Hi All,
I've been mucking around in audiophilia for decades, and have owned nearly a hundred different components over the years, but there's alway been one thing that has been consistent - a love of '50s and '60s jazz. The systems have changed over the years, mostly dependent on how much cash I had on hand, how much I enjoyed the engineering of the components, and, as I'm a long-suffering architect, the aesthetics of the system. The system has gone from early Sansui tube integrated, Denon table and DCM time windows back in the '70s, all the way to a Teres 340 with a Schroeder Reference and Allaerts cart, Nagra PL-P preamp, Nagra VPAs, and Sonus faber Amati Homages. In between, I discovered Don Garber's store Fi on 30 Watts street in Manhattan, and got hooked on flea powered amps, high efficiency speakers, and old idler drive turntables. I built a lot of stuff, and had fun, but then ran into some disposable income, and, well, disposed of it. The Teres/Nagra/SF was awesome, but I sold it when I moved from Dc back to NYC in 2016. So I went back to the era of my most enjoyment: I now use a Lenco L75/PTP6 with a thick slate plinth, the same Schroeder Reference and Allaerts MC-1b, but now also with a Bokrand 12" Ortofon AS-309 with Ortofon SPU; an AIr Tight ATC-1 preamp with a Schiit Mani to help the mc carts out; a Don Garber-built, Noriyasu Komuro-designed el-34 amp based on a Dynaco ST-70, (called, rather brilliantly, the Komuro 70); and a pair of home-built TQWP speakers designed by JC Morrison for Fi. I don't hear as well as I used to, but I have a ton of fun playing around with the turntable and tweeking the amp. Recently I picked up 2 pairs of Lii Audio M6 full-range drivers, right after they went out of production. So I'm excited to figure out what to do with them! Anyway, I find most people in this "hobby" to be fun, kind and welcoming, and full of information that I can only sometimes understand...
