jp11801

This looks promising for those that are into LPs. This is a new somewhat diyish style cleaner for lps that uses a system like a power washer but for lps. You spread on a cleaner that loosens up the dirt and muck on an lp then with a hose that attaches to your sink you spray off the cleaner. The advantage to this system is no residue from the cleaner gets stuck in the groove and should provide for a cleaner quieter lps. The drawback is it is messy and I would probably do this outside or in a garage. The other thing that immediately struck me was the use of tap water that has several contaminates that distilled does not. George Merrill is the maker and seller of this unit and he has a stellar rep in the industry and he states that most tap water is fine unless you have unusually hard water and then a charcoal filter should do the trick. Here is a link to the 6moons review http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gem/dandy.html. I am going to pick one up this week in the hopes of cleaning some records that the VPI just will not get quiet. what say the peanut gallery

I am going to test the duet soon with needle drops, previously I used an alesis masterlink but now I think the duet with audacity and a declicker may be the ticket

I've been thinking about the anvil/calzone type case with removable foam for my amp. It's costly but a great and secure travel solution. I had a mini scare after hitting the brakes hard during a trip with my amp to a local stereo store.

Mike I'll bring the cart and my set gear to CanJam if you want and we can do a comparison on your table if you like, unfortunately after you hear it you might end spending some cash

sorry it is the R100 yatra ok Mike just buy one already

well he just bought a teres motor, bearing and platter from me and is building his own deck, not sure of what the plinth will be yet.

I was minutes too late on the dac digital is so last year anyway If this cart gets better I'll be in heaven as it is better than my shelter already

I wanted to go low output but he offered such a good deal on the .48 with the silver base that I could not refuse. Does the cart take a dump and then come back or just steadily improve? So far right out of the box it is great, bass is just a touch prominent and if it opens in the mids and highs it would be perfect!! For now I am enjoying another layer of the sonic window removed this is one killer brand of carts. I almost went bloom but without the SB weight I would have to have used some sort of weight with my origin live encounter arm. Next up is the wallet killing Galibier Serac turntable, thankfully it takes months to get and it's a 50% deposit.

WOW I got my fuji yatra with the silver base today and it smoked the shelter 7000 without a doubt. All I can say is it is even across the spectrum where I felt the shelter had a mid bass/bass bloat that colored the sound. The ZYX has great stage depth and width and is very even across the spectrum. I am wiped out from a few days travel so I just have the cart roughed in at this point but it sounds just great. Anyone thinking about these may want to contact SoraSound Mehran gave me a nice discount on the yatra/silver base combo and was excellent to deal with.

If you are really mechanically inclined build a plinth then order a motor and platter, there is a great thread about building your own table from Home Despot on audiogon right now. I am mechanically declines so it's a non-starter for me but if you are handy it could work. The thorens project sounds cool as well but the more I think about it mass over sprung suspension seems the way to go.

I really like the amprex white label pqs if you can find a pair, orange world logos are also good and alot less $$

While I am not a fan of the VPI scout, I found it dark sounding and lacking in detail I do recommend this http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1211656302 For the money you have dedicated IMHO this is about the best you will get. The Sota decks are probably better but for $850 you get a deck that can be tricked out as well. If you do a search there are several interesting ways it bypass the suspension with sorbothane pucks that are said to bring this table up a notch or two. You can also upgrade the motor if and when you feel the need to. Having owned an lp12, sota saffire and the vpi scout I thought the scout was the lesser of the three tables. If you go the scout route I would pair it with a lively cart to overcome some of the tables shortfalls in the detail department.

Nice read should be required reading for people who are interested in amps prior to asking questions, good for speaker and headphone people alike.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/JBL-LSR-4328P-Studio-Monitor-Pair-103552667-i1152811.gc MikeG fron Headfi has a pair of these and they sounded really good he has them set up in near field arrangement. They are not my be all speaker but performed well at their price point. If you have a GC near you pick up a pair and take them up on their 30 day return policy. You'll know in a few days if they are for you and since they are powered the amps included you'll just need stands. If you get monitor sized speakers do not discount the need for decent stands and the cost they add overall.

GMA makes absoletly great speakers, a local guy here has the $10k calypso's and they are amazing. They like many high end speakers respond to fine tuning the placement of them. When I first heard them he had them set up in about the worst way possible, straddling a 52" rear projection tv, and they sounded pretty awefull. Pulled out 18' past the tv they immediately opened up. I highly recommend giving these a listen their tonal accuracy and detail are outstanding. I would have to imagine the smaller ones would share many of the same attributes but who knows.

anyone heard these carts compared to the shelter 500/700/9000s? I have lusted after some of the ZYX carts for a whie but went the shelter route as they were easier to demo. Maybe once I am out of debt I can give these a try or is there a case to sell the shelter and pick one of these up are they that good?

Craig built the Zana and my amp with caps he had custom spec'd from his Moth days he was about to run out on the last batch of Zanas. He went back to get more made and the price tripled for them hence the increase in price. These are the two large caps that stick out of the top of the amp.

Happy Birthday, we'll raise a belated pint or three at Can Jam, hope you had a great day

I would second Nate's suggestion to get a tan and check out amps at the same time in Florida for CanJam08. if you can get a listen to the Zana it's one of my favorites although with the rise in cap prices the amp may be above 2k when you are ready or is you go to CanJAm get a listen to Boomana's SP Plat Extreme, it is not the garden variety SP and sounds great. I am not sure I'd go 2k on solid state I think you can get a more musical and detailed sound out of tubes at that price range. Others may disagree though.

88 and 94 proof but I took the bottles word for it

I would like to see the actual evidence I have scoured Dan's data and have not seen evidence to substantiate your spurious claim snake oil salesman, next you are going to tell me that cables make a difference maybe it's the gin talking but show me the proof

welcome to headcase but really man get some good headphones and ditch the no midrange, glary highs and fatiguing GS1ks and get something good like an old school rs1, hp2 or ps1 for god sakes man

well 27 days since I bought the duet and I still think it's tops, I am just about ready to sell off the cosecant the little dac really competes at levels far above its pricepoint and I would say it safely would compete with dacs in the sub 2k range and potentially above. The dac lacks the last bit of body some of the uber dacs or cdps have but I would safely stack this up against the transporter, dac1, cosecant, mini dac... the only thing I wish for is just a touch more body but still it has more than the previous mentioned dacs except the cosecant which loses on points for bass depth and tightness (I hate deep but ill defined bass and don't mind giving up deep bloat for less depth with definition and speed) . I am looking forward to the Mayberry on Acid meet to see what the peanut gallery thinks although I am convinced that people's minds are clouded by price and form factor when listening to gear at times . I am convinced that if you put a hornet in an amp case with glowing tubes and matched it against a hornet in normal clothes people would overwhelming choose with their eyes. Which goes back to this dac in that I believe the mac only, small form factor and sub $500 will lead to comments like . It's good for the price or lacks refinement... because people inherently listen with their eyes. I can't wait to match up the pico and the duet out of my Mac mini rig/Eddie Current HD2 to see how these two stack up on the dac front. I believe the pico may outperform the duet from a headphone output standpoint but the dac sections I dunno?

I would wholeheartedly recommend the exemplar to anyone at it's current audiogon price it is a steal, nothing in the $1500 will touch it for redbook. The sacd/dvd-a is just ok but the redbook is where the exemplar shines