Best Of
Re: Post a picture.....any picture...part deux...
I can't say I remember a protracted Wollensak discussion before. 
As @SeleniumFalcon notes - the Wollesaks were pretty ubiquitous in American education for quite some time. Crown bragged that their tape machines were "built missionary tough". Wollensaks were "built language lab tough"!
Since we find ourselves on the topic
, now seems like a good time to note that the sturdy Wollensak cassette transport formed the mechanical heart (or is it just entrails) of both the Advent 201 cassette deck and a Heathkit cassette deck of roughly the same era.
(image from US Audio Mart)
(Random internet image).
I once found an Advent 201 at the dump, but all the rubber bits had transmogrified into sticky black goo, so I was loath to even attempt to rehabilitate it. I hate working on cassette transports!
source: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Heathkit-Catalogs/Heathkit-1973-800-70-Summer.pdf (pg 71)
Note that Heathkit wasn't as cheap as Henry Kloss, letting their customers have two meters!
As @SeleniumFalcon notes - the Wollesaks were pretty ubiquitous in American education for quite some time. Crown bragged that their tape machines were "built missionary tough". Wollensaks were "built language lab tough"!
Since we find ourselves on the topic
, now seems like a good time to note that the sturdy Wollensak cassette transport formed the mechanical heart (or is it just entrails) of both the Advent 201 cassette deck and a Heathkit cassette deck of roughly the same era.(image from US Audio Mart)
(Random internet image).
I once found an Advent 201 at the dump, but all the rubber bits had transmogrified into sticky black goo, so I was loath to even attempt to rehabilitate it. I hate working on cassette transports!
source: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Heathkit-Catalogs/Heathkit-1973-800-70-Summer.pdf (pg 71)
Note that Heathkit wasn't as cheap as Henry Kloss, letting their customers have two meters!
mhardy6647
3 ·
Re: Post a picture.....any picture...part deux...
Another Advent piece of trivia, Nakamichi built the Advent 200 cassette deck which was also the first deck to use Dolby B.
SeleniumFalcon
3 ·
Re: Post a picture.....any picture...part deux...
Wonder if Steve Wozniak ever had a Wollensak.
mhardy6647
4 ·
Re: Mirage SM3?
@SeleniumFalcon - I believe your recollection is correct (FWIW).
Had a pair of SM-1 for a while. Quite beguiling. Note the thick felt around the tweeter (similar to the OP's SM-3) -- the grille was made to mesh with the foam, so to speak, in an effort to control dispersion and/or diffraction. Almost embarrassingly simple two-ways, but a nice, open, transparent sound.
I rehabbed a pair of the small SM-4 for a friend when we lived in MA. Also quite nice. I don't think I have a photo of them. At the least, I don't have one handy.
Refoamed the woofers and replaced (retrofit) MR drivers (one of the originals had an open VC and I wasn't having any luck sourcing an original driver) in a pair of later (and apparently well-respected) L-750 belonging to the builder of our current house some years back, too.
Had a pair of SM-1 for a while. Quite beguiling. Note the thick felt around the tweeter (similar to the OP's SM-3) -- the grille was made to mesh with the foam, so to speak, in an effort to control dispersion and/or diffraction. Almost embarrassingly simple two-ways, but a nice, open, transparent sound.
I rehabbed a pair of the small SM-4 for a friend when we lived in MA. Also quite nice. I don't think I have a photo of them. At the least, I don't have one handy.
Refoamed the woofers and replaced (retrofit) MR drivers (one of the originals had an open VC and I wasn't having any luck sourcing an original driver) in a pair of later (and apparently well-respected) L-750 belonging to the builder of our current house some years back, too.
mhardy6647
2 ·
Re: Plasma TV,s
For those stating your plasma is/was a space heater, are/were you running it in torch (vivid) mode?
It was the earlier models. The 720p panels were not bad, but my Panny was the 1st year of 1080p resolution and it was a space heater. A couple model years later, they managed make panels that used half the power.
billbillw
3 ·
Re: Is it just me, or…
Technology should enhance or improve a customer's experience, not take it way or make it worse. IMNSH curmudgeon's experience.
It's like the difference between a Circle K gas station and a Quick Trip in our area. At the Circle K, there could be two people in line and you are standing there for 10 minutes before you can pay for your goods. Alternatively, there can be 10 or more people in line at a QT and you are walking out the door in less than 2 minutes. The difference? Using technology and processes that move the line along quickly. Both use humans but there is a vast difference between the two experiences. Every. Single. Time.
At least one of the gas station franchises around here has thought of a self checkout. Those are convenient, especially when people take seemingly forever to choose 1 out of 10 different lottery tickets, but the problem is, half of them don't work/malfunction or are out of service.
Tom
It's like the difference between a Circle K gas station and a Quick Trip in our area. At the Circle K, there could be two people in line and you are standing there for 10 minutes before you can pay for your goods. Alternatively, there can be 10 or more people in line at a QT and you are walking out the door in less than 2 minutes. The difference? Using technology and processes that move the line along quickly. Both use humans but there is a vast difference between the two experiences. Every. Single. Time.
At least one of the gas station franchises around here has thought of a self checkout. Those are convenient, especially when people take seemingly forever to choose 1 out of 10 different lottery tickets, but the problem is, half of them don't work/malfunction or are out of service.
Tom
treitz3
4 ·
Re: Mirage SM3?
I believe Mirage was the first Canadian speaker manufacturer to take advantage of the basic loudspeaker research done by the Canadian National Research Counsil (NRC). They did extensive research in acoustics and made the information, free of charge, to Canadian companies. Generally speaking I always found Mirage speakers to be very good sounding.
SeleniumFalcon
3 ·
Re: Has an album transported you back in time?
Music is always connected to memories for me. Some Albums I can't listen to anymore due it.
Absolutely!! For me I even get the sights and scents of the time. Like lilacs in the spring kind of thing.
pitdogg2
4 ·