Today's walk report: 102313

It's 7:10 PM and I forgot to do something really important today...

Eat.

That's right I'm just about to have my 1st meal of the day. I realized at 6:33 PM that I had not eaten and went for about a 3 km walk just to get some tension out but clearly I was starting to lose it from not consuming food all day. There were a couple of times that I thought, 'haven't eaten yet, should eat something' but I never followed through. Backtracking a little now, it appears around 2:30 this afternoon until that 6:33 PM realization struck that the concept simply had not resurfaced and that I was running on fumes.

This morning... I was doing my usual BS paperwork for the probate process which has been sucking my life energy since late March. Actually, there's a break there since it took 4 months for my petition to have its day in court. Nevertheless it was looming overhead like a thundercloud all that time and I have to admit that this sort of crap designed by lawyers for lawyers really doesn't sit well with me. I have most of what I need to do right now done except I need to call someone, my referee and ask a couple of questions. This person only works two days a week. So I went into a holding pattern.

All the while I kept thinking I'm an idiot for not buying a ticket to see the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform Frank Zappa's 200 Motels at the Walt Disney Hall downtown, one night only special extravaganza, tonight. The reasons I did not are pretty complicated and it's too much to share but I realized today as I saw anticipation mounting via others that I had made a horrible error in judgment. So I got on the phone and called the box office. I knew it was sold out but also figured some tickets would get released and that's what the 1st guy told me. Well, he said, "maybe." So I kept calling every 1/2 hour. Then I asked myself what would keep this obsession at bay?

My stereo receiver. I wrote about this here. As of 10 AM it had been in "the shop" for 55 days. Partly because tubes were coming from Russia and partly because I wasn't a priority. I actually asked from the beginning, "if it can save me any money to put me on a back burner, please do so." Do so they did but I don't know if that saved me anything. There was an unexpected problem or two too. It's boring. Yes, more boring that what we have here so far. Anyway, I called and lo and behold, it was ready.

Harman-Kardon, TA-260 with new power stage (quad) tubes and a bunch of other stuff.

Besides getting the thing and being really happy to have this stereo back up in the living room was another factor that made going to a concert at downtown Disney not a good idea... The repair was pretty darn pricey. Could I buy a new receiver for the same money that would perform as well? No. Could I buy a receiver on the market today which would fit vertically into the beautiful cabinet this goes into? No. Could I really afford to have this work done? Not really. Am I happy I had it done? Yes. Could it be looked upon as an investment? Yes.

So there you go. Now I've finished here and finished my sandwich. I'm going to relax to apple pie and ice cream and some orchestral Zappa on the stereo.

Oh, here, one last thing. This house is right around the corner. Basically what I did was I walked a real big circle around my neighborhood. Hand held with my pocket camera but not the point. I'm assuming this is an effort at Christmas lights. Nice, huh? It's October 23rd!!!

Today's walk report: 082813

The more boring the walk, the longer it seems.

Vintage: A calculated long term corporate scam. In the case of stereo equipment, 1st outmode the media. Get rid of vinyl records. In the beginning everyone complained about CDs, that the quality was less than that of vinyl. But soon people forget and CDs become the excepted format. Then it's MP3s and AAC taking over and CDs start to disappear. All they have to do is tell people over and over that it's just as good or better and eventually the masses agree. I wrote about the resurgence of CDs in the year 2020 here and interestingly enough it's one of the most frequently hit posts I've written (that doesn't mean it was any good but it means I was at least onto something). Next music becomes download only, soon it will only be available via subscription streaming. But wait a minute, "Vintage" kicks in, now records are cool again but they don't cost $4 anymore, now they cost $24. The $150 turntables of the past now become vintage "stereophile" at $100s more with rogue companies making basic decent equipment at highly inflated prices. Meanwhile receivers which accommodate phono connections are high-end elite. It's all planned out. Bring shit back, charge plenty for doing so and all along the consumer thinks they're so hip, right there, on the cutting edge of what's cool. People remain clueless and kids getting into vinyl then use their USB turntables to convert the plastic to MP3s for their iPods. It's a viscous cycle of stupidity.

The walk.

I would have sworn once I got to my destination I had walked 3 miles or 4.83 km. Of course had I stopped to calculate I would ave realized that was not true.  I walked alongside the Orange line bus line. I had decided to look at A/V receivers at the nearby Best Buy, I was trying to resolve a day-long dilemma I was dealing with. I didn't resolve anything but I think I've come to a conclusion.

Here's the start of the pedestrian walkway/bike path which parallels the metro Orange line busway. So boring I can't even come up with something boring enough to compare it to. Four more blocks that away also gives you a ridiculous amount to traffic to breathe in off to your left.

Back in June I had posted about fixing the old Harman Kardon TA-260 stereo receiver which I fondly grew up with. It was a momentous occasion. I have been enjoying music once again from this almost everyday since... for hours on end... until today. It stopped. Power still went on and seemingly all of the appropriate tubes were lit but alas, no sound. It's a question mark on the 4 tubes with the caps on  you see in front because those particular tubes have tubes have the filament almost completely encased in the plate structure so it's normal not to see them lit. The caps, of course, come off easily. I took it out of the cabinet once again and inspected top to bottom. There was nothing obvious.

So I searched for someone local. This guy was really helpful and referred me to someone else. The deal there is $150 to get this on the bench and see what's wrong. Ouch. However, what I found on the other side and the reason in part for the trip to Best Buy (horrible place to shop by the way--don't shop there) was that you cannot find a receiver anymore less than 17" wide. Within about a 1/4" that's the "standard." Two, even if you find something close that might fit in the cabinet here, it's not going to have a phono connect. Nope. Sorry. The other thing is the vertical mount, not every receiver can go vertical and that's what I want, otherwise the cabinet loses it's class. So... that also means a slightly recessed cabinet and some front bezel to mount. Vintage Marantz receivers fit this condition however they are usually too wide, hard to find and when you find one people want ridiculous amounts of money for them because they're "vintage."

Marantz 2225 stereo receiver.

I have an inquiry into one other location for repair on the TA-260. Hopefully it's a lower bench price from someone who is as confident and nice as the guy I ended up calling on the referral. The $150 to look at guy. The guy who is also 5-8 weeks out on projects. It's $150 because it's tube by the way. It's much more difficult to trouble shoot than solid-state.  Solid-state is $75. Fortunately I have a schematic. I'll name names once I get this going. I'm sure there's another walk in here somewhere. By the way the floor guy at Best Buy time lined his life for me like this, turns out he went to all of the same schools I went to before college... "When I got out of elementary school Star Wars came out, Junior High grad was The Empire Strikes Back and High School was Return of the Jedi." Oh no! I looked up at the "Geek Squad" sign and immediately started questioning how I measured my own life.

The walk for anybody keeping score was only 3.80 km in each direction.

UPDATE, 083013.

The TA-260 is in for repair with this company. So far, a very pleasurable experience. I enjoy talking a/v with fun and knowledgeable people. It will be close to a week before a damage report comes in. Part of the conversation was the resell value of the receiver. While I understand the popularity of "vintage" audio I was a bit surprised to hear an approximate value of $1,250. So, at least to a degree, the repair becomes less of a want and more of a potential investment. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it before.