Audio tattooing?

... why not: it's better than some awful tattoos around... yet, definitely NOT a pentode, please... I'd go for a Cunningham CX-310 triode, at least:-)))

Again and again about Robbie Basho: funding the movie

Kickstarter is ON, folks...

Let's support Liam and his documentary: Pete Townshend will be also interviewed.

... yet, NOBODY will rediscover Robbie's mighty twelve strings guitar, maybe sitting somewhere in an obscure Meher Baba's people warehouse!

... and that's sooo sad.

"Tone Float Organisation" on RCA Victor SF 8111 (UK)

Superb, SUPERB pre-Kraftwerk group and SUPERB music...

Here are some details:

• Bass, Bells [Small Bells], Shaker [Shaky Tube], Percussion [Plastic Hammer] – Butch Hauf
• Composed By – Butch Hauf, Florian Schneider-Esleben*, Fred Monicks
• Design [Cover Design] – 'Comus'*
• Drums, Bongos, Maracas, Cowbell, Tambourine – Fred Monicks
• Flute [Alto, Electric], Bells, Triangle, Tambourine, Violin [Electroviolin] – Florian Schneider-Esleben*
• Glockenspiel, Congas [Conga Gong], Performer [Musical Box], Bongos [Bangos], Voice – Basil Hammoudi
• Organ – Ralf Hutter*
• Producer, Engineer – Conrad Plank*, Organisation
• 
  

I LOVE this disc... grab it in any format... lots of bootlegs, around and original RCA, well... it's insanely high priced... but, I repeat, music is first class.

B 13 Records' coloured vinyls

All the following titles are live, seldom heard and coloured vinyl limited editions.

AMON DUULLIVE IN MUNCHEN 17..1LP
AYERS, KEVINLIVE AT THE BBC 1970 &..1LP
AYLER, ALBERTLIVE IN SAINT..25TH JULY1LP
AYLER, ALBERTLIVE IN SAINT..27TH JULY1LP
BLIND FAITHLIVE IN GOTEBORG,..1LP
BLUES CREATIONRECORDED LIVE AT THE..1LP
BUCKLEY, TIMLIVE 1968 AND 19741LP
CALE, JOHN & FRIENDSLIVE AT THE OCEAN CLUB..1LP
CANA DOUBLE PROMO ALBUM BY2LP
CANFUTURE DAYS: LIVE IN..1LP
CANLIVE AT ASTON..1LP
CANLIVE IN HANNOVER1LP
CANMONSTER MOVIE: LIVE1LP
CANTAGO MAGO: LIVE1LP
CHERRY, DONLIVE IN PARIS, APRIL..1LP
DAVIS, MILESLIVE AT FILLMORE WEST1LP
DAVIS, MILESLIVE AT HILL AUDITORIUM1LP
DAVIS, MILESLIVE AT NEUE STADTHALLE1LP
DAVIS, MILESLIVE AT THE PHILARMONIE..1LP
DAVIS, MILESLIVE AT THE PLUGGED..11LP
DAVIS, MILESLIVE AT THE PLUGGED..21LP
DEEP PURPLELIVE 1969-19721LP
DEWRECORDED LIVE AT THE..1LP
ENO, BRIANLIVE AT THE BBC1LP
FLEETWOOD MACLIVE AT THE BBC, 19701LP
FLEETWOOD MACLIVE AT THE BBC, LONDON..1LP
FLEETWOOD MACLIVE AT THE RECORD..1LP
FOTHERINGAYBBC LIVE IN 19701LP
GENTLE GIANTLIVE IN ESSEN, GERMANY..1LP
GILBERTO, JOAOLIVE IN NYC OCTOBER 9,..1LP
GILBERTO, JOAOLIVE IN NYC OCTOBER 9,..1LP
GURU GURULIVE IN WIESBADEN 19721LP
GURU GURULIVE IN WIESBADEN 1972/731LP
JOY DIVISIONLIVE AT THE PARADISO..1LP
KOSUGI, TAKEHISASTUDIO IMPROVISATIONS..1LP
KRAFTWERKLIVE1LP
KRAFTWERKLIVE 19712LP
KUTI, FELA RANSOMELIVE AT THE AFRO SPOT1LP
MOTHERS OF INVENTIONFZ AT ARTISAN 1LP
PASTORIUS, JACO & RASHIDLIVE IN CANNES, FRANCE,..1LP
PASTORIUS, JACO & RASHID LIVE IN CANNES, FRANCE,..1LP
PASTORIUS/METHENY/BLEY/DILIVE IN NEW YORK CITY,..1LP
SOFT MACHINELIVE 1967-19691LP
SOFT MACHINE (PROTO)EARLIEST RECORDINGS 1LP
SUN RA ARKESTRALIVE AT THE STORYVILLE,..1LP
SUN RA ARKESTRALIVE AT THE STORYVILLE,..1LP
TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERSLIVE1LP
TAJ-MAHAL TRAVELLERSLIVE AT SOHGETSU HALL..1LP
TAJ-MAHAL TRAVELLERSLIVE AT THE MODERNA..1LP
TAJ-MAHAL TRAVELLERSLIVE AT THE MODERNA..1LP
TAJ-MAHAL TRAVELLERSLIVE IN TOKYO, 19TH..11LP
TAJ-MAHAL TRAVELLERSLIVE IN TOKYO, 19TH..21LP
TELEVISIONLIVE AT THE OLD..1LP
VAN ZANDT, TOWNESLIVE AT THE WHOLE..1LP
VAUGHAN, STEVIE RAYLIVE AT MCNICHOLS ARENA..1LP
VAUGHAN, STEVIE RAYLIVE AT TINGLEY..1LP
VELVET UNDERGROUNDLIVE AT END OF COLE..1LP
VELVET UNDERGROUNDLIVE IN DALLAS, TX: 28..1LP
WIFFEN, DAVIDAT THE BUNKHOUSE..1LP
YARDBIRDSLIVE IN STOCKHOLM APRIL..1LP

Cool!

 

Maxonic DS-701 - the ultimate coaxial

Field Coil Coaxial 15" Full Range Driver.

World first perfect synchronous coax in field-coil category, world heaviest full range unit!

Tens of years ago Maxonic was marketing the famed DS-405 driver. The DS701 inherited the basic technology to position mid and high range diaphragm from DS405; the diaphragm sits coaxially and in-phase, and was replaced the permanent type to field-coil type magnetic circuit.

Labors of Hercules have been achieved in the DS701.

Frequency response 25-20.000 hz, 104/db/W efficiency and forty, forty, FORTY (40) kilos weight... each!

... and P.S.U.

Cool!

VIV Lab. RF Floating arm from Japan

Intriguing... VERY intriguing...

“Rigid Float/H” tonearm

... the radial error increases... BUT it sounds better... it's an opinion;-)

Anyway, I love the concept of an arm, a' la Kimura Labs. RS1-A, to be SIMPLY put on the turntable plinth!

Available in 7, 9 and 13 inches lengths... and the 2 kilos weight helps. as well...

Musings - The Stick

... something that Howling Wolf would agree and like;-)

... and, please forgive me... aehm, what about Pussy-USB-Door;-)))?!?!

I'm pretty sure "she" far more likes looooong downloads!

Reiner Glass' "Audio Desk Systeme" Disc Cleaner

I got it!

... after selling my old, battered KMAL's, I had to bother my friend Giorgio and his VPI's... well, I'm ready to do it by myself again:-)


Thanking Reiner and his kindness.

Elodis' "Vocalitas Machina Grandis"

My friend Franz Hinterlehner completed a project after some months of accurate, painstacking woodworking, soldering, assemblying and measuring...

The result of the active four-ways system is nothing short of  IMPRESSIVE: an integrated multiamping/crossover assembly wiyth minimal wiring, deadly silent and dynamic as it can be.

Short description (by Franz Hinterlehner himself): bassreflex subwoofer enclosure optimized for maximum performance for GOTO SG38WN
4-way active electronics realized with components from GROUNDSOUND, custom made transformers by BADEL,
enclosures made of 30 mm beech plywood - targeted braced and targeted damped with triangular blocks made of BASOTECT.
Power is 300 Watts at 4 Ohms for the sub-channel and 150 Watts at 4 Ohms each for the 3 upper ways,
2 separate linear PSU were used - 1 for the sub channel and a second for the upper ways. The superior DSP crossover unit is also supplied by a linear PSU.
Now the whole 4-way system - assembled with GOTO 505 (double driver/throat, S200), SG370 on S600 and SG16 (I delivered the horn holders 2 month ago) - is ready for final "fine-tunig". The electronics is de facto noise and hum-free also at compression drivers with their high sensitivity. Sound of the electronics modules is impressive, detailed with very realistic spatial impression and at the same time sound never "analitical" or "processed" also not at very high sound pressure levels - fits perfect with compression Goto Unit drivers/horns.

Here are some pixes... here you'll find the link for first instalment, concerning the Goto's upper ways holder, already safely in customer's hands.

Bravo, Franz... your skill is always awesome, like materials used - always of the VERY best quality - and superb workmanship.

BTW... nice brand-name for this project;-)))

Hemiolia's Official site unveiled, at last!

WOW!

Enjoy!

Thanking Giorgio and wishing to him, Marco and Claudio the VERY best!

Munchen Hi-End 2013 - The Mysterious Ratio: people or gears?

Yes, folks... audio is - in my humble opinion - a ratio, a formula:

G : M = P : E

Where G stands for gears, M for music, P for people or pleasure and E for enjoyment... mixing these all makes the miracle of "our" incredible passion.

We all know how's soooo nice enjoying a music listening session with best friends... swapping disc after disc after disc, sharing obscure records, learning and teaching and viceversa... definitely having good time, unworried about cables and the like!

I spent two full days at Munchen's M.O.C. and I tasted several very, VERY nicely sounding systems, saw, listened to, caressed, knuckle knocked every kind of sexy gears I could... but... BUT, beside some very nice music I heard, what I appreciated more was... gathering... meeting old pals, close and not so close friends, and audio pals I only knew from emails... years and years of emails... old and new friends were the bonding force of this IMPRESSIVE audio fair.

Crowd is crowd, as everywhere at any audio show, but as the offer is REALLY awesome and Munchen's show isn't held at an hotel in some shitty room with bed "shadow" on wallpaper, but in a very nice place with rooms of different size, there is a nice turnover and rooms and booths seems always unstressed places where it's possible to properly enjoy music and ask for informations about this and that.

Yet, P and E are the keys of Munchen's success... at the end of the day my legs were so tired and heavy I felt ten years more... but I felt so light-hearted, folks and... happy, yes... I met friends like Thomas Mayer and Thomas Schick, Frank Schroder, Holger Barske, J.C. Morrison, JROB... I've been so pleased to know you in person, dear Joe... yes, Joe Robert, the man that - with Jean Hiraga and La Maison de l'Audiophile - began "it" all, decades ago with his "Sound Practices" magazine and my pal Laurence, a truly unexpected pleasure to meet him, at last, thanking Peter's hinting at Silbatone's; had a GREAT time with Serge Schmidlin, for me a truly special persona, sharing a seldom experienced, bonding empathy and friendship and Roberto and Pierre from Bruxelles and Peter Reinders from Amsterdam... and Axinia Schaffer and her Arche' headshell and freshly brewed superb new arm and Mr. Manho Oh - Silbatone's patron, so generous and kind with his sharing those seldom heard Western Electric's Mirrophonic and great, classy amps and preamps... and Manolis Proestakis' Tune Audio Anima speakers from Athens, Greece, at his fourth Munchen's audio show and Rolf Bayer, a great, GREAT friend from Munchen, so warm and cool, who organized with other pals (The Triode Mafia) a fantastic Audio Tasting, years ago... and Christian Bayer, what a pleasure, Chris, meeting you, at last.

... with Joe

... and Graziella, the MOST handsome tube amps ambassadress at the show.

I'm trying to say that, more than the shiny gears faceplates and exotic or huge or super expensive components, it was an experience meeting Akira Nagai-san, the man behind Satri/Bakoon's circuit, the extremely cool and passionate Silbatone's President and Tim de Parravicini and his beard:-)... and all the above mentioned guys, of course.

Most of the above pals and the people attending the show own good to superb audio systems... what an event like Munchen is able to make - IMO - is, more than buying new systems... making old and new friendships blossoming and informations and tips and ideas being shared and suggested: music, technical solutions and chatting, chatting, chatting... as everyone has the friends he deserves... well, I'm so satisfied and happy of the two days I spent with among the best people around:-)... driving in the night with heavy rain, waking up at 4 A.M.... all is forgotten, as, hey... we're a bunch of daredevils searchers, hating... MP3 and, most of all, wall-paper, distract music listening:-)))

Posting here only a couple of gears-free pixes... but attaching this for a TRULY special and professional photographic report of Munchen's event: thanks a lot to Leo Ye.

Ivan's Choice - Jaga Jazzist's Live with Britten Sinfonia

Jaga Jazzist —
Live With Britten Sinfonia

ZENDNL196

Released 06/05/2013

Yes, yes, we know what you're thinking. It's a live album, and when are those ever very exciting? But just remember that they really can be, and trust us when we say that this one really, truly is. Like a modern day Live at Leeds, like the benevolent, neon twin of Live Evil, Jaga Jazzist's wondrous new record is just that; a brilliant album on its own terms. It's a psychedelic Bond soundtrack twisting and turning from the stage, propelling the listener forward on an epic emotional voyage. At times it seems to explode from the speakers in pure, exuberant colour, making you wonder if you've recently developed synesthesia. It moves with unrestrained ease from quiet reflection to cinematic, widescreen thunder, fromSound of Music pastoral joy to pulsing jazz chase sequences… and it makes you wonder why more of the music you hear isn't quite so completely affecting.

Jaga Jazzist had long wanted to work with an orchestra, and when the British radio DJ Fiona Talkington introduced them to the Britten Sinfonia, they leapt at the chance to collaborate. The Barbican's Chris Sharp promised to stage the results, and the team set about writing the work from scratch. Jaga wanted to make each musician feel like a central part of the performance, and this philosophy paid off in full. The music is full of exuberance and passion, each player becoming an equal part of a startlingly purposeful hive-mind.

Time Capsule Audio - Cunningham CX-310 triodes from the Roaring Thirties

I always found sooo sublimely intriguing and romantic thinking about a fragile tube which survived wars and riots and revolutions, floods, earthquakes, storms and hurricanes, several shippings, thieves and everything in-between...

I recently found one pair of N.O.S./N.I.B. Cunningham CX-310 from early '30s with their nice old-timey original boxes: the grandaddy of all 801A/10Y triodes family in a cool, classy "globe" glass envelope.

These will nicely and smoothly work in Thomas Mayer's 801A line stage pre-amp... they measures very similar, so, let's only hope for good microphonic rejection!

It's weird to say, but, IMO, it's like finding a four-leaves clover in a crowdy highway undertaking-lane... while driving;-)))

Thanking Brendan Biever and his always supporting tubes warehouse and good taste.

... cannot stop thinking that "this" was rocking and dancing, in "those" days...

Musings

ALLNIC Puritas... more Repetita Juvant, with a little help from my... Arche' headshell!

After happily living for some months with the beauty and easiness of Decca SC4E, I strongly wished to return to ALLNIC Puritas and its extreme detailing and superb musicality.

I had to suffer a little with installing the headshell wires as both Arche' headshell and Puritas' terminal pins are on the thick side vs. the snug fit of Oyaide's silver wires...

Had to take Valium for a couple of days before re-trying the mount, after I damaged one of the wires the first time and had to re-buy a new quartet... a REALLY gonzo-like affaire:-)

Anyway, this morning, thanking (...) the VERY annoying and boring and dull rainy weather, I successfully completed my (little) task...

... and... AND...

... welcome back home, beauty...

Seriously, the Decca is a very, VERY musical cartridge... Puritas is both musical and detailing like no other in my humble experience... tracking like no other... pleasant and involving like no other...

The Arche' headshell, thanking the 16Audio Blog folks who suggested the heavenly match of Puritas & Arche', is... well, an heavenly match.

Finely tuning the SRA/VTA at headshell is really easy and unforgiving... you cannot be wrong, with Arche'!

The cartridge "chatting" coming from the disc in the silence of the room, system in mute-mode, is non-existing... the resonances are virtually absent and the overall sound - REALLY indeed - is impressive...

I'm using my WE 618B MC transformers and my friend Andrea's - aka "The Very Best Cable Maker of North-Eastern Italy" (his nom de guerre:-))) - 7N Silver cobra-like interconnects... those HUGE black "things" arching between Thomas Mayer's LCR Phono stage and (hidden) trannies.

Also enjoying the Luxman AT-3000 Ultimate buffer... but still preferring the Fidelity Research AS-1:-)

I had to hardly push myself to stop listening disc after disc after disc... everything is clicking so beautifully!

... again and again: music and audio is THE MOST REWARDING AND TOTALIZING PASSION, period.

Twogoodears goes to Munchen's High End 2013

My first time at M.O.C., ever... from Friday to Sunday.

See you at Silbatone's Western Electric Shrine!

WOW! Cannot stand in my shoes...

No jokes!

Thanking Pierre Bensusan and Jamie Tate...

Insound Choice - Wooden amp for iPod

Cool, mains-less "amp", using natural wood resonating properties...

Yesterday was Earth Day and coincidentally, I watched an extremely frightening documentary about the environment over the weekend. You could actually say it’s not all that coincidental since I watch/read/intake information that frightens me and gives me no hope for the future on the reg, but hey – I digress! This particular documentary focused on the oil crisis and how in about 40-50 years, there will be no oil. If this doc is to be believed, unless we can come up with some viable alternatives, we can say goodbye to car travel, air travel…MAYBE EVEN ONLINE RETAIL – NO SHIPPING! Society as we know it will crumble to the ground and I’ll be riding a horse to work at an artisanal accordion stand in McCarren Farm.

I know that no speakers (at least none that I know of) run on oil, but I’m sure oil is used somewhere in the manufacturing process. Honestly, oil is probably even used in the manufacturing process of these beautiful wood “speakers” (power tools, y’all), but let’s focus on the positive. Once the Koostik Original is handcrafted, there’s no need to plug them in or recharge them or stick batteries in them – they use the natural acoustics of the wood to amplify your favorite jams. I mean, YES, you will still have to charge your phone in order to play the music in the first place and YES, electricity isn’t oil, but a lot of electricity is generated from fossil fuels, so conserving energy in any form is a good thing that you should do.

In conclusion, according to my rock solid logic, by buying the Koostik Makore Original Speaker, you will be saving the planet. Case closed.

– Nicole Johnson

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Bob Brotzman passed away yesterday, April 24th 2013

... so sad news!

He was a genius and a dandy... I'll give a listen to one of the several discs I have in my collection... maybe the duet disks with Woody Mann or with David Grisman.

R.I.P.

R.I.P. Dept. - Richie Havens passed away yesterday, April 22nd, 2013

Freedom, freeedom, freedom... at last.

... no need to feel like a motherless child, anymore!

I loved him and his Guild D-40 acoustic/grater and so ancient way of playing and his SUPERB - griot-like - voice... pure Africa!