Rushton: I've had a 16.5 ordered for several weeks and am wondering if I'm every going to receive it. VPI says nothing is backordered, my local dealer hasn't seen it yet.
Certainly, before I play even one lp, they will be cleaned first. The record cleaning rituals thread found on the Gon. educated me in terms of what to do, and how to do it.
Richardmr: It appears that I'm going down the cottage industry path as far as audio equipment is concerned. My interconnects and speaker cables are produced locally by a fellow hobbyist, and a power cord was just purchased from Moray James, found on the Gon. I just received a Supratek Chenin preamp from Mick Maloney in Australia, and the Galibier Quattro was ordered from Thom Mackris of Galibier Design.
The Supratek was purchased based on communications here at the Gon., and elsewhere (I couldn’t be happier with it) and the Galibier was found after loads of research regarding the Teres Group, and the offshoots: Teres Audio, Redpoint Audio, and Galibier Design. I found the exercises that the folks involved in the Teres Group did, to get to where each individual now is, interesting and informative. What better place to buy, than from consummate tweakers dedicated to making a great product better.
Discussions with Thom Mackris lead to my interest in his Galibier Tables. His audio expertise, and experiences with, and knowledge of tables, are amazing. My communications with him have been wonderfully informative. It’s interesting talking with an individual who’s more interested in the end results, than he is in selling what he produces. Moreover, I had the pleasure of hosting Thom and his equipment at my home while he was passing through on a 4,000 mile road trip to the East Coast.
I can’t say enough good things about Thom, his products, and the time he’s taken with me. After seeing and hearing his table, I can’t wait until I get mine.
For a cartridge, I’m starting with a Denon DL-103R. It’s stupidly inexpensive when compared to its capabilities and others of its caliber – time will tell where I go from there.
