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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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In my last post on the previous page I try to explain why that is. Go vinyl.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Now this is a speaker...
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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A friend who was in the music industry once told me that after 40 plays a record begins to lose its full sound, and with each additional play loses more. The difference between a clean vinyl record and one that has been played many times is discernable on even a decent system. A clean Direct to Disc recording will give you the optimal sound experience.
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TLP
climber
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Though I am only a microfraction as knowledgeable as other posters above, it's like wine: I know what sounds good to me and which subtle details explain why. Totally agree, get speakers first, then other stuff. It is nice if you have the access and expertise to go custom as suggested, but personally I don't. For classical, I recommend Vandersteens. They're outstanding for other styles too but I have no clue whether they excel as much in other modes as they do for orchestra, piano, and vocal.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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I have a pair of these Infinity Quantum 2s that I am in the middle of refinishing and reconing.
With the Watkins woofers and the ribbon tweaters these things are stunning. I have an old, 220 watt, highly prized Kenwood amp to power them.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Gnome, what’s that vertical strip in upper right?
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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Reilly, those are three 6 inch ribbon tweeters. Those are most of what makes these so special. Kris has spent many hours listening to these. I bought them from Bob Kamps for $400. There is a freshly restored set on Ebay for $1,800 right now. And boy do they rock! At 90 pounds a piece they are a bit much to move though.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Infinity was pretty cutting edge back in the day. Now they're owned by Harmon Kardon, and their top of the line floor standing "reference" speaker goes for $400/pair.
Ribbon tweeters are great. Transparent and absolutely no roll off on top. But they require a very carefully engineered (read expensive) crossover. It you hit them with anything below about 3kHz they blow like a fuse.
I have the Raven ribbons in mine. I made sure to have a supply of extra ribbons for them.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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And yet with all of the time we have hammered my Infinities I have never had a problem with a ribbon.... that I know. They are going in for a rework soon and I guess I will find out if all the ribbons are still good.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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As a tangent to this discussion, we are watching the Bosch detective series on Amazon these days. I'm a huge fan of the Michael Connelly books. Regular reference in the books is made to Bosch being a big jazz lover and to his playing his vinyl records. Last night in one scene we got a look at his system. A MacIntosh 540, probably another Mac component, couldn't tell about the turntable and speakers my husband thought were Walsh. I asked him if it was a good system and his only comment was "very old school".
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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And yet with all of the time we have hammered my Infinities I have never had a problem with a ribbon....
Having three separate ranges of drivers simplifies the cross-over challenge. Those ribbons are pretty wide too. I can't wait to hear those babies when they're done...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dec 18, 2017 - 08:27am PT
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And the $.20 question is, Jan, what kind of turntable was Bob Kamps running with those Infinities?
Thinking old-school here: Thorens, AR ... Mission?
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Dec 18, 2017 - 09:25am PT
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One of the best parts about vinyl was studying the album cover intensely while enjoying the music. I have a hard time reading the fine print on CD booklets.
I have good old school equipment. The only problem is many of my favorite recordings are mid 70's Fela Kuti, live cassettes from Senegal, and various 80's stuff from West Africa. Top end equipment doesn't add much in this case.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Dec 18, 2017 - 11:21am PT
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Vinyl must be popular with set designers as a means of establishing character or something. Right now we are watching another Netflix cop series called River (2014, also very good). The main character, played by Stellan Skarsgaard, also has a stereo and vinyl featured prominently in his living room.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Dec 18, 2017 - 01:09pm PT
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Those Sonab rigs might be interesting. The frequency response is nothing to write home about, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't sound good, so long as your not using them for professional reference. Lots of less than optimal speakers are great fun to listen too.
I came across a short thread here. There's a link to a thorough review in Swedish...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 13, 2018 - 01:25pm PT
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phylp said:
Vinyl must be popular with set designers as a means of establishing character or something.
I watch a lot of movies, am seeing it more and more, and I would agree with that observation: the set designers must feel that showing characters living with old record players and vinyl tells us something about them. I think it establishes a certain hominess, warmth, and sensitivity.
It's not restricted to the depiction of old retro-grouches by any means. Lots of these characters are young people.
Or they can use it to establish an upscale character, as seen in Robert Redford's character from The Great Gatsby (?), who at one point walks into a corner and plays a record on a very high-end turntable for the times, before having a nice quiet dance with a woman in his parlor.
Occasionally you see characters with those $12,000+++ turntables, things that look more like Earth orbiting satellites than conveyances of a tonearm and the means of spinning a vinyl record beneath the pressure of a stylus. Think drug dealer and master of the universe, money-killer type characters.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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Apr 13, 2018 - 03:44pm PT
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I guess I'm a little late answering Roy's question but I don't remember what turntable Bob had. I almost want to say he was a cassette person. He did sell them to me because he (really Bonny) wanted something less obtrusive in their living room. I know when I had these running last I had the turntable that Kris Solem now has. We did a little trade some time ago.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Apr 13, 2018 - 04:25pm PT
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HD vinyl, seriously? LPs are the the fastest growing sector in the music business (or they were a year or two ago) so everyones looking for a new hook. Another one I jut learned about is "hot stampers". A copy of a regular pressing but it sounds better. Guy is making a killing selling these.
https://www.wired.com/2015/03/hot-stampers/
Tin ear here, I like to pick up the obscure for a buck at the swap meet.
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