Elmas Xantia V6 and Musical Stuff

[CitroJim]

This Linn Hi-Fi is Reasonably priced

That is just total insanity!

[myglaren]

This Linn Hi-Fi is Reasonably priced

That is just total insanity!

And nowhere near the upper reaches.

[Stickyfinger]

[elma]

Did anyone see the Meteorites last night? I had an alarm set for 03:00 but managed to sleep right through it. I will be trying again tonight, real shame as the sky was perfect and the stars were all out when I went to bed. I was too tired to sit outside for half an hour plus though so probably sleep was for the best.

[CitroJim]

No, shame I was up at that time cooking and baking... I ran much later this morning after dawn... Had I known I'd have gone for an early pre-dawn run...

I've seen them in the past and find them quite magical...

[elma]

Well it should be just as good tonight Jim, it's got a 2 day peak.
I'm working again so chances are I'll KO but I'm giving it a go.

[Zelandeth]

I wouldn't bother with eBay for a turntable these days, it's just full of price gouging or scam artists. The best chance at finding a bargain are if you find something that's been poorly listed.

Gumtree is sometimes a better bet, though again the best bet are going to be things which have been listed simply like "turntable" or a misspelling thereof and similar with one fuzzy photo which you can just about make out what it is from.

Generally any middle of the road deck from the 70s or 80s will be absolutely fine. Don't forget Sanyo either, they don't seem to have suffered quite the same level of inflation that Pioneer etc seem to have. My usual check as to whether it's a "proper" deck from that era is whether it has a metal platter - if the answer is yes then it'll probably be more than good enough for me.

Worth checking on the price of consumables before you buy though if it's a top end deck too...My B&O deck may have been a recycling centre rescue, but if I ever want to replace the stylus it will probably cost me more than most cars I've bought!

...It is a beautiful thing though so is staying in service.

[elma]

Great advice, thanks Zel.

I'll keep to the boot sales for now but when my amps here if I haven't found one I'll be scouring the ads on the net.

[Zelandeth]

Haven't been to a boot sale in forever, really should find one somewhere round here sometime!

[elma]

Mines not even a 5 minute walk from home/work.
We've a country fair next week as well, sounds rather fun.

[CitroJim]

Good call on eBay Zel, I only buy it now from there and never enter bidding wars... These so-called auction tools that allow a last-second automated bid are evil and I think they should be prevented from working by the simple expedient of introducing random finish times...

The cost of a Garrard SP25 is now quite staggering, especially at the specialist shows...

Good call too on consumables... The PL110 is good in that respect. £5 for a belt and a tenner for a stylus...

[elma]

I don't like ebay much anymore, been ripped off a few times too many. Unfortunately it is ever so handy for finding unusual items fast.

I'm going to ask everyone if they have an old one in the loft they don't want as well, sometimes thats where the best things come from.

[van ordinaire]

Had an odd eBay experience a couple of days ago: 2 mins to go - & no bids, clicked on enter bid: nothing!

Not that bothered, but it's a shame as it's one of the reasons I got this laptop, as can't bid at work (whether that's because of the out-of-date browser or in-house IT security's not clear, because we used to be able to)

[elma]

Well I moved on from vinyl for a couple of weeks and started buying guitar stuff, well and a few records at the boot sale.
I now have an EKO 12 string semi acoustic and a Roland cube20x and I rather like the pair of them. Both came from gumtree and were under £30 each!!!
The amp is more than loud enough for a caravan and the sound is good. It has 2 channels, built in effects of all sorts, a tuner and some other handy (and useless) features. The guitar sounds totally amazing with or without the amp. It's a bit uncomfortable to play at the moment because 12 strings is a lot for 4 fingers. The top has started to delaminate a bit but I'm finally off to Wales for my tools and will have it repaired up there. The loan of a 6 string Acoustic (not sure if electro) has been agreed as the repair will take 2-3 weeks. My next visitor from Wales has won the prize of bringing the 12 string here and returning the 6 string.

On the lookout now for an electric guitar, got my eye on a mislisted Fender Strat on Ebay that looks like it'll go for about 1/6 it's actual value and is only a few miles away. Theres a Bass thats been at the boot sale for the last 3 weeks for £25 that I looked up and sells for £60-100 usually so I'm going to buy and sell that to finance it.

Other bargain from Gumtree this week was a Jessops reflector telescope for £20. I'd noticed an unnatural star near the moon a few nights back and looked up what it was, Jupiter! So after a little reading I found out Jupiter plus 4 of its moons, Saturn and either Neptune or Venus (can't remember) were all visible. We have beautiful, starry clear skye here and no light pollution worthy of mention. SO I just had to have a telescope. I've only moon gazed so far as I've not set up the finder scope. This weekend, if not in Wales, I'll be setting it up and finding a planet. Haven't seen Jupiter since I was about 10 and I remember it so well. Something so amazing cannot be "seen" in a book or on a screen, only with your own eyes do you get the lifelong memory. Last time I didn't see the spot but this time it is pointed right at us, I'd better hurry up.

Xantia, where to start, it's having a tantrum because I haven't done any of the things I promised it. It's running poorly, but I don't blame it because I haven't changed the plugs. It's also developed a knock from the nsf wheel which I can't feel when driving so suspect is a drop link but doesn't really sound like one. I still haven't got the carpets back in as it rains whenever I have the time. It's also sinking when parked and the steerings going scarily heavy at car park speeds. It needs a lot of love and hopefully it can have it shortly. I have booked a work van for either next weekend or the one 2 after that to go and clear my container in Wales. From then on I have my tools and can finally sort out the Xantia.

I forgot to mention the remains of the heater matrix elbow will not come off. I don't want to break the matrix so will probably glue some plastic pipe into the hole and put the hoses straight onto that.

I'm getting a bit fed up of the Xantia now, not for anything it's done but the matrix elbow problem has really p'd me off. £90 for a stupid piece of plastic is not funny and the Polish ones aren't going to fit as the bleed valve wants to be in the same place as the bulkhead. Really tempted to sort it, sell it and get another Van at the moment well assuming I can find the time.

On a complete sidenote I think I have the record now for the most fines from the Aldi carpark for a single shopping trip. I managed 3! For once not just me getting crap for the sake of it, I actually caused them. I forgot my wallet and realised as I got out of the car so went home to fetch it, that was fine number one. Then I came back, did the shopping and found that I didn't have my wallet at the checkout which was fine number 2. Went home again, got wallet this time, returned to Aldi, paid for shopping and forgot to put my numberplate in the machine for fine number 3. I've just emailed them, I do hope this doesn't turn into the usual sort of battle I seem to get into with these sort of companies as I only have a receipt for the 3rd trip I'm sure they'll demand £140 for the first 2.

[myglaren]

You're going to the wrong Aldi - they are all free around here, as are ASDA, Sainsburys, Lidle, Morrisons, Tesco, Co-Op etc.

Ed: - four fingers James? Four strings is plenty




She says "It's just a cigar box with some s**t nailed on to it"!
She's American, they talk like that