Dirty Little Secrets

Printable View

  • 02-01-2008, 10:38 AM
    hydroman
    I worked for CC in the 80's...

    I bought a car audio amplifier from a shop in Upstate NY and eventually let it short out (stoopid installer (me - D'oh!) ). I went to CC to buy the exact same amp (same model#) and it sounded half as loud/weighed half as much. HHHmmmH.

    Also, along with the 'Guaranteed Lowest Price' promise of 'just bring in a competitor's ad and we will match it *if the exact same model number is in stock at the competitor' or refund 10% of the difference...

    ...then CC took care to have the model numbers for CC merchandise to be 'shifted' so we rarely had to honor the guarantee...

    Mark up on cartridges? I am ashamed to say. Even with employee discount i bought my Shure V15 at RatShack (labeled as RatShack and still a great deal today!) for far less.
  • 02-01-2008, 01:41 PM
    E-Stat
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melvin walker
    I remember the story , it cost Ford millions to defeat Ferrari. I might add the Ford GT's were developed in Great Britain not America. The GT's were tested...

    You are aware that Ford has significant assets in the UK and Germany? Remember the Merkur? It was simply less expensive to leverage their relationship with Lola. Mercedes did the same thing with their F1 program. They simply bought a British firm called Illmor to build the engines. They had zero expertise themselves.

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melvin walker
    ...and than raced by Europeans.

    Some were, others weren't. Do you need to see the list of American drivers again? I'm certainly not always right about things, but I've yet to see you acknowledge a single time that many of your assertions-presented-as-fact are incorrect. I've yet to see you preface a comment with "I think..." or "My recollection is..." or anything that suggests you really don't know what you're talking about in those cases.

    Here's a suggestion and you can take it or leave it. On topics for which I recall some information, but am not crystal clear in the details, I google the topic on the net and find a good source for factual information. Opinions are opinions, but always shootin' from the hip hasn't worked very well for you in the accuracy department.

    rw
  • 02-01-2008, 02:04 PM
    markw
    Wake up and smell the coffee, rw.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by E-Stat
    I'm certainly not always right about things, but I've yet to see you acknowledge a single time that many of your assertions-presented-as-fact are incorrect. I've yet to see you preface a comment with "I think..." or "My recollection is..." or anything that suggests you really don't know what you're talking about in those cases.

    Here's a suggestion and you can take it or leave it. On topics for which I recall some information, but am not crystal clear in the details, I google the topic on the net and find a good source for factual information. Opinions are opinions, but always shootin' from the hip hasn't worked very well for you in the accuracy department.

    Veracity isn't high on his list of concerns. Talking big and appeasing his own ego is the order of the day for this troll.

    I guess one can live in their own virtual dream world thanks to the Internet. Where else can someone delude himself into believing what he posts is real?

    Even if he knows no-one believes a word he says, maybe If he says it loud enough and often enough, maybe he'll believe it himself. ..sure seems like that to me.

    ..there are some advantages to encroaching dementia...

    After watching my Mom slowly fade away over several years with dimentia, her escape from reality into a world of fantasy was a blessing for her. It let her relive happier days past, and many that never occurred, but it did provide her some solace from having her mind slowly slipping away.

    I used to let mel get to me but actually, I kinda feel sorry for the old coot. It's fairly obvious that he's got nobody else that will listen to him, much less pay any attention to him. Here's a poor guy who always felt inferior because he couldn't have all the finer things he read about in the magazines but couldn't afford them. Now, thanks to a misfiring of the synapses in he brain, he has all he ever wanted and here, with a willing audience, he can finallt feel like he's getting some respect.

    ya know whut ah mean, vern? ;)
  • 02-01-2008, 02:24 PM
    E-Stat
    I know, I know
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markw
    I guess one can live in their own virtual dream world thanks to the Internet.

    Worse still, immediate access to the wealth of fact based knowledge over the 'net can be used to make anyone appear quite learned.

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markw
    ya know whut ah mean, vern? ;)

    What we have here is a failure to accumulate. :)

    rw
  • 02-01-2008, 02:31 PM
    Rich-n-Texas
    "And the beat goes on"
  • 02-01-2008, 02:40 PM
    JSE
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
    "And the beat goes on"


    Great, now I have Glen Frey's song from Beverly Hills Cop stuck in my head. Thanks! :18:

    And the best goes on....Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh, Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh.

    Crap!
  • 02-01-2008, 02:40 PM
    markw
    Ya really can't blame the poor guy for looking for some virtual companionship.
    Can you imagine having to deal with this pompus ash face-to-face on a daily basis?

    He probably goes through caregivers faster than Murphy brown went through secretaties!

    Sorry... I really shouldn't crack on him too much. He can't help who he is, but they really should limit his access to the internet!
  • 02-01-2008, 02:42 PM
    markw
    and the beat goes on
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JSE
    Great, now I have Glen Frey's song from Beverly Hills Cop stuck in my head. Thanks! :18:

    And the best goes on....Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh, Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh.

    Crap!

    I wuz thinkin' Sonny and Cher. I guess I'm gettin' old.
  • 02-01-2008, 02:43 PM
    JSE
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
    "And the beat goes on"


    And where is my case o' Shiner? If my gun would un-jam, I might consider giving you a reddie. I'd consider it, probably would not do it though! :cornut:
  • 02-01-2008, 02:44 PM
    GMichael
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JSE
    Great, now I have Glen Frey's song from Beverly Hills Cop stuck in my head. Thanks! :18:

    And the best goes on....Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh, Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh.

    Crap!

    Maybe this will help:

    Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale..
    A tale of a fatefull trip...
    It started from this tropic port...
    Aboard this tiny ship....
    ..........................................
  • 02-01-2008, 02:45 PM
    JSE
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markw
    I wuz thinkin' Sonny and Cher. I guess I'm gettin' old.


    Ahhhhhhhh! Damit! :incazzato:
  • 02-01-2008, 02:47 PM
    JSE
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GMichael
    Maybe this will help:

    Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale..
    A tale of a fatefull trip...
    It started from this tropic port...
    Aboard this tiny ship....
    ..........................................


    ..........................:mad2:
  • 02-01-2008, 03:50 PM
    markw
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JSE
    And where is my case o' Shiner? If my gun would un-jam, I might consider giving you a reddie. I'd consider it, probably would not do it though! :cornut:

    Somebody havin' a Shiner Bock party? Didja tell GMichael?
  • 02-01-2008, 04:06 PM
    Rich-n-Texas
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markw
    I wuz thinkin' Sonny and Cher. I guess I'm gettin' old.

    Nailed it!!!

    Sorry JSE, since you were wrong, and in lieu of a red chicklett, I'm afraid I'll have to suspend your Shinner shipment.

    :ciappa:
  • 02-01-2008, 04:13 PM
    emaidel
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melvin walker
    Not you a person that considers history the dark ages , discussing Stanton and Pickering.
    Better get my shotgun out , times have changed.
    Back to your subject Pickering was an excellent cartridge , I never used one because most of the audiophiles in my group considered it inferior to other cartridages. When installing cartridges with high end arms most audio magazines did not include Stanton are Pickering in their test reports .

    What was the name of the quality turntable that sold for $ 79.00 ? I was under the impression that few if any high end or quality transmission turntables non sold for less than $200.00 without an arm.


    I hardly know where to begin to respond to this, but have to still ask, "WILL YOU PLEASE LEARN TO SPELL PROPERLY, AND USE CORRECT GRAMMAR?" It would make your posts a lot easier to read and understand.

    The "audiophiles in your group" might have been interested to learn that I gave Saul Marantz a Pickering XSV-3000 to use at a consumer hi-fi show in Philadelphia in 1977 to demonstrate the Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers. The next day, he came into the Pickering booth and told us it was the best sounding moving magnet cartridge he'd ever heard. After that, I offered Dahlquist employees the same employee discount PIckering dealers could get on the XSV-3000, and almost all of them bought one.

    Insofar as audio magazines not using Pickering or Stanton cartridges, that's flatly not so. In reviewing the XSV-3000 in "Stereo Review," Julian HIrsch concluded by saying, "We don't see how you can do better at any price." That was quite some praise. Audio Magazine gave it high praise then also. Both the XSV-3000 and the Stanton 881-S were well reviewed in The Absolute Sound as well, with a far better review written for the Stanton than the Pickering, even though there wasn't any difference between the two.

    Insofar as the "quality turntable that sold for $79," you're putting words in my mouth. Garrard models often sold for around that price at the time of the "penny deal," and many of them sold for $79.95, or even less. I'd hardly call them "quality" turntables, but then I never said they were in the first place. The AR turntable (a genuine stunner in its day) cost only $58 when it was first introduced, and you could purchase it with a PIckering, Shure or Empire cartridge for $58.01.
  • 02-01-2008, 04:21 PM
    Mr Peabody
    [QUOTE=E-Stat]Worse still, immediate access to the wealth of fact based knowledge over the 'net can be used to make anyone appear quite learned.

    Oh yeah?! Some one should clue Pix in.

    Wow, Melvin mentions Busch and everyone thinks it's 5:00

    Jingle Bells... Jingle Bells.... Jingle All Da Way.... ay!
  • 02-01-2008, 05:36 PM
    markw
    "transmission turntable"?
    Don't sweat the small stuff, emaidel. We all know mel's BSing you, and everyone else for that matter. don't take it personally. Either ignore him, or just have fun with it.

    If he really had a clue as to what he's talking about, you durn know he would have bludgeoned you over the head with some swanky cartridge brand of the era. Apparently, info on them is not quite that easy to dig up on the Internet and you've caught him with his pants down.

    ...now that's a scary picture...

    Keep on with your anecdotes. I, for one, find them interesting and I'm quite sure others appreciate them as well.

    But, I gotta say, I'd really like to know what a "transmission turntable" is? Is it a three speed, four speed or an automatic? I have a hunch I know what he's trying to say but, with ... and my witness, I look forward to seeing him try to wriggle out of that one!

    Oh, I'm going on 59, was born in Newark and raised in Union County, NJ. My first job was as an installer with Stuart's Audio in Westfield.

    I had a Lafayette LA-1500 for a few days in '67 but it was a bit "noisy" for my tastes. Germanium transistors, perhaps?
  • 02-01-2008, 05:40 PM
    Rich-n-Texas
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
    Oh yeah?! Some one should clue Pix in.

    :lol: We probably had that exact same thought at exactly the same time.
  • 02-02-2008, 04:46 AM
    SlumpBuster
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by emaidel
    The next day, he came into the Pickering booth and told us it was the best sounding moving magnet cartridge he'd ever heard.


    I will not continue this conversation unless you are willing to read 35 year old Stereo Reviews. I don't care if you were actually there. Everyone knows that Audiophiles don't use Moving Magnet carts! At least not the audiophiles in my group. :out:

    ;)
  • 02-02-2008, 04:48 AM
    melvin walker
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by emaidel
    I hardly know where to begin to respond to this, but have to still ask, "WILL YOU PLEASE LEARN TO SPELL PROPERLY, AND USE CORRECT GRAMMAR?" It would make your posts a lot easier to read and understand.

    The "audiophiles in your group" might have been interested to learn that I gave Saul Marantz a Pickering XSV-3000 to use at a consumer hi-fi show in Philadelphia in 1977 to demonstrate the Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers. The next day, he came into the Pickering booth and told us it was the best sounding moving magnet cartridge he'd ever heard. After that, I offered Dahlquist employees the same employee discount PIckering dealers could get on the XSV-3000, and almost all of them bought one.

    Insofar as audio magazines not using Pickering or Stanton cartridges, that's flatly not so. In reviewing the XSV-3000 in "Stereo Review," Julian HIrsch concluded by saying, "We don't see how you can do better at any price." That was quite some praise. Audio Magazine gave it high praise then also. Both the XSV-3000 and the Stanton 881-S were well reviewed in The Absolute Sound as well, with a far better review written for the Stanton than the Pickering, even though there wasn't any difference between the two.

    Insofar as the "quality turntable that sold for $79," you're putting words in my mouth. Garrard models often sold for around that price at the time of the "penny deal," and many of them sold for $79.95, or even less. I'd hardly call them "quality" turntables, but then I never said they were in the first place. The AR turntable (a genuine stunner in its day) cost only $58 when it was first introduced, and you could purchase it with a PIckering, Shure or Empire cartridge for $58.01.

    How about that you again discussing history.
    Now you are an ENGLISH and PHONICS expert , I use spell check do you? You repeat yourself maybe it's age.
    I posted that Pickering was an excellent cartridge. I read the test reports of the two cartridges in several magazines.

    Having never owned a Pickering or Stanton cartridge I respect your opinion. Again Saul Marantz , 1977 , Dahlquist speakers , an excellent speaker Saul Marantz is history and how long has it been since the Dahlquist DQ-10 was manufactured ?
    Is any of the audio equipment you are discussing manufactured today ? if not you are discussing audio history , maybe you don't understand the definition of history.

    Oh by the may I used spell check and checked your spelling , there was several mis-spelled words !
  • 02-02-2008, 04:55 AM
    SlumpBuster
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markw
    But, I gotta say, I'd really like to know what a "transmission turntable" is?

    I saw that too. I bet that is what becomes of "transcription turntable" after rattling around inside Mel's cranium for a couple of decades.
  • 02-02-2008, 04:56 AM
    SlumpBuster
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melvin walker
    Oh by the may I used spell check and checked your spelling , there was several mis-spelled words !

    You tell him, Melvin!
  • 02-02-2008, 05:21 AM
    emaidel
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melvin walker
    there was several mis-spelled words !


    That's, "there were several Mis-spelled words."

    Trying to reason with you is like trying to reason with a houseplant, so I'll just stop trying.
  • 02-02-2008, 05:33 AM
    melvin walker
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SlumpBuster
    I saw that too. I bet that is what becomes of "transcription turntable" after rattling around inside Mel's cranium for a couple of decades.

    In the early days of radio , the radio engineers used disk for recording rather than tape.
    The turntabes were rather large 16 inch tables ,with 16 inch arms. The term "by transcripton" was used to describe how the program was broadcast. The playback was done on 16" transmission turntables using 16" tone arms.


    The early turntables used the name transcription turntable although the tables was now 12 inches as a sign of quality and durability . Fairchild an outstanding turntable of the 50's and early 60's used the term" Farchild Transmission Turntable" , so did Empire , Rek-O-Kut and Thorens.
    There was 16 inch arms and 16 inch tables for sale.
  • 02-02-2008, 05:37 AM
    melvin walker
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by emaidel
    That's, "there were several Mis-spelled words."

    Trying to reason with you is like trying to reason with a houseplant, so I'll just stop trying.

    You don't reason with me , I am not your child or student. If you have a counterpoint make it !
    A houseplant , you can do better than that. Learn to respect others opinion , than they will respect yours !