Synergistic Red Fuse ...

Charles ...

When I burned the Zoot Sims CD for you, I also burned one for myself.  I played it tonight in its entirety.  I find it pretty amazing that a mono LP that is almost 60 years old can be that involving and have such great sound. Sim's big, fat, voluptuous tenor is right there in the room. A real toe tapper for sure. 

By the way, I installed five of Herbie's tube dampeners on the tubes in the preamp yesterday. All I can say is WOW!

Frank, 
It just is another example of how two very different audio systems can yield such similar musical/-sonic results. With the exception of the Black fuses our speakers, source, electronics and cabling share no overlapping brands. What we have in common is the goal of constructing a system that emphasizes and serves the beauty and emotional power of music. 

That’s all I want from my system and based  on your numerous comments on your captivating  listening experiences at home, you most certainly have achieved that as well. Yes a 60 year old mono recording thats full of musical beauty and communicates straight to the soul. Toes tapping and head ah bobbin, absolutely 😊. Full bodied,rich and fat tenor sax tone, oh yes Zoot and company were in the house!
Charles 

Anybody else here use an autoformer or transformer passive preamp? My ASL TX-1 is a big part of what what makes my system sound so good. I can't imagine going back to resistive volume control.

Charles ...

On that Montgomery Brothers CD I sent you ... I listened to that last night as well. What I could clearly detect was that it was recorded from two different sessions. 

I discussed this album with my friend Robert, who knows more about recorded music than anyone on the planet. He even puts Michael Fremer to shame.

Robert knows my collection as if it were his own. Robert said that he thinks the album was recorded and used only by radio stations and was never released to the public. In all of our years of collecting records, this is the only copy either of us has ever seen. I've been looking since the early 70's for a cleaner copy with no luck at all. Not even on Ebay or on Amazon. I do have another Montgomery Brothers album with some of the same music, but no Buddy on vibes. 

By the way, I know you like vibes. Do  you have anything by Milt Jackson on the old Roost label? They were from the mono era and they sound fantastic.  They were reissued as "twofers" about 30 years ago and the transfers are superb. Good BeBop played by a very young Milt Jackson. Quite different from his later recordings when he was playing with MJQ. 

Frank

Frank, 
I am a Hugh fan and admirer of Milt Jackson and have a sizable collection of his recordings.  I don't have any from the Roost label/mono era but will seek them out. My recordings of Jackson are with him not with the MJQ but with others.  I believe that the MJQ format actually restricted his talents and often held him back. His efforts with Wes Montgomery,  Ray Charles,  John Coltrane and Ray Brown for example are all excellent. 
Charles