From the why didn't I think of that department

 Before I get completely off the tweaks-

 New from PS Audio- a combination isolation platform/ power conditioner! Way cool! Available soon. Makes too much sense.

R.I.P. Dave Brubeck 1920-2012

Dave Brubeck—recently called "the reigning elder statesman of jazz" by the Washington Post—died Wednesday in Connecticut on his way to a cardiology appointment, one day shy of his 92^nd birthday. Even the younger audiophiles among us if not intimately familiar with all his works have certainly at least at some point heard "Take Five". His 1959 album Time Out, after rising to No. 2 on the charts, became the first jazz long-player to sell a million copies.

"Take Five"—composed by Dave Brubeck Quartet member Paul Desmond—which achieved a rare success: "hit jazz single." Never mind that it was in 5/4 time!

 

Happy December!

The last essential tweak

                                               A   Good Chair



                                      You thought I was going to talk about the new fuses, huh?



                            ( Does anyone else remember this from a Maxell tape ad in the'70's?)

Record Clamps

                                                           Mpingo crazy weights

                                                                           The Pig (!)

                                                               Monitor Audio Pod

                                         ADC Pro Grip (later Monster bought the rights to this).

                                                          The famous Sota Superclamp

A typical record weight

I could have addressed these in my last post, but then I would have one less thing to banter on about. These basically are divided into two schools, clamps and weights. A floating subchassis table is typically better suited to a clamp, as the excess weight of a weight  might require you to re-adjust the suspension.I have had most of these over the years (shy of the crazy Mpingos) and currently use the Pro Grip (branded Monster) and the Sota.(arguably the best). They work well with or without vacuum, and almost every audiophile table sold today includes or at least offers a clamp of sorts. I also still have a Pig, believe it or not, not really sure how it got its name. Those crazy English! Depending upon the mat or whatever else is under the record these can provide a synergy to the sound, more stability and fewer audible flaws.Some companies like Oracle and VPI have made the clamps an integral part of their tables, they screw down on a threaded spindle, as opposed to the reflex action of many of the others. While not as universal, they can be equally as effective.

Turntable mats

Another tweek, this time turntable specific. A variety of these have been available over the years, with various benefits ranging from damping, deadening, stabilizing, and isolating records from their players.

  From the Linn /AR philosophy of a simple felt mat to the Sota Supermat, whose material is a sister impedance to vinyl, and when combined with their vacuum system creates a 22 lb record! 

 A series of squishy, deadening mats arrived from Canada in about  the early eighties, the Platter Matter, Roundel, Platter Pad and later the Audioquest Sorbogel made the scene. I can remember the rep demonstrating the Platter Matter, he would sprinkle salt on a record and tap it with a pen.The salt of course would bounce all over the place. Next, he placed the record on his mat, tapped, and the salt didn't move.

  The naturally adhesive properties of this were such that you often picked  up the mat with the record when taking it off, and it was not light! The mat supplied with the Oracle tables, The Groove Isolator was very similar, coincidentally also a Canadian product.

  An extreme was Micro Seiki's  solid copper mat, pictured above, which still commands a high price on the used market today.There also are a variety of carbon fiber, brass, and even shale(!) materials that have been used.

 Lastly , the Ringmat, that I never completely understood the concept of, but it was and is  extremely popular. Cork rings glued to cotton flocking on a small 10" mat. Some had holes, some didn't. The cork rings almost always came unglued. Think I tried this once and sold it. Guess I am from a different school.....

  My takeaway from turntable mats in general was they sounded pretty much like what they were made out of. If they were soft and dead, they sounded soft and dead. If they were hard and brittle, well , you get the point. I think the squishies were best suited to direct drive tables. The Oracle being the possible exception. Whether you use a clamp with them or not, and what type makes as much if not more difference than the mat itself, as I will discuss in the next section.

Another local Craigslist idiot

 Maybe I am old fashioned, but when I contact someone in a classified ad I am fairly serious, have done some research, know what I want, what it should be worth, blah blah blah.


             This dude emails me about a nice little pair of KEF monitors I have listed,  wants to come see and hear them. My response is usually pretty generic, if you are coming to buy them, I will pull them out and hook them up.

  Too many times in the past I have been treated like a dealer's showroom. No, I am not here for your evaluations. Not interested in what you  don't like about it/them.

 No, you can't bring your amp over to hook up to see how it sounds. Much as I love this hobby, I price things to sell, and resent all the extra work. If I buy something and later decide I don't like it, I resell it.I research it carefully enough that I am willing to take that risk. I never abuse the seller.


  So the dude shows up, (mind you I am a little under the weather  from meds and didn't want to do this today anyway) , listens, hems, haws, and makes me a ridiculous offer. After stating that I have lowered the price on these twice on CL, we strike a deal for $140. for the pair . Cheap, but as I mentioned earlier I am clearing stuff out I don't use anymore. He hands me the money, takes the speakers, and calls me a couple of hours later. "Can I bring these back?" What??  All of a sudden he is critical of the midrange and says they smell like cat, he is allergic. Now, mind you the cats walked in front of him about 8 times when he was here! All of a sudden he mentions he is allergic! My stuff is generally not in the same room as the cats anyway.

                 DUDE! THESE WERE $140!  What is wrong with people? Guessing he wasted about $20. in gas.So petty! Gave him his money back,he apparently needs it, even though he pulled up in a brand new loaded Nissan.

He should go to Best Buy and see what he gets for $140.

   As I have said here in the past, anything over $100. on Craigslist I generally end up shipping out of state. A few exceptions, but for the most part I am extremely wary of the locals.