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I bought this machine while my Audio Deske RCM was still operational. What interested me was that it looked like it had been built by people who really understand vinyl and the record cleaning process. It is built by the Chinese company Amari which turns out to be a company with substantial engineering capabilities. They make a range of turntables ( sold under the brands Hanss Acoustics and Amari) , a number of different record cleaning machines ( including an Audiodeske clone ) and they also do OEM production and engineering work for other audio companies. The RW-800 is not fully automatic but it is the fastest record cleaning system I have come across. Along with other machines that can dial in ultrasonic power and cleaning duration, it is capable of producing some of the best results that can be achieved from ultrasonic cleaning. My Audiodeske takes around 7 minutes to complete a basic cycle which includes 1 minute ultrasonic cleaning time, the rest is drying. I usually extended this to 2 minutes cleaning so the cycle was typically 8 minutes overall. With the RW-800, I use a standard 2 minute cleaning and adjust the power depending on the degree of cleaning required. Drying time is just one revolution of the record because it is vacuumed from both sides simultaneously . Of course with a fully automatic RCM. you can leave it and walk away and it will dry the record automatically. Except that with the Audiodeske if i left the record too long in the machine after the cycle had ended, there would be moisture condensing on the record which had emanated from the close-by wet rollers. Ultrasonic cleaning in progress. The record is turned by a direct drive motor in the support column and operated by a switch. Vacuum drying from both sides simultaneously - Just one revolution will do it. The machine weighs around 35 kg and is big. It has an industrial quality feel about it and you can quickly clean a few records in a row in no time. The tank is designed to be emptied in situ and Amari provide a tube system to direct the waste into a container. The cleaning and vacuum waste water is released via valves operated by switches on the front. Every component in the RW-800 is easily serviceable which is a welcome change, but there is little that can go wrong with it and the vacuum system has been proven through thousands of units already sold in the company's range of RCM's. I bought this at the same time as another Perth SNA member and we paid around $1500 each for the machine delivered to our doors. $280 of which was air freight from the Singapore dealer where we bought it from - this is a big , heavy unit. The dealer has visited the factory and was very helpful - useful in view of the very basic English manual provided with the machine.

I'm a bit late to the party. Mood lighting with a mut on the couch Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd serve cheese on it ! Perfect theme for a GTG . Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

$1500 if the quality is there is an excellent price. I think some people also make the mistake in thinking a record only needs cleaning once and then it remains pristine. Alas a record will need cleaning often if it's played a lot so a good machine is paramount. Steveoz, I'd love to know where you're buying records at $3 each? You must have a mighty collection of the Best Of Kamahl you've picked up from op shops.

Item: Pass Labs X350.5 Power Amp Location: Roseville Price: $9400 $8400 Item Condition: Used Reason for selling: Downsizing/Moving. Payment Method: Pickup - Cash or bank transfer. Extra Info: The amp is in excellent condition. It puts out 350 watts/ch (8 ohm). It can run almost any speaker. Its gonna be hard for me to find a replacement to this amp, the sound is just amazing. Local pickup is preferred as the amp is just under 60kg. Pictures:

You do know Fisher Price also make Bass traps to go with that Subwoofer you have at the front ? Unfortunately no dimensions given on their website.

Colour me sceptical. Some questions: * Did the crossover re-builder measure the drivers in the enclosure? * What software was used to model the crossovers? Over the years, I've worked on a lot of speakers. Some have benefited from crossover changes. Some have not. I've worked on a few Duntechs (including Crown Princes) and have generally found that improvements are pretty much impossible, without major driver changes. John Dunlavy and his engineers were VERY, VERY good at their jobs. They used the best, most advanced equipment and techniques to design their products. To think that improvements can be made to their crossovers is something I am deeply sceptical of. That said, new components may make some improvements in some areas, but a wholesale redesign? I doubt it.

Yes, I have to agree with Zaphod and Sub Sonic; the Duntech speaker systems are based on linear phase design techniques and crossover networks that use correction networks Detailed measurement of each drivers impedance ,phase and frequency response is a must in the implementation of a successful passive crossover design and John Dunlavy utilised this knowledge together with extensive listening to hone his products to meet high standards. The capacitors he used are al ready polypropylene types ( matched to a close tolerance which takes extra time to implement) and just changing to another brand, even if they are fresher, cannot be relied upon for any readily observable performance improvement, unless you happen to find a faulty item ; O/C or S/C. With the new xover, did the builder start from scratch by performing actual measurements or has he simply utilised an existing cct as the impedance and notch correction networks appear to be missing ?

Wouldn't it be obvious from the sound if they were cheap knockoffs ?

Streaming this via Tidal. Great great movie, until now I have never heard the soundtrack.

The best part of this machine is that the motor unit is the top add on part. If ever the motor requires service, it can simply be a drop in replacement. in addition, the reservoir size is shaped in semi circle pool. It requires only around 1litre or less of solution each time. This means less wastage of cleaning solution compared to a cubic shaped us pool.

Terribly sad. When I get home from work on Thursdays the first thing I do is make a cuppa and go to the ABC website for the current Clarke And Dawe. I reckon the ABC should make every single one available from the archives. Loved him in The Games and Death In Brunswick too.

@stevoz If you are still happy to use RV that is fine. I have used both RV and Ultrasonic and I prefer US. My collection of LP's is around 4000. With RV costing $45 per 500ml bottle and "will restore up to 16 double sided 12" recordings" equating to $2.80 per record,it would cost me around $11,200 to clean my collection. Compered with RV, after the the first 90 records my Ultrasonic cost is all most nothing. Makes the $1500 for @Tasso Amari RW-800 quite cheap.

In terms of hifi, it is a nonsense made up by self-important audio journalists as part of their invented lexicon of hifi descriptors. Sometime, I'm guessing around the 1970s, a splinter group of audio journalists became dissatisfied with their 'merely and excessively technical' role of assessing hifi gear in terms of how high is its fidelity, i.e. truthfulness, i.e. accuracy of reproduction. They started using terms that were completely 'unassessable', and by that I don't just mean unmeasurable, but completely unscalable and not subject to any form of consistency even by the same person. They borrowed heavily from the lexicon of music reviewers and, seemingly, wine-tasting judges. They became 'elevated' to guru status, on the basis of their having unusually extensive experience listening to hifi gear, and their unverifiable opinions became relatively unassailable, except by even more experienced reviewers. This suited them wonderfully. Their ability to actually accurately assess hifi gear fell off a cliff, of course, and hence their true usefulness to hifi enthusiasts descended into an abyss, while seemingly being on a pinnacle. Which is almost the definition of a perfect con job. Musicality. Naturalness. Authenticity. Transparency. Spontaneousness. Unaffectedness. Genuineness. Openness. Unpretentiousness. Transpose at will.

Had a wonderful gift from the wife this evening at a beautiful venue with INSANE acoustics - UKARIA Cultural Centre in the picturesque Adelaide Hills. Lior was magnificent and so was Paul Grabowsky on a stunning Bösendorfer grand piano. Think we may have to have a SA GTG there! Event listing here: http://www.ukaria.com/

Item: Krell FPB-300cx, serial number 15802020023 Location: McLaren Vale SA Price: $5750 ono (around $18,000 new) Item Condition: Very Good Reason for selling: Upgrade to Krell monoblocks Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, can do cc as last resort. Extra Info: Conservatively rated at 300 W into 8 ohms (actual output into 8 Ohms would be closer to 400 W). This FPB is an "X Series Power Amplifier" which were the last of the FPB range before the introduction of the Krell EVO range. This one has had a fairly easy life driving sensitive speakers (Duntech Viscount, Spendor S9, and Krell Lat-1) and hasn't run particularly hot (the new Krell monos are hotter on standby than the FPB-300cx in operation). Demo available on request. Local pickup preferred as postage is not really an option as the FPB is 41kgs of heavy amp and I don't have the original box. It could be packaged and transported on a pallet at buyers expense ($100-250 depending on location). Australian 240v/50Hz, and it uses a 15 amp AU plug Full Power Balanced 300cx FREQUENCY RESPONSE 20 Hz to 20 +0 dB, -0.05 dB, 0.1 Hz to 240 +0 dB, -3 dB SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO “A” WEIGHTED 113 dB GAIN 26.4 dB TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD) 1 kHz <0.03%, 20 kHz <0.16% INPUT IMPEDANCE 100 kOhms INPUT SENSITIVITY 2.34 Vrms OUTPUT POWER EACH CHANNEL DRIVEN 8 Ohms 300 W 4 Ohms 600 W 2 Ohms 1200 W OUTPUT VOLTAGE Peak to Peak 138 V RMS 49 V POWER CONSUMPTION Stand-by 60 W Idle 175 W Max. 1,700 W INPUTS 1 pair balanced via XLR connectors 1 pair CAST via 4-pin bayonet connectors OUTPUTS 4 pair (upper left, lower left, upper right lower right) SPEAKER BINDING POSTS REMOTE CONTROL Optional DIMENSIONS CENTIMETERS 48.3w x 26.2h x 43.2d WEIGHT UNIT ONLY 90.0 lb., 40.9 kg Pictures:

The John Lurie National Orchestra: The Invention Of Animals Just received this today, and have to say; the pressing is excellent. Amulet Records, unsure of where it was pressed. The album is an absolute ripper too.

Just make a turntable out of cheese and you won't need the bamboo one.

Hmmm. Somehow I thought this may not have been an optimal solution. But, ever the optimist, I'll connect these up soon and see what happens. In the meantime I think I'll hedge my bets and investigate having the originals sorted sooner rather than later. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh crap did I leave my web cam on by accident again

A person walks into a house and says they saw a ghost. They are speaking honestly about their experience. It might be your house. Do we start talking about how ghostly that house is, and which other house is more ghostly? Why? Shouldn't we be speaking about that person, and how he didn't control his experience and opened himself to a BS illusion? What if he now sets himself up as the Great Ghost House Reviewer (not as a charlatan, but based on his honest experiences)? Are we still happy with that? Now he is assessing houses for Ghosticality, and he starts noticing and reporting that houses with wooden staircases are much more ghostical and advises that, if you want your house to become more ghostical, you should install a wooden staircase. He also notices and reports on his own experience where he experienced ghosts in houses of friends who installed wooden staircases, where he had never experienced ghosts before. Now, let's say that you have an interest in ghosts, but you are interested in the truth about ghosts. You understand that the vast majority of people reporting ghostical experiences are either hallucinating outright or mis-attributing some sensory stimulus to ghosts. But you actually have had ghostical experiences, so you are not dismissively sceptical, while also not insisting that they were actual ghosts in your case. You just want to find out the truth. How do you feel about this guy, the GGHR? Is he your great guru: if he says ghosticality is high, the ghosts are moaning on the hour and floating around in technicolour nighties, and two other people report the same, then that's what's true for that house? It becomes an innate property of the house? OTOH when you subjectively experience a ghost, is that all the proof you need that ghosts are real? That the ghost you experienced was not only real but that your experience of it was devoid of imaginary component? The trouble with musicality is that I cannot see any distinction between its use and the proper use of the term preference. Can you imagine a listener saying he preferred the one that was less musical? What would you think of that person's opinions on sound quality? However, as an audio reviewer, it doesn't sound so impressive if you just say you preferred the sound of gear B over gear A. You have to actually assign some inherent property to gear B, then it sounds more like you are talking about the gear and less about yourself. So we need a term that sounds like an inherent property of equipment but is in reality a substitute word for personal preference. Oh here it is: musicality. It is also a high-value word that sounds like you are talking about something that would be important to everyone, whereas the reviewer's own personal preference (especially in uncontrolled listening conditions) is more of a low-value term in that it seems much less transferable to the reader who would no doubt say they have their own, unique, personal preferences. Other terms that are aggrandizements of simple preference, just like musical: natural, organic, transparent..... probably more that I can't think of.

Great write up and machine Tasso.Ive met David who designed the machine and has done a good job.In regards to $1500 that's a lot of money Guy.Why buy records and a record player when you can get all the music for free on a radio!!!! Stump

Why not the impending 'Konverter' from @Gieseler Audio? Updated DAC and pre-amplifier in the one box. Will be just under your budget, too.

Scientists are people. Career audio scientists almost universally dearly love listening to music both live and at home. I only mention this because it seems to be news to you. The pointed distinction between a scientist and a charlatan is that they are interested in the truth. I always assume that 'most people listening at home' are interested in the truth about which hifi/room setups are best at the job, i.e. most preferred by most people listening at home. Audio scientists are their best friends in this endeavour, however, their findings are typically measured and understated, and in a dry, technical manner, humble and couched in reservations. Hardly entertaining. I always assume that 'most people listening at home' don't want to be duped by charlatans, peddling nonsense words and magic elixers with profound effects. "The organic musicality and transparency rose to new heights as I was transported into the legendary hall, so relaxed and euphoric that the crystal glass of cabernet sauvignon almost loosed itself from my hand." - Stereotypical audio reviewer. Anyone feeling sucked in? I know I am. It's very entertaining and speaks to my desires.

I all ready have a lot of records and there is no way I would be smearing glue on them and waiting for it to dry, now that Ultrasonic cleaners have become affordable $250 - $550. This machine is a lot of money but it will clean and vacuum dry a record in 7 minutes and if there was an Australian importer would probably be cheaper. Just because you do not believe something does not mean it is not true. IMO the days of cleaning records with glue are well and truly over. I have half a bottle of Revirginizer left and if any one wants to come and pick it up they can have it.

Don't be so quick to judge. I just changed a fuse in one of my components. Wow. lol.

eBay is festered with counterfeit interconnects and power cables. If it ships from Hong Kong chances are it's a fake. Send one of what you have to the manufacturer for verification and if it turns out to be a fake the cable gets destroyed and you get a refund. If everybody who bought these fakes did that the fake cable merchants might think twice about what they do.

Too wet to go looking for birds cheers mick

Picked this beauty up few days ago while camping in coastal town of Wallaroo on Yorke Peninsula. Always liked Oscar Peterson's swinging style, here ably supported by Ray Brown on bass.

Here's a nice shot I got yesterday out on a Motorcycle ride up on the Thunderbolts Way, just a iPhone shot but good conditions

Item: ME75 Amplifier Location: Sydney/Gosford Price: $1350.00 Item Condition: good Reason for selling: too many amps Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal if buyer pays fees, COD Only Extra Info: "B" Series version of this model. No introduction should really be needed here ? These are a giant killer of an amp. I once drove Apogee Scintillas with this same model ! (not this particular unit) Happy to pack safely and ship anywhere. Pictures

I'm sure he'd be as "bamboozled" as we are! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Smart move. I reckon there would be no more than half a dozen people in this country who could re-build those crossovers from scratch. And, even then, it would cost thousands of Dollars to do it properly.

I can't seem to bring up the link via Tapatalk while I'm at work. So I don't know what's this is all about but I interested [emoji4]. I always am. [emoji6] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As a slight aside, I have a Duntech bulletin somewhere saying that replacing the crossover's screwed terminals with soldered connections yielded improved sound. I opened the 'cutlery drawer' crossover access on mine a while ago, had a look, saw that the solder job had been done, then shut them to never see them again. I certainly suffer from blind - Duntech - faith even when plenty of people in these parts diss them. :-)

I am descending from this carousel. It never goes anywhere. One may as well debate the weather.

I'm also interested....not that this is any way an admission of guilt! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"...... A collection of around 500 LP's for $1500" Unfortunately I must be looking in different places to you.

There is no doubt about what 'musicality' as: It is faithfulness to the original performance. Warts and all. A sound reproduction system should reproduce precisely what is fed into it. Nothing added and nothing subtracted. IF the result happens to be unpleasant, then the fault lies with the performance or mastering. Again, I cite the following examples of musical genres that can sound unpleasant (live): Musique concrete Wagner (some parts) Celine Dion Bagpipes NONE of the above involves that hakneyed term PRAT. That's because anyone who invokes the term PRAT to describe music is an idiot.

Size comparison between my 2 RCM's.

TASSO, thank you for taking the time to write up such a comprehensive review of a very interesting US RCM from China. Looks very interesting and much cheaper than the German equivalent.

Live music....especially acoustic....really is there anything better? Me thinks not!

I have finished the power supply. Now the excruciating wait for the vfet kits...

Playing with some dusty gear that must be feeling very neglected. Chose this desert island disc to get the electrons running through very cold circuits..................

Storm coming, Brighton Melbourne