My System

6/16/4

Quite a bit has happened with my system.  Moving back to short wall got old so as soon as my ankle, I broke it rock climbing, scroll to the 3/17 post on this page, got usable, I moved it back to the long wall.  Neither of those photos show my new turntable, which I absolutely love.  Not that the Belavista was a slouch by any stretch, this one is the epitome of what a turntable should be.

Now...on to my stupidity...you knew there was going to be at least one example.  I've spent the past two years, nearly, enjoying this system immensely.  The clarity, imaging, dynamic range...all had me spellbound...only one problem, the left side was always louder than the right.  I could use the balance knob to adjust it, but it seemed a bit different with each music selection, just a bit and was a pain to get up and adjust every time I changed music.  I bought some room treatments and while they cleared up some boominess and helped a bit with the balance...still there...it changed a bit when I would move things around but it was still there.  A friend of mine said it sounded ok to him so I started thinking it was my hearing.  I've worked around aircraft most of my life and hearing loss is pretty common.  Another friend came over and he agreed that it was imbalanced and right away checked the midrange speakers...right one was dead.  Speakers are on their way to  Germany to be repaired and the sound is a lot different and there are large holes in the speakers, but fairly shortly they should be whole again and I can finally hear what they're really supposed to sound like.  It's hard to believe it can be better.

3/31/4

I've been neglecting this page for awhile.  Not because of a lack of enjoyment, but more due to laziness or an excess of pleasure.  I had a good laugh with Klaus the last time I called him when I explained why I couldn't give him a current opinion on how I like the turntable.  I can't reach it!  I can, but it involves knees on a tile floor, which hurts a bit.  When friends come over, sometimes they'll want to listen to something and will put on an album for me.  I love it!  CDs still sound fine, very fine!

2/13/4

I rearranged my living room last night, look down a couple of days to see from where to where.  NO SOUND!!!  I must have went over the cables 20 times or so to no avail.  I called Klaus and he said to look for fuses, but, after opening both the preamp and its power supply, I couldn't find a fuse in either.  Klaus then said to make sure all the tubes came on so I took the case off and applied power.  Sure enough, the rectifier tubes on the power supply board were out.  I called Germany and Mike said that he'd send me a replacement set.  I was surprised that all four had gone out but it turns out they're in series so if the first one goes, the rest don't work.  The best part is that even though the failure is most likely, well, almost certainly, due to something I did, the replacement tubes are free.  If you want good equipment and "GREAT" customer service, let me know and I'll point you to their website.  Both Odyssey and Symphonic Line are definitely customer oriented.

2/10/4

Still sounds great, but I don't like the way it looks so I'm going from this, back to this.

1/20/4

Wow!  I've had the turntable awhile now and I guess it's breaking or broken in.  I listened to Rush's "Moving Pictures" last night and was very impressed with the clarity of the drums.  I told a friend of mine, who had the prime position, to see if he could picture the drum kit the way I can.  It's usually a few feet behind the speakers and I can almost see Neil Peart's setup in my mind.  I think he's learning how to listen, as am I.  I like Rush as a test band for my tastes, both complex and clearly recorded.  My favorite is still Nazareth's "Close Enough for Rock and Roll" but that's just because I love the album and am very, very familiar with it.

1/12/4

It turned out that the post that the tonearm lever is attached to was loose.  I didn't notice it until a couple of days ago when I felt it move up.  Raised it, readjusted everything and the balance is still off.  I think I need to get a magnifying glass to read the protractor when I'm aligning the cartridge.  I've read that it will need to break in for awhile but other than the balance it sounds great already.

1/1/4

Talk about something making a person(me) feel stupid.  A little down the page I wrote of the tonearm not being high enough and got to looking at it more seriously today.  Wouldn't you know it...another set screw.  Adjusted that, redid the cartridge weight...and I still have the balance problem.  I'm starting to think it's my hearing but Anthony hears the same thing I do.  Maybe working around jet engines all our lives has screwed both our ears up.  At least I can safely drink and change albums now.

A couple of other things I've failed to mention...it comes with a strobe platter...I spent quite a bit of time looking at it and adjusting before I bothered to reread the instructions and figure out what I was doing.  I put on an album and David Lee Roth sounded like a chipmunk and then I read that the green LED meant 45 rpm and the yellow was for 33.  It was still a little slow so naturally I stood there watching the strobe platter while turning the 45 adjustment knob and seeing nothing happen before taking another look at the diagram.  If you look at the photo there are three gold knobs on the left.  The center one is the on/off/speed switch and the other two adjust the rpm.  I guess what sums it up is a comment from jackman on the Audiocircle message board...I made a post about my initial impressions of a new turntable and he said that it's not a turntable, but a work of art that happens to make music.  It sounds as good as it looks!

Not a terribly special new year except for the bass by Entwistle on several tracks of the Who's "Who's Next?"  That's what stands out most, clarity of the bass.  I'm also hearing a lot of things in songs I'm very familiar with that I haven't  heard before.  Anthony, who was here when the table arrived and helped carry and unpack it, stopped by  and had a listen.  I had played my favorite album the night before on my old table so he could compare with me.  He seemed impressed as well but I don't think he has any more frame of reference than I do for this type of sound.  Aside from the initially annoying but now very pleasant sound of fingers on guitar strings, I'm also noticing a lot more of the high percussive sounds.  The Bel Canto speakers have a supertweeter but this is the first time I've really thought I noticed it.  Not that it sounded bad with the Belavista nor with CDs, there's just more there with the table.  I haven't played with the cartridge yet so no help on the balance, but even with the adjustment on balance from the preamp, the imaging is very clear, most especially with the bass and drums.  I think my next album will be Zep so I can hear John Bonham.  Then again, Rush and Neil Peart are also beckoning...keep me away from record stores...help!!!

12/31/3

Turntable's here!  After a few hours of idiocy I finally called Klaus and he said to look for a set screw so I could get the platter to spin.  Doh!  Part of the problem was interpreting Herr Gemein's English but once I found it I felt as stupid as I thought I would.  It's beautiful!  Even the golden puck that you see atop the LP.  It's got a Linn Ekos tonearm and the RG8 cartridge from Symphonic Line.  I still think something's not quite right because it seems that the tonearm's too low but I have to wait until Symphonic Line's open after the holidays to know for certain.  On other turntable's that I've used the tonearm sits over the record waiting for me to lower it, but on this one, at least with how I have it setup, it's entirely a manual operation placing the cartridge on the record.  Kind of scary since I like cider and beer...the sound, aside from a balance problem, probably again due to something I screwed up during setup, is magnificent.  First album was Nazareth's Close Enough for Rock and Roll and at first I was a little confused.  I wasn't expecting such a drastic change to the sound of an album I had listened to the night before.  It blew me away.  I didn't expect that much more bass.  I'm very familiar with the album and was thinking "Where the hell did that come from?".  I've only listened to the one album so far but to my ear the imaging is very clear, well, aside from the balance issue.  Thankfully the SL preamp has a balance control.  One of the songs, Homeward Bound has an intro that contains some sweet guitar work and the sound of fingers on the strings was almost annoyingly audible.  There is a down side, album noise is also amplified, but once the song starts I can only hear it during soft passages and I don't listen to many soft passages so...

And, things can only get better as I resolve the setup issues...thanks again to Klaus and Rolf, my system, so I thought, is finally complete.  Rolf was trying to sell me his new tuner when I spoke with him...it never ends, this hobby!

6/14/3

It's been a week or so and the panels still haven't fallen down despite a couple of windy days.  I'm pretty satisfied with the sound of the system and the panels.  Which means, unless I decide to blow 10k or more on the Symphonic Line turntable...I'll have little need to post here.  I'm very happy with the Symphonic line gear, more so than I imagined  could be.  I didn't expect the acoustic panels to help as much as they did either, but another lucky guess in a business that sells a lot of snake oil.  Visit http://www.audiocircle.com and check out the Odyssey and Eighth Nerve forums for some great deals.  The Norh forum also deserves a visit.  I like all the sites on audiocircle, but have only had direct dealings with those three.  There are a lot of good and knowledgeable people on that site so if you're into good sounds, check it out.   I may post here again, may not, most of my time on the web now is spent on http://www.wildwoodrugby.com/thelatest.htm trying to point out interesting things I find on the web.  Most lean to the conservative, but just to prove I'm sort of open-minded, I found this very funny.   As well as this.   Rock on!

6/2/3

Not much new...finally decided to have somebody sew the velcro onto the Eighth Nerve acoustic panels.  Should have them back on Saturday, I think.  I'll have to do another before/after test now that I know what to listen for.

5/22/3

Sorry it's been awhile...war got in the way of both my listening and posting.  It kept me pretty busy and contributed to my latest attempt at a long-term relationship failing, more on my part than hers.

On to audio...I moved everything along the long wall and added some products from Eighth Nerve to several corners and walls.  Definitely notice an improvement!  Very wide soundstage and still deep.  The Symphonic Line gear sounds fantastic with incredible detail and a very even response.  I'm very happy with it and am saving for their turntable.  Eighth Nerve has a forum at http://www.audiocircle.com, scroll down to manufacturers.  Bill is a great guy to deal with so don't hesitate to at least talk with him.  The turntable I'm lusting after can be seen on this page, http://www.symphonic-line.de/ .  I really enjoy what I feel is the superiority of the Bluenote turntable I have over CD, not that the CD sounds bad, don't get me wrong, I just like analog better and want the best, which based on the quality of  the rest of the SL gear is Symphonic Line.  Now that I have more time to listen I hope to post more here.

12/29/2

Another year nearly gone.  Looking back, it's been tough but a lot of good things have happened too.  My Mom passed away nearly a year ago and I also found about about the friend I mention in the paragraph below.  I moved to Cyprus, which I like and have gotten together again with my first love from High School.  She should be coming to stay with me in a few months so I may be commisserating with more of you about the infamous WAF.  Seriously though, I'm very much looking forward to sharing our lives and if you've seen the photos of my setup you've undoubtedly thought that I need some assistance in the decorating department...pretty sparse.

Let's see, I'm too lazy to reread what's already written so if I repeat myself tough!  I've been having turntable trouble for awhile now.  I bought a Rega P9 with the RB900 tonearm and Exact cartridge and set it up as best as I could...thought it sounded nice!  I put on a test record I had bought to see whether it was set up right and wouldn't you know it, both of the copies were warped.  This warpage(is that a word?) caused the cartridge wire to rub on the record and in the process of moving them around, I broke one of the, I think it was the +left.  Trouble is the break isn't visible and after trying to find the break and creating a couple that I could see easily I decided to purchase a different turntable because I did something really stupid and will now have an extremely difficult time threading replacement tonearm wire through the tonearm  Live and learn, but that could be an expensive lesson.  Anyway, the new turntable is pictured here .  It's a Bluenote Bellavista, and has a Borhese tonearm and Boboli MC cartridge.  I'll take a better photo when I get new batteries for my camera.  The problem with it is that while the sound is very nice, the speed is slow.  Turns out I got a 60 cycle pulley instead of 50.  New one is on the way.  I've had a pretty good experience with http://www.needledoctor.com as far as purchasing the turntable, so give them a shot.  Then I pulled my VPI 16.5 record cleaner out and found out that the vacuum switch was broken.  I'm trying to get a replacement for it too, which reminds me, I need to remove it because Jeff at work thinks he may have one.  To top it all off, I was going to buy the Cool Edit recording software to record my albums into digital format and they wouldn't accept the AE state designation and wouldn't let me purchase, still waiting on them to get back from Christmas vacation to see how to fix that.  I'll write more on the sound later....cheers!  Oh yeah, there are some photos in the gallery on http://www.audiocircle.com  The gallery button is in the upper right of "the circles" page.  click on hairofthedawg's gallery, not sure which page it's on, but there were only two a little while ago. It's a new audio discussion site I've been visiting.  Some of the people from Harmonic discord were getting fed up with the owners of HD not fixing bugs with the site and started their own.  It's appears to be filling rapidly with most of the active posters so until HD gets fixed it's going to be where I hang out for audio.  I'm waiting for them to pick a spiffy logo before adding it to my audio page....

11/2/2

Wow!  Sorry for the delay in any sort of update.  I found out about the death of my best friend from high school and have spent a lot of time reconnecting with some important people from my past, two of his sisters.  They've both become wonderful friends again and they have helped me greatly in coming to grips with his unfortunate passing.  He was one of those guys you didn't worry about...would always be there so I didn't keep in as close contact as I should and really regret it now.  I should know better.  Anyway, their renewed friendship has become very important to me and I've been spending a lot of time getting reacquainted.  It's kind of reminded me of what's important in life and allowed me to focus again on personal relationships instead of some of the material pursuits I've recently been involved in.  That's where my heads at now, but this page is about my wonderful stereo system.  I wrote on a message board that this sound is as close to a religious experience as I will have.  I've since been corrected by the first girl I ever kissed...telling me her brother believed in the sky church...I look up, it's there, I believe.  I like thinking about him saying that and was surprised to hear it.  Regardless, I also said that Herr Gemein, the designer and builder of my system should be sainted.  It sounds that good.  I finally hooked up some decent cables to it and the difference astounded me.  I thought it sounded good before but now it's got such ease.    Sounds are so clear and distinct.  I commented earlier about how much I noticed whether a sound was there or not and that's improved, which is hard to believe.  I guess you would call it attack and decay.  I can really hear the quickness.  It also sounds so good from other rooms in the house that I have no problem at all with listening from other than the sweet spot.  There's still a balance problem in the room with the right side, but that's in my opinion the glass behind the speaker.  I haven't gotten around to curtains yet and hopefully that will correct it.  As far as problems, nothing major...a little crosstalk between channels in the preamp, but that could be cables as I've still got a rat's nest behind the system.  One other upgrade, I did connect some of the computer and video sources through a Classe SSP 30 preamp/processor and I haven't noticed a change in sound.  I didn't mention Klaus from Odyssey  yet and he's right there with Rolf Gemein as far as audio sainthood in my opinion.  He's given a lot of people great deals on some fantastic equipment.  I love reading stories about different people that he's helped find great sound.   I just wish he drank beer so I could buy him several.  Special thanks to Kukui Wheeler and Punalei McLean for helping me to rediscover the important things in life.

Kulani Roberts....what else can I say...rock on...I'll cherish memories of you 'til the day I die.  I like to think you had a hand in telling me to search for your name on the web that day.  I truly regret finding your obit, but thanks for helping me find your family again.  They meant alot to me when younger, as did you and I'm very happy to be a part of it again. 

10/23/2

Finally back...not much to say about the UAE...finally got my household goods...in progress here, more or less set up here, and a bad pic of me here...too much to do, more later.

8/17/2

Gone for awhile, so there probably won't be any updates for couple of months.

8/16/2

Had Rob and Kim over last night to rave reviews!  Rob brought a bunch of CD's so I could test it out.  Sounded great.  Volume control on the Cd remote doesn't work, but didn't plan to use it anyway.  Some of my favorite sounds have been the Police, Pink Floyd and ZZ Top so far.  The right speaker still seems too prominent and I have to see if that's the windows or what.  Looking forward to getting some curtains...all is well, I'm out of here on Sunday so you likely won't hear much from me...cheers

8/10/2

Check this out!  I was trying to figure out how to stand the speakers, there are sixteen little blocks that come with them, four each for beneath the baseplate of each set and four each four between the baseplate and speaker.  I was having trouble getting them to stay in place when making minor shifts in speaker position and finally happened to look at them closely.  They're legos.  It's been awhile since I've played with them  and it didn't ring a bell at first glance.  Anyway, I've more or less given up on a way to keep them in place short of superglue, so I'm looking at something that will be able to adjust a slight wobble in one speaker.  The wobble is most likely my floor, but small movements of the speaker don't make it go away.  The baseboard is mdf so I should be able to  just screw some sort of cone or spike into it.  I may get some from the company that made my racks unless someone can tell me why I shouldn't.  They're sitting on a tile floor.  Sorry, had to go listen to "Here Comes my Girl"...I'm trying to discover what a soundstage is...I know it's way to early to do critical listening, but I just close my eyes and sometimes it's there.   I should also probably sit up straighter as it sounds better when I do, but I enjoy slouching in a chair and relaxing to the tunes.  From what I've read, the system sounds laid back a little to me.  It's not in my face at all.  My ears tell me that the musicians are at or behind the speakers.  This surprised me, but I don't know why.  I've just been listening to rock recorded in a studio and I don't know if I'm supposed to have that large a soundstage.    I should try other music, but every time I think about it, another good song comes on.  One bad note, the first note in "With or Without You", the bass line is resonant in my room.  Kind of sucked because the rest of the song sounded great, but I could feel myself wincing right before the next time that section came up.  This system is "VERY" involving.  I've had my air guitar out a lot.  Still  experimenting, so I don't even know if I've found the sweet spot yet and haven't tried to figure out how large or small it is.  Rockin' on!

8/9/2

I almost want to turn it off so I quit leaving the computer to go listen to a song they're playing.  I'm trying to type my initial impressions of my new stereo system, but I keep hearing good songs and get up off the couch to go in for a listen...it sounds that good!  I'm listening through a wall and an open door at the moment and it still sounds incredible.  From the start, the delivery guys were right on time today.  I couldn't believe they carried all this stuff in a small pickup truck.  Everything but the speakers, the large boxes and 176 lbs., were easy carries.  The speakers had handles on the boxes made of plastic and the came off, so they tried to more or less roll them up the stairs.  They were packaged very well, so I let them do it.  If I were a better photographer, I'd post more pics, but the ones I take don't do the equipment justice.  It's absolutely beautiful!!!  Oops I guess I should tell you what it is...Symphonic Line Kraft 250 monoblocks, Bel Canto S-models, the Erleuchtung preamp and "Der" CD player.  Better photos are available down the page, near the bottom, or you can visit their website yourself here.

The Aranya finish is extraordinary!  It's reflective like chrome or a mirror, but darker metal.  The preamp came with the polishing compound still applied, but it was a pleasure to watch the shine appear while buffing it off.  Both the preamp and CD were a lot heavier than I thought they would be, mainly because they both have external power supplies, so I thought they would be relatively light.  One problem I had was that Herr Gemein's handwriting is the first I've seen that's worse than mine.  He wrote some sort of instruction that I could barely read.  I think it had something to do with the speaker setup, but I'm not sure.  Anyway, I went for broke and checked that everything powered up ok with no problems except for a lack of adapters.  In Cyprus we use the large 3-prong plugs and the equipment comes with 2-prongs.  I ended up plugging into a multiplug style adapter power strip, not the best, but it worked.  Also, all of my interconnects are on their way from Korea, so I had to find  some at a local store, which meant cheapos.  Having no CD's, I moved my satellite TV setup into the living room and hooked everything up and started listening to the Sky TV radio stations.

Here's a photo of how things look now.  I've adjusted the speaker position a bit after the photo, not because it sound bad, just because I was eyeballing the positioning without a measuring device.  It's close as far as eyeballs go.

On to the music....I put it on the rock station and got sound.  I don't know about all of the audio terms that are thrown around in reviews, all I've listened to in the past, if you've read this page from the beginning, are good mass market stereo equipment.  I just now know part of what I've been missing!  I say part because it's only been playing two hours....I find it hard to believe it gets better!!!  I walked around the house after cranking the volume a bit to see what sort of volume I can get away with and it's loud enough for me and they can barely hear it downstairs and not at all outside.  For now I'll say that I've never heard things that are present in songs I've listened to a lot before.  I'll work on a way to describe it.  Everything is so balanced, everything is there, the supertweeters have presented some things I'm surprised I can still hear after working around aircraft all these years.  The bass is very musical and balanced and I notice a lot more about it than I have before.  Past systems I've had, I guess just gave me loud mud.   I think I've died and gone to audio heaven.    Can't wait til my good interconnects and speaker wire get here.  I know I've left out a lot.  I can't stop getting up to go listen, so if there are questions, use the email link on the top of the page or post them to the Odyssey forum.

Klaus, I can't thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this equipment at such an excellent price.  Your patience in dealing with my impatience was typical of your reputation.  I wish I had more experience with other products so I could give others a better frame of reference.  I apologize, but it's time to enjoy the music again.   I'll add more as I feel like it,  but it won't be much for awhile.  I'm leaving in a week or so for a couple months.   Cheers Klaus,  you rock!

8/8/2

Finally!  I just paid about 3000 pounds(Cypriot) to clear customs for my equipment.  It will be delivered tomorrow afternoon.  Here's where I'll be putting the stuff for now.  There will undoubtedly be a lot of experimentation, but most of that won't likely occur until after I get back from the UAE in October.  I'm still not sure when my household goods will get here.  I should probably send an email.

7/19/2

Still no stereo and no household goods yet.  Both should be here soon.  I found some other racks and they are on their way from CA.  They look pretty good and most importantly, can be shipped here.  The company, Studiotech, really went out their way to get me the racks and gave me 10% off to offset the shipping costs a bit.  Here's the TV table and here's the audio rack.  They are both in Rosewood and silver.

7/5/2

Never heard back about the racks, still looking.  Not really audio related, but here's a tour of my house.  I've cleaned out the living room, here's a shot at where the entertainment system will go, I'm angling it this way to minimize reflections, or at least  lengthen the time they'll take to return to my ears, so everything's pointing toward the open area.  Lots of plants and rugs for filler to come.  Here's the main balcony.  It's comfortable in the evening, and a great place to exercise in the morning and tan in the afternoon.  Kitchen and dining room taken from the balcony.  Here's another balcony on the other side of the house that catches the evening sun.  The stairs to the entrance are pretty, but there are three levels which makes it a pain to move things in and out.  Here's some future soccer stars practicing in the park across the street.  Here's the satellite dish and the solar panels we use for hot water.  The landlord's business is selling water heating equipment and solar panels, so, as expected, it works pretty well!  Last but not least, my current laundry room and future brewery.

6/29/2

I'm ordering an audio(the one on the left) and video rack tomorrow unless the shipping is completely outrageous. 

6/20/2

Found a house...it's way to big for me, but has a lot of room for guests.  Here's a photo of what will be my listening room.  The equipment will go where the striped couch is, a 42 inch plasma NEC and the speakers will be a bit forward of it.   The striped couch will be on the left wall and the couch that's there now is already moved.  I'll have a 9' x 15' flokati in front of the speakers so hopefully that will eliminate the effects of the floor.  It's some sort of tile.  I haven't bought any racks or tables for the equipment yet.  Anyway, suggestions to cure any potential problems with the room are more than welcome.  This is the first time I've set up a truly hi fidelity set of equipment and I'm looking forward to learning how to do it right.

6/16/2

Talked to Klaus and my stuff should be here by the end of the month.  Customs said there's a 10% VAT(Value Added Tax) plus anywhere from 2 to 9% duty, which is less than I was prepared to pay.  If I can hold off listening right off the bat, I'm going to put my equalizer in the path at first and run some noise through it to position my speakers for as even a response as I can get.  I may look at adding things to the room then, or wait, depending on how it looks.  I'm hoping not to have to use the equalizer when listening, but will have to wait and see.  I'll probably be listening to CDs at first as it will probably take a little time to set up the turntable.  I've done it before when I had a Technics, but I have a feeling the Rega P9 will be a little more finicky.  Guess I should find a house first eh?

My audio history is pretty long although not of terribly high quality.  I started listening to my parents and grandparents console stereo, radio and turntable, mostly C&W, but soon turned to pop music.  I remember my brother and I listening with Diana Wallace, the girl next door, to her 45 of Love Potion #9 and loving it.  After a few years of this, mostly AM bubblegum forced on me by babysitters, I heard Nazareth's Hair of the Dog on 8-track.  My father's car and his console stereo soon acquired an 8-track player and I fell in love with Rock and Roll.  My equipment didn't improve until I joined the Air Force and bought a Sansui receiver and a pair of JBL L-40's.  They sounded great in barracks rooms!  I took this to Germany with me and discovered one of the advantages of being stationed overseas...the Audio-Photo Club.  I bought a Technics turntable,  and an Akai cassette deck.  This lasted until I reenlisted in the Air Force for 6 more years, heavily influenced by the fairly large bonus my career field received for a reenlistment.  A good portion of this was spent on a new Yamaha receiver, an Akai reel-to-reel and some Klipsch Heresy speakers.  Somewhere in there I acquired a JVC equalizer that had a spectrum analyzer and a noise generator.  It never seemed to help the sound all that much, but it was a lot of fun to play with.  My receiver, the Yamaha, took some kind of power hit shortly before I left and started making weird feedback noises every once in awhile.  I didn't have time to get it fixed before I left and took the problem with me to my next stop, which turned out to be Florida.

A friend of mine from Germany, Erik Brown, and I rented a nice place together in Florida.  Perfect for young bachelors with a pool, and a great living room for parties.  We had a lot of those...unfortunately at one that took place while I was in Panama, my receiver decided to make the noise while it was cranked and took out one of my JBL's.  Erik had it fixed, but it never sounded the same.  The receiver still worked most of the time, but I decided to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it.  I took it to work and started trying to follow signals through it.  During this process a clip lead slipped off and lodged itself between two of the legs of what appeared to be a large power transistor.  A couple of little resistors didn't like this and spewed smoke to show their indignation.  Bye Bye Yamaha.  Next stop, Edwards AFB.

Nothing exceptional for quite a few years, some Kenwood junk and my Heresys.  Spent a while in Texas and AZ before selling what I had and moving to Korea.  While there, I bought a Yamaha receiver, a Pioneer DVD/CD/LD player and a Bose surround system, the little cubes with a subwoofer.  It sounded pretty good, but I wasn't listening seriously, mainly using it for mp3's from my computer, games and the TV.

Things changed on my second trip to Saudi Arabia.  Working there involves short hectic periods of activity in between long stretches of boredom, which gave me a lot of time on the internet.  A guy whom I recently met, Roger Stephenson, had been there before me and left a lot of his bookmarks on one of the computers.  I had never seen true audiophile systems before and spent a lot of time browsing through his links.  This was really dangerous....here I am, making more money than usual, and being bombarded with visions of audio equipment I had no idea existed.  One of the places I most enjoyed visiting was the Harmonic Discord message board site.  I had been to a few others and they reminded me of some college football sites I visit with all the pissing contests going on.  Here was a place though, that provided valuable information along with some humor, and seemed to be populated with guys I'd like to share a beer with.  I had been considering Decware with horns up until now but after reading a lot of posts, began to consider some of the manufacturers that had forums here.  Way, way too many choices....and after a lot of deliberation, I finally placed an order, I was going with Stratos monoblocks, Tempest pre, and Norh 9.0 marbles.  I called Klaus and got him started, listened to his enthusiasm for the synergy of my choices, and placed the order.  At this time I was most impressed with the looks of the Norh speakers, hearing too, from many sources, that they sounded great as well, but VMPS had just one a best of show award with the RM-40's, so I was thinking about them too.  Brian said in an email that the RM-40's would sound wonderful with the Stratos and I was just about ready to pull the plug on a pair when along comes Marbles....  He was raving about a Symphonic Line amp he had heard.  I don't recall the model number, but his experience led me to call Klaus and ask about the Symphonic Line equipment.  I should never have done this with extra money available.  He quoted me prices, prices I loved to hear, so I kept adding equipment, starting with the Kraft 250 monoblocks (links are in German), Die Erleuchtung,  Der CD-spieler and the Bel Canto S model speakers.  It fit in my budget, so I bit the bullet.

Shortly after this, I found out I was moving to Cyprus.  Klaus has been great through all of this, from waiting on slow US mail from overseas to setting things up with Rolf Gemein in Germany, all the while dealing with the launch of his own speaker line.  I made it here and gave Klaus the address a couple of days ago, so hopefully I'll see the equipment shortly and hear it soon thereafter.

I also have a Rega P9 turntable, a Behringer Ultracurve Pro DSP 8024 in case my room is beyond repair, and a Classe SSP 30 for when I eventually add home theatre.

I'll be adding more as it happens.