Happy New Year.

 UPDATED: I should've said weeks:)
 I wish that this wasn't my first post in over a month, and that I couldn't/didn't post in December. It's the first missed month since I started the blog in 2008.

  I was busy with my day job, and didn't have nearly the time I'd hoped for audio projects in the fall. I never stopped listening to lots of music, finding fabulous vinyl and experimenting with speakers. I'll try to catch up over the next few days. UPDATED: I should've said weeks.

Happy Holidays! I'll be back soon.

Just Arrived. Spendor S1s!

I've wanted to get my hands on one of these babies for a long time! The articulated tonearm is a unique approach to tangential tracking, the build quality is awesome, and it's gorgeous. The sound isn't anything to write home about at the moment, but I know the problem is a mediocre Shure cartridge. I have an Ortofon X3-MC high output moving coil that I hope to install soon. I'll keep you posted.

Energy 22 Reference with Sound Dynamics tweeters. Canadian hybrids.

  I told you I had an idea, but I wasn't the first. When I told the guy I bought the Energys from what I planned to do, he told be it would work well, because he'd tried it. The tweeters come from Sound Dynamics (made by API, like Energy), and were used in 2 way systems with woofers as large as 15 inches. This told me that the tweeters must be capable of being crossed over low, an important thing to consider when replacing a hyperdome.
  The system sounds fantastic, exceeding my expectations. I've been enjoying them with all kinds of music, from delicate to very heavy.

The hyperdome tweeter (critical to the awesomeness of the Energy 22) almost always fails eventually. The company that bought the original manufacturing equipment and was rebuilding them is gone. Many owners have tried alternate tweeters. A pair will be arriving tomorrow with no tweeters. I have an idea. Stay tuned.

JBL L20T photos.

  Right now, I'm listening to a stunning acoustic jazz recording by Sphere (Ben Riley, Kenny Barron, Buster Williams & Charlie Rouse), an album called Four In One. I'm using a dual CS5000 with a Grado Black, into an Arcam Delta 60, driving these sweet L20Ts. It all sounds magnificent.

This is the consumer version of the 4406 monitor. One tweeter is DOA, which I knew was likely. Sometimes when you need them, drivers fall from the sky. Update: This time, a tweeter is coming from Guelph!

Just arrived! Goodmans Dimension 8 speakers, Arcam Delta 60 integrated amp.

Along with 3 pairs of Missions that arrived on Tuesday, it's been All England Week at Seventies Stereo World Corporate Headquarters.  These are the Dimension 8s:      

They'll be beautiful when I'm finished with them! The grills fit flush to the teak veneer, emphasizing the planes of the shape. The craftmanship is amazing. At first listen, the sound is very promising. Lots of information here. More soon.

Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers with front baffle paint job.

  This is a fine sounding speaker. Mission gave it a mottled grey plastic front baffle that made the speaker look really chitzy. I repainted it the same hammertone warm grey as the upper models of the same year, the 770 Freedom 4 and 737R.

Just Arrived. Three modest pairs of Missions.

700 Leading Edges, 70 mkIIs and 733s (2 way small floorstanders that I've never had before). I think the 70s will be a veneer project.
 Update: I opened up the 70s, and the foam surrounds look & feel very good (I thought I'd probably have to refoam them).

Canadian Rega 2 speakers, touring cabinets.

  I've owned loved this speaker a few times. Last time I had a pair I veneered them in mahogany (because I think they're that good). In June, I started to do this pair in teak, but Toronto had a big storm and concurrent blackout, which caused minor flooding (damaging a pair of Altec Sevens, cosmetically, but not sonically) and major humidity. My beautiful veneer job went totally textural, and I was so bummed out I didn't know what to do with them.
  As my day job has become busier, I've had less time to prowl my favourite sources, and Seventies Stereo World Headquarters is very light on speakers at the moment. The disfigured Regas have been in use a lot lately. I love them for lots of reasons, always have...they're excellent monitors with surprising bass response. I didn't want to look at them in peeling, bumpy teak veneer, and didn't want to start veneering all over again. This road warrior carpet job works for me.

Mission 727 pictures.

These are as good as I thought they'd be...much closer in sound to the 770 than to the 700 that it resembles.

Just arrived. Mission 727s.

I've owned 700s, 717s and 770s,  but this is the first pair I've seen available in my neck of the woods. Second from top of the line 770 in it's debut model year, I've been dying to hear it for a long, long time.

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.