Intriguing album is Bitches Brew for sure. I found it knits together well after some plays. It`s a lot to get the old head round for a while. 2 drummers, 2 basses, 2 or more keyboards, various brass, Mclaughlins guitar. lol it`s like a right V left competition.

On side 3 of this double.  In the laid back catergorie for sure.

Settling into some nice Big Band cuts recorded in 1961...

Let's kick off Eleanora Fagan's 100th Birthday with this one...otherwise known as Billie Holiday.  I'll listen to more later today.  Mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-3O-X6UUpY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbO4QCesRLc

I have all of Billie's original catalog and some boot material.

Cassandra Wilson's is a very new interpretation and modern and not meant to emulate Billie's style. It's even a different style of production and arrangement for Cassandra's albums themselves. I really like it, I like that it's different and is making me listen to these songs and the nature of Billie's singing in a new way. And I'm a big Cassandra Wilson fan so that's a given. Billie has been very important for Cassandra's growth and development as an artist and I like what she has done with the material. Wouldn't surprise me if you didn't like it, it seems to go in directions I don't think you go.

I also notice that new singer on the scene Jose Jones has done a tribute album that seems more straight ahead jazz; I ordered that and should have it in a few days.

Well, Bitches Brew. . . it's really its own sub genre, for all the talk of "fusion" and Bitches Brew it's really a funk rock fusion as much as a rock jazz fusion, and different in nature to Weahter Report, RTF, etc. It's heavier. I gravitated towards it right away because I came to jazz from a funk, blues, heavy rock background. . . Filles De Kilamanjaro (a work that sort of stands alone like its own island!) and Bitches Brew were just a doorway into a heavy and serious universe to me at 17 years of age, just come back from Africa. That music is part of my DNA, but I think if I had not stumbled on it then and was coming at it in the same breath as WR and RTF etc. I would probably not appreciate it or enjoy it as I did and do. I actually thought WR and RTF were kind of wimpy for a while before I became more familiar with the jazz and rock that they were drawing from.

This new Wilson has its charms. . . Wilson's music changed somewhat in the 21st Century and this is more like her blues- and guitar-based work than the earlier Wilson work. I've been following Wilson's talk and discussion about this work leading up to its release, it's a sincere and studied effort, not a "let's do a quick tribute album" thing. I hope you can find a place to hear more of it and maybe come to like it.

I shut things down early and dug out this 10 CD box.  Spinning CD #1.  This box contains recording dates from 1933 to 1944 for various Columbia labels.  Then Billie returned to Columbia Records in 1958. I don't think the 1958 recordings are in the box but are on an LP called "Lady In Satin".  And now this expensive Box Set, originally released in 2001, is available in less elaborate form for $36.99 with free shipping on Pop Market today.  Amazing.  I'm very tempted to buy another copy.  Mark.

Cool. I hope you dig it. There's 13 songs on my cd (US cd has 12, my Japanese SHM-CD has an additional track). The cd is fine for me, and I'm not buying things on vinyl that I have on cd unless it's early jazz ---which more often than not sound better on vinyl). A rule I have stuck with for longer than I thought I would).

Right now

All my goodies turned up today. 4x foton 6P3S-E`s, 4x 6n1p-E`s and 4 sets spring vib feet.
I deployed the springs first to get a take on the difference they made.
So thats 4 pieces ea under the Rachaels, CSP2+ and the ZP3.
Someone turned the bass tap on!  I noticed more low level detail and projection. It was a bit strange at first because it kinda went darkish but I soon knew this was because the bass was giving a lower sound floor. And it was JJ cale who has some great bassists. Everthing else was just a bit more intricate with some, but not many burried in the mix details being heard.
Happy with that I put the 6n1p-E`s into the Rachaels. These tubes were/are great out of the box which is a buzz as they should get even better.
I`m reluctant to put the Fotons in as the Reflektor 6P3S-E`s are sounding pretty darned good. So they can wait.

Yeah Baby!

DBC,  If the length of the speaker cable doesn't matter, I'll leave things as they are.  The speaker posts are pretty far apart on the Torii so with the Cat 5 I'd have to unsheathe quite a bit.  As to placement...it's near the front wall and not quite directly behind the left speaker...slightly towards the center and 1 foot away from the Left speaker.  I can't center the Sub.  The frequency response is 26 to 180 Hz.  The set up directions Louis gave said for Omega speakers he recommended the 10 to 11 O'clock position, so I figured that'd work with my HR-1s.  I'll experiment with different settings and maybe move the Sub closer to the center a bit.

This Original Mono LP next...

This Reiner box set is full of gems.

Ok,  I've been in the Cave for a while.  I've been playing with the Sub's settings and reading/typing so here are the last three LPs I've spun...

I'm listening to Spotify via the Taboo MK III and Audeze LCD 2.2 headphones.  This Patrica Barber album has her doing very different versions of Cole Porter songs, like Casandra Wilson did with the songs associated with Billie Holiday.  I listened to a couple more of Wilson's songs and still can't warm to them yet but the recording is stellar.  I'll listen to more later.

Lon,  I'm looking forward to your impressions of the Oppo 1 headphones.  I spent some time last night reading reviews and it sounds like they share much with the Audeze LCD line sonically.  The quote you gave doesn't really make sense to me.  The word "Gritty" shouldn't be used when describing the LCD 2.2s sound but perhaps it is a function of the reviewer's other equipment.  As I've learned the sound you get is greatly dependent on your gear.  So with the Taboo MK III with stock tubes except for a 50's RCA 5U4G in the rectifier position (No Lucid Modes) and after market Toxic Cable's "Silver Widows" (Silver and Gold wire) with a Balanced XLR connector...they are warm with nice deep Bass and the treble, while not as bright as with my HD 800's, is all there in a non-fatiguing and pleasant way...the Midrange, Gritty?  far from it...smooth as silk.  

Lon, I hope someday you have the opportunity to listen to some LCD 2.2 or 3s with a Taboo or other Amp designed for Orthos.  I know you'd love them.  I'm not a salesman though, just a happy owner.  Mark.

PS...I'm reading some more reviews.  This one describes the new "Fazor" technology that mine don't have...mine are the second revision bought the summer of 2013.  At the end it mentions that the reviewer compared the LCD 2s to the Oppo 1...see quote as well as the link to the review on Audeze's site.  "I also compared the new LCD-2 with the Oppo PM-1 planar magnetic headphones (with the recently revised earpads), and the new LCD-2 was more open and spacious-sounding. The PM-1 is brighter and more forward, and played louder at the same volume setting, compared with the LCD-2."  Different Strokes for Different Folks...Your mileage may vary.

http://www.cnet.com/news/ear-candy-audeze-improves-its-already-great-headphones/...

Mark, I don't want to buy a Taboo, I have to stop buying amps. And I admit I just haven't been moved by the looks or what I read about the LD-2s, they just don't appeal to me the way other 'phones do in looks and feel. Reviews are hard to keep in perspective sometimes. I can see that a midrange might be a bit "gritty" in comparison with another headphone, and that someone might find one 'phone brighter than another and it not be just the equipment but characteristics of the 'phones. One factor that attracts me to the PM-1 is the OCC cable, and I know that OCC wire takes a bit to breakin (but after that oh my!) and the wire can be bright til broken in. And I read a lot of other reviews that in fact said the opposite, that the Audeze had more treble. That reviewer who I quoted had exactly the same experience I had with two components so I think I understand his ears and perceptions. And those "recently revised" ear pads are alternate ones meant to allow more high end and a more forward presentation, there are two other pairs of ear pads included (one leather, one velour). Each alters the presentation a bit.

So I'm happy with my choice of the PM-1s to try, and if I do prove to enjoy these they'll probably be the 'phones I use for a decade or more, I'm not going to check out a whole bunch of other ones. If I send them back I'll choose another target, I'm starting now so that when I move in with Lucy and this becomes a way to listen to a lot of my recordings they'll be broken in and I'll be used to them and the process.

I'll keep you posted about the Oppos when they come in but won't be able to do any comparisons of my own unless I send them back and try something else.

I'm 100% sure you'll like the Oppo 1s.  

I think all high end headphone cable makers use OCC wire.  I checked and all of Toxic Cables wire whether copper, silver with Gold, Silver with Copper...etc, is Cyro treated OCC.

I read some more LCD reviews and if I were listening more with headphones, I'd be very tempted to look into getting the "Fazor" technology added to my LCD 2.2s...if that's even possible. But because I don't put on headphones much anymore,  I'll stick with what I have...like that's a hardship...hehe.  Mark.

PS...I should point out that when I was reading reviews of Audeze LCD 2 headphones the reviewers could be listening to three distinct versions of the diaphragm/transducer.  Mine were the second version.  All seem to be different but keep the same general Audeze House Sound...Lush, Warm and Organic are more words I've read to describe them.

That's likely the only place I'll wear phones either, I may wear them working around the apartment with an iPod--I have several months of preparing for a move ahead of me and that would be a nice thing to do. But otherwise I'll be listening kicked back in a recliner.

Reading a lot of reviews the PM-1s should be smooth and articulate and that's what I need for the source material I'll be listening to and the sources. Might have them Monday.

Wow! Just wow.
I read about this jazz pianist on another post tonight and decided to try a listen. Glad I did.
Fantastic recording as well.

http://www.discogs.com/Fred-Kaz-Eastern-Exposure/release/4048149