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So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

Hat and Rehat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,444
Location
Denver
I can't tolerate coffee -- messes with my digestion -- but I more than make up for it with tea. And I cringe when I see people loading a perfectly legitmate cup of tea with such abominations as milk and sugar. I only like mine straight-up, lukewarm, and brewed for at least fifteen minutes. Half an hour is even better. It should be the color of an old piece of rusty iron pipe or it's not worth drinking.
My wife was employed by an independent coffee roaster here in Denver much more than a decade back. His family owned coffee plantations in Nicaragua, so
Carlos was importing raw bean as well as roasting it. This was early in the American discovery of coffee beyond Folgers, before Starbucks was on every corner, but they were getting there.
Grocery chains were introducing the whole bean bins, fill your own bags, and grind it on the spot, and Carlos was aiming for that market. His dad kicked off, and a fight over the plantation estate ensued. Carlos stuck it to his younger brother, who was also in Denver, running 3 or 4 esspresso carts, and his sister back home. He managed to get control of the beans. My wife was openly critical of the way he did dirt to his siblings.
She got her walking papers.
She went to work for some Russians new to town, for a while. I'm unclear about Carlos' fate, but sis was married to a high level Sandinista, so it's something I sometimes wonder about. Dazbog, the Russians, now have the King Soopers (Kroger) contract Carlos was aiming at.
Preamble aside, I used to hang out at the roasting facility from time to time.
Carlos had cases of a tabletop type hard bound book written by a friend of his. He was supposed to be selling them, but never seemed to put any effort toward it. I borrowed one, and it was a fascinating read, basically the history of coffee.
The title is, Tea Floats and Coffee Sinks. I can't remember the author, and have no idea what kind of print run was ever published, but if you ever trip over a copy, bring it home.

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Messages
17,190
Location
New York City
My wife was employed by an independent coffee roaster here in Denver much more than a decade back. His family owned coffee plantations in Nicaragua, so
Carlos was importing raw bean as well as roasting it. This was early in the American discovery of coffee beyond Folgers, before Starbucks was on every corner, but they were getting there.
Grocery chains were introducing the whole bean bins, fill your own bags, and grind it on the spot, and Carlos was aiming for that market. His dad kicked off, and a fight over the plantation estate ensued. Carlos stuck it to his younger brother, who was also in Denver, running 3 or 4 esspresso carts, and his sister back home. He managed to get control of the beans. My wife was openly critical of the way he did dirt to his siblings.
She got her walking papers.
She went to work for some Russians new to town, for a while. I'm unclear about Carlos' fate, but sis was married to a high level Sandinista, so it's something I sometimes wonder about. Dazbog, the Russians, now have the King Soopers (Kroger) contract Carlos was aiming at.
Preamble aside, I used to hang out at the roasting facility from time to time.
Carlos had cases of a tabletop type hard bound book written by a friend of his. He was supposed to be selling them, but never seemed to put any effort toward it. I borrowed one, and it was a fascinating read, basically the history of coffee.
The title is, Tea Floats and Coffee Sinks. I can't remember the author, and have no idea what kind of print run was ever published, but if you ever trip over a copy, bring it home.

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https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Se...sten&tn=tea+floats+and+coffee+sinks&kn=&isbn=

https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Floats-Tea-Sinks-Understanding/dp/0646091808
 
Messages
10,930
Location
My mother's basement
... brewed for at least fifteen minutes. Half an hour is even better. It should be the color of an old piece of rusty iron pipe or it's not worth drinking.

I’ll drink diner coffee in a pinch, but I find it generally just too damned weak. It’s palatable if it’s hot and fresh, but if it’s been sitting on the warmer for more than a half hour or so it turns bitter.

Most coffee of that sort is robusta, not arabica. Again, okay if it’s hot and fresh, but otherwise, well, I gotta be Jonesing pretty hard to drink it.
 
Edward:
I totally get what you are saying.
In the summer of 1973 i sold my pristine 1969 Z28 and bought a stereo system and a leather jacket.
A Marantz 1120 control amp a Dual 1229 turntable and a pair of 4 way speakers.
I’m proud to say i still play that same system about every day. Some times all day. I have added a 105 B tuner and finally a pair of Magneplanar electrostatic panel speakers that i always dreamed of.
I got the bug for more Marantz and picked up another amp and tuner for my Son and a beast 4270 Quad receiver.
I guess the Son thinks iPhone music is better so it sits.
The system will still knock stuff off shelves about break glass and alert the neighbors to my nostalgia. Lol
You can not get that kind of sound now!!
Also, the leather jacket is still cool to wear!
Thought you might enjoy my agreement with you about Marantz.
Bowen

Magneplanar speakers and electrostatic speakers are two different animals. They are similar looking, but work on two different principles, mainly that electrostats don't use magnets and they rely on secondary power supply to step up extremely high voltages to work. The 1120 is an awfully low-power amp to drive magneplanar speakers. They sound sweet, but are absolute power hogs. I've always wanted some myself, but am not really interested in investing in the 300 watts per channel power supply needed to make them worthwhile. That, and they take up a lot of room, as you can't push them against the wall like you can with typical cone speakers.
 
Messages
12,941
Location
Germany
Is Tansania-coffee available in the US?

I stopped drinking coffee after my last stay in hospital in February/March, because there was coffeine-free coffee and I got no withdrawals, so I decided to finally end with coffee. And I switched totally back to tea without theine, herbals tea, peppermint tea, appel-tea and anise-fennel-caraway-tea. Works.

But the best coffee stuff, I ever drank, was the (Bio)Instantcoffee from 100% Tansania. Amazing aromatic-fruity stuff!! :)
 
I use a regular old drip coffee maker for large production runs and when I'm needing a full pot. I buy the local grocery store brand beans whole and grind them in the store. I like it just fine.

For my café Cubano, I use a traditional moka pot and a Cuban coffee brand. I'm partial to Café La Llave, but there are others as well. It goes well with a cigar and baseball game.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,715
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Magneplanar speakers and electrostatic speakers are two different animals. They are similar looking, but work on two different principles, mainly that electrostats don't use magnets and they rely on secondary power supply to step up extremely high voltages to work. The 1120 is an awfully low-power amp to drive magneplanar speakers. They sound sweet, but are absolute power hogs. I've always wanted some myself, but am not really interested in investing in the 300 watts per channel power supply needed to make them worthwhile. That, and they take up a lot of room, as you can't push them against the wall like you can with typical cone speakers.

Electrostatic speakers go way, way back. There was a thing called the "United Reproducer" in the late 1920s that was basically a thin rubber membrane (which the Boys called "Kylite") coated with very thin foil stretched over a frame mounted close to a conductive plate -- a big capacitor, in other words. They'd run a couple of hundred volts off the plate of a 71A tube into this and it produced excellent results -- until the rubber sheet degraded, and the voltage punched holes thru it causing it to short out. The company went out of business with the Depression, and that meant no more replacement rubber sheets -- making these very expensive speakers useless until collectors figured out ways to re-create the sheets with sheet rubber and aluminum leaf.
 
Messages
17,190
Location
New York City
I love it when people correct me. Thanks Fading F... Fast.
It's a good read.
Brew a big pot before you begin.

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Glad if the links help. Didn't see it as correcting, just providing some information.

I'm not much of a tea or coffee drinker - I'll have either occasionally, mainly to be social, but the girlfriend loves coffee, so might pick up a copy for her.
 
Electrostatic speakers go way, way back. There was a thing called the "United Reproducer" in the late 1920s that was basically a thin rubber membrane (which the Boys called "Kylite") coated with very thin foil stretched over a frame mounted close to a conductive plate -- a big capacitor, in other words. They'd run a couple of hundred volts off the plate of a 71A tube into this and it produced excellent results -- until the rubber sheet degraded, and the voltage punched holes thru it causing it to short out. The company went out of business with the Depression, and that meant no more replacement rubber sheets -- making these very expensive speakers useless until collectors figured out ways to re-create the sheets with sheet rubber and aluminum leaf.

A wealth of knowledge, as usual. Interestingly, every time I have a receiver or amp opened up trying to fix something, and I realize I did something stupid, I think of you standing over my shoulder and slapping me upside the head..."blow up the whole neighborhood, why dontcha!"
 

AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,829
Magneplanar speakers and electrostatic speakers are two different animals. They are similar looking, but work on two different principles, mainly that electrostats don't use magnets and they rely on secondary power supply to step up extremely high voltages to work. The 1120 is an awfully low-power amp to drive magneplanar speakers. They sound sweet, but are absolute power hogs. I've always wanted some myself, but am not really interested in investing in the 300 watts per channel power supply needed to make them worthwhile. That, and they take up a lot of room, as you can't push them against the wall like you can with typical cone speakers.
Thank you for the correction, definition and critique of my post @HudsonHawk. You are totally correct pointing out my memory mis-speak referring to Magneplanars as electrostatic speakers. I think passive Planar magnetic speakers might satisfy. Power hungry yes. Perfect setup. No
I think you missed the point of my post being the 46 year functioning age of my daily used Marantz system in referencing @Edwards appreciation for 70s Marantz audio phonics and not the perfectness of my vintage cobbled together system.
I think worthwhile might be in the ear of the beholder. So far mine’s been worth my while.
Thanks.
Bowen
 
Last edited:

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,247
Location
The Great Pacific Northwest
I can't tolerate coffee -- messes with my digestion -- but I more than make up for it with tea. And I cringe when I see people loading a perfectly legitmate cup of tea with such abominations as milk and sugar. I only like mine straight-up, lukewarm, and brewed for at least fifteen minutes. Half an hour is even better. It should be the color of an old piece of rusty iron pipe or it's not worth drinking.

Didn't start drinking coffee until after law school & the bar exam. Before that it was tea: late night study sessions were usually fueled by a cup of Bigelow Irish Breakfast tea. 3-4 bags to a cup, steeped at least ten minutes. It's keep me alert until 3:30 AM. Then, a couple hours of sleep, a hot shower, and off to work for eight hours. Fun days: I wouldn't wish that schedule on anyone.
 
Thank you for the correction, definition and critique of my post @HudsonHawk. You are totally correct pointing out my memory mis-speak referring to Magneplanars as electrostatic speakers. I think passive Planar magnetic speakers might satisfy. Power hungry yes. Perfect setup. No
I think you missed the point of my post being the 46 year functioning age of my daily used Marantz system in referencing @Edwards appreciation for 70s Marantz audio phonics and not the perfectness of my vintage cobbled together system.
I think worthwhile might be in the ear of the beholder. So far mines been worth my while.
Thanks.
Bowen

My comments weren't a critique, just additional information and discussion. Please don't read too much into it. I too am a fan of old Marantz gear, and old 70s gear in general. As I posted earlier, one of my favorites is my 2230 from 1972. And I agree that sound is in the ear of beholder, and there are far more audiofools than audiophiles.
 

Hat and Rehat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,444
Location
Denver
Glad if the links help. Didn't see it as correcting, just providing some information.

I'm not much of a tea or coffee drinker - I'll have either occasionally, mainly to be social, but the girlfriend loves coffee, so might pick up a copy for her.
I was just cracking wise. Don't mind me.

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Hat and Rehat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,444
Location
Denver
Thank you for the correction, definition and critique of my post @HudsonHawk. You are totally correct pointing out my memory mis-speak referring to Magneplanars as electrostatic speakers. I think passive Planar magnetic speakers might satisfy. Power hungry yes. Perfect setup. No
I think you missed the point of my post being the 46 year functioning age of my daily used Marantz system in referencing @Edwards appreciation for 70s Marantz audio phonics and not the perfectness of my vintage cobbled together system.
I think worthwhile might be in the ear of the beholder. So far mines been worth my while.
Thanks.
Bowen

As long as it's correct Bowen day, you should apostraphe that s in your next to final sentence, the word "mines".
C'mon. C'mon. Put up your dukes!
Can you feel the love?

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AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,829
As long as it's correct Bowen day, you should apostraphe that s in your next to final sentence, the word "mines".
C'mon. C'mon. Put up your dukes!
Can you feel the love?

Sent from my LM-X410(FG) using Tapatalk
Troublemaker!!! Lol
I hate to be wrong or mis-speak. I appreciate and expect to be corrected when in error. I try never to say anything unless i know it to be true and accurate. I’d rather be known as the guy who had the opportunity and said i’m wrong than the guy that wears pride proudly. Hell, i’ll say hey i’m wrong just to get people to shut up.
Thanks on the ‘. I fixed that. Lol
B
 

Hat and Rehat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,444
Location
Denver
Troublemaker!!! Lol
I hate to be wrong or mis-speak. I appreciate and expect to be corrected when in error. I try never to say anything unless i know it to be true and accurate. I’d rather be known as the guy who had the opportunity and said i’m wrong than the guy that wears pride proudly. Hell, i’ll say hey i’m wrong just to get people to shut up.
Thanks on the ‘. I fixed that. Lol
B
Knuckles, bro!

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