Claude

I can't say anything about the quality of the speakers (although Technics was one of the few japanese brands to make decent ones), but you can forget about their watt indication. In theory, it means the speakers can handle 70W (test signal) or 90W (music), but in practice you could kill them with a cheap 20W amp driven to maximum level (producing distortions that will fry the speaker drivers) and you can use them without a problem with a good 300W amp at normal levels (home listening, not garden party sound).

Don't judge a draft law based on the information from one news article. It could be that the situation described is unrealistic (extreme interpretation of the law) or just a side effect from a much more general law aiming to prevent reselling of stolen goods. The article could be part of a lobbying campaign trying to ease the law as to goods which are often resold and don't need this kind of regulation (CDs, DVDs, books,...)

For european iTunes stores, VAT is added, and the price is also influenced by the share that the local collecting society receives.

Thanks. I hope there are enough covers in the book that are not already in the two Blue Note and the "California Cool" and "New York hot" books.

That is normal. The phono input is for the much lower signals of a phono cartridge only. So you can only check it with a turntable. Connecting a CD player will produce horribly distorted sound and could even damage the phono input, although mass market amplifiers are usually immune against this sort of mistreatment. Congratulations for the purchase. Beware of the upgrade virus ...

Until recently, jazz festivals were usually named after cigarette brands, but tobacco advertisement or sponsoring is no longer permitted in the EU (and maybe Switzerland too).

That's a great idea, Jim. Why not go a step further and release an optional hi-rez download version (24bit/96kHz FLAC files), as the recording and mixing will probably be made in 24/96? I would pay $20 for that. Some hi-rez FLAC files are available on archive.org: http://www.archive.org/details/charliehunt...03-07-20.flac24

wow, I wasn't aware of that new release (I miss jazzmatazz ) http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/hnum/7948709/

Hi Flurin, I don't know how old this amp is and how much it cost new, nor have I heard one. But given the excellent condition of the amp, the price seems good. I've checked a couple of ebay auctions with the same amp, one with a winning bid of 55 Euro (but worse condition), and a couple unsold ones from shops with much higher starting bids (80 Euro and more). It's not the type of amp that I would buy (I prefer more purist amps, like Rotel or other UK brands), but at that price there is not much choice, including on the second hand market. It even has a phono input, so you're ready for vinyl as well. When you check if it works ok, try all the inputs and settings, put on a CD with mono recording and see if there are channel imbalance, humming or other noise.

I don't think they would mention the producer and engineer in the booklet if it was an illegal rip-off CD (see the Barnes & Nobles page). And why would they copy mainly Concord stuff?

Hi, I own a couple of CDs that the japanese label DIW released in the 1990's, mainly stuff by David Murray and John Zorn's Masada. I recently checked for some DIW discs in online stores. Most of them are not available, or going for big bucks ($40 and more) on Amazon Marketplace. Are all these CDs now OOP and hard to find? That would be a shame, especially because of those great David Murray albums and the essential early Masada recordings. The recording quality of these sessions (engineered by Jim Anderson) is exceptional as well.

Mike, are you certain about that? The tracklist of the Shearing CD lists recordings made between 1947-53, i.e. in the public domain. I haven't checked the other CDs in the series http://www.zyx.de/main/artist.cfm?artist_i...aeger_vinyl=0#a

I bought many ECM LPs in the recenty years, including some albums that I already had on CD. Generally, the CDs sound more distant and flat, emphasizing the typical ECM sound. But both LPs and CDs sound very good.

Just for the info, there is a discussion thread on Masabumi Kikuchi on the AAJ forum: http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=11400

Thanks! It's good that they are still offering Musaic/Universal sets, but for the Diz set other german online stores (Amazon.de, jpc.de) are cheaper.

How does the mouse arrow move on the computer screen? This japanese online microscope reveals the secret: http://www.1-click.jp

Report: Landis follow-up tests also positive http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/6728854 PARIS (AP) - Follow-up tests on samples given by Tour de France champion Floyd Landis have found traces of synthetic testosterone, French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported Monday. The paper said on its Web site the tests on seven samples clearly showed traces of the banned substance. Initial tests on the samples had not produced positive results, it added. Landis gave the samples while on his way to winning the 2006 Tour, it said. The tests were conducted at France's national anti-doping laboratory of Chatenay-Malabry outside Paris. L'Equipe said the lab used a technique that can distinguish synthetic testosterone, a hormone that also occurs naturally in the body. The lab is the same one that revealed Landis' positive test after he won the 17th stage of last year's Tour. The president of the French anti-doping agency, Pierre Bordry, said when contacted by The Associated Press that the tests were concluded this weekend but that he did not know the result because they were sent directly to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA, which requested the tests. They were on Landis' "B" urine samples. Landis spokesman Michael Henson said Monday the head of the French lab prevented the cyclist's expert, Paul Smith, from entering the lab Sunday to witness the testing. "Such behavior constitutes a clear and direct infringement of Landis' rights while casting severe doubt on the integrity of an already dubious process," Henson said in a statement. Bordry confirmed the incident had taken place but said it stemmed from a prior agreement stipulating that Landis' expert would attend the test with two experts from the USADA. Smith was excluded Sunday because the USADA experts failed to show up, Bordry said. One of Landis' samples, taken after the 17th stage, tested positive for a high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio. Landis had insisted that the follow-up tests weren't necessary because the other primary "A" samples were negative for banned substances. He also wanted the tests conducted at the UCLA lab, which handles much of USADA's testing, but the machines it uses for the tests are under repair. Landis has an arbitration hearing scheduled for May 14 in California, at which he is expected to question the practices at the French lab. If doping allegations against the 31-year-old American are upheld, he faces a two-year ban from competition. He also would be the first rider in the 104-year history of the Tour to be stripped of the title. He already has agreed not to compete in this year's event while the case is pending.

Oh no, Rachel deleted everything Seriously, I can browse the forum normally. http://jazzcornertalk.com or http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com

The Dizzy (Universal version) is available for 80 Euro from the german store JPC (= $108, plus 8 Euro shipping cost and no customs duty) : http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/hnum/5129160/ I'm not sure if Zweitausendeins will offer any more Mosaic box sets. The only box sets they are selling now are cheap public domain compilations.

I know some vinyl fans who own a dedicated turntable or an extra mono cartridge for mono pressings, but as a newcomer to vinyl, I will never be able to afford original mono pressings from the 50's and early 60's. For some recordings, the mono mix sounds considerably different from the stereo mix. In that case, it would be great to have the two mixes on a CD release. So far, this has AFAIK only been done with the "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" hybrid SACD reissue. "Electronically reprocessed" stereo records should not be played with a mono cartrige. They should be thrown away

No problem here with amazon.com and the european stores (which use the same customer database).

Alles Gute, Flurin! The only non-EU european board regular

Could President G.W. Bush's love for pretzels be the reason for the Iraq invasion? Salt overdose? And most importantly: what did Hitler eat?

It's all a question of pricing. Pay-per-listen can more economical when one does not come back very often to the same music. It's like renting DVDs. Of course it's not for those who like collecting more than listening

I think felser raised an important issue. The (current) impossibility to resell downloaded music (while erasing it from one's own collection) should be reflected in the purchasing price of the downloads. Most people may see music as a consumable good (use it and throw it away after some time), but for collectors who invest alot of money into music, the possibility to resell parts of the collection is important. I'm constantly recycling some discs. Technologically, transfers of license between users should be possible, but that would mean that people have to live with a system of license management, where the labels or download stores have a certain control over the customer's computer.