No music for a couple of weeks...

[richteer]

Yesterday I started part one of my audio system revamp by sending my SP9 Mk 2 preamp back to Audio Research. As far as I can tell, there's nothing specifically wrong with it, but I bought it used a couple of years ago and have no idea of its service history (including how old the tubes are). I phone ARC for their advice and they suggested replacing the electrolytic caps (which tend to dry out after 15-20 years) and re-tubing it. Excluding shipping, it'd be about $200. Sounds good to me; I asked them to give the unit a thorough testing to make sure that it was still within spec. Might as well find and fix any problems while it's actually at the manufacturer!

Any way, the preamp is the hub of my system, so no music for me for a few weeks. If I get really desperate I could try listening to CDs on headphones... But I'll probably spend my speare time catching up on other stuff. There are books to read and movies to watch, so it's not all bad! :-)