I have to put new pictures up one day .These are outdated and incomplete.My digital camera has decided to call it quits,,pics will have to wait.If its not one ting,its an udda!
Hello Ray, Good move on the battery power.Hope it works well in your system. Battery power for audio applications it's actually come along way these past few years believe it or not.
On a differant note.
I know you live in Florida. We woke up to a trace of snow this morning.... Mark
Hi Chadnliz,Thanks for the note.Sometime has past since I spoke to Ray via e-mails.His last e-mail Ray told me he took a new job in another part of Florida and was concidering buying a house....We hope he's O.K. too.Please keep us informed.Mark and Donna
Hi Ray, Great to hear your going to be one of the first!!!! Slowhands long running post no dought will spike as the first reports of how the Malbecs sound start to trickle in. Im sure Mick put some extra care and attention into the first units. First impressions will go along,long way. Ray,your a lucky guy. Mark
Hi Ray, Slowhand posted a heads up on the Malbecs... Mick told him 4 of them will be ready to ship in the next week or so...Maybe yours is one of them!
Hi Ray,If it was'nt for my cousin,I would have had little chance getting tickets let alone decent seats. They sold out in a blink. Yes ,the interconnects ,I sure gushed about them.I didn't expect such a HUGE change in performance. Looking back from two years ago ,my system now is so much more alive and more realistic.It really is uncanny. All from a $700 tonearm and a $550 used pair of Nordost Frey interconnects.... An all tube driven system is going to be a big change for you.The Dynaudio speakers I have ,sound so much better driven with tube amps then s.s...Its really going to be interesting to read yours and others first impressions on the Malbecs. The match to your preamps are the very best you can get.This should be noticeable the moment you hear them.... Ralph Karsten of Atma-Sphere has a pair of special 25s. His amps are an excellent match for these speakers....As Micks amps reach the market,hopefully someone close by me will buy a pair that I could borrow to check out.I'll be keeping an eye on the posts. Talk to ya soon .Regards Mark
Hi Ray,Glad to hear things are going well for you. Yes the Sig arm has turned out to be a very good upgrade to my Scout Master, far more resolving then the standard 9.The wire in the arm takes a long ,lonngg,time to burn in. A marked change started around 100 plus hours. I now have abit over 220 hours logged on it. Most of it was just spinning a record without listening to it while I farted around the house....Trying out Nordost cables in my system was a logical step. The Valhalla wire is a profound cable in any system,but too much $$$ for me.I was going to borrow a set of Nordost new line of interconnects from a dealer to try. F--k it,I bought a used pair of the Frey here on the Gon. Ray the change in the sound of my system was the best thing I have done in a long while .Im hearing my system for the first time.It really is stunning what this cable did for the performance of my system, its unbelieveable.Now heres the shitty thing.To do the rest of my system including speaker cable is equal to the cost of apair of Malbecs....I would get the Malbecs first....Last night we saw Rodger Waters in concert.He thrilled and stunned us playing mostly vintage Floyd,he had everyones undivided attention,if he comes your way ,you have to see his show.... David Gilmore could of played in a large stadium like Waters did and sold it out to. Instead he picked an old concert hall in Toronto well known for its great acoustics.It seats about 2500. It was perfect for the mix of his solo music and vintage Floyd.....Gilmore WAS ABSOLUTLY SHOCKING GOOD,he really did a number on us all....Im so glad I saw him.....Man I bet your chompin at the bit waiting for the Malbecs!I hope you get them soon. Can't wait to read what you think of them....Regards Mark
Hi Ray, I like the new Sig. arm alot. As good as the original arm is ,the new one will kick your systems sonics up a notch right out of the box.Im so glad I had the set of my new arm done by the owner of the store I bought most of my stuff at.He is meticulous to the extreme and did a far better job of it then I would of on my first attempt...The new arm is more transparent for starters and this is easily heard on music Im very familiar with. Just think were it will go when the wire starts to burn in.While its doing that ,its certainly isnt hard to take. I bet some of the guys with this up grade will go along expecting leaps in performance in a short time span and ending up thinking the new arm and wire is really no big deal.Roy Gregory of Hi-Fi + magazine writes about this very thing in issue 42. He reveiwed Nordost new interconnects,the Frey .If the wire sounds alittle bright even cool ,it needs more time.Ive heard this from some dealers about Nordost,one saying they dont like Nordost because of this.They have not heard Nordost top line wire fully burnt in,period. The same goes for anything in a system.A recent good example is LarryRosen [starting 01-20-06]? on the Supratek owners thread.Larry had given up on his Supra pre and had it up for sale. While it was up for sale one day Larry noticed something different about it. Hes keeping it now. Ray I can hear the potential in this arm right now.V.P.I. are really on to something using Valhalla in their arms...Like Slipknot wrote, your in for some pleasent surprises...I BET. Any word on your arm? Mark
Hi Ray ,My Sig. arm arrived yesterday! I have a long drive to my dealer where the arm was delivered to. Im taking tomorow off to get the arm,bearings ect. fitted and set up. Im bringing along some of my best vinyl that I am most familiar with. We are going to hook it up in one of the dealers rooms and do a direct comparison between mine and a Scout master floor model with standard arm, an A B A listen.Hopefully the store wont be too busy tomorow, so I can take my time and give them both agood listen too. I cant wait to get it home!... Fact ,there is more musical imformation on a 50 year old L.P. then any digital format...Ill let you know how things turned out... Mark
Hi Ray ,Thats funny...My arm is tied up in Customs Canada .I was really looking forward to it this week, oh well,it will get here. Im sure the new arm will perform just fine out of the box,though as the wire and arm settle in over time,we should be in for a nice surprise...Great find on the original Ella/Cole Porter L.P.s, I have the new reissue,waiting to spin that too...
Hi Ray, Good to here your getting the Sig. arm! I should be taking delivery of my arm soon,... cabin fever is starting to set in, getting my turntable up and running again will cure that...It will take many hours to burn in the arm wire. Jeff Wells of Nordost tells me ,150,200 plus hours. He went on to say, along the way you may not notice much because of the very low level signal traveling the wire. I always keep notes on burning new stuff in,including n.o.s.tubes.Im using Cardas neutral reference interconnects now.They took about 250 hours and work very well in my system. At some point Im going to try out Nordost Frey and Tyr interconnects just for the Hell of it. An upgrade is always exciting!,Im looking forward to your thoughts on your new arm when you get it. Regards Mark
Hi Ray, How are things going regarding your decision on the upgrades of your VPI?.. Finding just the right recipe mix for a system really does take time and effort. I would like to make a suggestion if I may. A book written by Robert Harley , The Complete Guide To High End Audio, third addition. Its a 600 page book that even seasoned audio hobbiest find extemely helpfull. It is money well spent... Regards Mark
