An Early Christmas, My JiCO stylus arrives-Registered Mail!

I bought a JICO stylus for my Shure VN15 type II cartridge.
I mean I really did it!
Yes my dear readers I spent actually money on a piece of new stereo equipment!
I am setting in my old Lazy Boy recliner listening to The Nitty Gritty Dirt band, Symphonion album. I am amazed at how good it sounds.
For those of you who have followed my misadventures as an "audiophile," you may have picked up on my skepticism. I just don't have a "good ear."
Then there is the issue of buying records for $1 at thrift stores. I do have a few gems but frankly my "HiFi" system is a hodgepodge of components which I have scrounged and not quite properly restored. I realize that myself and so I am reluctant to spend real money on anything.
While there was a time I would not have been caught dead listening to the Nitty Gritty Dirt band I am now old and I can listen to what ever the $%^&* I want. Like I could possibly embarrass my daughter anymore than I already do.
I must say that there are very few things I have added to my "HiFi" which have made audible improvements for the better I am amazed at the sound of this stylus and cartridge.
The Shure VN15 came with the Dual 1019 I purchased from a lady in Portland. She had it advertised on Craigslist and had been packed up in the factory packaging and stored for years. If you recall I reworked the mechanism with an 8" crescent and a big screw driver. However, the stylus was broken and I installed a Stanton D71EE which I already had.
I was never all that happy with the Stanton. I like the elliptical stylus especially for the scratchy records I listen to. It always sounded a bit dull to me.
My main cartridge over the years was an Audiotechnica AT155LC until I lost it in a move. It was a bit overkill for what I used to listen to but it was really a sweet sounding cartridge. After getting back into vinyl a few years ago I found I really missed the bright and accurate sound of that cartridge.
Well, today I got a notice that I had a package at the post office. Finding a parking place in Amity is a bit of a challenge-I just parked on the wrong side of the street, those idiots have totally ruined parking, it is just hard to comprehend what a bunch idiots run the city.
Anyway, I had to sign for the package as it came from Japan. I was a bit worried it would be radioactive but I can't find batteries for my geiger counter so I was unable to check it.
I anxiously waited for evening so I could instal the stylus and give it a try.
I put the family to bed and in about five minutes had it all installed. Perhaps tomorrow I will read the included instructions.
I was amazed at the sound quality. It is clear. Not too bright, not to dense, just right. Somewhat warm as one would expect from the vintage shure type II cartridge. I am perhaps not good at describing the sound as I don't really have the proper audiophile vocabulary.
The first album I listened to was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "Symphonion." I chose it because it opens with the sound of rippling water and it has a wow on the first track which always causes tracking problems.
I was impressed. There is little background noise and it picked up the delicate sound of the water. It is well defined sound, not fuzzy on the quiet edges of the sounds.
I also tried out my Commander Cody album which I bought because of the cover and that it has the most heart breaking trucker song ever, "Mama Hated Diesels."
The album has so many clicks and pops and it so worn that I couldn't tell anything.
I also gave the Allman brothers a try. I like their version of Statesboro Blues and I have yet to find a Blind Willie McTell album at the McMinnville GoodWill store. Perhaps I should try "Treasure Attic in Amity..."
I couldn't tell a big difference on Statesboro blues, it always seems a bit muddy sounding, (no offense to MuddyValley nor do I mean it sounds like a trombone). However on the next track "Stormy Monday," I was quite impressed. I like the warm sound it gives the lead guitar and the contrast between the loud and quiet passages.
I am currently listening to my old Baby Advent speakers at low volume. They are not the best speakers in the world but I can't hear the rattle that one discerning ear picked up on first listen. The Dynaco speakers would be better but I use the Advents more at low listening volumes-meaning late at night.
My only regret is I should have doubled my money and bought the SAS stylus. JICO puts a little more effort into that stylus and it really is a long term sort of purchase so I should have just bought the best.

An important consideration for Dual 1019 owners is the contacts in the headshell. I first clean them with a pencil eraser but you have to be very careful as they are little spring brass connectors and the mounting points are VERY fragile. Note that everything is now 40-some years old.
I applied DeOxit Gold to the contacts before installing the headshell on the tonearm.
Should this post attract anyone who is seeking info on the Dual 1019, you have to be careful installing and/or removing this headshell. Dual used a funky cam and lever setup that is not exactly intuitive. There is a metal lever on the side of the headshell. Since I am avoiding work and posting from out in the shop (a couple days after first post) I can remember if you push it forward or pull it back. Just don't force it! AND put something soft under the cartridge as the headshell could slip from your fingers and land on the needle. It can just drop off the tonearm/top headshell mount.
To put it back on you look for the notches in the top of the headshell mount back close to the tonearm. Make sure the brass springs don't get out of alignment as those are your contacts. There is no need to force it as when everything is aligned properly it goes right in.

For those who care...
The whole system is as follows: Dynaco PAS-2 preamp, Dynaco ST120 solid state amp, Dual 1019 with Sure V-15 type II, JICO stylus, Dynaco A-25 speakers, Baby Advent secondary speakers.
Have been using a Rek-o-kut K33H with a Fairchild 282 tonearm and a Shure hi-trak cartridge.
Alternate system has a Kenwood KA3500 amp.

I start to repair the DCM timeframe 350 speakers that I ruined by playing The Ledge

It would seem that "Standing in a trashcan thinking of you" and the accompanying rebel yell is the true test of a 30 year old speaker.
The foam surrounds have completely turned to foam powder.

The DCM timeframe speaker is not so hard to take apart. Kind of a pain it the arse. But, not that hard.
The top wood cover is held on by pins. You use a piece of wood and a mallet (as opposed to a mullet which only makes the neighbors laugh at you) to gently knock the cover straight up.

Then you roll the grill covering down the speaker.
There is another foam covered cloth under the grill cloth. You have to separate them at the top. I started to roll them both down at the same time but this spread rotten foam on the carpet. I don't think there is any reason to roll them both down.
I have ordered a refoaming kit off of ebay. We shall see how this all works.
I am somewhat skeptical about this whole HiFi religion and have become a bit more so as I progress.
The DCM TimeFrame was a well reviewed speaker in its' day. They are neat as they have a small footprint for a tall speaker.
The design is interesting as it appears to have one driver in a "tuned" box. I need to do a little more research and I don't claim to be a definitive expert on anything.
I have seen several similar designs on the Parts Express website and I can't find them now. I had collected plans for several designed which used a Dayton driver and a tuned box but I now can't find any of them. There was even a website where a physics teacher had kids design speakers as a final class project.
I soon found out that it was going to cost more to build a speaker than to buy an old speaker.
However, when buying used speakers it is best to do a little research.
Speakers such as the Dynaco A-25 do not use foam surrounds and so hold up better over the years. I think Early Advent speakers (from the Henry Kloss years) are good choices but the Jensen Advents all have foam surrounds and the price reflects this.
I suspect that the TimeFrame speakers were designed to somewhat appeal to the stereo snob who thought they looked innovative. I don't see the foam impregnated inner screen and foam surrounds as reflecting a design that was expected to last for 40 years.
But what do I know? Very little...
My goal is to repair them, find a working changer style center spindle for my Dual 1019, find a Dynaco SCA80 amp and set them up in my living room. You may very well ask why I have such a plan and why I want to stack records on the Dual 1019 as it is a very philistine thing for an audiophile to do.
Well, I am not an audiophile...
And, my father-in-law wants to listen to some old records which feature a quartet he was once a member and I don't want to keep changing records. Of course he may never visit our house again and it is pretty silly to go to this effort but then again, I am a bit silly...
Have a nice day.
I think I shall go fishing.

New Speakers, The Ledge, True Art, Life, Pretty Birds, and other random events.

Today is usually the day we celebrate that fateful day in September of 1973  when Billy Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match proving just who was the better man, but today I was feeling a bit philosophical.
There are things that bring meaning to life. Things that are unrelated to your survival. Ideas like art and literature and why does that funny cloud look like a duck. You know, the deeper things of life.
Sometimes I fancy myself as an audiophile. Not really a high caliber audiophile but a bottom feeding amateur stereo scrounger who wishes to hear that one perfect note on a set a garage sale speakers.
Today MuddyValley brought me a set of DCM Time Frame 350 Speakers. I abandoned my project of bleeding the brakes on the 1967 Ford Truck and we hauled them into the house and hooked them up.
My test record was one I grabbed randomly off the shelf. A slightly worn Venture's album.
They did sound better than my old Baby Advents but the Advents were never top of the line.
I waited with increasing anticipation for 12 noon when I could escape to the house and really see what these speakers would sound like.
As I remember the DCM Time Frame speaker had a devoted following in the 1980's. It is a tall but shallow speaker which has a small footprint but has a reputation for excellent sound. I remember hearing them in the listening room of small audio store in Salem when I was in college. Of course they were way out of my price range at that time.
Apparently MuddyValley found a pair on craigslist for a really reasonable price and found an occasion to pass them on to a somewhat undeserving recipient.
So it was with considerable excitement that I warmed up the Dynaco PAS2 and searched for an album which would provide a true audiophile experience.
I started with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Symphonion Dream. 
This album has always been a good sounding album and has a lot of the midrange guitar sound which I enjoy hearing reproduced on a good sounding speaker. I was amazed at the stereo imaging and sensation of actually being able to hear what they mean when they refer to a "sound stage."
But today was not really the day for hippie/country/rock even if I was in fact wearing a purple and pink tie-dye t-shirt my daughter had made for me.
Today was more a day for "The Ledge."
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy's 1980's release Rock-it To Stardom features a wide range of his vocal abilities, from the psychotic warbling on "Paralyzed," to his spoken word poetry on "I take a ride on the Space Shuttle," and his interpretation of the Sinatra (I believe) standard, "Fly Me to the Moon."
I was really quite impressed, actually amazed. The Ledge usually has a pretty tight backup band which provides an interesting contrast with the dissonance of his singing and poetry.
I was impressed by the excellent reproduction of the jazz inspired bass tracks on "I took a Trip on the Space Shuttle," which launches right into a twangy  country guitar on "Cast-Iron Apron."
Carl Odam half singing sort of speaking, "When I roast wieners on my old patio my baby tracks me down like radar," had a crispness and quality had not heard before, and it was kind of cool to hear him singing from slightly ahead of and to the right of my stack of 16mm movies that I need to rewind, and hear the guitar to the left of and a little behind the crane I have been building with a vintage erector set.
I was listening to "Who's Knocking on my Door," when the phone rang. It was my Uncle wondering if I was home as a neighboring farmer was actually knocking on my door with information that was sure to put a stop to "Landfill Park."
So I turned down the Ledge and opened the door.
I was going to ask him into the stereo room and ask his opinion of the stereo imaging and tonal quality of my new speakers but I remembered the advice given to my by my daughter when she pointed out that many people do not actually care about things like old tube amplifiers, Marx toy cowboys, old steamshovels, battles of the Crimean war or Studebakers, and no one wants to hear the Legendary Stardust cowboy. (Speaking of which, on this day in 1854 the British and French defeated Russians at Alma, in Crimea and on September 20th 1859 George Simpson patented the electric range)
But, I digress...
About then the Ledge started hollering about Dynamite and the farmer got a funny look in his eye and asked me if he was interrupting my lunch.
I quickly shut off the stereo and was going to blame the noise on reruns of Angry Beavers but thought I would just let that one go.
We had quite the interesting discussion. He likened the political process to having a government official hand you a bar of soap to take a shower and then once you get in turning on the gas. Only not quite.
I was a bit shocked at first but now that I've have a few hours to think about it I think he has pretty good point.
You do realize that the history he is referring to is not the popular idea of extremists suddenly stripping away everyone's personal freedoms. Rather it is the loss of personal freedom and the democratic process by very orderly and law abiding people who trusted those in authority to do what was best for them. But, of course the popular interpretation of history misses what should be the most truly frightening aspect of that whole series of events.
So if you were wondering just what it is I do all day, yes-I eat beans, wear tie-dyed t-shirts, and I sit around listening to the Legendary Stardust Cowboy formulating dissent. Pull my finger?

I'm saving up for a VN15E stylus from JICO, it is better than thinking about the 40 percent chance of rain on my hay...

I now have four semi-loads of hay picked up. This would be 56-110lb bales to a stack around 3.3 tonnes per stack. The rest of it is on the ground in windrows waiting to be baled. The sky outside looks a little gray.
I should be on my way to stack more hay for a neighbor but as a somewhat lazy farmer I am setting in my easy chair drinking coffee.
I found an email this morning from JICO noting that their website had been redesigned and I may need a new password. I have had a replacement stylus for a shure Model V-51 Type II cartridge in my shopping cart at JICO for two years. In that time the price has doubled, which is a statement about the US dollar and not the price of a JICO stylus.
Vintage audio is somewhat of a subjective hobby. What sounds good to one person is considered garbage to another. I think that mostly people like to hang out on internet message boards and try to impress each other with their own cleverness.
However, I have discovered a certain type of sound which I enjoy. I find that my record collecting has come to the point of salvaging GoodWill bins for the odd country artist that no one has heard of. It seems as though no one listened to Jazz in my area. The rock selection is pretty much worn out BJ Thomas and Rod Stewart albums that must have been transferred from another thrift store.
I did find a whole treasure trove that had a few Allman brothers albums and the CCR Green River album.
I was really amazed at how good the old country rock albums and the old country albums sounded on my system. Much better than newer rock albums and a much warmer sound than a compact disk.
The system currently is a Dynaco PAS-2 pre amp, Dynaco stereo 120 main amp (sure go ahead and poo-poo it's transistor sound) an old Rek-o-Kut turntable with a Fairchild 282 tone arm and a Shure M-97 High Track cartridge. For speakers I have Dynaco A-24's and Baby Advents which I installed new drivers.
Which brings me to the JICO subject. I also have a Dual 1019 turntable which came with the Shure V-15 type two cartridge. This is connected to the Kenwood KA-3500 I bought in high school. The Dual is fully automatic and I have a bit more confidence in the system as I did not build any of it myself. I currently have a Stanton cartridge which was a backup to the AT-155LC that went away when we moved. I've never been really happy with it.  The stylus is broken on the Shure so I have never heard it.
I've found a number of cheap replacements for the Shure on ebay and even in my local record shop. However, when I research those I keep being directed back to the JICO replacement. Even though it is more money I have yet to hear a bad review of it.
So I have been saving my dimes and quarters and this winter I intend to put some odd pieces of old audio on ebay and I am going to buy the elusive VN15E stylus. 
Of course I will post my opinions here for other lazy farmers to read...
And now I am going to go do something related to hay...
Have a nice day!

Back to my regular programming... Things go wrong, old stereo stuff, and so on, and on and on...

I suppose I will have to go back and delete the previous posts as the search engine will bring people who don't really care about old farm equipment and farming.
I am back to my usual activities, grinding feed, old music, dynaco stereo equipment, and sitting on my arse in the easy chair.
I had to make feed the other day and hooked up the Super. The M670 super has a lot more bottom end than the IH 656. Actually it has quite a bit more horsepower all the way around.
I've been rebuilding the PTO on the 656. It comes out in one piece. I had it all back together and then knocked it off the bench busting off top of the control rod. A new control rod costs $100. I did jump back quickly so it did not land on my feet. I suppose new feet would cost more than $100.

Later I rebuilt my baby Advent speakers. I bought a kit on eBay which was well reviewed. It came with new tweeters and woofers and crossovers and not real good instructions. The family helped me install them.

I was so enthused that I decided to take my Dynaco stuff off of the table and install it in the bookshelf. The Dynaco components are not very deep and will fit nicely on a bookshelf.
I soon discovered why those bookshelves were such a good deal... They are crap!

A post about audiophile stuff of which I am not...

I am a failure as an audiophile...
The only discernment I have is "muddy vs bright," and I can tell if there is a lot of scratches but then it just sounds dull to me which goes back to the first distinction.
I can hear if the bass is distorting and I can hear amplifier clipping but as far as the nuances between cartridges or the difference between tracking or skating forces I seem to be a bit deaf.
I say this as I am listening to a Boots Randolf record on the Rek-O-Kut and trying to tell if the tone arm has to much drag and is not tracking correctly.
It sounds fine and the little red Radioactive thing that is hooked to the tone arm is eliminating static. Perhaps I shall refer to it as the Fukushima device...
However there is more volume on one side.

So here are the three systems I have put together.
1. Kenwood KA 3500, Dual 1019 with United Audio base and D71 EE cartridge, Dynaco A-25 speakers

2. Dynaco ST120 with Dynakit PAS-2 preamp, Rek-O-Kut K33H with a Shure HiTrack M97 or M91 I can't quite read the lettering, Sony TC230 "portable" reel to reel and Baby Advent speakers.

3. Radio Shack SA155 Integrated Amp, Otimus/Minimus 7 speakers, with a Panasonic record changer and Ceramic cartridge for playing 45's. The SA155 also is running the "audiovisual center," which is a cheap Sony DVD and the Wii.

5. A Sony TC631 reel to reel and a Denon dual cassette recorder/player (Goodwill special) hooked up to Bose Room-mate self powered speakers in the shop.

I hook my Mp3 player to each system as well with a 1/4 to RCA adapter.

I hear more difference in sound between records than I do between systems. The Dynaco A-25 speakers are in my opinion clearly superior speakers. Better sound across the spectrum, but the Baby Advents sound good at low volume in most cases. That system seems short on the high range but it all improves a lot when I hook up the Dynaco speakers.

The Minimus 7 speakers sound very good at medium to low volume and they sound good with the very low powered Radio Shack amp.

I would like to get a new cartridge to replace the Stanton D71EE which I have had since high school. It was my back up cartridge to my expensive AT 155LC which disappeared when we moved, along with a perfect Technics SL1800 turntable.  My albums which I played with the AT 155LC sound like new when I play them now. The reel to reel tapes I recorded on my half track Tascam 2-22 sound amazing when I play them back on Sony reel to reel, as long as I used good tape to begin with. But there is a problem going from 1/2 track to 1/4 track.

I've been thinking about getting the famous "Red Ed" with an eliptical and a conical stylus so I can use the same cartridge on my Dual 1019 and play 78's and 45's. It is pretty cheap and well reviewed.  So far I have spent less than $200 total over the past two years on stereo equipment. The Dynaco speakers were the most expensive but probably the best buy for the sound improvement ever.

I've been hanging out at the Audio Karma forum and I find it depresses me and makes me just as insecure as the New Ag Talk forums did.

I like setting in my vintage lazy-boy and listening to music coming off of a vinyl record from two old speakers with sparkly grills and sipping a cup of coffee or late at night perhaps a little old number 7 and writing the Lazy Farmer. I don't like the sound being horribly distorted, I can't play it loud, I like glowing lights and analogue meters with needles that bounce, but an audiophile I am not...
Have a ncie day... I'm going to work!

Stormy Friday, as opposed to Stormy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday...

I'm setting in my old Lazy Boy, (avocado green, salvaged from my uncle) listening to Al Green's "Precious Lord" album on LP. I just picked it up at GoodWill. It is in really good shape.
I have my Dynaco 120A Amp and Dynakit PAS-2 preamp and the vintage Dual 1019 and craigslist special Dynaco A-25 speakers. It could be 1965, except that Precious Lord was released in 1982 and I would not be all that old in 1965 and in 1982 I would not have been caught dead listening to Al Green.
Sometimes i wonder if the reason I am broke all the time is due to the lost productivity which results from me continually "flogging a dead horse."
LP records, tube amps, second rate 1960's technology, and beat up lazyboy recliners have got to be a pretty much a waste of time. Frankly the whole setup just does not sound all that good. Plus, I've got so much crap stuffed in the "den" that my wife won't let me bring anyone in to listen to my vintage tunes anyway. She really does make a good point...
Anyway, a real farmer would be researching soil mycrozial functions and pouring over soil tests. Heck a real farmer would have moved his dead truck off the river bottom before water flowed though the cab. Well it is dead... Sure as heck won't catch on fire this evening...

I would like to attend his church sometime. I wonder if I wrote him a letter he would come to ours... Probably not...

I have been otherwise occupied

Sometimes I loose my focus.
I have stuff to post about.
There was the safety training. The safety training and information was really good. The regulations are insane. The real reason we are having an economic depression is trivial over-regulation and utter failure to enforce needed regulation.
So...you can completely pollute the Gulf of Mexico due to company negligence and then you can poison the Gulf by using a toxic chemical and get by with it because it was in your spill mitigation plan?
But, woe to me if spill 50 gallons of diesel. I learn on Curious George that during storms the water will overflow the city sewer system and dump poopie directly into rivers or the ocean, but if have a dairy and your worker leaves the end plug off the irrigation line and you accidently pump a few thousand gallons of poopie into a stream you go to jail. And you certainly can't make the two bit bureaucrat feel justifiably nervous or you will get a visit from a SWAT team, and you can thank you Republicans for that one!
The whole safety seminar put me into a funk.
The real issue is not safety but it is about exerting pressure and collecting "protection" money.
So I have a whole range of topics to write about.
I even got a donation from Anonymous in Reno! (Thank You Very Much!) I'm spending it on a WWII book.
I went to the GarageSale Store and found a whole pile of virtually unplayed records from the 1960's. Two Allman Brothers records, an obscure artist from South Florida who predated the Byrds and whose name I can't remember, The Monkeys, The Ventures, and a really cool test record. For some reason I also bought a Jethro Tull album in perfect shape. It is perfect because it is so horrible and pretentious I couldn't stand to listen to more than five minutes of it and I'm sure no one else could either. Reminded me of all the idiots in college who read Tolken and wrote stupid songs about caterpillars turning into beautiful butterflies and thought they were so profound.
I also found an ammunition box. You can never have too many ammunition boxes. They are quite useful.

Then I obsessed about turntable plinths for a while. Then tube preamplifiers. I looked up Dynaco and Dynakit and attempted to figure out the difference between a PS-2 and a PS-3 preamp and what a Dynaco 120 was and how to repair the blown crossovers on my Baby Advent speakers.
Then I attempted to work on a building that should have been bulldozed in 1974. Then I attempted to clean the shop and got more depressed. Then i got a lecture about how I should sell my 1960's stereo collection to real collectors before I ruined it, and buy something modern and just download mp3's from iTunes like everyone else with half a brain. Which kind of translated well into a metaphor for our whole farming operation. Which led me to think about all the real farmers at the safety seminar which made me even more depressed.
Then this afternoon I decided that if I continued to worry about the difference in density between Baltic Birch Plywood and MDF I would never have a turntable base and so I just built one out of scrap lumber and the original plywood top which already had the cutouts.
I am not a good carpenter. 

Have a nice week.
Sometime this whole blogging thing seems like mental self-abuse. As in personal self gratification. You complain and then someone tells you that you are wonderful. In the end you still go blind...