vinyl collecting ( and surrounding planetary atmosphere )

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

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ubertar
ears didn't survive the freeze
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Post by ubertar » Thu Dec 22, 2016 5:13 pm

shed, have you read "Free Jazz" by Ekkehard Jost? Really great book. It goes through the main figures (in his opinion, in 1973, but which still hold up, IMO) in free jazz (leaving out the European scene... beyond the scope of the book) and analyses what they were doing musically. He does a fantastic job of it. I highly recommend it.

This is not the right forum for this, so let's not discuss it here, but it seems relevant... this is from my next record, a free jazz thing:
http://www.ubertar.com/creot/2016-11-19.mp3
More to come, when I have time...

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Fri Dec 23, 2016 1:13 pm

Darn.
Nearby public library doesn't have it.
Nor any of the other county branches.
I'll find a copy elsewhere.

Poor attempted free jazz explanation of your free jazz tune:
Sun Ra strange strings orchestra with some Velvet Underground drums at the beginning and some Tom Waits swordfishtrombone atmospherics in a silent way on acid. ;)

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ubertar
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Post by ubertar » Sat Dec 24, 2016 9:03 am

Wow, thank you! :oops:

Strange Strings is one of my favorite Sun Ra records... I love all his stuff from the mid 60s era. In a Silent Way (along with Bitches Brew) is one of my favorite albums. I hadn't listened to Swordfishtrombones before, but checked it out now and see what you mean... I've only heard a few of his records, but that one's now my favorite of what I've heard. Oddly I've never been able to get into VU. I don't dislike them; they just don't do it for me for whatever reason.

Thanks for the comment... I feel like you really get what I'm after with this.

Buy the book! It's not hard to find for under $20. I took it out from the library, but plan to buy a copy because I'm sure I'll want to read it again. It's essential reading for any musician into free jazz, IMO.

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:22 pm

Got a paperpack copy on the way. Thanks Ubertar.
_________

and now
for some
random
vinyl art!

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Last edited by shedshrine on Tue Feb 06, 2018 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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apropos of nothing
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Post by apropos of nothing » Tue Jan 03, 2017 9:57 am

Fabulous.

jimjazzdad
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Post by jimjazzdad » Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:07 am

Shed - always enjoy seeing what your latest acquisitions are. Thanks.
Just got a record cleaning machine (vacuum type) for Xmas; looking forward to listening to a lot more vinyl in 2017!
Jim Legere
Halifax, NS
Canada

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:34 am

jimjazzdad-
what kind of machine? I know you just got it , but how do you like it? If you've got a minute, what's the regimen?

Re:those last images. Originals would be really rare and pricy and awesome to have. I just snagged those pics online, several off the lpcoverlovers site for our mutual enjoyment. That there is so much history to the hobby most definitely adds to its allure for me.

Book showed up, thanks again Ubertar..
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jimjazzdad
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Post by jimjazzdad » Sun Jan 08, 2017 12:21 pm

My vinyl buddy had a VPI 16.5 that I used to borrow. Unfortunately his house burned down in November, taking the cleaning machine and about 3000 LPs with it. So my wife researched record vacuums as a Christmas present for me. The VPI is a bit pricey in Canada right now due to the high US$ so I ended up with a 'made in China' Saidi Audio VC-10 from a guy in Ontario for ~CDN$550 (www.allthatjazzhifi.com). It seems to work just as well as the VPI and the case is smaller and made of aluminum (versus particle board for the VPI). Time will tell if it is as rugged as the made in USA machine but I am impressed with the quality so far. Of course the cleaning fluid is almost as important and I am still using VPI fluid but there are lots of blend-your-own recipes online and I may do some experimentation with different brands and/or DIY fluid. If I lived where you do, I probably would just go for the VPI machine.

The process is pretty simple and takes only a couple of minutes - much as in this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1f2ctyTr-c

If the vinyl is really filthy, a second cleaning is usually required. Makes a big difference to the listening experience. Most of the hiss, clicks & pops are gone , but it doesn't erase scratches unfortunately. :shake: [/url]
Jim Legere
Halifax, NS
Canada

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:24 pm

jimjazzdad wrote: Saidi Audio VC-10 record cleaning machine.
Most of the hiss, clicks & pops are gone , but it doesn't erase scratches unfortunately. :shake:
Oh, well the hell with it then. :)

Man, your buddy lost 3000 records! I mean the house fire and all is bad enough.

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Mon Jan 16, 2017 9:53 pm


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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Thu Jan 19, 2017 10:17 am

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Jimi: "Naw , I'm just messing with you man. I've got all the Cream records."
Eric: "Great. Seriously though Jimi, how the hell can I ever even pick up a guitar again after watching you play tonight. That was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it."
Jimi: " Ha. Hey I'm just doing my thing, y'know. Like, like you do your thing with the Cream.
Everybody's just doing their thing, right?"
Eric: *still staring at Jimi*
Jimi: (Laughing) "I don't know man. Maybe just pretend like you never saw me."
Eric: "Not. Going. to happen."
Last edited by shedshrine on Tue Feb 06, 2018 8:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Tue Mar 07, 2017 6:47 pm

1984 SF radio station New Wave compilation, and John Foxx's Metamatic
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My fave Nick Cave album and Dark Side of the Moon re-imagined as reggae
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Van Der Graaf Gen's Pawn Hearts prog reissue
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The Joe Pass album with Cherokee on it and some awesome afrobeat from Daptone, Antibalas' self titled.
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Turkish(!?) 'Dark Wave" goth band She Past Away. Think re-worked Disintegration era swirly Cure guitars with indecipherable low register Sisters of Mercy vocals.

and 'big in Japan' Velvet Teen's cum laude!. "showcases the band's early pop-roots with a dark display of gritty distortion, shipwrecking these pop songs in a sea of filthy electronics.
Cum Laude is a push-and-pull between sounds, genres, and ideas, in short, it's a beautiful struggle. " and hey, it comes with a fold out poster of the cover illustration.

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Last edited by shedshrine on Sun Feb 04, 2024 6:11 pm, edited 5 times in total.

jimjazzdad
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Post by jimjazzdad » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:34 am

Pioneer SA-9500 MkII? Nice amp! Very similar to my Technics SU 8080; twin power supplies, (essentially two mono block amplifiers) 80 real watts a channel...those were the glory days of consumer audio, before the Sony Walkman started the downward spiral that has led us to 'hi-fi' being equated with MP3s on iPods and earbuds. :x

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Jim Legere
Halifax, NS
Canada

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Wed Mar 08, 2017 9:16 am

Hey! TapeOp loads right away without adblocker! Thanks for the fix!

Yeah, this circa 1980 Pioneer integrated amp weighs 35 pounds and puts out 80 watts. Has turntable-centric features like selectable load impedance to dial in your cartridge sound. All the control legends stamped right into the metal.


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Currently running a *mindisc deck (not pictured) into the Pioneer and using it's preamp out into that circa 1960 Telefunken Opus 7 tube radio (with the wood slats intended as homage to 1950's American car grills).

The radio has eq preset buttons, but even in use the Opus 7 sounds pretty wooly. The Pioneer: "both the bass and treble sections have 3-position turnover selection and there's a tone on/off switch for "flat" response at a touch."
Using the eq controls on the Pioneer help get the most full range and clear sound out of the Telefunken's 4 speakers.

*Yes Jim, I hear ya, but this consumer format, this precursor to the "dumbing down" of music quality and mp3s, el minidisco, was one I had a love affair with from its days as the first portable digital recordable device and it is still a fun format to work with, especially its later iterations. Sounds more than fine through this old German tube monster. :)

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------
internals: Dual transformers..
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Apparently they had custom handle face plates available.

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___________________________________

*EDIT:
Picked mine up locally around 2015 for $150. Guy told me he had "gone over it". It sounded, I don't know, dry, 'papery'..just not that engaging. I figured it probably needed to be gone over for real at some point, but I had other gear that was getting the job done so the SA-9500 II just made great looking shelf art for years. This year I dropped it off with my tech, and when it came back, wow, yeah all the nice write-up on the tech used for these finally showed up to the party. (twin power supplies, making the 9500II essentially two 80 real-watts-a-channel mono block amplifiers)
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Having it back in action I started looking up opinions on it. This review, of the 9500 rather than the 9500 II, wasn't very flattering.
Pioneer SA-9500 Review

"The Pioneer, as lovely as it is to look at, couldn’t quite match the sonic quality of its British competitors. The Lecson integrated amplifier, for example, cost the same amount but sounded warmer, smoother, and more luxurious. The SA-9500 was a brittle performer — it was snappy and had a fantastic bottom end, but its midband was a little ‘transitory,’ as were many other amplifiers of the time. Across the upper midband, it sounded a little opaque and foggy, yet slightly edgy. Treble was clean and sharp, but not as well resolved as some competitors and had a sandpapery quality to it. It matched the warm and lush vinyl front ends of the day in some ways, but run a neutral modern source through it and it sounds unrefined by 2014 standards — the £350 Cambridge Audio 652A does better now."

I would have agreed with him if I hadn't heard a properly brought-up-to-spec 9500 II. I'm really liking its clean powerful just-south-of-neutral warm sound, running it with a Denafrips dac and a Dual 1229. Great match. The 9500 II has great tone-shaping options, and though I most often run the Pioneer with them switched out, when needed they are put to great use with my main speakers, a pair of Crites-modded Forte 1's.
Last edited by shedshrine on Sun Feb 04, 2024 8:16 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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shedshrine
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Post by shedshrine » Fri Mar 17, 2017 8:55 am

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Last edited by shedshrine on Tue Feb 06, 2018 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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