I've heard it said a couple of times that idlers are not for those who can't (or don't want to) be their own mechanics. You guys are not exactly exploding the stereotype.

I've heard it said a couple of times that idlers are not for those who can't (or don't want to) be their own mechanics. You guys are not exactly exploding the stereotype.

shrug..

heh, well, you have to check the tire for bald spots occasionally I guess

Ah okay, now I see it. Neat, and indeed, approximately my body weight. Great that there's already something more developed than that three chip amp oscillator circuit, I'll have to look into that.

And I'm only dipping my toes a bit, I don't have any real background in mechanics, and pretty much none in workshop/tool related stuff. I've only operated a band saw, table saw, jigsaw, etc. a couple of times in my life, and don't own any of those things. Marc, on the other hand, is in it pretty deep.

Sudden segue, this was in the latest MusicDirect catalog. Nice feature set, with a mono switch and built-in cartridge demagnetizer. I really love the look of Luxman gear.

Use a cheap router for the soapstone!

It's not like the soapstone you carved in 6th grade. That shit was hard, and my router literally spit out it's brushes from the vibration. That and the soapstone powder we created got into the adjustable base of the router and created lots of scarring. It doesn't adjust up and down very well in that router base anymore. Luckily I found a cheap replacement on ebay. And I have two other routers as well.

I've only operated a band saw, table saw, jigsaw, etc. a couple of times in my life, and don't own any of those things. Marc, on the other hand, is in it pretty deep.

That's why we have five fingers on each hand...spares.

Okay that seals it, I'm not going to use soapstone if I can help it. Good luck, Marc.

Hm, I'm going to need to take a look at the circuits for the phono stages in my receiver and my preamp to see if they're any good, otherwise I'll have to DIY something for that as well...

That's why we have five fingers on each hand...spares.

Except I need them all for my future career. *fingers crossed*

I was mellow enough last night to remark to the wife that one could "easily" blow $10,000 on an analog front end. This was a major tactical error. I believe that what was previously regarded as a silly, but mostly harmless, hobby has vaulted onto the serious uxorial shit list previously reserved for things like motorbikes and overly-nubile babysitters.

I work that in the other direction

"See dear, I'm laid back with this, THAT GUY OVER THERE spent $100,000 on his turntable setup!"

Then, anything I spend looks restrained.

I was mellow enough last night to remark to the wife that one could "easily" blow $10,000 on an analog front end. This was a major tactical error. I believe that what was previously regarded as a silly, but mostly harmless, hobby has vaulted onto the serious uxorial shit list previously reserved for things like motorbikes and overly-nubile babysitters.

Thank you sir for my word of the day. Sorry that she caught on to the dangers of hi-fi.

I work that in the other direction

"See dear, I'm laid back with this, THAT GUY OVER THERE spent $100,000 on his turntable setup!"

Then, anything I spend looks restrained.

I tried that one and my wife was having none of it. Her response was along the lines of "he's rich and insane and you're just insane, NO".

Oops. Time to DIY. Some people even make their own tonearms which is pretty damn hardcore in my book. Not recommended as a first project, though.

Mm, overly-nubile babysitters...

The first rule of hi-fi is never tell your wife the real cost of hi-fi and make sure you buy her jewelry every chance you get.

The first rule of hi-fi is never tell your wife the real cost of hi-fi and make sure you buy her jewelry or something else she wants every chance you get.

QTF (with slight modification)

Yeah, rookie mistake.

Think I clawed it back a bit by asking if she'd rather the cash flow went to something like Sox/Pats season tickets, where she'd have the added bonus of being lumped with the kids all day on the weekend.

Meanwhile, I shall seek wisdom among the aphorisms.

Like good wine, marriage gets better with age -- once you learn to keep a cork in it.

I work that in the other direction

"See dear, I'm laid back with this, THAT GUY OVER THERE spent $100,000 on his turntable setup!"

Then, anything I spend looks restrained.

That logic doesn't fly with my wife. If I say stuff like that she just says, "Well, that guy is a moron." Thereby implying that I'd be a moron to expect that saying something like that in any way paints me in a better light.

My wife just doesn't get it. When she saw one of the Moth amps I've owned in the past, she commented that it looks a cardboard box with a couple of bulbs in it.

All my wife gets about it is that it makes me happy so she's reasonably happy about it. She's far happier with cycling though since I've dropped 30lbs for it.

I really should be kicking myself -- when I was married (yes, really), my wife was very understanding despite not understanding -- she was completely tolerant of my activities (within reason, financially), even though she could care less about sound. Hell, she got me my first pair of decent headphones. The only time she cared was when I spent too much on something, but it was only that -- she didn't try to control what I spent it on, just how much, and only for the reasonable reasons.

Jon any preference in the DD death match?

I found the best way out was just to avoid marriage altogether. Of coarse the added cost of razors to shave my palms does need to be factored in to be fair.

Of coarse Naaman will have an easy out now... "What honey, this POS? Some douche on Head-Case through it together with scraps. Look the motor isn't even attached to the turntable".

Edited December 7, 200916 yr by swt61

Impressionistic view of new cart and arm in action. It sounds ... very different. I'm going to have to get used to this flavor before making a sober (ha!) assessment.

OK, now it sounds good. VTA was waaaay off.

Fixed that and, boom, there's the weight and warmth. Aimee Mann is busy berating my useless male ass -- and I love it!

hot

Deepak no clear winner yet except to say that the Sony ps-x555es mates well with every cart I have thrown at it while the denon is hit and miss. I am picking up a denon 103 fl this evening so well see.