It is freaky, Greg. That's happened with a couple albums - especially with Pink Floyd's "Animals".

There are many strange things about high end audio. One of things that I think is strange is that people are all striving toward something that is not known to them. There is no place you can go where someone will put on a recording and say "Ok this is it. This is the goal. This is what you work toward getting, or at least as close to THIS sound I'm gonna play, as you can get. This is the pinnacle, this isr just what recorded sound can be, at it's best. And this is recorded sound at its best. This is where we are at right now at the current state of the art." This is what you upgrade for, to try to achieve sound quality like this"... as he presses the play button or lowers the stylus. So Audiophiles are spending tens of thousands of dollars and more to achieve a goal or some level that they have no idea what they're trying to achieve. They're spending all that money to achieve something which they don't even know what the goal or achievment is, or if they'll like it, or how it will sound or anything. They have been told by credible people that you cannot achieve the sound of live music; Not even close. There's a tendency when hearing real good sound reproduction to think; this perfectection, or near it. No, if you had the musicians in your room playing, you would realize that thought is way off. it's going to be something much less than that, even if you are a trillionaire. With most things in life, the goal is clear. A War General shows on a map, a bridge that has to be destroyed. The aim is clear. A builder of skyscrapers looks at the blueprints and clearly sees the goal. An athlete knows how high he has to jump to clear the bar. The goal is visible and a known entity or quantity. Even religious people who believe in heaven have seen pictures of it depicted in books and in The Bible. But audiophiles are going for something so vague that even they don't know what the end game is; what they are really going for, and spending tens of thousands to get.. What will it sound like? Will it be nirvana, or something so revealing that you will hate all but some of your recordings. Will it be a hell of sorts? There is a lot of fantasy involved in audio. If you think you are going to achieve sound that is something convincingly as real as live music, you are in fantasyland. The late Ivor Tiefenbrun of Linn turntable fame, once said in a printed interview that our best equipment only achieves around 12% of the sound quality of real musical instruments being played. That might seem like a low estimate, but if you've ever sat at a piano and started playing it, and hear all the complex harmonics, the complex blending of notes and tones, you no doubt realized how simplified and primitive our audio reproductions are, compared to the infinite comlexity and numbers of sounds even one instrument can make. There is something else going on. Maybe people just need to have some goal in life to give them a reason to go on. Even if that goal is unattainable. Perhaps it's good that it is. What if you actually attained that goal? Then what then? What next?

This is spot on and I am going through this. I've added a couple things recently that made a huge difference. But before adding them I had no idea it could get better. It inevitably causes me to look at the rest of my equipment and wonder what else I could change. Maybe there's nothing further I could do, but it's the "Maybe" that pushes me forward. It would be wonderful to have an actual goal and know what the level is where it can't get any better. Impossible though...

Oh don't think that yet! You have some nice equipment but you might only be about 30% up the.sound quality mountain. Your best piece from what I gather is the Gallion Gallion.amp. With enough isolation and a good moving coil cartridge, you could get the TD 160 Super not that far from Class B, or borderline Class B. But I am finding that the improvements keep coming even after I subjectively subjectively easily reached Class A. I'm now sure that there is at least 6 performance grades gradesor levels above equipment in Stereophile magszines Class A. A. It takes serious modding though. With each grade representing about another 20 to 25% improvement. I say "at least" another 6 grades because with my mods the improvements show no signs of stopping, or even slowing yet. Your KLH 5 speakers are good speakers but even if you had $100,000 state of the art source and electronics connected to them, they would not get to anywhere near the sound of say MBL or Rockport speakers. Clint Eastwood was said to have once owned Rockport equipment. When someone hears a system with double or triple the sound quality of their system, they can hear it is better, but they don't realize just how much better it is. If they took it home and lived with it, and played all their favorite records, then they'd begin to realize how much better it is. So this should not be discouraging at all, but something to look forward to. Improvements are not going to stop because of reaching a ceiling limit of performance anytime soon. Linn's Ivor Tiefenbrun''s estimate that our best equipment is only 12% the sound quality of live, means that we would have to double the sound quality, then double iit again to around 50% and then double it again to reach the 100% of real music plateau. So don't ever worry about there being no room for further improvement. The question is, at what point will we have reached the limit of the source material be it cd, lp or whatever. That limit is whatever the microphones picked up at the original recording session and how much of it survived the subsequent steps including mastering. I can tell you that at about 6 grades above what would be considered entry level Class A sound, the improvements keep coming!

Hi Chris! The tube tester my father in law has was hand-built decades ago and works really well - but it can't test all tubes (limited pin slots). One of these days I want to find a new one that won't hurt my wallet.

That's a good idea. I'm going to do that.

Have a good one. Carmine!

In my humble opinion the TS120 presents a greater soundstage. I enjoyed the A75 and it is significantly less expensive than the TS120.

Thanks, RC!

That should be a t-shirt design, Neil - "Tubes Rule!"

​@@TheJoyofVinylRecords Ha! You have my permission to use it if you want. 😊

There is definitely something to be said about that glow....

Now I'm going to buy a dry-ice machine. My wife will love it 😂😂

It thrills me to see it, Jay! 🍺

Which Cambridge Audio amp are you running Pat?

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords It's a 540R. My place is small so my home theatre is my main music player too.

Thank you for that my friend 🍺

Hey Frank! It won’t take those tubes but I’m hoping to look at an amp soon that might. I’ll keep these in mind - and thank you!

I've heard great things about Crytone

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords I got their 5u4g for my Modwright PH9 and it made a world of difference. I went from “I need to sell this” to “wow I need to hear another album”…I bet it would make a difference in your TS-120 or even in your phono pre if it’s tube rectified.

@@Staybrown11 My phono stage uses a 5u4g. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks!

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords looking forward to your video on the 5UG4

I have heard of it! They've come out with a new version and it would be a great fit for my RB330 tonearm. I wish the cantilever was boron, but at the price point, I suppose aluminum makes sense.

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords thank you! I will start saving up for it :)

I have Ohm micros, which sound good but not really as dramatic as some have heard. I wonder if it's because my room has window blinds instead of curtains and a tile floor?

Turntables too!

😂😂😂

I do get it. Really. I have a high opinion about the Galion and trust Thomas wholeheartedly when it comes to his ear and opinion. That being said I do wish they were made locally - that meaning North America. It’s a peace of mind thing.

😂 Good way to put it.