Greg, Abert, this colleague of mine knows his maths, he's got an astute mind, too astute for a shrink I feel, must have been an unconscious death wish on his part
(-;.....well, that's what colleagues are for: As the old saying goes....."medicus medicum odet". Wonder if this holds true for audiophiles too, namely that under the veneer of politeness and helping cameraderie we jelously compare our gear and if we fall flat, would hate each others guts. Would be food for thought and worthy of another thread, though hardly a politically correct one.(-:

detlof December 21, 2002 16:43

Detlof, at Albert's rate it should only take you ~6 years!
I was once contemplating copying my LPs on digital for conservation purposes... gave up on that VERY fast (about 1hr/LP, forget it).

gregm December 20, 2002 09:41

If my math is correct, considering an average of 40 minutes for both side of an LP, and spending eight hours a day, it would still require nearly two years.

That, assuming I would stop buying new music.

albertporter December 20, 2002 04:32

I won't live to hear it, as a colleage of mine charmingly pointed out to me the other day! (Even if I listened nonstop ) (-:

detlof December 19, 2002 16:18

Albert, have you ever pondered how long it would take you (and many others here) to listen to each LP in your collection just ONCE again??? Scary isn't it!! Cheers

gregm December 09, 2002 12:06

Matchstikman, sorry I did not respond earlier. I've been setting up my new Soundlab Ultimates.

What do I listen to? To give you an idea, this week I've purchased the following new LP's.

"Burnin" , John Lee Hooker
"Free Form Patterns" , Lightnin' Hopkins
"Blood Money" , Tom Waits
"Are You Passionate?", Neil Young
"Steppin' Out," Red Garland
"Knives Out," Radiohead
"The Speed Of Love" , David Sancious
"Sarah-Dedicated To You," Carmen McRae
"New Favorite," Alison Krauss
"Agaetis Byrjun," Sigur Ros
"By The Way" , Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I own almost all the Blue Note Jazz records ever pressed, 18 of the Mosiac box sets of Jazz artists, and probably 125 ECM releases. I've collected rock since before the Beatles. I have all their LP's, the Doors, Hendrix, Santana, Jeff Beck, Clapton and all the Stones. Other rock titles include Elvis Costello, Dead Can Dance, Nirvana, Linda Rondstandt, Joni MItchell, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Daniel Lanois, Pink Floyd and Roger Waters.

I have all the Classic Records re presses of RCA classical titles and many of Speaker Corners represses of the Euro Decca and London Classical titles. Also have most of the Concord (California) Jazz titles and have never passed up purchasing any of Fantasy's titles, which include Pablo, Contemporary, Galaxy and OBC.

All together I have about 6000 LP's, less than 200 CD's and maybe a dozen SACD.

albertporter December 07, 2002 23:45

Albert, what can I say that hasn't been said already; however, I have one question. What do you listen to? What kind of music do you have on your system? How big is your music collection?

matchstikman December 06, 2002 05:36

Albert you are a true audiophile in every sense of the word. I'm sure there are only a handful of systems in the entire world that even can come close to this one. I heard Jim Aud of Purist Audio Design made quite a contribution to this system in terms of cables and setup. Very nice job!!!

bobgates December 04, 2002 00:51

Regarding my post of 11-1-02.

Winner of The Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award.

The Absolute Sound   December 2002/January 2003 Issue Proscenium Gold Signature Turntable by Jonathan Valin
 
"This is a record player that will not only define the limits of a recording but the limits of your entire stereo system...I could fill the rest of this magazine with examples of what the Walker Proscenium Gold Signature playback system does better than any other record player...I wouldn't know how to criticize a device that is so much better than any other of its kind...a masterpiece."

http://www.walkeraudio.com/

albertporter November 19, 2002 01:59

Dear Albert

Thanks for the information. I had maggies when we started going out, in fact it was the only piece of furniture except the stereo and I didn't own a tv. That still didn't stop my lovely wife, love her as I do, from banishing them to storage in favor of linn toukans. They were ok but thankfully I have managed to return to a more acceptable situation. Thanks too for the comments on the aesthetix vs walker.

gary

gajgmusic November 02, 2002 14:25

Gary, as for WAF. When Patti and I first met many years ago, she walked in and there stood a pair of JBL S7R vertical configuration.

For those who don't know this big JBL monitor, it has two 15" woofers, a LE85 / HL 91 compression horn midrange plus tweeter. It stands nearly twice the height of a Vandersteen 5, and four times as wide. After that moment, other speakers didn't look so large.

She understands how important music is to me and ignores the system unless a movie is cranked up and everyone sits down together to share the experience.

As for the Walker phono, I had the latest version some weeks ago, just before I upgraded from Aesthetix Io to Io Signature.

The Walker is extremely quite since it is solid state and is a compact design which would be wonderful, especially considering the Io is three boxes and takes up ten times the space.

Unfortunately, within a few days it was obvious there is no possible way for it to remain. Not only does it have insufficient gain for my Koetsu, its performance is so far below the original Aesthetix Io I returned it.

Add to that, the new Aesthetix Io Signature is considerably better than my original. There may never be anything to challenge it, much less displace it.

albertporter November 01, 2002 20:22

Albert

Your system and room look remarkable. I await eagerly the new pictures. The sound must indeed be something else. This is certainly something to be proud. One thing I am impressed in has to do with WAF. Any thoughts you may have on this subject, ie how you ever got your significant other to agree to all this, would be of interest. My wife is fairly accepting but she still thinks I'm slightly nuts and my system is on a much smaller scale. Also I see you use the walker turntable, have you considered their phonostage (sorry if this is a dumb question but I am a neophyte at this level of complexity). Anyways, quite astounding

gary

gajgmusic November 01, 2002 17:09

Albert, Regarding this statement:

>>Another factor, my system began when I was a teenager and upgraded ever since. It has taken many years and hundreds of small purchases for me to have arrived where I am.

Now I understand, you bought your $22K cable an inch at a time.

judit November 01, 2002 16:07

As long as I'm discussing magic and reviews, I think all of you will be surprised at the recipient of the Absolute Sound's Golden Ear award and reviews that will likely appear January 2003.

The award may be handed out during CES in Vegas, as was the case when Soundlab received it a couple of years ago. I hope to be there again this time (funds permitting) to see the recipient take it in hand.

Unfortunately It's not Purist but it does represent a reference state of the art product that I am proud to be associated with.

albertporter November 01, 2002 05:16

I have done work for Music Meter, Audioquest, Purist Audio, Synergistic Research, Tara Labs and several other companies.

At CES in Vegas years ago, I had just finished the new ads for Audioquest and had the most expensive and best the company offered EVERYWHERE in my system it could go. I was speaking to Fran and George Tice about their products when George stopped and gestured toward a stranger in the room. "Albert this is a fellow Texan who manufactures the Texas water cable."

I cringed and said (to myself ) Oh boy, a manufacturer from TEXAS. It must be a real winner (cynical).

Jim Aud extended his hand and held up his cable with the other hand. I took it and looked closely. Plastic tubing with air bubbles, giving away the fact that there WAS indeed fluid surrounding the inner workings.

After a long discussion I felt bad about my prejudice and truly admired Mr. Aud and his gentlemanly manner. He offered me the chance to hear the cable in hand and I took it home.

At that time I had a Versa Dynamics turntable with Audioquest between it and my Counterpoint SA 9. I removed the AQ and installed the Purist. This was during one of our Tuesday night sessions and we were prepared to hear a difference, and that the AQ would easily win.

Not only did the Purist defeat the AQ, the Purist we tested was the original Aqueous, selling for less than $200.00.

From that point I watched the company evolve. New cables, each building upon the last, each improvement sounding better than before.

I continued to test, I still did photography for Audioquest and at one time owning Tube Research, ran some FIM cable. I negotiated with others at CES each year, brought home models from other companies, but always wound up returning to Purist.

Friends of mine that are in the audio industry, including a former Fi magazine and current Absolute Sound reviewer never understood why I was so crazy about Purist.

A few months ago I arranged for them to get enough to wire a solid link of all Purist through their systems. Within two weeks they both sold off all their cable and replaced it completely with Purist Audio. This was purchased with their own funds, NOT a gift from the factory to bribe them.

My opinion is that it shares characteristics of several cables. Warm like much of the Cardas, almost as fast as Nordost, but very low distortion and with a totally black background. It has extra low capacitance and low resistance, making it ideal for my .02 MV output Koetsu to send signal through, and quiet and low loss enough to allow signal from my preamp to travel 11.5 meters under my floor to my mono amps.

My philosophy about Purist's wire technology? At least as good metallurgy as any wire manufacture, with a jacket and shielding that isolates the construction from several types of vibration and interference. This is (in my opinion) what sets it apart. There are many good cables with ultimate metals inside, but how to keep the whole thing from being acted upon and how to keep it from acting on the signal it is carrying?

That is the magic.

albertporter November 01, 2002 04:43

Hello Albert,

I would like to know how you came to be such a Purist Audio fan. I mean, you re-wired your amps and speakers with their wire! What did you hope to achieve by doing this? What is your philosophy about Purist's wire technology?

Thanks.

avnut November 01, 2002 03:15

Angela, I promise to try to make time for images of the new space after the current job in my studio is clear. I am working on a catalog that is near completion.

albertporter November 01, 2002 00:31

Albert? are you AVOIDING me? Come on, my friend -cough 'em up! aj

angela100 October 30, 2002 23:18

Great response judit.

Remember that the run between my preamp and amps is a long one. Quality of that cable literally makes or breaks the entire system. You may not know I do photography for many high end audio manufactures. Often the photo samples are available for deals that are favorable for my system.

Another factor, my system began when I was a teenager and upgraded ever since. It has taken many years and hundreds of small purchases for me to have arrived where I am.

As for the outlets, I have several already and love them. This subject of them came up in a thread, some members contacted me about them and I responded.

It has grown into a monster since, but it will be a fun Audiogon project that I believe will make a lot of people happy.

albertporter October 29, 2002 04:21

Can hardly believe my eyes (ears?) you have interconnect between your pre and amps that cost ~$22K? What I find amazing is that you are looking to save money on bulk purchase of cryogenically treated outlets. I guess it is the unanswerable questions in life that are the most enjoyable.

judit October 29, 2002 03:44

Somehow that cobbler story doesn't ring true with you Albert.

tubegroover October 26, 2002 17:27

no..... and besides.... what's that got to do with audio and you getting off yer duff? Just teasin' and looking for a reason to come over there :)

angela100 October 25, 2002 05:04

Remember the story about the cobbler who's children had no shoes?

albertporter October 25, 2002 02:53

AND YOU are supposed to be the PHOTOGRAHPHER in the bunch!
comeon have we shamed you into it yet?
Don't make me have to come over there :)
aj

angela100 October 25, 2002 01:24

What's the admission price to your concerts ?, I'd like to attend !! Awsome job, beautiful home.

rx8man October 25, 2002 00:41