Sources

[Ian Iveson[_2_]]

What's your favourite source for recorded music? What fits best with
good valve amplification?

Just listening to an old Marantz seedy65 playing through my prototype
6CH6 SE headphone amp.

New to this kind of thing, I'm surprised to hear a choir singing
inside the piano. Did Beethoven put it there on purpose? Sounds kinda
cool, all in 3D.

I've only heard a real grand piano once, and it had an orchestra with
it. The multi-layered sustain thing going on in these sonatas sounds
so beautifully contrived, I hope its not a malfunction. Dual TDA1541
DACs, BTW.

Phones are AKG K702. AFAIK they are the only things made in Austria.
Austrians yodel, and make headphones. If you find K701s going cheap,
snap 'em up. They start off like bees with chainsaws, but eventually
come really good.

Anyway, what source do you like best, and why?

cheers, Ian

Sorry, Austrians. I know you do other stuff too, but you probably
don't want me to mention it.

[Roger Jones]

On Feb 11, 10:18*pm, Ian Iveson > wrote:
> What's your favourite source for recorded music? What fits best with
> good valve amplification?
>
> Just listening to an old Marantz seedy65 playing through my prototype
> 6CH6 SE headphone amp.
>
> New to this kind of thing, I'm surprised to hear a choir singing
> inside the piano. Did Beethoven put it there on purpose? Sounds kinda
> cool, all in 3D.
>
> I've only heard a real grand piano once, and it had an orchestra with
> it. The multi-layered sustain thing going on in these sonatas sounds
> so beautifully contrived, I hope its not a malfunction. Dual TDA1541
> DACs, BTW.
>
> Phones are AKG K702. AFAIK they are the only things made in Austria.
> Austrians yodel, and make headphones. If you find K701s going cheap,
> snap 'em up. They start off like bees with chainsaws, but eventually
> come really good.
>
> Anyway, what source do you like best, and why?
>
> cheers, Ian
>
> Sorry, Austrians. I know you do other stuff too, but you probably
> don't want me to mention it.

Ian,
My favourite source is a live concert. Educates the ears... but not
often enough! So, my most used sources are CD's and old vinyl. I've
recently recommissioned two vintage turntables and dragged some LP's
out of the basement. This system has two Heathkit WA-P2 preamps to
one Williamson and one Pilotone amplifiers, into two Ditton 44
speakers. I may change one channel to a Leak TL/25 with a Point One
Plus preamp (just refurbished) when I get around to it.
I also like to play other people's grand pianos (when I can find them)
for the same reason... keeping the ears up! While my electronic
keyboard is good (General Music PRO1), as is the sound system (2 x 40
watt s/s stereo amp, two PSB 2B's plus a 150 watt s/s subwoofer
amplifier to a 12" subwoofer), it's not a Steinway!
Cheers,
Roger

[flipper]

On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:25:25 -0800 (PST), Roger Jones
> wrote:

>On Feb 11, 10:18*pm, Ian Iveson > wrote:
>> What's your favourite source for recorded music? What fits best with
>> good valve amplification?
>>
>> Just listening to an old Marantz seedy65 playing through my prototype
>> 6CH6 SE headphone amp.
>>
>> New to this kind of thing, I'm surprised to hear a choir singing
>> inside the piano. Did Beethoven put it there on purpose? Sounds kinda
>> cool, all in 3D.
>>
>> I've only heard a real grand piano once, and it had an orchestra with
>> it. The multi-layered sustain thing going on in these sonatas sounds
>> so beautifully contrived, I hope its not a malfunction. Dual TDA1541
>> DACs, BTW.
>>
>> Phones are AKG K702. AFAIK they are the only things made in Austria.
>> Austrians yodel, and make headphones. If you find K701s going cheap,
>> snap 'em up. They start off like bees with chainsaws, but eventually
>> come really good.
>>
>> Anyway, what source do you like best, and why?
>>
>> cheers, Ian
>>
>> Sorry, Austrians. I know you do other stuff too, but you probably
>> don't want me to mention it.
>
>Ian,
>My favourite source is a live concert. Educates the ears... but not
>often enough! So, my most used sources are CD's and old vinyl. I've
>recently recommissioned two vintage turntables and dragged some LP's
>out of the basement. This system has two Heathkit WA-P2 preamps to
>one Williamson and one Pilotone amplifiers, into two Ditton 44
>speakers. I may change one channel to a Leak TL/25 with a Point One
>Plus preamp (just refurbished) when I get around to it.
>I also like to play other people's grand pianos (when I can find them)
>for the same reason... keeping the ears up! While my electronic
>keyboard is good (General Music PRO1), as is the sound system (2 x 40
>watt s/s stereo amp, two PSB 2B's plus a 150 watt s/s subwoofer
>amplifier to a 12" subwoofer), it's not a Steinway!
>Cheers,
>Roger

That disclaimer reminds me of a Victor Borge concert where he
proclaims to the audience "The Steinway people have asked me to
announce that THIS is a Baldwin piano."

[Iain Churches[_2_]]

"flipper" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:25:25 -0800 (PST), Roger Jones
> > wrote:
>
>>On Feb 11, 10:18 pm, Ian Iveson > wrote:
>>> What's your favourite source for recorded music? What fits best with
>>> good valve amplification?
>>>
>>> Just listening to an old Marantz seedy65 playing through my prototype
>>> 6CH6 SE headphone amp.
>>>
>>> New to this kind of thing, I'm surprised to hear a choir singing
>>> inside the piano. Did Beethoven put it there on purpose? Sounds kinda
>>> cool, all in 3D.
>>>
>>> I've only heard a real grand piano once, and it had an orchestra with
>>> it. The multi-layered sustain thing going on in these sonatas sounds
>>> so beautifully contrived, I hope its not a malfunction. Dual TDA1541
>>> DACs, BTW.
>>>
>>> Phones are AKG K702. AFAIK they are the only things made in Austria.
>>> Austrians yodel, and make headphones. If you find K701s going cheap,
>>> snap 'em up. They start off like bees with chainsaws, but eventually
>>> come really good.
>>>
>>> Anyway, what source do you like best, and why?
>>>
>>> cheers, Ian
>>>
>>> Sorry, Austrians. I know you do other stuff too, but you probably
>>> don't want me to mention it.
>>
>>Ian,
>>My favourite source is a live concert. Educates the ears... but not
>>often enough! So, my most used sources are CD's and old vinyl. I've
>>recently recommissioned two vintage turntables and dragged some LP's
>>out of the basement. This system has two Heathkit WA-P2 preamps to
>>one Williamson and one Pilotone amplifiers, into two Ditton 44
>>speakers. I may change one channel to a Leak TL/25 with a Point One
>>Plus preamp (just refurbished) when I get around to it.
>>I also like to play other people's grand pianos (when I can find them)
>>for the same reason... keeping the ears up! While my electronic
>>keyboard is good (General Music PRO1), as is the sound system (2 x 40
>>watt s/s stereo amp, two PSB 2B's plus a 150 watt s/s subwoofer
>>amplifier to a 12" subwoofer), it's not a Steinway!
>>Cheers,
>>Roger
>
> That disclaimer reminds me of a Victor Borge concert where he
> proclaims to the audience "The Steinway people have asked me to
> announce that THIS is a Baldwin piano."

I was at a concert in Copenhagen, where he opened the fall board
of the piano, put on his reading glasses, studied the gold lettering
for a moment, and said:

"Steinway and Sons. He didn't tell me he was married"

At the same concert, he was talking about the instruments of the
orchestra. He said: The difference between the violin and the viola?
The viola burns longer!""


Iain

[John L Stewart]

I was at a concert in Copenhagen, where he opened the fall board
of the piano, put on his reading glasses, studied the gold lettering
for a moment, and said:

"Steinway and Sons. He didn't tell me he was married"

At the same concert, he was talking about the instruments of the
orchestra. He said: The difference between the violin and the viola?
The viola burns longer!""


Iain[/QUOTE]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My everyday driver, a Sansui AU717, 90 Watts/Channel & TU717 Tuner, Sony PSX6 Direct Drive Turntable, Akai HX-R44 Cassette Tape Deck, Technics SL-PG340 CD & RSC Olympus Speakers. I will listen to most anything Except C&W!

And a Realistix DX-300 Triple Conversion All-Band Receiver.

Still have my pair of PP 6L6GC UL Monoblocks I built around 1960.

The differance between a cat & bagpipes? You can kill a cat!

Cheers, John

[flipper]

On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:17:57 +0200, "Iain Churches"
> wrote:

>
>"flipper" > wrote in message
...
>> On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:25:25 -0800 (PST), Roger Jones
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>On Feb 11, 10:18 pm, Ian Iveson > wrote:
>>>> What's your favourite source for recorded music? What fits best with
>>>> good valve amplification?
>>>>
>>>> Just listening to an old Marantz seedy65 playing through my prototype
>>>> 6CH6 SE headphone amp.
>>>>
>>>> New to this kind of thing, I'm surprised to hear a choir singing
>>>> inside the piano. Did Beethoven put it there on purpose? Sounds kinda
>>>> cool, all in 3D.
>>>>
>>>> I've only heard a real grand piano once, and it had an orchestra with
>>>> it. The multi-layered sustain thing going on in these sonatas sounds
>>>> so beautifully contrived, I hope its not a malfunction. Dual TDA1541
>>>> DACs, BTW.
>>>>
>>>> Phones are AKG K702. AFAIK they are the only things made in Austria.
>>>> Austrians yodel, and make headphones. If you find K701s going cheap,
>>>> snap 'em up. They start off like bees with chainsaws, but eventually
>>>> come really good.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, what source do you like best, and why?
>>>>
>>>> cheers, Ian
>>>>
>>>> Sorry, Austrians. I know you do other stuff too, but you probably
>>>> don't want me to mention it.
>>>
>>>Ian,
>>>My favourite source is a live concert. Educates the ears... but not
>>>often enough! So, my most used sources are CD's and old vinyl. I've
>>>recently recommissioned two vintage turntables and dragged some LP's
>>>out of the basement. This system has two Heathkit WA-P2 preamps to
>>>one Williamson and one Pilotone amplifiers, into two Ditton 44
>>>speakers. I may change one channel to a Leak TL/25 with a Point One
>>>Plus preamp (just refurbished) when I get around to it.
>>>I also like to play other people's grand pianos (when I can find them)
>>>for the same reason... keeping the ears up! While my electronic
>>>keyboard is good (General Music PRO1), as is the sound system (2 x 40
>>>watt s/s stereo amp, two PSB 2B's plus a 150 watt s/s subwoofer
>>>amplifier to a 12" subwoofer), it's not a Steinway!
>>>Cheers,
>>>Roger
>>
>> That disclaimer reminds me of a Victor Borge concert where he
>> proclaims to the audience "The Steinway people have asked me to
>> announce that THIS is a Baldwin piano."
>
>I was at a concert in Copenhagen, where he opened the fall board
>of the piano, put on his reading glasses, studied the gold lettering
>for a moment, and said:
>
>"Steinway and Sons. He didn't tell me he was married"
>
>At the same concert, he was talking about the instruments of the
>orchestra. He said: The difference between the violin and the viola?
>The viola burns longer!""

He was one funny fellah.

Lots of his famous routines on Youtube, including his history of the
piano which, he points out, was invented long after there weren't any.

[Patrick Turner]

On Feb 14, 5:17*am, "Iain Churches" > wrote:
> "flipper" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:25:25 -0800 (PST), Roger Jones
> > > wrote:
>
> >>On Feb 11, 10:18 pm, Ian Iveson > wrote:
> >>> What's your favourite source for recorded music? What fits best with
> >>> good valve amplification?
>
> >>> Just listening to an old Marantz seedy65 playing through my prototype
> >>> 6CH6 SE headphone amp.
>
> >>> New to this kind of thing, I'm surprised to hear a choir singing
> >>> inside the piano. Did Beethoven put it there on purpose? Sounds kinda
> >>> cool, all in 3D.
>
> >>> I've only heard a real grand piano once, and it had an orchestra with
> >>> it. The multi-layered sustain thing going on in these sonatas sounds
> >>> so beautifully contrived, I hope its not a malfunction. Dual TDA1541
> >>> DACs, BTW.
>
> >>> Phones are AKG K702. AFAIK they are the only things made in Austria.
> >>> Austrians yodel, and make headphones. If you find K701s going cheap,
> >>> snap 'em up. They start off like bees with chainsaws, but eventually
> >>> come really good.
>
> >>> Anyway, what source do you like best, and why?
>
> >>> cheers, Ian
>
> >>> Sorry, Austrians. I know you do other stuff too, but you probably
> >>> don't want me to mention it.
>
> >>Ian,
> >>My favourite source is a live concert. *Educates the ears... but not
> >>often enough! *So, my most used sources are CD's and old vinyl. *I've
> >>recently recommissioned two vintage turntables and dragged some LP's
> >>out of the basement. *This system has two Heathkit WA-P2 preamps to
> >>one Williamson and one Pilotone amplifiers, into two Ditton 44
> >>speakers. *I may change one channel to a Leak TL/25 with a Point One
> >>Plus preamp (just refurbished) when I get around to it.
> >>I also like to play other people's grand pianos (when I can find them)
> >>for the same reason... keeping the ears up! *While my electronic
> >>keyboard is good (General Music PRO1), as is the sound system (2 x 40
> >>watt s/s stereo amp, two PSB 2B's plus a 150 watt s/s subwoofer
> >>amplifier to a 12" subwoofer), it's not a Steinway!
> >>Cheers,
> >>Roger
>
> > That disclaimer reminds me of a Victor Borge concert where he
> > proclaims to the audience "The Steinway people have asked me to
> > announce that THIS is a Baldwin piano."
>
> I was at a concert in Copenhagen, where he opened the fall board
> of the piano, put on his reading glasses, studied the gold lettering
> for a moment, and said:
>
> "Steinway and Sons. He didn't tell me he was married"
>
> At the same concert, he was talking about the instruments of the
> orchestra. *He said: The difference between the violin and the viola?
> The viola burns longer!""

Ah, Good old Victor Borge.

We need ppl with a sense of humerator.

Patrick Turner.

[Ian Iveson[_2_]]

On Feb 13, 10:54*pm, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
> wrote:
> I was at a concert in Copenhagen, where he opened the fall board
> of the piano, put on his reading glasses, studied the gold lettering
> for a moment, and said:
>
> "Steinway and Sons. He didn't tell me he was married"
>
> At the same concert, he was talking about the instruments of the
> orchestra. *He said: The difference between the violin and the viola?
> The viola burns longer!""
>
> Iain
>
>
>
> My everyday driver, a Sansui AU717, 90 Watts/Channel & TU717 Tuner, Sony
> PSX6 Direct Drive Turntable, Akai HX-R44 Cassette Tape Deck, Technics
> SL-PG340 CD & RSC Olympus Speakers. I will listen to most anything Except
> C&W!
>
> And a Realistix DX-300 Triple Conversion All-Band Receiver.
>
> Still have my pair of PP 6L6GC UL Monoblocks I built around 1960.
>
> The differance between a cat & bagpipes? You can kill a cat!
>
> Cheers, John

Never heard of those speakers. Got lots about:

http://www.olympusthemusical.co.uk/inf.html

You've got some scary serious stuff there, John. I tend to imagine ppl
here use whatever amp they just built, as a matter of course. Yours is
the kind of equipment I might find in the home of a professional
engineer.

That's an early "single bit" MASH CD player I believe. Any reason to
choose that, or perhaps CD is a low priority for you?

Everyone's throwing out their CD players, so I've been comparing my
Sony with earlier players from pioneers Philips/Marantz, starting with
an original 14-bit CD104 and working through several generations of
mid-range TDA1541 machines. I love the cute styling of the early
square boxes, and their astoundingly heavy construction quality.

They definitely sound different, in mostly negative ways, probably
depending on the output stage and the DAC power supply I guess. The
CD65 is the closest to the excellent Sony so far, and also sounds the
best. I'm quite pleased that I can hear what the TDA1541 fanatics are
on about, but I suspect on balance I don't like it in the same way
that I'm not keen on what ppl call "valve sound".

Nevertheless, I'm going to clean up the analogue bits of a CD50, on
its way, and adopt it as a second player. Maybe it'll grow on me.

Other than CD I have nothing until I manage to get a DAB/FM tuner.
We're being slowly forced in that direction. Sold my Denon tuner
before I realised DAB/FM tuners can't be found cheap, so I just listen
to BBC on the 'puter, which is too mechanically noisy for anything
else. I've never liked vinyl or tape...too much fuss and/or
noise...even though I like the engineering of some reel-to-reels.

My Kenwood amp cost me a fiver for lots of watts, driving Mission
bookshelves with polyprop cones and sibilant tweeters, until I put the
missing 6CH6s back in my "power" amp and get my Celestion 33s back
from their perilous trip to Derbyshire.

C&W is so wide you can't dislike it all, surely. Much of it is shallow
formula pop, which makes the typically tragic themes sound silly. Some
go so far as to make this an art form though, like Tammy Wynette's
"D.I.V.O.R.C.E" or Kenny Rogers' "Ruby, don't take your love to town".
Then, round the French top and bottom of the States there's some nice
mixes. Also some hippy West Coast bands like Greatful Dead. Oh, and
some really outstanding individual songs like Emmylou Harris' version
of "Diamonds are a girls best friend".

Ian

[MarkS]

"Ian Iveson" wrote in message
...

On Feb 13, 10:54 pm, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
> wrote:
> I was at a concert in Copenhagen, where he opened the fall board
> of the piano, put on his reading glasses, studied the gold lettering
> for a moment, and said:
>
> "Steinway and Sons. He didn't tell me he was married"
>
> At the same concert, he was talking about the instruments of the
> orchestra. He said: The difference between the violin and the viola?
> The viola burns longer!""
>
> Iain
>
>
>
> My everyday driver, a Sansui AU717, 90 Watts/Channel & TU717 Tuner, Sony
> PSX6 Direct Drive Turntable, Akai HX-R44 Cassette Tape Deck, Technics
> SL-PG340 CD & RSC Olympus Speakers. I will listen to most anything Except
> C&W!
>
> And a Realistix DX-300 Triple Conversion All-Band Receiver.
>
> Still have my pair of PP 6L6GC UL Monoblocks I built around 1960.
>
> The differance between a cat & bagpipes? You can kill a cat!
>
> Cheers, John

Never heard of those speakers. Got lots about:

http://www.olympusthemusical.co.uk/inf.html

You've got some scary serious stuff there, John. I tend to imagine ppl
here use whatever amp they just built, as a matter of course. Yours is
the kind of equipment I might find in the home of a professional
engineer.

That's an early "single bit" MASH CD player I believe. Any reason to
choose that, or perhaps CD is a low priority for you?

Everyone's throwing out their CD players, so I've been comparing my
Sony with earlier players from pioneers Philips/Marantz, starting with
an original 14-bit CD104 and working through several generations of
mid-range TDA1541 machines. I love the cute styling of the early
square boxes, and their astoundingly heavy construction quality.

They definitely sound different, in mostly negative ways, probably
depending on the output stage and the DAC power supply I guess. The
CD65 is the closest to the excellent Sony so far, and also sounds the
best. I'm quite pleased that I can hear what the TDA1541 fanatics are
on about, but I suspect on balance I don't like it in the same way
that I'm not keen on what ppl call "valve sound".

Nevertheless, I'm going to clean up the analogue bits of a CD50, on
its way, and adopt it as a second player. Maybe it'll grow on me.

Other than CD I have nothing until I manage to get a DAB/FM tuner.
We're being slowly forced in that direction. Sold my Denon tuner
before I realised DAB/FM tuners can't be found cheap, so I just listen
to BBC on the 'puter, which is too mechanically noisy for anything
else. I've never liked vinyl or tape...too much fuss and/or
noise...even though I like the engineering of some reel-to-reels.

My Kenwood amp cost me a fiver for lots of watts, driving Mission
bookshelves with polyprop cones and sibilant tweeters, until I put the
missing 6CH6s back in my "power" amp and get my Celestion 33s back
from their perilous trip to Derbyshire.

C&W is so wide you can't dislike it all, surely. Much of it is shallow
formula pop, which makes the typically tragic themes sound silly. Som
go so far as to make this an art form though, like Tammy Wynette's
"D.I.V.O.R.C.E" or Kenny Rogers' "Ruby, don't take your love to town".
Then, round the French top and bottom of the States there's some nice
mixes. Also some hippy West Coast bands like Greatful Dead. Oh, and
some really outstanding individual songs like Emmylou Harris' version
of "Diamonds are a girls best friend".

Ian

================================================== =======

Victor's punctuation routines were classic!

These days I'm mostly doing internet radio (high bit rate subscription) from
a netbook connected to a Linksys Music Bridge that has its coax digital
output connected to an MSB DAC.

And yeah, from there is all home built. Preamp built in a Dyna PAS chassis,
a 70 wpc KT88 PP amp feeding my speakers which are old KLH cabinets
re-braced w/ Seas drivers.

Also have a newer Marantz CD and a Carver TX-11 Tuner.

Mark