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MeloManiac

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Everything posted by MeloManiac

  1. Newly produced EL84 tubes cost between 10 and 25 euros/dollars. Some of them produce great sound. NOS EL84 tubes cost more and they date back to the 1950s, 1960s. They are desirable for guitarists for example, because it allows them to create that typical timeperiod sound, if used with the vintage guitar amp. Audiophiles like nos tubes because they believe the last longer and were made better, and therefore sound better. You can recognize nos tubes by their packaging (can be forged) and by the etching on the glass ( can be forged too). I've used new and nos Sovtek tubes with my Tubecube 7, and I can hardly tell the difference. Last but not least, the pre-amp tube affects the sound more than the power tubes.
  2. Feeling guilty... Let me explain why. Some of you will know that in the past two years I started buying vinyl records again, new and used, and I was in need of additional storage. I used some apple crates up to now, but wasn't completely happy with those. So this morning, we went to a local thriftstore, where they sell used furniture. I found exactly what I needed. A small, massive pinewood cabinet to store cds and vinyl records. I rolls on 4 wheels of a quality they don't make anymore. I used some wood re-newer on it to bring back its shine. It has a nice patina. I live in wood home, something quite rare in Belgium, btw, so it fits the style of our house. So why guilty? In that thriftstore they charge per metre, so I paid €1.8 for it. That's not a typo, I paid less than 2 euros for it! My teenage daughter cleaned out her wardrobe, so I'm going to bring the clothes she grew out of to the thrifstore, to set the balance right... Some of the clothes she wore just once... Imagine listening to a vinyl record just once... What a shame would that be. Anyhow, glad with my new vinyl records storage cabinet on wheels.
  3. I happen to own a Pro-ject Essential 3 tt and take it from me, that junction box you posted a link of looks much better built than the plastic one that is on the back of my Project tt, so I would definitely go for that after market project. If your generic phono cable is decent quality and issue free, I would keep it. I myself have had issues with my Project one, so a famous 'brand' doesn't guarantee excellent quality!
  4. Looking at those pictures, I think, actually I am pretty sure your speakers have already been recapped! So I definitely wait with any work until your amp is back home and enjoy for a while as they are... You did a great find, my friend, here in Europe, those speakers are easily worth $800, if not more!
  5. When I bought my 1972 Klipsch Heresy set in 2018, they sounded 'muddy' too. I replaced the capacitors of the crossovers, which age with time. This is easy to do. I myself had no soldering experience at all. Take note of the desscriptions on the old caps and order new caps with identical specs. Now they sound pretty amazing. The cost: a few dollars. In my case, the postage cost more than the caps themselves. I needed 4 caps in total... Your crossovers may be different. If they still sound muddy after recapping, you will probably have to replace the diaphragms.
  6. What a beauty: https://trueaudiophile.com/ikeda-tt-mc-phono-cartridge-handmade-in-japan/ https://www.audio-activity.com/ikeda-9tt-in-english.html Note: Can't help it, but I constantly misread it as Ikea... 😱
  7. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-pa5-review-amplifier.28512/ China junk? Or surprisingly good? Do graphs say anything about musicality? Two years ago, I bought a small class D amp with tubes, 2x 50 Watt, for a fraction of the price (70 euro compared to this topping 349 euro). I like it a lot, it sounds a bit harsh, but has a lot of power and even comes with bluetooth and 2 aditional inputs. I have used it with my RP160Ms and my Heresy's. It has treble and bass nobs too. I'm going to hook it up again, due to your post, just to see what it does to me now, after many months of listening only to a Leben CS300. What do you think?
  8. My inscription is: A33 9124 425 51 I can't find any references about it, not on Discogs, not on Google. I remember buying it at Aldi Belgium.
  9. I have 4 versions of Stravinsky's Firebird. It's quite interesting to learn how different directors and orchestra interpret this powerful piece, each with their own temperament and the style of the era: Pierre Boulez with the BBC Symphone Orchestra, Pierre Boulez with the New York Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Claudio Abbado with the London Symphony Orchestra. My favourite is in bold.
  10. I have this one too, what pressing were you after and how can you tell you have the right one? ... I guess mine is the normal edition https://www.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/nevermind_and_original_recordings_group/index.html Or not? https://uebervinyl.de/nevermind-nirvana-b-grundman-2017-vs-30th-anniversary/
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acker_Bilk?wprov=sfla1 I bought this album in the thriftstore because it says 'sansui system q.s.' Was curious how it would sound on my system... Very mellow and liquid...
  12. https://www.ortofon.com/ortofon-2m-black-p-329 Phono stage: iFi Zen Phono https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/ifi-zen-phono
  13. Welcome to the forum. Upgrade the needle is what I would do. Instant Sq improvement.
  14. The drum slams at 4:09 sound fantastic on my Heresy 1972 set too! The Fives do have a repuation of having amazing low frequencies for such small speakers. Must be the magic in the crossover that pulls this off! Welcome to the forum!
  15. Just discovered this...
  16. I'm using this loupe to check my needle for dust. Very efficient!
  17. For me, writing books is my goal in life (next to raising a family). It is also my way of keeping sane in this mad world. If I can write a couple of pages per day, I'm feeling good. My routine is putting on a record, start walking rounds in my living room and gettin gthe words right, and then sit down and start punching the keyboard of my laptop. A mug of Arabica coffee or red berries herbal tea keeps me going! I like the fact that my Technics SL DL1 has a repeat function. I can stay in the flow for hours, like that!
  18. Some of you may have noticed there were fewer of my posts of late. This doesn't mean that I haven't been listening to vinyl records. In fact, my Leben CS300 has been working double shifts as an amplifier and as a room heating device. The reason is that, being a writer (some of you probably have figured out that's what I do, next to teaching), I've been working really hard on my novel. I've come to a particularly 'heavy' section in it, where the inspiritation in part comes from my personal life. Yesterday, I literally caught myself fighting against my tears as I was reliving a wake for a friend of mine who died fifteen years ago in a car accident. This wake (memorial reception) had a profound effect on me personally. In the presence of my friend's parents, his wife and young children, I totally crashed and wasn't able to speak or move for about 30 minutes. So yesterday, I used this very personal experience for my novel, and it all came back, even now, when I'm writing this post on this form, tears are welling up. All through my life, music, especially listening to vinyl records, has been an emotional outlet for me on moments when things get a bit rough. This morning, during my oldest soccer match, I paid a visit to a local record store. This is what I got, to weapon myself for the next Melo-moment:
  19. That's a cardinal sin, young man!
  20. My RP160M set sounds best with my vintage Harman Kardon 430 twin powered. The Phono stage is great too. I have many other amps to compare with, but th HK430 is the best. I use a advance acoustic WTX wifi streamer.
  21. I saw him live here in Belgium in Ghent, many years ago. I was seated high up and there, the sound was terrible, with the metal roofing vibrating with the music... But then Bruce sent the band off stage and what followed was 30 minutes of Bruce unplugged, going through his old catalog. I really enjoyed it. I've also listened to Springsteen's and Barack Obama's podcasts on Spotify, which is very informative. They are good friends and have a lot in common, for instance a messed up father son relationship.
  22. My pressing of Born to Run also sounded terrible until I upgraded my Phono stage and got a tube amp... Then all of a sudden all the pieces started working together in a positive way.
  23. Alan Parsons appears in the Disney+ documentary 'Get Back' when he was a young sound engineer. He's listed as 'assistant engineer' of Let it Be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Be_(Beatles_album)#Personnel
  24. Help me out here... I recently read something about Alan Parsons colaborating with ??? and then when the band quit, he started the Alan Parsons Project... But who was he working with initially? EDIT Alan Parsons appears in the Disney+ documentary 'Get Back' when he was a young sound engineer. He's listed as 'assistant engineer' of Let it Be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Be_(Beatles_album)#Personnel
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