Craigslist... and I *swore* I quit doing stuff like this....

.

so dave sends me a text that includes the above photo... I instantly see the Western Electric triode logo on the sides of the boxes peeking out from the CBS sleeves... and before I could reply, he follows that text with this one:

wow!  that is just about the best tiny tube that I know... a nice score... hmm.. I haven't looked at Craigslist in a long while... I swore off acquiring piles of old things that are not for very specific projects... but what could it hurt to look?  after all, Dave just added some nice and small items to his collection... so maybe just a peek....

and I saw this listing:

dang it!  no reference in the listing, but there it was... zoom in:

clearly an Altec horn.. and a pair of 15's... could be JBL, but considering the Altec horn, probably just a 421 woofer... and who knows what below it... but I was waiting on UPS for parts, and everybody knows I need to get out of the shop every once in while so that I do not go crazy, so off I went... 

I got there on time.. the one hipster in front of me went for the records... sucker... you could tell from the front albums that it was all standard classical... so I instantly haggled the guy for the speakers... but what I did not realize is that this was actually quite an awesome system... I would have loved to have hung out with this guy and listen to some big classical.. shown is just one stack in one corner!  this was a giant stereo rig... four Altec 15" per side... eight total!

so heavy... my back is trashed... hauling these up from the basement was *dumb*... and now to play Tetris... these have to fit in the official HiFi Hauler:

missed it by just over an inch... so that last bit of free space is the passenger seat... so I rode with a bass cabinet as an armrest... 

(shoutout to the baby blue pig that is my partner in crime for these adventures... he rode on top of the cabinet...)

so what was in the cabinets?  honestly I have not opened them up yet... gotta get back to soldering... but I was able to snap some shots inside the ports...

and the compression drivers:

so the entrance to the warehouse now has a wall of sound.. 

to which Iain said, and rightly so, "Is that Freedom Rock, man?".. to which I had actually forgotten the official response, "Then turn it up!"... 

I think dave really won this Craigslist "battle"... his tubes take up no space... his deal likely took ten minutes.. and my back still hurts.. 

oh, and don't tell Lisa... 

peace,

me

Schick Tonearms

.

This hit my inbox yesterday and I was dying laughing... it helps to know Thomas and his humor... super funny dude... and you never expect it.. it just comes out of nowhere... 

I have known Thomas for more than a decade.. back when his tonearm was just a DIY project for himself... a few ideas he wanted to try... (sounds familiar, huh?).. and all of these years later, I am proud to use his tonearms very often...  here is the always musical and yet so simple system that I use at the warehouse:

the tonearm has easy and obvious adjustments... clean lines...  you just add an autoformer and phono stage... front end done!  so simple... and then you just play records... 

and now we are a dealer... previously I have only told existing customers, just because they know that Thomas and I are friends... but I should really tell the world as they are not just insanely good for the money, but actually insanely good... contact me if you want to listen to one or get more information... here is his standard blurb:

___________________________

The tonearm is available in three finishes to choose from:

gold
silver (nickel + palladium, matte finish)
black (black chrome, matte finish)

There is a 12 inch version available as well as a shorter 9 inch (9,6inch).
The shorter version is a drop in replacement for EMT record players as well.

The price is 1499 Euro plus shipping about 25 Euro as insured letter.
A second, heavier weight for SPU and other heavy cartridges costs 45 Euros on top, if ordered together with a tonearm.
If you choose it as a single heavy weight there is no extra cost.
The tonearm includes a lift and arm bench.
All tonearms are equipped with an antiskating mechanism.

The arm has a 5 pin tonearm connector made by me. it consists of Teflon isolation and electronic test pins.

Else, you can choose a fixed tonearm cable, with lowest resistance and  capacitance, symmetrical cable with Neutrik RCA plugs.
The cable is 1,1m long.

All tonearms are equipped with an antiskating mechanism.

The tonearm is suitable for any cartridge from about 6 Gramm and a compliance value of below 20 µm/mN (22 for the 9 inch version).
That includes most cartridges on the market, excluded are only lightweight and very soft MM systems.
A headshell is not included. I recommend to use my graphite headshell for 249 Euros.

and don't forget:  Schick Happens! 

peace,

me