Kevin Bresnahan

BTW - if you think buying used records on eBay is a hassle, don't even think about buying weird tubes there! I ordered from several different eBay sellers and got tubes that were "tested good" that didn't even work. I just remembered another story from my tube days... I once bought a very expensive (~$400) quad of the Psvane 6CA7 (EL34) tubes for my Quicksilver GLA amp. I was told to wait until 300 hours before deciding if I liked them. One of them flared out in less than a year, probably less than 75 hours. Psvane said they were out of warranty. Before dying the tube sounded fine, but that was a very expensive experiment.

Part of me loved it. I am an electrical engineer, after all, so playing with circuitry and wires is kinda fun. But it is a hassle. When you want to get home from work and play a disc, you just want to turn it on and hit play. Not smart with a tube system. You've got to turn it on and make it's all set before you hit play. Then get the hell away from that radiator unless you're cold. Also - be aware that the tube rolling examples I posted were pulled out of the air and not real examples of what I did back then, but is typical of the kind of stuff that happens in tube rolling all the time.

I had two different two amps during my "tube phase". One was a Quicksilver GLA EL34-based amp and the other was a Macintosh MC-240, a 6L6-based amp. Both were hot as hell. I also had a Mcintosh MX-110 tube preamp. That was not really that hot and I almost kept it because of that. I came very close to buying a Decware amp based on Lon's recommendations but by the time I decided to go that way, I was moving away from tubes. Part of it was that I decided to downsize and my new home didn't have a listening room where excessive heat wasn't too big of a problem. Besides, for me, tubes really were a hassle that I couldn't justify when I couldn't really hear any difference between them and my SS amps. And be real here - tubes are nothing like solid state. Solid state - turn it on and play music. Tubes? Are you kidding me here? Find the right tubes. Match the tubes. Manage the turn on of said tubes. Manage the heat. Don't turn on/turn off too quickly (and those random turn on pops in a cold room are so fun!). Red plate (now that is really fun!!). That ever-present hiss. The dreaded hum. Pick the right speakers - gotta get that synergy . Don't fall asleep or you prematurely wear your tubes out and according to a few users, could cause a house fire. Don't ever blow a speaker unless you want your tube amp to go up with it as they can't drive an open load. The list goes on & on & on. Tubes require constant vigilance. Not so with SS. Plus, add in that the world of tube amplification seems to bring out the wilder tweaks. Like esoteric, no longer made tubes that change the sound so much you have to spend the money to get them. Different application, different esoteric tube. Driver stage? Get the CV491, a military specification version of the ECC82, which is the medical grade version of the 12AU7 or maybe some Amperex Bugle Boys, but don't use them if they're driving an 12AX7. Output stage? Depending the amp, you could be talking thousands of dollars depending on the vintage, getter design and plate design. Then there's the questionable stuff like the 200 hours of burn-in required before said expensive tubes "sound right". Like cryogenically freezing these tubes somehow improves them. Like gold plating the leads improves their sound (every red plated tube I had was a gold pinned tube). Like isolation rings to minimize harmonics (I tried Herbie's rings - they did nothing). The list goes on and on and on. Way more tweaking in tubes than SS. Tube amp users are the most subjective group of listeners I've ever encountered. There's no science here - it's really all subjective. If you follow someone's recommendations on your tube compliment and your hearing isn't like his, you just spent a lot of money for something you don't like. Some tube rollers think this is part of its charm. I tried it and found it to be (an expensive) pain in the ass.

Michael Cuscua tells me that Malcolm Addey will be mastering this set.

I went tubes for several years but switched back to solid state after realizing that the hassles were not worth it in the end. To my ears, tubes sounded no better or worse than solid state. What I really hated the most was the heat. In the summer, I would often forego turning it on due to the heat. When I thought about that, I mean really, not listening to music because the tubes would roast me... that was just dumb. I picked up a nice Marantz solid state integrated amp and never looked back.

I discovered I lived around the corner Brad Delp from the band Boston, when they showed scenes from in front of his house after he died. It was surreal.

I guess those Miles Davis reissues from MoFi will now be worth a lot more since they may represent the last "audiophile release" they will get?

There's one for $20 at discogs: https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/5151710?ev=rb I'd also like to add that hybrid SACD (it has a CD layer) that Fantasy issued in 2004 is supposed to be the first digital release of this title that used newly-found master tapes and while I have not heard it, it is supposed to sound very good. There's a fairly inexpensive copy from Canada at discogs: https://www.discogs.com/Art-Pepper-Art-Pepper-Eleven-Modern-Jazz-Classics/release/9726101

The real question would be, "How much more does Steve Hoffman charge versus whoever will do it otherwise?". Remastering these tapes isn't free. Someone has to do it and they will get paid. I have no idea how much Hoffman charges any more than I know how much Malcolm Addey charges. But I do believe that Mosaic could get this info rather quickly.

Sales-wise, I know that I'm right. I just don't understand if Mosaic is having problems drumming up enough sales why they don't even consider this. Steve Hoffman's name on a CD, no matter if you like his work or not, will improve your sales. I have no doubt on this.

I wonder who will master this now that Ron McMaster has retired? Of course if Mosaic would listen to me, and I've told them this many times, they could simply hire Steve Hoffman to master a set and they'd get their 750 unit pre-order over and done in a matter of weeks, maybe even hours.

"Thousand Finger Man" was issued in 1969, the last year of the label's existence. "Beautiful" was issued in 1970, so even if it was made for Solid State, the label was gone by then. It was probably slated for Solid State, UA's Jazz label, but got switched over to Blue Note.

Candido's follow-up LP, "Beutiful", was released on Blue Note though, so "Thousand Finger Man" was issued right on the changeover.

Dam... I'll miss you this trip. I'll be in California. My wife & I have an early Saturday flight to LA and we'll be driving up the coast to Oakland. We're spending several days up in Napa & Sonoma. Make sure to let me know when you'll be up again and we can get together.

Maybe these CDs will be needle drops of original LPs?

Good points Dan. My last house had a lively listening room. Cathedral ceilings, strange angles, hardwood floors, large glass windows, a slider, an open staircase, a balcony, a brick fireplace - you name the worst things for a listening room - this room had it. I put down a large area rug and it helped tremendously. I hung a huge canvas painting along the main wall and that helped quite a bit too. In the end, after adding these "wife approved" sound modifications, it was still a bit of an echo chamber, but with these few treatments, it worked for me for almost 20 years.

Music Matters has a 33 rpm version too: https://www.musicmattersjazz.com/Andrew-Hill-Point-of-Departure-Blue-Note-33-rpm-p/33bst-4167.htm It sounds very good to my ears and it's cheaper than the 45 rpm version, even on the used market.

That was cool but in the end, was that the best sound? Room interactions are part of seeing a band play live. While I would agree that the untreated room sounded pretty awful, the fully treated room sounded dead. Also, this video is really only valid for that single drum placed in that single location. Add a few more instruments and this changes again. Put speakers in there and it changes another way. What's good for this drum in this room might not work for a pair of speakers in a different spot.

Partly why I pre-ordered the thing. I wanted to make sure it happens and I wanted to make sure I got one.

I checked the date of the original post as I thought it was an old, resurrected April 1 post!!

I didn't get that E-mail but I preordered that set!

On the CD "On A Different Level", the track "Backwoods Song" is a Bari/Bass duet. It is sublime. I am not a huge bass fan, but this track will often get the "repeat" button pressed.

My favorite is "On A Different Level". Just a fantastic recording from end to end. "Flight Of The Eagle" is also very very good. On both of these dates, Nick sticks to his bari throughout, which is part of the reason they are my favorites. I am a sucker for the bari and Nick was quite the player. I am so lucky that I got to see him many times. I got to see him go toe to toe with Cecil Payne one night. That was memorable.

I tend to agree that there is a lot of mindful bashing. And the bad guys are so deserving of the bashing/killing that you really have no sympathy for them. Guilty pleasure, really. I am starting book 5 - I bought a box set of the first 6 books - and so far, I have been able to decipher some things well before Reacher. For instance, in the 3rd book, "The Visitor", I figured out that the victims were being hypnotized by the FBI agent about halfway into the book. (highlight the previous text to see the spoiler). It was one of those books where you close the book and say out loud, "You idiots!! It's right in front of you!" I do enjoy a good action/mystery/adventure book and these are well written. I can see myself going through this series pretty quickly. Heck, I've already gone through 4 of them on two weeks.

I started reading Child's Reacher series and I agree with all points. Reading a Reacher novel is a lot like watching a Rambo movie. The bad guys are sneaky, dirty scumbags that deserve what Reacher dishes out and he will kill or maim them all by the end. I see that they made 2 movies but... with Tom Cruise as Reacher??? Jack Reacher is 6' 5" 220. Tom Cruise?? Really? No way.