maxg Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Been a while since I last posted on here - been busy with one thing or another, but thought I would share the following: 1. High End system - Extreme high end.... On Saturday we had an ACA meeting at the home of one of the members. He has I think the most expensive system in the club. Heaven knows the true figure but if we say the wrong side of $500,000 - not including his home theatre you get the idea. Dedicated and completely treated room (hardly an inch of bare wall anywhere) with 2 enormous speakers (Avalon Issis) driven by enormous Jardis tube amps Avid Acutus TT and a phono stage that cost $50K on its own. Hell the home theatre had a stack of 3 Lamm amps for the front speakers alone - and a Lexicon controller / Blue Ray player along with a couple of amps for the rear speakers (4 of them - side and rear then) and a Wilson sub...cheap stuff all. If I say he had the top end VPI sitting on a shelf as a spare you get the idea. Sound was - well - rather good. Actually it was more than rather good - although not quite the best I have heard. Worth the money? Well if you are: a. Insane. b. Loaded. c. more of both A and B. Then - no. But one hell of an experience.....made me feel SO normal..... 2. Defintly not high end. I have moved office into a small appartment in the block where the wife's brothers and parents live. Its been hell but it is done now - we also put the warehouse in there - heaven knows how - but it is done. Anyway there I am throwing stuff out and I come across a TT on its side next to the rubbish pile. Can't tell what it is as it is in a black plastic bag but being me I grab it and bring it home. Opening up the bag I discover this is not a TT at all - its a home entertainment centre from Panasonic from, I guess, the early 1970's. It has the TT, a cassette player, tuner and ..... wait for it.......8 track!!! So I do a big of running repairs to the obviously damaged items - including the motor for the TT which has disconnected itself from the platter. Took about 2 hours all in all. After some messing around I power it up nervously and it springs into life - without speakers attached. I dont trust the amp yet so I take the output from the headphone out into a pair of RCA's and into my pre-amp. Works. Everything (well not sure about the 8 track - dont have any of those). Even the needle on the record player was in fine fettle. Played a few of my less important disks to start with - now it seems good enough to play any record - not that this is particularly likely - sonically it is not the best. The tape player is actually quite good but the major surprise is the tuner - that is fabulous - way better than the Tivolli I used to have connected to the system. Anyway here I am with this enormous unit in the middle of the living room and SWMBO arrives. I am expecting a minor nuclear explosion - "Not more stereo equipment" kinda thing. Instead something of a surprise. She stops dead looking at this unit and after a pause says - "That's mine." It was too - back in the day - her brother had thown it out that morning as it turns out and I found it. Nearly killed him when I heard what he had done without informing me - but worked out ok in the end. Only downside to all of this - I tried connecting it to my speakers - disconnecting my amp from them in the process and forgot to swtich off the pre. The 2 wires on the right side touched and I blew the channel - bugger!! Fortunately I have emergency amps for just such an occasion so I am not without sound on the main system although it is not quite as good as the main amp which will now have to be send off for repair. Well - that will do for now. Now you all know..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornman Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Good to hear from you Max, glad all is well. Funny how your two storys kind of put"s ever thing into perspective. One mans trash is anothers pleasure.I sure would like to be able to ck out your high end friends trash. No telling what might be found there.... really ironic how your wifes stereo came full circle - ahh such is life. Always good to hear another stoy from our Klipsch brother in the Mediterranean. Cornman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Great story Max. Also good to see you post. Don't be such a stranger! When we got married almost 26 years ago, I inherited a pile of LPs from my in-laws. I was the only one who wanted them when they were getting ready to throw them out. Occasionally I'll pull out a Neil Young or Joni Mitchell LP from the shelf and find my wife's name and phone number printed in her 14 year old handwriting. We both get a kick out of that. Once I even found a poem she had written in the 9th grade inside the gatefold of a Led Zeppelin album. THAT was funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Heys guys...thanks for reminding me of some of my most valuable records. My mom passed away when I was 23. I have her little red portable 45 carrier with her records and, you can't see it in this pic, *very* detailed index. edit: You CAN see it if you maximize that big 'ol pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 On Saturday we had an ACA meeting at the home of one of the members. He has I think the most expensive system in the club. Heaven knows the true figure but if we say the wrong side of $500,000 - not including his home theatre you get the idea. Thanks for the story, Max. You've been away too long.BTW, are any of the ACA gang talking about the Palladium line, or have they not heard of them yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesboy Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Hey Kev. Your'e Mom's collection is truly a treasure. Got any Buddy Holly in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 MaxG & Kev, Your two stories remind me of one of my own. My faternal grandmother died better than 20 years ago, and a few years ago I was at my parrents house. My parrents kept an all in one TT, cassette, tunner settup of JC Penny origin that was kept for why, except that it is pristine and sentiment, I know not why. Anyhow, in going through some of my grandmothers Albums and tapes, I came across a tape made by my grandmother. She used to tape letters and send them to my great Aunt instead of write letters. On the tape was my grandmothers voice, my own from about age 14 or so, and my brother and sister. Can't place a value on being able to hear her voice now that she is long gone. Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Hey Kev. Your'e Mom's collection is truly a treasure. Got any Buddy Holly in there? Yes! Sadly, however, no picture sleeves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Well thanks guys. Nice to be back so to speak. As for old recordings from the past My father in law made a reel to reel recording of my wife aged 4 singing songs and talking to her mother. Just before the machine gave up the ghost completely I managed to offload the recording onto a cassette tape (we are talking about 15 years ago). I have played that tape on this unit - works fine - but I have since backed it up again to MP3. Funnily enough my wife age 4 sounds almost identical to my daughter now (6). As for the venerable Panasonic in question it has achieved semi-permanent status in the main system. SWMBO will be the one to decide how long that lasts - but even she likes the tuner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmikid Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Max, good to hear from you! I have a whole storage room full of old equipment that I found or got. I gave away many things, but I just seem to have that nose for old equipment. I guess that's part of the condition most of us have here; normal when compared to people listening to a half a million stereo set. [] The stories about old recordings reminded me of old reels I still have, with recordings of my father reading me stories. My father passed away 20 years ago, I am 40 years old. I haven't listened to these for 30 years! This will be my project for the coming week! I hope there's still something on them. I remember him recording at my bedside. Probably my voice is on there too! Thank you for bringing this up and triggering my memory. Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Max, good to hear from you! I have a whole storage room full of old equipment that I found or got. I gave away many things, but I just seem to have that nose for old equipment. I guess that's part of the condition most of us have here; normal when compared to people listening to a half a million stereo set. The stories about old recordings reminded me of old reels I still have, with recordings of my father reading me stories. My father passed away 20 years ago, I am 40 years old. I haven't listened to these for 30 years! This will be my project for the coming week! I hope there's still something on them. I remember him recording at my bedside. Probably my voice is on there too! Thank you for bringing this up and triggering my memory. Tim. TimmiKid, Good stuff!! Good luck on duplicating the recordings. Let us know what you find and how it turns out. Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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