postjack

awesome another opportunity to talk about what grados I like! SR225 - best of the budget RS-1 with flats HF-2 with bowls (i really expected to like them with flats, but no matter how often i tried they just sound better with bowls) HP-2 with flats (only an asshole would listen to them with bowls) and now the PS1000, the only headphone I currently own. I can appreciate why people hate it, but I really like it. For some reason it makes me want to listen to lots of music, and thats the truest sign I like a piece of audio equipment. oh and here is another quote from the review, further proof that Levi is an asshole: "Sure, the PS 1000s are the most detailed cans I know of, and are every bit as nuanced as the Stax Omega Electrostats." I'm a very happy PS1000 owner but this statement is ludicrous. hell its worse then that its Ludacris. "stay the fuck up out my biz nasssss"

/like

man that is a sweet looking deck! really when you think about it it's the next natural step after the RP-1.

so this is just a rebranded HF-2 right? MSRP $595

fruit smoothie, black boots, checkbook

I'm rewiring my whole rig with a high density plastic cabling. No conduction = no EMF = just me and the music.

I'm sad to hear about the new Opeth. Might have to cancel my preorder until I can hear it. I'm a huge Ghost Reveries fan, and I do like Watershed, but I don't love it. So if they are stepping even more in that direction it might not be for me. Like deepak I love prog, but it has to be GOOD prog. Here are my current amazon preorders: Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire (11/1) Umphrey's McGee - Death By Stereo (9/13, speaking of damn good prog) King Crimson - Discipline 40th (10/27) Mastodon - The Hunter (9/27) Primus - Green Naugahyde (9/13) King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black 40th (10/27) Wilco - The Whole Love (9/27)

damn, Brian sounds like the perfect audio salesman. Wish I had a shop like that in my area, I'd probably never leave.

Pres Hall is amazing. They are always on the festival circuit here on the gulf coast so I make it a point to always stop by and pay my respects. I've still never been to the hallowed Preservation Hall in New Orleans, but before its over with I'll remedy that. Derek and Susan are phenomenal talents, but I have to admit I've never been fully moved by their brand of blues rock. I have immense respect for both of them, but in the end I think I'm just not much of a straight blues guy, so their music doesn't really speak to me. I have a guitar player friend who is so obsessed with them he would murder me in my sleep if he heard me say that. As far as Derek stuff goes I like Tedeschi/Soul Stew stuff the least, Derek Trucks Band in the middle, then Allman Bros the best. Can't mess with the Brothers! I've got a hefty live music calendar this Fall, especially since Phish graciously decided to not tour and therefore allow me to see other bands: Elvis Costello in Mobile 9/15 Skrillex in New Orleans 9/30 Widespread Panic in Biloxi 10/2 Cake in New Orleans 10/15 Bassnectar in New Orleans 10/27 Voodoo Fest in New Orleans 10/28-30 STS9 in New Orleans 11/4 Bear Creek Music Festival in Live Oak, FL 11/11-13 String Cheese Incident in Atlanta 11/26 Judas Priest in Biloxi 12/3

hey you stole my post! listening to the vinyl right now, first spin.

The RP3 with Elys 2 is $1095, without its $895. The Elys 2 runs ~$300, so buying with the cart pre mounted saves you $100. There is also talk of this only being introductory pricing, so expect a price increase in the future. Whenever I read reviews or discussion threads about the newer P3 variants everyone always ALWAYS says "get the TTPSU omg" so I figured why not just get the freaking TTPSU upfront, especially when I can almost basically sort of get it for free with the P324 closeout. In general I think Rega carts are viewed as a poor value, meaning there are better options in the price range. But it seems there are less negative comments about the Exact then the Elys, as there should be considering the Exact goes for $600. Buying used carts is always a bit sketchy, but I picked mine up on audiogon for $225. The seller admitted the hours were unknown, but he said under a magnified picture it seemed to have lots of life left. His feedback was good and his honesty appealing, so I took a chance. He didn't have the original box, or stylus guard for that matter, but he shipped it in a really creative way involving a wood block, a piece of hard plastic, and a zip tye. crude looking but really effective. anyway I took a gamble and at least so far it appears its paying off.

deepak I wasn't perceiving you as being a wet blanket at all! in fact I can see how all the hating and fanboyism can be a turnoff. so no worries there. BX: I went with the p3-24 ultimately (rather then the rp3) because it's already been heavily reviewed and used. the RP3 got a good review in tonepub but that's the only current review. and even tonepub says it's more of an evolution then a revolution. so couple that with the $300 savings (basically the TTPSU is free) and the better looking gloss finish (IMO) and the choice became clear for me. of course in the end it might be the RP3 is the better table.time will tell.

what made me want to try one is because of the intensely polarizing nature of the rega tables. people either completely hate them or adore them. I also like all the marketing about it being an easy to setup no frills kind of table. it's definitely not a table for those that like to hyperanalyze their setup, making sure everything is perfect. you kind of just set it all up the way rega tells you to and then ride with it. I like that because I hate stressing over whether my VTF/VTA/azimuth/alignment/bias etc is correct.

so you are saying the royal type people play the game of thrones while the little type people just get caught up in the violence? bullshit!!

Just finished rereading Game of Thrones. Much better then when I was a teenager, which usually isn't the case with fantasy. Psyched to watch the series now.

So after rocking the 1200 for a good 4-5 years now I decided to try another turntable. I'd long been curious about the Rega line, since it seems to be the polar opposite of the Technics in all ways except ease of setup. They are both really easy to setup. I really like turntables to be easy to setup. So I took advantage of the sales at Music Direct and bought a Rega P3-24 with TTPSU, and I bought a used Rega Exact 2 off audiogon for really cheap. The combination definitely does not suck. the flash picked up some crazy dust in those pics, looks much cleaner in person. comparisons are completely unscientific, and ultimately unfair since the Exact 2 is clearly the superior cart to the one on my 1200 (KAB/Ortofon ProS30), but the Rega is better then the 1200. There is a sense of ease and PRaT to the Rega that is really fun to listen to. The midbass is spectacular. It all feels very first-time-you-heard-a-Grado RS-1 to me if that makes any sense. Instruments come and go at exactly the right time, like they are taking it real easy but making sure they are never late. The midrange isn't completely out of this world in your face hyper liquidity tear inducing (ESL-63) but its accurate and true, and its lack of lush richness isn't bothering me at all. In fact I didn't really think about it until I started writing these impressions. I went with the high gloss black, its a slick looking table to my eyes. I also really like the felt mat, makes it easy to swap records while the platter is still turning. Setting up the cartridge was pretty easy. Alignment is literally impossible to screw up since the Rega cart uses a 3 point mounting system, but the whole deal with getting the tonearm to float to find the zero point is a joke, since you can never really turn the antiskate off the tonearm always floats back to the armrest. But I used the Shure gauge to dial it in at 1.8 (I lent out my digital stylus force gauge, its on the way back as we speak) and everything seems to sound great. Sound degrades a bit on the innermost grooves, but across the rest of the record its solid. the table has really exceeded my expectations, I didn't expect as big an improvement as I got.

happy birthday!

no but i definitely will. just thought i'd break up the game cycle but taking on Dragon Age next. ME2 is most likely next after that, unless I just play DA until Skyrim comes out. once skyrim comes out i probably won't need another game for 5-10 years. just kidding but seriously i played the shit out of oblivion. only other game i can think thats taken up as much time (this side of WoW, which doesn't count) is the first three Civilization games. I remember being in grade school and literally playing Civ 1 until the sun came up.

I ended up modding Oblivion for this reason. There are a lot of different ways to make the game more traditional feeling in it levelling. My answer was to make it so I always got the option to add +5 to any attribute, so long as I leveled a skill within the attribute at least once. This way my character actually grew stronger as the game progressed.

Haha, yeah that power on moment was tense! But it powered up perfectly and has been smooth sailing ever since.

Just thought of another one, an oldie: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura I played this one several times.

I am just finishing up Mass Effect for the first time, and immediately wanted to replay it as a different character. I love RPGs that have really high replay value. I think ME will be good for at least another good play through. This got me thinking about other games I've owned (specifically RPGs) and whether or not it was fun to replay them. IMO the grandmaster of all replayable games is Oblivion. Not only because of the huge amount of mods available, but also because of the many different ways you can play your character, and the ease with which one can RP. Then there is the flip side, Fallout 3. Fantastic game, but after I finished it I just wasn't compelled to play it through again. There are certain abilities I knew I would just have to have, i.e. small guns, and certain quests you just have to do right off the bat. I guess as fun as the game is it lacks the depth of Oblivion, IMO. So what games did you find compelling and deep enough to play over and over? For me the only games I really play are RPGs, but feel free to discuss any genre.

awesome! i've wanted to audition a pair at home for a long time. really stole the show at the last CJ. now that i have the Beta22 kicking headphone ass i'm curious to start trying cans again. i'm looking forward to your impressions. and congrats Fitz on the new machine. i don't play new enough games to really need top of the line, but my current computer was the first time I built one on my own, and its the only way i'll ever do it from here on out. its the best PC i've ever owned, and researching/building it was loads of fun.

Metallica - S/T original pressing vertigo vinyl. recently cleaned and mint as the blackness of hell. in further celebration of the new theme.

thanks everybody! its been pretty kick ass so far.