NEW Massive Changes! SIX-Channel SACD at last!

Gentle reader,

As you may recall, I have more than a dozen SACDs. That's Super Audio Compact Disc. Invented by Sony and Philips, who also invented the CD, it is a format that greatly increases the fidelity of digital music. Approaching how a quality LP sounds.

One needs a player that will play SACDs. Many SACDs are "Hybrid", meaning they have two layers of data. Top layer is the music in regular (called "Red Book", although I don't know why) CD format playable on any CD player. Deeper is the SACD layer which uses much smaller pits for the music. SACDs require a separate laser head with a narrower beam that "sees" right through the larger CD layer's holes. 

Sometimes, they include a six-channel (5.1) version which is surround sound like most DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. However, again, you need a player that can read and output through six analog RCA outputs the six individual channels: Left front, Right front, Left surround, Right surround, Center and Subwoofer.

The $1,500 Sony SACD player I have (bought for $14.99 @ Salvation Army) predates surround sound (5.1) SACDs. It can't read any of the SACDs that ONLY have a 5.1 SACD layer.

Now, as you may remember, I've gone through a number of Home Theater receivers over the years, mostly Yamaha brand. While some of them had six-channel inputs, they were for "External Decoder" not SACDs.

So, I thought, go to the Source, get a Sony receiver. I had a silver Sony universal player we'd been using down in the family room with the 36" CRT TV. It too was a Salvation Army find. So, I bought a more conventional Sony DVD player via eBay and replaced the universal Sony with it. Thus freeing it for use in the den.

On eBay,  I found a Sony STR-DE997 receiver, circa 2004 that has not one, but two six-channel (5.1) inputs as well as a host of others, but no HDMIs as it is too old for that. $36.00. What a deal! Plus, to my surprise, it HAS phono inputs! COULD I be satisfied with JUST this receiver, ditching all the rest? Perhaps, had I never known separates.

So, now I needed a place to put the receiver and SACD player in an already overcrowded room. Something needed to go. I decided that the Garrard turntable (for 78s) and all associated equipment had to go. All that stuff plus more are going on eBay starting Sunday afternoon. Look on eBay, do a "Seller search" for my ID: rfcollectin. Starts 4:00 PM EST.

Top photo shows the new setup as seen from my listening chair. Immediately above is the Kenwood THX Certified power amplifier relocated to the Teak cabinet along with the new Sony equipment and the subwoofer. I am now using the speaker switch again, for the oak speakers and the Wharfedales. The Electro-Voice speakers are acting as stands for the latter until I buy the new foam stuff and get them working again.

I have eliminated the long and uneven length speaker wires. Each side has the same length wires and I'm able to used the switch.

The cabinet, made in Denmark, I found at "Bee Thrifty" a new thrift store that is HUGE and I believe a chain. It is generally overpriced for a thrift store, with a LOT to sort through. But as I think I reported earlier, I did find the fifty-year-old Wharfedale W40 speakers (light colored grill cloths) and the same aged Realistic Electrostat-2 speaker. My first speaker with electrostatic tweeters. Each were $14.99. All three sound AMAZING. The Wharfedales are going to be part of the "Permanent Collection". I'm sure my wife would laugh at that! HOW many times have I announced that "I'm Done"?

Anyway, the cabinet proved ideal for my needs. Made originally for a stereo, with LP record storage on the lower left and a shelf capable of sliding out on the lower right. Just enough room for the subwoofer. That shelf sits atop the sub. The three record dividers now sit together separating the classical box sets from the big band ones. Wouldn't want them mixing, what would we end up with, Rhapsody in Blue?

Above and below is a Polk Audio speaker that now serves as the Center channel speaker for the SACD 5.1 setup. I know you're not supposed to put speakers on their side, but the center channel needed to be on the same plane as the BOSE 301s, (which were DESIGNED to be "on their sides"). Plus, why would Polk have made the grill emblem rotatable if not for that very purpose?

Below on the right is a new (to me) CD shelf that holds 124 CDs. Darker wood than the others, but so what? I've moved the SACDs, Beethoven's 9ths, Coplands and HDCDs to this shelf. Emptying the tall cylindrical rack on the opposite side of the room and freeing space on the left shelf for more future classical CD finds.

Below is how the (2.0) AKA stereo system now looks. I moved one of the Adcom ACE-515 power conditioners to behind the LP boxed sets to provide clean and protected power for the Kenwood power amp, sub, and new Sony stuff. I moved the other one (below) to the space once occupied by the Kenwood amp. This freed depth for headphones and remotes to be in reach of my chair.

Also, I moved the Sony SACD (stereo) player to where the two ACE-515s once resided and moved the Denon 5-disc CD/HDCD player to the Sony's former spot. Also, I found a Denon cassette player at Salvation Army for $7.99. While I usually don't even LOOK at dual cassette decks, this one IS a Denon, and retailed for $400. Freeing the top right half of the stereo rack for record cleaning stuff. That yellow thing between the Denon turntable and Discwasher stuff is a Swiffer 360. A GREAT tool for removing dust from newly purchased LPs.

Finally, below is a look-down shot of the new six-channel setup. BTW, I had to make a speaker stand for the Polk and did so out of 1/4" Lexan plus a 4x4 piece of oak. Since one foot of the Sony and one foot of the Kenwood rests on the base of the stand, I needed to make the same thickness "saucers" for the other three feet of each. On the bottom of the speaker stand I put 1/8" thick closed-cell foam rubber tape. Another piece of same went under the single feet on top of the stand's base and thus on both sides of the six saucers. This provides scratch protection and a little vibration absorption from the subwoofer. Plus, I put my proprietary rubber isolation feet under the Sony SACD 5.1 player doing the dual role of  vibration absorption AND heat spacer. The Sony receiver which puts out a CLEAN 110 Watts per each of the six (it's a 7.1 channel receiver) 20 to 20KHertz @ 0.09% THD. Not bad for $36.00, huh?

Once again, thanks for taking the time to follow and read my blog. It TRULY does my heart and mind good to know you are out there.

Scott

Some great new old electronics finds!

Gentle reader,

Been a few weeks since I posted anything. I'd made my usual Wednesday (25% off) Salvation Army stop. Found a couple of nice cassette decks and some LPs and CDs. 

The best find was a late-1950's Zenith "High Fidelity" tube table radio with walnut case.

A fellow behind me in line told me that "across the street" they had "thousands of records".

He was referring to Bee Thrifty. We'd been there some months ago, but were not impressed.

"What the heck, I've got time," I thought. 

He was right. Thousands. Vast majority was 45s. If you are too young to know what that is, they are seven inches in diameter records that usually have only one song on each side. Like CD-singles, but records, not CDs. I have no interest in 45s.

So, the time consuming search through the many hundreds of LPs began. I picked out a bunch, including  three  box  sets.  I  also  found  five  or  six  classical 78 RPM album sets. Those predate 33 1/3rd RPM LP records. These dated from the early 1950s and were all in great condition.

Then, I looked to the right and saw the electronics section at the rear of the store. Oh, boy! I spied OLD speakers! At least three KLH model 6s. A pair of Wharfedale W40s, a Realistic Elecrostat-2 and some I could find no name on. Also, two reel-to-reel tape decks and lots of other stuff.

I was particularly excited about the Wharfedale speakers as they are English-made. Also, the Electrostatic one intrigued me. I carry a pair of speaker wires as well as a pair of RCA interconnect cables just for testing. However, it was getting late, I was getting tired too. So, I chose the two Wharfedale W40s, and the Realistic Elecrostat-2, untested. Each were $14.99. 

 Records were 99 cents each. Little did I know they would count by disc. So, I put back the 78s. 

I lucked out big time as all three speakers work perfectly! The Wharfedale W40s, even had the brochure and warranty card taped to the back of one of them. They were bought in 1962! Here is one of the Wharfedales and one of a pair of RCA cast aluminum speakers found last week:

The  Realistic  Elecrostat-2  (below)  dates  from  at  least  1963,  see:  1963 Radio Shack Catalog

It opens at the front of the catalog. At the lower right it shows: "Go to page".  Choose page 99 from the drop-down numbers to see the catalog listing for the speaker.

Below, you see the Wharfedales next to the KLHs I've had for a while sitting atop the Electrovoices I've had even longer. The latter need new surrounds. I'll fix 'em soon.

 Below is a pair of Vintage Sony bookshelf speakers I found last week. Simple two-ways that sound better than I expected them to:

Below, you can see the Zenith as I have incorporated it into the collection. I removed a Crosley which will go on eBay, and put all the round-top radios on the bottom shelf. The rectangular ones, three of which are tubed, on top. The Zenith hums only and the string that moves the tuning needle has broken. I may fix it someday. Right now, I just like it as-is, in situ.

 I've been playing the LPs. OH! I forgot to mention the ONE 78 I did buy: The 1812 Overture. It was two discs, but sadly, parts one and two were cracked. Parts three and four were fine. I have over sixty different versions of the 1812 on LP and CD, but was psyched to find it on 78!

Soon, I will post LP record group photos. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott

The Music. i.e., LPs, CDs & Cassettes

Gentle reader,

I want to thank you for seeking out and reading my blog. For the longest time I thought only a few people were looking at it, but it turns out a LOT of you are. So, again, THANK YOU!

Today, after the fierce storm we had in the last 24 hours, it is quite cool, almost Fall-like outside. I decided to  use  the time to

count the music I have accumulated. It turns out to be WAY more than I thought!

Immediately above, are the LPs located in here. The room I've called: Office/Library/Museum. But now, want to call my "Study". That harkens back to the 1960's or perhaps earlier. 

Anyway, on the top, the four rows facing you are all the Classical LPs. They total: 529. 46 of which are mono (one channel) verses stereo; two channel.

Below on the top shelf, left to right are Jazz; 304 of them, followed by 21 Al Hirt, 44 Herb Alpert plus one box set of his, including many foreign Herb Alpert releases. Then 14 Baja Marimba Band and then 4 Tijuana Brass salutes or parodies.

Bottom shelf is Big Band (including Frank Sinatra) 131 of them plus 8 box sets. Then International LPs: 19, Comedy: 46, Misc: 16, movie soundtracks and TV soundtracks, the kind that have music featured in them, but NOT the scores: 49. Then 19 LPs of Rock/Pop that are mostly Nancy's. Also in the bottom right box are all the Beethoven's 9th Symphonies (15) and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique's. (23)

BTW, that cabinet was made with the help and instruction of my then-girlfriend's father, way back when I was 19. I'm 55 now. He was quite the wood worker. It's made of white walnut, sometimes called butternut. From the kind of walnut trees that grow the edible walnuts.  All the wood he had was from his own trees. Quite the unique fellow, and I'm told still alive.

 Above in this tall tower which holds 400 but in fact has 387 CDs are the Jazz and movie score (commonly called "Soundtrack") CDs. 133 Classical and 234 Jazz.

Above, and I think I missed some of these in my tally, are box sets of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies, as well as the CDs in the original two or more "jewel case" boxes. What a pretentious name! I felt it nice to have books related to collecting and learning about music flanking them. Cool clock, huh?

Above in this interestingly shaped tower are the, from top to bottom: 13 HDCDs, 15 SACDs and 15 Beethoven's 9th Symphonies. Yes, I really like that one!

Above are from top, left: Modern Pop/Rock, with Big Band below. Top, right: Classic Rock, with Herb Alpert at the bottom. He is still making music, stuff now is Jazz. Great stuff, too.

Above is the 100 cassettes, I didn't break them down by genre. About 25% are Nancy's. Below are the 100 Classical CDs. When I get new ones, I have to decide what goes.

Above is the LPs in the den. Top row left to the white slip 2/3rd of the way over are the 202 classic Rock LPs. Then to the end on top and continuing to the box sets on the bottom are the movie scores. The box sets are all classical, 42 of them. Mostly all nine of Beethoven's symphonies.

NOT SHOWN:

Second-to-Lastly, LPs that are in transition from being bought, listened to, but not put away, there are 23 of them; 17 Classical, 1 Big Band, 1 Pop, and 5 Jazz. 

Lastly in here are 37 CDs and 3 LP box sets plus three LPs that are to be donated or traded, possibly sold. Various genres. 43 total.

What's the Grand Total? 2276! Possibly a few more that I missed. When did that happen? I've been buying music since 1973. My first LP was the Jefferson Airplane's first album. Surrealistic Pillow was the title. I still have a number of LPs from those days. I gotten rid of thousands of them too. It's an obsession. A HOBBY! I meant, a hobby!

NOW: Some photos of groups of music. Like all 52 1812 Overture LPs plus however many CDs, all Beethoven's Symphonies and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique's. 

I've been "sitting on" these photos for a while and decided rather than make a new post, to add them to this one. I have since gotten more of each artist's work, but have not updated the group images. You get the picture. Heh, heh, heh.

Below is the 1812 Overtures in various formats.

 Next is the historical recordings of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

Below is the rest of  Beethoven's 9th Symphonies. In LP, CD and SACDs.

And now the boxed sets of all nine of Beethoven's 9th Symphonies. Same formats as above. There are a few more now.

Below is the older mono versions of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Spell check does not like that spelling!

Next, the stereo in LP, CD and SACD.

Just a few different versions of Aaron Coplands works.

Below is the mono versions of Dvorak's 9th Symphony.

And last the stereo in LP and CD, plus SACD versions.

Thanks for looking!

Scott

Some Improvements to the Den's Audio Systems

Gentle reader,

I know that I JUST posted another blog a few minutes ago, but wanted to get this all down while it was still fresh in my mind.

You may recall that I set up a separate stereo in the den specifically to play 78 RPM records. Being they are all mono, kind of silly to call it a stereo, but the rest of the components are stereo, so there.

I also a short while ago bought a small power amplifier to power the BOSE 301 speakers as well as the Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 speakers. 

They all were powered by the main Kenwood power amplifier, but I felt asking it to power six speakers was too much. What I didn't know at the time was how small the Sherbourn LDS2/75 power amplifier would be. The seller was new to eBay and did not indicate physical size. The price was right at $60. It has to be remotely triggered to make music. Either through detecting an incoming signal, or a 12 volt DC signal. Well, the former didn't work, so I adapted a 12 volt DC transformer to it. The transformer is turned on by the main system. The Sherbourn does have a power switch on the back which must be on as well. If I only want to listen to the oak speakers I rebuilt, I leave the Sherbourn switched off.

Above is the whole shebang. It is playing a 12 inch78 RPM record as I made the image. It may not look any different to you, and definitely not my long-suffering, audio-system-confused-wife. But it is different.

Above you can see that the Pioneer equipment has been replaced by the Mitsubishi MIDI equipment that no one wanted to buy from me. My wife had put that rack in the den for some reason, and I found it to be quite strong. I first attached the Sherbourn amp to the bottom of it, then stacked the Mitsi's less the non-functioning cassette deck on top. Then the wooden shelf that was directly on the floor before on top. The Sony CD player on top of the wood shelf with the Dynaco QD-1L on top. Note, no speaker switch. The QD-1L divides the signals quite well, directing out of phase signals to the Wharfedales in the back of the room.

Below is a close-up of the front of the Sherbourn. Here is a link to a PDF of the owner's manual for the Sherbourn: LDS2-75B_Owners_Manual.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Below, you can see the Wharfedales are right at the wall, where before they were right behind my chair. I'd rolled back the Asian rug and run the speaker wires under it to the Wharfedales. This allowed me to move them back out of the way as well as correct a bump in the rug that was on the right side and bothering me. You can see the PS2 steering wheel/pedals assembly and racing chair waiting patiently in the alcove.

Here's the view from the doorway. Much easier to get in and out of the room and less likely for my son's cat to knock one over.

Below, you can see the system with the cassette deck that replaced the Denon that I sold to a fellow music lover. Yes, that is a Swiffer. I find it does a dandy job of removing dust from records. If they are truly dirty, I clean them with all the Discwasher stuff next to the headphones.

Below is the 100 cassettes on top of the 100 Classical CDs. I have more as you shall see below. That gorgeous skin was bought in Thailand back many years ago by my late, dear friend, retired Army Colonel, Bill Arps. His widow wanted to throw it away! I saved it. My wife "mounted" it on a background and slightly stuffed it. She even added some "eyes" made more for a stuffed toy animal. Moe, one of our cats was walking all over it as she worked on it. When he saw the eyes he JUMPED three feet straight up and tore out of the room. We laughed so hard we cried. BTW, the skin is from a Fishing Cat. That's it's name. Google it.

Here are the rest of the Classical CDs. All the Beethoven 9th Symphonies are on the left as well as box sets of all his symphonies. On the right are some boxed sets of Classical and Jazz.

Below are the LPs that are in the den. Top shelf is classic rock, then movie scores which continue on the bottom shelf. Then the boxed Classical sets. Mostly Beethoven's complete symphonies. The vast majority of the LP collection is right here next to me in my "office/museum".

And lastly below is the radio collection. Only the two rectangular ones on the top ends are vintage tube radios. The rest are solid-state (transistor) replicas. On Sunday evenings I tune into old-time radio on WAMU 88.5 FM. Love that stuff!

There you have it. The changes/improvements I made yesterday to the room/equipment. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott

Cosina Voigtlander Camera Comparison

Gentle reader,

Although this is another beautiful weekend, and I should be outside doing things, I mowed the front lawn after lunch and gave myself a heck of an Asthma attack. Pollen doesn't make me sniff and sneeze, it apparently makes me cough and wheeze.

So, I've been cleaning the house making changes/improvements to the smaller audio system in the den, and making/editing photos of some eBay-to-be items.

One of said items is an almost new, in the box Cosina C1 purely manual simple film SLR camera. This one was made in 1996 and made in Japan. A fact they noted all over it and the lens. I found it at Salvation Army on Wednesday. T'was $14.99, but Wednesdays are 25% off days.

The other camera I'm going to compare it to was also made around then but is called Voigtlander Bessa R. Voigtlander (there's supposed to be an umlat above the O) went out of the camera business some years ago. Cosina of Japan bought the rights to the name and produced numerous cameras that use Leica, Nikon or Contax lenses in both bayonet and screw (threaded) mount. The Bessa R, the first they made is Leica screw (M39) mount. I have tried to bookmark the official importer's web page, but for some reason, it won't let me bookmark it! So, Google it if you really want to know more.

The Bessa line of cameras were the first affordable modern interchangeable lens rangefinder cameras that have a built-in TTL meter. FED made later model Leica M39 cameras with a selenium meter on the front of the body, but it did not read the light through the lens which is what TTL means. Now, Leica has made top-of-the-line interchangeable lens rangefinder cameras for decades. They never made one in M39 mount with a meter of any kind, however.

OK, now that I've established what the Bessa R is, BTW, my wife bought it for me! Gotta and DO love her! This was in the mid-late 1990's. 

First, price: The Cosina retailed for $299 with lens, strap and case. The Bessa R, JUST the body, retailed for $599. A case of paying for the name perhaps, but it was an exciting new camera and the dealers were pricing it accordingly.

Below are various photos of the two for comparison. It is quite easy to see that the black Bessa R was based on the Cosina C1s model. The "s" stood for self-timer which the C1 below lacks.

 

I have numerous lenses for the Bessa R. None are Leica brand. I did have a Summarit 50mm f1.5, but sold it when various sources stated that the Contax Sonnar 50mm f1.5 was a superior lens. My lenses are shown below. The one that is on the camera was more recently purchased. It was the standard lens on the Soviet Zorki 4K camera. It is a 50mm f2.0 Jupiter 8. The Jupiter 3 is 50mm f1.5. I have one in chrome. The black bodied ones are expensive which is why mine is chrome. All the Jupiter lenses are Soviet copies of the Contax Zeiss lenses.

The lenses range from 28mm, (Japanese) 35mm, 50mm, 85mm (the fat one, all Soviet) 100mm (Canon, Japanese) and 135mm (Soviet). I used to have aside from the Summarit mentioned above, a Leica 135mm Hecktor lens, but sold it as well. It was slower than the Jupiter lens, the one on the right. Slower meaning the maximum aperture opening was not as wide as the Jupiter 135mm. Therefore it required a slower shutter speed at maximum aperture.

Finally, if you are interested in buying the Cosina C1, let me know or look for it on eBay. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott