sheltie dave
11-05-2009, 08:54 PM
I have been working with a friend for quite a while on a trade, where I drive over with some gear in working order, and swap for some gear that needs rebuilding/restoration. During the time we have been talking, I also have been looking into the various support mono gear that would flush out a good period mono system.
Last weekend, I drove to my bud's town, and brought back a Brook 7 preamp and an Acrosound Ultralinear II amp as part of the swap. They will need rebuilds, but the Brook looks to be in great cosmetic shape, so the wife is happy. She is even happier that a six foot tall pair of monolith speakers are gone from the living room. The Ultralinear has a great rep, but this example is going to need a thorough rebuild.
The day before I left, I could not convince another AK bud to purchase a Karg CT2 mono tuner off of EBay, so I jumped on it, the price being cheap!cheap!, and hopefully only needing a minor restoration. It made it here today.
Since I get up before 5 am daily to pull in at work by 6:30 am, I get to peruse CL every morning. As luck would have it, this morning had a very newly posted Rek-O-Kut Rondine Model B-12H turntable with a Gray Research 108 tonearm, at a very inviting price. I e-mailed the seller, and then went to work, spending almost all day on pins and needles hoping I would get a call. It came just after 4 pm - the call, that is - and the seller made it even more interesting by noting they also had their father's Heathkit preamp.
I grabbed son after dinner, and we trekked out to VinylDavid's neighborhood to see the 1955 turntable. My jaw dropped when I saw a 15" Gray tonearm for the first time in my life, and a ROK TT in the homemade plywood case. Now this is 1955 mono heaven!
The ice cream sundae then was carried into the room - the Heathkit was a W-5M mono amp, stuffed with Genelex outputs. The cherry on top turned out to be the 5 various papers that went with the TT and tonearm; mounting template instructions for the TT and tonearm, a parts diagram for the TT, and operating manuals for both the TT and tonearm.
The karma came towards the end. It turns out that they have a Harmany Victrola that Alan restored, with Alan being my recently passed friend whose estate sale I helped to set up and operate. When we both found out Alan was a mutual friend, it seemed obvious this whole sale was somehow prearranged. Everyone was happy, and now we have a command mid-fifties mono TT to boot, and a solid mono amp until the Acrosound gets rebuilt. :thmbsp:
Last weekend, I drove to my bud's town, and brought back a Brook 7 preamp and an Acrosound Ultralinear II amp as part of the swap. They will need rebuilds, but the Brook looks to be in great cosmetic shape, so the wife is happy. She is even happier that a six foot tall pair of monolith speakers are gone from the living room. The Ultralinear has a great rep, but this example is going to need a thorough rebuild.
The day before I left, I could not convince another AK bud to purchase a Karg CT2 mono tuner off of EBay, so I jumped on it, the price being cheap!cheap!, and hopefully only needing a minor restoration. It made it here today.
Since I get up before 5 am daily to pull in at work by 6:30 am, I get to peruse CL every morning. As luck would have it, this morning had a very newly posted Rek-O-Kut Rondine Model B-12H turntable with a Gray Research 108 tonearm, at a very inviting price. I e-mailed the seller, and then went to work, spending almost all day on pins and needles hoping I would get a call. It came just after 4 pm - the call, that is - and the seller made it even more interesting by noting they also had their father's Heathkit preamp.
I grabbed son after dinner, and we trekked out to VinylDavid's neighborhood to see the 1955 turntable. My jaw dropped when I saw a 15" Gray tonearm for the first time in my life, and a ROK TT in the homemade plywood case. Now this is 1955 mono heaven!
The ice cream sundae then was carried into the room - the Heathkit was a W-5M mono amp, stuffed with Genelex outputs. The cherry on top turned out to be the 5 various papers that went with the TT and tonearm; mounting template instructions for the TT and tonearm, a parts diagram for the TT, and operating manuals for both the TT and tonearm.
The karma came towards the end. It turns out that they have a Harmany Victrola that Alan restored, with Alan being my recently passed friend whose estate sale I helped to set up and operate. When we both found out Alan was a mutual friend, it seemed obvious this whole sale was somehow prearranged. Everyone was happy, and now we have a command mid-fifties mono TT to boot, and a solid mono amp until the Acrosound gets rebuilt. :thmbsp: