Lonelobo

Dear Friends, How can it be that colterphoto1 can have THAT many speakers and not a working TT. I am going to have to put this in my "things to ponder" list.

Ok, so I've had a chance to listen to a few from my last raid and what would be more appropriate than a quick review.... Electra, Judy Collins, “A Maid of Constant Sorrow”, VG NM, Cat 7209 Her first solo recording and she is very young and has short blond hair. This is one of the picks from this haul. Kicks JC A$$. Very young voice that predates her pop stuff. All folk...powerful and a very good recording. Glad I got this one. Electra, “Judy Henske” VG VG Vocal/Guitar/Bass/Trombone Judy is AWESOME!! Blue Cabaret singing at it's best. However, the lp is poppy and it has a ditch on track one that launches my tonearm. Still, I will look for a replacement in better shape. She's a bit chatty between songs in a rather irritating style, but once she starts singing, you better stand back. Columbia, “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison”, EX NM , Pivotal Cash recording in NM condition, I gladly put down $10. Probably my favorite Johnny Cash lp of all time and it sounds great. I went back to the stash to pick up another Brenda Lee lp in absolutely mint condition, this the self titled Brenda Lee that was her first stereo lp. Tends to sell in the upper $40s to $50's but not at the country store. PS. I never buy purses at thrift stores, but I do check them for money....

Inner Tuber, Now you have raised the bar and I feel obligated to add pictures to my tedious boring posts just to peak some interest.

Thanks for all the help. I've ordered some 8ohm 15watt replacement pots and solen 47uF Caps from Parts Express thanks to the lead from list member Nat Denkin. I will get them installed and report back here. Are we having fun yet!

I hope this isn't inappropriate for the Klipsch forum, but I will beg your indulgence since my question concerns my Frazier Model 7 speakers. I know however, that the collective knowledge on this list will be able to point me in the right direction. I bought these speakers a few months back, hooked them up, and they had problems. Mid's and high's completely mucked up and the "BRILLIANCE" AND "PRESCENCE" pots would go crazy if you even looked at them. So tonight I dug into one of them to remove the pots for replacement. While I'm at it I thought I would take a look at the caps in the crossover. The pots have the following specs embossed on them: 8ohms, 15 Watts Culver Electronics, INC Inglewood, ca. That's it, no more specs. So how do I go about finding replacements? Do I need to do more testing to figure out what resistance range I'm looking for. Any help would be appreciated. The caps are 4 12uF 100v axial wired in parallel. Am I right in assuming that caps in parallel like this can be replaced with a single 48uF 100v cap. What kind of caps are appropriate in speakers? If this isn't an appropriate arena for my education concerning these matters, please contact me off list. ron@loneloboproductions.com

I am a vinylholic. There...I said it. Laquer and shellac collecting are not far off I fear. While at a Dallas collector/dealer's house recently I noticed that he did not store his vinyl as do I. His method is to store the lp out of its jacket. The normal outer sleeve opens at the top, and the inner sleeved lp is dropped in behind the jacket with the open end at a 90 degree angle to the top opening. This, he says keeps the seams of the jacket from splitting and in fact the jacket is almost never handled by doing this. Anybody have any thoughts about this? I get 2.5 mil and 5 mil outer sleeves from sleevecity. The 2.5mil sleeves are cheaper and just fine for the vast majority of lp's. The 5mil sleeves are better suited for really thick double and triple album jackets as they are just ever so bigger. I started using the rounded bottom inner sleeves a few months ago and really like them so far as they slide in easier. I reserve the better inner sleeves for "special" albums, though I think that the effect is merely psychological. Another thing I do is to get all the yellowing inner sleeves away from their original jackets. Acid in paper isn't good for anything, especially the jacket. If a yellowing inner sleeve is a design element of the package I will keep it in the jacket, but I don't like doing it. So how do YOU store your vinyl?

Being newish to this aspect of the audiophile sickness I am always eager to learn from those who have traveled the path before me. What are the phases I can expect to travel through on my journey to audio nervana? I am assuming that I will soon reach my limit for "total number of lps" that I am comfortable keeping to avoid the appearance of being totally eccentric. My best guess is that this will top out at about 2000-3000. Then I will drift into the "if I buy one I ditch one" phase. Any collecting advice for a novice will be greatly appreciated. And I would also like to know how many lps you guys have in your own collections...and I expect absolute honesty....unless your spouse also monitors this list.

Ok, last stop of the day way out in the Texas countryside at a little antique store that I remembered seeing vinyl at before I got the “sickness”. This one I will be mining for a while as it looks like there’s some depth here, but then the prices are outrageous considering what I’m used to paying. But then again, there’s stuff here that I don’t normally find. Like a good selection of Rock that is NM…highly unusual. So to get to the point; Picked up some $2 CD’s in addition to some vinyl. Vanguard, “The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie, Vol 1” Lots of different artists…all great. Musical Heritage Society, “Eine kleine Nachtmusic” Academy of St. Marin-in-the-Fields, Nevill Marriner conducting Verve, Dinah Washington Jazz Masters 19 Mercury, Sarah Vaughan’s Golden Hits. CMH Records, “The Banjos that Destroyed the World”, The fastest 5-string Banjo Instrumentals of all Time. How could I resist? OK, on to the Vinyl…. A bunch of very early Electra stuff with the little grey seal printed on the jacket. Electra, “Judy Henske” VG VG Vocal/Guitar/Bass/Trombone Electra, Judy Collins, “A Maid of Constant Sorrow”, VG NM, Cat 7209 Her first solo recording and she is very young and has short blond hair. This is one of the picks from this haul. Electra, Judy Collins #3, VG EX , Cat EKS-7243, here she is singing a bunch of Dylan. Dot Records, Val Stoecklein, “Grey Life” NM NM 1968 recording. I can’t say I know enough about Val to have paid the entry price, but we’ll find out. Dolton Records, The Ventures “Surfing” NM EX, Cover art is stunning. Pix of legendary surfer Sammy Lee. I have a soft spot for The Ventures and Chevrolet Nomads. MGM, Hank Williams, “Lost Highway and other Folk Ballads” EX EX cat 4252 Columbia, “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison”, EX NM , Pivotal Cash recording in NM condition, I gladly put down $10. Decca, Brenda Lee “Reflections in Blue” EX NM, cat DL 74941 Includes “Am I Blue” the original recording. Another $10 hits the floor. There’s tons of girl singers in the stacks. I gotta do some research. WB, The Who “Face Dances” NM NM w/NM poster, Cat. HS3516 MCA, The Who “Hooligans” NM NM 2 lp set w/ all inserts Sun Records lp, Johnny Cash & the Tennessee Two “Get Rhythm” NM NM, ok it’s a cutout so technically can’t be NM, but I don’t care. There’s a ton of JC in NM in the stacks. Caedmon, “J.R.R. Tolkien reads and sings his THE HOBBIT and The Fellowship of the Ring. EX NM Cat. TC 1477……cooooooool!!! WB, Dire Straits, “Communique”, EX NM , cat. HS 3330 Columbia, Boz Scaggs “Silk Degrees” G NM, cat. Pc 33920 Atlantic, Blues Brothers, “Briefcase Full of Blues”, NM NM Chrysalis, Huey Lewis and the News, “Sports” NM NM , cat FV41412 This is the most I have ever spent on USED vinyl. New audiophile is another story. Total for both the CD’s and Vinyl was $101.76. The little old lady behind the counter said she will negotiate price on some of the lps next time. I won’t tell you what I didn’t get because some of it I don’t believe myself and will have to do more research on…..stay tuned….whahahahahahhahhahahaaaaa. PS. I’ve sent my $50 Marantz Model 5’s to Craig to see if he can resurrect them with some sense of style and grace. Wish me luck on those.

2nd and 3rd stop a little less productive today. Kapp Records, “Fly me to the Moon and the Bossa Nova Pops” Joe Harnell his piano and orchestra. G VG Narada Records, Narada Sampler #3, Narada is similar to Windham Hill only floatier. EX EX Jacket exclaims, “Audiophile-Quality KC 569 Premium Virgin Vinyl” HH Records, Howard Hanger & Earl Heflley “Cool Morning Aire” NM NM Looks like a self published disc. Warner, Gordon Lightfoot “Gord’s Gold” 2 lp set, VG VG Custom Fidelity, “Dust & Ashes From Both Sides”, This is 2 folk singers singing Christian themed songs. From the pix they look like Beatniks. Another self published disc in all probability. Total damage: $6.06

Today was my 1st day off in about 15 including weekends, so I claimed it in the name of juvenile selfishness to fulfill my out of control vinyl habit. Goodwill was my first stop and there I found some treasure and some trash: London Records, “Incomparable Sax of Ace Cannon”, CAT SHL 32048, NM NM, I always cringe at the word “Incomparable” and to make things worse, I bought several more Ace Cannon lps. London Records, “The Misty Sax of Ace Cannon” VG NM, Cat. SHLL 32035, The jacket starts out by stating, “The idea to produce an Ace Cannon album with strings was sheer brilliance”….this is another warning sign. London Records, “Ace Cannon, Aces High” NM NM, Cat SHL 32016, If you listen to more than 1 Ace Cannon record in a row, I’m pretty sure you will throw up. But I could be surprised….and boy would I be surprised if these are good. Liberty Records, “The Best of Si Zentner, Vol TWO” NM NM, Another scary purchase that proves you shouldn’t work so hard., EX EX Liberty Records, “Up a Lazy River” Si Zentner and his Orchestra. NM NM, CAT LST 7216. Ok, so I have a curiosity about big band music. I usually throw 9 out of 10 into the recycle bin, but the ones I keep I really like. We’ll see. A&M, Chuck Mangione, “Children of Sanchez” 2 lp set, VG VG cat SP-6700 Asylum, The Bernie Leadon/Michael Georgiades Band, “Natural Progressions”, vg NM cutout, United Artists, Al Caiola “King Guitar”, EX EX Cat UAS 6586 A&M, Mangione, “Bellavia” Chuck Mangione Quartet Orchestra, G VG , Jacket says Kai Winding is the Orchestra Personnel Coordinator (he’s a hell of a trombonist with his own recording career) A&M, Gato Barbieri, “Caliente!”, VG NM I’m going to have to orgnanize an entire sax lp section pretty soon! Everest Records-Archive of Folk & Jazz Music, 1947 “WNEW Saturday Night Swing Session” w/ Roy Eldridge, Flip Phillips, Specs Powel, Mel Torme, Ralph Burns, Buddy Rich and Charlie Ventura. NM NM Cat FS-231 This one is electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo….even so, I think this is the score of the bunch. A&M, Gap Mangione “She and I”, EX NM, Cat. SP 3407, I believe this is Chuck’s brother MCA Master Series, Larry Carlton “Alone/But Never Alone” NM NM Cat. MCA 5689. “Also available on CD” Must have been pressed on the cusp. And 2 KVIL Christmas LP’s . KVIL is a Dallas radio station and these lps feature local talent playing Christmas songs and themes. Both NM NM. Total Outlay for this is an embarrassing $7.58

I’ve been traveling for work and working 16 to 18 hour days for over a week, so I rewarded myself with a few Thrift store sessions. A couple of days ago before a shoot I snuck into a shop and found: A&M, Chuck Mangione “tarantella” 2 lp set, G EX+(almost NM), Cat. SP 6513. This one has Chick Corea, Steve Gadd, Kathyryn Moses, Gap Mangione, and Dizzy Gillespie (I had the privilege of shooting Dizzy rehearsing with the One O’Clock Lab band at UNT back in the day. He was an awesome and generous soul. ABC Command Quadraphonic, Enoch Light & the Light Brigade, “A New Concept of the Great Cole Porter Songs”, EX NM Warner Bros, “The Mason Williams Phonograph Record” NM NM, Cat.1729 Lots of name players on this one….I just wanted a copy of “Classical Gas” on LP. Atlantic, Manhatten Transfer “Vocalese”, VG NM Cat 7 81266-1 Palo Alto Records, “Bill Evans- A Tribute”, 2 lp cutout set, CO VG Lot of great artists on this one as well. A&M, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, “Equinox, EX VG, Cat 4122 Decca, “Quartette Tres Bien, Exciting Priano and Rhythm/Spring into Spring”, VG G , Cat. DL 74617 This jacket has 2 stunningly gay looking guys with hornrim glasses doing the splits in lycra pants holding colored weather balloons. I’m actually scared to put this one on a turntable. Musical Heritage Society, “Ten Virtuoso Encore Pieces”, Ruben Varga, Violin/Marcia Mendelson, Piano, EX NM, Cat MHS 3979 Musical Heritage Society, Mozart “Toy Symphony/Concerto in D Major/A Musical Joke,K. 522”, Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra MHS 7026H, NM NM but it says it’s a digital recording….rats! Russion Record Label BeriozkA, “Tchaikovsky, “Excerpts from Ballets”, NM NM This is the first Russian pressing that I’ve come across. Should be an interesting listen. Quintessence Critics Choice, “Wild about Listzt, Vol. 1” Earl Wild, Piano NM NM Cat PMC-7096, I think Wild takes his shirt off between the 1st and 2nd side of this LP. London Digital Recording (insert Argggghh) Mussorgsky-Ravel, “Pictures at an Exhibition” Chicago Symphony, Sir Georg Solti. NM NM I belive this is the first performance of this I have. Florilegium Series, Academy of Ancient Music, “Pachelbel Kanon and Music of Handel-Vivaldi-Gluck” Christopher Hogwood, NM NM Cat DSLO 594 RCA, James Galway, “Pachelbel Canon and others” NM NM Cat AFL1-4063. Is there a Pachelbel Canon that I can leave in a store? Probably not… Abbey Recording, “Elgar’s Orgoan Music from Worchester Cathedral”, played by Donald Hunt. NM NM And I can never leave weird Christmas LP’s alone so I also got: MCA, “A Medieval Christmas, Pro Cantione Antiqua-Midieval Wind Ensemble” Mark Brown Conducting, NM NM (except it’s a digital recording) This one is a promotional copy. RCA Red Seal, “The Vienna Choir Boys Christmas Festival”, Vienna Chamber Orchestra NM NM Cat 0698 CBS, Liona Boyd, “A guitar for Christmas” w/German subtitles, NM NM, Cat fm 37248, I like acoustic guitar, Christmas and hot blondes draped over stringed instruments. RCA Victor Living Stereo, Harry Belafonte “To wish you a Merry Christmas, G EX That’s the haul for this store. All under 99 centavos. Life IS good!!

Back from Austin where the South by Southwest Music and Film Festival was underway. First thing I saw when I got downtown was a sign at Stubb's BBQ proclaiming a concert by Roky Erikson was in full swing. I didn't get to stop by to listen, but apparently Roky is still able to stand and sing...at least I hope so.

I run into TONS and I do mean TONS of Christian and Inspirational lps. They are the ones that are always in the bins no matter what. A lot of Tennesse Ernie Ford and the like...not that there's anything wrong with that. However, if you hop over to the auction site, you will find that some of the highest prices commanded are for some of these obscure lps. I just have no idea which ones till I see them go for ridiculous sums. Anyone have a source for info on collectable "regional" Christian lps? I have more thrift store lps to post, but must be off at the moment for a Rachel Ray shoot. Wish me luck... PS. PM, I found your last Hogwood Pachelbel lp post in my last raid...haven't had a chance to listen yet, any good? My collection can only aspire to be as weird and ecclectic as most members on this list....you KNOW who I'm talking about!

Ok, this is getting old. I know I started this thread, but surely someone else out there is buying vinyl. But if I have to do it alone, I will.... twood be nice to see some comments from someone other than me. Maybe I'm just pathetic in my unending search for more vinyl but it keeps me on the streets. So here's today's finds from a thrift that I hit just last week but was apparently replenished. Kama Sutra Label, Brewer and Shipley-"Shake off the Demon", Ex Ex ...who ARE these guys? I'm going to find out. Warner Bros. "James Taylor's Greatest Hits" , VG VG, Cat. BS 2979 Reprise Records, "John B. Sebastian, Self Titled" VG VG Cat R6379 Atlantic, "Foreigner 4", NM NM, Cat. SD16999 Atlantic, Foreigner "Agent Provocateur" NM NM A&M, Cat Stevens "Foreigner", Nm NM, SP4391, I actually thought this was a Foreigner LP that I didn't know about till I got it home and found that Cat Stevens was embossed into the jacket. Includes a very heavy cardboard insert with original art by the Catman himself. Haven't heard this one anywhere in my limited past. We'll have to see. Electra, Carly Simon "No Secrets" EX EX, Cat EKS-75049 Island Records, Steve Winwood "Back in the High Life", NM NM MCA, Dave Mason "Two Hearts" EX EX, w/Phoebe Snow doing backup vocals Bryan ADams, "Reckless" EX EX Arista, AL9599, Alan Parsons Project "Eye in the Sky", VG NM Reprise, Arlo Guthrie "Hobo's Lullaby", Ex NM, this is one of 2 from this buy that I consider "Sweet" Columbia, New Riders of the Purple Sage "The Adventures of Panama Red" VG NM, Cat. KC32450 WB, "Van Halen II" NM NM Argo Stereo Cat.757, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, "The In Crowd", Recorded live at the Bohemian Caverns in Wash, DC., This is the best of the whole lot...cover in VG to EX condition and the lp is NM. Can't wait to spin this one. CBS Masterworks, Mehta/New York Philharmonic/Perahia, "Chopin Piano Concerto No.1", NM NM London Phase 4 Concert Series, Dvorak, "New World Symphony" Antal Dorati, New Philharmonia Orchestra, EX NM and very heavy. My first of Dvorak's No. 9 Not bad for bins that I picked over myself less than a week ago. Oh, yeah, almost forgot...all 95 centavos ea. Like takin candy from a baby....not that I would ever do that.......again......

I believe the Cossatot Snail Darter is protected from all MuZak related sounds. If you read the EPA's regulations, you will find that only organic tube equipment is to be used within 1000 yards of the Cossatot corridor in order to protect the secondary harmonics of this endangered species. That's all I'm sayin....

Another round of thrift stores a couple of days ago yielded some good and some wierd stuff: A&M Records, "White Mansions, A tale from the American Civil War 1861-1865", supported by Bernie Leadon, Eric Clapton, Dave Markee, Henry Spinetti and Tim Hinkley. Haven't listened to it yet but it has a booklet documenting the war and containing lyrics. For 99 cents I had to have it out of curiosity. Very strange. Guest Star Records, "Jonah Jones and Selections by the River Boat Six, The greatest Dixieland Ever" Cat GS-1473, EX VG, I can't find this in my Goldmine Jazz LP collectors guide, though there is plenty of Jonah Jones. But nothing on this label. I have listened to it and it is a mix of pure Dixieland with some straight ahead small group jazz thrown in. Very strange ping ponging of the stereo track, like the engineer was left alone while drinking. Would love to know more. Warner Bros. "Bob James /David Sanborn/Double Vision", EX NM, Verve, Kai Winding "More" featuring Kenny Burrell, Cat V-8551, EX VG, another strange one. Kind of like the Ventures on trombone and brass Electra, Simply Red "Picture Book", EX NM,,just because I don't have any yet. ZZ Top, "Eliminator" NM NM, BILLY DUSTY FRANK FOREVER!!!!!! Columbia, Journey "Escape", NM NM really just for the cover art Alabama, "Mountain Music", NM EX, everyone needs some Redneck Rock... A&M, Brian Adams "Cuts like a Knife" NM NM ABC Parammount, Cat ABC 499, Mono recording of The Tams, "Hey Girl, Don't Bother Me!" VG VG A genre I don't have much of...every once in a while you feel the need. Andreas Vollenweider, "White Winds", I ran out of clay targets...don't ask Westminster Gold Series, Handel*Water Music*Scherchen, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Cat WGS-8114, NM NM Argo Records, "Golden Brass, Brass Music of the 16th & 17th Centuries form England, Italy, and Germany" The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Cat ZRG 717 , NM NM Angel Recording, "Carmina Burana" Adre Previn conducts London Symphony Orch & Chorus., Cat S-37117, NM NM Columbia Red Six Eye, Andre Kostelanetz, "Grand Canyon Suite", P G , Cat CL 716 Columbia Masterworks Box Set, "The Art of Eurgene Ormandy" celebration of his 30th Anniversary with the Phil. Orch. Beethoven's 8th, Wagner Prellude and Love-Death, Tchaikovsky Romeo and Julliet, Debussy Afternoon of a Faun, Ravel La valse. Radio Station Service stickers on box. G NM Cat M2L338 Capitol, Bizet "L'Arlesienne Suite", Faure "PPelleas and Melisande Suite", Paris Opera Orchestra, VG EX Columbia Masterworks Black Six Eye, Philadelphia Orchestra, William Tell Overture, VG VG Columbia Masterworks Black Six Eye, Brahms:Symphony No. 2, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York, ML 5125 G VG COlumbia Odyssey, Mozart "Requiem" Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic. EX EX, I didn't have a Requiem... Epic, Compilation of the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Cat LC 3349, VG VG, just for grins The Vienna Boys Choir, "Britten: A Ceremony of Carols", NM NM Cat Arl1-3437 Broadway Album, "Les Miserables", complete with a playbill for the performance at the Music Hall at the Great State Fair of Texas, June of 1989 99cents each. A fun day of scratchin around.

I know exactly what he's going to do with that humidor! An ancient audiophile thread on a long defunct listserve scientifically verified that storing your cartridges at a constant 65% humidity improved thier expansiveness while increasing their darkness without damping the velvetious smoothness of the mid-range. They were in the process of building a long, thin, flexible humidor to house speaker cables to see if the effects were universal or limited to cartridges and styli when the listserv crashed and the results of the experiment were never posted. However, many speculate that the website was brought down by an unnamed cable manufacturer who had sought out and found the holy grail of cable in a Lowes...or was it a Home Depot and didn't want the public to know the truth. Speakerfritz, your secret is safe with me. Now where is MY humidor?

Speakerfritz, how on God's green earth (my mother's phrase that I always was partial to) did you accumulate 600 CD's that you didn't want to listen to? Do tell!

Had a couple of minutes to spare yesterday and did my 2 local thrifts with no real hopes as I had hit them up just a couple of weeks back and pretty much cleaned them of all decent Vinyl. What I learned is that frequency is important. At the 1st shop that I NEVER find any vinyl at, I made my best score. LP's were lying flat on shelves instead of vertical...coulda been there all along and I just never saw them. They are: Steve Winwood, "Back in the High LIfe", Island Records, NM NM Steve Winwood, "Arc of a Diver", Island Records, NM NM Cat Stevens, "Greatest Hits", A&M Prior to his conversion, NM NM Eurythmics, "Be Yourself Tonight", Cat. AJL1-5429, NM NM Manheim Steamroller, "Christmas", NM EX R.E.O. Speedwagon "R.E.O/T.W.O" NM NM Dan Fogelberg, "Souvenirs" NM EX Dire Straights, "Brothers in Arms", NM NM John Mayall, "The Turning Point" Amazing Drumless R&B Get thee to listen to this... Johnny Winter, "Saints & Sinners" NM NM Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A", NM NM The Lotions, "The Lotions", Stork Records, NM NM Albert King, "I'm in a Phone Booth, Baby", Fantasy Records, NM NM Free, "Fire and Water", NM NM Compilation, "An Austin Rythm and Blues Christmas" w/Fabulous Thunderbirds, Charlie Sexton, Lou Ann Barton, Angela Strehl, Sarah Brown, Paul Ray Kaz Jazz Quartet Guy Clark, "The Best of Guy Clark", NM NM Total Bill was $37, a bit high for my taste...but then it's all good and still cheap thrills. Thrifty but not super thrifty. Went to my 2nd thrift where they always have a large stack of mostly devestated and sandpapered vinyl. There I found: YES, "Close to the Edge", Ex EX Promo Copy of Emerson Lake & Palmer, "Works", VG EX Seals & Crofts soundtrack lp from "One on One", NM EX....just to see what it is really " Itzhak Perlman plays Fritz Kreisler" Angel, EX EX Atco Records, "Mr Acker Bilk in Paris", NM NM, this will be either clarinet heaven or hell, worth the price of admission to find out. RCA , Pete Fountan, "Live in New Orleans, Dixieland", VG VG Command Records, "Reeds and Percussion" produced by Enoch Light, Ex Ex. How can you resist with performers like Moe Wechsler, Toots Mundello and Al Klink. Dancing Percussion, "Music of the 30's", NM NM, another must have for the masochistic audiophile Total Bill, a little over $10. Also, met my first and only competition at this store on this visit. Normally I have the entire stack to myself and never worry about someone else shopping for vinyl.

I found Amazing Goop in with the cleaning supplies once and with the epoxies and glues another.

Amazing Goop is more for permanent attachment, not so good as "removeable". At under $4 a tube, it may be worth buying a tube just to try it out on something less than priceless.The instructions for Amazing Goop read like those for contact cement. IE. put a layer on both surfaces, allow to dry a bit and then attach. My interest was a glue that would bond metal to rubber...and for that it works like a charm. Because I needed to slide the counterweight shaft onto the tonearm I could not follow the directions exactly. So I experimented first by taking a slick anodized caribeener and a piece of rubber and simply gluing them together in one operation. Results in a very strong bond that is flexible. YRMV

Just occured to me that some of what I take for granted may not be obvious to others. For one, the closest audiophile maintenance and repair shop is the Home Depot down the street. To point, this is what I have found so far: 1) Almost all the ingredients for a very affordable Vinyl Record cleaning solution in the cleaning dept. (Very cheap too) I don't believe in "magic" solutions, so don't even go there. 2) Microfiber Cloths, carried in bulk in the cleaning section, are awesome for cleaning lps and cds and almost all stereo components. For vinyl, I use one wet and one dry, followed by a carbon fiber brush. The dust is trapped in the microfibers and you don't end up chasing it around and around....you KNOW what I mean. You must keep these meticulously clean...once a piece of hard grit gets trapped, it will scratch your records. But they are washable and in a washing machine will release their cargo of dust etc. I use these to clean the eyepieces and lens' of $65K HD Video Cameras...I think they're good enough for my $40 audiophile lps. 3) Amazing Goop is well...amazing. Best way to describe this stuff is latex epoxy. I have a Grace Tonearm that needed repair and I needed a glue that would allow the decoupled counter weight shaft design to remain accoustically decoupled. Several techs across the pond told me what they used over there. Problem is, that product is not sold here in the U.S. Amazing Goop is the North American Equivalent. Also used to replace Blu-Tac when I want the install to be permanent or semi-permanent, ie. vibrapods, etc. This stuff comes in multiple formulations and dries to a pliable "vulcanized rubber" consistency. And it holds very tightly...amazing. But you can slice it with a razor blade if you change your mind. These are just the few things I've found there recently. I'm sure there are many more. If you know of any, share the wealth. If you have other "off label" sources of audiophile supplies, gadgets, etc. let us all know so we can save a few bucks. Oh, just remembered, I got a bunch of metric set screws (tiny) for the same Grace Tonearm at an aircraft supply/hardware/repair store online.

My goal is to get to where you are now in terms of discrimination. You must understand, though, that I am more interested in volume now, so that I can be more interested in culling later. The other thing that everyone must acknowledge is that we are in the golden era of vinyl availability. There IS a curve concerning when all this vinyl was originally purchased and when the original owners pass and disperse it back to the universe, minus all the copies that were destroyed by helter and skelter, used by the twins for placemats, etc. I admit that at the moment I spend more time collecting than listening and that is just WRONG. But I have mitigating circumstances that prevent the listening part at this time, so I content myself as best I can. One of my goals this year is to listen to more of the primary source, ie. live music. I am surrounded by it and it's cheap...all I have to do is go to it and listen. Since most of us listen in private settings, it's easy to forget that music is meant to be shared and is at it's heart a communal activity. It's a strange paradox actually, that music is so often recorded in a sterile environment and people think that that's good. I've worked in my share of studios, including sound stages and recording studios and they are marvelous examples of technological prowess...and absolutely void of life! My current obsession in vinyl is live recordings. All you have to do is listen to Little Feats "Waiting for Columbus" right next to their studio takes of the same tunes to realize that something is missing from the studio recordings. I'll take all the audience coughs, farts, babies crying, occasional bad accoustics, and poor mic placement over perfect(ly) boring music every time. To me, studio recordings are recordings of rehersals. Think about it...and GO LISTEN TO SOMETHING LIVE!!!!!!

Boy, I'll take all that nasty Little Feat/Lowel George stuff off your hands, and some Baltimore crabcakes while you're at it. I've got Japenese and audiophile pressings as well, but the great expensive stuff was inspired by the orginal pressings and I have a lot of original pressings that will give some of the audiophile half speed/dbx/lowfat/latte/super vinyl/hyperorgasmatron pressings a run for their money and beat quite a few of them....and they cost 50 cents! Many ARE crap that I buy via thrift etc. and I have a bin of "what the "He$)" was I thinking when I bought this" lps that gets emptied periodically. For me, the chase is a fun part of this insanity. Viva la differanc'e!

Counted coup on OldTimer in Denton today. I had to go to UNT for a meeting so I planned a little vinyl scrounging party afterwards. Here's the haul at my first stop: British Pressing/His Master's Voice, Arturo Toscanini conducting the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, "Popular Favorites, NM NM, Cat. ALP 1235 EMI Abbey, "James Galway witht the London Virtuosi, Beethoven/Bach/Telemann", NM EX, Cat. CFP 40318 Marble Arch British Pressing, "Beethoven Piano Concerto Nol 5 in E Minor op.73" Ludwig Hoffman w/ the London Philharmonic, Stein cond. Ex Ex , Cat. Mal 550 Allegro "Peer Gynt Suites No.1& No.2, Philharmonic Orch. , Con Franz Donauer, NM EX , Cat. ALL713 Columbia 6 eye, "Grand Canyon Suite", Andre Kostelanetz Orch, VG VG, CL 716 CBS Great Performances, "Beethoven's 9th, Philadelphia Orch/Morman Tabernacle Choir", Ormandy cond., NM NM CAT.60134 Epic, "The Most Beautiful Horn in the World/ Bobby Hackett", EX NM, Promotional LP, Cat.BN 26080 RCA Victor Red Seal Records, "Treasury of Immortal Performances/ Caruso" , G G+, Cat. LCT-1007 Archiv Prodktion, "Corelli, Violin Sonatas" Eduard Melkus, NM EX, Cat 2533 133 EMI "Choral Classics" Bach Choir & Jacques Orchestra, Mendelssohn/Brahms/Mozart/Vaughan-Williams/Stanford/Parry, NM EX Cat. CFP 113 Columbia Masterworks, "Handel Messiah" Phil Orchestra/Morman Tabernacle, 2lp set, VG Poor, Cat. M2L 263 Angel "Belshazzar Feast", Philharmonia Orchestra/Sir William Walton, NM NM, Cat. S35681 Summit "Beethoven Sonata NO.9/Sonata No.5" Denes Zsigmondy, violin Anneliese Nissen, Piano, Sealed, Cat SUM 5029 Musical Heritage Society, "Italian Baroque Christmas Concerti" Polish Chamber Orch., Maksymiuk, cond. NM EX , Cat. MHS 4991K Musical Heritage Society 2 lp set, "Kremer plays Bach", Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lleningrad State Philharmonia, NM G+ , Cat MHS 824324 Musical Heritage Society 2 lp set, "Antonio Vivaldi, LA CETRA Op.9 Piero Toso, Juan Carlos Rybin, Ronald Valpreda, Violinists, NM G+, Cat MHS 824397 Musical Heritage Society, "Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Messe pour le Samedy de Pasques, Schola Cantorum of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, NM EX Cat MHS 4133 Musical Heritage Society, "Brahms and Franck Violin Sonatas", Oistrakh, Violin Richter, Piano, NM EX MHS 3956 Musical Heritage Society 2 lp set, "Beethoven Complete Works for Violin and Piano, Vol 1", Zukerman/Violin, Barenboim/Piano NM EX, MHS 8277143W Musical Heritage Society, "Louis Spohr, Concerto for Violin and Harm/Sonata for Flute and Harp" English Chamber Orch, NM EX, Cat MHS 3120 Musical Heritage Society, "Walter Narmburg Foundation presents Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg", NM VG, Cat MHS 7558H Musical Heritage Society, "Ferruccio Busoni, The two Sonatas for Violin and Piano" NM NM Cat MHS 3355 Musical Heritage Society, "Arcangelo Corelli, Six Trio Sonatas from OPP 1 &3, NM E, Cat MHS 1734 Musical Heritage Society, "Aram Khachaturian, Violin Concerto in D Minor", Moscow Radio Symphony Orch, NM EX , cat 4340 Vox Box Box Set 3lp set, "Beethoven, The Complete Chamber Music" Trio Bell'Arte, NM G , Cat. SVBX 599 Everest 5 lp Box Set, "5 Centuries of the Harp" Nicanor Zabaleta, NM G , Cat 3144/5, I don't know why I got these as I am not a harp fan. Musical Heritage 3lp box set, "Rimsky-Korsakov, Le Coq d'or" Moscow Radio Chorus, Opera and Symph., NM G Cat MHS 4142/44 9 other LP's I won't mention. Oops, already did... Total Bill: $35 Went to my next Denton stash store and found: Radio Canada International La Flute Monderne, Lise Daoust, NM VG , Cat RCI 535 Columbia Promotional lp, "Rampal Encores" Tokyo Concert orch, ex g, Japanese Pressing Creative World Records, "Journey to Capricorn" Stan Kenton, VG G Cat. ST 1077 Murray Hill Records, Gershwin "Rhapsondy in Blue" Pittsburgh Symph., EX No Jacket , this one's for Mallette's PAW, she collects Rhapsody in Blue Musical Heritage Society, "Christmas in the Great Cathedral of Reims" Andre Marchal at the great organ, NM g+, Cat MHS 818 Total Bill, $5 Then, on to Half Price Books in Lewisville to find : Forum Records, "Dorothy Donegan at the Embers", EX G, Cat 9003 STAX, "Albert King/Years Gone By", NM G+ Cat. STS 2010 These 2 alone were close to $20, mostly for the STAX. Has anyone else noticed that Half Price vinyl prices are climbing. They used to have great selections of everyday players for $1.99 and $2.99 max. Now, all their everyday stuff is $3.99 and $4.99 and the good finds that used to be a dollar more are being priced upwards of $15-$20. I'm afraid that vinyls' comeback may be hazardous to my bank account in the future. Still, the software side of this obsession is relatively inexpensive. Anybody out there know any record stores in Mexico City? They gotta have some vinyl in Mexico City!!!