Imagine how bad the storms would be if climate change were real!
25 are dead across the US after weekend tornadoes. Texas is getting battered again
Ortofon the Obscure
This self-contradictory headline is obviously intended to attract attention. It caught mine. Saying that a particular brand dominates a market implies it isn’t obscure.
Why Does This Obscure Brand Dominate the Turntable Market?
https://www.gearpatrol.com/tech/ortofon-phono-cartridges-popular/
The article misses one reason why I favor Ortofon. They do something all cartridge manufacturers should do, by publishing the tracking ability of their products.
The 2M Red has a diamond-tipped stylus, and the 2M Blue has a solid, or “nude,” diamond stylus.
2M Red $99 Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force 70 µm 2M Blue $189 Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force 80 µm
Cleanly tracking a 70 µm (15 dB) cut in a record is very good, and tracking 80 µm (16 dB) is outstanding performance. Ortofon’s 2M Blue predecessor is the Super OM 20. It is also rated for 80 µm, which I confirmed in this test. Side 1 of the test record was pressed slightly off-center, resulting in “wow” being heard.
Something I first noticed fifty years ago, when replacing my American made Shure M91ED with the Danish Ortofon FF15E shown above, was the superior quality of plastic from the land of Lego.
“You-do-it” No Mo’
For ten years, my commute took me along Route 128, no longer dubbed “America’s Technology Highway.” On my way home, if I wasn’t stopping at Sight & Sound, the LaserDisc store in Waltham, I would sometimes hang out at You-Do-It Electronics in Needham.
As you can see, there’s a TV transmitter tower near the store. There are more of them on the other side, as those guy wires show. The Yagi directional outdoor antenna I have on the porch is pointed precisely at those towers, some 15 miles away.
I’m sure the engineers working at those nearby TV stations helped to keep You-do-it in business all of these years, but now the store is scheduled for closure. Boston and America’s Technology Highway aren’t what they used to be.
Meet Them in St. Louis
Shades of R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders! Look at what tastewar put up on YouTube today.
In 1998, I heard Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong perform “Saint Louis Blues” at the Lowell Folk Festival.
Before Ghost World, former Cheap Suit Serenader Terry Zwigoff was known for the documentary about his pal Crumb. His first film was about Louie Bluie.
His tastewar in music
My friend tastewar is a Decemberists fan. He recently took this video that presents a good case for why he’s a fan.
Here’s the official video for the song, worth considering on this Memorial Day weekend.
Catch a Radio Wave!
Tomorrow at 1 PM ET, TuneIn to your Memorial Day DJ Tom Hanks, on Boss Radio 66.
