Wow thanks for that ted, I have some extra butchers block from our kitchen counter replacement and was trying to figure out how to sell the
extra scrap.
Guess it will be for a wood plinth, now I can add that to my craigslist or ebay listings.

Sure thing. I normally don't go for silly audio stuff. Though elevating and isolating my turntable slightly does make a modicum of sense. I just didn't want to spend silly money doing it.

Besides, if you saw my small, but rather odd, collection of vinyl you would probably prefer it to be in a dumpster and set fire to than played on a nice turntable and looked after in nice sleeves.

The IKEA parts I used are:

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/aptitlig-b ... -00233429/

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/eket-foot- ... -70340044/

An example of my taste in vinyl on my blog:

http://thecoter.ie/2018/01/27/the-world ... ne-gaming/

http://thecoter.ie/2017/08/20/the-world ... l-records/

http://thecoter.ie/2017/07/29/the-toftw ... pulse-buy/

I also collect NPB vinyl. I have a fairly extensive collection of 12 and 7 inch NPB records. Because when you can't get enough of MLB there is NPB (as well as KBO and more) to satiate my relentless thirst for baseball!

I'll check it out, I'm being lazy and need to list more stuff on ebay.
My LP collection is half Chipmunks, half Jackie Gleason and then 3 or 5 random LPs which when I think of it I can't really understand why I even have them.

All of the chipmunks I had on CD but sold the CDs to keep the vinyl, have most of the Gleason stuff on CD but still have
my turntable which I never really use and really need to sell it one day.

Now THAT is eclectic! Blows my Fijnaarts Jeugdorkest album and Ken Dodd LP's out of the water!

some stuff for my other computers (need a zip for my quicksilver if it still works.)

I picked up a Buttkicker Advance 3ohm for $100 from an AVS member that bought ~200 of them from an Alamo Draft House that was remodeling. I'm temporarily driving it with a Monoprice Unity 450 amp, but I can't crank it or it will shut down (only good to 4ohm). I'm picking up a Crown CE1000 amp to better drive it tonight, which I found on FBM for $50 nearby.





Even with the underpowered amplifier it's temporarily powered by, it adds a good bit of rumble and allows listening at lower volumes where my subwoofer (Ultimax 15", 11cuft, 18hz tune, Crown DSi 1000 DSP amp) is heard but not felt. I have it mounted directly to one of the wooden cross members in the bottom cushion of the center seat of my theater recliner set. Even with a pronounced rumble in that seat, not much transfers to the other two seats on either side.

With the Crown amp, I'm pretty sure a single shaker could add a good bit of rumble to the entire recliner set IF I built an isolated platform (unfortunately the $50 couch kit wouldn't do the trick since each seat is separate and just linked for alignment by the middle armrests)... but, honestly, I'd probably just add another Buttkicker for each individual seat instead of going that route.

Came across a iScan Duo v.cheap locally and complete.
Havnt played with much at all yet, looks like ill be able to zoom correctly all the time now as my TV doesnt have best options.
Be interested to see if it can give me a even better picture from my R7G than i was via my Retrotink.
Interested if anyone else is using one?
Dont worry it was only mounting the R7 for the pic

Welcome to the DVDO club! I have a DVDO Edge and a DVDO VP50 Pro. Love them both, especially with the lovely R7G!

Thanks Ted!
I figure the Duo is the budget model but happy to find,
What settings to you find best/change with your Iscan with that incredible R7 you own?

There's probably folks here much better versed in the intricacies of scalers and processors who could provide a more detailed answer. I'll try and help though!

All of these devices do pretty much the same thing. When installed in a modern system I wouldn't be looking at them to add any great leaps in picture quality. Modern displays are more than capable of spitting out a juicy picture.

I think where these devices come in useful is with the various adjustments you can make with them in regards to the aspect ratio. Where a modern display will just throw out whatever it's programmed to do, it's not necessarily the correct output. With the added benefit of a scaler/processor you can get really granular with the image (depending on which model scaler/processor you own). I especially like masking borders, correcting aspect ratios, adjusting under/overscan (if needed) and in some cases using the excellent technology applied by the DVDO to stretch out and display a 4:3 letterboxed video as best as possible on a 16:9 display. You'll find with the higher end models in the DVDO range such as the VP50 Pro and Duo (the Edge is a cut down hybrid of both) that rather than just applying a fancy setting, you can apply a fancy setting but adjust it too.

I haven't used an iScan Duo so don't know what settings are available for it. Best thing to do is have a play around with it and test out a few discs. Worst case you can just factory reset it if you fall down a settings rabbit hole!

For me I presently use the Edge as there is a bug in the VP50 Pro firmware that doesn't let it output analog audio. It's a hit and miss thing and a pain to resolve. I think a firmware upgrade may fix it, I just haven't gotten round to it yet and don't have a serial cable at the minute to upload the file. I'll get to it soon though and try it out.

The Duo seems to be a improvement over the Retrotink,
Just seems to clean everything up a fraction, nothing dramatic but notable.
Need more time to play around with settings could squeeze even more blood from the LD stone.

weird experience this said was delivered saturday but showed up today

I don't really take part in Record Store Day. Only done it once before to get a copy of the Metropolis soundtrack a few years ago. Even then I had to order it from a shop in the Netherlands as it sold out everywhere else I had looked.

Got these today. All ordered online from a local store. Why waste time trawling through records store by store?

I got The Keep soundtrack. Sadly the cover of Walking In The Air isn't on this (or any) release. I 'think' this is a UK & Ireland exclusive, limited to about 1250 copies (possibly more I'm not sure).

Also Czarface - Czar Noir which not only features DMC, but also has a comic book as the cover. The record is the soundtrack to the comic book. Only 500 copies made it outside the USA to the UK & Ireland together.

Last disc is IIVII's Obsidian. Limited to 300 copies,but more importantly it just sounds whopper.

I have my turntable set up again at last so will enjoy these. Did anyone else get any RSD releases this month?

Just to follow up on the above if anyone is on the fence about getting any of these titles for themselves. They sound absolutely spectacular, especially the Tangerine Dream soundtrack.

I don't have some sort of tellurium-coated, xenon-filled, plutonium-charged setup dipped in a vat of snake oil and plugged in to a special uranium/argon-coated electricity pylon constructed outside my home for my sole use only and fed in to a hydroelectric plant that I built for my sole use with special no-fly zones marked above both the hydro plant and pylon so that there is no interference in the air that may affect the electricity condition during transit. It's a load of cobblers I think. At the minute I am using:

1. Pro-ject Essentials I turntable
2. Ortofon 3e Cartridge/Stylus (I will upgrade this soon to an Ortofon 5e as the current stylus is on the way out after a long life)
3. Pro-ject Phono Box E
4. Fiio E09K/E17 Combo
5. AKG K550 headphones
6. DIY IKEA butcher's block and feet thing I made
7. My entire home is levitating on a 24ft cushion of air so as to avoid any unwanted vibrations.

That's it. Same setup I've had for years (minus the recently added butchers block) and it sounds great to my undemanding ears.

The Keep soundtrack really does sound remarkable on vinyl. You get a download code with it too so it will be interesting to see how it compares to the version on Tidal. The Czar Noir and IIVII albums sound superb too, especially IIVII's album. Definitely pick these up if you are contemplating getting them, especially The Keep. Hopefully this will somehow inspire Michael Mann and Paramount to kiss and make up and release the 6947 hour director's cut on UHD Blu Ray at long last?

More tat. The doorbell rang and the postman delivered me a new monitor and some other tat.

Then later on yesterday afternoon the doorbell rang again. It was Paul Hogan from Crocodile Dundee.

Sipping a cup of tea in my slippers (how the tea got in my slippers I'll never know) I said "Hello Paul. What do you want?".

Cracking open a tinny of Castlemaine XXXX he said "I've come round to show ya me new monitor! 21 inch. Wide screen. High definition! Traded in me Ute for it. She's a beaut! What do ya think?"

I sipped my tea. Paused for a moment and said...

"Paul. Mate. That's not a monitor..."

I took him up to my home office, swung open the door and said...

"That's a monitor."



Then he beat me up and left.

Apologies about the poor photo for anyone interested in these 49" super wide 32:9 monitors. The box is almost 6ft wide and was tough to get in to shot. I have it set up and running and it's taking some getting used to!

I also got this tat too. The Grindhouse Releasing Blu Ray of Cannibal Ferox. Laserdisc fans will know that Grindhouse also put out the film on Laserdisc in 1997. There was a limited edition run that came with a Cannibal Ferox vomit bag (a nod to the theatrical release in 1980 where vomit bags were handed out in the lobby) and a 7" vinyl single of the opening theme music. The Laserdisc release features prominently in the bonus features on this release.

Got the Region A release of House Of Wax 3D too. The UK release from HMV is twice the price RRP and seems to be OOP. You get the 2D and 3D editions on the USA disc minus the HMV added tat. Not a big deal when you just want to see the film in 3D.

Also decided not to hang around and picked up an Ortofon 2M Red for my turntable. A little higher up the lower end of the cartridge/stylus food chain than I would have liked to go, but the price was negligible so went for the 2M Red over a Super OM 5e. Ordered late yesterday from a local store, arrived today. Just need to fit it now!

I think I only ever saw that movie once and ever since then I've joked that the reason they gave you a barf bag is because the movie was just really that bad.

It's not the worst of the cannibal films, I'd give that award probably to Zombie Holocaust, actually no Cannibal Terror. It's interesting though on the commentary track with Lenzi and one of the key actors, the very first thing the actor says is "I hate this film" followed by an awkward silence! Cannibal Ferox is still 100% a 42nd Street icon though. Always will be.

Also there are two deleted scenes here, the pig and piranha sequences respectively. No, the latter is not 'that' piranha scene. Wrong film. You can however reinsert the deleted scenes to the main film if you want the full fat, full beans Ferox.

I'd like to get the Laserdisc if a copy comes up with the tat and for sensible money. Not too pushed though as tat aside, this Blu is the definitive version. It has absolutely all the Ferox goodness you need.

Side note, I got the Ortofon 2M Red installed super quick. First impressions are it's a significant improvement over the OM 3e I had installed. Though the stylus was run down to within an inch of it's useful life I guess. Mmm snake oil...

Edit: Anyone wondering, Cannibal Ferox disc 1 is hard locked to Region A. So you will need a mod chipped player to watch it if you don't have a Region A device. The top menu trick doesn't work either. Mod chip only.

The bonus disc is marked Region A but is actually region free. I tested this by switching the mod chip to Region A, B and C for both discs. Disc 3 is an audio CD of the soundtrack.

Thoughts on the 2M Red?

It was on my list, but a lot of reviews pointed to it going beyond detailed into the realm of bright. I think for now I've just settled on an LP Gear 3600LE stylus upgrade for the AT91 on my Fluance RP80 + Project Box E while I try to decide if I'm committed enough to step up to a VM95ML, VM540ML, or maybe just keep it simple and make one more step up to the LP Gear 3600DLXVL and move the 3600LE to the AT3600 on the Crosley C6 I have in the office.

I've only used it a couple of minutes so far. It's definitely a marked improvement on the OM 3e which comes with the turntable. I bought the turntable second hand years ago and it's seen very light use since. That said the stylus was starting to look worn down, it clearly had a lot of hours on it when I bought it. Hence thinking it was time for a change.

I learned that the Red and Blue cartridges all share the same makeup so you can interchange Red and Blue styli without needing to buy a new cartridge. The Bronze and (I think) Black styli use a different cartridge. The Bronze definitely does at least. Anyway, just to state the Blue is a significant jump over the Red in terms of price and in terms of sound quality, on my low-end setup, I will 99.9% certain not hear any noticeable difference between them.

One other thing to note is that the 2M series, under the plastic shell of the cartridge and stylus housing, appears to be identical to that of the OM series. Ortofon made a slight change to the housing so you can't fit on OM stylus on to a 2M cartridge, but a 2M stylus will fit on to an OM cartridge. Reeks of money-milking to me. With that said though, and from a few minutes of listening until this point, I must say that there is a clear difference between the OM 3e and 2M Red. Where the OM 3e sounds very neutral, the 2M Red adds a bit more bass and mid to the sound. It doesn't sound as sterile as the OM 3e. If you've ever listened to music on a pair of Etymotic IEM's then that's the definition right there of sterile. It's like having your ears bathed with an antiseptic wipe. They're still exceptional IEM's though.

I am not an audiophile though. My favourite band is Tone Deaf And The Eh?. Also my ears are not grafted on from a Bat donor. They are not dipped in Palladium. My eardrums are not made of Rhodium or anodized in Tanzanite before being cooled in Uranium water. I do not sit in a soundproof room coated in special foil that makes the sound stage more inviting and ambitious yet cool and relaxed and oh for Christ sake enough of the audiophile cobblers. The language is packed with more bollocks than a nautical dictionary and a Profanisaurus combined.

More tat too today. Lots of dribbles coming in, delayed over the weeks/months.

I'm a big fan of the late Yokai-master, Shigeru Mizuki. I picked up a few of his books back in 2017. The complete Showa series (including a special teaser comic for the book launch, not pictured) as well as Hitler. At the time I couldn't get hold of Nonnonba and Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, so I got them from the local library and read them both. Two very different but great stories. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is very funny but also quite moving. If you were to buy just one Shigeru Mizuki book I would go for that one to start you off. Nonnonba is a funny yet equally lovely and very sweet Yokai tale, totally different to the other war stories from Shigeru Mizuki but certainly very much worth your time.

I got Nonnonba and Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths today which I think, for myself at least, now completes all of the Shigeru Mizuki books released by Canadian label Drawn + Quarterly (aside from Kitaro which I'd either get at the library or wait for an omnibus). I'll re-read them both soon. I'll probably revisit Showa again too. Though that is a very long manga and best binged. I did similar when I got the 6 Akira books from the library and just binged them in a couple of days. Great manga!

My biggest issue with the movie is complicated.

In his review of Cannibal Holocaust, Lloyd Kaufman (yes, that Lloyd Kaufman) talks about the psychological sleight of hand the movie pulls on you. By utilizing real animal violence, that movie convinces that what you see is real, so the following violence against humans is also real, lending to the sense of authenticity combined with the amateur style shooting of the film within the film.

For myself at least, Ferox inadvertedly accomplishes the exact opposite effect, by having the stupid tour guide at the beginning of the movie eat the most fake a** goddamn butterfly in cinema history, thus convincing me that all the violence that follows - even the real one - is just as fake, effectively pulling the rug from underneath any shock factor the movie might've had.

Ironically the first I'd ever heard of the film was at a flea market way back in the 90s where I saw, I guess it was a vipco UK vhs, which had a rather minimalist cover design; just the film title, a drawing of a pile of bones resting in a puddle of blood, the tagline which I think said something like "Who would've thought that the iron age man still lived!" and that huge old style BBFC "18" rating. The mere sight of that cover was enough to churn the stomach of the teenage me - but I guess I will never know if seeing the actual movie would've had the same effect on me, regardless if it had been the heavily censored UK version or not.

I guess Ferox is one of those movies I hate watching, but love talking about!