Pinto

I "scored" some Amperex Bugle Boy EL84's and 12AX7's out of an old console phonograph's tube amp. They look great, but who knows. Now I'm thinking about buying a tube tester. Anyone bought one? Are they easy enough to use?

This is a very good test CD: http://www.rivesaudio.com/software/softframes.html Also, there are correction values for the RS meter easily found with Google. This won't matter just for getting a overall SPL level reading. Also, if you haven't already planned this, cut a hole in a piece of thick cardboard the size of the meter's mic. Then couple the carboard to the earcups. This way your measurements will be consistent in terms of the volume at your ear.

Acoustic Sounds catalog is AWESOME. www.acousticsounds.com

I use an Apple dock (the one with the remote) through my my Meier Audio Opera (no snide comments from the weird Meier Audio haters please) with good results. The Opera's DAC sounds better, as does a Red Wine Audio iMod iPod, but the regular iPod via the dock still is plenty listenable.

The W5000, W1000, and W2002. AT Woodies just don;t have enough bass for me. I hear great things about the W11jpn but they are made of unobtanium. Dude! Pinto Beans are awesome. Beans, Beans, good for the heart...

I think the D5000's are terrific. For me they are the best sounding Japanese Woody (but I have never heard the L3000).

I bought a pair. They sound good for $99 cans, but they are not going to challenge the L3000 as closed can king anytime soon...

How about a case of Schlitz?

I understand your point about circumaurals. But I don't like IEM's, so it's not an option for me to "stick with them". I also don't mind the HD25's comfort-wise.

I use the Record Research fluids and the Music Direct brushes - seem to work well.

The cool thing about the Zerodust is that you don't have to work very hard (as in your post above) to get the stylus totally clean. I use a little StyLast "preservative" still before every play, but that and the Zerodust is all I use to clean the stylus now. Gone are all the other brushes and various other crap for stylus cleaning. Of course, I wet-cauum clean my records with a VPI 16.5, so they aren't that dirty to begin with

The Zerodust is the best stylus-cleaning "thingy" ever to come down the pike. It truly works.

I had a Benz Micro Glider for a while, and it made me SOOOO nervous I just couldn't take it. I ended up selling it. I'm afraid of being nude!

Sorry, noob goof - second part of post: You're right (of course), they are not nearly as comfy as most circumaural cans. But at least for airplane use, I have never found a circumaural can that isolates very well; in fact, cans like the HD280 and DT770, on airplanes, actually seem to accentuate low-frequency jet noise.