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Listening to Til Tuesday - Welcome Home - Via Technics SL-1700MK2 & Ortofon 2M Bronze

Greetings, Carver Heads. After wanting to own some Carver gear since the 80s, I am finally the owner of a TFM-15 (driving Klipsch kg 4.2 and kg 4.5 speakers)! This weekend, I will be lucky enough to add a TFM-25 to my setup, which will be driving kg 4s. All off a Yamaha RX-V663 receiver (which handles surround [kg 3.5] and center [KV-3] duty and x-over for Klipsch Sub-10).

The new site seems great, and is tremendously improved when used with my iPad. I know that this new carversite took a lot of work, so I say THANK YOU TO: Nahash5150 - Administrator Gene C - Administrator B-Man - Administrator Daddyjt - Moderator Balok - Moderator Zumbini - Moderator Doh-R - Moderator DennisMiller55 - Moderator

I've got lots of MFSL pressings, some CBS 1/2 speed masters and other alleged high quality pressings. I've also purchased one new UHQR pressing at MSRP to see what all the hype was about and sold it for about $150 more than I paid for it. I also had a subscription to Music Matters 45RPM Blue Note Jazz records for a couple of years when they first started up back in the day. AS a general I find that anything MFSL puts out is a quality LP. Not always, but by surely, the vast majority of the time. They tend to be a bit heavy and sometimes too heavy on the bass. They are always quiet. The 2nd generalization I would note is that if you are buying them (any audiophile pressing) used they typically have been well cared for. So there is a lot less risk in an ebay seller saying a LP is NM- or VG++ and you getting it and it sounding like it was played with a rusty nail. It makes sense that anyone buying a MFSL or other quality pressing in the 80s took care of their S#it, so low probability of getting a lemon. All the Music Matters 45s and Classic Records 200g pressing are fantastic that I have personally heard. You pretty much have to buy them when released before they go OOP as the 2nd had market is crazy expensive. Try buying the Classic Records Led Zeppelin 200g LPs today...you need a 2nd mortgage. Pretty safe bet that if you buy them and don't open them you can at a minimum get your money back. But what is the point in that? They are for listening not collecting in my book. I'd suggest buying a few of something you know well and making your decision. If I want or need the LP and it is available at retail I'll buy a MFSL/Music Matters/Classic Record every time over a standard LP or more standard 180g pressing, especially if they don't say mastered from original tapes on the standard LP. The UHQRs are worth the price of admission if you can pick one up when they come out. The packaging alone is a sight to behold. The Aqualung LP I had sounded great, but in the end I rarely listened to it because I felt like every time I did it was lowering it's value. And I was not a huge fan of the LP originally so it didn't get much play anyway. Better to sell it to fund things I actually play. Beyond 50-100 bucks I'd say they are not worth it. That said some of the recent prices are simply fantasy. Check the sold transaction prices vs. the asking prices on eBay. Most make offer listing that actually sell show the seller agreed to a different price. Ones listed at auction that sell truly reflect the market value. Typically too rich for my blood.

I built a set of folded horns, and what I remember specifically was that the driver was designed to meet the requirements of a bass horn to begin with. Low excursion, high Q, low resonant frequency, etc. In spite of this, there is nothing wrong with experimenting with an idea.

Our guide for quality does have a baseline in audio - fidelity. For example, if we knew for certain that we owned a power amp that was ideally faithful in reproducing the audio signal into a speaker without distortion or coloration, then we would be listening to the highest quality component we could ask for. The reality is that power amps are not ideal, they distort into a complex load, like a loudspeaker, in various degrees. The 'tube sound' for instance is, like I have stated many times before, is the tendency for the amp to resist changes in output impedance due to complex resistance changes in the speaker. Pure SS amps struggle with this, and can clip quite easily. Tube amps struggle with high output impedance, thus causing microphonic effects and speaker cone ringing. There's a lot to know about audio. There's a lot of science, experiments and engineering lessons that we all have access to. What I don't like to see is people sticking to their own way of thinking simply because it's what they are used to thinking about, then offering up a cop-out like 'we all have our own opinion' or 'everyone hears differently'. While those are true to some extent, that shouldn't be the end of the discussion. How can you ever know for certain your way of thinking is infallible? Isn't it reasonable to support your views with objective, verifiable measurements and formulas? We should strive for knowledge with the resource of this forum, not simply yak to each other how we think audio should be. Because really, if there's no sure way to arrive at quality, and fidelity, and therefore ultimate carefree gear, then we're just wasting time talking about it all. "It should sound like it isn't there" - BillD When you no longer think about your components when you listen to music, you have arrived.