What is with the PLANTS?

[Daddy Dee]

I like ficus next to my Khorns.

[Fish]

There were some studies showing that plants like classical music and hate rock & roll.

JJK

Just goes to show you can't trust a "study".I've got a few plants that are over 20 years old and have rocked all their life.

[RTTR]

There were some studies showing that plants like classical music and hate rock & roll.

JJK

Just goes to show you can't trust a "study".I've got a few plants that are over 20 years old and have rocked all their life.

This sounds like the Mythbusters episode where they did the study on exactly that, seeing if plants like to be yelled at or talked to softly. I'm pretty sure they discovered it didn't matter.

[colterphoto1]

plants like being 'talked' to because of the increase in CO2 around them. So it doesn't matter if you talk quietly or shout. It's your gasses they want.

unfortunately speakers don't exhale CO2, so music should have no physiological effect on plant life.

M

[coda]

There were some studies showing that plants like classical music and hate rock & roll.

JJK

Just goes to show you can't trust a "study".I've got a few plants that are over 20 years old and have rocked all their life.

This sounds like the Mythbusters episode where they did the study on exactly that, seeing if plants like to be yelled at or talked to softly. I'm pretty sure they discovered it didn't matter.

Interesting results!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6609068041106073533

[polvoloco]

Hello everyone, and thanks for the warm welcome

Parrot.

I just acquired the Thorens 124 (pictured in my avatar) on

Ebay. The picture is actually from the

auction, as the table still lies in pieces around my living room. It just came in the mail last week, and Ive

yet to put on a new power cord (it came from Holland) or flip the belt pulley- much less

reassemble it post shipping (or post post).

Back to the plants, I just watched the Mythbusters clip

(thanks for the link coda) and Im thinking I need to pull out some Black Sabbath for my

orchids, they havent bloomed in nearly a year.

[Parrot]

That Thorens looks like a bloody serious one with the long arm and all. Let us know how it works out for you. If I remember correctly, someone else here has one of these tables. Maybe he'll jump in.

[polvoloco]

Yeah, the tonearm is an SME 3012 series II but I'm short a

headshell and cartridge (You can see they're missing in the

photo). I have a rather beat up headshell I can use for now, but

don't know what needle to get. Indeed, if anyone knows what

cartridge would matchup well with the SME, please let me know.

[BigBadBabyBoomer]

...and I threw the seeds out back in '67....who knew?

[Mike Lindsey]

Yeah, the tonearm is an SME 3012 series II but I'm short a headshell and cartridge (You can see they're missing in the photo). I have a rather beat up headshell I can use for now, but don't know what needle to get. Indeed, if anyone knows what cartridge would matchup well with the SME, please let me know.

I thought that auction came with a SPU cartridge? If so, that is an excellent deal for the table/arm/cart.

There are 5 or 6 of us here with that table. Allan Songer is also using the same arm as you with the same cart (SPU) and loves it. I have a 3009 II on mine with a Denon DL-103 and this is an excellent cartridge for tne money ($150), and mates very well with your arm. I would think you would want to find something in the low to mid-low compliance ratings (6 - 10).

Please post some pics when you get it running and give us your thoughts. Welcome to the Forum, btw.

Mike

Edit: Call FlatEarthAudio.com and they can get you a headshell I believe thru SME, and do it cheaper than what you'd pay on eBay.

[polvoloco]

I thought that auction came with a SPU cartridge?

Thanks a lot for the welcome Mike.

I'm afraid my TT didn't come with a cartridge (though I think I saw the auction you're thinking of right after I got my table). An SPU would be great, I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled. I'd already been thinking about the Denon, as it's a little easier to come across. I'll be sure to post pics and keep everyone updated as things progress. In the meantime I'm still using my Technics SL-Q2, the first and only table I've ever run. I think the Thorens should provide something of a step up sonically.

And thanks for the link as well, I'll head over there right now and check out their headshells.

[Mike Lindsey]

Allan's got 5 or 6 SPU's but probably won't part with any of them, but when I get my tonearm I was gonna see if I could talk him out of one. []

As for Flatearth, you just have to call them. She's very good about returning calls.

Do you have a step-up phono amp or transformer for low-output moving coils? If not, you would need one for the Denon and SPU cartridges. And just so you know, I cam from a Dual CS-5000/Shure V15V-MR and this was a huge jump for me, so I'm guessing yours will be as well.

Mike

[polvoloco]

I have a Marnatz 7 preamp and a pair of Mc-30's. I don't know if the preamp is sufficient for low-output cartridges or not [8-)]. Do I need a dedicated phono prestage as well?

[Mike Lindsey]

I am not familiar with that preamp but would imagine it has at least one phono input... guessing probably 2. However, that does not mean it can play LOMC cartridges. Generally, these inputs are for Moving Magnet (MM) and High Output Moving Coils (HOMC).

So, you need to check that. If they do not, you will need to get either a step up transformer that goes between the TT and the preamp, or you buy a separate phono stage that can handle LOMC, and plug that into one of your line inputs on the preamp.

Mike

[thirdeye]

plants serve 4 puroses for a listening room..

#1- They have some scientific value in that they up the humidity if real plants are used, they make the air denser which normally sounds better because thin Cold air sound just that, dry and sometimes brittle..

#2 with direct placement next the firing drivers on a speaker they work nearly as well as a real diffusor used in studios, Breaking up the frequencies thru all the leaves branchs etc Also the pot with dirt depending on how much and how big will infact absorb and deaden some bass response, it does help smooth things out, much like a Thick Carpet in the room will, they have some slight bass trapping characteristics..

#3- yes they add oxygen to the air helping you and your ears breath fresher which I guess could make a psychoacoustic effect making you feel the music is more enjoyable without the Stale air in most rooms.

#4- they help make the environment look good, simply hide the fact you might have big ugly speakers sitting next to them, which of course ups your WAF factor to any room or environment..

Take it for what its worth, but bigger plants with more proper placement cannot hurt anything but have a pretty good chance to add something. Thats all there is too it.. Oh and by the way in the very Hi end shows many times have several plants in their setup, and many always seem to get the best sounding rooms at the show by popular vote.. Mainly it works cause in the hotels they hold these events you cant really go crazy destroying the walls with acoustic material to tune things in, so this is the next best, and maybe even better option.

[dtel's wife]

Watered down Coca Cola (left over from your glass of Coke) works wonders for houseplants. In the past I have poured the remaining Coke from my glass on house plants and they thrived. Diet Coke does not work. I guess it's the sugar in the regular Coke that does it.

Also, I have found ficus trees are very susceptible to leaf drop if moved from place to place. So, give them a good home and don't move them very often. A good pruning on a ficus tree goes a long way.

For orchids, purchase some Peters Orchid Plant Food, water soluble 30-10-10. Follow directions for mixing with water. I usually try to make a gallon at a time. Follow directions, for indoors apply everytime, instead of just water. This works great on all orchids.

[pauln]

No real mystery to those results. What they discovered was that silence did nothing, talking, both nice and mean were the same and did a little better, classical music did better still, and the loud deathmetal music did the best of all.

It is silly to assert that the cognitive content of voice, music, or for that matter, thoughts would have any differential effect on plants. This is simply because plants don't think. Neither do crystals, and trying to influence their formation with cogitive content would be silly, too. So would talking nicely to your stereo or your car or your refrigerator - they don't get it.

In the wild, plants are subject to movement by wind, rain, etc. This is good for them. Loud music simulates the effect by vibrating them. Lots of chemical reactions and micro-mechanical processes are increased by the presence of vibration, or as it also exists on the micro level - thermal heat.

[ben.]

Split leaf philodendrons are my favorite houseplants. They can grow huge and live long with minimal care - just repotting when necessary. I've got a toddler, so I keep my split leaf (my only houseplant left - I've been pretty busy over the past 10 years) small, but an old friend's ma has one over 30yrs old last I knew.

I'm also fond of Wandering Jews and Strawberry Begonias. Spider plants just seem too common, but they are supposedly one of the best air filterers around. The above buddy's mom had a house that was heated only with wood, but she had so many plants that you'd hardly notice it on your clothes when you left (quite unusual).

Plants do act as excellent diffusors - pauln had some good points as well.

[wheelman]

I somtimes go months without watering my plants, and they barely get sunlight. I'm surprised they are still alive, and one is almost six foot tall. I have a very high humudity level in my home. My plants like to be left alone just like the ones outside. []

Maybe they live off the music that's going twenty four seven.

[pauln]

By the way, if your plants misbehave, giving them a spanking, a lecture, or a 'time out' won't work. You have to gain their focused attention for over an hour to discipline them. There is an easy way to do this: Place ice cubes in their pot instead of water - they know it's there but they have to wait for it to melt - works like a charm and helps build their character. I haven't heard so much as a peep out of my plants for years.