SEVENTIES STEREO BOOK CIRCLE PART (5 years later)

  I posted the picture of the book cover 6 days ago, the second I put the book down, but needed to keep thinking about it before saying anything.
  Like the fantastic Hubert's Freaks, which I raved about in 2008, this sticks in my brain. Compared to the perceptions and realities in corporate America today, Polaroid was Dreamland, presided over by a brilliant, charismatic leader, Edwin Land. His papers were shredded (at his family's request) when he died, but working at Polaroid made a positive, lifetime impression on many, and this book buzzes with their insights. The material concerning marketing, and graphic identity (awesome:) are fascinating. I loved this book and think you will. The spirit & optimism of corporate America in the 50s, 60s & 70s seems like a fantasy in hindsight.
  As I read, I thought of the American Hifi landscape in the same period, imagined the same level of passion and creativity, united in the goal of recreating the live music experience at home. Many of the household names became, like Polaroid, logos to be slapped on generic products made overseas. I guess that's why I keep listening in the past.

Just arrived: Mission 770s.

Listening to First Light, a Freddie Hubbard album I picked up on vinyl last Sunday, driven by the Cyrus One, Mission 770s are still special.

Yamaha CA-1010 (again).

This is the third time that a fine example of this triumph of modernist industrial design has passed through Seventies Stereo World Headquarters, and again it leaves me dissatisfied. It's a cool amplifier in every sense.

Hafler DH-110 & DH-220

I found these in rough cosmetic condition, and wasn't able to test before buying. When I got home, the preamp sounded wonderful (and so it should... it's now been checked carefully), and the amp was weak and distorted in both channels. Even if I'd looked at the fuses, which I didn't, because it played at all, I wouldn't have noticed that they were incorrect values, by a lot. After Joe installed the correct (7 amp) fuses, music poured out.

Update.

  I've been well, busy with work, and spending more time listening to music than looking for new equipment. Not that some equipment hasn't found me! I have a Hafler 110/220 pre/power combination to tell you about, and a big, beautiful Kenwood receiver (a KR- 7600, 80 watts/channel) coming home from the shop this week. I'm expecting a Marantz 2330B receiver in the next few weeks, and am actively searching for my next speaker obsession.
  The picture shows just four of the many records I've found recently that have made me really happy, all with beautiful sound and superb playing, all highly recommended.