Output tubes burn-in

Whart, Hope you don't mind another audio story. Since you mentioned Opus One, here is another.
My friend owned/co-owned the audio store "Opus Two" in Memphis, TN. When I visited him back in the early 70s, they had rack mounted Marantz Model Nines (two), 10B and 7C preamp all arranged in a very attractive wood paneled wall. It was stunning to see.
He also had the KLH Nines.
I was helping out one day in the store and in walked Isaac Hayes. He was very shy and was interested in the new "audio chair" that had just become available. It was the chair which had speakers enclosed within a “cocoon” type of arrangement. Isaac asked the price of the chair was and was told it sold for $700. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a wad of money, rolled off seven one hundred dollar bills, and then asked, "Does it come in red?"

Love it. I think i remember that chair. Issac Hayes was the man. Great story, you could do a blog of audio days gone-by. It would be fun to read.
Keep 'em coming.
We visited Memphis recently- the bbq was phenomenal, we went out to the 4Way for some soul food, and of course, we did Graceland and the Sun Studios tour. I thought Beale St. was disappointing- at best hard rock blues, no country or delta blues or any other kind of blues that we could find. Some of the storefronts were great, but the city had a very dangerous vibe (I lived in NYC during the crack-crazed 80's, and know what 'edgy' is about). Too bad, cause it has the potential to be a little jewel of a city- nice architecture, the locals were cool, and man, that bbq! You could smell it when you woke up in the morning in town.

Whart, Memphis. My old audio buddy from Milwaukee lives outside of Memphis. When I visited him and his wife about five years ago, we went to Memphis. You are right about your impression of the place. I didn’t care for the city.

I was floored, however, by the beautiful architecture of the homes there (especially East Memphis), and could not believe how much one got for the money in a house...at that time. The homes were beautiful.

My friend was a MacIntosh guy. He had a Mac C-22 preamplifier and 2105 power amplifier. I use to get jealous that his Mac would drive his KLH Nines while my Marantz 15 would clip and cause fuses to blow in my Nines. He also had a Marantz 10B.

There was a rivalry between MacIntosh and Marantz fans during those heyday years at the beginning of high-end audio. You could see it in the advertising literature of the day. Ads in Audio, Hi Fidelity and Stereo Review magazines showed Mac equipment in the home of some rich guy with a black Herman Miller lounge chair and ottoman. One got the sense of “being rich and owning MacIntosh.” Even the gothic font in their name denoted class!

The Marantz crowd beamed with pride at the beautiful brushed gold look of the equipment, and the quality finish. The 10B was simply “Da bomb” as the kids say now-a-days. And, the Marantz crowd believed that their gear sounded better than MacIntosh. I still have some of those old magazine ads in a scrap book somewhere.

Besides WZJ (who I consider the Steve Jobs of audio), the other guy I’ve been impressed with is Dr. Roger West of Soundlabs. I met him at a CES show in Chicago sometime in the 90s. Listened to his speaker and was quite impressed. He is a very nice person, having taken the time to talk. He apparently worked at Electronics Industries and knew WZJ.

Didn't know about the West-Johnson connection. Remember Dayton-Wright?
Of course i remember the old McIntosh stuff- even owned a few pieces along the way.
why don't you email me at bill@flyingreptilemediagroup.com
We can connect offline.
Best,