Anyone using a Gray 108?

Robert Young

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He was a mentor to many, and his rather esoteric approach to retail - displaying and selling amps like they were fine art (which they are!) - went a long way towards creating the low-powered SET movement. Fi was home to Komuro-san, JC Morrison (now designing for Silbatone), Herb Reichert, i think Dave Slagle was there too…and many others.

I sure was lucky!
 

MarcelNL

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Tagging on to this thread, I just received a 14"Japanese Clone Gray's arm that will be put to use with a Zero on the RCA 75A I'm about to restore for my mono records and am wondering about what viscosity oil to start with....Silicone is readily available and it's easy enough to mix up a concoction with viscosity numbers that cannot be bought off the shelf yet I am having a hard time finding a lot of info.
 
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je2a3

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Tagging on to this thread, I just received a 14"Japanese Clone Gray's arm that will be put to use with a Zero on the RCA 75A I'm about to restore for my mono records and am wondering about what viscosity oil to start with....Silicone is readily available and it's easy enough to mix up a concoction with viscosity numbers that cannot be bought off the shelf yet I am having a hard time finding a lot of info.
I've been using 600,000 cst ever since I started using viscous damped tonearms because that's what gives me a couple of secs. drop. IME, anything lower doesn't give a delayed drop no matter how I adjust it.

Here's a video of my Velvet Touch from over a decade ago.
 

je2a3

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meet JC @ETF every year and he´s a kind person and an endless well of knowledge, and not afraid to experiment.....
I met jc morrison at Fi in SoHo in the early 90s. He's an audio design wizard! I attended ny noise 1999 and 2000 which he used to host at his Hoboken loft. I learned many things there.

Jackson and Slagle have invited me a couple of times to attend ETF. Hopefully one of these days I'll make it.

I have to qualify that my audio DIY is elementary compared to these guys.
 

Robert Young

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I met jc morrison at Fi in SoHo in the early 90s. He's an audio design wizard! I attended ny noise 1999 and 2000 which he used to host at his Hoboken loft. I learned many things there.

Jackson and Slagle have invited me a couple of times to attend ETF. Hopefully one of these days I'll make it.

I have to qualify that my audio DIY is elementary compared to these guys.
My speakers are JC Morrison Pipe Dreams, driven by a Don Garber/Nori Komuro amp. I think I’m permanently damaged from all the solder fumes i breathed in at that awesome place.
 
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I met jc morrison at Fi in SoHo in the early 90s. He's an audio design wizard! I attended ny noise 1999 and 2000 which he used to host at his Hoboken loft. I learned many things there.

Jackson and Slagle have invited me a couple of times to attend ETF. Hopefully one of these days I'll make it.

I have to qualify that my audio DIY is elementary compared to these guys.
I met Jackson in Belleme in -19....Dave comes every year......
 
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Robert Young

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I met Jackson in Belleme in -19....Dave comes every year......
I’m thinking we should start a thread based around all the characters and equipment that coalesced around 30 Watts Street at fi. Not a few of us hold that period as very special, and undeniably it was a major force in the resurgence of flea powered SETs and high-efficiency speakers (not to mention idlers, 3012s, TD 124s, Gray arms, etc). I miss Don. He was a good friend and a great guy.
 

Robert Young

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Good idea! I’ll try to snap some pics tonight or tomorrow…

it’s so simple, and quite modest. But it does make my wife and i happy. For years it was the “2nd system” when i had Nagra VPAs and PL-P driving Sonus faber Amati Homage (the originals) with a Teres 340 front end. I’d be lying like a rug if i said i don’t miss that system, which could define “majesty” with ease, but for some simple bits n bobs by some passionate hobbiests, my #1 and only system comes >thisclose< to matching a lot of the Nagra offer, and maybe surpasses in some areas.

the hardest bit to photograph will be the overall: New York City apartments don’t usually have a dedicated listening room, so the basic arrangement of speakers in-room couldn’t be worse. But we all know who owns the living space: we make due as we can.
 

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