you add a pass through the disc washer, they've also had sex twice. Dave Twice! Oh to be young again...

Well there is, but it's not "audiophile". About half of it is DJ, and the other half is just the cool nostalgia factor of playing vinyl at a party, or older profs. I think we're down to two vinyl stores now...apparently there used to be about a dozen or so. Most everyone in the student AES chapter here on campus and the campus in Chicago seem to be listening to mini-monitors hooked up to their computers. Oh yeah...my sense of the vinyl scene is that not much of the so called surge has too much to do with "audiophile." Defining who is an audiophile is impossible, but if we were to assume that it meant those who consider hi-fi and / or high-end audio a hobby, I would guess that even a 50% swing in favor of people adopting a turntable as a source still wouldn't lead to an appreciable renaissance in vinyl outside of a few high-end type companies and boutique record labels.

Don't discount the (to use an overused term) "hipster" crowd in the 19 - late 20's early 30's range. For example, in neighborhoods such as Wicker Park and the like here in Chicago, the shaggy beard wearing crown is into very much into vinyl possibly as much as the "older generation" you describe or "audiophile" crowd you have much disdain for. I mean, it's a trend, I guess, and doesn't have as much to do with quality as cool outsider factor. Heck, though, the local Urban Outfitters has a record player on display in the window, so that's a sign that it has already become either "hipster-lite" or has passed onto broader acceptance. My guess, and it is just a guess, is that it is closer to the latter as many of the indie label releases I hear on the local college station WLUW (Loyola Chicago) are described as being on vinyl. Also the WLUW record fair is H-U-G-E every year and believe me when I say it is NOT older folks at the show. I imagine the scene is being repeated in many other cities and college campuses. As another example, my brother in law has a records store at OU in Norman. Booming business over the last few years. I'm pretty surprised there is no record store / scene at U of I.

Saab is still owned by GM, right? Since 2000, I believe. 9-3's and 9-5's still manufactured in Trollhättan, Sweden.

Not sure what you mean. You brought it up. BTW, I just simply use "less than" P "greater than" for a paragraph break. oh I just meant that I had 4 or 5 posts almost in a row only because I was too lazy to solve the formatting / lack of para. break issues, that's all. Posts instead of paragraphs, in other words, not multiple posts for the sake having multiple posts (this post notwithstanding).

Colin - I didn't mean to imply that the Oppo has shoddy build quality. It, in fact is pretty good with all metal casework. It is, however, lightweight as compared to the other two models which I listed. It is worth keeping in mind that the Sony and Denon were significantly more expensive than the Oppo when new. Also, the available (used) Denon 2900's and Sony 9000es's are several years old at this point. Frankly, for my money, it is worth getting the Oppo simply to enjoy what can be had NEW for so little $. You also get a state of the art DVD player which might come in handy.

For those that are interested in the Oppo 980, go here for links to various reviews: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=879341&page=1&pp=30 Not trying to run up the post count here, BTW, just don't feel like addressing the format issues.

I should also point out that, if one is looking at the Oppo for strictly 2 channel cd, sacd, and dvd-a (read as not video), and is willing to buy used, the Denon 2900 and Sony DVP 9000 ES are comparable in sound quality but FAR exceed the Oppo's build quality. I've owned both and both can be had in the $200 - $400 range.

2001 Saab 9-3 Viggen. Mine is silver, but what beats Swedish front wheel drive 265 hp turbo charged 4 cylinder? Well, it's an acquired taste.

By the way, if anyone has any tips as to why this forum removes my formatting (paragraph breaks) in Safari 3.0.4, I'd be most grateful.

I say the Oppo 980 ($170) beats my old Audio Note 4.1x DAC and Audio Note CDT2 transport ($15k+?) What? OK...probably not in terms of absolute performance, and I sold the Audio Note gear about a year ago, so I can't do a head to head comparison. But I CAN say this with certainty. I enjoy that little Oppo way WAY more than the Audio Note stuff. This reflects a greater change in my perspective as to how much I am willing to spend on audio - a reevaluation of the price vs. performance aspect if you will - but with the Oppo I listen with a smile thinking "I cannot believe how GREAT this sounds for less than $200!!" And it plays my sacd's to boot! With the high dollar gear I spent more time fretting about whether the sound quality was worth the investment. Not even a close comparison as to which digital rig gives me a more pleasurable listening experience. I'm sure that there are units that sound better, but the 980 sounds SO good for SO little, that I have no interest in paying more to seek those units out. Dave - Thanks so much! I had heard about Opo for years, but didn't make the buy until reading your post here. I went with the 980 after Oppo confirmed that that was the pick if you wanted audio quality only an didn't intend to use it as a dvd player. Yes...the 980 also has an "audio only" mode. For those multi-channel geeks who want to get fancy and use the 980 as a transport to stream PCM and DSD via HDMI 1.2a, the unit can accommodate that as well. Really don't get it, but I direct anyone who is interested in that apparently fairly unique feature to review this month's S'phile for a more in depth review. Thanks again Dave!

About 2 years ago I traded my Cornwalls for a pair of cain and cain abbys with fostex drivers. VERY different, but I've still got the Abbys and listen to them every day. Will they rock like Klipsch? Hell no, but they sound great in their own way.

After a smal google fest I have learned that the Western Electric 618 is the mc transformer I was referring to.

Sure - a few of the old WE microphone transformers are used as step-up devices. I think Shindo at one time sold them as well and may have included them in their higher priced preamps.

Can't wait, but a little nervous about opening with SD. This game is gonna tell us alot about this season.

One need not argue. It's true (in my experience), the bandwidth IS severely limited.

I don't know enough about those Altecs to know whether that is a good size baffle or not, but it looks small to me. Google "open baffle calculator" and you'll get a program to work it out. At that price, I'd rather build 'em. Also, although supposedly great drivers, Altec 604's can get really expensive so the total cost of that project could be pretty high. Don't know about the 755's.

But ain't it awesome, Mark? I've been thinking about doing a big PHY-HP based OB. Just gotta convince the wife...

In order to maintain the scientific integrity of this discussion it should be noted that Carl never ran a 9.5 (I'm prety sure no one else has, yet, either) and would probably top 10 these days.

Downfalls = Size. OB's are usually huge and need to be in order to produce bass. Positive = Great way to use a single full range (read as no crossover) driver. Hard to explain the sound, but once you take out the crossover you know how much gets lost in a 2way+ design. The first time I heard my Cain and Cain Abbys (not an OB, but a voight pipe using a full range fostex) I couldn't beleive it. So very very natural. LAcks low end ooomph, but that's how it goes.

Joe - All you need is 200 solid state watts on those JBL's, blankets stapled to your walls and a pair of safety glasses! Good luck with the LaScala, thoough, I was always interested in using those bins with the Oris.

You never learn do ya? It's a time alignment issue. He needs an active crossover... [inserting old school smiley here ]

Hi Dave - Checked and answered.

CTP - Where's yer new Cornwalls??