jwong

Responses from jwong

Review: Shure M97xE Cartridge
I installed a Shure M97eX into my restored Garrard Zero 100 and it plays as reviewed in my 1970s era restored system of Marantz 2216B and KLH 17 speakers.  The Shure tracks and plays fine at 1.25-1.5 grams.  Plan for "break in" time of at least 25... 
Glenn Cornick of Jethro Tull passes away
My first concert featured his band Wild Turkey as opening act for Black Sabbath with Yes as second at Winterland Arena, SF, Ca, 1972(?). I never knew bass or music could be so loud. My virgin ears rang for three days. I've not stopped listening to... 
Skydog
The sonics on the few discs I've listened to so far are very good. I've heard Discs 5,6, and 7 covering his work with Boz Scaggs, Herbie Mann, and the ABB, and they sound GREAT. Kudo's to the engineer and producer. 
CS&N-anyone?
The word is they are all getting along very well and they have an exceptional band perhaps their best ever. Happy people make happy performers. It doesn't hurt to have one of rock's best guitarist and a catalogue of great songs. Check out the blu ... 
digital vs vinyl thoughts
Regretably, others have pointed out to "experience vinyl" you have to spend a minimum threshold to begin to know what the exciement is all about. Entry-level turntables aren't going to get you there. Even with a "modest" turntable (and cartridge) ... 
Buying demo or brand new power conditioner/amp
Demo usually implies one year old and not used too extensively. Solid state components like a power conditioner shouldn't be a problem and should be fine even if two years old. However, I'm more cautious for anything over two years and anything mo... 
Solid state warm up?
I give my solid state CD player about an hour of "warm up" before I listen critically. Put on a disc, hit "repeat" and come back after an hour or so for serious listening. I turn on my tube amps and preamp for at least 60-90 minutes before I bias ... 
Keith Jarrett
If you have a turntable, check out his "Standards" string of releases playing with Jack DeJohnette on drums and Gary Peacock on bass. All the releases features very tasty playing and are well recorded. I was pleasantly surprised how excellent thei... 
Saw Emmylou Harris last night.
She's playing for free 5:45-7 PM, Sunday, October 2, 2011 at the Banjo Stage as part of the Not Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA. Please take public transporation as their is NO parking in this residential neighbo... 
How to improve on the 2 ch in my 5.1 set up?
A classic solution is adding a tube preamp with a HT pass through. You hook it between the Surround Processor Amp and the Surround Amp. I have a Audio Research LS 16 tube preamp between my Sunfire HT processor and amps. The addition smooths out th... 
Worst record ever?
Barbara Streisand's classical record was very forgetable...even for $1.00 at Good Will. They wouldn't take it back...even as a donation. My bad. 
Vinyl lovers I must be crazy
I imagine you have a good system if your cables are as expensive as you imply. Consequently, "dabble" in vinyl won't be a huge equipment outlay as a good turntable, cartidge, and a moderate priced tube phono stage might give you a taste of vinyl m... 
Have you become too jaded with this hobby???
Am I jaded if I:* Gag whenever I hear someone say "Bose is high qualiy"?* Get annoyed listening to harsh sounding digital sources when I know what a warm analog source with tubes can produce?* Get even MORE enjoyment from my favorite record or art... 
Newly into vinyl;
A new cartridge as others pointed out would be a good start. However, sometimes a used record is going to give you some noise and sometimes you'll find a used record that is simply "black" in the background. On those days you rejoice, but you'll f... 
are all used LPs dusty?
Anyone know how to assess if a record is going to be noisy due to groove damage by previously bad needles? I've been disappointed a few times buying a used lp after judging it "very clean/near mint" in the store's light but discover at home bad st...