[tricka]

Best wishes for Christmas
and a Happy New Year,
filled with joy, peace, hope and love.

Oh and may we all get some wonderful audio presents to unwrap.....

I got some Abbey Road Coasters - - way cool.

68 F 92% humidity and raining here in Sydney..wonderful weather to listen to some jazz by - spinning Billy Strayhorn Septet (Cue for Saxophone) as I type.



My wife and I are alone celebrating Christmas this year although some old friends will come over later. We are about to make Christmas lunch after unwrapping the presents. This year we decided to make it easy on ourselves - the menu is - fresh Sydney Rock Oysters & a sensible Cavier ($40 ) on fresh Italian bread, with some bubbles, then a Smoked Sea Trout Salad with a decent Tasmanian Chardonnay, followed by Trifle for pudding (layered it up and had it soaking in Sherry all last night - yum). Tonight will be a slice of Christmas cake, with cheese & cherries, and a lovely wee dram of Whisky to wash it all down..

All of this is a particular treat for me as I don't now drink alcohol at all (health issues), but particularly enjoy bubbles and oysters, and fish and wine. A snifter or two of Scotch in the holidays is always looked forward to as well, and I can't think of a better way to enjoy it than with Christmas Cake & a good English Cheddar cuddled up to my darling wife of 25 years, watching a Christmas classic movie (It's a Wonderful Life)  on DVD. I reckon I'm a pretty lucky man this Christmas.

I hope you all have had a wonderful year, and the family and friends are all there to make it that little bit more special.

Cheers
Andy

ps forgot to mention my Christmas present to myself is a Versalex, which arrives at the end of January..

[rob400]

Nice one Andy. Enjoy the rest of Xmas and the new Versalex when it arrives. It's a great deck.

[Charisma12]

You are really a lucky man Andy.  You'll love the Versalex.

[tricka]

Thanks fellas - was a great day. I am indeed a very lucky man. Not many of us get to enjoy a long marriage these days, and I am grateful she has put up with me (the audio does test it from time to time ha ha ha)

Yup looking forward to the Versalex. I had a Simplex and enjoyed the sound very much. Currently running a Yamaha GT 2000 I got off a friend, which is a good table, but doesn't hold a candle to the WTL for Classical and Opera. Or at least I think it doesn't...

Hope you have had (or are having if you are in the US/UK)  a terrific Christmas.

[bmurphy]

Cheers Andy! As I was reading your initial post I was thinking "I'm sure he has a Simplex. I'll have to get him to do a side by side with the Versalex!"

I have the Simplex as well and when the "upgrade" bug bites the Versalex is the one I think of. The only saving grace (at least for now) is that the smaller platter of the Simplex makes it easier to swap LPs while running. Please give a full report even if it's based on your recollection of the Simplex!!

Oh and I meant to add, congratulations on 25 years - I'm closing in on 30 years of marriage myself. Not all to the same woman though.   ;^ )

[tricka]

Thanks for the reply...

Gosh I loved my Simplex, it was a marvelous deck. If you haven't already, stick it on a decent isolation platform, improves it considerably.

Am looking forward to the Versalex, truth be told, I would have just bought another Simplex if I didn't have a credit with my dealer for a returned phono. I doubt there is much between the decks, and I'd sooner put a 4k cart of the 2k Simplex than a 2k cart on a 4k Simplex...err well you get the idea.

Happy holidays everyone.

Cheers
Andy

[rob400]

A lot of Versalex and Amadeus owners wouldn't agree with your philosophy Andy. I for one believe you will be in for a pleasant suprise as to how much more resolved, detailed, controlled and natural your Versalex is over the Simplex. Enjoy!

[tricka]

I think my dealer would agree with you Rob, and I'm looking forward to experiencing it myself.

Cheers
Andrew

[Charisma12]

I agree with Rob that the Versalex is much better than the Simplex.

[tricka]

I just picked up a very used (and slight abused) WTL Simplex to run as a mono deck. ANy recommendations for a mono cart - I had in mind a Miyajima Premium or BE II Mono. Anyone have any experience with these?