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.

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?

Another post about vintage audio

I have been building an "audio rack."
This is the snooty audiophile name for "stereo stand."
Since reuse/recycle is a way of life for us bottom feeders it is nearly 100 percent scrap metal/wood.
The uprights are angle iron which was cut for either a harrow or who knows what some 15 years ago and has been setting around covered in moss and rust ever since. I'm not sure what the angle iron was robbed off of before that but it is fairly straight and there were only a few random holes in it.
The shelves are adjustable. They are held up by other chunks of angle iron which are bolted to the remains of old windrower sickles. The teeth of course were removed first...
The actual shelves are 1950's birch plywood that my wife salvaged. The feet are made from new carriage bolts screwed though one inch round wood discs cut from an old school desk.
I was going to go all audiophile and make the top from two layers of plywood with a cork insulation between the two to deaden the turntable but it was way too much effort. Instead I attached the top with double sided camper tape and drywall screws. After all, I am a "bottom feeder."
I suppose it will not have proper sound deadening characteristics but I doubt my hearing is all that good anyway.
Here it is with some of my accumulation of old stereo treasure. I first set it up with the Dynaco AF-6 tuner, Tube PAS-2 preamp, and much maligned Stereo 120A amplifier. On top is the Rec-o-Kut turntable with Fairchild 282 tone arm. The tonearm which tends to fall off of its bearings every so often.

Later I moved the AF-6 tuner into the living room and connected it to my little Optimus SA-155 1-watt amplifier (Goodwill $5) and Optimus 77 speakers. Thus I was able to torment my daughter with high-brow singing in Latin with lots of symphony type accompanying orchestration early Easter morning after I went back to sleep and missed the Easter Sunrise service. (We did make it to the later service but most likely only because I was anxious for ham which is always served at Easter potlucks as a snide insult to Jewish people, Seventh day Adventists, and supporters of the religion of peace-though the use of exploding people and beheadings.)
But, I digress...
Here is the living room setup which was approved by my somewhat understanding wife. She even fished my home built dipole antenna out from behind the bookcase to bring in the station better. It has been carefully tuned to the strange and wonderful left side of the dial. (Said without a trace of irony!)
I really need to do something about the wires going to the LCD TV.

I will note that in all my frustration with the expense vs quality of "vintage" stereo equipment I did price a good amplifier. I bid on an Adcom made in the late 20th century, after seeing what new ones sell for on Amazon.com. I was shocked at the selling price. It would seem that good quality stereo equipment is the same relative price now as it has always been. What is frustrating is that there is no medium to low-end stereo options anymore. It is all cheap crap made to fall apart and the sound quality is pretty poor.
I now have to decide what to keep and what to sell...I suppose....
I still have my first stereo. It is a Kenwook KA3500 which I purchased well used from Butch McKimmie (spelling?) of Discus Records when he went out of business some years ago. He was a very interesting fellow and now he is a Google search term. Perhaps he will find me. I would like to talk to him again.
But, this is not getting any farm work done. The sun is sort of shining! I must fertilize Muddy Valley, grind feed, put tractors together, spend money I don't have, scratch my arse, work on the stacker, service the corn planter, scratch my arse,  fix a baler, or something...
Have a nice day...

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...