Since I rewired that Music Hall turntable a few weeks ago, I’ve been giving it a chance in my main system to see how it behaves. I had mixed feelings when I bought it, and that has not changed. I certainly have reservations about recommending it to anyone, but in actuality, it is not really a bad little turntable. Confused? Read on.
Yearly Archives: 2007
The Tijuana Brass Reissue Debacle
A&M Corner got word today from Shout Factory that three new Tijuana Brass reissues are now available: the fan favorite Warm, the western-themed The Brass Are Comin’, and the overlooked second album of the TJB, Volume 2. Herb Alpert’s solo recording, Rise, is also imminent for reissue. Like the tired old cliché goes: there’s good news, and there’s bad news.
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DIY: Music Hall MMF-2.1 Tonearm Rewiring
This month’s DIY project wraps up something I started a few years ago. I’d purchased a used Music Hall MMF-2.1 turntable from a fellow member of a forum I frequent. I knew that the cartridge clips had snapped off, and one of the wires had broken off at the end of the tonearm near the headshell. Well, it certainly was broken off when I got it! The wire was too short to attach another piece to, so that meant one of two things: 1) get a different tonearm, or 2) rewire the tonearm. What’s it gonna be, Santa Claus?
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Reloading The CD Changer; Rediscovering The Music Collection
My CD and LP collections are in a disarray right now. Since my main listening area is on the main floor of the house now, rather than the basement, only parts of my main system and music collection have followed me. I just don’t have the storage room for everything yet. Nothing that some major redecorating, and a few trips to Ikea, wouldn’t fix. My CDs, especially, are scattered around the house. Many are in bins in an upstairs closet. Others are downstairs on CD shelves. And I recently spent an afternoon putting away and organizing a lot of my CDs. While I was at it, I began picking out candidates to load into the CD changer. I found a few discs I haven’t heard in awhile, and have been becoming reacquainted with them.
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RCA Living Stereo SACDs, Pt. 1
A few years ago, BMG began releasing RCA’s Living Stereo classical albums from the 50s and 60s on hybrid SACDs. One had to wonder if the SACDs, or any digital equivalent, could live up to the magic of the original “shaded dog” LP pressings during these recordings’ original release. Digital transfers can be such a “literal” translation of what’s on the master tapes, it can be a little too exact; the magic of the Westrex cutting head is part of the whole “Living Stereo” mystique. How do these SACDs live up to the Living Stereo name?
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