[Andre Jute]

The other day I was wondering if I could manage to live in a smaller
space. My hi-fi, mostly in boxes, takes up rooms. My discs would take
up hundreds of feet of shelf space if shelved; I keep them edgewise 250
or so per flat box with the boxes stacked six or seven high; you can
build real muscles moving all the boxes to get at a disc in the
bottommost box. The discs take a lot of floor space and a lot of cubic
space. My books are even more space-consuming, and then there are
computers, many, many shelf feet of boxes of software, cameras, tools,
bicycles and so on, but let's keep this to music and its implements.

The solution for the discs is simple: there is no need for each disc to
be in a jewel case. The discs and their booklets can be put in big
zippered books of plastic sleeves and reduced to a couple of short
shelves or maybe a single bookcase, rather than an overbearing cubic
volume.

Surprisingly, for someone so often abused as Mr Single-Ended, actually
the equipment I would give up last is my electrostrats and the sensible
amp and source to go with them is a Quad SS amp and the Quad CD player
and the Quad preamp (good for having a mono button...) though I could
lose the pre and just make put a DACT attenuator in a small box for a
volume pot.

So, what would you give up last?

Andre Jute
Visit Jute on Amps at http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/
"wonderfully well written and reasoned information
for the tube audio constructor"
John Broskie TubeCAD & GlassWare
"an unbelievably comprehensive web site
containing vital gems of wisdom"
Stuart Perry Hi-Fi News & Record Review

[Andy Evans]

Since I build virtually everything myself, whatever I gave up I'd just
build again. In terms of listening material I wish somebody would
divest me of my LPs for decent money (plenty of Bluenote, CTI etc) -
they take up far too much room, so they're going on ebay. I have a
collection of CDs which fits neatly behind the door of my listening
room in a CD case exactly the size of the door. When the door's open it
covers it. I found this by far the best way to do things. If I didn't
have CDs I'd play the piano more, so I guess the last thing to go would
be my piano. Andy

[tubegarden]

Hi RATs!

When I was young and wise, I was delighted that I got paid for doing
code. I knew all I had to do was think and enter data. I could do that
laying in an iron lung

So, I got CFS and my brain stopped. Ta dump dump.

My ears work, and I still think Eyesore is an idiot savant, but writing
scripts for this life is just silly

Nobody but me will knowwhat I gave up last ... and even I may only know
very briefly

Happy Ears!
Al

[Andre Jute]

tubegarden wrote:
Hi RATs!

When I was young and wise, I was delighted that I got paid for doing
code. I knew all I had to do was think and enter data. I could do that
laying in an iron lung

So, I got CFS and my brain stopped. Ta dump dump.

My ears work, and I still think Eyesore is an idiot savant, but writing
scripts for this life is just silly

Nobody but me will knowwhat I gave up last ... and even I may only know
very briefly

Happy Ears!
Al

Yo, Al, you're an inspiration to all of us to take longer to die than
your very extended Monday morning sickie.

That's an added value to our lives that you should be able to cash in,
with interest, when you reach the Big Bank in the Sky, St Peter, Chief
Cashier. Tell him to give you the preferential rate or I will speak to
this Chairman.

Keep it up!

Andre Jute
Humbug? Make mine the mint flavor!

[Peter Wieck]

This is a fascinating question. Since I became involved with the hobby
(and to discern the specific use of the term "involved" consider the
difference between Ham and Eggs), much has come and nearly as much has
gone. Although I keep coming back to certain brands and classes of
items, nothing holds a lock on me in any way that could be defined as
'limiting'.

I have some pieces that are near-and-dear at this moment, and I expect
I will always own a pair of AR3a speakers and at least one monster
power-amp. But one of the great pleasures of this hobby is the mixing
and matching of new (to me) things as they happen by... short-or-long
term.

At present, I am nearly done running a Scott 800B through the bench. It
will enjoy some significant play-time when done. Will it supplant the
Revox A720/Scott LK150 permanently? I doubt it, but only time will
tell. Will the Rabco ST-6 supplant the Revox B795? Who knows. The
McIntosh MR-65 is on its way out, as is a duplicative Dynaco SCA-35. I
am presently enjoying an ST-35 in place of the ST-70 driving an AR
Athena sub-sat system... is that permanent? The Dynaco FM-3 alternates
with the FM-5 with the AF-6. The "Wife-Friendly" system (all
solid-state, & intuitive controls) gets large use as well... And we are
negotiating on the new system going into the summer house to replace
the one flooded last summer. Much better than the one lost, but
elevated.

It's a hobby. Not a life. Fun. Theraputic. Always relaxing either in
digging amongst the guts or enjoying the fruits of such digging. In
stalking and capturing wild components and in setting them free
afterwards.

BTW, the scratch-build took a giant leap forward yesterday evening with
a simple-circuit breadboard of one channel that _actually_ worked.
First time lucky.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA