Allan Songer Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 One more try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobman Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Alan: That Wurlitzer is BEAUTIFUL! Did you do the restoration? What a great collectors piece. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted March 9, 2002 Author Share Posted March 9, 2002 The Wurlitzur is a stand-alone unit--I lightened the tonearm and installed a modern Grado 78rpm cartridge within the original shell--now it tracks at 5 grams instead of 20! The amp is a P/P 6V6 with massive transformers. I rotate my 78rpm shellacs through the box--lots of Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, Art Pepper, etc. Next to the Corbusier Lounge chair is a really great little stool/table desgined by Charles and Ray Eames for the Time-Life bldg. in New York in the late 1950s. I have several of them--they come in 3 different shapes (all look like chess pieces to me) and are made from solid walnut. Great occaisional seating and a good place to rest a cocktail too! The cabinet is a great 1930's moderne piece that was originally a stateroom cabinet on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth I which I converted to a hi-fi cabinet years ago. The venner is burled walnut. THe MAC scope is pretty cool, isn't it? I use to mostly to adjust my FM antenna for mulitpath, but you can test stereo separation with it too--not too sensitive, but it looks good in the rack, as they say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOUNDJUNKIE Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Looks like some sort of table...most definitely where I'd be placing my glass of cognac whilst in the "sweet spot". My Q to Allan is, "Is that an Allison sitting on the fllor beside the right Cornwall?". Low end reinforcement maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted March 9, 2002 Author Share Posted March 9, 2002 It's a Linn Sizmik subwoofer. It's the fifth or sixth sub I've tried over the years and it's the only one I can't "hear" if you know what I mean. My wife is a wanna-be 45 year old "gangsta" who likes RAP of all things (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, etc) and every once in a while I let her crank this crap (sorry) to high volumes. She loves the sub, needless to say. When I complain about her current fascination with this "music" she says "at least not everyone I like to listen to is dead." And yes, I did the restoration on the juke from top to bottom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Nice looking system and house, Allan. Funky feel / furnishings with some nice touches. Have you tried moving the Cornwalls for better soundstaging and /or imaging/ tone? Just wondered. Also, I found that placing my turntable so near my speaker (especially the Cornwalls) was really problematic when thing got serious. Have toyed with the idea of placing the table on the left side of the cabinet? I had to move mine (and its dedicated stand) a minimum of three feet away. It really helped with the vinyl even though the Linn has a very good suspension. I could never use my Linn on my equipment rack as it was just to heavy and solid. The damn Linn hates this with a passion (as you might remember). It's lights and stiff for Linn. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted March 9, 2002 Author Share Posted March 9, 2002 I designed and built the stand for the Thorens. It weighs about 80 lbs BEFORE the legs are filled with sand. With 40 pounds of sand in the legs, it's now 120 pounds! On top of the stand is an air-bladder device and the plinth sits on it with cones and spikes. I have ZERO vibration problems with this set-up! The legs are 12-guage steel 2" tubing and the shelves are 1/4" plate steel. I heliarc welded the thing together and then powder coated it. I've built a couple more for other TD-124 users and they seem to like what they hear as well. The Cornwalls are about 4" from the wall and only slightly toed in. Not optimal, but I have only one corner in the whole roon and there are other (aesthetic, ahem...) considerations. They sound great to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Alan, Art Pepper 78s, wow!, those have to be unusual. What label, what material was that? His young tone was so cool when he was with Kenton (Capitol), but I am curious about what you came up with on 78s. Did you happen to see that show in LA a few years back, probably at the {now renamed) "Temporary Contemporary" if memory serves, of that period (forget what they actually called that show), it was some reference to that period of modern(e) architecture, furniture, and other "accessories". Seems to me that I remember some 50s Hi Fi in some of those recreated living rooms in the show. They had several of the "original"prototypes of Eames furniture and the rest. I just jogged my memory, hard to believe it was this long ago: "In 1989 the Museum of Modern Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles constructed on-site at the Temporary Contemporary a full scale walk-through model of CSH 22 for the exhibit titled "Blueprints for Modern Living." - Corbusiered and Courvoisiered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOUNDJUNKIE Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Allan, my quip to that would be "they're not now but they might be soon". Nice rig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted March 9, 2002 Author Share Posted March 9, 2002 All of the Pepper 78's I have are on the Discovery label--most have a blue label with silver writing, but a couple have a deep red label with black writing. I have 6 or 7 of these--all of the titles can be heard on last years CD compilation of the Discovery sides. My favorite is "Holiday Flight"--it has a killer Hampton Hawes piano solo. My two real 78 rpm treasures are "Up in Dodo's Room" by the Howard McGhee sextet on Dial and "Blues in Teddy's Flat" by Teddy Edwards, also on Dial. There sure was some SMOKIN' bop being recorded in LA in 1947! Every bit as daring as what was going on in NYC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted March 9, 2002 Author Share Posted March 9, 2002 More shots of table stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Yes, early West Coast Bop was definitely connected. Bird did many of the first Dial sides in LA (before the big breakdown getting him into Camarillo for awhile). Art Pepper as a teenager used to sit in on Central Avenue. There are some classic sessions with Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon, I see those pop up on 78s every once in awhile. I wonder if those same Discovery sides are one's I have on an earlier (Savoy?) CD reissue of "Surf Ride", there is a "Holiday Flight" and Hampton Hawes plays on it, sounds like it might be the same material ("Brown Gold, "Surf Ride", do those titles ring any bells). -Wallingtoned and Marmorosed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 All can think to say is Awesome !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted March 9, 2002 Author Share Posted March 9, 2002 Those are the sides! I have the Savoy "Surf Ride" LP--it has a painting of a girl surfing on the cover--right? Savoy bought all the Discovery masters in the mid 1950's and "Surf Ride" was the first reissue of those Discovery recordings. My copy is THRASHED, so I tend to listed to last year's CD (quite good)or the original 78's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 wa wa wa wa wa WOW! ------------------ -justin SoundWise Tech Support I am an amateur, if it is professional; ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 or for an RA# 800-554-7724 ext 5 Klipsch Home Audio help you want, email support@klipsch.com or call @ 1-800-KLIPSCH RA# Fax Number=317-860-9140 / Parts Department Fax Number=317-860-9150s> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 You have the same Thorens I used for many years until the motor finally wore out and I found this to be virtually unfixable since the motors are no longer available. There was a company in Switzerland who would rebuilt them and guaranteed that they could bring the whole turntable up to a level exceeding its quality when new. Last time I checked, they were so inundated with requests that they had to temporarily close their doors to catch up. Another possible route was to retrofit a DC motor and there was a company in Great Britain who claimed that their DC motors had been successfully used in that model Thorens, however it seemed a bit speculative and the price of their motor was over $400. I eventually decided to put it up on eBay and sold it "as is" with full disclosure of the motor speed problem. I sold it for way more than I paid for it in the first place and never heard any complaints. Someone had a plan for that turntable that I could not fathom, so maybe there is a way to save them when the motor goes that I don't know about. It is now replaced with a Technics SK-1200 MK2 (with 78 speed mod by KAB as well) which I am perfectly happy with. -stalagmited and stalagtited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 The surfer girl image on the CD cover, was reprinted from the original and rare collectors item Savoy 12" LP from 1956 which was itself a reissue of one of his early Discovery 10" LPs from 1954. A very nice sounding Pepper LP on Contempory is Art Pepper + Eleven. I definitely have and enjoy all that 'Contempory' Pepper . Between the two books on West Coast jazz and Pepper's Autobiography I was able to fill in many of the gaps knowledge-wise and recording-wise. -and now back to the movie starring Art Pepper, Pepper Adams, Adam Makowicz, and Zoot the wonder weasel...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Allan, very impressive gear you have there. I've never seen so much cool stuff in one place...awesome room! ------------------ 2 Channel System: '78 Khorns w/ALK networks Welborne Labs Moondog 2A3 amps AES AE-3 Superpreamp DJH mods McIntosh MCD 7007 CD McIntosh MR-78 Tuner DIYCable Twisted Cross Connects DIYCable Superlatives (preamp/amp) DH Labs Silver Pulse interconnects (sources/preamp) f> s> This message has been edited by edster00 on 03-09-2002 at 02:43 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 There is currently a cool exhibit at the Exploratorium in SF about Charles and Ray Eames. I only got about 10 minutes in the exhibit (on a 5th grade field trip), I need to go back. Here's a link: http://www.exploratorium.edu/mathematica/index.html Check this out (if you haven't all re3ady), HornEd! Maybe the West Coast Winos meet here for lunch?... fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLUngurait Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Alan, I think I could live quite comfortably in that room..what's rent? Dave PS: Thanks for sharing the pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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