The Useful Duck!

Showing posts with label Shure Model V-51. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shure Model V-51. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

I try out recently cleaned records and rant about something off subject

The rain has stopped and the temperature has fallen to 28 degrees in God's temperature measuring system. The sun is out as well. The front yard was frozen over and I have been forbidden to leave the house until the ice is gone. 

I have important things to do. First I have to call the unemployment people and prove I exist. Secondly I need to call the financial aid department of my HMO and see I they will give me a break on my break. But, I am taking a break. Perhaps having a break-down. Although that may be a different department.

Speaking of breakdowns, the idiot Republicans in Oregon have sponsored "take your guns away," legislation this time in the form of a so-called Suicide Prevention bill.

I have come to the conclusion that anyone who seeks public office should be immediately disqualified from public office.  I staunchly supported Christine Drazan in arguments with the former President of LU because I thought she would be great. Her son was my workstudy student and they seemed just folks. I can't square my understanding of her then with what she has supported recently. (Also, I recognize OFF is a little extreme but maybe it is also that I am really irritated that I didn't get an Oregunian decal with my last donation to them.)

But I digress..

I also feel the same way with people who claim to study mental health. They are mostly mental or they wouldn't be interested. Of course I feel there is no real answer to anything other than saying your prayers in the evening and dragging your arse out of bed in the morning and just going to work. So what do I know... (one of my best friends got fired for allegedly saying the way to stop racism was to kill all the white people and not only has he not killed anyone, (that I know of) but I think he won his lawsuit.)

After being forced to set through a number of trainings on mandatory reporter issues I am not surprised that people have untreated mental health problems. 

Let's say you are having a crisis and you try to talk to someone about it. If you choose a person who has anything to do with your school, work, or church, they will have to report you to someone else who doesn't know you and who is probably an over educated idiot and you will then have to explain your whole life history to someone who has no vested interest in your mental health and will put you on drugs, screw up your medical record for every and possibly raid you house.

If you have a friend in a metal health crisis and you call the cops, there is a good chance they, or their dog will get shot.

If someone is seriously suicidal they don't need a gun. However, if you are angry at someone you could certainly get their guns removed by claiming that they are abusive or suicidal which sort of reinforces the point of why you actually need a gun.

But I digress. I lost all my guns and can't afford to buy any more... So what do I care?

I used my Spin-Clean to clean approximately seventy 45 rpm singles from the sixties and seventies. They have been well-used so it was probably a waste. Now I need to figure out how to sell them.

I was able to try out the Dual 1019 turntable I rebuilt years ago. It works flawlessly. 


If you compare with the Singer 45 rpm player from two days ago you may hear a difference


I assume this is a song about a broken heart, a chicken, and a sweet heart's picture framed in gold. Things may go wrong as gambling may be involved. Or it is about the Mexican Revolution.


Another Buck Owens test. Note: the q-tip is not a Wu-Flu swab, it is what I used to clean some of the dust off the sensitive bits of the record player




Edit: Help me, I am a cripple...  Click here to buy me an Oregunian Sticker!   I was looking at their swag and discovered that I had an account. I had forgotten that I purchased a Oregunian hat and pink tank top for my good friend and his wife who live in NYC. Strange that I did not receive a thank you card.... Hmm, they probably forgot.



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

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!

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