vibes

A pedantic aside... is there any difference between a "price point" and a "price"? But pedantry aside... how does this thing work? You plug it into your computer and download huge quantities of MP3s onto it, then listen to it like any portable audio device? To do this you need software that is sold with it (for Apple) or a free download (for Windows)? "Price point" and "price" are basically the same thing. I rarely hear anyone who isn't involved with retail refer to a price as a "price point." I work in retail, and we never call refer to it as anything but "price point." As for your next question, yes, you plug it into your computer and download mp3's from your computer to the device, using the software that comes with it. If I remember correctly, recent versions of the iPod actually came with both Mac and Windows software. The Windows software was not iTunes, but in the future it may be. It's just like any other portable audio device, except that it records the music onto a hard drive instead of another type of media. I've had a 20GB Creative Nomad for a while and have always loved it. I take it everywhere I go. I've considered upgrading to a 40GB iPod but find the cost rather prohibitive. I believe Creative now makes a 60GB player that's cheaper than the 40GB iPod. Hope this information helps.

Ron, thanks for posting that info. The wiring to the new speakers follows the same path as it did to the old Infinity speakers. It's possible that the wires got moved around a little bit when I was messing with my father's system. In setting up the speakers, I looked at the back of the receiver and the preamp and discovered there were a number of cables that did nothing, so I pulled a bunch of stuff out. The speaker wire is definitely close to the AC outlet and runs over several AC power cords. The speaker wire is heavier than 16 gauge, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. All I can say is that I was very surprised at how cheap the interconnects and speaker wire appeared, considered the quality of the components in his system (all Sony ES). I tried convincing him to upgrade to at least Acoustic Research or Monster Cable (I get a huge discount at Best Buy), but he didn't believe that he'd get better sound quality. I did convince him to get a Monster clean power surge protector, and that seemed to help a little bit, but the buzz is still there. I'll have to pass along some more recommendations so that he can try and figure it out. Thanks again!

Tom, I couldn't find those CD's in the AMG. If you could give the track listings for each, I might be able to help.

Tony, thanks for providing that information. I tried to get Sony to give me a free pair to demo, but as they're pretty costly headphones, they didn't go for it.

Finally got the Meade Lux Lewis and the Bellson. Any help on the Teagarden and Washington?

Came home from LA last night and found the "One Night With Blue Note" DVD and Dizzy Gillespie's "Have Trumpet, Will Excite" waiting for me from a relative. My wife always steers my relatives into buying things I want.

Michel, AMG shows that there are seven tracks on this album. All seven tracks are in the Mosaic set, which I purchased about a year ago and have been enjoying ever since. Here's the track listing, per AMG: 1. Blues for Yna Yna 2. Jeri 3. Moody Blue 4. Straight up and Down 5. The Wailer 6. You Better Believe It 7. Yvette Hope this helps!

Hey, you people go get your own thread!

Sure, why not? I bought myself those sets, along with the Mulligan set, a couple weeks ago. You're in for a real treat. I've been having a lot of fun with these Selects.

Anyone get any music or anything music-related for Christmas? My wife and are spending Christmas with my parents in LA this year. We didn't want to take our gifts for each other with us, so we opened them last Friday. Mrs. vibes got me the 2004 Blue Note calendar and tickets to my choice of Herbie Hancock concerts in either Missouri or Indiana (I guess he'll be on tour in the spring). I like road trips and have never seen Herbie in concert, so I'm pretty excited about going to see him. So, what did you get?

Happy Holidays, John. Hope the holidays are good to you.

Los Angeles. Got here on Saturday afternoon. It's nice to have a bit of warmer weather.

Anybody looking to complete their Verve Elite collection? Clark Terry

What is the "ground loop," by the way? I'm totally inexperienced with this sort of thing, so I don't have the lingo down.

The frequency sounds low to my ears. If I were to tie wire to each of the components, what type of wire would I use? Small pieces of speaker wire? Thanks for the insights!

The previous speakers were Infinity speakers, and I believe they were actually better than these new Klipsch speakers. Any ideas on how to get rid of the buzz? Is it possible that it's coming from the speaker wire coming in contact with other wires, such as power cables? I was thinking that better surge protectors, such as something by Monster, might help out...but I really don't know. Ideas?

I'm hooking up some new Klipsch SP-3 speakers to my father's system for him, and now that they're all hooked up, there's a lot of buzz coming out of these speakers, but none coming out of the four Infinity satellite speakers. What could be causing this problem? I can't imagine it's the speakers themselves, but since I'm not getting the buzz out of the satellites, it makes me wonder. The cables going from the receiver into the speakers are probably not the best. Looks like they're 16-gauge or so, and are at least 10 years old. Would an upgrade help fix this? Thanks in advance for any insights.

I checked AMG and this was in the entry: To see if you can obtain this rarity, e-mail to SGC2C@aol.com or snail mail at 1050 Techwood Dr., Atlanta, GA. 30318 Never seen anything like this in an album review before, so I suppose it's worth a shot.

Thanks again for the great tunes, guys. I just ordered your CD and will keep my fingers crossed on a Christmas album coming out sometime.

Thanks for posting that, EKE BBB. Very interesting information.

Actually, you'd be surprised how well this works. I had pretty bad insomnia for a while when I lived overseas and then in my last couple of years of college. A girlfriend bought me a teddy bear and I tried sleeping with it one night, and found I slept much better. Weird...

Get the Gerald Wilson. The writing is excellent, and the playing is great all around. There are a lot of excellent solos by names we all know, too. I'm not a huge fan of big band either, and this was my first big band Mosaic. I've never been disappointed. The Ellington Reprise has been a very nice surprise. I picked it up just before it went OOP. I'd never heard any of Duke's work other than the album he did with Coltrane, so this was a bit of a gamble. I've found everything great so far, even the Mary Poppins album. I'd pick it up before the prices go crazy on eBay.

Try it now. I just tried it and the list of titles was back up.

Curtis Amy. Had never heard his music before buying the Mosaic Select, but I'm having a blast with it. A very nice surprise!

Is this set really that difficult to find? Starting bid of $299???