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Piggie Plays the What If Game...

Mister Pig said:
Actually I am going to try a Marc Morin-ified AR XA one day. I found a parts unit in NJ for sale, but its local pick up only. No way to get it to Marc. I did see a Merrill modified AR XA on one of those used audio sites, and it looked real interesting.

But looking at the whole package of Morin additions to the AR, it sure is real intriguing...... I want to see what it can do!

Regards
Mister Pig
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I can send you a completed one.

Back to Maggies.......the 20.7 model ain't the little ones :no: And yes, amplification is paramount. But not so much in wattage. As Nelson Pass said, "if your first watt is garbage, do you expect the rest of them to be better?" I can pound you with 40W running into my 3.6's.......don't make me get the 400wpc(into 4/o) Ampzilla out. I'd never get rid of the neighbors due to the aroma of fresh smoked ham. :D
 
Mister Pig said:
...... To go where no pig has gone before!

Regards
Mister Pig
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Tough to tell you which direction to go my friend?

You have some sweet Tables, some sweet Cartridges, and such as the Serac, no it isn't the top of the Galibier Lineup, but I'd bet it offers a quite worthy glimpse, and a very sweet ride indeed! I've drooled over Galibier's stuff more than quite many a year.

Amplification, and Speakers. That's where your ship will come in IMO.

And again, tough to assume what your personal paths might-could be?
A fresh McIntosh MC452, or a pair of Mac 2301's? Me, I'd love to have either.

Or, will you go beyond? IMO, $7500 cash is no chump change to blow on an MC452, don't think of these like your Uncle's McIntosh. I see them rarely in sale used. And that's a good sign.

Tubes, yep, lush, sweet, but I don't have a 6 figure salary to play with tube rolling on multi tens of thousand dollar tube amps. Thus, one day, I hope I'll have a MC452 on my rack (or floor)

Speakers. Another area where considerable upgrades, and vast changes of sound can be made. If your Amp works well with such that is.

I myself don't consider speakers that cost the price of a new Porsche a great investment personally. Again, if you have bottomless pockets, then yeah, Wilsons, Maganplanars, Martin Logan Statements, JBL Master Reference.
 
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Seems most the boys who have some really hard cash to play with, don't rely on one reference system, they have many.

Take Ivan over on Audio Afficionado Forum. He's probably got more money invested in a few watches and Firearm collection, than my whole earthly worth.

McIntosh, hell, Ivan (Master Lu) is probably part stockholder of the company! A wall of Mac Gear amassing more coin than some new Car Dealership Inventories!
 
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Well, why not start out with a different sort of exercise of imagination. Give thought to what might make for a better table than those you have already. Where are the current potential shortcomings? Bearing? Drive? Arm? Plinth? What sort of feel pleases you most? Once you have this worked out you're ready to start searching again.
 
fiddlefye said:
Well, why not start out with a different sort of exercise of imagination. Give thought to what might make for a better table than those you have already. Where are the current potential shortcomings? Bearing? Drive? Arm? Plinth? What sort of feel pleases you most? Once you have this worked out you're ready to start searching again.
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This is what happens when a pig gets bored at work and let's his mind wander. There is really nothing wrong with the tables I have. If I had to nitpick I would say the 124 needs a high mass plinth. The plinth on the Serac is kind of homely, and the stacks of MDF are utilitarian at best. I also will admit to the allure of a SME V, but the lack of azimuth adjustment and VTA on the fly is a bit of a hitch at the stock price.

Speaking of amps and speakers, I have been listening to some Hawthorne co-ax open baffle for awhile now. With a lower power solid state amp they are quite remarkable. Was listening to Santana' s Abraxas before leaving for work tonight, and the percussion was excellent. The speakers do so many things well with this amp and pre that I cannot imagine breaking this combo up. They are not terribly expensive, but the sound is satisfying on many levels. My tube zip and passive pre have been set aside for a couple of weeks now, and I have no desire to hook them back up. Hard to believe as I have been a tube kind of pig since I was 20 years old. Old pigs can learn new tricks!

Old habits die hard. My typical MO would be to sell off the gear that wasn't being used and use that most to take the next step up. Having unused audio gear sitting around just never was an option for me as there was always that next mountain to climb. But the reality is the SET amp is really darn good, but just not with these speakers. Yet these speakers are some of the best sound I have had in this room, so they are staying for the time being. So there really isn't a lot for the pig to focus on, and turntables are just so much fun.

My other audio ideas on the audio side are a bit heretical, so there is not much progress for me to make from where I am. For the money I have to play with, it appears I have hit my ceiling. A turntable upgrade is kind of like a consolidation and dedication of current audio funds. The kicker is that there is no proof I would get a guaranteed improvement in sound quality.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
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What about going balls to the wall on the td124, slate plinth, kuzuma 4point tonearm and a nice cart. Maybe a graham or Ikeda tonearm.

Or what about the two arm Feickert tables? Avid diva II SP? Or something off the wall like the high end micro seiki's.......
 
Methinks you need a second system location for experimentation. Keep one set-up going all the time that is a known (like your SS/open baffle arrangement is at the moment) where you know you can always settle to listen in peace and joy. Then set up something elsewhere that can be very different. Why not?
 
fiddlefye said:
Methinks you need a second system location for experimentation. Keep one set-up going all the time that is a known (like your SS/open baffle arrangement is at the moment) where you know you can always settle to listen in peace and joy. Then set up something elsewhere that can be very different. Why not?
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It is a nice idea, but the house is really only set up for one good system. The rest of the spaces are for living, and can't make accommodations for putting a stereo in them....and I don't like to compromise set up parameters.

The idea behind the second table and the second set of amplification, and perhaps a second set of speakers is to have a system that I could switch off to which is "different". But I find that I really don't like different, especially if I think one is superior in sound quality to the other. Why would I want to listen to worse? Just the way I am wired I guess. My idea of casual listening is taking a drive in the Mustang where I got Focal separates, including three 11 inch woofers, and 1600 watts of Phoenix Gold amplification.

I also find that I kind of don't like the clutter of the extra gear sitting around my rack, its not big enough to hold everything, that is not being used. An audio room should have some order to it, and the ambiance it creates is part of the listening experience. What I lack is ambiance though...this room has been a wreck and is not really well decorated for a top notch audio room......

Regards
Mister Pig
 
jeremyjustic said:
What about going balls to the wall on the td124, slate plinth, kuzuma 4point tonearm and a nice cart. Maybe a graham or Ikeda tonearm.

Or what about the two arm Feickert tables? Avid diva II SP? Or something off the wall like the high end micro seiki's.......
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Slate would be interesting. I had a line on having a person build me a plinth for the 1254, but life got in the way. Not sure if that project will get back on track how I envisioned it.

I may try my hand at a DIY plinth sometime this year. I need to buy a quality compound miter saw that can do some largish pieces, and perhaps then I can build a plinth in the garage. As long as I get my pieces rough cut to a smaller size where the saw can be used I should be ok. Perhaps a combination of wood and stone would be interesting.

I do like the ET arm, even though its a bit homely on the 124. I am not sure the cartridge is really going to be a long term keeper, although it is very nice. I have been wanting to experiment with a Phase Tech P1, or perhaps a Shelter at some time down the road once the table is squared away.

But wouldn't a Forsell be really interesting?

Regards
Mister Pig
 
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