frozen WindowsMediaPlayer

Butting in here for a sec. The whole thing has been a royal PITA since its
inception. Of course the media is *generally* better than a record, *if
only* for the reason that they (generally) don't deteriorate at the same
rate as a mechanical stylus rubbing in the grooves of a record. Downside: No
matter how expensive the Cartridge and religious replacement of the stylus,
with a decent tracking weight - which was tricky to adjust for LP's versus
45 rpms (groove rattle with increasing modulation, etc.) - you have the dust
factor, and friendly-friends who'd handle the records by the grooves (with
or without the potato chip grease on the fingers).

Now, to the meat of the issue: First, many of the first CD's were really
lousy from a sonic standpoint. Of course its GIGO when the first CD's were
about as sonically faithful as a jack-in-a-box. Didn't have the depth of an
analog recording. Second generation CD's claimed to be from the master
tapes. Hah! They prolly weren't ever even in the same building as the master
tapes. G Now we're into the third or fourth generation of the "NEW,
RE-Mastered, Re-Masters". In fact there was a recording (3 or 4 discs -
coulda fit on one less for that matter) of T-Rex called "The Essentials",
and it didn't even have "Bang a Gong" on it! Sheesh! And then they stuck it
to you price-wise for the three or four discs that made up the package!

Next: The first CD player I owned (2 or 4 years after CD's were the rage)
was an ADS "sonically pure" near $1000.00 machine that lasted 367 days until
the Disc drawer would open by itself in the middle of playing a disc. Paid
plenty to have that "fixed"..., which only lasted 91 days. Since then, I've
gone through at least 4 CD players. Just for the record (no pun intended), I
was in the music business ages ago, and all the loving care of the media and
its attendant player didn't mean diddly. I might as well have handled the
discs like Frisbees and had Kangaroos jumping on the CD players.

Lastly: Humidity. Yeah, maybe from the FAQS. But it doesn't matter... when
the thing acts like Kangaroos, greasy potato chip fingers, and Frisbees have
been at large. Ahhh, I feel so much better now; I think I'll go out and...
buy a CD! ;-D

LS
-------------------------------
"Bill Blanton" wrote in message
...

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
LuckyStrike wrote:
Yeah Bill, that's some re-assuring... Thanks a LOT. :-(

Well, he was talking about some CDs of 15 years ago. Hopefully the
technology has improved. I wonder if was isolated to one or two
particular
brands?

The one I specifically remember was Grateful Dead - American Beauty.
Dunno the brand, but it was the first one I checked, It took some
searching to find another one.

Since it's inception, the media has changed on a constant basis.

Not to mention the Hardware itself. :-\ OK,
for those that have stored tapes in 110 degree cars, stacked records
horizontally, played them with a quarter on the Tonearm, use CD's as
drink
coasters and pick em up with sweaty hands.... you deserve it. But for
those
who care for their media, it's a d****** shame.

Never use anything heavier than a dime


Also, I've heard that high humidity is not conducive to long life of
burned
media as well. True...false?

I've heard that too. Mabey the cdr-faq?

Don't forget the popular "record changers" where you could stack
5 or so LPs and the "record" would drop down on top of the spinning
platter, on top of the previous record .. who the..thought of that!?

Yep, I used to spend hours tracking and balancing the tone arm on
my old Dual turntable. I still have it, though it's waay loong overdue for
a new cartridge.

Even though CDs are better quality than they used to be, you can't
beat the "ambience" of analog. When I get around to it, I want to
incorporate my dad's (circa 1959) 100W Sansui "tube" amp into my system..
Thinking of mabey hooking it up to a switch and sending one channel
through it, or mabey both channels and a separate set of speaker.
One pair fed from the tube, one from the solid state amp. I *think* the
tubes still glow ;-/

I'll need new speakers though.. And mabey a plasma screen TV
just for the hell of it.. heh.. and everything controlled from the PC
via some USB/bluetooth thingie.. but I'm going to need some money..
so..I'll need to get another job!......
:-))



"LuckyStrike" om wrote in message ...
Butting in here for a sec. The whole thing has been a royal PITA since its
inception. Of course the media is *generally* better than a record, *if
only* for the reason that they (generally) don't deteriorate at the same
rate as a mechanical stylus rubbing in the grooves of a record. Downside: No
matter how expensive the Cartridge and religious replacement of the stylus,
with a decent tracking weight - which was tricky to adjust for LP's versus
45 rpms (groove rattle with increasing modulation, etc.) - you have the dust
factor, and friendly-friends who'd handle the records by the grooves (with
or without the potato chip grease on the fingers).

Now, to the meat of the issue: First, many of the first CD's were really
lousy from a sonic standpoint. Of course its GIGO when the first CD's were
about as sonically faithful as a jack-in-a-box. Didn't have the depth of an
analog recording. Second generation CD's claimed to be from the master
tapes. Hah! They prolly weren't ever even in the same building as the master
tapes. G Now we're into the third or fourth generation of the "NEW,
RE-Mastered, Re-Masters". In fact there was a recording (3 or 4 discs -
coulda fit on one less for that matter) of T-Rex called "The Essentials",
and it didn't even have "Bang a Gong" on it! Sheesh! And then they stuck it
to you price-wise for the three or four discs that made up the package!

Next: The first CD player I owned (2 or 4 years after CD's were the rage)
was an ADS "sonically pure" near $1000.00 machine that lasted 367 days until
the Disc drawer would open by itself in the middle of playing a disc. Paid
plenty to have that "fixed"..., which only lasted 91 days. Since then, I've
gone through at least 4 CD players. Just for the record (no pun intended), I
was in the music business ages ago, and all the loving care of the media and
its attendant player didn't mean diddly. I might as well have handled the
discs like Frisbees and had Kangaroos jumping on the CD players.

Lastly: Humidity. Yeah, maybe from the FAQS. But it doesn't matter... when
the thing acts like Kangaroos, greasy potato chip fingers, and Frisbees have
been at large. Ahhh, I feel so much better now; I think I'll go out and...
buy a CD! ;-D

LS
-------------------------------
"Bill Blanton" wrote in message
...

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
LuckyStrike wrote:
Yeah Bill, that's some re-assuring... Thanks a LOT. :-(

Well, he was talking about some CDs of 15 years ago. Hopefully the
technology has improved. I wonder if was isolated to one or two
particular
brands?

The one I specifically remember was Grateful Dead - American Beauty.
Dunno the brand, but it was the first one I checked, It took some
searching to find another one.

Since it's inception, the media has changed on a constant basis.

Not to mention the Hardware itself. :-\ OK,
for those that have stored tapes in 110 degree cars, stacked records
horizontally, played them with a quarter on the Tonearm, use CD's as
drink
coasters and pick em up with sweaty hands.... you deserve it. But for
those
who care for their media, it's a d****** shame.

Never use anything heavier than a dime


Also, I've heard that high humidity is not conducive to long life of
burned
media as well. True...false?

I've heard that too. Mabey the cdr-faq?

Mr Ed is *not* nonsense :-|
g

"LuckyStrike" om wrote in message ...
Ha! LOL! ;-D

OK... as they said (and you reminded me) "...Better reception, *No*
commercials, Un-edited for your viewing pleasure, yada-yada, etc.
Yah...*Right!* It has become *none of the above*! Plus, one must now pay an
arm and a leg for what used to be free (and no worse, when you think about
it). Plus (again), as Curt C. and I were saying elsewhere, they make you pay
for, what do they call it...? Oh yeah, *Info-mercials*, and then they repeat
the same sorry and s***** movies 6 times - if not more - in a given week,
with the announcement "first time on (or premiere, or whatever) on TV." In
fact. they're still showing nonsense like "Mr. Ed", and "I love Lucy"" fer
petessake. Doncha' just love the "new" for higher prices? Yah...right,
again!

Yeah, as far as the "ambience" and warmth of the recording, it is hard to
beat Analog. But for the few recordings of merit (IMO) that have been done
since the demise of the platter, we'll never know now, will we?

Lol! Prolly someone *in* the sales dept. sector was responsible for that
brilliant "drop a couple of ill-mating" LP's on one another. Which is worse?
Two slightly warped discs, or two that fit with a suction of sorts, grinding
onto each other? g

Good choice the Duals were. If you only need a cartridge you're ahead of the
game. My Dual is a bit tired; needs a push start to get going (I think it is
a 1219; It's been a loooong time now. g) I believe the *older* 1019's
(what you might have maybe?) were a bit more reliable. So what else is
"new"? (bad pun) Anyway, there are still places which sell high quality
cartridges. Maybe not as many choices, but ... the main thing is to stock up
on Styli (?) for future use. Would be a bummer if you had to get a new
cartridge every so often instead of finding the needle you would need. I
used to replace the Stylus every 6 months, just in case. More often, if I
used a quarter, instead of your recommendation of a dime. g I wonder what
the going rate for Shure or Stanton needles are these days. Used to be about
$50.00 IIRC.(Maybe it was $35.00; I can't remember.)

As for the Amplifiers, it's the same deal; so many swear by the warmth and
presence of Tube amps. The venerable (dare I say it? Some may get
confused.bg) Macintosh for example. Yeah, a switch to do a side-by-side
comparo of the sound quality differences between the Sansui and your
new-fangled Transistor jobbie might be an interesting project. PCR would
prolly suggest taking the tubes over to XP NG to get 'em glowing in the
event they've lost their snappiness. ;-D

Yeah again, I know whatcha mean. New (but better be good...and last more
than a week too) everything is in order for me too. Oh well, back to the
newsgroup; easier than finding a high paying job. :-\ See you here then
Bill.

LS
----------------------------------


"Bill Blanton" wrote in message
...
Don't forget the popular "record changers" where you could stack
5 or so LPs and the "record" would drop down on top of the spinning
platter, on top of the previous record .. who the..thought of that!?

Yep, I used to spend hours tracking and balancing the tone arm on
my old Dual turntable. I still have it, though it's waay loong overdue for
a new cartridge.

Even though CDs are better quality than they used to be, you can't
beat the "ambience" of analog. When I get around to it, I want to
incorporate my dad's (circa 1959) 100W Sansui "tube" amp into my system..
Thinking of mabey hooking it up to a switch and sending one channel
through it, or mabey both channels and a separate set of speaker.
One pair fed from the tube, one from the solid state amp. I *think* the
tubes still glow ;-/

I'll need new speakers though.. And mabey a plasma screen TV
just for the hell of it.. heh.. and everything controlled from the PC
via some USB/bluetooth thingie.. but I'm going to need some money..
so..I'll need to get another job!......
:-))



"LuckyStrike" rambled on in message
...
Butting in here for a sec. The whole thing has been a royal PITA since
its
inception. Of course the media is *generally* better than a record, *if
only* for the reason that they (generally) don't deteriorate at the same
rate as a mechanical stylus rubbing in the grooves of a record.
Downside: No
matter how expensive the Cartridge and religious replacement of the
stylus,
with a decent tracking weight - which was tricky to adjust for LP's
versus
45 rpms (groove rattle with increasing modulation, etc.) - you have the
dust
factor, and friendly-friends who'd handle the records by the grooves
(with
or without the potato chip grease on the fingers).
snipped blah-blah
..

Lastly: Humidity. Yeah, maybe from the FAQS.

LS
-------------------------------
"Bill Blanton" wrote in message
...

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
LuckyStrike wrote:
Yeah Bill, that's some re-assuring... Thanks a LOT. :-(

Well, he was talking about some CDs of 15 years ago. Hopefully the
technology has improved. I wonder if was isolated to one or two
particular
brands?

The one I specifically remember was Grateful Dead - American Beauty.
Dunno the brand, but it was the first one I checked, It took some
searching to find another one.

Since it's inception, the media has changed on a constant basis.

Not to mention the Hardware itself. :-\ OK,
for those that have stored tapes in 110 degree cars, stacked
records
horizontally, played them with a quarter on the Tonearm, use CD's
as
drink
coasters and pick em up with sweaty hands.... you deserve it. But
for
those
who care for their media, it's a d****** shame.

Never use anything heavier than a dime


Also, I've heard that high humidity is not conducive to long life
of
burned
media as well. True...false?

I've heard that too. Mabey the cdr-faq?

Working on that tube equipment (as a hobby) I must say was sometimes a
shocking experience! (unlike the solid state stuff).

But one thing about it: the circuits were a LOT simpler and more
straightforward. (You could probably come close to that with some MOSFET
circuit designs, though).

But....still.....I have to admit I'm glad we have solid state today.
Although those CK722's really were crappy (this was back in the early days
of transistors, if anybody here is old enough to remember).

LuckyStrike wrote:

As for the Amplifiers, it's the same deal; so many swear by the warmth and
presence of Tube amps. The venerable (dare I say it? Some may get
confused.bg) Macintosh for example. Yeah, a switch to do a side-by-side
comparo of the sound quality differences between the Sansui and your
new-fangled Transistor jobbie might be an interesting project. PCR would
prolly suggest taking the tubes over to XP NG to get 'em glowing in the
event they've lost their snappiness. ;-D

Tube amps are also a generally preferred choice for musicians... the early
Fender amps such as the Bassman, and the Deluxe (for use by *guitar*
players) are prime examples. I might add that the "light show" provided by
tube amps more than makes up for the accompanying rattle and buzz they would
make as they started failing.

However, in defense of solid state equipment, one might concur that all the
cool colors of the many tiny components has a psychedelic effect all of it's
own. It was a real adventure building an early "high-end" Heathkit
Amp....all those great colors and parts. BTW, remember the Bulova Accutron
watch? ;-)
--
LuckyStrike

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bill in Co." wrote:
Working on that tube equipment (as a hobby) I must say was sometimes a
shocking experience! (unlike the solid state stuff).

But one thing about it: the circuits were a LOT simpler and more
straightforward. (You could probably come close to that with some MOSFET
circuit designs, though).

But....still.....I have to admit I'm glad we have solid state today.
Although those CK722's really were crappy (this was back in the early days
of transistors, if anybody here is old enough to remember).

Colorado could have held one in his mouth when he ran the XP
compatibility test!

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"LuckyStrike" om
wrote in message ...
| Yeah, as far as the "ambience" and warmth of the recording, it is hard
to
| beat Analog. But for the few recordings of merit (IMO) that have been
done
| since the demise of the platter, we'll never know now, will we?
|
| Lol! Prolly someone *in* the sales dept. sector was responsible for
that
| brilliant "drop a couple of ill-mating" LP's on one another. Which is
worse?
| Two slightly warped discs, or two that fit with a suction of sorts,
grinding
| onto each other? g
|
| Good choice the Duals were. If you only need a cartridge you're ahead
of the
| game. My Dual is a bit tired; needs a push start to get going (I think
it is
| a 1219; It's been a loooong time now. g) I believe the *older*
1019's
| (what you might have maybe?) were a bit more reliable. So what else is
| "new"? (bad pun) Anyway, there are still places which sell high
quality
| cartridges. Maybe not as many choices, but ... the main thing is to
stock up
| on Styli (?) for future use. Would be a bummer if you had to get a new
| cartridge every so often instead of finding the needle you would need.
I
| used to replace the Stylus every 6 months, just in case. More often,
if I
| used a quarter, instead of your recommendation of a dime. g I wonder
what
| the going rate for Shure or Stanton needles are these days. Used to be
about
| $50.00 IIRC.(Maybe it was $35.00; I can't remember.)
|
| As for the Amplifiers, it's the same deal; so many swear by the warmth
and
| presence of Tube amps. The venerable (dare I say it? Some may get
| confused.bg) Macintosh for example. Yeah, a switch to do a
side-by-side
| comparo of the sound quality differences between the Sansui and your
| new-fangled Transistor jobbie might be an interesting project. PCR
would
| prolly suggest taking the tubes over to XP NG to get 'em glowing in
the
| event they've lost their snappiness. ;-D
|
| Yeah again, I know whatcha mean. New (but better be good...and last
more
| than a week too) everything is in order for me too. Oh well, back to
the
| newsgroup; easier than finding a high paying job. :-\ See you here
then
| Bill.
|
| LS
| ----------------------------------
....snip

"LuckyStrike" om wrote in message ...

Good choice the Duals were. If you only need a cartridge you're ahead of the
game. My Dual is a bit tired; needs a push start to get going (I think it is
a 1219; It's been a loooong time now. g) I believe the *older* 1019's
(what you might have maybe?) were a bit more reliable.

You must be older than me then ;-). Mine's the 1245.
http://www.compassnet.com/concept/tableinx.htm
Check out the 1005.

I've got the loud "bad ground" hum, when it comes on and the
cartridge needs to be tapped a few times to get it to stop. I've
pulled it and cleaned the connectors and reseated it more than
once. I don't know what else it could be, I doubt the wiring in the
tonearn is the fault..

So what else is
"new"? (bad pun) Anyway, there are still places which sell high quality
cartridges. Maybe not as many choices, but ... the main thing is to stock up
on Styli (?) for future use. Would be a bummer if you had to get a new
cartridge every so often instead of finding the needle you would need. I
used to replace the Stylus every 6 months, just in case. More often, if I
used a quarter, instead of your recommendation of a dime. g I wonder what
the going rate for Shure or Stanton needles are these days. Used to be about
$50.00 IIRC.(Maybe it was $35.00; I can't remember.)

Hard to say..turntables are "high end" equipment nowdays..


As for the Amplifiers, it's the same deal; so many swear by the warmth and
presence of Tube amps. The venerable (dare I say it? Some may get
confused.bg) Macintosh for example.

Yeah, I remember Macintosh. Crown was another respected name of the
time, that I couldn't afford. ;-/ I had to settle on a high end Pioneer amp. The
whole system is over 20 years old ;-)), except for the CD-player...The speakers
have been rebuilt (and not too well), since the outer foam decayed on the
woofers.

Yeah again, I know whatcha mean. New (but better be good...and last more
than a week too) everything is in order for me too. Oh well, back to the
newsgroup; easier than finding a high paying job. :-\ See you here then

Ok then..I gotta' go anyway, Bill in Co. is starting to talk over my head..
:-)

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message
...

"LuckyStrike" om wrote
in message ...

Good choice the Duals were. If you only need a cartridge you're ahead of
the
game. My Dual is a bit tired; needs a push start to get going (I think
it is
a 1219; It's been a loooong time now. g) I believe the *older* 1019's
(what you might have maybe?) were a bit more reliable.

You must be older than me then ;-). Mine's the 1245.
http://www.compassnet.com/concept/tableinx.htm
Check out the 1005.

There is a chance that what you've said is true. ;-D But I ain't as old as
that 1005 (then again, maybe I am?). Anyway, that doesn't really qualify as
a Turntable does it? Seems more like a "record player". hehe. But yep,
that's it alright...the 1219. That 3.1 Kg platter also accounts for why it
needs a push start now. motor grunting

I've got the loud "bad ground" hum, when it comes on and the
cartridge needs to be tapped a few times to get it to stop. I've
pulled it and cleaned the connectors and reseated it more than
once. I don't know what else it could be, I doubt the wiring in the
tonearn is the fault..

"Hum" a few bars and I'll see if I recognize it. g Actually, that rings
familiar with me too. I think that used to happen when the record ended and
the tonearm came to rest on its pedestal. As I've said, it's been a long
time since I've even looked at the machine, so i kinda forget the quirks it
developed over time. But you know the impedance of the cartridges is like
47,000 Ohms or something like that, so any kind of resistance is going to
push it "over the edge" wouldn't you think? It is possible that the copper
wiring has become oxidized; I don't think they were using oxygen-free copper
in those days. Plus, the wires are of a really small gauge. But mostly have
you checked the contacts that open and close by virtue of the cam inside
(underneath) the turntable innards? I think there were a bunch of contacts
at that location which could get "tempermental/oxidized" too. Check that
out.

snippedI wonder what
the going rate for Shure or Stanton needles are these days. Used to be
about
$50.00 IIRC.(Maybe it was $35.00; I can't remember.)

Hard to say..turntables are "high end" equipment nowdays..

I remain *amazed* at those who do "scratching"; you know, DJ's and the like,
manhandling the discs, platters, and what-not. If I would just so much as
glance at a record "wrong", I'd get a click or a pop or something. BTW, do
you remember the Beatles thing about playing a song in reverse to hear the
"hidden messages"? ("turn me on dead man" and stuff) I couldn't do that with
the 1219 unless it was unplugged because any motion of the tonearm in the
direction of the platter would make the motor engage. hehe. Meanwhile, these
DJ's do that for a living! And I think they use some spendy stuff. :-D
(Speaking of which; remember Thorens, and that Marantz straight line
tracking "tonearm"?)

A funny anecdote on the 1019 which warrants comment. A friend who was my
recording engineer at Decca records was in the process of typing some long
(prolly where I learned to be so wordy too) rebuttal to Billboard magazine
about deteriorating record quality (ca.1967-69). Talking about how the
Mother /Master disks were not being checked often enough in between
pressings for flaws/debris and what-not; about the vinyl no longer being of
"virgin" quality and all of that. OK, so here's where it gets funny. "Fred"
(name changed to protect the "innocent") was typing this letter manually on
an old typewriter with 3 sheets of paper and 2 carbons. When he'd screw up,
he'd pull the entire 5 sheets out, crumple them up, and eventually had this
pile of discarded paper and carbons about a foot and a half high by about 3+
feet in diameter. Meanwhile, we were playing some records (as usual,
continually 24/7). So what happened was that right mid-LP the tonearm
decides its going to lift off the record and just hang suspended in mid-air.
This went on for a number of times...totally at random. So, after the 4th or
5th time, "Fred" decides to start tapping the tonearm inboard, and after the
third or fourth tap, the aluminum tonearm breaks with a hackly fracture at
the gimbal mount. I saw him turn purple, gutterally mutter something
unintelligible, and *stalk* off to the utility/tool cabinet in a trance like
state. He returns with a BFH and lets fly on the plattern with the mallet.
He then picks up the Dual and throws it to the floor with such force that
there weren't more than three pieces that remained in their original
configuration. I'm talking springs, tiny ball-bearings, motor, knobs, wood,
the works; in a million pieces! Shortly thereafter he "came to". I don't
remember if he finished writing the letter. :-D



As for the Amplifiers, it's the same deal; so many swear by the warmth
and
presence of Tube amps. The venerable (dare I say it? Some may get
confused.bg) Macintosh for example.

Yeah, I remember Macintosh. Crown was another respected name of the
time, that I couldn't afford. ;-/ I had to settle on a high end Pioneer
amp. The
whole system is over 20 years old ;-)), except for the CD-player...The
speakers
have been rebuilt (and not too well), since the outer foam decayed on the
woofers.

Yeah, Crown. First rate all the way. And yeah, many speakers will do that.
And yeah, the really high end, high dollar dream stereo equipment. It was
just a dream sad (but the music was so much better then s). Ahhh, the
good ole life; some music, some friends, some this or that...what else did
one need? ;-)

I don't really know how the early Japanese stuff really compared with the
"old standards". By that time there were so many companies getting into the
biz, I lost track. I mean like Yamaha (amongst myriad Japanese brands) for
instance. They made motorcycles, pianos, guitars, stereo equipment; kinda
made you wonder. Sidenote though: Yamaha did purchase the entire wood stock
source that Martin guitars was using, and that did give them a decided edge
in quality at a time when Martin was getting an arm and a leg for their then
current issue guitars. Let alone the highly desirable "vintage" 1950's
models. Anyway, that move put Martin in the "hurt locker" for a long time.
Back to the stereos: What about these "Rotel" brands, and lord knows what
else.There were so many, and maybe they were made by two companies who just
licensed them out in slightly different configurations. Anyway..., blah,
blah, blah. ;-)

Yeah again, I know whatcha mean. New (but better be good...and last more
than a week too) everything is in order for me too. Oh well, back to the
newsgroup; easier than finding a high paying job. :-\ See you here then

Ok then..I gotta' go anyway, Bill in Co. is starting to talk over my
head..
:-)

Yeah, I get your drift. In fact, I was starting to drift as well (as per
usual). :-D

LS
----------------------------

LuckyStrike om wrote in message ...

A funny anecdote on the 1019 which warrants comment. A friend who was my
recording engineer at Decca records was in the process of typing some long
(prolly where I learned to be so wordy too) rebuttal to Billboard magazine
about deteriorating record quality (ca.1967-69). Talking about how the
Mother /Master disks were not being checked often enough in between
pressings for flaws/debris and what-not; about the vinyl no longer being of
"virgin" quality and all of that. OK, so here's where it gets funny. "Fred"
(name changed to protect the "innocent") was typing this letter manually on
an old typewriter with 3 sheets of paper and 2 carbons. When he'd screw up,
he'd pull the entire 5 sheets out, crumple them up, and eventually had this
pile of discarded paper and carbons about a foot and a half high by about 3+
feet in diameter. Meanwhile, we were playing some records (as usual,
continually 24/7). So what happened was that right mid-LP the tonearm
decides its going to lift off the record and just hang suspended in mid-air.
This went on for a number of times...totally at random. So, after the 4th or
5th time, "Fred" decides to start tapping the tonearm inboard, and after the
third or fourth tap, the aluminum tonearm breaks with a hackly fracture at
the gimbal mount. I saw him turn purple, gutterally mutter something
unintelligible, and *stalk* off to the utility/tool cabinet in a trance like
state. He returns with a BFH and lets fly on the plattern with the mallet.
He then picks up the Dual and throws it to the floor with such force that
there weren't more than three pieces that remained in their original
configuration. I'm talking springs, tiny ball-bearings, motor, knobs, wood,
the works; in a million pieces!

"There! It is fixed, and it is going to STAY fixed!!!!!".