New Asian art, electronics, Audiophile LPs & other changes

Gentle reader,

Yes, I did just make a post yesterday. However, in it, I told you I would soon post an update one regarding thrift store finds, etc.

To begin, I don't know why I love Asian artwork. I believe it stems from a Japanese Geisha doll that my one-and-only Aunt had and still does. About a foot tall and in a glass case. Why it influenced me, I do not know. First off, my latest and smallest dragon. Quite colorful.

He's about five inches wide and came in a nice padded cloth-lined box. I couldn't resist him. He's ceramic. Below, a great find as I think this cork art is just fascinating. Unlike the others that I have, this one is very large and the glass case lifts off. Which is good as a few things had fallen off and I removed them rather than trying to glue them back in place.

Behind, and the effect is greater when viewed directly from the front, is a print that I forgot I had. Rather than having the chair rail/wires as a background, this works well. Below is the print.

The colors are brighter and lines more crisp than seen here. One cannot photograph glass straigh on. A flash creates a hot spot, without, one can see all the reflected items as you will see later on.

Above and below (the print to the lower right came out unfocused so I deleted it) are two framed prints. The strings are from the window blinds, one side refused to stay up, so I tied it off. The antenna in front of the lower right print is part of an amplified TV "rabbit ears" antenna that I found. I merely stripped the end of the cheap wire antenna that came with the floor radio and inserted it into the "F" connector. With the amplifier on, all I got was noise. No power, all the distant Washington, D.C. radio stations come in crystal clear. $3.00, gotta love thrift stores! Below is the print to the left.

Last Asian (not PC to say Oriental, if you do so, apologize by saying, "It was an Occident!" Google Occidental to get it, if you don't at first.) item is the latest sword. It's the one in the middle. It is better quality and matches the genuine large one better. The smallest one is now in here for future ebay sale.

Once again, lest you think me a hunter, I am not, nor will I ever be. That skin was bought in the 1960's by my late friend, Colonel Bill Arps in Thailand. It's from a Fishing Cat. So yes, some cats DO like water.

Another art item is this great poster, which is professionally mounted on wood, was made by Jimmy Cantus when he was 17 in about 1973. It has sold worldwide. I think it's really cool and I love The Lord of The Rings books and movies. I have to figure out where to hang it.....

Next is another mounted and also framed print of a 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera which was done by David Kimble for Petersen Publishing. See what I mean about reflections in glass?

Below is one that I bought via ebay. From the 1970 racing season, two JW Automotive Porsche 917s being chased by the Porsche Salsburg 917. I don't recall which circuit it was, but it is NOT Le Mans or Daytona or Sebring. Definitely somewhere in Europe. I have another poster of the same two JW 917s taking a bend in the rain at the same circuit.

The two small items are, left, a small painting my Mother did, and an article from Los Gatos, CA showing my late-Father as a volunteer Police officer. Next, some electronics.

 Above, albeit slightly out-of-focus, are a Pioneer ELITE home theater receiver/preamplifier above a nice looking Harmon/Kardon CD changer. Both are on ebay now. Below are the rear panels of them.  The Pioneer predates digital signal transfer devices. It does have all six channels with analog outputs, which makes it a 100 watts-per-channel receiver AND a preamplifier. One could use a separate six-channel power amplifier with it.

Note the all-analog inputs below as well as the date of manufacture.

Below, the six-channel analog outputs as well as three-way banana/binding posts that are featured on the better components. 

Below are the speaker wiring I just finished doing. Last night, all of a sudden, the left channel stopped working in the listening room, but they both still worked in here. After troubleshooting, I determined that the left channel on the Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier's speaker selector switch had failed. So, I transferred the "A" speakers (in that room) to the "B" terminals. Plus, I transferred the wires for the LED power meters as well. Today, I removed the LEGEND speaker switch from in here. I spliced the incoming wires directly to the oak speakers. This leaves the BOSE 301 speakers unusable until I can find another switch for in here. THEN, I cut those same wires and put the remaining ten connectors on all ten wires and the switch now resides on the left-rear corner of the Dynaco amp. Once again, I can listen to the music from that room in this room.

The reason I marked the terminals is that from the factory, they were internally wired with reds and blacks placed horizontally. As the case was made with the correct 3/4" spacing to use double-banana plugs, I rearranged things. The factory markings no longer were correct, thus my hand-written marking.

Lastly, some of the LP records that I found lately. I bought FIFTY at one time from the Salvation Army because someone donated a bunch of Audiophile LPs. 38 of that 50 were those. Analogue Productions, Cheskey Records and reissues of 1960's classics.

Why are they "Audiophile"? Extreme care is used in the remastering and cutting of the master discs. Virgin vinyl is used and they usually weigh 180 or 200 grams. It shows in the sound. Silent backgrounds, extremely wide frequencies, large, deep sound-stage. It's simply stunning to listen to.

Thanks again, for looking!

Scott