Hi Bangraman; Thank you very much indeed for the thoughtful response! Hmmm, I was unaware that the home decks have the capability of making such speedy copies. That is certainly food for thought, though I will still probably go with a true "one does it all" portable, at least for now. That's...

Hi Bangraman; Thanks for the tip; I'll be on the lookout for deals on "standard" MD recorder/players as the "hi" MD R/P units are introduced. >>>...Am I right in suspecting that the reason Morse wants MD is because he doesn't always have access to a PC?....<<< 'Don't use a PC for music...

Thanks D-EJ915; Okay, the Sonys have a good rep? When I'm there, I'll hunt around a bit. IIRC, I saw an N910 for about the right price in Hiroshima. Hopefully I'll be able to find some good prices on Sonys in Akihabara.... Doumo arigatou gozaimasu. Ja mata, Morse

Hi guys and thanks in advance for any and all suggestions! It's been a while since I started looking at MD players - and I'm still looking. There have been some changes in the search criteria and other developments. Okay, the headphone output does NOT need to be all that powerful. A small...

Thanks, Davei; Interesting. As far as the harsh, grainy sound on equipment run from AC mains, that's a classic hallmark of RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). My suspicion is that the manufacturer's omitted "X" caps and ferrite RFI filters to cut costs. FWIW, I've been working long and...

Thanks Dave; Thinking about it, you're absolutely right - even if a company were to clone the exterior exactly, there's no guarantee that they've copied the interior (either well or poorly for that matter). Sorry to read that you've had some bad luck with the no-names. Silly question - do...

Hi guys; That Lennox CD50 looks suspiciously like a copy of my Panasonic SLS320, only with a 4 battery compartment and no lineout. Anyone have any experience on the things? Does it have the Panasonic style disc release button? How about sound quality - comparable to the Panny? I love my...

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for any help or suggestions! I've already searched the archives, and haven't found what I'm looking for, so here goes: I've got an old pair of Sony MDR V600's that need replacement pads (Stop that snickering out there! My good headphones are Sennheiser...

Thanks guys! Any suggestions on a reputable retailer who stocks Sharp MD players? I just got s*****d by a retailer and don't want to repeat that experience..... I've found plenty of Sony's for sale though. Is Sharp pulling out of the MD field? Thanks for the link, Helloween. It's going...

Hi ProFingerSk8er; Hmmmm, 5mw out on the Sony's? My Panasonic SLS320's got 9mw out and it's okay for the Philips HP550's (it drops dead on my Sennheisers, but that's another story) so maybe I should focus in on the Sharps. >>>...but when u plug them into something more powerful, you will...

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for your help and suggestions! I'm looking for a MD recorder/player that's under $150 for use while travelling. It needs to be able to drive a pair of Philips HP550's without the use of an outboard amp (I've built several but I'm not about to bring a DIY amp...

Not a problem Born2bwire! However, I suspect that boring classrooms full of biology students who don't want to take physics but need it to fulfill their geneds goes with the job..... Peace be with you! Morse

Pierre, re: your question about the cost of valves for the MG Head, please check out: http://www.angela.com/ for NOS ("New Old Stock" - old valves that are unused) or http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/index.html and http://www.partsexpress.com/ for new production valves. One proviso...

Hi Tuberoller and thanks for the compliments! To answer your question, I’ve been an electronics nerd for over 20 years now (I won’t tell you how many years over 20!). Currently I'm working on a doctorate, thus I occasionally teach (and bore!) roomfuls of people at a time to earn my keep. Morse

Hi Calanctus! In my honest opinion you should look at the issue of valve lifespans in terms of hours of operation, rather than asking for a set figure ("Need I replace them every x number of years?"). Also, it really depends on how you use your hifi. Here are some examples of good ways to...

Hi Zodiac154! I can't compare it to any of the other systems that you list, but for what it's worth, my current headphone system is the MG Head DT OTL with the Sennheiser 600. The combo sounds great in my honest opinion. If you are looking for some things to read that will help you make...

Sorry, that last site for the "advanced electronics types" should have been http://www.tubecad.com/

Hi Dusty Chalk and Born2bwire! Glad you liked my post! If you want to know more about the insides of a valve than you're likely to be taught in a classroom these days, you could look for old EE textbooks. Right now the best one I've got on hand is called "Introduction to Electron Tubes and...

Hi Merc! The 2 types of valves (or "tubes") in the MG Head each perform different functions, as you correctly guessed. However, the 2 different functions are 1. voltage gain and 2. current gain. The 12AX7 is a dual triode (meaning that there are 2 electrical circuits with 3 parts in each...

Actually, Domer2004, I've never been accused of being succinct by anyone! :-) Thanks! Just to reiterate, Single Ended’s and Push Pull’s use the same sorts of valves. The difference is in how they’re wired together to make an amplifier. There are some valves, sometimes called "dual tubes"...

Well Domer2004, to answer your questions, even harmonics are even numbered multiples of the fundamental tone; in other words, amplify a 1 kHz test tone to 100 dB (loud) through your speakers. Now, if you can hear a 90 dB 2 kHz tone in addition to the 100 dB tone, you have 10% "harmonic...

Eureka! Scratch what I said about not being able to find anything on the 6BM8 valve; Svetlana still makes them, and I've found a couple of places that stock them. For anyone who's interested, it's a triode/pentode dual valve; the pentode section has an AF (At Failure) rating of 1.8 watts...

Well, not all valve amps have rotten numbers and large amounts of even harmonic distortion; it depends on whether it's a Single Ended or Push Pull amp, and on how much Negative FeedBack is applied in the gain stages of the amp. Usually low cost valve amps don't have more than a driver stage and...

Sorry to hear about the hearing problem. I've had similar problems myself and they're allergy related for whatever that's worth. During the allergy season, critical listening can be nearly impossible here! Good luck with your own situation! On to the speaker/amp question! Instead of...