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J Larsen

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Posts posted by J Larsen

  1. Need a new amp

    in Audio Talk

    Posted

    DecWare does seem to offer incredible value. Really wish I could hear one before forking over the cash, though. I know you are a long time devotee and I trust your advice on audio, but everyone perceives these things so differently.

  2. Need a new amp

    in Audio Talk

    Posted

    My concerns with tube amps are mainly maintenance and clarity. If there is tube amp that does not have issues in these areas, I'd be willing to check them out. But I really don't want to get in a situation where I'm psyching myself out about whether tubes need to be replaced, where to find them, does it really sound as good with the new tubes, etc. Honestly that is probably the main reason I prefer solid state.

    Thanks for all the help.

  4. Need a new amp

    in Audio Talk

    Posted · Edited by J Larsen

    Any experience with any of the following, all recommended to me at Stereo Exchange?

    T+A (German brand with unfortunate name)

    Arcam A32

    Ayre AX-7e

    Thanks.

    Also, is it even possible to get a decent pre/power amp combo in this range?

  6. Need a new amp

    in Audio Talk

    Posted

    Yesterday my Rotel started outputting random blasts of static, and the problem has worsened today. I opened it up and nothing was obviously wrong (no loose connections, dust, etc). Tried cleaning the pots, but it was no use. It is definitely the amp, because I get the noise through both headphones and the speakers, and it occurs regardless of what input I have it set to.

    I'll send the amp back to Rotel to be repaired, but can't deal with the idea of being music-less for so long, so I'd like to buy a replacement unit and sell/gift the Rotel once it is fixed.

    Any recommendations for units to check out this weekend? I have a few parameters:

    1) solid state

    2) integrated amp preferred (unless the power/pre-combo is very good value)

    3) phono stage strongly preferred

    4) under $2,000 preferred, but can be flexible if the marginal return is large enough

    5) as detailed as possible

    Also, I'm an apartment dweller, so I don't need a ton of wattage. My Rotel is 60W and that has been plenty for me.

    Thanks!

  7. Well that was an effed up way to start the day

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    Sorry to dig up a morbid thread, but I just stumbled across this one accidently while doing a little googling. I was struck by how much our perceptions of a situation can be altered by extreme circumstances. I very literally nearly died that day; if I had been walking a little faster I almost certainly would have. Looking back five years later, my attitude towards Joanne (the jumper) is very different. But I can't blame myself for how I felt at the time.

  9. Shaving

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    AOS sells only one item which is highly regarded on the internet, its hard shaving soap, which is widely believed to be made by Valobra in Italy. Here's hoping that P&G doesn't decide to discontinue it.

    AOS makes lots of good stuff. I like the shaving oil as much as the hard soap. Also, the silvertip badger brush I have from them is the best I've ever had. Looks like it is time to stock up on the oil and soap.

    JL. let me invite you to join us at ShaveMy Face! I'm sure that the guys will be interested in your opinions. Or maybe not, depending on what they are! :D

    http://www.shavemyface.com/forum/

    Sure, I'll give it a try. BTW, the AOS hard soap looks exactly like that at Taylor of Old Bond Street - it is even the same teak container. I generally don't like TOBS much, but I've never actually tried their hard soap so I can't say if it does actually seem to be an identical product.

  10. Shaving

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    Procter & Gamble (Gillette) has purchased The Art of Shaving.

    AOS sells only one item which is highly regarded on the internet, its hard shaving soap, which is widely believed to be made by Valobra in Italy. Here's hoping that P&G doesn't decide to discontinue it.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews...036942020090603

    AOS makes lots of good stuff. I like the shaving oil as much as the hard soap. Also, the silvertip badger brush I have from them is the best I've ever had. Looks like it is time to stock up on the oil and soap.

  12. Your Top 3 Mosaics...

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    Anthony Braxton

    Andrew Hill

    Chico Hamilton (still haven't found anyone to sell me a copy of this...)

    Honorable mention: Cecil Taylor

    I have some reservations about including the Hill and Taylor just because all of the music has since been made available in other formats, but on the musical merits alone they make the cut for me. By that standard, I guess the Mingus set has to be included as well.

  14. RIP my NAD 542 CD Player

    in Audio Talk

    Posted

    'ang ' ang on....what about getting it sorted...is it ( no disrespect to the orginal poster) dirty inside, does it need a dust down, lube etc...can you get it serviced where you are. NAD are nice machines

    Might be worth a little investigation perhaps here:

    http://nadelectronics.com/parts-service

    or getting your local dealer to replace the lens

    I thought about that, but I'm so busy with work I really don't have time to deal with it. I was thinking of giving the NAD to a friend for xmas and letting him try to get it fixed. Also, getting it fixed means not having a cdp for an indefinite period of time, which I'm not into.

  16. RIP my NAD 542 CD Player

    in Audio Talk

    Posted

    After about 3.5 years of heavy use (if memory serves), my NAD has crapped out on me. For the last week it has been freezing up in the middle of tracks with increasing frequency.

    I love the sound of the NAD, but given that I've read and heard a lot of complaints about longevity and quality control on their CD players, I'm inclined to switch. My budget is $1,000 (-ish).

    Obvious candidates are the Rotel 1072 and the Rega Apollo, which I plan to audition on Saturday.

    Are there any others I should check out?

    I'm intrigued by the idea of getting a very basic CD transport and pairing it with a very good DAC like the Benchmark DAC1, but don't know the ins-and-outs of such setups, so any advice on that would be greatly appreciated as well. I could double the budget for that type of setup, since I have other uses for the DAC.

    Thanks!

  20. Paris in January?

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    I've got the itch to get back to Paris. I'm not too adverse to cold weather, but I am put off by sloppy weather. I also like traveling during the off-season.

    All that said, is January a bad time to go? Should I just wait for April? My main interests are walking around, seeing museums, taking pictures and, most of all, eating awesome French food.

    Thanks...

  22. Jazz Ignorance.

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    OK, this is OT but I've got to share it anyway...

    A couple years ago I saw Turandot at the Met. We had very nice seats. At the first intermission, I heard the guy behind me remark to his friend: "This is really interesting... it is the first opera I've ever seen in Chinese."

  24. "Academic" Salaries

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    Ok, show me a coach that can fill a 70,000 seat stadium at a minimum of $50 a ticket if he doesn't have his team with him... (btw, 1000000 can't be a median over a large number of teams... or?) (and i guess the top doctoral-granting universities pay their tenured faculty significantly more... just know bits and pieces about that labor market) (and, yes, i know this was meant to be funny and it is)

    The $1 million figure for coaches is an average, not a median (unless a coach is somehow considered an "administrator," which would be a bizarre categorization). It is a very believable figure to me; the universities compete with the pro leagues as well as with each other.

    The tenured professor numbers look right to me to. In physics, for example, I remember that the median was around $120,000 in 2005. In areas like finance and law the numbers are much higher (at least in top programs).

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