Mike Lindsey Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I have been on this board for approximately 11 years now, and it never ceases to amaze me about the quality of people we have on here. I had met Jeff Hoak (jhoak) a couple of years ago when he bought an Academy I had for sale. He drove to my house and hung around for an hour or so, and we listened to a little bit of vinyl and chatted for a few. He ended up buying the Academy and taking it home with him. Over the next couple of years I read a lot of his posts and realized just how knowledgable he is, and how willing he is to help others and share that knowledge, as many on this board do. Well, I recently purchased a very well maintained Otari MX5050-B2HD that I couldn't get to work, and asked if he had some time to come over and help me with it. He mentioned he had a number of R2R's but not an Otari, but could come over this past weekend. He called me the night before he was coming and said he did some research on the Otari and knew it had XLR inputs, but with a twist. The 2 pin is the hot pin as opposed to the 3 pin on standard XLR cables. So what does he do? He makes me 4 RCA to XLR cables with the 2 pin wired hot. Are you kidding me? [] Now I already had some RCA to XLR adaptors and wasn't sure if that was the problem or not, but he made these just in case. So he comes out on Saturday afternoon. Little did I know he was a 90 minute drive away from me. For some reason I thought he lived closer to Orlando. He comes inside and we pull my rack away from the wall. The first thing he does is he shows me I wasn't locking the reels to the nabs correctly. This took all of 5 seconds. [:$] He then proceeded to take all of the Dbx gear out of the equation and just wire the deck directly to the BBX. After playing around a bit with a few buttons we finally had noise coming out of the deck! [] He then proceeded to hook the tape loop up on the BBX to the Dbx 400XG, and showed me how to play/record the deck utilizing the Dbx 224X-DS. Lastly he showed me how to clean the heads and the pinch rollers, and showed me how to demagnetize the heads, and did all of this in about 30 minutes total. I just wanted to give a big public shout out to Jeff, and let him know how much I appreciated his coming to my house to help me with my problem, and to share a little of his knowledge in the process. It is people like Jeff that make me realize how great a community the Klipsch Forum is. I have met some wonderful friends here over the years and know I have just added one more. Thanks again, Jeff! I owe you a cold one whenever I get out to your place. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tremors Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Wow, that's an amazing story! Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted February 28, 2012 Moderators Share Posted February 28, 2012 Very nice of him to do that, but it really does not surprise me here, many will do whatever they can to help. [Y] So many people on this forum has helped me it's unbelievable. The last was a few weeks ago was Kg4guy, I had asked some questions about some old AA crossovers and he sent me an email saying he had some parts left from a project he did and volunteered to rebuild the crossovers. He did not do it for pay, he did it to help out and because he loves this hobby and rebuilding parts to bring things back to life. When asked what the parts were worth he said a crazy low price just to shut me up, he really didn't want anything. He spent his time and parts to fix the crossovers and did a great job making them sound better than ever for a stranger he has never met. This is the kind of people here, and there are many, there needs to be a thread where everyone can put there experiences like this. Groomlake is another who has done so many things for me and others it's ridiculous, people should know, Arfanbark is another, I hope he is ok I haven't seen him in a long time. There are many stories like this that can be told around here, REALLY weird for an online group of people to do things like this, it has to be one of the few if not the only one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Ahhh... Gee... You shouldn't have... [:$] I'm very happy to help out when I can. There's not a lot of R2R users left but those who still use R2R decks are VERY dedicated to the format. Many years ago I had an audio "mentor" who took me in and did his best to educate me. He left a life long impression on me. One of his "mantras" was "share the knowledge" and since then I've tried to do whatever I can whenever I can. Mike, your Otari deck is one of the nicest I've ever had the pleasure of futzing with. Enjoy it. Nice piece of kit you have there. I'm glad we were able to get it making music. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I just wanted to give a big public shout out to Jeff, and let him know how much I appreciated his coming to my house to help me with my problem, and to share a little of his knowledge in the process. My thoughts exactly. Jeff is one genuine guy who has many gifts that he unselfishly doesn't keep for himself. It is people like Jeff that make me realize how great a community the Klipsch Forum is. This whole community is special but our little Florida chapter has some real jewels. I have met some wonderful friends here over the years and know I have just added one more. Mike, why haven't we hooked up?[^o)] Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Yes, Excellent story.... Thanks for sharing....Boxx... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artarama Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Ditto! jhoak has been very generous with his knowledege and given me several spot on pieces of advice in the past as well. Making up spare cables is really going above and beyond. Good job! [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Excellent story!! I've dealt with Jeff myself a few times, and he is a great guy... [H][Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Jeff's one of the best!!!! I'm still trying to play that didgeridoo so it does not sound like elephant f*arts, LOL!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRFL Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Now that brings back some very very fond memories of the early 80's recording on a 4 track MX 5050 horizontal transport and vertical meter bridge above the transport. A very smooth almost hydraulic machine to use and easy to maintain. We had a pair of Heresy inverted in the rear concrete ceiling corners of the control room as the main monitors. The big speakers people would call them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRFL Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Now that brings back some very very fond memories of the early 80's recording on a 4 track MX 5050 horizontal transport and vertical meter bridge above the transport. A very smooth almost hydraulic machine to use and easy to maintain. We had a pair of Heresy inverted in the rear concrete ceiling corners of the control room as the main monitors. The big speakers people would call them. Amazing, I just heard the sound of the transport engaging, that's incredible even the sound and feel of the transport keys is still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Mike, why haven't we hooked up? Bill Bill, I couldn't agree with you more. There have been a lot of new Central Florida members over the last few years (Youthman, Rennoc, jhoak, Clermontcop, LHF63 and yourself) and I have only met a couple of you. I would like to have a get-together this summer and have you all out to the house for a listening and bs session. I would also like to have the opportunity to listen to everyone elses systems. I will post something in the next couple of months and setup a date where everyone can attend. I'll provide the food and the libations. [] Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHF63 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I just got here, relatively speaking. But you're real close to me, Mike. Less than 10 minutes according to Jeff's GPS. He warned me about listening to your K-horns though. [] Gotta "amen" all the good comments about Jeff. He brought the Heresy's over to my house after finishing at Mike's. I tried to pay him "Ebay price" as I'm a new member with no transaction history here, but he wouldn't take it. Great guy, no question about it. Lou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Lou, I live right behind the Bojangles off of Mitchell Hammock. Anytime you wanna stop by just let me know. Would love to have you over for a listen. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 super Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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