Question for Jon Marsh or anyone else....

[wkhanna]

Jon
I am in San Francisco & Santa Clara for a few days.
Can you recommend a good audio store to check out?

[Renron]

WKHanna,

Try these places; (in descending order of preference)
Tone of Music
Address: 1303 Castro St, San Francisco, CA 94114
Phone415) 860-6818

AudioVision
Visionary Home Audio & Home Theater
phone: 415.614.1118
1603 Pine at Van Ness, San Francisco

Harmony Audio .............Note: the reviews of this place aren't too nice, keep your hand over your wallet.
333 W Portal Ave
San Francisco, CA 94127
(415) 661-2525

Ron

[wkhanna]

thank you, Ron!

i stopped by Tone yesterday.
maybe the best store i have ever been to, & i have been to a ton of shops in my time.
Tim is great.

i highly reccomend anyone in the area to check this place out.
regardless of your budget, Tim has practical high value stuff & knows how to get synergy when putting a system together.

[JonMarsh]

Sorry I didn't see this post earlier- I was unexpectedly in the hospital in Munich Thursday through Friday morning, and just flew home Friday afternoon.

One of the better bay area dealers is "Music Lovers", in Berkeley and San Francisco, in case your'e ever here again; they're a Berkeley Audio dealer, as well as Wilson and other solid lines. I bought my Alpha DAC from the Berkeley store.

https://www.musicloversaudio.com

Glad you had a good experience with Ron's recommendation! Looks like they carry some solid lines.

[Renron]

Your Welcome Bill,
Glad they were nice to you.

Jon,
Rather shocked to hear you were hospitalized, we're all glad they let you out on "you own recognizance". Hope it was just the Flu.
Glad your better!
Ron

[Lex]

They probably let him out on Friday because he was caught wrenching his hospital bed to improve performance.

Jon, hope your ok man!!!

Sounds like a great store and experience Bill.

[Renron]

Bill,
Tell us a story.........................Please.
What speakers did you listen to ? Amps? Playback devices?
Your opinions on different speaker (if you heard different ones) A-B
Ron

Lex, funny, your probably right. I'm seeing Ipads in each hand, hacking into the Hospital network, changing the intercom music and his food schedule.

[JonMarsh]

Bill,
Tell us a story.........................Please.
What speakers did you listen to ? Amps? Playback devices?
Your opinions on different speaker (if you heard different ones) A-B
Ron

Lex, funny, your probably right. I'm seeing Ipads in each hand, hacking into the Hospital network, changing the intercom music and his food schedule.

Well, they prevented that by not having any kind of user accessible or discoverable WiFi in the hospital!

Problem turned out to be kidney stones- not a whole lot of fun, but with a temporary stent installed I could make it back home one Friday. Now I'm lined up for surgery next Wednesday, March 30, we're going to take care of those- and my medical provider will probably lock down the network while I'm there, which will annoy GF to no end, as she likes bringing along her iPad and looking at Siberian Husky videos anytime she takes me in for medical stuff... :W

of course, now that she's got her own GoPro, I expect she'll probably start filming Masha (our Siberian Husky) and the next step will be starting her own YouTube channel...

[wkhanna]

Bill,
Tell us a story.........................Please.
What speakers did you listen to ? Amps? Playback devices?
Your opinions on different speaker (if you heard different ones) A-B
Ron

actually, i have already auditioned the vast majority of the offerings found here.
two that were new to me were the D’Agostino line & the Leben line.
both were quite amazing.

the truth is, i spent most of the time just talking with Tim, then got to watch him in action as a new customer with minimal experience walked in asking for help implementing an entry-level analog set-up with a $5k budget (including speakers).
listening to Tim inform & guide him left me with a warm fuzzy feeling, as he explained quite accurately in layman terms the requirements of good analog reproduction, demonstrated the nuances on the shops systems, & provide truthful, honest guidance based on the customer's feedback.

in fact, Tim even suggested the customer continue using his current Tannoy speakers,
reserve this portion of his budget,
get used to the vinyl set-up,
then later possibly auditioning some of Tim's speakers at home.

[wkhanna]

added some some V poor quality phone pics:

[Renron]

Jon, Can't they use ultrasound to break up the size into something manageable? Lithotripsy, the wife used to be a multi department director of a hospital. Fairly common practice, according to her..........
Hear they're painful, sorry to hear of your troubles. Hope it all goes well.

Bill,
Thanks for the pictures, very cool. Interesting speaker design, that curved one. Not my favorite, but may be appreciated by some. That first picture of the valve amplifier looks straight out of a '50s Buck Rogers Movie. Sounds like a great store from the way they assisted and not up sold that customer. Good for them.
Ron

[wkhanna]

re: Jon's now infamous, epic journey abroad & subsequent malady of trials & tribulations...

i am aware of the of the stone-busting laser, sort of the digital version...
then there is the one that uses shock waves generated by electricity, sort of like a solid state version....
and the shock wave one that uses highly focused impulses from outside the body to pulverize the stones, more of high-power tube approach.....
but my favorite & most appropriate method is Ultrasonic which uses sound waves, more analog in its application & obviously the preferred way....

never heard of using the stint before, though.

i think we should develop a stint that is soluble in tequila,
that way when you do not need it anymore it just goes away with the added bonus that you get to celebrate at the same time!

hey, i know this is no laughing matter.....
this whole mid-life aging thing we are both in the thralls of right now is serious stuff....

just this past fall, i myself was stricken by what felt like a brick shot from SLAC's particle accelerator (which, by the way, i was feet from last week when driving from San Francisco to Santa Clara where it actually passes directly under US280).
what had started as mild back pain migrated to to my abdomen & intensified to the point were i was totally incapacitated for over ten days.
batteries of testing showed nothing while doctors speculated on everything from appendicitis to bowel blockage to gallbladder & even far uglier possibilities.
meanwhile, i was left in the most uncomfortable state while i refused any relief via opioid treatment.
one of the worst parts of it was not being able to sleep more than a few minutes at a time.

in the end my own self-diagnosis, (thanks WebMD) latter verified by the 'professionals', was shingles.
they had initially ruled it out due to my having received the vaccine.
turns out, its efficacy is limited from individual to individual.

my case i did not display the typical welts on the skin, however the pain from the neuralgia (nerve damage due to the virus) was excruciating & lasted for well over two months.
one of the few times in my life music was not able to provide comfort.

any ways, we are all V happy you are now home, safe & on the mend.

[JonMarsh]

re: Jon's now infamous, epic journey abroad & subsequent malady of trials & tribulations...

i am aware of the of the stone-busting laser, sort of the digital version...
then there is the one that uses shock waves generated by electricity, sort of like a solid state version....
and the shock wave one that uses highly focused impulses from outside the body to pulverize the stones, more of high-power tube approach.....
but my favorite & most appropriate method is Ultrasonic which uses sound waves, more analog in its application & obviously the preferred way....

never heard of using the stint before, though.

i think we should develop a stint that is soluble in tequila,
that way when you do not need it anymore it just goes away with the added bonus that you get to celebrate at the same time!

hey, i know this is no laughing matter.....
this whole mid-life aging thing we are both in the thralls of right now is serious stuff....

just this past fall, i myself was stricken by what felt like a brick shot from SLAC's particle accelerator (which, by the way, i was feet from last week when driving from San Francisco to Santa Clara where it actually passes directly under US280).
what had started as mild back pain migrated to to my abdomen & intensified to the point were i was totally incapacitated for over ten days.
batteries of testing showed nothing while doctors speculated on everything from appendicitis to bowel blockage to gallbladder & even far uglier possibilities.
meanwhile, i was left in the most uncomfortable state while i refused any relief via opioid treatment.
one of the worst parts of it was not being able to sleep more than a few minutes at a time.

in the end my own self-diagnosis, (thanks WebMD) latter verified by the 'professionals', was shingles.
they had initially ruled it out due to my having received the vaccine.
turns out, its efficacy is limited from individual to individual.

my case i did not display the typical welts on the skin, however the pain from the neuralgia (nerve damage due to the virus) was excruciating & lasted for well over two months.
one of the few times in my life music was not able to provide comfort.

any ways, we are all V happy you are now home, safe & on the mend.

Stories like THIS one are certainly enough to put some perspective on what I went through, painful as it was/is. Yeah, I agree about the sleep thing being such a major issue- until last night, I haven't been sleeping more than 15-30 minutes at a time- for some reason, I managed an hour or hour and a half a few times last night.

These kinds of experiences really do turn your life upside down and make it hard to focus on much of anything else- I'm sorry you had to manage your own self diagnosis, but I've had issues with doctors not being able to manage a diagnosis either when some of the "pat" conditions weren't met, like when my daughter had renal tubular acidosis starting when she was 18 months old.

Surgery is next Wednesday, I like the energy and transparency of my urology guy, they got it scheduled in earlier than the normal 3 weeks waiting time (I guess a lot of people want to put this off a bit for one reason or another? Can't imagine why....)

Had an updated ECG yesterday, the usual bizarreness was present, including my sinus brachycardia (low pulse rate). In fact, when I came out of surgery in Munich in the recovery room they were (appropriately) getting weird out because my bpm was as low as 29- so to make them happy I started doing isometric leg and arm exercises to push it up to 54-56.

Just call me "Mr. Chill". :W Ice water in those veins... my normal resting rate is typically in the high 40's. Always sets off the alarms when they take my BP. (it kicks in if you're below 50).

now, mind you, I can see 160 to 180 on the elliptic trainer when I push things... just the resting rate is a bit bizarre.

A stent that dissolves in Tequila- I think Hank would approve of that!

[JonMarsh]

Jon, Can't they use ultrasound to break up the size into something manageable? Lithotripsy, the wife used to be a multi department director of a hospital. Fairly common practice, according to her..........
Hear they're painful, sorry to hear of your troubles. Hope it all goes well.

Bill,
Thanks for the pictures, very cool. Interesting speaker design, that curved one. Not my favorite, but may be appreciated by some. That first picture of the valve amplifier looks straight out of a '50s Buck Rogers Movie. Sounds like a great store from the way they assisted and not up sold that customer. Good for them.
Ron

I'm in next Wednesday for a procedure to do that, laser them and suck up all the bits, and pull out the stent. The issue was my return flight- I couldn't have done that after having a procedure like that, so what they did was a palliative procedure to get me safe to travel.

[Lex]

Nice store Bill. Only thing missing would be some real nice Billy Bags racks. Some serious turntable hardware there!!!

Bill, that sounds like a VERY nasty bout with Shingles! I had a run with them a few years back. I did exhibit minor external signs, just under my blue jeans and belt on one side only. Didn't even really take me out of work. Very limited external signs. But painful none the less. Very. I would go around pulling my pants out from my body, and wore very loose clothing. I diagnosed mine myself too, and went to Dr for confirmation and some meds maybe. Maybe a Zpack antibiotic or something he said would help prevent permanent neuralgia damage or something like that, and that was it for me. Rode em' out, no residual effects.

Jon, doesn't sound like a fun go of it, and surgery too? Yikes. A Siberian Husky in California? You guys don't like to do things the easy way do you? These are very demanding dogs to manage they say.

[wkhanna]

Just call me "Mr. Chill". :W Ice water in those veins... my normal resting rate is typically in the high 40's. Always sets off the alarms when they take my BP. (it kicks in if you're below 50).

now, mind you, I can see 160 to 180 on the elliptic trainer when I push things... just the resting rate is a bit bizarre.

i have heard we all get 1 billion heart beats.
based on that, we will have you around for a long while so long as we cam keep you off that trainer.

me on the other hand, with 80 bpm's at rest.....well, let us just say my plan is to live for today, one day at a time.
that is why i am getting a ticket for a ride in the B-29 Superfortress FIFI when it next comes to town this summer.
a silly bucket-list item maybe, but something i have always wanted to do.

[JonMarsh]

FIFI is totally cool- we have some similar kinds of guys coming around here on the 4th of July, but just B24 Mitchell's and B-17's. Still, I mean to do that sometime, but a B29 would be even cooler. GF is a pilot, so I'd probably have to bring here along, too!

Still, I just flew to Munich and back for what a joy ride on FIFI would cost... I understand the economics, just have to sweat the value proposition...

[wkhanna]

funny you should mention the B-24 Mitchell.
i was talking with my uncle just last month who piloted the V similar B-25 during WWII.
he commented on the H version which carried a 75 mm (3 inch) nose cannon.

my knee-jerk response was to inquire on the recoil effects.
he said when fired, the 75 mm gun would reduce the plane's air speed by over 15 knots!

[csmielke]

A good friend of ours flies A10s for the Idaho National Guard and he told me the same thing when the front Gatling Gun is in action. You actually move forward in your harness when it lights up. My wife and other gals in the neighborhood used to make dinner for his family when he was on his many deployments. As a way of saying thanks he took my family out to the airport to see his plane, flight suit/gear and to top it off we all got to fly the A-10 simulator. What a cool day and I came away with a spent shell from the day we re-took Bagdad.
Chris

[wkhanna]

how gracious of both your family & your friend.
just..way cool.

[Renron]

Epoxy Ellis would enjoy this threads drift.
Getting old sucks, no two ways about it. The wifee unit has had two heart surgeries because her's was uncontrollably racing at 190+ BPM for 14 hours at a time on occasion, she doesn't even remember out trip to Hawaii when it was working over time. She's doing great now.

Our oldest son is a rocket scientist / aircraft designer / pilot, who now engineers and builds heavy rail train suspension systems. Go figure.

Jon, put in some ear plugs and turn up the Ardents to 11, that ought to soften up those stones.
...........thread drift indeed..........
Ron

[JonMarsh]

Glad your wife is doing well these days, Ron. The official diagnosis on my "normal" ECG is sinus brachycardia- (slow pulse rate); the really "wild" thing is when I'm in recovery from general anesthesia - such as my procedure in Munich- my BP was down around 29, not in a trance, quite aware of my surroundings, recovery nurse was concerned, I said, "Don't worry, I'll start doing some isometrics with arms and legs and that will bring it up- which is did- to a galloping 53-54 eventually. I wonder if I have an enlarged heart or something (never been looked at that way), becuase logically even I don't really understand why my bod likes the low BP. Like I say, chill...

Now, GF is going out Sunday afternoon for a long hike with a group with Masha (Husky), so I'm going to use that time to work on putting the system back together, and doing some more AP measurements, but the plan of record for the moment is to set the Isiris up again- I'm been running some interesting SIMs, including a variable high pass network that can allow me to tune the mid bass up and down 1.5 to 2 dB. Idea came from some big German speakers that I'll report on in Munich Report Part two. The speakers had big issues the way they were setup, but I think it was because of some active room compensation that was improperly setup. But there are several intriguing ideas the company uses that they try to make sound like super high tech voodoo-hoodoo that requires mainframe computers to calculate- gee, these guys have no idea what a knowledgeable person and a copy of LspCAD or VituixCAD can do with some understanding of filters and a little bit of intuition...

[wkhanna]

i like drift on occasion.....
fits in fine here, as the main topic has pretty much run its course.....
and look how much we all got to learn!

mostly i am glad to hear everyone is doing fine after some rather significant health issues.

and now Jon has brought us full circle, from brick & mortar stores, to hospitals, to med conditions, to planes, to guns, and now back to what we all were here for in the first place......

[Alaric]

It was the gun (shell , anyway) used by the M4 Sherman tank.

[wkhanna]

aka 'Tank buster'

[Alaric]

Well , unless it was actually in a Sherman. Then they had the unfortunate tendency to just be a glorified door knocker. Against the front of a Panzer , the M4 round didn't do much more than tell the Panzer's gunner where the target was. Which was very bad news for the crew of the Sherman. Brutal video here , demonstrating the lack of effectiveness of the Sherman. Warning: GRAPHIC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6LqB-RYUvY

[wkhanna]

best tank action ever of Sherman vs Tiger on the big screen shows some of what you are talking about:

FURY


edit: whoa! V graphic!

[Alaric]

Yes , unfortunately the Panzer crews called Shermans Tommy cookers and the British crews called them Ronsons-lights first strike every time. But they were reliable and we made 50,000+ to 5000 Panzers. That combined with 20,000 T-34s from the Soviets , did the job eventually. looking at the odds tells you just how good the Panzers actually were.

[JonMarsh]

Yeah, the Germans knew how to make good tanks back then...

Now, the guys that were really clueless about tanks were the Japanese... But they saw everything through the vision of projecting naval power, and for the most part dealing with un-industrialized Asian enemies who couldn't any more build a tank than they could an atom bomb...

[Alaric]

A somewhat narrow view that really shouldn't have been applied universally , sadly.

German armor tactics were really their strong suit. The French and British had more and better tanks at the war's onset. The strategy of blitzkrieg was to mass all their armor on a front no wider than two hundred miles and punch through quickly and establish themselves well behind opposing forces. Then bring the bulk of the infantry to bear on the enemy while the Panzer divisions hit them from the rear. They crossed three national borders in one day. Germany>Luxembourg>Belgium>France. France's superior armor didn't even need to be washed afterwards. They were never in the fight. It wasn't until later in the war that they even designed tanks for fighting other tanks. But the Pzkpfw IV and the Almighty Tiger were marvels of effectiveness at that grisly task.

[Renron]

Along the WWII theme we have going here. I've been watching a Docu-Drama called Hunting Hitler. Holly Crapcakes! I was shocked at what they disclosed.
Anyone else watch this?
Ron

[Alaric]

I haven't seen it , but he was known to be an eccentric individual. It's fortunate for the world in general that his variety of batcrap crazy made him believe he should be involved at the tactical level of military campaigns. If he had been just sane enough to leave tactics and timing to people like Guderian and Rommel , the war would have had a very different outcome. Even Goering , bent as he was , was an experienced combat pilot and honed the Luftwaffe to a very keen edge. Hitler had enormous military talent at his disposal , the only thing he had more of was ego.

[wkhanna]

going out on a limb, here, but i do believe the Japanese had some decent aviation engineering, & also had clandestine access to some of Germany's a-bomb research.

[Renron]

I'll throw it out there along those lines was the "Nazi Bell".
BTW, the burnt body rolled up in a rug which was supposedly Adolf Hitler, was viewed by NO ONE before they cremated it. Hmmm . It's a great TV show, Hunting Hitler.