About Lugnut -- Patrick Malone

Steve came over today and we set up my new stand and the amp stands. They look good and I'm proud to say the stage depth improved. We inserted the Supratek and the system sounds wonderful. We'll be mixing in various new pieces for quite some time to find the best synergy. Steve is a good, faithful and dear friend who is fearless in the face of my enemy. God bless him.

Paul checks up on me all the time. There must be an especially nice little corner in Heaven for guys like Paul. I've known him my whole life or so it seems.

John, the Greendale set is worth buying to hear Neil play some blues licks. I'm guesing that one of my life long pals will be bringing over the DVD which I hope makes understanding the story more fun. The set is pretty pricey but it's recorded really well on the best of vinyl. All the other stuff that comes with it is cool. All the art work is Neil's and there is a bunch, a bumper sticker, a 7" record I don't have a clue about and some other stuff I've forgotten. Buying it depends on big of a fan you are but I'm guessing it's a low production number which makes it a good investment.

Dean, world events and politics don't seem to have a lot of meaning EXCEPT my heart is warmed by the possibility of a self governing Iraqi people. The next ten years is going to be a challenge for them and I wish them the best from the bottom of my heart. To this end everyone should be on the same page but alas....GWB will enjoy an especially nasty place in the history books over the real issues of illegal invasion of our country, exporting of jobs, importing of cheap labor, outsourcing industry and sucking up the wicked empire. To be fair he is just continuing what was begun around the time of Richard Nixon. Lugnut has spoken.

Baghdad will enjoy huge prosperity and high end audio will be there in no time if....It's gonna have to be an Ali, Ahmed or the like that'll open it up as I don't expect there will be any foreigners dumb enough to do it. Unless they get the power to stay on for awhile the high end market may be comprised of systems like Tom Lyons complete with batteries. No doubt their systems will be analog with all the raw materials they have.

Pat, the Audiopoints for your system, including ones for the sub are on the way to you(sent Monday), and you should be receiving them shortly.

Enjoy!

Pat, if your well enough to talk politics, your on the mend. Welcome back!

I should have kept my mouth shut about politics. He he. Honestly though, my vantage point has changed a great deal. I find it very frustrating during this time to even contemplate all the various events that are shaping the future, a future I will not have to endure. I'm saddened because I want so much more for my fellow man than what the current crop of leaders world wide seem to have planned. All of you that are young enough to live well into the future are going to be faced with challenges the likes I don't even want to utter. What we need is a benevolent king but all I see are self serving dubiously elected officials world wide that are hell bent on morphing the elected into a royal class for the future. Curiously, at the core is a common theme, again world wide, to drive the masses into a life of common peasants. When I connect these dots I see a grand scheme where Satan is alive and well and this makes me closer yet to the one, true benevolent king. Sorry if this is a turn off for the unbelievers and I promise to not mention politics again in this or any other thread. Understand though, that God has touched me in many ways during this time with not so gentle reminders that he is alive and well also. This thread is proof that He took extreme measures in my case to send a message. Many of the posters, gift givers, readers and private coresponders with me since this started will know exactly what I mean. That is why I earlier mentioned that what is going on here needs to be shared as widely as possible after all of this has played out. This is not about audio. This is not about the "stuff" given. This is about how we should be living and interacting all the time. If noone picks up on this and writes about the real meaning then please allow this experience to be burned into your memory so that you can share this throughout your life when the need arrises. Lugnut as preacher is finished preaching and I sinerely hope I haven't offended.

On the brighter side I eagerly await the two most anticipated packages yet, the Ridge Street cables and the Starsound products. This is stuff old Lugnut has only been able to dream about owning. Steve Dobbins was over yesterday and we inserted the Syrah into my system. This isn't the first time we discovered the transformation this wonderful preamp does to my system. It is a jaw dropper of the first magnitude. Beyond belief. I've used Steve's Ridge Street cables before and the improvement is very significant and well worth the cost of admission. I wish that the speaker cables that were coming were two pairs so that I could use my current speakers to best advantage but if someone knows of a good adaptor for the banana's that Linn uses to spades I'll get a set and use the RS cables on the high frequency side of my current set up. I'll let Steve (hopefully) chime in on how wonderful this rig sounds. I trust his ears and have deep respect for the system he keeps putting together! ROTFLMAO. I've learned a great deal from Steve and I've really corrupted him. He's shown me how very close great digital can come to good analog and the impact cables can have IF you have a system that allows the differences to really be heard. The Syrah allowed that to happen. LOL, me corrupting him because he now looks for releases on vinyl before searching for the SACD or CD equivalent. When I was a kid mothers used to tell their sons to stay away from my influence and this is proof!

Unfortunately, the Syrah has developed a problem and we had to remove it from the mix. You technical types: please read this and post an opinion in the hope that the thing can avoid going back to Australia for repair!!! When the preamp is cold it sounds wonderful and my cartridge is happy with the standard, recommended loading of 47k. As a side note all troubleshooting reading are correct when cold also. After about 45 minutes into listening the sound very quickly becomes strained similar to inserting a very low powered, cheesy amp. Nothing sounds right. It's congested, with little detail. The bass is pretty much gone. It sounds horrible. Now, if we change the loading to 10 Ohms the sound is much improved although all magic is gone and many of the negative qualities remain. We're thinking that maybe there is a solder joint or even a tube socket that is failing at an elevated temp. Unfortunately, readings have never been taken when warm and this would be the first thing to do. Tubes are not the problem as I've spent considerable time with every tube that is recommended in the "preamp deal of the century" thread and the problem remains. Any ideas on this would be most welcome. This piece is central to making the most out of what gear remains after playing with all the new stuff you great guys have sent my way.

Any idea why the edit my post option is no longer available? I found that out yesterday with my last post.

An attempt at censure!!!